FasterSkier

Category: XCFeeds

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

  • A Recognition for Change

  • After Training and After School in West Yellowstone

    My CXC teammates and I are in West Yellowstone for just under a month this year. That is a long time to be living in a hotel room. This is my 5th winter in West Yellowstone and I arrived with the goal of making a greater connection with the local community during my stay.
    Caitlin and I gave a presentation to the after-school program about life as a professional ski racer and the big Yellostone Ski Festival and Super Tour races in town.
    Happy Thanksgiving pop-up cards. My mom made pop-up cards with me when I was younger and they were awesome. Although the finished products from Annie, Lillith, and Mason were really cool.
    Show-and-Tell of Skis and Poles
    Drawing Biomes
    Having fun training, living, and playing in West
    It has been a hard week of training. Visiting and working with the kids was a great way to add energy to the day and take a mental break from training. It was fun to see the excitement in the kids eyes for the first big snow storm. Plus I like seeing how new kids respond to my favorite games of Squirrel Olympics, Last-Man Standing, and Speed Tag.

  • After Training and After School in West Yellowstone

    My CXC teammates and I are in West Yellowstone for just under a month this year. That is a long time to be living in a hotel room. This is my 5th winter in West Yellowstone and I arrived with the goal of making a greater connection with the local community during my stay.
    Caitlin and I gave a presentation to the after-school program about life as a professional ski racer and the big Yellostone Ski Festival and Super Tour races in town.
    Happy Thanksgiving pop-up cards. My mom made pop-up cards with me when I was younger and they were awesome. Although the finished products from Annie, Lillith, and Mason were really cool.
    Show-and-Tell of Skis and Poles
    Drawing Biomes
    Having fun training, living, and playing in West
    It has been a hard week of training. Visiting and working with the kids was a great way to add energy to the day and take a mental break from training. It was fun to see the excitement in the kids eyes for the first big snow storm. Plus I like seeing how new kids respond to my favorite games of Squirrel Olympics, Last-Man Standing, and Speed Tag.

  • After Training and After School in West Yellowstone

    My CXC teammates and I are in West Yellowstone for just under a month this year. That is a long time to be living in a hotel room. This is my 5th winter in West Yellowstone and I arrived with the goal of making a greater connection with the local community during my stay.
    Caitlin and I gave a presentation to the after-school program about life as a professional ski racer and the big Yellostone Ski Festival and Super Tour races in town.
    Happy Thanksgiving pop-up cards. My mom made pop-up cards with me when I was younger and they were awesome. Although the finished products from Annie, Lillith, and Mason were really cool.
    Show-and-Tell of Skis and Poles
    Drawing Biomes
    Having fun training, living, and playing in West
    It has been a hard week of training. Visiting and working with the kids was a great way to add energy to the day and take a mental break from training. It was fun to see the excitement in the kids eyes for the first big snow storm. Plus I like seeing how new kids respond to my favorite games of Squirrel Olympics, Last-Man Standing, and Speed Tag.

  • Minnesota Trails Magazine

  • We’re On Our Way

    Home Sweet Home

    High Noon in Finland

    High Noon in Finland

    30 Days, 6 Races, 33 training sessions, 8.8 pounds of sinappi, countless jars of duo-spread, its been one incredible trip here in Finland! Great snow, great racing, and great training all the way around

    But I’m sure everyone is also looking forward to getting back stateside for Thanksgiving with their families!

  • Balsam Branch Trails Now Lighted!

  • WEST YELLOWSTONE- YEAH!


    APU Group after hammering out some L3 (minus Katie and Holly)
    Today was our first ski in West Yellowstone. The skiing is exception! There are tons and tons of skiers on the trails as always- SO FUN! Races begin Wednesday, so lots of race preparation and ski testing already beginning. Sounds like it may cool down a bit, but we got in a nice “western” sunny day today before the chill moves in. Lucky, LUCKY!
    See you on the trails!!

  • Getting Ready for Snow — West Camp #1

    The GMVS Nordic Crew is packing their bags and resting up for a two week training session in West Yellowstone, Montana.  A few of our skiers, the Halvorsen’s and Jackson Rich, are already out there getting ready for their first start in the 15km skate Super Tour.  The rest of the crew is wrapping up a recovery week and taking two days off to prepare for the training load of the first on-snow camp and being at altitude for two weeks.

    Ryley Walker hammering in to the finish of a TT — cheered on by Matt Whitcomb of the USST.

    After an uninterrupted eight-week period of training and class in Waitsfield, the crew is ready to hit the road again and enjoy another training camp.  During our last camp in mid-September we traveled to Italy, where we had the opportunity to cross-train if you will, staging both dryland and on-snow workouts.  You can get a little flavor of that camp by checking out a short article in VT Sports.

    Kaitlin Fitzgerald breaching the seasons.

    Our goals for the West Camp are to get in plenty of skiing and refine our technique before we return to Vermont for the first Eastern Cups and for a few US Nationals in Rumford, Maine.  We will also have the opportunity to meet up with some of our recent alums, who are out training with APU, Middlebury and MSU.  Special props to alum, Laura Spector, who secured her spot for the early season Biathlon World Cups with two victories in USBA Trials in Canmore, Alberta last week.

    Like the sign says!! Hans Halvorsen finishing at Mad River Glen.

     Our next post will be from Montana — so stay tuned and enjoy the snow.

    Focus — Jackson beginning his last journey up App Gap for 2010.

    Devlin Shea — sneaking in some early season turns and courting the snow on Mad River.

    Sums up November training in Vermont.

    Hans departing.

    Elena Luethi reaching for the finish.

    Dani Leblanc starting the TT under the watchful eyes of Coach Beckwith and USST Coach Matt Whitcomb.

    Devlin Shea showing good form with the KDP!

  • Fish and Potatoes

    I arrived in Ostersund, Sweden last Wednesday after a pretty smooth travel from Lake Placid.  It was great to step off the plane and enter Sweden in the full swing of winter.  Temperatures have been very cold and they have a great mix of natural and man-made snow on the trails.

    After skiing around a loop that was less than a kilometer long in Canmore, it felt great to get out on the trails here in Ostersund.  They have all of the competition trails up and running with around 8 perfectly groomed Kilometers. We started logging solid hours right from the start and yesterday I did my first speed training since leaving Lake Placid.  So far I have been feeling good and I am looking forward to the start of the world cup in just under two weeks!

    One thing that never seems to change here in Sweden is the abundance of potatoes at every meal.  At first, I started to count how many potatoes I had eaten, but after four days and 12 potatoes it started to get a little depressing.  Who knows, maybe my Irish heritage works well with potatoes and that is why I have performed well here in the past.  We will see….

    Another update to come after 30 potatoes!

    Also, congrats to the Ski Team for a great start to the season.  It has been fun to turn on the TV and hear the commentators talk about US skiing!

     

     

  • Scenic OD

    a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TOmAj8zyAFI/AAAAAAAAFYQ/fyM_WIHwobU/s1600/IMG_9727.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/TOmAj8zyAFI/AAAAAAAAFYQ/fyM_WIHwobU/s400/IMG_9727.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542102171563196498″ //aWhile lots of people have started racing, we have scheduled an easy week for Thanksgiving. We had an excellent fall and we are using this week to relax and recharge the body.br /This morning some of the locals took a nice 40-50 km ski to Putney. It started cold, but warmed into the 30’s. The winding roads and rolling hills make this one of our favorite skis. We are looking forward to skiing on snow, but this is pretty nice too.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TOmAMkm2w6I/AAAAAAAAFYI/HMyqzrFdm38/s1600/IMG_9729.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/TOmAMkm2w6I/AAAAAAAAFYI/HMyqzrFdm38/s400/IMG_9729.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542101769929540514″ //aAs always, if you click on any picture, it will get bigger.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TOl_zH0UPvI/AAAAAAAAFYA/eHOTyxA_L2Q/s1600/IMG_9747.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/TOl_zH0UPvI/AAAAAAAAFYA/eHOTyxA_L2Q/s400/IMG_9747.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542101332704640754″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TOl_Uy–rPI/AAAAAAAAFX4/Fna8uYxvX9s/s1600/IMG_9749.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/TOl_Uy–rPI/AAAAAAAAFX4/Fna8uYxvX9s/s400/IMG_9749.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542100811716144370″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TOl-6qqWNwI/AAAAAAAAFXw/N5AKn4LNU_w/s1600/IMG_9754.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TOl-6qqWNwI/AAAAAAAAFXw/N5AKn4LNU_w/s400/IMG_9754.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542100362805524226″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TOl-e1Vix7I/AAAAAAAAFXo/YLnKzMvcguU/s1600/IMG_9755.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/TOl-e1Vix7I/AAAAAAAAFXo/YLnKzMvcguU/s400/IMG_9755.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542099884634720178″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TOl-DCCYZiI/AAAAAAAAFXg/tjuf_GefwZM/s1600/IMG_9762.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/TOl-DCCYZiI/AAAAAAAAFXg/tjuf_GefwZM/s400/IMG_9762.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542099407007671842″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TOl9jpSU3DI/AAAAAAAAFXY/3ocSGct8NSQ/s1600/IMG_9764.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/TOl9jpSU3DI/AAAAAAAAFXY/3ocSGct8NSQ/s400/IMG_9764.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542098867787717682″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TOl9MUw3_0I/AAAAAAAAFXQ/HOMUlMmV__4/s1600/IMG_9766.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/TOl9MUw3_0I/AAAAAAAAFXQ/HOMUlMmV__4/s400/IMG_9766.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542098467141713730″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TOl8t-sGT1I/AAAAAAAAFXI/ORJtTwlaZT4/s1600/IMG_9768.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 295px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TOl8t-sGT1I/AAAAAAAAFXI/ORJtTwlaZT4/s400/IMG_9768.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542097945820024658″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TOl8huApv5I/AAAAAAAAFXA/7sAPL0HS7OM/s1600/IMG_9777.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/TOl8huApv5I/AAAAAAAAFXA/7sAPL0HS7OM/s400/IMG_9777.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542097735184400274″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TOl8GUm3H2I/AAAAAAAAFW4/fwiVbWbZ2YU/s1600/IMG_9782.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/TOl8GUm3H2I/AAAAAAAAFW4/fwiVbWbZ2YU/s400/IMG_9782.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542097264508870498″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TOl7vOqJQlI/AAAAAAAAFWw/UCjQoELG9i0/s1600/IMG_9783.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/TOl7vOqJQlI/AAAAAAAAFWw/UCjQoELG9i0/s400/IMG_9783.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542096867775038034″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TOl7aS0wyXI/AAAAAAAAFWo/uJXuVGv2Log/s1600/IMG_9784.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/TOl7aS0wyXI/AAAAAAAAFWo/uJXuVGv2Log/s400/IMG_9784.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542096508116060530″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TOl67k5BZ0I/AAAAAAAAFWg/J4vOQPzbpjs/s1600/IMG_9786.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/TOl67k5BZ0I/AAAAAAAAFWg/J4vOQPzbpjs/s400/IMG_9786.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542095980389820226″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TOl6j6YPguI/AAAAAAAAFWY/Sira3tenFW4/s1600/IMG_9788.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/TOl6j6YPguI/AAAAAAAAFWY/Sira3tenFW4/s400/IMG_9788.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542095573841052386″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TOl6Q5bwj3I/AAAAAAAAFWQ/2W56A7kU9Ds/s1600/IMG_9789.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/TOl6Q5bwj3I/AAAAAAAAFWQ/2W56A7kU9Ds/s400/IMG_9789.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542095247169851250″ //adiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4680416899705879324-6535285978167993002?l=smsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div

  • Rovaniemi, Finland- Scandinavian Cup

    Phil and I before our pre-race intervals on a chilly -16 morning in Rovaniemi.

    This past week the National Team was split into two groups. The distance guys went to Gällivare, Sweden to race in the first World Cups of the year. Since there are no sprint races in Gällivare, our “Sprint specialists” travelled to Rovaniemi, Finland to race a Scandinavian Cup Classic Sprint. This race will prepare us for the Kuusamo World Cup next weekend.
    Rovaniemi is the capital city of Finland’s northernmost province, Lapland, and is located right on the Arctic Circle (locals say that Santa lives here). As you can imagine, being this far north, we had a cold and dark week of training on the trails in Rovaniemi. The temperature was as cold as -16 and we only saw the sun once all week. The food here in Finland did not agree with my stomach at all. Both Stefan and I have been battling stomach aches all week. We stopped eating at the cafeteria and started to made our own suppers.
    With the stomach problems not getting any better it was time to race! yippee!
    The course profile was simple, the first half was all uphill and then you made a 180 degree turn at the top and came ripping down the same trail back to the finish. It was a pretty tough course to stay on your feet, there was tons of bridges, sharp turns, and ice to try and knock you down.

    A-Final Start

    I was happy with my qualifier. I finished in 7th place right behind Stef, which is better than I have done in a classic qualifier in a while. All the Canadians made it into the heats with ease.
    Unfortunately two of my teammates (Phil and Freddy) were in my quarterfinal with me. You never want to race in the same heat as your teammates, the odds of all 3 of you advancing are slim to none. The quarterfinal  turned out to be pretty intense. I had a rough start so I was forced to ski right in the middle of all the chaos. A couple hundred meters from the finish on the long downhill, a Finnish skier intentionally cut Phil off forcing both of them to crash and ending their hopes of moving on. The crash was reviewed by the Jury to see if the someone should be disqualified, but because the Finnish guy did not advance to the rounds there was nothing that they could do for Phil. The crash spread the group out and made it relatively easy for me to go to the semis.
    Stef and I were the only two Canadian guys to move to the next round. Both our girls (Chandra and Dasha) easily made it through the quarters and semis leading the entire time.

    250m to go to finish, just cross the bridge and head to the finish. (a-final)

    My semi-final went very smoothly until the last bridge crossing before the finish. A Finnish skier was not  giving me any room on the inside of the final corner and was forcing me right towards the railing of the bridge. I was yelling at him to make sure he knew I was there but he didn’t budge. I was forced to straighten my  skis and let up for a second and follow in behind him. I was pretty pissed off at this guy and was ready to destroy this guy in a sprint finish… but he never made it to the finishing straight. He slipped on some ice and took a major face plant.
    So it was off to the A-final. This heat was a toughy. I was racing Rotchev (former world champ), Torin Koos, Vahur Teppan (Estonian) and a couple fast Finns. I made my move on the big climb moving myself up from 4th to 1st place at the top. Cresting the hill I pushed as hard as i could and got into the lowest tuck that I could, and hoped for the best. Vahur was able to use my draft and pass me on the downhill. I quickly tucked in behind him and sprinted into the finish in 2nd!
    So Pumped!
    The Girls had an even better day! Chandra and Dasha finished 1st and 2nd respectively. Awesome!
    Stef ended up 8th, Fred 15th, and Phil 24th due to the crash in the quarterfinal.
    A great day for Canada!

    Skiing over the teepee bridge.

    Today I have a 10km classic race, and it’s also my Birthday. So hopefully it goes alright!

  • Rovaniemi, Finland- Scandinavian Cup

    Phil and I before our pre-race intervals on a chilly -16 morning in Rovaniemi.

    This past week the National Team was split into two groups. The distance guys went to Gällivare, Sweden to race in the first World Cups of the year. Since there are no sprint races in Gällivare, our “Sprint specialists” travelled to Rovaniemi, Finland to race a Scandinavian Cup Classic Sprint. This race will prepare us for the Kuusamo World Cup next weekend.
    Rovaniemi is the capital city of Finland’s northernmost province, Lapland, and is located right on the Arctic Circle (locals say that Santa lives here). As you can imagine, being this far north, we had a cold and dark week of training on the trails in Rovaniemi. The temperature was as cold as -16 and we only saw the sun once all week. The food here in Finland did not agree with my stomach at all. Both Stefan and I have been battling stomach aches all week. We stopped eating at the cafeteria and started to made our own suppers.
    With the stomach problems not getting any better it was time to race! yippee!
    The course profile was simple, the first half was all uphill and then you made a 180 degree turn at the top and came ripping down the same trail back to the finish. It was a pretty tough course to stay on your feet, there was tons of bridges, sharp turns, and ice to try and knock you down.

    A-Final Start

    I was happy with my qualifier. I finished in 7th place right behind Stef, which is better than I have done in a classic qualifier in a while. All the Canadians made it into the heats with ease.
    Unfortunately two of my teammates (Phil and Freddy) were in my quarterfinal with me. You never want to race in the same heat as your teammates, the odds of all 3 of you advancing are slim to none. The quarterfinal  turned out to be pretty intense. I had a rough start so I was forced to ski right in the middle of all the chaos. A couple hundred meters from the finish on the long downhill, a Finnish skier intentionally cut Phil off forcing both of them to crash and ending their hopes of moving on. The crash was reviewed by the Jury to see if the someone should be disqualified, but because the Finnish guy did not advance to the rounds there was nothing that they could do for Phil. The crash spread the group out and made it relatively easy for me to go to the semis.
    Stef and I were the only two Canadian guys to move to the next round. Both our girls (Chandra and Dasha) easily made it through the quarters and semis leading the entire time.

    250m to go to finish, just cross the bridge and head to the finish. (a-final)

    My semi-final went very smoothly until the last bridge crossing before the finish. A Finnish skier was not  giving me any room on the inside of the final corner and was forcing me right towards the railing of the bridge. I was yelling at him to make sure he knew I was there but he didn’t budge. I was forced to straighten my  skis and let up for a second and follow in behind him. I was pretty pissed off at this guy and was ready to destroy this guy in a sprint finish… but he never made it to the finishing straight. He slipped on some ice and took a major face plant.
    So it was off to the A-final. This heat was a toughy. I was racing Rotchev (former world champ), Torin Koos, Vahur Teppan (Estonian) and a couple fast Finns. I made my move on the big climb moving myself up from 4th to 1st place at the top. Cresting the hill I pushed as hard as i could and got into the lowest tuck that I could, and hoped for the best. Vahur was able to use my draft and pass me on the downhill. I quickly tucked in behind him and sprinted into the finish in 2nd!
    So Pumped!
    The Girls had an even better day! Chandra and Dasha finished 1st and 2nd respectively. Awesome!
    Stef ended up 8th, Fred 15th, and Phil 24th due to the crash in the quarterfinal.
    A great day for Canada!

    Skiing over the teepee bridge.

    Today I have a 10km classic race, and it’s also my Birthday. So hopefully it goes alright!

  • Rovaniemi, Finland- Scandinavian Cup

    Phil and I before our pre-race intervals on a chilly -16 morning in Rovaniemi.

    This past week the National Team was split into two groups. The distance guys went to Gällivare, Sweden to race in the first World Cups of the year. Since there are no sprint races in Gällivare, our “Sprint specialists” travelled to Rovaniemi, Finland to race a Scandinavian Cup Classic Sprint. This race will prepare us for the Kuusamo World Cup next weekend.
    Rovaniemi is the capital city of Finland’s northernmost province, Lapland, and is located right on the Arctic Circle (locals say that Santa lives here). As you can imagine, being this far north, we had a cold and dark week of training on the trails in Rovaniemi. The temperature was as cold as -16 and we only saw the sun once all week. The food here in Finland did not agree with my stomach at all. Both Stefan and I have been battling stomach aches all week. We stopped eating at the cafeteria and started to made our own suppers.
    With the stomach problems not getting any better it was time to race! yippee!
    The course profile was simple, the first half was all uphill and then you made a 180 degree turn at the top and came ripping down the same trail back to the finish. It was a pretty tough course to stay on your feet, there was tons of bridges, sharp turns, and ice to try and knock you down.

    A-Final Start

    I was happy with my qualifier. I finished in 7th place right behind Stef, which is better than I have done in a classic qualifier in a while. All the Canadians made it into the heats with ease.
    Unfortunately two of my teammates (Phil and Freddy) were in my quarterfinal with me. You never want to race in the same heat as your teammates, the odds of all 3 of you advancing are slim to none. The quarterfinal  turned out to be pretty intense. I had a rough start so I was forced to ski right in the middle of all the chaos. A couple hundred meters from the finish on the long downhill, a Finnish skier intentionally cut Phil off forcing both of them to crash and ending their hopes of moving on. The crash was reviewed by the Jury to see if the someone should be disqualified, but because the Finnish guy did not advance to the rounds there was nothing that they could do for Phil. The crash spread the group out and made it relatively easy for me to go to the semis.
    Stef and I were the only two Canadian guys to move to the next round. Both our girls (Chandra and Dasha) easily made it through the quarters and semis leading the entire time.

    250m to go to finish, just cross the bridge and head to the finish. (a-final)

    My semi-final went very smoothly until the last bridge crossing before the finish. A Finnish skier was not  giving me any room on the inside of the final corner and was forcing me right towards the railing of the bridge. I was yelling at him to make sure he knew I was there but he didn’t budge. I was forced to straighten my  skis and let up for a second and follow in behind him. I was pretty pissed off at this guy and was ready to destroy this guy in a sprint finish… but he never made it to the finishing straight. He slipped on some ice and took a major face plant.
    So it was off to the A-final. This heat was a toughy. I was racing Rotchev (former world champ), Torin Koos, Vahur Teppan (Estonian) and a couple fast Finns. I made my move on the big climb moving myself up from 4th to 1st place at the top. Cresting the hill I pushed as hard as i could and got into the lowest tuck that I could, and hoped for the best. Vahur was able to use my draft and pass me on the downhill. I quickly tucked in behind him and sprinted into the finish in 2nd!
    So Pumped!
    The Girls had an even better day! Chandra and Dasha finished 1st and 2nd respectively. Awesome!
    Stef ended up 8th, Fred 15th, and Phil 24th due to the crash in the quarterfinal.
    A great day for Canada!

    Skiing over the teepee bridge.

    Today I have a 10km classic race, and it’s also my Birthday. So hopefully it goes alright!

  • Rovaniemi, Finland- Scandinavian Cup

    Phil and I before our pre-race intervals on a chilly -16 morning in Rovaniemi.

    This past week the National Team was split into two groups. The distance guys went to Gällivare, Sweden to race in the first World Cups of the year. Since there are no sprint races in Gällivare, our “Sprint specialists” travelled to Rovaniemi, Finland to race a Scandinavian Cup Classic Sprint. This race will prepare us for the Kuusamo World Cup next weekend.
    Rovaniemi is the capital city of Finland’s northernmost province, Lapland, and is located right on the Arctic Circle (locals say that Santa lives here). As you can imagine, being this far north, we had a cold and dark week of training on the trails in Rovaniemi. The temperature was as cold as -16 and we only saw the sun once all week. The food here in Finland did not agree with my stomach at all. Both Stefan and I have been battling stomach aches all week. We stopped eating at the cafeteria and started to made our own suppers.
    With the stomach problems not getting any better it was time to race! yippee!
    The course profile was simple, the first half was all uphill and then you made a 180 degree turn at the top and came ripping down the same trail back to the finish. It was a pretty tough course to stay on your feet, there was tons of bridges, sharp turns, and ice to try and knock you down.

    A-Final Start

    I was happy with my qualifier. I finished in 7th place right behind Stef, which is better than I have done in a classic qualifier in a while. All the Canadians made it into the heats with ease.
    Unfortunately two of my teammates (Phil and Freddy) were in my quarterfinal with me. You never want to race in the same heat as your teammates, the odds of all 3 of you advancing are slim to none. The quarterfinal  turned out to be pretty intense. I had a rough start so I was forced to ski right in the middle of all the chaos. A couple hundred meters from the finish on the long downhill, a Finnish skier intentionally cut Phil off forcing both of them to crash and ending their hopes of moving on. The crash was reviewed by the Jury to see if the someone should be disqualified, but because the Finnish guy did not advance to the rounds there was nothing that they could do for Phil. The crash spread the group out and made it relatively easy for me to go to the semis.
    Stef and I were the only two Canadian guys to move to the next round. Both our girls (Chandra and Dasha) easily made it through the quarters and semis leading the entire time.

    250m to go to finish, just cross the bridge and head to the finish. (a-final)

    My semi-final went very smoothly until the last bridge crossing before the finish. A Finnish skier was not  giving me any room on the inside of the final corner and was forcing me right towards the railing of the bridge. I was yelling at him to make sure he knew I was there but he didn’t budge. I was forced to straighten my  skis and let up for a second and follow in behind him. I was pretty pissed off at this guy and was ready to destroy this guy in a sprint finish… but he never made it to the finishing straight. He slipped on some ice and took a major face plant.
    So it was off to the A-final. This heat was a toughy. I was racing Rotchev (former world champ), Torin Koos, Vahur Teppan (Estonian) and a couple fast Finns. I made my move on the big climb moving myself up from 4th to 1st place at the top. Cresting the hill I pushed as hard as i could and got into the lowest tuck that I could, and hoped for the best. Vahur was able to use my draft and pass me on the downhill. I quickly tucked in behind him and sprinted into the finish in 2nd!
    So Pumped!
    The Girls had an even better day! Chandra and Dasha finished 1st and 2nd respectively. Awesome!
    Stef ended up 8th, Fred 15th, and Phil 24th due to the crash in the quarterfinal.
    A great day for Canada!

    Skiing over the teepee bridge.

    Today I have a 10km classic race, and it’s also my Birthday. So hopefully it goes alright!

  • Snow time

    Rush hour, West Yellowstone, November.
    Today I leave for West Yellowstone and a week on snow.
    In the past few months, I have rollerskied along the Summit County bike path in Breckenridge, up Lefthand Canyon outside Boulder, got kicked out of a private housing development in Bend, done countless laps in Sugarhouse Park in Salt Lake City and skied a sweet little bike path in Brevard, North Carolina. Seems they don’t see many rollerskiers in North Carolina.
    This autumn I have skied carbon skis, aluminum skis, fast wheels, slow wheel, wooden skis make in New Hampshire, shock-absorbing tips, dull tips, new tips, broken tips.

    Kick and glide at Cannon Beach, Oregon.
    I have Catskied (www.catskier.com) the beach in Oregon, a dry lakebed in Utah’s west desert, a running trail loaded with mountain lion warning signs in Colorado Springs, a dry wash outside Canyonlands National Park and many, many intervals in my neighborhood park.


    Brevard, North Carolina, is known for white squirrels, but they look funny at roller skiers.

    Time to get onto the real thing.


  • Snow time

    Rush hour, West Yellowstone, November.
    Today I leave for West Yellowstone and a week on snow.
    In the past few months, I have rollerskied along the Summit County bike path in Breckenridge, up Lefthand Canyon outside Boulder, got kicked out of a private housing development in Bend, done countless laps in Sugarhouse Park in Salt Lake City and skied a sweet little bike path in Brevard, North Carolina. Seems they don’t see many rollerskiers in North Carolina.
    This autumn I have skied carbon skis, aluminum skis, fast wheels, slow wheel, wooden skis make in New Hampshire, shock-absorbing tips, dull tips, new tips, broken tips.

    Kick and glide at Cannon Beach, Oregon.
    I have Catskied (www.catskier.com) the beach in Oregon, a dry lakebed in Utah’s west desert, a running trail loaded with mountain lion warning signs in Colorado Springs, a dry wash outside Canyonlands National Park and many, many intervals in my neighborhood park.


    Brevard, North Carolina, is known for white squirrels, but they look funny at roller skiers.

    Time to get onto the real thing.


  • Relaying the Favorites

  • Relaying the Favorites

  • Rovaneimi Food and Stadium Photos

    We arrived in Rovaneimi on Monday after a long, reindeer sighting filled drive down from Muonio. The place where we are staying is perfectly located just a few steps from the stadium. It’s awesome to be able to walk to ski and race! We can even see the top of the in-run on the 90 m jump from our kitchen window.

    View of the jumps and bridge from the stadium. This photo was taken at almost exactly noon.

    View of the jumps and bridge from the stadium. This photo was taken at almost exactly noon.

    The 90 m ski jump at night.

    The 90 m ski jump at night.

    A couple days ago Judy did lots of research regarding local cuisine and then she and Dick took us grocery shopping for an evening feast. Pouring over all of the options at the grocery store and trying to decipher the packages was really fun. And everything was delicious! Chelsea made a quark-based cloudberry cheese cake for dessert. Mmmm….

    Clockwise from top: Rye bread, potato flat breat, three different types of cheese (including "squeeky" cheese), and lignon berries.

    Clockwise from top: Rye bread, potato flat breat, three different types of cheese (including "squeeky" cheese), and lignon berries.

    Three types of pickled herring. Sinappi (or mustard for you anglophones) in the center, dill on the right, I'm not sure what the one on the left was.

    Three types of pickled herring. Sinappi (or mustard for you anglophones) in the center, dill on the right, I'm not sure what the one on the left was.

    A whole smoked salmon!

    A whole smoked salmon!

    Wild reindeer sauteed with wild mushrooms, salad (the lettuce actually comes as a whole plant in a little pot), Hannah's homemade rye bread, roasted root veggies.

    Wild reindeer sauteed with wild mushrooms, salad (the lettuce actually comes as a whole plant in a little pot), Hannah's homemade rye bread, roasted root veggies.

    Chandra Crawford (CAN) leading a heat in today's sprint race. Both Hannah and Pat made the heats today and it was really fun to watch them! One more race tomorrow, 5/10 km classic.

    Chandra Crawford (CAN) leading a heat in today's sprint race. Both Hannah and Pat made the heats today and it was really fun to watch them! One more race tomorrow, 5/10 km classic.