At the end of August, I traveled to Europe with the team to compete in the nordic combined Summer Grand Prix(SGP) competitions. I had two goals for the trip. My first goal was to qualify for a World Cup event. Second was to score World Cup points. The first competition was in Oberweisenthal, GER. I had never jumped there before and was looking forward to jumping on a new hill. On top of that, my training during the first three days in Europe had gone really well. I jumped pretty well and ended up qualifying for the first SGP. The roller ski race went even better! I wasn't feeling great during the days leading up to the race, so I went in with an open mind and planned on skiing my own race. It wasn't until I crossed the finish line that I realized that I had skied up to 29th place and the 4th fastest time! I had just scored the first WC points of my career! I was extremely happy with my overall performance and was looking forward to the following competition in Tschagguns, AUT.
All in all, our team made some significant improvements on the ski jump over the past week and a half. We qualified all four of our quota spots in every competition, and even Taylor and Bryan had some great results. I think our team came away from the trip with confidence and on a positive note.
After Spain, I returned back to Park City for a couple weeks. Training in Park City went really well and was getting anxious to get back to Europe. I was only in Park City for three weeks, and then returned to Europe for one final fall training camp. And that brings us to now. I have been in Slovenia for a week and things are going great. We have been jumping in Planica, SLO, Kranj, SLO, and Villach, AUT. Today we went on a hike to the peak of a mountain that overlooks Austria, Italy, and Slovenia. We are here for another week and have some fun days of training planned. I will continue to update my blog, pictures, and whereabouts. Hope everyone is ready for the snow to start falling!