Trip Report: Junior Worlds Snowboard in the Czech Republic
Next Adventure Ambassador Sierra Clasen recently competed in the Czech Republic at Junior Worlds. Here’s what she had to say about the experience.
Three weeks ago, I would have never seen myself sitting in a small European cafe using google translate just to order my meal; and yet there I was. Being from a family that was never much for traveling, the farthest I had ever gone was Colorado. Little did I know the start of this year had a curveball to throw me. In the midst of normal mid-season training and schooling, I got a shocking email, an email that told me I had been invited to go to the Czech Republic to represent the USA at Junior Worlds.
My first thought was "There's been some sort of mistake" as this had always been my ultimate dream. Since next year I would be too old, this year was my last chance to go to junior worlds. Sure enough there had been no mistake, instead, I pulled some sort of miracle as a first-year FIS racing rookie who got invited to junior worlds. Now traveling to the Czech Republic was no simple matter, especially because I had to get a passport expedited just to get to go! And let me tell you, the two-hour flight to Colorado is nothing compared to what I was about to endure.
Ten. Long. Hours. On a plane over the Atlantic. I don't even like trains, much less planes. Thankfully I made it without losing my mind, and was instantly greeted by a language I didn't know and a currency I didn't understand. Now remember, I'm no traveler, I've never even spoken to someone who doesn't speak English. After leaving the airport and driving two hours to a small town named Jachymov, the number of people who knew English only went down. This was a recurring theme for the week. In fact, it's one of my favorite things about the whole trip. Having to find new ways to communicate and get through the day was a new thing to me. Something about it was fun, maybe inconveniencing, but it made it a unique experience that I will never forget.
Not only were the number of English speaking people in Jachymov little to none, but half way through the week we also found out it was best known for the radiation spa across the street from our hotel. It was almost eerie really, as we started to notice more and more the signs for radiation baths all over town we decided to look it up! To our surprise, Jachymov is the number one place to go to take a radiation bath, which has been known to help arthritis. While looking it up we also found out that the reason for the special spa across the street was because Jachymov used to be home to the biggest radium and uranium mine in the world, which we should have known since the hotel next door was named "Radium Palace". Anyways supposedly it leaked into the water and they found out it was good to bathe in, sounds sketchy to me but okay. I'm sure they fixed the radiation in the water issue but nonetheless, I was a little more than ecstatic to not be glowing when I got back home. The whole radiation thing became an ongoing joke for the week, it was just one more thing that made the experience so unique and memorable; I'm very glad about that.
As for the mountain where we rode, it wasn't much of a mountain, more of a hill. A flat hill. This made the course there unique, like nothing I had never seen before. I'm used to Colorado BX Courses, steep and fast. At the Bozi Dar resort this was not the case. The flat hill made for a flat course where every bit of speed mattered. At first glance this terrified me, I knew nothing of the sorts. I didn't know how to maneuver rollers even, and there was like 30! Afterwards however, I am beyond glad that the course was the way it was. I learned more on that course than I have in all my years of being coached on hood. It was helpful that the weather was pretty mellow too. The first few days were sunny and warm, some of the later days it got cloudy but hardly dipped below freezing. To my relief, the snow at Bozi dar was also very similar to Mount Hood snow, corny. I was happy to be in a comfortable environment, with familiar snow and chill weather.
I was lucky enough to be competing alongside four other amazing girls and six other guys from the US, which made it more comfortable and less stressful, despite competing against women who have years of experience on me and compete on world level events all the time. The amount I learned from my coaches and wax tech was priceless. (Peep the picture of us learning how to choose a wax based on temp and snow texture by the world level wax tech) I learned so much that I got to come home and teach some of it to my own coach.
Our last day in the Czech Republic, we got to explore the city of Prague before getting some rest to fly out in the morning. We got to walk the old town part of the city where there were tall majestic buildings over 7 centuries old! First seeing the castle-like buildings we were all absolutely awestruck. We all agreed that we were beyond grateful to get the chance to see the city the last night before we left the Czech Republic.
In the morning, we all took the grueling 12-hour flight straight to Colorado for yet another week of competition at Ski Cooper! I was overjoyed to get the opportunity and experience I did going to the Czech Republic for Junior Worlds and I would do it again in a heartbeat, no matter where in the world I were going! But in the end, I was happy to be back where everyone speaks English and all the water is flat.
Three weeks ago, I would have never seen myself sitting in a small European cafe using google translate just to order my meal; and yet there I was. Being from a family that was never much for traveling, the farthest I had ever gone was Colorado. Little did I know the start of this year had a curveball to throw me. In the midst of normal mid-season training and schooling, I got a shocking email, an email that told me I had been invited to go to the Czech Republic to represent the USA at Junior Worlds.
My first thought was "There's been some sort of mistake" as this had always been my ultimate dream. Since next year I would be too old, this year was my last chance to go to junior worlds. Sure enough there had been no mistake, instead, I pulled some sort of miracle as a first-year FIS racing rookie who got invited to junior worlds. Now traveling to the Czech Republic was no simple matter, especially because I had to get a passport expedited just to get to go! And let me tell you, the two-hour flight to Colorado is nothing compared to what I was about to endure.
Ten. Long. Hours. On a plane over the Atlantic. I don't even like trains, much less planes. Thankfully I made it without losing my mind, and was instantly greeted by a language I didn't know and a currency I didn't understand. Now remember, I'm no traveler, I've never even spoken to someone who doesn't speak English. After leaving the airport and driving two hours to a small town named Jachymov, the number of people who knew English only went down. This was a recurring theme for the week. In fact, it's one of my favorite things about the whole trip. Having to find new ways to communicate and get through the day was a new thing to me. Something about it was fun, maybe inconveniencing, but it made it a unique experience that I will never forget.
Not only were the number of English speaking people in Jachymov little to none, but half way through the week we also found out it was best known for the radiation spa across the street from our hotel. It was almost eerie really, as we started to notice more and more the signs for radiation baths all over town we decided to look it up! To our surprise, Jachymov is the number one place to go to take a radiation bath, which has been known to help arthritis. While looking it up we also found out that the reason for the special spa across the street was because Jachymov used to be home to the biggest radium and uranium mine in the world, which we should have known since the hotel next door was named "Radium Palace". Anyways supposedly it leaked into the water and they found out it was good to bathe in, sounds sketchy to me but okay. I'm sure they fixed the radiation in the water issue but nonetheless, I was a little more than ecstatic to not be glowing when I got back home. The whole radiation thing became an ongoing joke for the week, it was just one more thing that made the experience so unique and memorable; I'm very glad about that.
As for the mountain where we rode, it wasn't much of a mountain, more of a hill. A flat hill. This made the course there unique, like nothing I had never seen before. I'm used to Colorado BX Courses, steep and fast. At the Bozi Dar resort this was not the case. The flat hill made for a flat course where every bit of speed mattered. At first glance this terrified me, I knew nothing of the sorts. I didn't know how to maneuver rollers even, and there was like 30! Afterwards however, I am beyond glad that the course was the way it was. I learned more on that course than I have in all my years of being coached on hood. It was helpful that the weather was pretty mellow too. The first few days were sunny and warm, some of the later days it got cloudy but hardly dipped below freezing. To my relief, the snow at Bozi dar was also very similar to Mount Hood snow, corny. I was happy to be in a comfortable environment, with familiar snow and chill weather.
I was lucky enough to be competing alongside four other amazing girls and six other guys from the US, which made it more comfortable and less stressful, despite competing against women who have years of experience on me and compete on world level events all the time. The amount I learned from my coaches and wax tech was priceless. (Peep the picture of us learning how to choose a wax based on temp and snow texture by the world level wax tech) I learned so much that I got to come home and teach some of it to my own coach.
Our last day in the Czech Republic, we got to explore the city of Prague before getting some rest to fly out in the morning. We got to walk the old town part of the city where there were tall majestic buildings over 7 centuries old! First seeing the castle-like buildings we were all absolutely awestruck. We all agreed that we were beyond grateful to get the chance to see the city the last night before we left the Czech Republic.
In the morning, we all took the grueling 12-hour flight straight to Colorado for yet another week of competition at Ski Cooper! I was overjoyed to get the opportunity and experience I did going to the Czech Republic for Junior Worlds and I would do it again in a heartbeat, no matter where in the world I were going! But in the end, I was happy to be back where everyone speaks English and all the water is flat.