Hello BSF fans, this is Finn O’Connell writing to you all. I want to share with you my plans for the future and highlight some of my favorite moments with the BSF Pro team. I have decided to pursue my lifelong passion of being a pilot. I will be attending the United Airlines Aviate Academy in Prescott Arizona, beginning this fall! Since a very young age, my family, including my 3 sisters, have been flying and traveling the world. To name a few places, we have biked across Ireland and Italy, hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru, walked alongside elephants and giraffes in Africa, skied the deepest powder in the world in Japan, scrambled up a few levels of the Great Pyramid of Giza, and summited some very tall mountains in Nepal. To most this may sound crazy, but some of my best memories of these trips are either in new airports or staring out the window on the sixteen hour flight to South Africa. I can watch planes for hours, taxiing around the airport and name exactly what type of plane it is. And when I was younger, going into the cockpit and talking with the pilots before taking off was amazing. I have known since my first flight that I would be a pilot!
I am fortunate enough to have been able to travel the world for skiing as well! Since graduating from the University of Vermont in 2020, and joining the Bridger Ski Foundation, I have spent lots of time living out of a suitcase, training and competing. Some of my best memories though come from living and training in Bozeman! From long 4 hour double pole sessions all around the Gallatin Valley, to being the grill master at the Jim Bridger Trail Run, Bozeman and the BSF community really created some very fun times. We have summited mountains all over southern Montana, and swam in high alpine lakes. I got to experience world class nordic skiing in downtown Bozeman at Lindley Park, alongside the beautiful Bridger Mountain range at CrossCut, and I have skied 50k of first tracks on my most favorite and beautiful trails in the world, up at Lone Mountain Ranch.
When I started with Andy Newell and the BSF team, I had no World Cup starts, and no worthy SuperTour results. And after my second year with Newell, I was named to The US Ski Team, had 8 top 5 SuperTour results and was in the discussion for multiple World Cup races. I say “with Newell” because he is the reason for these results. I trusted him and his training ideas, and with his excellent coaching, I was able to make the leaps that I did. Going into last season, I wanted to really make a name for not only myself but also the Bridger Ski Foundation. Newell knew my potential and all of my teammates knew my goals and pushed me every day to see them through. In the opening weeks of the SuperTour racing, I had accumulated a 1st, a 2nd, a 3rd, and 3 more top 6 results. I also was the SuperTour points leader. This guaranteed me World Cup starts for the Tour de Ski!
I traveled to Europe on December 16th, and ended up racing 13 World Cups by February! I had proved myself as one of the top distance skiers in the US. I returned back to the US for some more SuperTours, where I ended 3rd and 4th in Minneapolis. I then went back to Europe for the OPA Cup Finals, where I finished as the top American in both distance races. And after one more hop across the pond, I headed back to the US for the SuperTour finals in Vermont. I had a national sprint podium, and some solid distances races.
The race I am most proud of though, and one that will highlight my skiing career, is the 4x5k team relay in Craftsbury Vermont. While I push myself to the limit in all races, I discovered a new limit in this race. I laid it all out there and then some for myself and for the team! The memory that will last forever won’t be skiing away from the other competitors, or tagging my teammate and collapsing on the snow. The memory will be hearing my teammates scream from their heart cheering for me, and seeing Newell out of the corner of my eye, running alongside me up the final hill! That will be something I will never forget!
To all of you reading this, to all my teammates at BSF, to all the companies and generous supporters, thank you! Thank you for making this life of mine possible. Thank you for believing in our team, and pushing me to be the best I can be. Thank you for making Bozeman the best place to be a nordic skier! And to my coach, mentor, and friend, Andy Newell, thank you! Thank you for taking a chance on me and adding me to the team. Thank you for believing in my goals, and helping me achieve them. Thank you for all the late nights and early mornings waxing my skis. Thank you for the countless hours working on my technique, driving the van around, and putting up with my stubbornness. You truly are the best coach and supporter in the world!
