FasterSkier

Category: XCFeeds

A collection of live feeds from cross-country ski blogs around the web.

  • Roll Run Row

    For roughly the past two years, the GRP skiers and SBTC rowers have been talking about the doing a “Craftsbury Triathlon”.  It would be the ultimate test of the well-rounded Craftsbury athlete: a rollerski on the Creek Rd. from Irasburg to the end of the pavement, followed by a run back to the center on the dirt roads, followed by sculling to the end of the lake and back.  Each leg would take somewhere around 25 minutes for someone who was fast at the particular activity, and potentially much longer for someone who wasn’t.  Finally, after all these years of talk and speculation, the dream became a reality and the inaugural Craftsbury Roll Run Row was held this past Friday.  Here are some pictures of the day.

    Tim and Pat came in together after the running leg. But would they stay together for long?

    Tim and Pat came in together after the running leg. But would they stay together for long?

    The rowing battle didn't last for too long until Tim flipped. Larry coached him back into the boat.

    The rowing battle didn't last for too long until Tim flipped. Larry coached him back into the boat.

    Lynn ran the running leg for the "masters" team. They were missing a rollerskier, so their win was unofficial.

    Lynn ran the running leg for the "masters" team. They were missing a rollerskier, so their win was unofficial.

    Ethan made up a large deficit after the frist two legs to take the win.

    Ethan made up a large deficit after the first two legs to take the win.

    Claire sported a Belarussian rowing uni for the race. She almost caught Pat in the row and took 3rd overall.

    Claire sported a Belarussian rowing uni for the race. She almost caught Pat in the row and took 3rd overall.

    John Graves was 12 minutes behind after the rollerski, but plowed through the competition in the row to take 5th.

    John Graves was 12 minutes behind after the rollerski, but plowed through the competition in the row to take 5th.

    Dylan climbs back onto the dock after jumping in to save the seat that fell out of his boat.

    Dylan climbs back onto the dock after jumping in to save the seat that fell out of his boat.

    Megan got to the dock and said, "Pepa, teach me how to row!" By the end of the row she was doing great with some coaching from Larry.

    Megan got to the dock and said, "Pepa, teach me how to row!" By the end of the row she was doing great with some coaching from Larry.

    All of us hanging out after the big race. It was a long hard race. I think the winning time was around 90 minutes.

    All of us hanging out after the big race. It was a long hard race. I think the winning time was around 90 minutes.

  • Winter Termers Join Us For OD

    We skied a nice loop down in the valley yesterday. 40 kms of gentle rolling terrain. It was perfect for a d-pole distance workout and a good ski for our local winter term kids to join in.
    Smiley, aka Anika.
    Hamish made a small error in ski selection and did a combi workout :).
    Kate, Tess and Mollie.

    Poppet and Russell come through the covered bridge on the way back from Arlington.
    Alex and Helena finish up their ski.
    Katharine and Pippin skiing along with Liz.
    Austin, Corky, Gino and Calvin cruise along.
    Issy nears home (the Manchester PO).

    The ski ended a solid week of training. Sunday is off…everyone needs to recover and prep for the higher volume week that is coming up.

  • Getting After It

    It’s been a busy week at SMS and we’ll wrap it up tomorrow with a classic OD. With the new schedule at school, we’ve got an extra practice block on Monday/Wednesday/Friday from 11am to noon — just enough time to get in a warm up, some speeds and technical work on skis, cool down and then off to lunch. Follow that up with regular practice at 3:30pm and it’s a busy day of classes and training! This morning we skied out to the Sunbowl and did some work on classic skis. Above, the crew lines up to do the bungees in pairs as we work on getting our weight forward in double pole, finding the right tempo on the uphill, and carrying the momentum, despite being weighted down by a teammate!


    We moved on to striding – going three or four at a time and racing uphill. Having great technique is important, but sometimes you need to just be scrappy and get after it — do what it takes to get to the line first, even if it doesn’t look pretty. Check out the video to see several SMS alums, and many others, going for it at the USST Lake Placid camp.

    If you look closely behind Corky and Hamish (above), you can see Mac about to sprawl out on the pavement…
    We finished up the morning with some double pole sprint finishes.
    This afternoon, we did some L3 bounding/ski walking up the mountain, with a few doing a similar workout on bikes, (sorry, no pictures!) and then we all met up in the gym to wrap up the day with some strength.

  • Pre-Italy Week

    We’ve had an excellent week leading up to Italy, balancing a good mix of intensity, strength, agility and volume. We’ve got a new stretch of pavement to dig into: 1 mile straight up Bragg Hill. It doesn’t get much steeper than that! We crushed the 3000 meter test, with some awesome times in questionable conditions: nordic skiers need to know how to adapt to challenging situations, and we made the most of some big puddles and rain on the dirt track at Harwood.

    Today was an easy distance skate with some quality time by the river afterwards. Tomorrow: Kelly Brush 100.

    We’ll check in from Mals, Italy in a few days. Enjoy the pictures!

    You literally can’t do this if you’re not strong enough: Bragg Hill’s rolling smooth these days.
    MK’s double pole is getting stronger every day. It doesn’t hurt to be able to dig a full inch into the pavement with your poles.
    Coach Beckwith: half the workouts, twice the speed.

    It’s hard to believe that training could be more beautiful than it is here. We’re going to Italy to find out.
    Post-3k carnage.
    Dev or alive?
    It’s hard to believe it’s been less than two weeks since Hurricane Irene. We’re still driving around on detours, past sand and mud-filled farm fields, over hastily repaired bridges, and next to debris-strewn river banks. We headed down to the covered bridge today, which was strong enough to withstand a buffeting from the raging Mad River.

    This was our most organized group photo.

  • Pre-Italy Week

    We’ve had an excellent week leading up to Italy, balancing a good mix of intensity, strength, agility and volume. We’ve got a new stretch of pavement to dig into: 1 mile straight up Bragg Hill. It doesn’t get much steeper than that! We crushed the 3000 meter test, with some awesome times in questionable conditions: nordic skiers need to know how to adapt to challenging situations, and we made the most of some big puddles and rain on the dirt track at Harwood.

    Today was an easy distance skate with some quality time by the river afterwards. Tomorrow: Kelly Brush 100.

    We’ll check in from Mals, Italy in a few days. Enjoy the pictures!

    You literally can’t do this if you’re not strong enough: Bragg Hill’s rolling smooth these days.
    MK’s double pole is getting stronger every day. It doesn’t hurt to be able to dig a full inch into the pavement with your poles.
    Coach Beckwith: half the workouts, twice the speed.

    It’s hard to believe that training could be more beautiful than it is here. We’re going to Italy to find out.
    Post-3k carnage.
    Dev or alive?
    It’s hard to believe it’s been less than two weeks since Hurricane Irene. We’re still driving around on detours, past sand and mud-filled farm fields, over hastily repaired bridges, and next to debris-strewn river banks. We headed down to the covered bridge today, which was strong enough to withstand a buffeting from the raging Mad River.

    This was our most organized group photo.

  • Pre-Italy Week

    We’ve had an excellent week leading up to Italy, balancing a good mix of intensity, strength, agility and volume. We’ve got a new stretch of pavement to dig into: 1 mile straight up Bragg Hill. It doesn’t get much steeper than that! We crushed the 3000 meter test, with some awesome times in questionable conditions: nordic skiers need to know how to adapt to challenging situations, and we made the most of some big puddles and rain on the dirt track at Harwood.

    Today was an easy distance skate with some quality time by the river afterwards. Tomorrow: Kelly Brush 100.

    We’ll check in from Mals, Italy in a few days. Enjoy the pictures!

    You literally can’t do this if you’re not strong enough: Bragg Hill’s rolling smooth these days.
    MK’s double pole is getting stronger every day. It doesn’t hurt to be able to dig a full inch into the pavement with your poles.
    Coach Beckwith: half the workouts, twice the speed.

    It’s hard to believe that training could be more beautiful than it is here. We’re going to Italy to find out.
    Post-3k carnage.
    Dev or alive?
    It’s hard to believe it’s been less than two weeks since Hurricane Irene. We’re still driving around on detours, past sand and mud-filled farm fields, over hastily repaired bridges, and next to debris-strewn river banks. We headed down to the covered bridge today, which was strong enough to withstand a buffeting from the raging Mad River.

    This was our most organized group photo.

  • The Pack hits the Track

    Last week we did a track pacing workout, in preparation for this week’s 3000 meter test. Dylan Grald and David Sinclair joined our fully assembled crew and we did some agility and then some intensity on the track. A little rain proved to be no deterrent for the team, and was actually a preparation for our rain-soaked 3k this week.
    First the obstacle course: hopping, 360s, hurdles, we had it all.






    We’ve got some kids with HOPS!

    MK: dancing or working out?

    After agility, we ran 3k pace or a little faster for a total of 3400 meters. It made for some good pack running and a hard effort by all.





    It’s been great having these guys around: not only are they fast, they do it all with a smile.

  • The Pack hits the Track

    Last week we did a track pacing workout, in preparation for this week’s 3000 meter test. Dylan Grald and David Sinclair joined our fully assembled crew and we did some agility and then some intensity on the track. A little rain proved to be no deterrent for the team, and was actually a preparation for our rain-soaked 3k this week.
    First the obstacle course: hopping, 360s, hurdles, we had it all.






    We’ve got some kids with HOPS!

    MK: dancing or working out?

    After agility, we ran 3k pace or a little faster for a total of 3400 meters. It made for some good pack running and a hard effort by all.





    It’s been great having these guys around: not only are they fast, they do it all with a smile.

  • French Men Without Vittoz

    I’m really sad that Vincent Vittoz retired, mainly because I really, really wanted him to win an Olympic medal. The French men are left with two guys who are pretty well established:

    These graphs show only their major international results (WC, WSC, etc.). Manificat’s stupendous win in 2010 is looking more and more like an outlier, sadly. Gaillard is over thirty now, so I sort of doubt he’ll race for more than one more Olympic cycle.

    Here’s a collection of some of the better young French distance skiers (not necessarily exhaustive), using FIS points as a measure (click for full version):

    Most of the best FIS point results here are coming from OPA Cups, with lots of top 10s and top 5 results. This group has done some World Cups, but mostly with pedestrian results, anywhere from 42nd to the 80′s.

    Both Mougel and Poirrier seemed to take smallish backward steps last season, but maybe with Vittoz participating in the coaching things will improve. (Although I haven’t checked the exact dates; these two guys may not be U23s next year…)

    Related posts:

    1. <Most Unimproved Men: Distance
    2. <OPA Cup vs Scandinavian Cup: Quality
    3. <La Clusaz Recap: North American Men


  • Getting Ready for Autumn Shop Opening

    Precision stone grinding with the Mantec.

    I’m back from a late summer trip, canoeing with my wife in Quetico Park (Ontario, Canada).   It was a terrific 3 weeks away from home, but it also feels great to be back.

    Now I’m in the shop most days, getting things ready for the full-time fall & winter season.     The shop will open for normal retail operations on Sept 22nd!

    By October 1st, the regular season grinding schedule will resume – with grind batches every week and quick turn-around.

    Until then, stone grinding, and ski service work in general, continues through the late summer at Nordic Ultratune.  Naturally, during the late summer the grinding schedule is more relaxed and service work gets done as a decent size group of skis accumulate – typically every other week instead of weekly.

    So if you’d like to beat the autumn rush, and have your skis ready and fast when the snow arrives in the fall, you can send skis any time.

  • Getting Ready for Autumn Shop Opening

    Precision stone grinding with the Mantec.

    I’m back from a late summer trip, canoeing with my wife in Quetico Park (Ontario, Canada).   It was a terrific 3 weeks away from home, but it also feels great to be back.

    Now I’m in the shop most days, getting things ready for the full-time fall & winter season.     The shop will open for normal retail operations on Sept 22nd!

    By October 1st, the regular season grinding schedule will resume – with grind batches every week and quick turn-around.

    Until then, stone grinding, and ski service work in general, continues through the late summer at Nordic Ultratune.  Naturally, during the late summer the grinding schedule is more relaxed and service work gets done as a decent size group of skis accumulate – typically every other week instead of weekly.

    So if you’d like to beat the autumn rush, and have your skis ready and fast when the snow arrives in the fall, you can send skis any time.

  • Getting Ready for Autumn Shop Opening

    Precision stone grinding with the Mantec.

    I’m back from a late summer trip, canoeing with my wife in Quetico Park (Ontario, Canada).   It was a terrific 3 weeks away from home, but it also feels great to be back.

    Now I’m in the shop most days, getting things ready for the full-time fall & winter season.     The shop will open for normal retail operations on Sept 22nd!

    By October 1st, the regular season grinding schedule will resume – with grind batches every week and quick turn-around.

    Until then, stone grinding, and ski service work in general, continues through the late summer at Nordic Ultratune.  Naturally, during the late summer the grinding schedule is more relaxed and service work gets done as a decent size group of skis accumulate – typically every other week instead of weekly.

    So if you’d like to beat the autumn rush, and have your skis ready and fast when the snow arrives in the fall, you can send skis any time.

  • In her spare time

    Vakava has always had individuals from many different professions on our team. Here is a nice little profile on what 2006 Olympian and Vakava skier Carolyn does in her spare time (when she is not skiing with us). And I complain that I have a hard time finding time to train!

  • In her spare time

    Vakava has always had individuals from many different professions on our team. Here is a nice little profile on what 2006 Olympian and Vakava skier Carolyn does in her spare time (when she is not skiing with us). And I complain that I have a hard time finding time to train!

  • In her spare time

    Vakava has always had individuals from many different professions on our team. Here is a nice little profile on what 2006 Olympian and Vakava skier Carolyn does in her spare time (when she is not skiing with us). And I complain that I have a hard time finding time to train!

  • In her spare time

    Vakava has always had individuals from many different professions on our team. Here is a nice little profile on what 2006 Olympian and Vakava skier Carolyn does in her spare time (when she is not skiing with us). And I complain that I have a hard time finding time to train!

  • In her spare time

    Vakava has always had individuals from many different professions on our team. Here is a nice little profile on what 2006 Olympian and Vakava skier Carolyn does in her spare time (when she is not skiing with us). And I complain that I have a hard time finding time to train!

  • DP test vid

    I tried something a little new here. Since I had some “jammed up” footage, I created some stills at the beginning (top) and end (bottom) of the DP stroke. Not all the shots are the same exact angle, but close enough to get an idea of what is going on

    Since we had Andy Newell on hand to take do the DP test with our team, we will use his mastery of technique for comparison. This one was NOT created for entertainment but rather a technique reference for the team as we work towards, higher more forward, down together/up together technique.
    Once you link to the video site be sure to check out some of our other vids.
    Click here for vid: HERE

  • Wild Alaska

    After a week of some pretty incredible skiing on Eagle Glacier Rosie and I loaded up her new car to head out on a road trip for several days. I wanted to experience Alaska. Real Alaska. This kind of Alaska. Although I didn’t have the former governor of the state as my guide, Rosie did a wonderful job showing me the sights and attractions that wild Alaska has to offer. The following are some pictures from our time in Anchorage and the Kenai peninsula.

    View from Flattop out over Anchorage

    View from Flattop out over Anchorage

    Flattop

    Flattop

    Looking for cheap entertainment? Try hitting up Anchorage's sand dunes

    Looking for cheap entertainment? Try hitting up Anchorage's sand dunes

    Or the Air history museum. Lots of historical planes on exhibit

    Or the Air history museum. Lots of historical bush-planes and helicopters on exhibit

    Good thing I didn't try to fly this guy to the glacier...

    Good thing I didn't try to fly this guy to the glacier…

    Hiking up alongside the Exit Glacier

    Hiking up alongside the Exit Glacier near Seward

    View looing out at the 500 square mile Harding Ice Field

    View looking out at the 500 square mile Harding Ice Field-white as far as the eye can see

    Lots of animals on the trail

    Animals everywhere

    This guy gave Rosie and I a scare when we were running down. He was far to satiated on berries to be scared off by our calls of "Hey bear" so we just waited for him to lumber off and take a nap

    This guy gave Rosie and I quite a scare when we were found him around a corner of the trail when running down from Exit Glacier but he was too busy getting fat for the coming winter on berries to care about our presence

    Camping in the shadow of Mt Marathon. Wanna run up and down this as fast as possible? Give it a try next 4th of July (if you get registered that is)!

    Camping in the shadow of Mt Marathon. Wanna run up and down this as fast as possible? Give it a try next 4th of July (if you can get a bib that is!)

    Checking out some of the sea stars at the Aquarium in Seward

    Checking out some of the sea stars at the Aquarium in Seward

    Sign for the Climate Change poster- sponsered by BP of course!

    Sign for the Climate Change exhibit- sponsored by BP of course!

    Great trails around the area

    Great trails around Seward

    But some of the bridges need a little bit of repair...

    But some of the bridges need a little bit of repair… watch that first step!

    Lots of Silver Salmon

    Lots of Silver Salmon

    returning to spawn near Seward

    returning to spawn near Seward

    I coudn't figure out why the sea life center was so packed until I saw this monster in port on the way out of town. End of the cruise line for a bunch of fanny-pack clad American tourists

    I couldn't figure out why the sea life center was so packed until we saw the cruise ship that had made port on our way out of town. End of the cruise line for a bunch of fanny-pack clad American tourists

    Trying to get the off-shore rescue suit on in under 30 second. I failed miserably

    Trying to get the off-shore rescue suit on in under 30 second. I failed miserably

    My favorite house from the whole trip- a converted fishing trawler sitting high and dry on the "Homer Spit"

    My favorite house from the whole trip- a converted fishing trawler sitting high and dry on the "Homer Spit"

    And of couse, too many Moose to count!

    And of course, too many Moose to count! These guys were in the driveway right when we got back into Anchorage.

  • Wild Alaska

    After a week of some pretty incredible skiing on Eagle Glacier Rosie and I loaded up her new car to head out on a road trip for several days. I wanted to experience Alaska. Real Alaska. This kind of Alaska. Although I didn’t have the former governor of the state as my guide, Rosie did a wonderful job showing me the sights and attractions that wild Alaska has to offer. The following are some pictures from our time in Anchorage and the Kenai peninsula.

    View from Flattop out over Anchorage

    View from Flattop out over Anchorage

    Flattop

    Flattop

    Looking for cheap entertainment? Try hitting up Anchorage's sand dunes

    Looking for cheap entertainment? Try hitting up Anchorage's sand dunes

    Or the Air history museum. Lots of historical planes on exhibit

    Or the Air history museum. Lots of historical bush-planes and helicopters on exhibit

    Good thing I didn't try to fly this guy to the glacier...

    Good thing I didn't try to fly this guy to the glacier…

    Hiking up alongside the Exit Glacier

    Hiking up alongside the Exit Glacier near Seward

    View looing out at the 500 square mile Harding Ice Field

    View looking out at the 500 square mile Harding Ice Field-white as far as the eye can see

    Lots of animals on the trail

    Animals everywhere

    This guy gave Rosie and I a scare when we were running down. He was far to satiated on berries to be scared off by our calls of "Hey bear" so we just waited for him to lumber off and take a nap

    This guy gave Rosie and I quite a scare when we were found him around a corner of the trail when running down from Exit Glacier but he was too busy getting fat for the coming winter on berries to care about our presence

    Camping in the shadow of Mt Marathon. Wanna run up and down this as fast as possible? Give it a try next 4th of July (if you get registered that is)!

    Camping in the shadow of Mt Marathon. Wanna run up and down this as fast as possible? Give it a try next 4th of July (if you can get a bib that is!)

    Checking out some of the sea stars at the Aquarium in Seward

    Checking out some of the sea stars at the Aquarium in Seward

    Sign for the Climate Change poster- sponsered by BP of course!

    Sign for the Climate Change exhibit- sponsored by BP of course!

    Great trails around the area

    Great trails around Seward

    But some of the bridges need a little bit of repair...

    But some of the bridges need a little bit of repair… watch that first step!

    Lots of Silver Salmon

    Lots of Silver Salmon

    returning to spawn near Seward

    returning to spawn near Seward

    I coudn't figure out why the sea life center was so packed until I saw this monster in port on the way out of town. End of the cruise line for a bunch of fanny-pack clad American tourists

    I couldn't figure out why the sea life center was so packed until we saw the cruise ship that had made port on our way out of town. End of the cruise line for a bunch of fanny-pack clad American tourists

    Trying to get the off-shore rescue suit on in under 30 second. I failed miserably

    Trying to get the off-shore rescue suit on in under 30 second. I failed miserably

    My favorite house from the whole trip- a converted fishing trawler sitting high and dry on the "Homer Spit"

    My favorite house from the whole trip- a converted fishing trawler sitting high and dry on the "Homer Spit"

    And of couse, too many Moose to count!

    And of course, too many Moose to count! These guys were in the driveway right when we got back into Anchorage.