AST Athlete Journal: Polly Lang

Hello Everyone!!

It feels like it’s been forever since I last checked in with everyone and a lot has gone down. The team has been performing excellently across North America this season. Success in the ski world really does take a village and we have had so much support this year so I’d like to start my athlete journal by recognizing these people and organizations. The team sponsors; GMC Dealers of Alberta, Karbon Sports, Sporting Life and Genstar, My parents, coaches and teammates have all helped my season run as smoothly as possible and have provided a solid support system, which is super important in this sport. A huge thank you is due to all the volunteers and parents who show up in less-than-ideal conditions and work tirelessly to make sure the races run as planned. Although your efforts can be overshadowed by the main race my team and I are appreciative of all the hard work.

Although east skiing gets a lot of slack it has to be said I always enjoy my trips to eastern Canada. They put on some great races on super fun hills with some great snow (well maybe only great in the eyes of racers). After a somewhat rough series in Pano, I was a little nervous about heading into a field with lots of depth and lacked confidence. However in training before the races I was able to build confidence and remember that I am capable of being competitive. I had a really solid series in Bromont and Owls head, the first day of GS I was somewhat disappointed in my skiing but I managed to turn it around for the second. I felt like I finally saw some good GS racing that replicates my training. The slalom also went well for me, I found my way onto the podium on both days as well as new personal best FIS scores. Equally as thrilling the race was all wrapped up by 1:00 so we had lots of time to make dinner, tune and lay in bed for a little longer than we should. I have taken up the hobby of painting, I travel with a set of watercolour paints. Although I don’t consider myself to be very talented at art I am finding it a nice distraction from racing and to let myself relax a little in the evening.

We are currently in the mountainous Collingwood. Collingwood is always a cool place to be as there is a very different ski culture than out west. A big shoutout to the Vogel family for hosting me at their house for this block. Eva and I started our Ontario block with a single GS race at the Georgian Peaks, I unfortunately did not finish but it was a beautiful day and was nice to watch some GS racing on Noram hill. Zoe and Mik joined us for an off-day where we painted pottery. This was a fun activity as a team however what was meant to be a relaxing activity turned somewhat stressful as our perfectionist sides took over.

After a rest day, we headed to Devils Glen Country Club to start our Noram Series. Devils Glen is a great place to have a Noram. The race run is very steep and the surface was phenomenal. There was a lot of hospitality and spectators, Devils Glen showed a lot of support for the women’s noram circuit. I had some solid turns, scored noram points on both days and got my first Noram top 20. I am looking forward to going back to the peaks and seeing what I can do in the GS. After the GS we are headed back west for the rest of the season.

Thanks everyone for reading and I hope everyone is enjoying their season so far!