I’ve waited almost my entire life until I was old enough to qualify for Nordic Junior Nationals and represent the Rocky Mountains. I have always gazed longingly at the older skiers donning the special red and black uniforms, training with all my heart and hungry for my time to come. And it did- here I am racing for the second year in a row alongside my Colorado teammates including five other Aspenites. It’s not often that the best Nordic skiers from around the country gather not just to race, but to bond together. Junior Nationals, though, gives student athletes an unbelievable opportunity to race against other skiers and to represent their regions.

We marched down the streets of Cable, Wisconsin, taking in the various teams and holding our flag high to kick the racing week off with the opening ceremonies. Though the sun was just setting beneath the miles of pine trees, the air was humid and warm. I checked out the competition and saw the huge variety of people standing around me. Blue hair, tall or skinny, stubby or young, they were all so unique, but here for the same exact reason as me. After 10 months of hard training, we had made it here. We had all gone through more than 300 hours of running, roller skiing, weights and skiing. It was amazing to think that only here, you could be recognized for not just your good results but the effort you put in no matter how your races go here. At Junior Nationals, Nordic isn’t some agro nerd activity – it’s actually cool to be a cross country skier. We weren’t skiing for the results, but for the pure love of the sport and how sense of accomplishment.

So the following day, one of four races began – as I lined up at the interval start behind a New England and in front of an InterMountain girl, I decided that nordic skiing was one of the most unrecognized sports there is, not just in our valley but across the US. I asked myself, do people at AHS even realize that right now four of their students are racing in a national competition? It’s a huge honor for small town kids like us to race against some of the best skiers in America and to participate in such a different event compared to our homely Colorado races.

The last night, I sat at the awards banquet, watching people get standing ovations for medals and their accomplishments over the week. We all knew the amount of effort and work each other had put into not only podium, but to make it to JNs.  I savored my last moments of being recognized just for being a Nordic skier, because I knew after this night it would not be until next year I could have such a memorable experience.