Competitive AVSC athletes are faced with tough decisions throughout the holidays—taking time off for themselves over their breaks or fully committing themselves to their sports throughout the holidays.

When Hanna Mass, senior and AVSC alpine ski racer, faces conflicts between ski engagements over her holiday engagements, her method of choosing between the two consists of trying to fit in both first, and, if unable to do that, she simply prioritizes.

“The thing that influences me whether or not to attend a ski related event over other plans, is the importance. Everything depends on how important the race is whether or not I prioritize over other plans,” Mass said.

AVSC’s Chelsea Moore has also experienced this throughout her racing career.

“I usually go to New York City with my family over Thanksgiving break, but I couldn’t this year because of Nordic,” Moore said.

This year Moore and nine others traveled to West Yellowstone, Montana, for a Nordic competition that spanned the entire Thanksgiving break. She attended the competition in West Yellowstone instead of traveling with her family because she said that this race was an important race to attend because people from all over the country would be there.

“Even though I was in West Yellowstone on Thanksgiving, I still had a Thanksgiving. My team and I made a dinner, and it was really fun. I mean it wasn’t what I am used to, but I enjoyed it just as much as my usual,” Moore said.

The Nordic team will have training and racing opportunities all throughout winter break, and athletes will have to decide if they want to choose holidays over their sport.

“I will train probably almost every day over break. I might even have practice for a couple hours on Christmas. This makes it a little bit harder to make plans with my friends, but I do it for the love of skiing and so do my teammates,” Moore said.

AVSC’s alpine ski team athletes will also have to commit a majority of their time towards skiing throughout their winter breaks. But even with all of the skiing commitments, Mass will prioritize and work with her skiing interferences.

“I will have a race in Steamboat and lots of training over winter break, so the ski schedule does make it harder to have time to hang out with friends and family, but I try to make it work and make time for both,” Mass said.

While it sounds glamorous to be traveling all over the country, AVSC athletes remind us that training is work, not vacation.

“AVSC athletes are known for missing a lot of school because of all the traveling we have to do, but what no one realizes is what are traveling means for us. Everybody forgets that are trips aren’t just vacations,” Moore said. “They are necessary races to attend to help us become better and hopefully help us make it a reality to ski in college. And a lot of our training and racing happens to fall over holidays, but that is just a part of our sport.”