Courtney Hammond
memorize some slides twice a semester.
Haug: Finite math, an intro course I had to
take, even though I’d already covered the sub-
ject matter in Norway.
Hammond: My favorite class was “Environ-
mental Issues of the Earth’s Cold Regions.”
We learned about the Arctic and Antarctic, the
history of epic Arctic exploration, and the cur-
rent issues surrounding the Arctic and climate
change. Plus, the professor started every class
with a Grateful Dead song and Grateful Dead
fun facts.
fall. But I’ve gotten sucked back in!
Haug: I had a day a couple weeks ago when I
had to wake up for training at 4: 45 a.m. after going to bed at 2 a.m. working on stuff for a class.
It definitely wasn’t ideal for my training that day.
Hammond: I’m not really sure if I should answer that ...
What’s something about your athletic
experience you’d prefer your professors
didn’t know or find out about?
Gill: Sometimes I just want to drop out of school
and ski.
Haug: Again, coming back from a race series
and a project for school might have had to wait
until the last minute — and it’s just got to be
good enough.
Hammond: [No comment]
Hammond arcs Ivy-caliber
turns for Big Green.
What’s the toughest thing about balanc-
ing academics and ski racing?
Gill: Both demand your full commitment and
attention, but it is of course impossible to com-
mit fully to both. In order to do the best you can
at either, you’d need to be focusing solely on
one — instead, your attention is divided.
Haug: The toughest thing for [a perfectionist]
like me is sometimes having to say that some-
thing “is good enough.” As a student athlete,
you can’t sit up all night and take unlimited time
to finish projects, or [kill yourself training all day];
you have to be really structured so that your
body and mind are ready for both. Sometimes
things just have to be good enough.
Hammond: The time. I often just wish that
there were more time in my day! Especially in
the winter and training four or five hours a day,
it’s hard to find the energy and the motivation to
hit the books. But you gotta do what you gotta
do.
What’s something about your academ-
ic experience you’d prefer your coaches
didn’t know or find out about?
Gill: I definitely placed school over training this
What are you hoping to do after you
graduate?
Gill: Compartmentalizing. And maybe teach-
ing English in Martinique, but I have to get hired
first.
Haug: I would love to keep improving my ski-
ing and ski on the World Cup, possibly the 2014
Olympics at Sochi. I think [fellow Norwegian] Leif
Haugen, who was racing at Denver until recent-
ly, has been an inspiration for a lot of us, making
it to the sport’s highest levels from college.
Hammond: I’m currently waiting to hear back
about funding for an opportunity to spend a
year in Barrow, Alaska (the northernmost city
in Alaska), volunteering with a science consor-
tium and photographing the social impacts of
climate change on the local native community.
If that doesn’t work out, I hope to do some-
thing involving writing, photography and an epic
adventure.
JOE MEHLING; DON RENDALL
SkiRacing.com MARCH 17, 2011 | 33
