World Champs Part II

​My first World Championships was an amazing experience that went by incredibly fast. I was in Seefeld for almost two weeks and it was a whirlwind. The town itself is one of my favorite places, perhaps in some ways it reminds me of Steamboat, at least an Austrian version of Steamboat. Tons of snow, ski resorts, beautiful mountains and an incredible ski culture, all of which are right up my alley. I had a great time being with the whole team for the first time this winter, when we are all together the team atmosphere is awesome, everyone has fun and supports each other! This was also a big event for USA Nordic as it was the first World Championships that we showed up with full teams and a great support staff, and it went wonderfully! It is super fun intermixing with the ski jumpers as we don’t see them that often during the winter, watching them compete and just having familiar faces around at meals and hang time makes it fun! 

Seefeld, AUT / Photo: Ben Berend

​The second week of competitions was all located in Seefeld, the jump hill was actually a short run from our hotel. The jumping facility is located right next to the cross country venue which was very convenient. Right off the bat the jumping was better and much more fun on the hill in Seefeld. The number of spectators at every event was incredible, it seemed as though each event was close to being sold out. Sitting at the top of the jump before the competition it was awesome to see the spectator section pretty much full and very lively. I had a solid jump, one of my better ones the last few weeks which I was super happy with. Having a massive crowd cheering after your jump is quite fun as well! The race did not go very well for me, it was tough conditions and I wasn’t as primed as I had hoped. It was tough to swallow but I was able to look at the positive side from the day (my jumping performance at the biggest event of the year). Check out some photos below. 

​After our events I was able to spend some great time with friends and family who had made the trip to watch. It is fun being able to show my family a little bit more about a place that I spend a decent amount of time in. I was also able to watch some ski jumping teammates compete in a super tough competition. Before we left on the final day World Championships concluded with the 50km Cross Country race. It’s an incredibly impressive race to watch, my teammates and I ventured out on course and had fun watching amidst the crowd. It was fun to watch and especially cool to see in person as I rarely get to watch an event like that live.  After World Champs we had a few days off before we were off to the next competition. I am currently in Nizhny Tagil, Russia where I will be competing in a three day Continental Cup weekend. I am super pumped as the team I came here with (Ben, Jared, Grant and myself) have tons of fun and it is a country that I have never been to! If you want to check results before I post next click here, otherwise stay tuned! 

Awesome crowd during the jumping competition / PC: Ben Berend