First week in Ramsau!
The skiers and biathletes of the GRP are closing out our first week in Ramsau, Austria for this year’s September training camp.
Last Thursday, we drove from Craftsbury to Montreal (thank you Peter Graves for driving the van back to Craftsbury!), flew overnight from Montreal directly to Munich, and then drove the 3 hours from Munich to Ramsau. With only minor difficulties, ranging from finger surgery (not really, but kind of!) in the back of the van on the way to Canada, scrutiny of a propane torch attachment by baggage services, weighing and rearranging of carry-ons, processing of paperwork for biathlon rifles to cross two international borders, and the usual chaos of packing and unpacking vehicles with 37 pieces of 50lb luggage and 13 people, our travel was actually pretty smooth and we arrived on schedule on Friday afternoon.
Since then, our training camp has involved running with poles, rollerskiing, run/hiking, strength training, and most especially skiing on the Dachstein glacier, which is a short tram ride above the town of Ramsau. The weather was somewhat rainy and overcast for the first few days, but more recently we’ve been treated to sunshine both in the valley and on the glacier. It definitely helps our spirits when the weather is nice, but this is an exceptional place for all types of training no matter what, and it’s been a productive week of training!
Enjoy the photos below – taken by Pepa, Nick, and myself (Caitlin) – and follow us on Instagram (@greenracingproject) and Facebook (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) for more frequent photographic updates!
Rollerskiing through the green fields of Austria on our first full day in Europe
Why not skiing? On this day it was actually cold, sometimes rainy, and up high the weather was bad… as much as it looks great down in the valley in this spot of sun!
Ethan and Alex near the top of the 40 minute climb… for the 2nd time of the day.
Even to our eyes, conditioned in the green mountain state of VT, these fields are vibrant!
The mountains tower above the valley floor – this is just a few minutes from our house
Austrian cows, complete with bells
Hallie and Kait are excited for a sunny morning ski
Thanks Pepa and Nick for coaching – from videoing, waxing, driving vans, consulting on training plans, organizing workouts, their days are never empty!
Most of the days when we post photos of skiing in the sun, there was also swirling fog and clouds rolling through… this just makes it more dramatic, and we appreciate the sun more when it’s out!
Gliding through the fog
Riding on top of the tram, looking back into the clouds below
Early morning, the plateau of the glacier above the cloudy valley floor
Immense scale
A new day, a new skyline
Our playground above the lower mountains and hills
Kait leads a train of GRP skiers
Hallie and Nick
Ethan and Casey
Liz skis alongside one of many Russians training on the glacier too.
The team! From left: Alex Howe, Hallie Grossman, Liz Guiney, Ida Sargent, Emily Dreissigacker, Casey Smith, Ethan Dreissigacker, Mike Gibson, Caitlin Patterson, Kait Miller, Heather Mooney. Thanks Craft Sportswear, Bliz Eyewear, and Skida for helping us look this great!