Casey Smith Biathlete: Home, National Team, and other happenings

It's been a while since my last post so for those of you who have been anxiously waiting for an update I am truly sorry. After helping and cheering at the Junior World Championships in February I returned to Fort Kent where I trained before heading to Jericho, Vermont for US Biathlon Nationals. Even though my placing at nationals was not that bad, 2nd Individual, 2nd Sprint, 3rd Mass start, I felt like I was racing at a sub par level, not focused, and not skiing fast.

After Nationals I visited my girlfriends house in Old Forge, New York. This was my first time in upstate New York and it was pretty cool to see the Adirondack mountains.

Overlooking the Adirondack Mountains

Skiing at Mount Mccauley With Maddie

After Old Forge I traveled to Mammoth Mountain, California for the Mammoth Biathlon Festival where I helped put on beginner biathlon clinics for two days and then raced in the Uber Elite race at the end of the weekend. This was my second time helping with the Mammoth Biathlon Festival and I really enjoyed it. There was lots of enthusiasm and sunshine! The surprise on this trip was my two best friends from home showed up to see me without any warning. They were on spring break and doing a rock climbing/Las Vegas trip. Before I flew home I was able to go rock climbing with them which I had not done for over a year and it was very fun.

Flying into LAX (palm trees not the typical sight when going to a ski race)

Mammoth Biathlon Venue

Rock climbing with Marc and Matty

My next stop after Mammoth was home (Washington State) I was last here in October and it was nice to be back for a while. One of the best things was it was the first time I was in the same spot for longer then two weeks since November, I no longer had to live out of my suit case. While at home I have been able to have some fun days in the mountains backcountry skiing and snowmobiling. My family also has a small sheep farm and I was back just in time for shearing and lambing.

I recently found out that I was named to the United States Biathlon National B-team am pretty excited about this because I am one of only five men in the country to be on the National team. Unfortunately I do not get to train with the rest of the National team full time in Lake Placid, but I have been invited to train with them at several camps throughout the summer and fall.

On the 13th of May I will be driving to Bend, Oregon for an early season on snow training camp before heading back to Fort Kent, Maine to continue training.