A Successful First Go-around in Erzurum

The jumps in Erzurum - lit up as always. The light on the top changes from blue to red and purple as well.

The main goal for our trip to Turkey was to get a good feel for the jumps and ski trails, and be ready to be 100% on our game when we come back for World Juniors.   I would say as a team we all did that. I'm excited to be coming be in month and a half!

Erzurum was the next stop on the Continental Cup circuit.  I kept the good results coming both days.  Saturday especially, I had a good jump, which put me in 23rd, and I skied up to 5th place, just a handful of seconds off the podium.  Sunday I didn't have as great of a jump, but I skied another strong race.  Michael Ward jumped to 29th, so we skied together a lot of the race, and I ended up 11th and Michael 13th.   I was pretty stoked about my ski times with the 2nd time rank both days. Sunday I was only 5 seconds off of the fastest time, so I guess I've got a new goal to shoot for. 

Looking out my hotel room window.

The view from behind the ski jumps on a nice smog free day.

Some things were definitely a challenge, like not having a van and relying on the organizers to bus us around.  The cross country course was almost an hour away so that bus ride was always a bit of a drag.  On the other hand, they definitely made a big deal out of the competition.  Typically the awards are just a quick ceremony for the top 6 after the race with medals for the podium, but in Erzurum they held a flower ceremony each day and a final awards ceremony in the city center the last night.

After the flower ceremony for the top 6 on Saturday.

Myself, far left, at the downtown ceremony.