theNYCphysio

In 2020, I was asked by US Snowboarding to cover two World Cups in Europe with the Snowboard Cross team. The first was in southern Spain and the second in Veysonnaz, Switzerland. 

This was my second time to Veysonnaz. In my opinion, it was always one of the most beautiful stops on the World Cup Tour. There was just something about the Swiss Alps, the views, and the spring sun! 

Most years, it served as the final stop of the season on the tour. For me, unfortunately it ended up as my final stop with the snowboard team to this day. It was March of 2020 and while we were isolated on the mountain, the rest of the world was changing due to the impending pandemic. Italy and China were already shut down. It was only a matter of time when the US was going to shut down as well. 

For the most part, life on the mountain went on as usual. They spread out our lunch and dinner times so we all weren’t in the dining room at the same time. Aside from that, all was normal since we were mostly outside.

I set up next to the team’s wax techs, overlooking the start gates. It was a steep climb to their benches, so I decided to make myself useful and shoveled what I called the “stairway to heaven” into the snow. I was quite proud of my masterpiece staircase (as you can tell). But also exhausted from the work! 

That night, after treating some of the athletes in the cabin, I went to bed and almost slept like a baby. Suddenly, at around 3am, I was startled by loud banging on my door. It was the coaches ordering us to pack up because we were flying back to the states as soon as possible. Apparently the president just announced that they were shutting down plane travel from Europe in a couple of days. They gave us about an hour to pack up and leave…which was near impossible with all the medical equipment I had in addition to my own personal belongings and snowboard equipment. In the end I was the last to load the van. 

On the way to Geneva, the Olympic desk did what they could do to get us home. Only two from our contingent made it onto flights that day. The rest of us were stuck in Geneva for another day. Fortunately, we all got on flights home though.

The most organized I’ve ever seen our bags!

I finally got home on March 13, 2020.

This was the last time I traveled with the snowboard team. They had asked many times since those early days of COVID, but I made the ultimate decision to focus on my practice and family at home.

Now a few years removed from those dark days, I have returned to traveling. It’s been a long road, but I am glad to be back puddle hopping with teams again. Although it hasn’t happened yet, hopefully, I’ll get to reunite with the snowboard team soon!