Two weeks ago, I had an unfortunate incident on a rope swing where I shattered the middle joint in my left ring finger. I had to have surgery, and Dr. Viola (my surgeon) did an amazing job patching it up with 5 screws and a bone graft from my wrist. Although my recovery is going quickly now, I was extremely disappointed to be sidelined by a finger injury. Our team (US Freestyle Moguls) had a one week jump camp up in Mt. Hood, Oregon and I wasn't able to attend.
Despite my misfortune, this is only a minor setback and I'm keeping my head high. I worked extra hard in the gym and was also able to get a large portion of my schoolwork done. Although my senior year hasn't yet started, my school (The Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy) has been helping me get ahead since I will miss the first month of school due to a training camp in Australia!
I'm sitting in LAX Airport at the moment, waiting to board my flight to Sydney, Australia. I can't wait to be back on snow training a full mogul course in Perisher! Along with the US National Team, France, Canada, Japan, China, Australia and several regional teams will be training on the same venue as us. They have lots of snow and I've heard Toppa's Dream (the name of the course) is in awesome shape. By the end of the camp, I plan to be training a competition-ready run. That being said, my finger isn't 100% so I will be skiing with a splint that is molded to my ski pole to take extra precautions. However, I'm feeling good and beyond ready to be skiing again!
Keep an eye out for photos and videos to come from the land down under. :)