Now that it is the official end to my first season in the US Telemark Ski Team, I’ve had some time to review and think about my past season and realize what my recent successes are due to.

Most recently, I have returned from the 2013 US Nationals with 4th and 5th place finishes in the Classic, a 2nd place finish in the Sprint Classic and 3rd place finishes in both the Parallel Sprint and the Parallel Sprint Qualifier. This placed me on the podium-receiving a bronze medal (cowbell) for National Champion. Also this past season I placed 2nd in both of Gunstock’s GS races.

Yet, I have realized that none of this would have been possible without my sponsors. So this is a HUGE shout-out to Access Sports Medicine and Orthepeadics for their support which made it possible for me to attend this year’s Nationals in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Also to Fischer Sports who provided me with my two pairs of trusted (and fast) 165 GS skis. And last, but certainly not least, thank you to the Waterville Valley foundation for their scholarship.

Along with my sponsors, it is the people that surround me at each of these races that keep me going-drive me to do better. In particular, this year’s US Nationals, where I watched my team blow through gates with determination on their faces, launch themselves off jumps, fall and slide 20 feet down the hill, get up and hike back up to the gate. I watched my team skate with tears in their eyes until they collapsed in the finish. These are the same skiers that pushed me to the end. They drove me. As I watched team members not be able to finish-it made me want to finish more.

And so now at the end of the season, I have realized that it didn’t matter how hard I skied in my free time, how far I hurled myself off a jump or how much I could glide in each skate stroke: It mattered that I had the support of my friends, family, sponsors, team and everyone in the middle.

So I leave you with this… ‘Live to yell at the team, live to show that you care, live to make sure they’re pumped, live to jump the highest, yell the loudest, live to cheer them to the end.’