Lina Farra Reports From Norway

Team Soldier Hollow had it's first International race results (as far as I know) last week! Below is a report from Lina on her trip to Norway: 

My dad bought me a ticket to Norway since he was going for a Para World cup races. Before we went to the World Cup races we got to spend a few days with the U.S. Ski Team; staying at their hotel, skiing at Holmenkollen with them, and just hanging out by the fire. We got to go classic skiing with Liz Stephen, Jessie Diggins, and Rosie Brennan at Holmenkollen, which was a really cool experience, especially at such a famous landmark. 

Then we went to the Drammen World Cup Sprint finals and got coaches bibs from the U.S coaches so we could stand inside the fence, not just on the outsides of the course. It was really special to hear the gun go off and have the athletes kicking snow up into my face and remember that I would normally be watching this on Youtube a few thousand miles away! 

His athletes arrived in Oslo, and we drove about 7 hours North up to Surnadal, where the World Cup races are being held. There was a junior ski race being held near-by, and my dad signed me up for it. The race was a one-day pursuit where we did a classic sprint qualifier and then a skate 2k. In Norway you have to be a part of a club in order to participate in a race, so we had to buy a Norwegian license & rent a timing chip for the day. In the qualifier I got 4th, which put me out of the bonus seconds range, but in the skate race I made up most of the 20 seconds and had the fastest time up to the top of the alpine hill, putting me in 2nd. 

At the awards ceremony they gave out light-up running bands and mugs as the prizes instead of medals, which I thought was really cool for a citizens race. I had lots of fun that day, and made friends with a Norwegian girl my age. 

The rest of this week I have been skiing everyday, including a few epic crust cruising days where we skied just about everywhere, and one really cool ski to the top of a mtn where the ocean Fjords and there is a trail register to sign and a small cabin where you can make a fire and have lunch. When not skiing, I have been helping out at the para races each day, and eating lots of Norwegian waffles! I am having great fun in Norway, and I hope to be able to ski at a few more places before we head back to sunny Utah!