It’s cold and snowy (with a little rain mixed in) in Lillehammer and training is going well for Estella. Her first competition of the winter season is slated for Notodden, Norway on December 13 and 14. The Friday competition is at 12 pm Central Time, so it will be a good lunch time distraction!
Follow along on the FIS website to watch live results!
Photo credit: https://www.skisprungschanzen.com/
Lots going on in the past few months! In June, Estella officially graduated from high school and three days later headed to Park City & Lake Placid to start training. Then, in August, she packed an extra duffel bag and moved into her new apartment in Norway – a very easy “college move-in” for us. The US team is primarily based in Lillehammer and having a place to stay in town makes it much easier to get to the competitions throughout Europe.
What’s next on the agenda? A few competitions and a lot of training! She’ll likely be in Switzerland soon and maybe Estonia. Then, she heads back to the US for competitions and training at Lake Placid, followed by a short stint at home. And mixed into all of this is college – her plans to attend the University of Washington didn’t quite work out, so we’re still figuring that out…stay tuned.
And…the official announcement for the US Ski Team was released this week – check it out!
It’s official! We are excited to share that Estella was nominated to the US Ski Team for the 2024/2025 season.
From US Ski and Snowboard: “Congratulations! I am thrilled to inform you that you have been nominated to the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team for the 2024-2025 season. Your remarkable accomplishments this past year have shown you have the talent, commitment, dedication, and positive energy to flourish as a member of our Team. We are excited to welcome you and look forward to the unique and extraordinary contributions you will make to our community in the year to come.”
It was a wild and crazy season, that’s for sure! Estella started out the winter season in Steamboat, Colorado and finished the season in Lahti, Finland. In between, she visited South Korea, Slovenia, Norway, Italy, Austria and passed through Belgium and Poland. Ahhh, the life of a ski jumper.
The season was a whirlwind with plenty of highs including a new hill record in Steamboat, a Youth Olympics spot, and her first World Cup start. Overall, she finished strong and was able to claim a Top 30 position on the ICOC circuit, meeting her season goal.
Estella is back in Madison until early June and then will be off to the West for training. It’s a jam packed 10 weeks of normal life stuff…prom, finishing high school, taking AP exams, and figuring out which college to attend.
