World Cup start

World Cup start 2014-15

In general, it seems people don't like to write about the hard times, only the good. Me, I like to say it how it is and not hide under a rock when the tough gets going. I could say I had a pretty rough start to the race season, but all things in perspective, its not too bad. I came into the season a little less prepared then I had hoped. I missed the fall ski camp recovering from injuries, and up until recently was not skiing full form. 

Levi: Is AWESOME. I have not really had very much success there, but I love that place all the same. Its pretty much santa claus village. The sun never really gets very high in the sky. I love sunrises and sunsets and night time darkness, all we get in Levi!

The race was half good, I was 13th at the last interval before the pitch. Then I went junior Britt style on the pitch and lost a bunch of time and did not qualify for the second run. I was pretty bummed, as you always want to start the season off well, makes ya feel good. This did not, but made me pretty hungry to get after it in Aspen at the second race a couple weeks later.

Aspen: SO amped, too amped. Trying to go for it and leave everything on the hill is always a good choice, except when you forget you still have to ski on the way down. I forgot that in order to ski fast you have to ski well. My whole run was a little disastrous, finishing off with missing a gate and hiking..(never give up kids :P ) 

Raced some North American cups in Copper and Aspen after that. Almost had a good slalom race, had my butt handed to me in  Giant Slalom. Found new respect for how solid Leki poles are made.

Winning is easy, and being happy when you are doing well is easy. Sucking is a whole different story. I like it cause it really brings out who you are, and how tough you are. I got to say I wish I was tougher. You don't really know who you and how you will react to adversity until it is smacking you in the face. Then, if you don't like who you become, you change it. Fight for what you want, and who you want to be, and where you want to go. 

Skiing is easy, its the mind that makes it complicated. 

No time for a pity party, on to the next one.

Britt

PS: Home girl Val Grenier is starting her first World Cup tomorrow in Lake Louise, new era of speed Queens on the rise with Larisa Yurkiw leading the way with her 4th place today! Congrats Shink

New Zealand

Going down to NZ is generally always a good camp, but this year it was great. Every day was bluebird sunny and the snow was about as good as it gets for the training we were doing. Being a ski racer we get to see some of the most beautiful places and mountains on earth, and New Zealand is definitely up there in the most scenic places I've been to. 

We started out at Roundhill in Lake Tekapo for the first 7 on snow days, then travelled towards Queenstown for our first day off and next training block. We trained at Snow Park and Coronet peak, alternating from time to time. Then headed to Mt Hutt for some SPEED training. It ROCKED, literally… the snow that was on the hill was great, but it was littered with tiny rocks that by the end of the course would have severely damaged your edges. Our technicians did an amazing job in maintaining the edges almost every run. Thanks Martin! You Da Bomb Digadee. Despite ruining  some speed skis, the training was awesome and I was pretty pumped about training Super-G. Something about going fast just makes ya feel good.

After about a week in Hutt, we headed back to round hill to finish off the camp. It was a great opportunity for me to put to test what I had been working on the past month. Its hard sometimes when you are making changes to really commit to it, because you want to ski fast and it to feel comfortable. When your mind is working as much as your body while skiing, no way is it going to look/feel normal or flow like a river. So after a month of skiing with my head, I let my heart take over, and things came together.  Still lots to changes and stuff to  work on, but I am pretty ok with where my skiing is at for this time of year.

We left New Zealand winter for Canadian Summer! Always sweet when it snows in Canada way before it should. Makes the mountains look beautiful. My parents spent a few days visiting and my older sister Reb moved to Calgary to go to UofC. Just missing the young blood Mike! Spent the weekend off in Fernie riding bikes and jumping cliffs. Best recovery days! Special thanks to our Physio Jenny Delich and her pops Michael at FernieLodgingco.com for the great stay.

Now we are back in the gym crushing it, or getting crushed I should say. We didn't get much dry land in in New Zealand due to all the volume on snow we were pushing, so now we are making up for that. Its nice to have the time between on snow camps to hit it hard again in the gym and let the body recover from skiing. I also got myself a new whip, a DOWNHILL BIKE! Thanks to Intense Cycles for this amazing bike. Early birthday present to myself for the next 10 years.

Looking forward to getting back on snow for the final camp before the season starts! Training is fun, but racing is better. 

Also huge congratulations to Eric Harlow for proposing to my Best Friend Cath Blanchard and getting a yes! SO happy for you too and can't wait to be a part of this amazing time. 

See ya

Rest in Peace Uncle Peter Austin Phelan. Love and condolences to the whole Phelan side, and all who had the privilege of knowing him.

Zermatt
Our first ski training trip of the summer was pretty successful despite a few cancelled days due to weather. I think this could have been a blessing in disguise, because everyday we did ski, we skied as if were to be our last. I think this should always be the case, not just in skiing and training, but life in general. But we all humans here and sometimes its difficult to give your 100% all day everyday. Generally its safer to give more then your 100% everyday, so when an off day happens, you have a little leeway.

Life lessons aside, I was so stoked to be back skiing. I received my new skis and boots, and have my set up dialled for the upcoming season. The new slaloms were actually unreal and I don't know what magic Fischer did to them, but I am feelin like Harry Potter on them. The new GS and boots are also pretty great, I think being more a slalom skier I just notice the difference more with the slaloms. 

On snow training in Zermatt is always hard long days. We are up before 5AM, on the lift at 6:15, on snow around 7:15, then ski till around 11:30-12. Then we head down, stop at mid station for lunch, get back around 1:30 pm, nap till we HAVE to get up for dry land usually around 4, then video/meeting. Then someone cooks dinner, then someone cleans, then we read about 2 pages of some book, then pass out. Love it! 

Our camp was mostly GS and super-g based, which was a change for me as usually I train more slalom. I think this was great for me. In slalom, I can get away with bad technique and still manage to be fast. I can make mistakes and rely a lot on my inside ski, as we've been tight for my whole life. WIth the new GS and Super-G skis, you can't afford to be on the inside ski, or lean in or get lazy. You will just fall over or look/feel completely incompetent. If it doesn't challenge you, it won't change you. I accepted right away that I wanted to change some stuff in my skiing and there was no better opportunity to make it happen. Definitely had some frustrating days at first but things for sure started to come together. Pretty at ease with the work I got done and excited to bring some speed and the changes over to slalom in New Zealand in 2 weeks! Can't wait.

Now I'm back in Canmore and have already been hitting the gym in Calgary and riding my freshly renovated bike! Thanks Outside for the tune up, its riding incredibly.
See ya

Summer Time

Summatime 

It may be only end of June, but summer is coming to an end for myself and my team. As much as I love summer, (it is one of my favourite four seasons), I am pretty excited to get back on snow. Training has been great this year at the New Canadian Sport Institute at WInsport in Calgary. 

It was great to work with our new trainer Jeremiah Barnert, and some new training concepts. Its easy to believe in a program when you see not only your own gains, but those of your teammates. Everyone is looking great and moving well. We have such an awesome team and its super motivating to be surrounded by such an inspiring group of athletes. Everyone has some hard days and no matter who's having a hard time or who's doing well, we help each other, and push each other. Although Alpine is an individual sport, I know I wouldn't be able to do this on my own, (or want to). SO thanks girls, you all the bomb digadee. 

                                                  Stoked on having my own locker. havnt had one since high school.

                                        Running shuttles, quadzilla came out that day.

Summertime for me also means lots of time on my bike. I love riding more then almost anything, and I'm pretty lucky that our schedule and training allows me to incorporate it. I got to ride lots of sweet new trails, and dial in the oldies. Skiing and biking is the same deal. The speed, turning, committing to the outside ski/pedal, constantly trying to push your limits and get out of your comfort zone as much as possible. Nothing makes me happier then being out on my bike, and living in Canmore this is all too easy.

Unfortunately, I took a pretty big crash a few days ago and cut my knee pretty bad. It was pretty scary when I saw the state of my knee and I knew I needed to get to the hospital ASAP. I was about a KM out from the end of my ride to where my jeep was parked, so I awkwardly rode down the still gnarly and technical trail as fast as my leg would allow and booked it to the hospital. I jumped out of my car and ran in with out locking or even doing up my windows ha. ALl the blood was freaking me out. When I checked in and was assessed quickly by the nurse, I was escorted to my own room and told to take a shower! I was too muddy/bloody to be properly assessed haha. You know you are dirty when…

                                                     Showering at the hospital...

A few hours later, and 9 new stitches, I was good to go. Mikaela Tommy showed up at the hospital with a bag of snacks. Literally saved my life. She also made me dinner and convinced me of all the good things and pros of this unfortunate situation. Big thank you to Young Blood for that support. Real friends show up when you are at your worst.

Knee is healing up quick, can't really bend it past 90 as the stitches start to pull, but I can hike around a bit which is awesome. Pretty great places around here that are not accessible by bike! Who would of known?!

               

                                              Thanks Kelly McBroom for the sweet adventuring up Spray Valley with Terra!

Less then 2 weeks and Ill be in Zermatt Switzerland, back to doing what I love. 

See ya

Ski-X, Moab,Colorado

Spring time has flown by, and we are already back in the gym. Testing and REAL training starts next week. Hopefully my body adjusts quick to lifting weight cause those first few workouts were pretty painful!

After my trip to Mike Wiegeles Heli-skiing, I had a quick trip home to Tremblant to take care of a few things and see my family.

Upon arriving back out west, I was going to take a few chill days and just bum around the ski hill. My good friend Georgia Simmerling who is on the Skier-Cross National team texted me saying I should Fore run their national champs which were happening at Sunshine. After arriving at 3AM in the morning from Quebec, I was up and on my way to the hill around 7:30. Upon arriving, Georgia told me the coaches managed to get me a freestlye FIS card and that I could race. I was pretty stoked and had a great few days skiing around and learning tons of new things from the SX team. The races themselves were super fun and I got to race head to head with Marielle Thompson (Olympic Champ, overall WC winner) in my first round which was pretty cool! She smoked me obviously but it was great to hit some jumps and learn lots of new things and some new lingo. I now know what a full press is and if you do not do it when you should, you are going to have some major air time. Big thanks to all the SX coaches and team for the fun times! Ski-Cross is wicked fun.

After all that craziness, I got a new bike. I was so pumped, and remain so. Money can't buy happiness but it can buy bikes and that IS HAPPINESS! Thanks to everyone who put up with me trying to decide/convince myself/ justify this purchase. I am super stoked on my new Rocky Mountain Altitude, thanks Outside for the stellar sale and fit.

Then Matt Monod and I hit the road to my favourite place I'd never been to; MOAB.

This trip was unreal, I went to the bike mecca of the world, with a new bike, and a guy that rides bikes like no other. I was so stoked to be going with Matt because he is such an amazing rider and I knew I was going to have to bring my A game to keep up! Matt is also a super easy going positive dude, and had the same mindset as I did about what we wanted our trip to consist of; Biking.

Our first day, we were pretty ambitious. We got our whereabouts and had a sweet warm-up ride of about 2 hours. It was the first real test for my bike and I was on cloud 9. We were both so pumped about the new dirt and sick ridding, we decided we should probably do the famous SlickRock trail, but under the full moon.

We started back on our bikes around 8PM and rode out to a sick place off trail to get a good view of the sunset. It was awesome. Then it was dark, and the moon was nowhere in sight, the dotted trail was also nowhere to be found. After a good hour of joking and sketchily riding our bike in the dark down some super steep stuff in the dark, I spotted the trail! Good timing cause we were both starting to think this is not so funny anymore. The moon came out but the one cloud in the sky was blocking its rays but we were ok now that we were back on track. We made it back to camp and laughed about what hacks we were. A good story thats for sure!

The next day we rode this sick area called Mag 7. It was a sweet Super-D and other then getting swamped by 30 jeeps on the road, and taking a wrong turn at one point, it was unreal. We met some other riders that offered to shuttle us back to our car cause in that case we could ride all the way to the highway and make our ride that much sweeter. after 3-4 hours of the most fun trail I had ever done, we made it to the parking and ended up making other arrangements as our original ride didint make it due to bike failure. My legs have not been that tired in a long time!

Then off to Fruita Colorado! Matt said the riding was suppose to be even better there, and because it was Jeep week in Moab, it was quite busy and not what we wanted.

Upon pitching camp at this place called 18 Road, we ran into Brandon Dyksterhouse! He was about to go ride the race loop for the upcoming race with a few friends, so Matt and I had a quick lunch, hoped on our bikes, and went for a race pace ride! Brandon is fit, and he shreds the downhill. It was a lung burner but so fun.

We joined the same group the next day and went and rode the Kokopelli area. Long tough ride but unreal along the Colorado river.

Then our 2 new friends, Ben Brown, Steamboat ski coach extraordinaire, and Brian Eggleton, Equipment manager, best boot guy in Colorado, changed there plans to stay an extra day and hit Moab again, Porcupine Rim! We had such a sick crew, everyone was shredding. This trail was so sweet, and other then quite a few flats and bike difficulties, it was an epic day.

On and on Matt and I went, accumulating a ridiculous amount of miles on our bikes, exploring a different zone everyday, meeting new riders, trying to convince our legs that they could do it..

When all was said and done, we met some great people, and pretty much enjoyed everyday and maximized our time on the bike.

Special thanks to Matt Monod for being such a great adventure partner. Not only was he a great guy to follow on the trails, but also a great cook. We ate so healthy, Americans were laughing at us. When it came to camping organization and everything, Matt always had a plan and a good idea. It was so inspiring to follow Matt around, he is the best biker I have ever ridden with and definitely brought my riding to a new level. Matt will be competing in Downhill this summer so be sure to cheer him on!

http://www.backdoorbiking.com/#!about1/c1f3q check it!


Now we here! Back to Canmore, its been a beautiful week of biking here, and powder on the weekend! I love spring in Canmore.

I got bit by a dog while on my bike last friday buts its all good. Just a flesh wound and no rabies.

One more week of skiing and a bit of lead in gym training, then the fun begins!

Also, thanks to Tony at CBB for taking Matt and I on some sweet rides, and the help with our bikes in the shop. Check this place out if you ever are in the area and need to go to a bike shop, its the best in Fruita! http://www.backcountrybiker.com

See ya

Welcome to my blog. I always said if i ever made the olympics, I would start a blog. Although i am completely computerly challenged, it was pretty easy. Also, I sometimes do cool things that I want to remember, and funny things I never want to forget. I think the best first blog post I could do at this time, is probably recap my Olympic season, now that I've had some time to digest what all just happened! 

Season of ups and downs. This year was hard, for a few reasons. I was constantly trying too hard, to not try so hard, when all I really had to do was ski. I reforged a long lost friendship with my inside ski that did not help the situation also. We done now though.

That being said, I was pretty stoked on qualifying for the Olympic team through full criteria, and then finishing 15th at the Olympics in Slalom. 

The Olympics.

I still don't really know what to say when asked about them. I still don't know what I think about my Olympic experience. The more time that goes by, the more incredible it seems. I know its all the rage to 'live in the moment' which I usually try to do, but I didn't realize how amazing the 'moment' was, until it was all in the past. I met some great athletes, heard some inspiring stories, and realized how much I want to be successful in ski racing. I am so lucky I get a chance to live my dream, and show the world what I can do on skis. The Olympics were a big deal for my family, especially my parents. They have supported my dream ever since I decided thats what it was, when I was 4 years old. To have them both there, in the stands, and to celebrate with them after my race, was awesome. 

Although I achieved one of my greatest goals of going to the Olympics, I never got the feeling of 'I made it'. As athletes we always want more, we are always trying to get 'there', even though no matter what we are always 'here'. Looking forward to the next four years of getting to the illusive 'there', even if ill always be 'here', the journey to try to get 'there' should be fun. Maybe I'll ask Mikaela Shiffrin how everything is over 'there'.

After the Olympics, I had one more race in Are Sweden. It was a bit of a disaster. Not too sure why, just went how it sometimes goes.

Then I went home to Canmore. I got to finally see Shona and Andrew and Shredlie. Theys the bomb digadee. I told Andrew and Shona I was done racing till nationals cause I needed a break and wasn't stoked on racing. Then Kaylers (Mikaela Tommy) texted me saying that the Noram Finals slalom at COP was a crazy ice rink and impossibly difficult, pretty much made for me. So after throwing in the towel 12 hours prior, I texted my coach Jay to put me in for the second and last slalom the next day! 

I'm writing a lot about this race, cause it was the most fun racing I had all year. I got to see all my friends I hadn't seen in awhile and the vibe at the race was just so cool. I had a sweet first run except for one gate near the finish where I went too straight and dumped some speed. I was happy being 2nd place to fellow world cup American racer, Resi Stiegler, but was a bit too far out to be able to pull any miracles on run 2. After our first run, Kaylers and I went straight to the park and did some full suit, bib on, no shame laps. My second race run went well, I attacked and won the run, but it wasn't enough to win the race. But it was ok cause I was pumped on my skiing. Plus Shona came and watched second run.

 Then Kalyers came and stayed at our place in Canmore and we hiked up our favourite bike trail. Then I raced GS, first time of the year, and did alright! Kaylers won the second GS and scored a 7. Then we partied like rockstars in Calgary. I'm pretty sure that was the most fun race week of my life. 

After recovering from racing and craziness, I drove to Whistler for Nationals, stopped and skied at Revelstoke on the way, I was pretty stoked! 

Whistler was awesome, I won the slalom dual and I was 2nd in the slalom. I also had my career best GS score, tomahucked my way down Harmony Bowl, went mountain biking in Squamish, and generally enjoyed every minute of it.

Then Mitch and I went to Mike Wiegeles Heli-skiing! http://www.mariemichelegagnon.com/2014/04/mike-wiegele-part-2-by-brittany-phelan.html

Short trip home to Tremblant to see my favourite people also known as my siblings. I got in trouble for making #Theface so decided to be serious.

Now off to Moab Utah for some quality time with my bike!

See ya!