Going Full Swing into Fall

​The end of Summer rolled right into Fall and I have now been in Europe for more than a month, time has flown by. Right after my last update the Summer Grand Prix series started, it was a quick week of competitions with lots of travel and a packed schedule. I had my best result the first weekend of competition in Oberwiesenthal, GER, sking from 40th after jumping up to 34th overall! (Full Results here) The rest of the week was a whirlwind with two different venues ending in Oberstdorf, GER an incredible town. Due to a mid-week food poisoning that sucked up a substantial amount of energy I wasn’t quite feeling myself. However, I was able to take a step in the right direction on the jump hill and gain a tremendous amount of experience that week as a whole. It was really good to check in with the top level of the sport to see where I am at and gain more motivation to get there. The day after the competitions the group of us who would be staying in Europe for the majority of Fall had a great training session on the jump hills in Oberstorf and then hiked to the top of the Nebelhorn, one of the highest mountains in the area! Check out some of the best photos from the week of Summer Grand Prix competitions and our adventure to the top of the Nebelhorn! 

​We then drove to our European home here in Planica, SLO, a place that now truly feels like home. I know I say this every time I come here but with the amount of time I have spent here in the past two years and the way we are welcomed makes it feel like home. This year five of us (myself, Ben Berend, Ben Loomis, Adam Loomis, Grant Andrews) chose to spend the majority of Fall in EU, our time here would not be nearly as productive or good for our mental health if we didn’t have such a great apartment complex to stay at along with our set up as a whole. I am able to get into such a productive training atmosphere while staying mentally fresh and focused, a wonderful combo for one of the biggest training blocks of the year. My time here so far has been full of productive days on the ski jumps and great training sessions. We chose to go on a special adventure this past weekend, setting out to conquer Triglav, this highest peak in Slovenia. It is a major landmark in Slovenia, we are now finding out that reaching its peak means we could now become true Slovenians. I put together a little video of our adventure that day, check it out below along with more photos of my time in Planica so far!