We arrived in Sun Valley today. The skiing looks great and we should have a fun week. Austin is jumping in the 25km race tomorrow and everyone else gets rolling next week.
More news and pictures shortly!
Category: XCFeeds
A collection of live feeds from cross-country ski blogs around the web.
-
Sun Valley
-
Week In Review: Friday Mar 25th
You may have noticed that things have slowed down a bit here lately, which is natural with the season drawing to a close. I’m going to back off a bit with the posts and try to keep to just a Mon-Wed-Fri schedule during the off-season as best as I can. Some things I’m planning on doing over the next few weeks include some obvious stuff like recapping the performance of the US/Canadian teams this season and looking back at the careers of some of the folks who are retiring. I have some other stuff up my sleeve as well, but if you have any ideas/questions for analysis about specific nations or athletes, don’t hesitate to drop me a line.
- A short post on Leif Nordgren who had some very strong results this year for such a young American biathlete.
- I also of course had to take a look at Finn Hägen Krogh, another youngster who finished the season off with a bang.
- Finally, I gave a little taste of some of the split timing data I’ve managed to get my hands on this year, highlighting the differences between mass start and interval start races.
Related posts:
-
Final Week of Racing
Final Week of Racing
Final Week of Racing
Final Week of Racing
Sun Valley… waiting for the 50k
Skis are clean and with the coaches, dinner is prepped, clothes are hung to dry and everything is ready for the final week of racing in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Enjoying a beautiful day at Baker Park
After the North Star Super Tour in California was cancelled Caitlin and I decided to stay and train in Minneapolis. Although this would shorten are acclimitization period at altitude we could be at home, train in familiar locations, and save some cash.
While many are complaining about all the snow, it is great for skiing. Caitlin and I visited the 5th grade at Sunset Hill Elementary. There are 4 classes of 20 and we got to go skiing with two of them. I am very impressed with how good the kids are especially in the soft snow. Many were first timers or had very little experience but they were cruising. We had some fun relays and balance contests. I am so bummed that I had left the memory card for the camera at the apartment.
Training for Sun… Caitlin, Matt, and Garrott
It has been 3 weeks since my last race and it has been great to get in some solid training and recovery. I miss racing and am excited to toe the line tomorrow in the 50k.
Oh yeah, Caitlin and I have been staying busy during our taper. We put a bid in on a house on Sunday before flying to Sun Valley. As soon as we have the purchase agreement signed we will post some pictures and information. It is sweet: small, near the ski trail, and only $25,500… that is cheaper than rent.
LINK to Julie Foudy’s presentation
My post on Julie Foudy’s presentation, “Unlocking Greatness in Girls: Developing Leadership through Sport” has been one of my most popular. I blew through 13,000 hits this week (recording only since July) and am thankful people are interested in learning about the life of skier both on and off the trail.The following link takes you to a page where you can either download the wedinar or view the presentation slides.
LINK to Julie Foudy’s presentation
My post on Julie Foudy’s presentation, “Unlocking Greatness in Girls: Developing Leadership through Sport” has been one of my most popular. I blew through 13,000 hits this week (recording only since July) and am thankful people are interested in learning about the life of skier both on and off the trail.The following link takes you to a page where you can either download the wedinar or view the presentation slides.
LINK to Julie Foudy’s presentation
My post on Julie Foudy’s presentation, “Unlocking Greatness in Girls: Developing Leadership through Sport” has been one of my most popular. I blew through 13,000 hits this week (recording only since July) and am thankful people are interested in learning about the life of skier both on and off the trail.The following link takes you to a page where you can either download the wedinar or view the presentation slides.
LINK to Julie Foudy’s presentation
My post on Julie Foudy’s presentation, “Unlocking Greatness in Girls: Developing Leadership through Sport” has been one of my most popular. I blew through 13,000 hits this week (recording only since July) and am thankful people are interested in learning about the life of skier both on and off the trail.The following link takes you to a page where you can either download the wedinar or view the presentation slides.
LINK to Julie Foudy’s presentation
My post on Julie Foudy’s presentation, “Unlocking Greatness in Girls: Developing Leadership through Sport” has been one of my most popular. I blew through 13,000 hits this week (recording only since July) and am thankful people are interested in learning about the life of skier both on and off the trail.The following link takes you to a page where you can either download the wedinar or view the presentation slides.
Pre-race thoughts on the White Mountains 100
Suddenly, the White Mountains 100 is upon us. It starts Sunday morning.
For my previous previous ultra ski races, I spent a lot of time preparing. This one, not so much. When you’ve got a three year old and an infant, things like the WM100 slide way down on the priority list. But now that it is go-time, I feel the need to release a lot of the thoughts about this race that have been swimming in my head for the past few months.
Back story
For a race that has only been run once, and that I’ve never done, I feel like I have a long history with it. About a year and a half ago, I got a mass email from Ed Plumb, who I knew from skiing to McGrath with/near him. He was putting out feelers to see if there was interest in having an ultra race in the White Mountains north of Fairbanks. Apparently the response was an definitive “yes” because within a few months the race was scheduled for late March. I desperately wanted to do it, but we had a baby due two weeks later, so it was a no-go for me. But my friend Bill signed up. And so did a ton of other people. Without yet even saying the word “Go!” Ed and Ann had already created the most interesting ultramarathon race around.
When race weekend rolled around, our baby was clearly not coming for a while yet. So I seriously considered flying to Fairbanks to stand at the start line, skis in hand, just in case one of the 50 racers didn’t show up. Glad I didn’t, because all 50 people started. Like I said, this race quickly became kind of a big deal.
I was determined to race this year, but I was away on vacation when registration opened. There were only 5 spots available for new racers, and despite getting up in the middle of the night to register, I ended up #10 on the wait list. I was really bummed, but Ed worked his magic over the next couple of months and was able to increase the field size from 50 to 65 racers. I was in!
So this is a long-winded way of saying that I am really excited to finally be in this race.
Training
My training for the WM100 was focused on one goal: beat myself up, little by little. I only had about 5 hours a week to train. I figured my cardiovascular base was probably still there (more or less). But since I haven’t been doing a lot of skiing, I was worried about my body holding up to the abuse. Skiing 45 minutes a day was not going to prepare my feet, hands, knees, and back for skiing 100 miles. So I figured the best way to prepare was to subject myself to long (4+ hour) skis once every week or two. And that is it. That is all I had time for. So, by my count, I’ve put in exactly eight quality training sessions for this race. Not ideal, but I feel strangely content with my preparation.
Goals
With that in mind, here are my goals for the WM100:
- Finish without getting injured
- Have fun exploring a new area
- Go as fast as I can while still accomplishing #1 & #2
I know it sounds lame…don’t get hurt, have fun, yada, yada. But I really think that is all I can expect from myself. However…here’s a little secret, just between you and me. There is a little voice in my head that won’t go away. It keeps telling me that, training be damned, I can still compete. I try to ignore that voice as much as possible. After all, I don’t want to be “that guy,” the over-the-hill, washed-up racer who is pathologically competitive and is a menace to himself and others out on the course. I may be over-the-hill and washed-up, but I don’t want to be a menace. All I am saying is that the little voice is still there, so if things are going well, I’m going to enjoy the ride while it lasts.
Gear
I am scrambling to decide on gear. As I began packing last night, I realized how many decisions I still have to make. Which skis? Which backpack? Reports from the trail have been varied, so that hasn’t helped. My strategy is to take a gigantic duffel bag of gear to Fairbanks with me, and decide at the last minute.
The Favorites
This article in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner is a good preview of the race. So if you are planning to follow along (do so here), here are a few things I will add:
- If the trail is in decent shape (and I think it is), a biker will win. In the past few years, I have sadly had to come to terms with the fact that today’s snowbikes are so fast that, unless the bikers have to push, there is no way a skier can compete in these types of races. Last year the fastest skier (Mike Kramer) was almost four hours slower than the fastest biker (Jeff Oatley). And those guys are both roughly equivalent endurance studs.
- The News-Miner article glossed over Rachel Steer and didn’t even mention Kate Arduser, either of whom could easily be the top skier overall, never mind fastest woman. I am desperately concerned about getting girled.
So that is about it. Hopefully, I’ll have a full report for you when it is over.
Pre-race thoughts on the White Mountains 100
Suddenly, the White Mountains 100 is upon us. It starts Sunday morning.
For my previous previous ultra ski races, I spent a lot of time preparing. This one, not so much. When you’ve got a three year old and an infant, things like the WM100 slide way down on the priority list. But now that it is go-time, I feel the need to release a lot of the thoughts about this race that have been swimming in my head for the past few months.
Back story
For a race that has only been run once, and that I’ve never done, I feel like I have a long history with it. About a year and a half ago, I got a mass email from Ed Plumb, who I knew from skiing to McGrath with/near him. He was putting out feelers to see if there was interest in having an ultra race in the White Mountains north of Fairbanks. Apparently the response was an definitive “yes” because within a few months the race was scheduled for late March. I desperately wanted to do it, but we had a baby due two weeks later, so it was a no-go for me. But my friend Bill signed up. And so did a ton of other people. Without yet even saying the word “Go!” Ed and Ann had already created the most interesting ultramarathon race around.
When race weekend rolled around, our baby was clearly not coming for a while yet. So I seriously considered flying to Fairbanks to stand at the start line, skis in hand, just in case one of the 50 racers didn’t show up. Glad I didn’t, because all 50 people started. Like I said, this race quickly became kind of a big deal.
I was determined to race this year, but I was away on vacation when registration opened. There were only 5 spots available for new racers, and despite getting up in the middle of the night to register, I ended up #10 on the wait list. I was really bummed, but Ed worked his magic over the next couple of months and was able to increase the field size from 50 to 65 racers. I was in!
So this is a long-winded way of saying that I am really excited to finally be in this race.
Training
My training for the WM100 was focused on one goal: beat myself up, little by little. I only had about 5 hours a week to train. I figured my cardiovascular base was probably still there (more or less). But since I haven’t been doing a lot of skiing, I was worried about my body holding up to the abuse. Skiing 45 minutes a day was not going to prepare my feet, hands, knees, and back for skiing 100 miles. So I figured the best way to prepare was to subject myself to long (4+ hour) skis once every week or two. And that is it. That is all I had time for. So, by my count, I’ve put in exactly eight quality training sessions for this race. Not ideal, but I feel strangely content with my preparation.
Goals
With that in mind, here are my goals for the WM100:
- Finish without getting injured
- Have fun exploring a new area
- Go as fast as I can while still accomplishing #1 & #2
I know it sounds lame…don’t get hurt, have fun, yada, yada. But I really think that is all I can expect from myself. However…here’s a little secret, just between you and me. There is a little voice in my head that won’t go away. It keeps telling me that, training be damned, I can still compete. I try to ignore that voice as much as possible. After all, I don’t want to be “that guy,” the over-the-hill, washed-up racer who is pathologically competitive and is a menace to himself and others out on the course. I may be over-the-hill and washed-up, but I don’t want to be a menace. All I am saying is that the little voice is still there, so if things are going well, I’m going to enjoy the ride while it lasts.
Gear
I am scrambling to decide on gear. As I began packing last night, I realized how many decisions I still have to make. Which skis? Which backpack? Reports from the trail have been varied, so that hasn’t helped. My strategy is to take a gigantic duffel bag of gear to Fairbanks with me, and decide at the last minute.
The Favorites
This article in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner is a good preview of the race. So if you are planning to follow along (do so here), here are a few things I will add:
- If the trail is in decent shape (and I think it is), a biker will win. In the past few years, I have sadly had to come to terms with the fact that today’s snowbikes are so fast that, unless the bikers have to push, there is no way a skier can compete in these types of races. Last year the fastest skier (Mike Kramer) was almost four hours slower than the fastest biker (Jeff Oatley). And those guys are both roughly equivalent endurance studs.
- The News-Miner article glossed over Rachel Steer and didn’t even mention Kate Arduser, either of whom could easily be the top skier overall, never mind fastest woman. I am desperately concerned about getting girled.
So that is about it. Hopefully, I’ll have a full report for you when it is over.
Pre-race thoughts on the White Mountains 100
Suddenly, the White Mountains 100 is upon us. It starts Sunday morning.
For my previous previous ultra ski races, I spent a lot of time preparing. This one, not so much. When you’ve got a three year old and an infant, things like the WM100 slide way down on the priority list. But now that it is go-time, I feel the need to release a lot of the thoughts about this race that have been swimming in my head for the past few months.
Back story
For a race that has only been run once, and that I’ve never done, I feel like I have a long history with it. About a year and a half ago, I got a mass email from Ed Plumb, who I knew from skiing to McGrath with/near him. He was putting out feelers to see if there was interest in having an ultra race in the White Mountains north of Fairbanks. Apparently the response was an definitive “yes” because within a few months the race was scheduled for late March. I desperately wanted to do it, but we had a baby due two weeks later, so it was a no-go for me. But my friend Bill signed up. And so did a ton of other people. Without yet even saying the word “Go!” Ed and Ann had already created the most interesting ultramarathon race around.
When race weekend rolled around, our baby was clearly not coming for a while yet. So I seriously considered flying to Fairbanks to stand at the start line, skis in hand, just in case one of the 50 racers didn’t show up. Glad I didn’t, because all 50 people started. Like I said, this race quickly became kind of a big deal.
I was determined to race this year, but I was away on vacation when registration opened. There were only 5 spots available for new racers, and despite getting up in the middle of the night to register, I ended up #10 on the wait list. I was really bummed, but Ed worked his magic over the next couple of months and was able to increase the field size from 50 to 65 racers. I was in!
So this is a long-winded way of saying that I am really excited to finally be in this race.
Training
My training for the WM100 was focused on one goal: beat myself up, little by little. I only had about 5 hours a week to train. I figured my cardiovascular base was probably still there (more or less). But since I haven’t been doing a lot of skiing, I was worried about my body holding up to the abuse. Skiing 45 minutes a day was not going to prepare my feet, hands, knees, and back for skiing 100 miles. So I figured the best way to prepare was to subject myself to long (4+ hour) skis once every week or two. And that is it. That is all I had time for. So, by my count, I’ve put in exactly eight quality training sessions for this race. Not ideal, but I feel strangely content with my preparation.
Goals
With that in mind, here are my goals for the WM100:
- Finish without getting injured
- Have fun exploring a new area
- Go as fast as I can while still accomplishing #1 & #2
I know it sounds lame…don’t get hurt, have fun, yada, yada. But I really think that is all I can expect from myself. However…here’s a little secret, just between you and me. There is a little voice in my head that won’t go away. It keeps telling me that, training be damned, I can still compete. I try to ignore that voice as much as possible. After all, I don’t want to be “that guy,” the over-the-hill, washed-up racer who is pathologically competitive and is a menace to himself and others out on the course. I may be over-the-hill and washed-up, but I don’t want to be a menace. All I am saying is that the little voice is still there, so if things are going well, I’m going to enjoy the ride while it lasts.
Gear
I am scrambling to decide on gear. As I began packing last night, I realized how many decisions I still have to make. Which skis? Which backpack? Reports from the trail have been varied, so that hasn’t helped. My strategy is to take a gigantic duffel bag of gear to Fairbanks with me, and decide at the last minute.
The Favorites
This article in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner is a good preview of the race. So if you are planning to follow along (do so here), here are a few things I will add:
- If the trail is in decent shape (and I think it is), a biker will win. In the past few years, I have sadly had to come to terms with the fact that today’s snowbikes are so fast that, unless the bikers have to push, there is no way a skier can compete in these types of races. Last year the fastest skier (Mike Kramer) was almost four hours slower than the fastest biker (Jeff Oatley). And those guys are both roughly equivalent endurance studs.
- The News-Miner article glossed over Rachel Steer and didn’t even mention Kate Arduser, either of whom could easily be the top skier overall, never mind fastest woman. I am desperately concerned about getting girled.
So that is about it. Hopefully, I’ll have a full report for you when it is over.
Pre-race thoughts on the White Mountains 100
Suddenly, the White Mountains 100 is upon us. It starts Sunday morning.
For my previous previous ultra ski races, I spent a lot of time preparing. This one, not so much. When you’ve got a three year old and an infant, things like the WM100 slide way down on the priority list. But now that it is go-time, I feel the need to release a lot of the thoughts about this race that have been swimming in my head for the past few months.
Back story
For a race that has only been run once, and that I’ve never done, I feel like I have a long history with it. About a year and a half ago, I got a mass email from Ed Plumb, who I knew from skiing to McGrath with/near him. He was putting out feelers to see if there was interest in having an ultra race in the White Mountains north of Fairbanks. Apparently the response was an definitive “yes” because within a few months the race was scheduled for late March. I desperately wanted to do it, but we had a baby due two weeks later, so it was a no-go for me. But my friend Bill signed up. And so did a ton of other people. Without yet even saying the word “Go!” Ed and Ann had already created the most interesting ultramarathon race around.
When race weekend rolled around, our baby was clearly not coming for a while yet. So I seriously considered flying to Fairbanks to stand at the start line, skis in hand, just in case one of the 50 racers didn’t show up. Glad I didn’t, because all 50 people started. Like I said, this race quickly became kind of a big deal.
I was determined to race this year, but I was away on vacation when registration opened. There were only 5 spots available for new racers, and despite getting up in the middle of the night to register, I ended up #10 on the wait list. I was really bummed, but Ed worked his magic over the next couple of months and was able to increase the field size from 50 to 65 racers. I was in!
So this is a long-winded way of saying that I am really excited to finally be in this race.
Training
My training for the WM100 was focused on one goal: beat myself up, little by little. I only had about 5 hours a week to train. I figured my cardiovascular base was probably still there (more or less). But since I haven’t been doing a lot of skiing, I was worried about my body holding up to the abuse. Skiing 45 minutes a day was not going to prepare my feet, hands, knees, and back for skiing 100 miles. So I figured the best way to prepare was to subject myself to long (4+ hour) skis once every week or two. And that is it. That is all I had time for. So, by my count, I’ve put in exactly eight quality training sessions for this race. Not ideal, but I feel strangely content with my preparation.
Goals
With that in mind, here are my goals for the WM100:
- Finish without getting injured
- Have fun exploring a new area
- Go as fast as I can while still accomplishing #1 & #2
I know it sounds lame…don’t get hurt, have fun, yada, yada. But I really think that is all I can expect from myself. However…here’s a little secret, just between you and me. There is a little voice in my head that won’t go away. It keeps telling me that, training be damned, I can still compete. I try to ignore that voice as much as possible. After all, I don’t want to be “that guy,” the over-the-hill, washed-up racer who is pathologically competitive and is a menace to himself and others out on the course. I may be over-the-hill and washed-up, but I don’t want to be a menace. All I am saying is that the little voice is still there, so if things are going well, I’m going to enjoy the ride while it lasts.
Gear
I am scrambling to decide on gear. As I began packing last night, I realized how many decisions I still have to make. Which skis? Which backpack? Reports from the trail have been varied, so that hasn’t helped. My strategy is to take a gigantic duffel bag of gear to Fairbanks with me, and decide at the last minute.
The Favorites
This article in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner is a good preview of the race. So if you are planning to follow along (do so here), here are a few things I will add:
- If the trail is in decent shape (and I think it is), a biker will win. In the past few years, I have sadly had to come to terms with the fact that today’s snowbikes are so fast that, unless the bikers have to push, there is no way a skier can compete in these types of races. Last year the fastest skier (Mike Kramer) was almost four hours slower than the fastest biker (Jeff Oatley). And those guys are both roughly equivalent endurance studs.
- The News-Miner article glossed over Rachel Steer and didn’t even mention Kate Arduser, either of whom could easily be the top skier overall, never mind fastest woman. I am desperately concerned about getting girled.
So that is about it. Hopefully, I’ll have a full report for you when it is over.
Leif Nordgren: Man of the Future?
I promised a separate post on Leif Nordgren earlier, so here it goes. I don’t really have any fancy analysis to present, but here’s his results in major international competitions (WC, WBC and OWG):
Obviously, the guy is young and this is his first season skiing on the WC circuit “full time” or mostly so. His two fantastic races at World Championships certainly attracted some attention, and rightly so. But I’d also note just how different those two races were from the rest of his results. Now, that’s not uncommon in biathlon, where a few more shots made here and there can easily move you up or down 15-20 places. I just wouldn’t expect him to pump out that kind of race on a regular basis, even next season.However, you’ll also note that (if you look carefully) his result from just this season were steadily improving throughout the season it seemed. Not by a huge amount, perhaps, but it’s noticeable. That’s exactly what you want to see from a young guy getting used to international competitions. I would think that the best case scenario for him next season would be to have his results spending most of their time in the ‘Good’ section of these graphs, with occasional forays in ‘Elite’. He’s certainly an interesting guy to watch, though.
This got me wondering though about young skiers in biathlon in general. My age data for biathletes is much less complete than for cross country, since that information is harder to obtain in large chunks. I did my best to identify a few men under the age of 22 who raced in WC or WBC races this season. There were only a few people who appeared to do this more than a handful of times:
Almoukov, just so you know, is apparently Australian. Hofer, Lindström and Weger are pretty clearly at a different level than Nordgren. Of course, in those more competitive biathlon nations, my guess is that they have even more fairly talented youngsters who just aren’t racing World Cups and so the ones that are are really the cream of the crop. (I’m missing lots of birth dates for IBU Cup athletes, which is why I’m skipping that arena.)Related posts:
70,001 points, by Elena Lüthi
For those of you who read the previous post and, just like me, were confused about the GNAR rating, here is a bit of an explanation.
After staying on campus Wednesday and missing an epic ski to finish an essay, I was out of the loop concerning GNAR. Luckily, I got a thorough explanation during our team dinner last night (Thank you Diane for the awesome food and having us all over!!!). The main goal for GMVS athletes in the spring is to enjoy the last bit of skiing and go on tours that we cannot go on during the racing season. This year, the GNAR rating is an extra motivation to do ridiculous things on our skinny skis. GNAR stands for Gmvs Assessment of Numerical Radness, The basic concept is that, the more ridiculous of a line you choose while skiing or the more air you catch of a jump, the more GNAR points you get. Falling, snow plowing and breaking equipment earn you negative points. So, having gotten the clarification on GNAR, I understood what I had to do during today’s ski.
Justin dropped us off at Texas Falls and let Hans, Kaitlin, Devlin, Tim, David and myself wander out towards Granville. About half a mile before the top of the hill we saw an opening on the side of the hill that had GNAR potential. We hiked up the clearing and into the woods to enjoy a nice downhill. Unfortunately, David got a little too rad and he broke his ski. It was an unfortunate situation, amongst others because it lost him GNAR points, but especially since the big downhill had yet to come. David, as always, made the best of it and mono skied for the rest of the day. Jumping off the side of the trail and choosing tight lines, the group reached the bottom of the valley where we met up with Justin and Rafter. Justin being, and I think I speak for everyone here, the craziest and GNARliest member of our team added to the GNAR experience. Jumps and tight lines were no longer sufficient, you had to jump off small huts and almost ski into the river to ski GNARly. The balance at the end of the day was: one broken ski, 7 happy skiers and one tape of our rad adventures (video will be posted soon). And for those of you who were worried about David’s GNAR points, he earned many more points than he lost by mono skiing most of the day!
The Halvorsen Family left today for a European adventure that will most certainly gain them many GNAR points and hopefully many great moments. Meanwhile, the rest of the team will be alpine skiing tomorrow and going on many more GNARly skis.
Stay tuned for videos and more stories of our spring adventures.
Enjoy the snow!
//Elena70,001 points, by Elena Lüthi
For those of you who read the previous post and, just like me, were confused about the GNAR rating, here is a bit of an explanation.
After staying on campus Wednesday and missing an epic ski to finish an essay, I was out of the loop concerning GNAR. Luckily, I got a thorough explanation during our team dinner last night (Thank you Diane for the awesome food and having us all over!!!). The main goal for GMVS athletes in the spring is to enjoy the last bit of skiing and go on tours that we cannot go on during the racing season. This year, the GNAR rating is an extra motivation to do ridiculous things on our skinny skis. GNAR stands for Gmvs Assessment of Numerical Radness, The basic concept is that, the more ridiculous of a line you choose while skiing or the more air you catch of a jump, the more GNAR points you get. Falling, snow plowing and breaking equipment earn you negative points. So, having gotten the clarification on GNAR, I understood what I had to do during today’s ski.
Justin dropped us off at Texas Falls and let Hans, Kaitlin, Devlin, Tim, David and myself wander out towards Granville. About half a mile before the top of the hill we saw an opening on the side of the hill that had GNAR potential. We hiked up the clearing and into the woods to enjoy a nice downhill. Unfortunately, David got a little too rad and he broke his ski. It was an unfortunate situation, amongst others because it lost him GNAR points, but especially since the big downhill had yet to come. David, as always, made the best of it and mono skied for the rest of the day. Jumping off the side of the trail and choosing tight lines, the group reached the bottom of the valley where we met up with Justin and Rafter. Justin being, and I think I speak for everyone here, the craziest and GNARliest member of our team added to the GNAR experience. Jumps and tight lines were no longer sufficient, you had to jump off small huts and almost ski into the river to ski GNARly. The balance at the end of the day was: one broken ski, 7 happy skiers and one tape of our rad adventures (video will be posted soon). And for those of you who were worried about David’s GNAR points, he earned many more points than he lost by mono skiing most of the day!
The Halvorsen Family left today for a European adventure that will most certainly gain them many GNAR points and hopefully many great moments. Meanwhile, the rest of the team will be alpine skiing tomorrow and going on many more GNARly skis.
Stay tuned for videos and more stories of our spring adventures.
Enjoy the snow!
//ElenaSun Valley and the Winter that Never Ceases
It has truly been one of those winters for the books. All last summer I remember people talking in town about how it was going to be bigger than the winter of ’66 or some such year, with record snowfalls, cold, and invading Yetis. I always take such portents with equal portions of hope and reservations, because unnecessary excitement isn’t good for my sleep patterns.
Well, it was one of those years. Granted, after a gangbusters start in December with snow over much of the Valley trails, we had a rather crap January with rain and warm temps which bludgeoned our snowpack down to about 50% of its original mass. But then late February and March came callin’ and we’re back in full-blown winter with literally feet of snow falling in the mountains every night and the trails being refreshed nearly daily. Of course, around the middle of March I started to hear Jay grumbling at the store that grooming costs were starting to become atrocious and the winter just needed to end. But for those of you diehards out there, eking out the last bits of ski season, I salute you.
As for me, the racing season has held its share of peculiarities. After a late start, then a great race at Nationals, I had about a three week dearth of races. Then a few local starts and a NorAm before encountering more doldrums. Granted, having two SuperTour weekend cancellations didn’t help matters, and I know much of the American racer community is in the same boat with me.
Which is why this coming week is going to be awesome. Super Tour Finals here in Sun Valley is building up to be as big or bigger than US Nationals itself. Teams from all over the country and Canada, as well as some token true foreigners from Japan and beyond are all rallying to the glitz and glamour of Ketchum in preparation for first the 30/50km National Champs on Sunday, and later the four-race mini-tour all next week out at Lake Creek trails. I’m focusing on the mini-tour and have been down here acclimating the last few days with Methow junior phenom Evan Turner, who’s also looking to plug some low points into his profile before the year is out. We’re staying at a great condo in town belonging to some local friends who are also hosting another PNSA junior, Max Christman. Great folks to know – thanks for the support!
Conditions are swell; new snow is coming down and while the temperatures are hovering around freezing, Zeroes are kicking great and running fast. Scott and Alison are coming down later this weekend to round out the team and get us ready to rock.
Apologies for not having photos. Someone buy me a working camera and I’ll remedy the situation.
![](http://www.statisticalskier.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/leifnordgren.png" "leifnordgren")
![](http://www.statisticalskier.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/nordgren_compare.png" "nordgren_compare")
