I was sad to leave Mora after Vasaloppet, but the moment I arrived in Switzerland and saw the Swiss Alps, the new adventure excitement took over pretty quickly. For this race I was lucky to be set up to stay with my Swiss friend Elena, who I went to school with in Rochester, and her father for the week. Katie Feldman, from the Sun Valley Gold Team also joined me for this week, and it was fun to arrive in another country with a travel partner.
On the scenic Rhaetian railway to the Engadine
The view from our little apartment in St. Moritz
The Engadin valley is astonishing, and in the days before the race, our host Roberto (a connection from growing up Rochester) got us where we needed to be to experience the best of it. While I should have rested more after Vasaloppet, there was some gorgeous skiing to be done, and it had to be done by somebody. Time passed too fast before the race, and there was still so much left that I wanted to do there by the time the race came around.
Good times pre-race
The pre-race logistics seemed even more controlled again this time. I woke up very early to get to the start and put my skis at the top of my wave so I could ski into the elite wave immediately (a tough call at 5am, but a good one, because wave 1 was evidently not the wave I should have started in). I found a warm building, which was a huge upgrade from freezing outside at Vasaloppet, and did a warmup on foot.
Thank goodness I somehow had the sense to give myself a lot of time to get to the start after warmup. This is uncharacteristic of me, and going against my nature saved me from missing the start. I basically had to run a few km just to drop my bag off and get back to the start pen, where I literally pushed and shoved my way to my skis.
I wanted to include this picture because it's just funny. We kind of got pressured into taking this at bib pickup because we were the only ones there midweek, and the Pontresina tourism board people wanted us to hit up their photo booth. Bun success!
The start went off surprisingly relaxed. I had been prepared for the ultimate chaotic experience of the year, with a super fast start, nowhere to actually skate, ski and pole carnage, maybe being stabbed by a few pole tips, and more. Instead I just skied right into the top of the field where I wanted to be, and rode the race across the lakes. Part of how well this went might be attributed to the fact that I actually got a warmup in for the first time in many races (Wow! Who knew this helped?). The top guys, including absolute legend Dario Cologna kept the pace very reasonable. We were moving fast and comfortable, but I could also feel that any extra effort I put in was dangerous for me given the altitude and lasting Vasaloppet fatigue. I skied conservatively because of this, and because I was largely unfamiliar with the course, which I knew featured at least one substantial climb to Pontresina.
Leading a pack side by side with Katie, just after half-way through the race.
The chaos really started at the base of this climb. The second we came off the lake and hit uphill terrain, we collided with the Women's elite field. Everyone was passing everyone, the trail split into a braided series of intersections and choose-your-own adventure style skiing, the top guys made their move, and I had no idea where I was or how I was doing. The climb separated everyone into packs, and by Mattress Hill I was leading a pack with a few other skiers.
Mattress Hill deserves an extra bit of elaboration. I believe it is so called because people put mattresses up on the tress to keep skiers from crashing into them. I was going fast enough that I didn't see mattresses, but I hope they were there. We charged completely blind into this huge descent through (and I mean through) the trees, which was like doing a giant slalom race with a hundred other people on XC skis while spectators are milling about the trees too yelling at you in various Swiss dialects. It was epic.
After this descent into Pontresina, the race became more of a race. The sun came out and lit up the whole valley as we cruised through tight streets that had been filled with snow just for the race and open meadows. I caught up to Katie, and we actually ended up skiing together more or les through the finish. My pack made me lead a lot, and finally passed me when I hit an energy wall with about 10km to go. It definitely felt like fatigue from Vasaloppet, and I'm glad it set in that late, to be honest. I made a pretty good rally at the finish to grab a couple places, and finished with my legs cramping so hard I had to fully support myself on my poles.
The finish was a total party. Katie and I got some incredible Swiss-German Bratwurst and waited for our hosts Elena and Roberto to finish. The rest of the day felt rushed and difficult packing up getting back to Zurich. Leaving the Engadine was a bummer, but I was also excited to explore some of Zurich the next day before heading to Norway.
Our whole crew after the race, waiting for the ski train to take us back to food in St. Moritz
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