Aspen Women's World Cup

This is my fourth winter working with skiers and snowboarders but my first opportunity to make it to the Aspen World Cup. The day after my birthday the head coach called my boss and asked him to bring me to the World Cup this year. He thought it was just wrong that I had never attended a Women's Alpine World Cup. The event fell over Thanksgiving weekend but since I was not going home it worked out great from my perspective. It took a bit more than that though to get me there. Fortunately, my boss was willing to give me a ride over when he went on Friday. Our team manager found a bed for me to crash in and my friend Jess said I could ride home with her on Sunday. I was headed to my first ever Women's Alpine World Cup!

We arrived in Aspen on November 27th around lunchtime. Sarah told me where to find our room and a key and then told me to get out on the slopes. I dumped my stuff, grabbed my key and headed out for my first taste of Aspen skiing.

It might have been early skiing but it was great! I had a fun time getting in some runs before the day finished. Later in the evening the hotel where we were staying had a reception for the athletes and guests staying there. I might have worked with our teams for four winters but that does not mean I have met all of the athletes. So this was a great opportunity for me to meet some of the girls that hadn't passed by my desk at the office. Chris Klug who has a medal in Snowboarding was also there since he was announcing the event that weekend.


Saturday morning it was time to watch some Giant Slalom. Lindsey Vonn hit a rock on her way down in the first run which did not help her time. The rest of the girls had it slightly better and got a second run. It was not our best day, but being there and cheering for the athletes was a great experience. I had my bell and my camera. I had also made small signs for some of the girls that I knew from the Rookie Camps that I had helped with over the past couple of years. Later in the afternoon I was able to get a couple more ski runs in myself. Then the team was signing posters in the plaza. I decided it might be a fun souvenir of the event so I got in the very long line. I met a mom with her two kids and talked to them while we waited. Hopefully I had them convinced to go see the men's world cup the next weekend in Beaver Creek. When we finally made it up to the table I introduced the kids to the athletes which they enjoyed. Later that night there was a concert by the John Popper Project and some fireworks. I ran into some coworkers who took me along with them for dinner at their condo. It was a great first day at the world cup.


Sunday was a much more beautiful day to sit and watch a race. This time it was slalom. Unfortunately it was an even worse day for our girls. No one got a second run. Jess had made it down for the race and brought along one of the girls from our Adaptive team. We had a fun time cheering despite the results. We had the opportunity to talk to a couple of the girls before we left. But since no one made the second run we left early and headed back to Utah. It was a fabulous trip and I'm so glad I got to go and cheer for the girls. It was also great to meet the ones I didn't already know.