Here We Go!

Well hi! My name is Paige. I'm a nordic skier, and this is my blog.

This week, I officially accepted a spot on the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation's Gold Team, which means that in June, I'll be moving out to Sun Valley, Idaho to live, train, and race for an incredible program full of talented and dynamic skiers and coaches.

In case you don't know what Sun Valley looks like, here's a sneak peek.

"Excited" is a massive understatement.

A few people have asked me why I'm choosing to take the leap and move across the country and throw my entire being into becoming a professional skier.  This is definitely not a decision I've taken lightly, trust me.  Skiing itself comes with commitment, risks, and sacrifices, and to be completely honest, I've spent a lot of my college career feeling torn and caught between the ski world and "real" world. And I'm not going to lie, at a few points in the past four years I definitely found myself waiting for the day when I didn't have to put training over friends, classes, and college.

But sometime around the beginning of the season this year, I realized just how much skiing is ingrained into who I have become as a person. I realized I wasn't ready to leave the ski world, but I also wasn't ready to take another role in it either. The sport wouldn't be able to function without coaches, wax techs, supporters, and sponsors and all of the work they do, but being a ski racer is what I love. It's what drives me. I thrive on the hard work, the atmosphere, the competition, the pressure, and the racing itself.  I love pushing myself to the mental and physical limits and being able to see what I can do. The ability to challenge myself each and every day and yet come out brilliantly happy afterward proves to me that the sacrifices are worth it. Now is the time to see where I can take this sport.

The chance to ski for Sun Valley's Gold Team is, in my opinion, the opportunity of the lifetime. They are everything I want in a program and team. The entire community's love for skiing runs deep, and I cannot wait to work with them.

Graduation is quickly sneaking up on us at St. Olaf, and it will be a bittersweet few weeks left here in Minnesota. It's going to be hard to leave my friends and family, but this is going to be a crazy adventure, and I couldn't be happier.

"Anything that gets your blood racing is probably worth doing."

[Hunter S. Thompson]