Geography

G e o g r a p h y:

Mrs. Lugdon mentioned that you might learn some geography soon. Here is another way to learn about some new places. Because of skiing and biathlon I am able to travel all over the U.S. and Europe for training and competitions. Early this fall I was in Utah, Montana and Alberta, Canada. Here are some of the places I will be next:

Lake Placid, NY, USA
Right now I am home in Lake Placid until I travel to Europe. I live at the Olympic Training Center and train just outside of town at Mt. Van Hovenburg – where I learned to ski in high school. Lake Placid is in northern New York in the Adirondack Park. I grew up in Lake Placid and went to grade school and high school there before moving to Maine.

Langdorf, Germany
Langdorf is located in south eastern Germany in the Bavarian region. I will fly into Munich, the capital of Bavaria, and will drive north to Langdorf. Many European Cups have been held in Langdorf, and the community is very excited to host it again this year. The biathlon trails are hilly and run through tall fir and pine tree forests. I have been to Langdorf before, however I did not race because I was sick. So, I am glad to be going back again.

This website will tell you more about the region – although it is in German, the pictures will give you a pretty good idea: www.langdorf.de

And, this website is for the competition. You will be able to look up results to see how my American teammates and I are doing at the races: www.biathlon-langdorf.de
I will compete in two competitions in Langdorf – a Sprint and a Pursuit race. I am also excited to go there because I will meet up with my aunt, uncle and two cousins who will come over from Zurich, SUI to watch me race.

Osrblie, Slovakia
I do not know much about this new place that I will be going to this year. It is located in central Slovakia under the Slovak Ore Mountains. Slovakia is a mountainous region, but in years past they have had a tough time holding competitions because of a lack of snow. Hopefully they have had a good start to the winter there this year! In Osrblie I will race in a Sprint, Pursuit and a Relay.

Where I go next will depend on how I perform at these races. Here is a list of the potential places I might go next: Ostersund, Sweden, Peyong Chung, Korea, Khanti-Mansysk, Russia, Oslo, Norway, Minnesota, USA or Vancouver, BC, Canada.

If you could take a trip, where would you all go?

It was great to meet all of you last week! Thank you for inviting me to your school. I look forward to visiting again!

*Haley