ADAM LOOMIS
  • Home
  • Blogs
  • My Story
  • Goals
  • Results
  • Support


 ​Adam Loomis

USA Nordic Combined

Just In  Time - On Snow

11/19/2014

0 Comments

 
For a while it seemed that winter was never coming.  No need to worry, however, the weather turned from the Indian summer just in time. 

My 4 year streak of skiing in October came to a close, but we did get a few inches of snow the first couple days of November.  It was enough for one long ski on the golf course.  That snow didn't last long, and for a while the warmth and sunshine that followed had no end in sight.  

Fortunately we got some of the arctic air last week and the Utah Olympic Park fired up the snow guns.  It's amazing how quickly they can get the hills going when the weather's right.  We weren't planning on jumping last week anyway.  We took our first jumps on Monday morning, the first day the hill was open, and the same day that Dave wrote jumping? into the plan four weeks ago. Funny how well things work out.  

Last week we focused on intensity: intervals every day, plus one time trial.  We spent a lot of time roller skiing on the treadmill, which always makes for tough workouts, but I think it's really beneficial.  Friday night mother nature gave us a few more inches of white gold, and we capped off the week with an interval session on snow.  

Whitepine Skiing from Adam Loomis on Vimeo.

If you've been reading my blog the past month you'll know about our Swiss "teammate" Tim Hug.  He decided to forgo the typical cold and dark preseason training in Finland.  As nice as the sunshine was, I'm sure Tim was getting as anxious for snow as we were.  
Picture
Tim Hug skiing at Whitepine. Photo: Swiss Nordic Combined Team.
Here's some photos from jumping today.
Picture
Martin catching me in the warm up.
Picture
Picture
Taylor was happy to be jumping.
Picture
Now's it time for packing!  We leave Saturday for Finland.  I'll be overseas until Christmas week, which I'll spend at home, and then presumably I'll fly back to Europe from there.  This means that I'm packing now for roughly two months.  To make matters more complicated, when I return to Park City in January, I'll be living in a new house - so I've got to get most of my stuff moved out before I leave.  Luckily packing is one skill that I've developed over the years.  

Until next time.  Thanks for reading.   
0 Comments

Culture and Community

11/3/2014

0 Comments

 
Last trip, at a team meeting in Switzerland, our coach Dave Jarrett brought up the idea of culture.  Usually, Dave is more likely to work through a spreadsheet than philosophize, so I’ll admit I was a little surprised. He shared a PowerPoint that presented culture as one of the most important factors in continuing success for any team or business.  A consulting company created this presentation for USSA this spring, but the ideas can be applied just as easily at our sport alone.

In a room filled with a good portion of the sport of Nordic Combined in the US, DJ asked, “What’s our culture, as a sport and as a community?”  “How do others see us, and how do we want to be viewed?” We were all given the chance to internalize this, and Billy contributed the bulk of the discussion.  It goes without saying that Bill is the best one to answer this; more than anyone, he’s been the face of US Nordic Combined for years. 

US NC started to change back in the early 90’s, when Dave was competing and the likes of Bill, Todd and Johnny were just coming onto the scene.  Back then, a top-20 in a World Cup felt like a win.  Now, that’s a great stepping-stone, but as an end-goal, that’s not good enough, our guys decided. 

You all know how the story ended up – but the road there is often overlooked.  To become the best, our guys redefined their approach, took some risks, trained smarter, and trained harder than anyone else.  From one side of the story, the culmination of this, the big payout, was Vancouver.  But’s its even harder to stay on top than to get there, as Dave put it and learned over the next couple seasons. 

On the other hand, the essential result from this change in attitude 20 years ago wasn’t a collection of gold, silver and bronze medals.  The real upshot is the community that these guys helped created (and you, reading this, are most likely a part of).  It is a small group of people scattered across the entire US, not to mention our fans and staff as far away as Sapporo, Slovenia, Oslo and Cologne.  This is a community that supports us, the athletes.  And it’s a community that we share our stories of struggles, tears, triumphs and laughs with.  It’s a community that we embrace wholeheartedly and without egos. 

And I think we already proved that we have a culture of tenacity.  Collectively, we’ve grown tighter than ever over the past few months.  USA Nordic Combined is now tied in with USA Ski Jumping, finding new sponsors and working creatively with USSA.  In a few short months, we’ve proven to be a tough, tight-knit group, and our supporters have been even stauncher in the face of turmoil.  Furthermore, every year, in our fall Drive for 25, our community shows its great generosity.

Dave left us with the reality of the moment: here in this room, we have the faces of US Nordic Combined, current and future. How do we want to continue the culture of sharing, giving, growing, and excellence?  It’s no small task, but if we do, 15, 20 years from now, some of us could be in a room much like that one, with new faces, new hopes, and the next generations of skiers.

We could do what we do only for ourselves; after all, we’re individual sport athletes.  But, even better, we can take part in the sport for the group, the future, and the life of our community.  That’s what I took away from this meeting.

This was an important revelation for me. We all share in the success of our group, and I’m proud to be able to ski for much more than just myself.  By acting for of the greater community of US Nordic Combined, ski jumping, and skiing in general, I have a bigger foundation to represent and a much greater sense of purpose.

Picture
0 Comments

    Where am I?
    ​
    Park City, UT


    Tweets by @skiloomis

    MAKE A DIFFERENCE!


    If you want to help support my dreams, you can contribute directly to offset my expenses for this upcoming season.​
    Donate directly or visit my Rally Me page.

    Picture
    To support the team - Click below to help out and spread the word!
    ​USANS DONATIONS

    Picture

    RELATED:

    USA Nordic on Facebook

    USANordic.org

    ​​

    Teammates
    ​
    Ben Berend
    Bryan Fletcher
    Taylor Fletcher
    ​Jasper Good

    Sponsors

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Blogs
  • My Story
  • Goals
  • Results
  • Support