THANK YOU!

Being grateful for everything after a multi-hour run in the rain.

Hello All,

Now that summer is in full swing, I am starting my updates back up. The last update in March saw the end of the season canceled and so much has happened since then!

Firstly! THANK YOU! Thank you, ten times over. Leaving coaching, Jackson and the Tetons to jump headfirst into full-time racing, while being the bitterest of sweet, has been one of the greatest experiences of my life! I could not have done it without all of you and your support in every way. Thank you for donating funds to the race season, thank you for beds to crash on, thank you for borrowed cars, thank you for training and ski support, thank you for encouragement and thank you for enabling to me pursue the highest level of athleticism I possibly can. You are all part of the journey and an integral member of my team. I am forever grateful and would have regretted ignoring my deepest calling for the rest of my life.

This spring was unusual to say the least and fortunately it provided plenty of time for re-grouping, reflecting on the season and planning the next year of training using all the lessons I learned. Luckily my best results came at the end of the season and I was able to use those results to spend the spring applying to a team, a new ski sponsor, other equipment sponsors and enjoying time at home. Oh, and lots and lots of spring skiing in the mountains around Aspen (and some spring crashing too…).

Most excitingly, I can announce I am now a member of the CrossCut Mountain Sports Center’s Elite Team, based in Bozeman, MT where I am spending most of the summer. Unfortunately, it is not a fully funded team, leaving me to raise money again, but it is hard to emphasize the value of having daily coaching, a training group, lower altitude and peers who are living the same lifestyle as myself, as a part of my daily life. I can already feel the benefit of one year in the books and applying all that I learned with the added benefit of a team. Whatever the season holds this winter, I cannot wait to hit the racecourse faster than ever before.

In addition to the CrossCut team, I am also now a member of the Madshus National Group and on the Enjoy Winter Athlete Force. While no equipment is given to me for free until I qualify for racing internationally, everything is world cup stock at a much more affordable cost. It is hard to explain just how much equipment matters and how having the best racing and training equipment is the only way to truly reach the highest levels of the sport. You can’t bring a pick-up truck to the NASCAR track, no matter how nice of a truck it is…

Another project I have been working on over the last few months is the assembly of personal notes on my training and racing life. My goal this summer is to regularly put up posts, with more article-based content, about different areas of the full-time skier life. Not only for your entertainment, but also as a resource for everyone thinking about pursuing their goals and knowing the path to how I am pursuing mine. The next post/email/article will be the lessons I learned from racing as an independent racer this past year and how the Super Tour/NorAm circuit has changed over the past 10 years. (spoiler: skiing is the most competitive in the US it has ever been!) The following will be a complete breakdown of the costs and expenditures of the complete race season (and more importantly, how your funds were used once donated to the cause) and hopefully a resource for other athletes to better understand the financials of racing. And more after that. I would love to hear if you have any ideas or interests in particular.

Once again, thank you! I am excited to be in regular contact with you all again and hope you have all been able to enjoy the oddities of this spring has provided. Happy summer.

Cheers,

Scott

When your legs are tired, the snow is heavy, and you just got to send it for the footage.

Lessons Learned as an Independent Racer

So this is the end of the season…