From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.

Junior Nationals Skate Race

Another blue bird day here in Maine. Our perception of “The County” has probably been changed forever. We’ve had 7 sunny days in row, and #8 promises to be in store for tomorrow. I’m sure the westerners are happy to be maintaining their tans, and us easterners are getting a head start on our spring break tans.br /br /Racing today was fast and furious on a fun, but deceptively hard course. The J2’s learned this lesson early on in the day, as quite often the standings shifted around a bit in the last 1.5k’s of the race. Conditions are fabulous, pretty firm for how warm and sunny it has been, and the snow is fast. It’s easy to feel good skiing on this stuff, and absolutely essential that you hunt for time everywhere.br /br /We’ve got pics of everyone today thanks to Michael Cobb:br /br /p align=”center”