Editor’s note: This is part of an ongoing series of articles following elite USSA athletes and their offseason endeavors. Check back with SkiRacing.com for more throughout the summer.

BEND, Ore. — U.S. Speed Team member Laurenne Ross conquers mountains in both directions.

Delivering her first World Cup podium at the end of last season, Ross clearly knows how to make a quick descent.

She spends her summers, on the other hand, fighting gravity — rock climbing, mostly in her home state of Oregon.

“I got into rock climbing four or five years ago,” said Ross. “My older sister has always rock climbed, so she kind of introduced it to me and a couple of my friends. I live so close to Smith Rock, which is such an incredible place to climb.”

Ross mostly focuses on sport climbing (bolts pre-drilled into the wall) and multi-pitch climbing (multiple pitches of sport climbs at once), but this summer she has also been spending good deal of time bouldering, mostly for the convince factor.

“Obviously, I’m not super focused on it, but it’s a really good thing to get out of the gym and still stay strong and get outside and get on the rocks,” Ross said. “It’s really good for upper body strength. … I think it helps my starts (in ski racing). I’ve worked with my trainer so that I can climb to get that upper body portion of my workout — and I think it just makes you a little more versatile. You have to adapt a little more than being in the gym. It’s more athletic, obviously, than picking up the dumbbell.”

Ross is pretty much able to climb from the end of ski season all the way through the fall, so it keeps her active throughout the offseason.

“The best time to climb out at Smith is right at the end of ski season — in like March and April and also in September and October,” said Ross. “But there are also a lot of good bouldering spots in Bend (Ore.) that are mostly shaded, so you can pretty much get out anytime.”

Ross is currently in El Colorado, Chile, training with other members of the U.S. women’s speed team. She made a recent switch to Volkl skis and Lange boots, looking forward to a busy offseason of testing.

“I’m actually not sure what’s waiting for me, but I’m getting ready to try out different models and different flexes and figure out what’s going to work,” she said. “This camp is mostly GS and super G, so when we go back in August to Portillo, that’s when I’ll work out all my downhill stuff. But I’m really excited about the switch.”

Story by Geoff Mintz
Photos courtesy of Laurenne Ross