XCFeeds – Page 205 – FasterSkier

I’ve got lots to say about the last races and the upcoming ones, but no time to say it. Until I do, here’s a cheap post – a bad screen-cap of the terrible bibs worn at the La Clusaz race, here mercifully covering some of the hideous suits worn this year by France. Awful, awful, awful – so bad that Eldar Rønning seems to prefer looking closely at Maurice Manificat’s ass than the bib.For what it’s

December 28, 2010

It’s all about the PIE !!

For most NY skiers the Osceola Christmas race is the unofficial kickoff to the ski season. It’s not called the “World Famous Osceola Christmas Race” for nothing ! With over 240 races it is one of the largest races in NY.

Not only are early season bragging rights on the line but so are delicious pies for the winners of each age group! In addition to earning respect and pies race organizer Julie makes custom pottery awards for the top3 in each age group. Check out all of her beautiful and unique products at http://www.earthandironstudio.com/ So needless to say their is a lot on the line for this early season race to make it even more interesting the race was classic technique this year. Thankfully Hugh came through laying down some sweet tracks with his new grooming set up and the snow gods came through and blessed the tug will with plenty of the early season white stuff.

With all that was on the line R.N.R decided to come out with the guns blazing and blazing they were. With both overall winners and 4 of the top 6 overall having ties to the summer program things could not of been much better. Congratulations to Chad Day and Amanda Moreland on the overall win and to Jason Hettenbaugh, and Hanna Barnes on their top 3 overall performances. In addition to being in the top 3 overall we also had some great junior performances from Eric and Reed going 2 and 3 in the J1 boys and Adam winning the OJ boys race. Steve also had a good race finishing 2nd in the M4 race. All in all it was a great day to be a part of R.N.R !!

Currently R.N.R is training hard for some big time races coming up. Marty and Jason are in Vermont racing the Nor-Am Biathlon races in Jericho. So far they are off to a great start with Marty taking the victory in the Sr mens category and Jason placing second!! Next week Jason, Reed, and Adam are headed to Rumford Maine for U.S Nationals, and then most of the team will be back together for the Queensbury JOQ followed by the Super Tour in Lake Placid. We are also going to have a surprise for all of you soon so keep your eye open!!

December 28, 2010

It’s all about the PIE !!

For most NY skiers the Osceola Christmas race is the unofficial kickoff to the ski season. It’s not called the “World Famous Osceola Christmas Race” for nothing ! With over 240 races it is one of the largest races in NY.

Not only are early season bragging rights on the line but so are delicious pies for the winners of each age group! In addition to earning respect and pies race organizer Julie makes custom pottery awards for the top3 in each age group. Check out all of her beautiful and unique products at http://www.earthandironstudio.com/ So needless to say their is a lot on the line for this early season race to make it even more interesting the race was classic technique this year. Thankfully Hugh came through laying down some sweet tracks with his new grooming set up and the snow gods came through and blessed the tug will with plenty of the early season white stuff.

With all that was on the line R.N.R decided to come out with the guns blazing and blazing they were. With both overall winners and 4 of the top 6 overall having ties to the summer program things could not of been much better. Congratulations to Chad Day and Amanda Moreland on the overall win and to Jason Hettenbaugh, and Hanna Barnes on their top 3 overall performances. In addition to being in the top 3 overall we also had some great junior performances from Eric and Reed going 2 and 3 in the J1 boys and Adam winning the OJ boys race. Steve also had a good race finishing 2nd in the M4 race. All in all it was a great day to be a part of R.N.R !!

Currently R.N.R is training hard for some big time races coming up. Marty and Jason are in Vermont racing the Nor-Am Biathlon races in Jericho. So far they are off to a great start with Marty taking the victory in the Sr mens category and Jason placing second!! Next week Jason, Reed, and Adam are headed to Rumford Maine for U.S Nationals, and then most of the team will be back together for the Queensbury JOQ followed by the Super Tour in Lake Placid. We are also going to have a surprise for all of you soon so keep your eye open!!

December 28, 2010

It’s all about the PIE !!

For most NY skiers the Osceola Christmas race is the unofficial kickoff to the ski season. It’s not called the “World Famous Osceola Christmas Race” for nothing ! With over 240 races it is one of the largest races in NY.

Not only are early season bragging rights on the line but so are delicious pies for the winners of each age group! In addition to earning respect and pies race organizer Julie makes custom pottery awards for the top3 in each age group. Check out all of her beautiful and unique products at http://www.earthandironstudio.com/ So needless to say their is a lot on the line for this early season race to make it even more interesting the race was classic technique this year. Thankfully Hugh came through laying down some sweet tracks with his new grooming set up and the snow gods came through and blessed the tug will with plenty of the early season white stuff.

With all that was on the line R.N.R decided to come out with the guns blazing and blazing they were. With both overall winners and 4 of the top 6 overall having ties to the summer program things could not of been much better. Congratulations to Chad Day and Amanda Moreland on the overall win and to Jason Hettenbaugh, and Hanna Barnes on their top 3 overall performances. In addition to being in the top 3 overall we also had some great junior performances from Eric and Reed going 2 and 3 in the J1 boys and Adam winning the OJ boys race. Steve also had a good race finishing 2nd in the M4 race. All in all it was a great day to be a part of R.N.R !!

Currently R.N.R is training hard for some big time races coming up. Marty and Jason are in Vermont racing the Nor-Am Biathlon races in Jericho. So far they are off to a great start with Marty taking the victory in the Sr mens category and Jason placing second!! Next week Jason, Reed, and Adam are headed to Rumford Maine for U.S Nationals, and then most of the team will be back together for the Queensbury JOQ followed by the Super Tour in Lake Placid. We are also going to have a surprise for all of you soon so keep your eye open!!

December 28, 2010

It’s all about the PIE !!

For most NY skiers the Osceola Christmas race is the unofficial kickoff to the ski season. It’s not called the “World Famous Osceola Christmas Race” for nothing ! With over 240 races it is one of the largest races in NY.

Not only are early season bragging rights on the line but so are delicious pies for the winners of each age group! In addition to earning respect and pies race organizer Julie makes custom pottery awards for the top3 in each age group. Check out all of her beautiful and unique products at http://www.earthandironstudio.com/ So needless to say their is a lot on the line for this early season race to make it even more interesting the race was classic technique this year. Thankfully Hugh came through laying down some sweet tracks with his new grooming set up and the snow gods came through and blessed the tug will with plenty of the early season white stuff.

With all that was on the line R.N.R decided to come out with the guns blazing and blazing they were. With both overall winners and 4 of the top 6 overall having ties to the summer program things could not of been much better. Congratulations to Chad Day and Amanda Moreland on the overall win and to Jason Hettenbaugh, and Hanna Barnes on their top 3 overall performances. In addition to being in the top 3 overall we also had some great junior performances from Eric and Reed going 2 and 3 in the J1 boys and Adam winning the OJ boys race. Steve also had a good race finishing 2nd in the M4 race. All in all it was a great day to be a part of R.N.R !!

Currently R.N.R is training hard for some big time races coming up. Marty and Jason are in Vermont racing the Nor-Am Biathlon races in Jericho. So far they are off to a great start with Marty taking the victory in the Sr mens category and Jason placing second!! Next week Jason, Reed, and Adam are headed to Rumford Maine for U.S Nationals, and then most of the team will be back together for the Queensbury JOQ followed by the Super Tour in Lake Placid. We are also going to have a surprise for all of you soon so keep your eye open!!

December 28, 2010

Christmas Crafts

My family’s December is filled with Christmas traditions. As a kid, I couldn’t wait to climb into the attic and dig out our boxes of holiday decorations. My younger brother always remembered exactly where we had stored the boxes the year before, and his first order of business was to unearth the stocking and hang them by the fireplace. My favorite box contained our Christmas picture books. Certain stories were reread so many times over the holidays that we all knew them by heart, including the “The Grinch” and “The Berenstain Bears’ Christmas Tree.” Finding a Christmas tree with the Dunklees was almost as much of an adventure as with the Berenstain Bears. It involved a parade down the driveway with the dogs trotting eagerly ahead and the cats trailing along behind. In the swamp we would pick out our “perfect” tree (it usually had a tangle of unkempt boughs and was missing branches in key places). My brothers and I would argue over who got to saw it down and drag it back on the sled.

Back at home, we’d eat dinner around a table glowing with candle light. At the center of the table sat a German Christmas pyramid with intricate wood carvings.

The Dunklee's Christmas pyramid centerpiece.

The heat from the candles at the bottom of the pyramid spun the paddles above and caused the multiple levels of rotating wooden carvings to rotate. The bottom layer had wise men and their camel marching circles around a manager scene. Upper levels depicted shepherds and angels. Sometimes the spinner would get stuck and we’d spend half of dinner tinkering with the candles or the paddles trying to get it moving again. We admired the design and craftsmanship of the pyramid and speculated how long it would take to make. My parent told me they bought it from a catalog for $20 soon after the iron curtain fell. There is no way that price accurately reflects the work that must have gone into it.

When I showed up at my parents’ house a couple days before Christmas this year, I discovered my father’s workbench covered in wood shavings, delicate saw work, and half finished carvings. He’s tackling a project that he’s been talking about for years: building his own spinning pyramid.

A homemade wooden pyramid in progress on my dad's workbench.

It will have one level for each of us kids. Mine will have skiers and biathletes on it, and he’s dreaming up ways to make a little biathlon target change colors from white to black as the scene spins. I spent one morning trying to roughly shape a biathlete out of a block of wood. Even with the help of a power jigsaw to get me started, the figure was barely recognizable after a couple hours of work.

Christmas pyramids originated in the Erzgebirge Mountains (also known as the Ore Mountains) of Germany along the Czech border, and evolved out of similar ancient traditions as the Christmas tree. For hundreds of years, the inhabitants of the Erzgebirge region mined silver, tin, iron and copper, but as the minerals ran out, they needed to supplement their income. They turned to wood carving and toy making, and the region is now famous for making spinning pyramids and nutcrackers, among other things. Most of the creations depict either religious themes or folk themes, such as mining. Unlike most of the things we see for sale today, these wood carvings are not mass produced, and none of them look exactly the same.

Altenberg, Germany lies in the heart of the Erzgebirge region and has many shops that showcase such wood carvings.

Masterpieces on display in an Altenberg shop.

It is also famous for its biathlon venue. I have been lucky enough to visit Altenberg for IBU Cup biathlon races and to see shops filled with wooden figurines, mining arches, and spinning pyramids.

January 2009. I'm standing in front of a giant wooden pyramid in downtown Altenberg.

Last year the Altenberg races served as the US Olympic Team selection trials and my visit there was more stressful than I would have liked. However, I’ll be returning there in January for more IBU Cup races and I’m excited to take in more of the village and culture. Maybe I’ll find some inspiration. I’ve got a vision swimming around in my mind of a Craftsbury spinning pyramid, with scullers, skiers, runners, and solar panels…

December 28, 2010

Grafton Skate TT Pictures and Times

a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRpEr1x-ECI/AAAAAAAAF2U/zEyYDbGamWM/s1600/IMG_0481.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRpEr1x-ECI/AAAAAAAAF2U/zEyYDbGamWM/s400/IMG_0481.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555828610276659234″ //aHere are some pictures that lilly took during our skate TT this morning. Tracks were soft and we ended up skiing multiple loops in the field, but this allowed us to check on pacing and there was a tough hill on each lap.br /Click on any picture to enlarge it.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRpEUtsLpEI/AAAAAAAAF2M/Nmyp1qGIKPA/s1600/IMG_0492.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRpEUtsLpEI/AAAAAAAAF2M/Nmyp1qGIKPA/s400/IMG_0492.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555828212967908418″ //aThe youngsters raced 3 laps, the girls raced 6 laps and the boys raced 10 laps. br /Here are the BKL times (3 laps followed by total):br /MacKenzie 2:44, 3:09, 3:05, 8:58br /Russell 3:10, 3:20, 3:15, 9:45br /Pippin 3:11, 3:34, 3:22, 10:07br /Jamie 2:52, 3:25, 4:01, 10:18br /Tess 3:19, 3:49, 3:27, 10:35br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRpD_tR5CQI/AAAAAAAAF2E/fWs9i3cxCWA/s1600/IMG_0499.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRpD_tR5CQI/AAAAAAAAF2E/fWs9i3cxCWA/s400/IMG_0499.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555827852080384258″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRpDs-2VhEI/AAAAAAAAF18/ioJlmVLZYuw/s1600/IMG_0493.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRpDs-2VhEI/AAAAAAAAF18/ioJlmVLZYuw/s400/IMG_0493.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555827530379134018″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRpDRKzaK-I/AAAAAAAAF10/ZHPm3UPmpqA/s1600/IMG_0495.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRpDRKzaK-I/AAAAAAAAF10/ZHPm3UPmpqA/s400/IMG_0495.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555827052551744482″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRpC6Y4QKDI/AAAAAAAAF1s/SctwjsQxwO0/s1600/IMG_0500.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRpC6Y4QKDI/AAAAAAAAF1s/SctwjsQxwO0/s400/IMG_0500.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555826661193164850″ //aGirls times:br /Sophie 2:08, 2:28, 2:27, 2:32, 2:33, 2:24, 14:32br /Megan 2:23, 2:27, 2:35, 2:40, 2:43, 2:39, 15:27br /Izzy C 2:24, 2:30, 2:40, 2:42, 2:39, 2:33, 15:28br /Issy P 2:27, 2:32, 2:45, 2:40, 2:34, 2:30, 15:28br /MKate 2:33, 2:43, 2:50, 2:47, 2:47, 2:45, 16:25br /Gage 2:20, 2:38, 2:33, 2:53, 3:04, 2:52, 16:30br /Cam 2:37, 2:40, 2:56, 2:48, 2:48, 2:44, 16:33br /Heidi 2:41, 2:46, 3:01, 3:07, 2:58, 3:10, 17:43br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRpCmn6ZPUI/AAAAAAAAF1k/8T9BR7Al5Ks/s1600/IMG_0503.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRpCmn6ZPUI/AAAAAAAAF1k/8T9BR7Al5Ks/s400/IMG_0503.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555826321631296834″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRpCURMgWkI/AAAAAAAAF1c/ZHecE4sXVTQ/s1600/IMG_0505.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRpCURMgWkI/AAAAAAAAF1c/ZHecE4sXVTQ/s400/IMG_0505.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555826006295599682″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRpCCqTivHI/AAAAAAAAF1U/dwsTZFbNFhk/s1600/IMG_0506.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRpCCqTivHI/AAAAAAAAF1U/dwsTZFbNFhk/s400/IMG_0506.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555825703798357106″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRpBuUyjqhI/AAAAAAAAF1M/ixklssbDwTM/s1600/IMG_0512.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRpBuUyjqhI/AAAAAAAAF1M/ixklssbDwTM/s400/IMG_0512.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555825354425477650″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRo-kXYwWcI/AAAAAAAAF1E/uVqTcxc2b9M/s1600/IMG_0529.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRo-kXYwWcI/AAAAAAAAF1E/uVqTcxc2b9M/s400/IMG_0529.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555821884788988354″ //aThe boys raced 10 laps. Here are their lap times followed by their total time.br /Brayton 2:02, 2:06, 2:12, 2:09, 2:07, 2:19, 2:14, 2:08, 2:15, 2:07, 21:39br /Paddy 1:58, 2:08, 2:08, 2:13, 2:14, 2:15, 2:12, 2:12, 2:13, 2:17, 21:50br /Bridger 2:02, 2:12, 2:12, 2:12, 2:15, 2:20, 2:14, 2:19, 2:14, 2:12, 22:12br /JA Caldwell 1:58, 2:11, 2:17, 2:16, 2:20, 2:22, 2:15, 2:23, 2:12, 2:15, 22:29br /Tyler 2:14, 2:14, 2:17, 2:18, 2:21, 2:15, 2:22, 2:13, 2:18, 2:09, 22:41br /A Cobb 2:08, 2:17, 2:17, 2:23, 2:31, 2:32, 2:33, 2:37, 2:25, 2:24, 24:07br /Mac F. 2:10, 2:24, 2:27, 2:29, 2:26, 2:25, 2:27, 2:34, 2:28, 2:24, 24:14br /Kody 2:18, 2:24, 2:29, 2:35, 2:37, 2:37, 2:37, 2:34, 2:31, 2:24, 25:06br /Sam 2:30, 2:46, 2:52, 2:52, 2:58, 2:54, 2:53, 3:00, 2:58, 2:59, 28:42br /Magnus 2:06, 2:10, 2:15, 2:29, 2:37, 2:40, 2:46, DNFbr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRo-KJcVx_I/AAAAAAAAF08/J3nn0bM4_9I/s1600/IMG_0531.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRo-KJcVx_I/AAAAAAAAF08/J3nn0bM4_9I/s400/IMG_0531.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555821434369329138″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRo91xCodxI/AAAAAAAAF00/oRbLNNc9bgw/s1600/IMG_0533.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRo91xCodxI/AAAAAAAAF00/oRbLNNc9bgw/s400/IMG_0533.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555821084221667090″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRo9b9hmAcI/AAAAAAAAF0s/vuyyLZLaraU/s1600/IMG_0536.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRo9b9hmAcI/AAAAAAAAF0s/vuyyLZLaraU/s400/IMG_0536.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555820640896156098″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRo9LPFzmBI/AAAAAAAAF0k/xJOtvUBy2ws/s1600/IMG_0538.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRo9LPFzmBI/AAAAAAAAF0k/xJOtvUBy2ws/s400/IMG_0538.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555820353553668114″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRo84BAN44I/AAAAAAAAF0c/AyJlaG2D-GQ/s1600/IMG_0540.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRo84BAN44I/AAAAAAAAF0c/AyJlaG2D-GQ/s400/IMG_0540.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555820023354614658″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRo8gq4aWwI/AAAAAAAAF0U/wHk0ys-R-4w/s1600/IMG_0569.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRo8gq4aWwI/AAAAAAAAF0U/wHk0ys-R-4w/s400/IMG_0569.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555819622279305986″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRo8JCSgSlI/AAAAAAAAF0M/jygitsy6CTE/s1600/IMG_0570.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRo8JCSgSlI/AAAAAAAAF0M/jygitsy6CTE/s400/IMG_0570.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555819216245901906″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRo7t7eyvMI/AAAAAAAAF0E/lskWNInYLno/s1600/IMG_0574.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TRo7t7eyvMI/AAAAAAAAF0E/lskWNInYLno/s400/IMG_0574.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555818750561926338″ //adiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4680416899705879324-4565541392515101905?l=smsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div

December 28, 2010

Technique Preferences: Italy

My post on the differing performance of Japanese skiers by technique (classic vs. freestyle) got a lot of positive responses and a few requests that I use the same methods on some other countries. First up is Italy.

I’ve tweaked and refined my model a fair bit, hopefully for the better. The basic idea is the same: using a hierarchical linear model to estimate differences in performance in skating and classic races (I’m omitting pursuits of all varieties). There are some technical things I’ve changed to be able to accomodate changes over time. Mostly this means making some adjustments for the occasional small sample sizes you find from season to season. This allows me to provide an estimate even in seasons where a skier did races of only one technique, although naturally those estimates come with a bit of a grain of salt.

In the results by athlete for their entire career, I’m only going to display information on only those athletes that did a minimum number of races of each technique (2) for space and clarity reasons.

The final big change is in the distance category. There are some technical reasons why FIS points are somewhat of a nuisance to use as a response variable in models like these, so I’m using something else: percent back from the median skier. I’ll save a more detailed description for why I’m doing this and how this measure is useful for another post. Here all we need to know is that 0% back represents the median (or middle) WC skier. Negative values mean you’re faster and positive values mean you’re slower.

Going into this, our intuitive notion is that the Italians have been generally better at skating. And that does turn out to be the case. But some other fascinating stuff pops up as well.

Distance

Here are the estimates for the effect on median percent back of freestyle races for each Italian skier, over their entire career:

Remember that the x axis is the change in median percent back for freestyle races. So negative values here mean that that athlete was better in freestyle.

Clearly, with the overwhelming majority of skiers falling in the negative range, often times statistically significantly so, we’re seeing a strong preference for skating. But do you notice a difference in the color pattern? This preference for skating seems much less strong among the Italian women. Sure, there are several well known Italian women who were significantly better at skating (Belmonda, Di Centa, etc.) but you’ve got this mass of blue up at the top.

Not many actually have better performance in classic skiing, but the difference between the two seems much less than with the men.

Now let’s look at how this has changed over time across the entire team:

Once again, negative values (this time on the y axis) represent the team as a whole performing better at skate races. Note that I’ve included estimates for the 2010-2011 season, but we shouldn’t put much weight on those since the season is only just begun.

Both the women and the men have bounced around mostly below zero (better at skating) and oftentimes significantly so. There might be a slight increase in this trend for the men (discounting the estimate for 2010-2011), but it is very small. The women have a clearer trend, showing an increased discrepancy towards skating through much of the 2000′s but seem to have reversed that somewhat over the last 3 years or so.

Something looks extremely unusual in the earlier season, particularly with 1994-1995. Normally when doing data analysis I’d go back and dig deeper into the model to see what’s going on there, but I have time for only so much investigation. The question to keep in mind is whether the effect in that season is “real” or is it an artifact of my model? In either case, I have less confidence that my model is working for the early 90′s.

Sprint

The results for the sprinters is more straightforward to interpret, since I’m just using rank as a measure. First up the individual athletes:

Once again a clear, strong tendency towards skating (a negative change in rank means you did better in skate sprints). And the gender difference is even stronger here, but it’s reversed! Here, while both men and women generally do better in skate sprints, this difference is considerably larger for the women.

How have these differences changed over time?

Sprinting hasn’t been around as long and I’m chopping off some of the early, experimental years of the event. Again, don’t put much faith in the estimate for 2010-2011; it will surely change!

Both the men and the women seem fairly stable, actually. The men were more tilted toward skating prior to 2006-2007, and the women may perhaps have seen a slight easing of their preference for skating as well. But you really have to squint.

My final point here is to observe the difference in the confidence intervals at the individual level versus the team level. Nearly all of the effects at the individual level appear statistically significant (the error bars don’t overlap zero), but at the team level this doesn’t seem to be the case, even though the preference for skating is still apparent. This is one of the reasons why hierarchical models are so useful; you can separate out these sorts of effects at different levels.

Next up…..Norway!

The Boys of MOD Back At It

With my training compatriot Sam’s mono-i-mono battle, followed by a NorAm throwdown in British Columbia, combined with my recent transatlantic adventures, the boys of MOD finally came together again for a good old fashioned throwdown on the trails of Sun Mountain. What follows in the video below is a couple of the scenes from the day.

From the Evergreen State, its now off to US Nationals in sunny Rumford, Maine. Racing kicks off on January 2nd with the sprint, classic style.