After Liberec we drove 3 hours to Oberwiesenthal, Germany for a Summer Grand Prix. A Grand Prix is a World Cup competition that occurs in the summer. I got a lot of much needed experience in this competition. It's pretty crazy competing against all these guys that I grew up watching and idolizing. For example I started 32nd in the Individual event at the same time as Jason Lamy Chappuis. Jason Lamy Chappuis is one of the most accomplished nordic combined skiers ever. This weekend I learned that I can compete at the highest level in the ski jumping portion and I have a ways to go in the cross country portion. However, with hard work I can get there!

Today was the second day of our competition in Liberec, Czech Republic. We competed on the K90 today whereas yesterday we were on the K120. An interesting thing about the K90 in Liberec is it's the venue for the World Junior Championships this winter. I had a 97 meter jump in the comp which I was very excited about. Since my biggest goal for the winter is to compete in the World Junior Championships, it is great to be having success on this hill. Because of my great jump I got to start the 10 kilometer race in 7th position overall which is an improvement on starting 14th yesterday. I also started 3rd in my age group again. I had a time of 28:01 in the race which was a lot better than yesterdays time of 29:55. I'm very happy with todays result and I look forward to improving on it in the future!

Today was our first competition while in Europe. We started off the day on the K120 here in Liberec. There was a very large field of competitors which is always nice. Today was a pretty good day for me on the jump hill. I had a jump of 107 meters starting me in 14th position overall and 3rd in my age group. The 10 kilometer race is where things got ugly. I had a pretty terrible day on the roller skis but I still managed to finish 2nd in my age group which I'm happy about. Tomorrow is another competition consisting of one jump on the K90 and another 10 kilometer race which will hopefully go better than today.

I have been training with the NTG in Europe since the 7th of August. Right now were are training in Ramsau, Austria which is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. A day here consists of jumping the 90 meter jump in Ramsau then training endurance in the afternoon with a roller ski, hike, run, etc. I will be in Europe till the 7th of September and there are many exciting things to come. On the 15th of August we will travel to Liberec, Czech Republic. In Liberec we have a competition against all of the best juniors in Europe. Shortly after that we will travel to Oberwiesenthal, Germany for a Grand Prix. Grand Prix's are summer world cups consisting of the best nordic combined athletes in the world. This will be a great experience and fulfill a lifelong dream of mine. Next we will travel to Stams, Austria for training then we wrap our trip up with another Grand Prix in Oberstdorf, Germany. I will keep everyone updated as the trip progresses.

Today was the U.S. Nordic Combined National Championships in Park City, Utah. My team and I have been training in Park City all week preparing for today. Recently the rule for the size of our ski jumping suits has changed. The suits now must be skin tight which makes jumping far a little more tricky. The competition started on the K120 and my trial round jump was 112.5 meters which I was very happy about. Unfortunately the trial jump doesn't count and my first jump to count went 105 meters. Although it wasn't my best jump ever, it put me in a great starting position in the race. I started in 8th place which was 1 minute and 15 seconds behind the leader. The 7 competitors in front of me were all US Ski Team members which was exciting. I was very happy with my race and only got passed by two people leaving me with a 10th place finish at nationals. Tomorrow we head back to Steamboat then we leave for europe on the 7th! I'm getting excited