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Happy New Year!
I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and is ready for 2026 to begin. I’m writing to you from beautiful Winterberg, Germany — also known as the “Dutch Alps.” It’s only –3°C here, but the wet cold is very different from the dry Alberta cold I’m used to!
A quick recap since racing in Norway: the race went okay overall. Our pushing was solid — 8th fastest in the first run and 11th in the second. The second run came with a little extra excitement when my pilot forgot to get one of her legs into the sled after the push 😅. Everything worked out just fine, but it was definitely a new experience for me!
After Norway, I "enjoyed" the long drive across Norway and Sweden to the ferry. We had four girls sharing one cabin — two bunk beds, one bathroom, and very little airflow. One of my teammates had “sea legs” for days afterward… but we made it safely to Latvia.
In Latvia, different brakemen rotated through the race lineup, so I had a solid week of training. The team performed well, but we know we still need to step it up to be more competitive. After Latvia, I headed to Germany for Christmas.
Now I’m back in Winterberg and once again got the call-up to race this weekend. This time I’ll be racing with Melissa, the only pilot I hadn’t yet competed with. Olympic selection still hasn’t happened, as the team continues to test different brakemen with different pilots to find the strongest pairings.
We’re currently battling with Switzerland to see which country will qualify a third sled for the Olympics. The Swiss are ahead of us at the moment, so hopefully we can put together a strong race this weekend and earn some important points as we head into the second half of the season.
Racing is this Sunday, and thankfully it starts a little later than usual — 11:30 a.m. CET.
After Winterberg, we’ll drive to St. Moritz, which I’ve heard is absolutely beautiful. We might stand out a bit in our bobsleigh gear… possibly a little underdressed for the scene!
Overall, the body is feeling okay. There are definitely moments when I question if I’m getting too old for sport — usually when I’m being tossed around in the back of the sled in the cold — but then I remember how much I love it and that there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.
So first things first: push as hard and as fast as I can this Sunday and see where we land. Control what I can control.
Until my next email, take care and again Happy New Year!
