Heather McPhie

Feeding Kangaroos Down Unda!

// August 23rd, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

I’ve had countless plans of writing blogs since the season ended.  So many fun things have happened.  During Nationals I had the opportunity to get a tour of the Moment factory and see how my skis are made…it was really cool and so nice of Casey to pick me up and show me around:)  Then I went home and dramatically raised the level on  my war against the mice that were taking over my condo all winter.  Finally I had enough, placed traps everywhere, put on grubby clothes, a facemask, and gloves up to my elbows and moved every appliance in my kitchen until a found where they were getting in.  They had eaten a hole through my wall behind the fridge…yikes!  So, after lots of bleach, my dad the handy man patching the hole, and paying to get the entire house and carpets deep cleaned…I feel I finally won the war…at least this one.  After that it was off to meet the president…amazing, a fundraiser in Denver which was SO fun, and then on to North Carolina for a relaxing time on the beach with the crew from POC.  Next my first ever cleanse with Vitae Health in Salt Lake, the Psychology of Love class at Westminster College, and back to the gym to start training for next season.  The class was awesome, I’m loving being in the gym again, I’ve spent hours on my road and mountain bike, in great company with my training buddy Whitney.  Other than that I’ve been going to concerts at Deer Valley, a rodeo, Sugarland, Lady Antebellum, and Tim McGraw, and enjoying my summer.

A couple weeks ago I got to go back to Bozeman with Graham and spend some time with my family.  It was a fun filled three days, and so nice to see everyone.  My nephews have gotten so big, and even though I get to see them on Skype about once a week, they seem bigger in real life:)

I just got home from Australia.  It’s the first time in a while I have been giddy getting off an airplane.  Australia has been top of my list of places to go since I was about six years old.  Our strength coach Alex is from Australia, so we had an awesome tour guide!  We’ve fed kangaroos, had some good training, and then got to spend a couple days in Sydney.  It is a beautiful city, and one of my favorites so far!

Australia was my first time jumping on snow since Nationals in March.  It went really well, and I threw d-spins and backfulls.  It was SO fun, and it is great to be throwing my bigger tricks again!

Well…I think I hit the highlights.  Hope everyone has had a great summer and stay tuned.  Off to Montana tomorrow to spend some time with my family for the rest of the week!

Chalet Sports get together in Bozeman, April 5th from 4-7pm!

// April 1st, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

Join Heather McPhie for a welcome home reception and poster signing at Chalet Sports on Monday, April 5th from 4:00 – 7:00 p.m.

The end of the World Cup Season

// March 19th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // Uncategorized

Heading back to Park City after being on the road since February 1st!  Spain went well yesterday, finishing the season with a third place and 2nd overall in the World Cup Standings!  Remember how I told you all that it was sunny and beautiful in Spain?  Well…the day of the event was light rain, fog and high winds.  My qualifications run the visibility was marginal and at the top I had to brace myself with my poles to not be blown into the course before they started me.  It took me 27 seconds to get down the course in qualifications, and I was happy to have staying in one line, on my feet   I qualified 7th and had a run I was really happy with in finals…24.6 seconds.  Thank you to my coaches Lasse and Todd for reminding me to turn off my brain and just ski…I sometimes get in my own way.  My comp day was wonderful, but HUGE congrats are in order for my teammate Eliza Outtrim for her first ever World Cup podium…and win!!  Also, our entire team was so strong this year and the USA won the Nations cup in Freestyle moguls!!  Go Team!  Now I’m waiting in the airport in Paris for my next flight.  Only two more to go and then I will be home and get a few days “off” before I head to Nationals on Tuesday.  Bon Voyage!

PS.  Congratulations to my sister and Stu as well…welcome to the world Zachary…can’t wait to meet you!!

In search of clean clothes!

// March 17th, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

I promise I will tell you about my laundry experience in a moment, but first Sweden. If you ever get the chance to go to Are, Sweden…do it! It is beautiful, the people are amazing and the best bakery in the entire world (and I have been to all of them:) is located there. So, go and see Greger and Lena at Are Bageri, get yourself absolutely anything from the menu…you won’t be disappointed, and sit in there beautiful bakery and relax. Greger took us on a tour of where they make all the pastries and cakes and it was unbelievable. Thanks Greger…for the tour, and feeding us amazing food all week! Also while you are there…because of course you are all booking your tickets right now, you need to go and see Claus and Anna at their restaurant to cook up some reindeer meat on the hot rocks…such a cool experience. Moving on from food, and onto skiing! It’s been a bit of a challenge for me to get back into competition mode after the Olympics but I was happy with how I skied in Sweden and ended up 4th in singles and 6th in duals.
After the events in Sweden we hopped in a taxi and headed to the airport…back through Amsterdam, on to Paris, before arriving at our “final” destination in Malaga, Spain. Shannon and I, after being on the road since Febraury 1st, decided it would be a good idea to jump into the rental van and find a place to do our laundry. The lady at the front desk told us to look for the Carrefour, we couldn’t miss it, and gave us directions to go to “the roundabout” and we would see it on the right. Let me tell you, Malaga is a series of roundabouts, and it is not easy to get anywhere. About 45 minutes later, we ended up at a completely different Carrefour and found a dry cleaning place that was willing to do all of our laundry and have it ready in three hours. Great! All we had to do was find it again:) After exploring our way back to the hotel, with only a few wrong turns, we noticed some common trends about Malaga. If you see where you want to go, especially if it is on your left, your best bet is to get into the farthest right lane and hope that you come to one of those amazing roundabouts Also, it is never “easy” to find a place, and it is guaranteed to be a one way the wrong direction of where you want to go. Heading back from the hotel to pick up our laundry, Shannon and I were like locals, absolute pros, and found it with only one wrong turn, which we were able to correct very quickly. 25 Euros later it was 110% worth the entire experience…it was so exciting to pick up and put on clean clothes!
After that stop, we proceeded to navigate our way to Sierra Nevada, Spain. We drove along the coast, it was absolutely beautiful, stopped at a great crepe place for lunch, and checked into our hotel. We compete tomorrow in the last World Cup of the year. It is sunny and gorgeous and feels like spring! After that I finally get to go home and sleep in my own bed after being gone since February 1st…woohoo!
Three days at home and then I’m off to National Championships at Squaw. What a tour it has been!

Where am I?

// March 9th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // Uncategorized

Where am I? What time zone am I in? Are we there yet?!
March 7th I competed in what ended up being a one run contest in Inawashiro Japan and I finished fourth. It was really good to be in the gate again. That night we packed up and took the 4 hour bus ride from Inawashiro to Narita. The next day a few team mates and I did some cardio, yoga, core and then had a very long lunch at the hotel before getting to the airport to catch our 5pm flight (on March 8th). We board the plane and 7ish hours later we are in San Francisco, arrive at 9 am (on March 8th), and have until 3:30 before our next flight. We could not figure out how to recheck our bags that early for another flight, so I didn’t get to go into San Francisco to see my brother as I hoped. 3:30 hop on a plane for 11 hours and arrive in Amsterdam at 11am. That is 7pm Japan time, and 2 am San Francisco time. What am I supposed to eat…breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
Eight team mates and I decide to head into Amsterdam as we have a 10 hour layover. We get a couple hotel rooms, shower and are off to check out Amsterdam and stretch our legs. We head to lunch, where I ordered breakfast and I went to pay afterward. In my wallet I have money from Canada, US, Yen, Euro and Kroner…how worldly am I?!
Now, we are within an hour of boarding our flight to Trondheim,Norway at which point we will, fingers crossed, pick up or luggage at 11 pm, and hop in rental cars for approx. 2 hours and end up in Are, Sweden. Whew. Not sure that this blog will make sense as I have only slept on planes and my mind isn’t functioning quite as quickly as usual!