I feel very fortunate to have been a part of many awesome teams. Everyone always says it’s about the people you surround yourself with and I couldn’t agree more. My teammates from Holimont, the NTG, Dartmouth, the US Ski Team, and Team X are some of my closest friends and have been instrumental in getting me through very low points in my career. There is a special kind of bond that forms when you are able to lean on and support teammates during the hard times and the good times that only they can fully understand, because they have felt the exact same things. They have seen the work behind the scenes, shared in the struggles along the way, and simultaneously faced their own battles.
My team, International Ski Racing Academy (ISRA), this year is unique in that we are all from very different countries, backgrounds, cultures, and yet we are all chasing the same dream! Here is a little look at each team member in their own words and mine. We’ll go from oldest to youngest :)
Marusa Ferk (Slovenian) The Slovenian mama bear of the team. She may be the oldest but she has a young heart and brings lots of good, positive energy to the team on and off the hill. She is also a World Cup veteran with success in all four disciplines on the World Cup, which is incredibly impressive, and she is more than happy to share advice on skiing, approach, and life in general. She says that the biggest lesson she has learned is that “you need to do what you feel is best, not what others tell you. If you start to do what others say it doesn’t work.” Marusa also says that the people she admires most are her parents as they have worked very hard to start their own business from nothing and are now very successful. Marusa takes amazing photos, loves TikTok cat videos, cleaning, salmon, and being organized. She also has the same thing for lunch (pasta, corn, tomatoes, and tuna) almost every single day (she estimates 90% although she doesn’t always add the tuna). This is her second year with ISRA and she is coming off one of her most successful World Cup seasons with even more speed in the tank!
Candace Crawford (Canadian) Candace hails from Toronto and Collingwood Canada. This is also her second year on the team and she is just getting back on snow after a little knee scope this summer sidelined her from our Saas Fee camp. Candace comes from somewhat of a ski family with a dad who raced, a very accomplished Aunt who competed on the World Cup, and a younger brother (Jack) who is currently competing on the World Cup with the Canadian Team. She is very outgoing, loves art, baking, southern fried chicken and is self-described as very chill. She’s a great conversationalist and says her spirit animal is an owl. I have to agree because she always has random facts on everything (reminds me a little bit of my brother Andrew :) ).
Stefanie Fleckenstein (Canadian) Stef has followed a similar path to ISRA as I have and we have become great friends in the past couple years racing at World Juniors, Nor-Ams, NCAA’s and now the World Cup together. She has a bubbly friendliness that makes everyone want to be friends with her. She describes herself as loving, passionate and entertaining. A lover of sushi, mountain biking, ukelele, reading, beading and making youtube videos, she truly does it all! She says that an important lesson she’s learned is: “don’t take criticism from someone you wouldn’t take advice from.” Stef also says that she admires her parents because “they both had incredibly. successful/fun lives before having kids and managed to raise two ski racers without going insane!” Stef’s younger sister Katie races for CU and joined us for a couple days of skiing in Saas Fee (bonus teammate)!
Elvedina (Elvis) Muzaferiga (Bosnian) Elvis lives in Visoko, Bosnia where her parents run their own hotel. Visoko is home to the Bosnian pyramid complex, which is a psuedoarchaeological tourist attraction. Elvedina says she really admires how hard her parents have worked to give her and her two siblings opportunities to pursue their dreams (parents are the best :)). Ski racing is insanely expensive, but even more so when you come from somewhere like Bosnia where you could live for years on the cost of one ski season. Elvis is a speed specialist (we are all focusing on WC speed this year), and Bosnia’s top female athlete. We actually drive around in her van (see photo attached below). She is also very relaxed (probably because she is a middle child), and loves cats, horse back riding, tennis, and pizza! She has never been to the US and is excited for when we go to Colorado for training this November.
We also have two amazing coaches, Chris Fergus (USA) and Johanna Tikkanen (Finnish) and two rockstar servicemen, Andrea Peretti (Italy) and Saku Palander (Finnish).
Overall, the team has been fantastic so far. Everyone is committed, hard working, knows what they need to do every day, and very kind. The atmosphere on the tea reflects what I have commented on in other blogs about the commitment it takes to race independently. It’s really hard to ski race without the support of a national team, so everyone on ISRA has already self selected as someone who is extremely motivated and wants to put the extra work in. I am really looking forward to the year ahead with this team and excited to learn as much as possible from everyone.
Update
We are currently training in Hintertux, Austria, which is located in a typical picturesque Austrian valley. Like other summer ski training locations, Hintertux is a glacier and is currently looking a little more black than white, but we are hoping for more snow soon! It feels awesome to be back on skis even though the past two days haven’t been the best conditions, and I am feeling very good for this four week training block. Stay tuned for more updates, photos, and more!