The American Cup 3 in VA this past weekend was an experience. Mostly because it didnt happen. It was saturday morning and blizzard came in and dumped 2.5 feet of snow, which Virginia is not used to. We were warming up on the ice when we heard a loud noise. (Luckily) after a while someone noticed a support beam holding the roof up was no longer straight. It was brought to the attention of the officials and they put 2 and 2 together and got everyone off the ice and told everyone in the locker rooms to pack and get out because the roof was collapsing.
By this time the beam was twisted and bent at a 90 degree angle. We quickly got our skates off but as we were packing, we could all hear rumbling and creaking noises, part because of the stampede of people trying to get out, partly because of the roof. It was super scary.
Meanwhile, Jun is just sitting there sharpening skates in the corner like nothings happening.
His sister comes in and tries to tell him to get going, hes like ok let me finish.
She leaves, and most of the people in the room are gone. Im like JUN its ok, you can stop sharpening now. We need you alive, ok?? And he finally comes to his senses and packs out, hahaha. Crazy dude. Putting our blades over his life...
So we all leave and meet at the hotel. Only an hour or two later, the building is in ruins. Can you imagine if no one noticed the beam? All of Americas elite speed skaters except the Olympic team (which is in Vancouver now) would be dead or injured. The end of US Speedskating. Crazy to think about.
In case your wondering, the meet was cancelled and I know were lucky to be alive, but we all spent craploads of money for entry fees, airfare, food, gas, and hotel, uuugh. At least it was kind of a vacation...
Till the power in our hotel went out. All the guests except me and some of my teammates left the hotel, so we had it all to ourselves. We made the best of that by sitting in the dark in the hot tub till it got cold, then we played hide n seek in a pitch black empty creepy hotel, scariest thing ive ever done.
In the end we decided that everyone at the meet tied for first place, except Adam who is number 2, so we could all go home happy. The end.
Here are some pics Kelsey Schiel (skater from MI) took after the rink collapsed. So intense.
It started like this...
And ended like this.
This is around where the coaches and judges were standing.
And here are the traditional airport boredom photobooth pics.
Random pics I took:
Heres our favorite kiwi rockin the new look.
The blizzard outside my hotel window.
when your powers combine..i am..CAPTAIN PLANNEEEET!
Mustard sauce anyone? (engrish in VA)
