Tuesday, February 16, 2010

February? Why Not...

Getting off to an early start....

I just know it will be a great season this year, really looking forward to killing and canning some Reds.

OK OK, I'm just attempting to create some inspiration for you regulars as well as myself so when we all show up in Bristol Bay we'll be ready to rock and roll..

Speaking of inspiration, I'm going to take advantage of this slow month of February here on our blog and introduce you to a kid that I had the privilege of watching grow up......for a few years anyway while living in the remote village of Bristol Bay called Aleknagik.

Aleknagik is located north of Dillingham at the end of the Lake Road.
There are just a couple hundred residents there and as some of you are aware, life in these villages can be considerably different than most places, if not not down right challenging at times.... especially if you were a little girl, life's options and opportunities may seem a bit further to reach for.

I'm not saying it's a bad place to grow-up or to raise a family.
Myself, I'd almost lean in favor of such a location for raising kids. Like anywhere else, it's all in what you are able to make of it for you and yours.

Some of you may have read of this young girl in recent headlines, myself, I follow her career sorta as one of my internet hobbies. Her name is Callan Chythlook-Sifsof, and she has managed to make a career out of her favorite pastime of snowboarding. Enough of a career that it has landed her in he Winter Olympic Games this year. An incredible achievement for anyone, I think she is the first Native Alaskan to make the Olympics. She also turned 21 on Valentines Day this year. happy 21st Callan!!

Well enough of my babble, below is a video of Callan so you can hear it in her own words.





Callan fell today in the final qualifying run which took her out of contention for a finals spot in the 2010 Olympic Games. But after the race, she kept the Olympics and the things that happened on the course in perspective.

“Every step of the way since I made the Olympic team has been stages of the whole thing sinking in, slowly each one building up,” she said after failing to qualify for the finals. “It brings it to today. I had a lot of fun today. I think I have a lot of Olympics ahead, so I’m not done.”

“I was pretty happy with how the event went despite the two falls,” Chythlook-Sifsof said. “For sure it’s disappointing, but I’ve had such a good time here. It’s an amazing experience to be here. I feel like I had good starts, and I feel like if I would have stayed on my feet I could have made it.”



Here is a list of races and places her career has taken her.

16-02-2010 Cypress CAN Olympic Winter Games


21-01-2010 Stoneham CAN World Cup


15-01-2010 Veysonnaz SUI World Cup


10-01-2010 Bad Gastein AUT World Cup


19-12-2009 Telluride USA World Cup


12-09-2009 Chapelco ARG World Cup


13-09-2008 Chapelco ARG World Cup


05-09-2008 Chapelco ARG South American Cup


04-09-2008 Chapelco ARG South American Cup


21-03-2008 Valmalenco ITA FIS Junior World Championships


18-03-2008 Valmalenco ITA FIS Junior World Championships


17-03-2008 Valmalenco ITA FIS Junior World Championships


07-03-2008 Stoneham CAN World Cup


01-03-2008 Lake Placid, NY USA World Cup


22-02-2008 Gujo-Gifu JPN World Cup


15-02-2008 Sungwoo KOR World Cup


10-02-2008 Tamarack, ID USA Nor-Am Cup


13-01-2008 Bad Gastein AUT World Cup


16-11-2007 Copper, CO USA Nor-Am Cup


15-11-2007 Copper, CO USA Nor-Am Cup


29-09-2007 Valle Nevado CHI World Cup


26-09-2007 Valle Nevado CHI World Cup


11-04-2007 Bad Gastein AUT FIS Junior World Championships


17-03-2007 Stoneham CAN World Cup


11-03-2007 Lake Placid, NY USA World Cup


08-03-2007 Lake Placid, NY USA World Cup


25-02-2007 Tamarack, ID USA Nor-Am Cup


17-02-2007 Furano JPN World Cup


01-02-2007 Copper, CO USA Nor-Am Cup


31-01-2007 Copper, CO USA Nor-Am Cup


14-01-2007 Arosa SUI World Snowboard Championships


17-12-2006 Mont Blanc, QC CAN Nor-Am Cup


16-12-2006 Mont Blanc, QC CAN Nor-Am Cup


21-11-2006 Copper, CO USA Nor-Am Cup


20-11-2006 Copper, CO USA Nor-Am Cup


26-03-2006 Crystal Mtn USA Nor-Am Cup


25-03-2006 Crystal Mtn USA Nor-Am Cup


06-02-2006 Vivaldi Park KOR FIS Junior World Championships


03-02-2006 Vivaldi Park KOR FIS Junior World Championships


16-12-2005 Mt. Hood Meadows USA Nor-Am Cup


22-11-2005 Copper Mountain USA Nor-Am Cup


21-11-2005 Copper Mountain USA Nor-Am Cup


02-09-2005 Las Lenas ARG South American Cup


31-08-2005 Las Lenas ARG South American Cup


22-04-2005 Zermatt SUI FIS Junior World Championships


21-04-2005 Zermatt SUI FIS Junior World Championships


17-04-2005 Zermatt SUI National Championships


15-04-2005 Zermatt SUI National Championships


27-03-2005 Sun Peaks, Kamloops CAN Nor-Am Cup


26-03-2005 Sun Peaks, Kamloops CAN Nor-Am Cup


13-03-2005 Jackson USA FIS Race


16-11-2004 Copper Mountain, Colorado USA Nor-Am Cup


15-11-2004 Copper Mountain, Colorado USA Nor-Am Cup


3 comments:

  1. Wow, that is a great story, thanks for sharing. It is so neat to see someone growing up in a little village to traveling the world and becoming a champion.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Glad you enjoyed the post, she's a pretty special kid.
    Hope you anf your hubby are wintering well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Jeff, hope you get this. I emailed Todd but have not heard back. I tried to change my email address on the Outdoors forum and it inactivated my account so now I can't get on. It wont let me reregister because my email address is "already in use". Can you forward this to him or something?
    Thanks,
    Georganne/1stimestar

    ReplyDelete