PHOTO ESSAY: For US women's ski team, balancing competition with camaraderie is key

Lying breathless on the floor next to a pool table, Mary Bocock pulls a stretchy exercise band in tandem with Keely Cashman. Laughing, they encourage each other to keep going. Next to them, Ava Sunshine cycles through sets of heavy barbell weights in a makeshift gym in the Copper Mountain condo where the U.S. women's ski team is staying.

''When I first came on, I was a little nervous about how it was going to be, but everyone was super welcoming especially the older girls,'' says Sunshine, 23, who has been on the team since 2022. ''It was very, ‘‘let's lift up these rookies.'''

Veteran racer Nina O'Brien even wrote welcoming notes to all the newcomers. ''That was super nice,'' Sunshine says. ''We have a mentor-mentee program. It's less getting advice and more like having an automatic friend.''

This collection of U.S. ski racers has become a close-knit group, bonded by traveling together, playing pool, working out — and the constant desire to get faster on skis.

The closer they become, the more they want to inspire each other. That's the feeling for Lauren Macuga, out for the season after recently tearing her ACL.

''One person does well one week and then everyone comes along with them,'' Macuga says. ''It's so cool to see. I think we have this really healthy relationship of wanting each other to do well. … We just keep building all together.''

Lindsey Vonn, 41, the legendary racer who came out of retirement last season and will compete at her fifth Olympic Games in Italy, may have instant name recognition, but on the U.S. Women's Ski Team she is also just part of the crew. Even as the three-time Olympic medal winner gets swamped by excited kids holding out their helmets for autographs, she's willing to dispense advice to the next generation.

Jackie Wiles, 33, also takes others under her wing. ''As a veteran, I remember experienced teammates helping me,'' Wiles says. ''I'm lucky to be able to continue that for the young ones.''

At the top of Copper Mountain in Colorado, many essential items are on hand to assist the athletes training for the World Cup season and, down the road, the Winter Olympics.

There are items for stretching, warming up and a key ingredient to help power them down the mountain — Sour Patch Kids candy. Handfuls were dispensed into waiting gloves while team members prepared for practice on a sunny but brisk recent day.

One rule the team tries to live by: making sure no one feels left out. If, for instance, two team members go out to dinner, they always make sure everyone receives an invitation.

''It's a hard and lonely and frustrating sport,'' says teammate Tricia Mangan, ''so to have a good environment around you is so important.''