First of all, I have to start off this post by saying thank you to so many people who helped Sam get to Switzerland.  Thank you to those who put up prayers and good thoughts, friends and family who supported him financially, all the Instagram and Facebook love, those who came out for fundraisers and bid on silent auction items or bought seafood, those who got up in the middle of the night to watch him race and even the high fives and fist bumps along the way.  We are forever grateful.  This was truly a goal and dream that he has had for a long time and you all helped make it a reality!

Sam and his teammates knew the competition in Europe would be tough but they toed the start line with the best in the skimo world and competed.  We are beyond proud of him.  He had a blast!  It was an education in training, sportsmanship, dedication to a team and a love for this sport that is often times grueling.

Friday evening late, we arrived in Geneva, Switzerland and took a train and then a cog up to a small ski village called Villars.

On the second evening, the World Championships started with a parade and opening ceremonies.  Sam walked with his other US teammates and was lucky enough to carry the flag.

Sunday morning started out the first sprint races.  Sam raced well but struggled with his binding at the top of the boot pack.

We had an off day on Monday, mainly due to the fact that the individual races had been postponed due to avalanche dangers.  Scott, Sam and I had a nice day strolling around the town of Bex, which was just a quick cog train ride down the mountain.

Tuesday, we woke up and the sun was shining and the individual races were on!

Sam’s coach talking with the US juniors team about the course.

Two Indian athletes getting a quick shot with a few of the US team members.

The junior boys start…

Wednesday we had another off day so we joined another dad and junior racer and headed back down the mountain to a couple castles just outside of Geneva.

The first castle was in Aigle and was on the smaller side.  Gorgeous vineyards surrounded this castle and the views were amazing, even in the rain 🙂

The second castle, Chillon Castle, was much bigger and sat on the banks of Lake Geneva.

We were so close to France, that we took the opportunity to have lunch in another country.  Unfortunately, we parked in France but realized after we sat down at the restaurant that we had backtracked a bit and ended up back in Switzerland for our lunch!  Oh well! We shared a couple charcuterie boards and french fries.

After we got back we joined some other friends for a fun dinner at the local fondue restaurant.  I mean, who goes to Switzerland and doesn’t have fondue!

Sam’s last race was the vertical on Thursday.  This was probably his best race.  He looked great and felt even better.  Our US racers are used to going straight up in the vertical and many were calling this race a bit of a “horizontal”.  Nevertheless, those Europeans were fast and dominated the field.

The day before we were to fly out, we bid Villars farewell and headed back to Geneva.  We arrived in time to walk around the city, cross the bridge and take in the sights of Old Town.  We were so glad for this quick trip into the city and it also made our departure out of the Geneva Airport that much easier the next morning.

Our travel was uneventful and we arrived home to feet of snow after what seemed to be one of the biggest snow systems in over a decade. So many thanks to Grandma Peggy and Papa Gary for hanging out for the week with Alice, Paige and Mason.  It wasn’t the easiest week to be in Summit County but they took it in stride and had to do a lot of shoveling!

Most of the pictures were taken on our cell phones.  My big Nikon decided to stop working right after we arrived in Switzerland.  So blessed for this time with Sam.  Very rarely do we get time alone with just one of our kids.  This was an incredible week spent watching him do what he loves.

We were pretty sure he was going to hang up the skis and boots for the season after arriving home but instead he took a couple days off and then competed in a race at Breckenridge after school, finishing 5th in the men’s race.

Now we are back to school and work.

Jennifer

In less than a week, Scott, Sam and I will be in Switzerland for the ski Mountaineering World Cup. But until then, the show must go on…or something like that. Sam and I just got back from Aspen. He and a friend from New Mexico raced in the Power of 2. It took them four and 1/2 hours and they finished second overall.

Now we pack.

Below are four junior US skimo athletes. 1st and 2nd place in the overall race. They beat the rest of the teams by a lot! Nice job boys:)

Looking forward to watching them finish their season in Villars:)

Wahoo! We are officially on break from school! One whole week of nothing to do! Well, maybe not nothing but definitely lots of down time:) I was going to get some sleeping in time but since my body gets up everyday at 5:30, I woke up this morning at…5:30! Scott and I took advantage of all the teenagers sleeping in and went out for a Nordic ski. We got a few inches of snow last night and the trail was beautiful.

We ended up skiing about 5 miles. Another day in the mountains:)

Tonight was the first of three fundraisers for the US skimo team. It was a really fun night to benefit these amazing Summit County athletes.

Jaime, one of Sam’s coaches and fellow US team member (and badass skimo racer) giving the crowd a lesson on ski mountaineering.

Scott and I had a fabulous night out last night. We battled the snow storm down to Denver for a quick but much needed night away. The kids had their first night home alone and they rocked it. Don’t worry, not literally 🙂 No parties here! The friend that Scott works for gave us Elton John tickets for Christmas. He also treated us to a nice swanky dinner and a night in a hotel. We had a wonderful evening acting like adults. We couldn’t be more thankful for this generous gift!

The first two really good pics are courtesy of Byron Swezy who was much closer than us:) We had great seats on the club level but our pics aren’t quite as good! Anyway, Elton sounds amazing and put on a great show for nearly 3 hours.

Scott and I are exhausted but still excited about our night away!

We spent the day in Aspen today at a Nordic ski race. It was a gorgeous day to be outside! Paige skied well and finished in the top 20.

The Spontaneous Combustion

This is one of my favorite days in Summit County. I look forward to it every year. It’s such a fun, old school, small town event. Huge bonfire made of Christmas trees, beer and chili for sale and locals and tourists edging each other out to get closer to the fire. At the end of the night there is s wonderful fireworks display. The combustion never disappoints!

Sam has a wonderful truck that my brother so kindly gifted to him. Its 21 years old and runs like a top. There are a few things that need work and Sam has been slowly working on them. One of the things that needs work is the gas gauge. It doesn’t work at all, shows empty all the time. So, because he can’t tell how much gas he has, Sam almost always pushes the trip and watches his mileage. And runs out of gas pretty frequently. His dad suggested he put a small gas can in the back just in case. What a great idea! It was an awesome idea until the gas can turned over and spilled all over the back of Sam’s vehicle. No big deal, right? Except, on any given day, Sam has two pairs of skis and boots, skins, 400 socks, base layers, jeans, hoodies, ski clothes, backpacks, helmets, a towel and 500 or so other miscellaneous items back there. They were all soaked. With gasoline.

He was pretty worried he might be in trouble so he scooped up all the clothes including the ones he was wearing and threw them in the wash. Yep. The washing machine now smells like gasoline…and the clothes…and the house…and the garage…and everything else within a mile of our home.

Thank God for The Google because we have researched every way possible to get gasoline out of stuff. I’ve soaked his clothes in vinegar, baking soda, coffee grounds, Dawn dish soap and powdered lemonade. They finally are wearable, I think. We’ve sprinkled two cans of coffee on the carpet in his car. It still smells but now you can actually get in the car. Just imagine a gas station coffee smell. We’ve run two packets of powdered lemonade through the washing machine. You can only smell a faint whiff of gas if you put your head all the way in the drum. We’ve scrubbed, washed and cleaned just about everything in and outside the house. It’s been a long few days!

We are so happy it’s the weekend around here. Did I mention it’s been snowing off and on for over a week?

The Wescott’s are going in three different directions today. Scott and Sam are in Santa Fe for a skimo race. Alice is in her way to Grand Junction for a swim meet and Mason Paige have a Nordic ski race in Grandby.

I’m staying home. All by myself.

Happy Saturday!

Jennifer

Alice had a home swim meet this afternoon. The weather was crummy but luckily one team showed up! Scott and I both got a chance to watch her swim. Of course she gave it her all, in true Alice fashion:)