From Finland to Reno to Steamboat, by Shelly Robertson

I guess I will start by saying that I didn’t win (in Finland) but I sure gave it a good run. For a trip that started a little rough, it progressively got better (except for the food.) When I first arrived I was having a bit of a hard time getting back into the mode of being on tour and the competitive vibes but each day I got more and more comfortable.

Wednesday after training we visited Santa’s Village and when we arrived back at the hotel they informed us that next weeks competition was going to be canceled due to lack of snow in France and therefore we would be having two competitions on this course, one on Friday and one on Saturday.

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Friday I went for the win by skiing a little too out of control and made two big mistakes in the final, moving me from 9th to 14th. Then on Saturday, skied two really good runs to finish 7th. It just happened to be that everyone laid down a perfect run in finals and landing a little forward on the bottom air was enough to make a difference between first and seventh.

Overall, it was a great trip and I am feeling very confident and happy with my skiing as I head into Olympic Trials next week (in Steamboat Springs, CO). If you don’t know what that is, it is a competition solely for US Ski Teamers; winner of the competition gets an automatic spot to the Olympics….yeah no pressure!! I’ll keep you posted!