AST Athlete Journal: Caleb Brooks
Hello everybody! My name is Caleb Brooks, and this is my second athlete journal of the season. So far this year, the biggest challenges have been NorAms and handing in the athlete journals on time.This new year has been amazing, starting off with some NorAms down in Vermont. This year’s NorAm circuit has been very challenging, with multiple university racers participating. There were 15+ guys within 10 points. It was crazy! The snow conditions were very good for the top guys, but once you reached bib 107, the conditions were really bumpy. My goggles were almost vibrating off my face while skiing down. Once the Burke races were done, we headed to Whiteface, New York. On our way there, we didn’t know about the ferry, and we showed up minutes before the last ferry of the day. It was a relief that we didn’t have to take the long way around the lake. Our time in Lake Placid was short but enjoyable, with bunk beds in the room all the boys were cozied up. After these race series, Aidan and I flew home for a bit of rest and training. Gered headed out to Europe to represent Canada at the 2024 World Juniors held in France.
When we came home, we were welcomed by freezing temperatures. It was a very drastic change. At the end of the day, I will always prefer the -40 over the +3 and rain anytime. After a couple days off, it was time to train again. The team headed out to Pano to train for a week. We were blessed with bluebird days and perfect snow conditions. During our time in Pano, we went skating on the lake and hung out as a crew.
After that, the team had a very successful couple weeks of racing In Kimberly and Pano. Here’s some of the highlights! Polly took the W in the night SL, Zoe came in second. I got silver in the night SL. Aiden won the DH. Zoe and I shared the W on one of the GS days. We also had Eva and Mikayla show off their speed. Mikayla coming in 2nd in the SG and Eva winning the first run of the GS. It’s been a good few weeks for the team. We are now resting before we head out East for some more NorAms.
This year has been very enjoyable; the PSO teams are close, and we are all getting along. The team has a good vibe and always has fun whenever we are together. I’d like to thank our sponsors. Without you guys, none of this would be possible. You guys are awesome. So thank you to Sporting Life, Karbon, GMC Dealers of Alberta, and Genstar.
