Interski 2023 - Levi, Finland
Interski. Okay. Now I get it. This is essentially why the National Team exists. “Interski is life. But Interski is also death.” It is a marathon and there are so many things happening. I may have to do a couple blog posts about this. Here are some highlights:
1.) The USA Team performed incredibly well. We knew we were doing a good job when other countries like Austria and Switzerland are talking about how good our synchronized skiing was in the pub.
2.) After the event, there was a tremendous boost in confidence. For example, I just presented on the world’s stage - two on snow workshops and one indoor lecture. Ann Schorling came along for one of our on snow workshops. It was awesome to have a teammate tag along. It was also slightly intimidating because Ann is one of many major architects of People Skills. I did not want to goof anything up in front of her! This gave me way more confidence in myself and my ability to present on the snow. Fast forward to coming back and participating in round two of the Regional Team Selection process for PSIA-RM. I was like this is easy compared to Interski.
3.) Belief systems. We talk a lot about belief systems in the USA. For the most part, we are somewhat similar. Sure, there are discrepancies, but overall we are more similar than different. I was in an on snow workshop with the Czech Republic and they had asked us to make basic parallel turns. I remember a gentleman from Poland (nothing against Poland or this gentleman), but he did a basic parallel way different than me. He did a strong up and forward move extending out of the ankles, knees, and hips. It was this moment of, “Oh, he must really value that movement.” It was at that moment that I understood belief systems. His may be different than mine and I can see it.
4.) Personal success. One of the tools I used to help me get onto the PSIA-AASI National Team was visualization. I used to envision Michael Rogan or Rob Sogard (both coaches of the Alpine Team) calling my name to be a part of the Team. Tom Gellie (friend and coach) helped me visualize something else. He helped me visualize what it would feel like to stand at the top of the demonstration slope in Levi, Finland with the crowd cheering below. The photo with this post is that moment in time right before we skied as a team and as a country. This visual helped me make the team more attainable. It gave more of a purpose to me as to why I would want to be on the team. It really helped and I can understand the power of visualization is so strong. This was a win, personally.
Interski was so incredible. It is really hard to put into words. A friend, Tomas Mical, who is on the Lithuanian Team and is Czech asked me back in Aspen if I missed it. I said, “miss what?” He said, “Interski.” I thought about it and yes, I do miss it. What I miss most is being at the bottom of the front side slopes and watching good skier after good skier after good skier coming down. It was a site I have rarely seen. Sure it happens when World Cup athletes are in town or some other special event. But it doesn’t happen everyday like it was in Finland.
The other thing that I have to share is how crazy it was to run into different people. Literally, the first morning, I was attending an on snow workshop by Australia and I hopped on the T-Bar with Josh Duncan Smith (New Zealand). Josh produces many YouTube videos and has a very big following. On the final day, I attended an on snow workshop from Spain. A gentleman asked me where I was from and I told him I worked for Aspen Snowmass. He asked if I knew Jonathan Ballou. I said I did. I find out that I was riding up the chairlift with Andres Spettel, a former Austrian National Team member. It was like running into celebrities on a constant basis. I really enjoyed meeting some of these skiers that I look up to.
Kiitos is thank you in Finnish. Kiitos to everyone for an incredible experience.