FasterSkier

Category: XCFeeds

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

  • A Big Week of Skiing!

    I just finished up a 26 hour week of skiing on Eagle Glacier! The glacier is located just outside of Girdwood, Alaska and sits at 5,500 feet. Thanks to Alaska Pacific University Ski Team, I and a few other guest athletes were invited to train at their August camp. We spent the week focusing on skiing and skiing only. Days were spent skiing twice a day, reviewing technique, resting, eating (a lot!), and sleeping. The accommodations were nothing fancy…25 people bunking in one moderately sized building with one kitchen, and two bathrooms. But I do have to say that we ate like kings and queens up there!

    The skiing was great! In August the snow is usually a bit wet and slow and crevasses become visible. These conditions are not always the most fun to ski in, but it is good to practice in because you never know when you will have to race in them! (The conditions were similar to those found in Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics.) Our first couple days were filled with sunshine, but that quickly changed to clouds, fog, rain and wind. The weather changes very quickly up there…you might begin a workout in the sun but it might change to rain and fog by the end. While the sunny days were fewer than the rainy and foggy days, it was those sunny days that made up for the less pleasant ones. I have to say that it is one of my favorite places to be on a nice day!

  • A Big Week of Skiing!

    I just finished up a 26 hour week of skiing on Eagle Glacier! The glacier is located just outside of Girdwood, Alaska and sits at 5,500 feet. Thanks to Alaska Pacific University Ski Team, I and a few other guest athletes were invited to train at their August camp. We spent the week focusing on skiing and skiing only. Days were spent skiing twice a day, reviewing technique, resting, eating (a lot!), and sleeping. The accommodations were nothing fancy…25 people bunking in one moderately sized building with one kitchen, and two bathrooms. But I do have to say that we ate like kings and queens up there!

    The skiing was great! In August the snow is usually a bit wet and slow and crevasses become visible. These conditions are not always the most fun to ski in, but it is good to practice in because you never know when you will have to race in them! (The conditions were similar to those found in Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics.) Our first couple days were filled with sunshine, but that quickly changed to clouds, fog, rain and wind. The weather changes very quickly up there…you might begin a workout in the sun but it might change to rain and fog by the end. While the sunny days were fewer than the rainy and foggy days, it was those sunny days that made up for the less pleasant ones. I have to say that it is one of my favorite places to be on a nice day!

  • A Big Week of Skiing!

    I just finished up a 26 hour week of skiing on Eagle Glacier! The glacier is located just outside of Girdwood, Alaska and sits at 5,500 feet. Thanks to Alaska Pacific University Ski Team, I and a few other guest athletes were invited to train at their August camp. We spent the week focusing on skiing and skiing only. Days were spent skiing twice a day, reviewing technique, resting, eating (a lot!), and sleeping. The accommodations were nothing fancy…25 people bunking in one moderately sized building with one kitchen, and two bathrooms. But I do have to say that we ate like kings and queens up there!

    The skiing was great! In August the snow is usually a bit wet and slow and crevasses become visible. These conditions are not always the most fun to ski in, but it is good to practice in because you never know when you will have to race in them! (The conditions were similar to those found in Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics.) Our first couple days were filled with sunshine, but that quickly changed to clouds, fog, rain and wind. The weather changes very quickly up there…you might begin a workout in the sun but it might change to rain and fog by the end. While the sunny days were fewer than the rainy and foggy days, it was those sunny days that made up for the less pleasant ones. I have to say that it is one of my favorite places to be on a nice day!

  • A Big Week of Skiing!

    I just finished up a 26 hour week of skiing on Eagle Glacier! The glacier is located just outside of Girdwood, Alaska and sits at 5,500 feet. Thanks to Alaska Pacific University Ski Team, I and a few other guest athletes were invited to train at their August camp. We spent the week focusing on skiing and skiing only. Days were spent skiing twice a day, reviewing technique, resting, eating (a lot!), and sleeping. The accommodations were nothing fancy…25 people bunking in one moderately sized building with one kitchen, and two bathrooms. But I do have to say that we ate like kings and queens up there!

    The skiing was great! In August the snow is usually a bit wet and slow and crevasses become visible. These conditions are not always the most fun to ski in, but it is good to practice in because you never know when you will have to race in them! (The conditions were similar to those found in Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics.) Our first couple days were filled with sunshine, but that quickly changed to clouds, fog, rain and wind. The weather changes very quickly up there…you might begin a workout in the sun but it might change to rain and fog by the end. While the sunny days were fewer than the rainy and foggy days, it was those sunny days that made up for the less pleasant ones. I have to say that it is one of my favorite places to be on a nice day!

  • So long Eagle

    I have just returned from my final training camp at Eagle Glacier. Looking back at my logs I have been up there for 33 camps starting in 1993 when Jack Novak, who was up with us for this camp, was one year old. It was a solid week with 24 hours of training that was interrupted by one day of a stomach bug that knocked me out hard. I bounced back well though and finished the week strong.

    The first time I was up there was the summer before my junior year of high school and my high school coach John Clark who ran the only summer training program around at the time took a group of us up. I remember the groomer wasn’t working so he took a mattress spring out and dragged it around by himself to make a 1 or 2 kilometer loop. Hard core! It has changed a lot since then but it is still the same amazing setting on a glacier 30 minutes from my house. I feel so lucky to have been able to spend so much time up there doing what I love. 

  • So long Eagle

    I have just returned from my final training camp at Eagle Glacier. Looking back at my logs I have been up there for 33 camps starting in 1993 when Jack Novak, who was up with us for this camp, was one year old. It was a solid week with 24 hours of training that was interrupted by one day of a stomach bug that knocked me out hard. I bounced back well though and finished the week strong.

    The first time I was up there was the summer before my junior year of high school and my high school coach John Clark who ran the only summer training program around at the time took a group of us up. I remember the groomer wasn’t working so he took a mattress spring out and dragged it around by himself to make a 1 or 2 kilometer loop. Hard core! It has changed a lot since then but it is still the same amazing setting on a glacier 30 minutes from my house. I feel so lucky to have been able to spend so much time up there doing what I love. 

  • So long Eagle

    I have just returned from my final training camp at Eagle Glacier. Looking back at my logs I have been up there for 33 camps starting in 1993 when Jack Novak, who was up with us for this camp, was one year old. It was a solid week with 24 hours of training that was interrupted by one day of a stomach bug that knocked me out hard. I bounced back well though and finished the week strong.

    The first time I was up there was the summer before my junior year of high school and my high school coach John Clark who ran the only summer training program around at the time took a group of us up. I remember the groomer wasn’t working so he took a mattress spring out and dragged it around by himself to make a 1 or 2 kilometer loop. Hard core! It has changed a lot since then but it is still the same amazing setting on a glacier 30 minutes from my house. I feel so lucky to have been able to spend so much time up there doing what I love. 

  • So long Eagle

    I have just returned from my final training camp at Eagle Glacier. Looking back at my logs I have been up there for 33 camps starting in 1993 when Jack Novak, who was up with us for this camp, was one year old. It was a solid week with 24 hours of training that was interrupted by one day of a stomach bug that knocked me out hard. I bounced back well though and finished the week strong.

    The first time I was up there was the summer before my junior year of high school and my high school coach John Clark who ran the only summer training program around at the time took a group of us up. I remember the groomer wasn’t working so he took a mattress spring out and dragged it around by himself to make a 1 or 2 kilometer loop. Hard core! It has changed a lot since then but it is still the same amazing setting on a glacier 30 minutes from my house. I feel so lucky to have been able to spend so much time up there doing what I love. 

  • So long Eagle

    I have just returned from my final training camp at Eagle Glacier. Looking back at my logs I have been up there for 33 camps starting in 1993 when Jack Novak, who was up with us for this camp, was one year old. It was a solid week with 24 hours of training that was interrupted by one day of a stomach bug that knocked me out hard. I bounced back well though and finished the week strong.

    The first time I was up there was the summer before my junior year of high school and my high school coach John Clark who ran the only summer training program around at the time took a group of us up. I remember the groomer wasn’t working so he took a mattress spring out and dragged it around by himself to make a 1 or 2 kilometer loop. Hard core! It has changed a lot since then but it is still the same amazing setting on a glacier 30 minutes from my house. I feel so lucky to have been able to spend so much time up there doing what I love. 

  • Our day in Pictures

    Recently our weekend practices have been at our local alpine hill. No matter what you call it moose-hoofing, ski-walking, it’s a great workout!
    Since we have been doing this workout for a couple of months the number of repeats is getting pretty high and starting to create a serious “SITUATION” for my legs!

    So to give them a little more this week we decided to keep the number of repeats the same but to add a little spin session at the end.
    The data was good and the attitudes even better!

    After all the hard work it was time for a treat.

    The kids seemed fine but the workout almost killed one of us!

    Even after and Epic workout you still have to get up the next day and get after it, no matter how you feel, how the weather is, or what your friends are doing ! It’s all on YOU !!

    Get out there and get after it!

  • Our day in Pictures

    Recently our weekend practices have been at our local alpine hill. No matter what you call it moose-hoofing, ski-walking, it’s a great workout!
    Since we have been doing this workout for a couple of months the number of repeats is getting pretty high and starting to create a serious “SITUATION” for my legs!

    So to give them a little more this week we decided to keep the number of repeats the same but to add a little spin session at the end.
    The data was good and the attitudes even better!

    After all the hard work it was time for a treat.

    The kids seemed fine but the workout almost killed one of us!

    Even after and Epic workout you still have to get up the next day and get after it, no matter how you feel, how the weather is, or what your friends are doing ! It’s all on YOU !!

    Get out there and get after it!

  • Our day in Pictures

    Recently our weekend practices have been at our local alpine hill. No matter what you call it moose-hoofing, ski-walking, it’s a great workout!
    Since we have been doing this workout for a couple of months the number of repeats is getting pretty high and starting to create a serious “SITUATION” for my legs!

    So to give them a little more this week we decided to keep the number of repeats the same but to add a little spin session at the end.
    The data was good and the attitudes even better!

    After all the hard work it was time for a treat.

    The kids seemed fine but the workout almost killed one of us!

    Even after and Epic workout you still have to get up the next day and get after it, no matter how you feel, how the weather is, or what your friends are doing ! It’s all on YOU !!

    Get out there and get after it!

  • Our day in Pictures

    Recently our weekend practices have been at our local alpine hill. No matter what you call it moose-hoofing, ski-walking, it’s a great workout!
    Since we have been doing this workout for a couple of months the number of repeats is getting pretty high and starting to create a serious “SITUATION” for my legs!

    So to give them a little more this week we decided to keep the number of repeats the same but to add a little spin session at the end.
    The data was good and the attitudes even better!

    After all the hard work it was time for a treat.

    The kids seemed fine but the workout almost killed one of us!

    Even after and Epic workout you still have to get up the next day and get after it, no matter how you feel, how the weather is, or what your friends are doing ! It’s all on YOU !!

    Get out there and get after it!

  • Victims Nemeses: Sweden Edition

    In this installment of Victims & Nemeses, we consider the Swedish star skiers Marcus Hellner and Charlotte Kalla.  Who are their victims (people they defeat often by small margins) and nemeses (people who beat them often by small margins)?

    Let’s take a look…

    Marcus Hellner’s victims.

    Name Value
    LEGKOV Alexander 8
    PILLER COTTRER Pietro 8
    GAILLARD Jean Marc 7
    SOEDERGREN Anders 7
    VITTOZ Vincent 7
    COLOGNA Dario 6

    Marcus Hellner’s nemeses.

    Name Value
    NORTHUG Petter 12
    OLSSON Johan 8
    BAUER Lukas 7
    FILBRICH Jens 6
    PERL Curdin 6
    ANGERER Tobias 5

    Charlotte Kalla’s victims.

    Name Value
    SACHENBACHER-STEHLE Evi 10
    ROPONEN (LASSILA) Riitta-Liisa 9
    SHEVCHENKO Valentina 9
    KOWALCZYK Justyna 8
    STEIRA Kristin Stoermer 8
    FOLLIS Arianna 7

    Charlotte Kalla’s nemeses.

    Name Value
    FOLLIS Arianna 6
    MAJDIC Petra 6
    SACHENBACHER-STEHLE Evi 6
    KUENZEL-NYSTAD Claudia 4
    ROPONEN (LASSILA) Riitta-Liisa 4
    BJOERGEN Marit 3

    Alexander Legkov (RUS) and Pietro Piller Cottrer (ITA) take the prize for falling victim to Hellner the most often and (surprise, surprise!) Petter Northug is Hellner’s biggest nemesis.

    Charlotte Kalla has beaten up on Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle (GER) the most, whereas there isn’t a clear leader in the nemesis category, with Sachenbacher-Stehle getting some revenge along with Arianna Follis (ITA) and Petra Majdic (SLO).

    Related posts:

    1. <Victims & Nemeses
    2. <Victims & Nemeses: Marit and Justyna Edition
    3. <Gadflies & Punching Bags


  • On the Road Again

    a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TGHjJI41LFI/AAAAAAAADnk/gD2-R4aGYi0/s1600/IMG_6312.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 264px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TGHjJI41LFI/AAAAAAAADnk/gD2-R4aGYi0/s400/IMG_6312.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503929965767634002″ //aLast week we had a break from organized group training and most of the team had scheduled recovery weeks. Today we got back together for the Weston specific strength workout.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TGHiyDsRTAI/AAAAAAAADnc/K3YpKPvefmo/s1600/IMG_6316.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/TGHiyDsRTAI/AAAAAAAADnc/K3YpKPvefmo/s400/IMG_6316.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503929569235782658″ //aEveryone looked good and it was fun having a group to train with again.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TGHifPVPWNI/AAAAAAAADnU/jOmQ1Ruau1w/s1600/IMG_6319.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/TGHifPVPWNI/AAAAAAAADnU/jOmQ1Ruau1w/s400/IMG_6319.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503929245942896850″ //aTraining with other people allows you to tweak things in your technique and get instant feedback on whether it’s working or not.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TGHhmIbGwKI/AAAAAAAADnE/fBjkcKNeo7A/s1600/IMG_6320.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 239px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TGHhmIbGwKI/AAAAAAAADnE/fBjkcKNeo7A/s400/IMG_6320.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503928264835907746″ //aGotta love the coaches transport!br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TGHhH_4BQpI/AAAAAAAADm8/VDoWTdvTrcM/s1600/IMG_6325.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 186px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TGHhH_4BQpI/AAAAAAAADm8/VDoWTdvTrcM/s400/IMG_6325.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503927747145187986″ //aThe warm-up train.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TGHgqacuN_I/AAAAAAAADm0/QzMAyGd6IYU/s1600/IMG_6333.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TGHgqacuN_I/AAAAAAAADm0/QzMAyGd6IYU/s400/IMG_6333.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503927238882375666″ //aTess gets after it.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TGHgFqS4g_I/AAAAAAAADms/fCYkCinHoWM/s1600/IMG_6337.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/TGHgFqS4g_I/AAAAAAAADms/fCYkCinHoWM/s400/IMG_6337.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503926607480914930″ //a”Everything comes up and forward together.”br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TGHfgiO58CI/AAAAAAAADmk/KaQ5VQNb_M8/s1600/IMG_6340.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/TGHfgiO58CI/AAAAAAAADmk/KaQ5VQNb_M8/s400/IMG_6340.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503925969661587490″ //aYoung guns.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TGHe1wNTRQI/AAAAAAAADmc/J3vfn2u9xa4/s1600/IMG_6353.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/TGHe1wNTRQI/AAAAAAAADmc/J3vfn2u9xa4/s400/IMG_6353.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503925234678580482″ //aWorking the arms.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TGHeGECPaXI/AAAAAAAADmU/N9eIg1SxFxk/s1600/IMG_6355.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 389px; height: 400px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TGHeGECPaXI/AAAAAAAADmU/N9eIg1SxFxk/s400/IMG_6355.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503924415367178610″ //awhat goes up, must come down, spinning wheels….br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TGHdxlabjWI/AAAAAAAADmM/e1VZgnkpqDA/s1600/IMG_6356.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/TGHdxlabjWI/AAAAAAAADmM/e1VZgnkpqDA/s400/IMG_6356.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503924063549754722″ //aGage, still smiling after 22 minutes of single sticking up hill.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4680416899705879324-8218225678014426218?l=smsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div

  • Last week: 25 hours on snow!

    div style=”text-align: center;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: ‘Lucida Grande’; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre;”i”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-size: medium;”bIt’s amazing how bad one must feel in order to feel good”/b/span/i/span/divspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-family: ‘Lucida Grande’; font-size: small;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre;”i /i/span/spanbr /span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-family: ‘Lucida Grande’; font-size: small;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre;”I’ve thought about this quote or idea a couple of times in the last month. As athletes we spend annbsp;amazing amount of energy training and pushing our bodies and minds. The end goal is to be strong, fit, and preform at a high level. In order to cross that finish line first in December I must be so tired that taking out the garbage in August feels like a major endeavor. There is a saying that skiers are imade in the summer/i and those are the hours and efforts I am feeling today as I type this blog. /span/spanbr /span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-family: ‘Lucida Grande’; font-size: small;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre;” /span/spanbr /div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”

  • Most Unimproved: Women’s Sprint

    So far, applying my alternative sprint points measure to look at skiers with major improvements or declines between seasons has worked OK, but when we turn to female sprinters who saw a major decline things get dicey.First off, let’s acknowledge that Claudia Kuenzel-Nystad is getting a bum deal here.  She squeaked into consideration by doing exactly five sprint races last season, two of which resulted in very slow qualifying times.  But her other three races were basically right in line with the rest of her sprinting career.

    I picked five races as a minimum cutoff, but clearly I should have tinkered more with different values.  Sprinting is just more volatile that distance racing, so it seems reasonable to require somewhat more races to include in an average.  Live and learn.

    I suppose its fair to say that Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle had a significantly subpar sprinting season last year, but its not a huge drop off.  Otherwise, much of this seems slightly unfair.  I’ll have to revisit this again in the future…

    Change in average of best five sprint races using my alternative points measure.

    Name Change ’08-’09 ’09-’10
    KUENZEL-NYSTAD Claudia 45.3 25.6 71
    VASILJONOK Olga 31.2 76.7 107.9
    JOHANSSON NORGREN Britta 30.3 22.4 52.7
    ROPONEN (LASSILA) Riitta-Liisa 27.4 21.6 48.9
    BOTTOMLEY Esther 26.2 111.3 137.5
    SIRGE Kaili 23.4 67.5 90.8
    BROCARD Elisa 18.5 63.7 82.2
    SACHENBACHER-STEHLE Evi 16.5 31.2 47.6
    BARTHELEMY Laure 13.9 72.1 85.9
    JONES Perianne 12.9 74.5 87.4

    Related posts:

    1. <Most Unimproved Women: Distance
    2. <Distributed Sprint Points
    3. <Most Improved: Men’s Sprint


  • New Zealand!!

    Mo, Bernie and Simi

    Team photo. Left to right: Noah, Kikkan, Andy, Morgan, Simi, me, Kris.

    Left to right: me, Simi, Lev (a Russian athlete), and Andy. Day off in Queenstown.

    Pete working with Bird on some technique goals. The coaches put a ton of effort in every day. Pete = All In

    Matt = All In


    Grov = All In


    Bernie Gardner: coach of the year and best performance of the day. Bernie is just one of those guys that you want to be around all the time. Always laughing, smiling and working hard. He has spent over 7 months of his life at the Snowfarm and is not a professional skier or an employee. In all that time, no one has ever seen him frown.

    Boys sprint final. It all came down to a leg throw between Andy and Simi.

    Chandra putting the hammer down in the sprint


    Girls 10K classic podium. Left to right: Chisa Obayashi (a Japanese athlete who trained for a month in Bend this spring), me, Morgan Arritola.

    Boys 15K classic podium. Left to right: Ivan Babikov, Devon Kershaw and Kris Freeman.

    Canadians, Noah and Bird training together. It was super awesome having both of our teams here at the same time this year. To be able to double the training buddies on a given day, double to competition at these summer races, double the people to hang out with in our off time, it really boosts the camp to an incredible level. Our two teams have met up for 2 camps this year, which is 2 more than any other year and they will be in Park City next month for a camp, so I will be able to train with them again at that point, as well as with Kikkan, as she is coming down too. The Canadians are a great group to be around, too, always joking and yelling and laughing, as well as working super hard out on the trails, so it is a win win for our two teams for sure.
    Not sure I need to comment…it’s so good in New Zealand. So good.

  • Jericho Camp & NorAm Cup Summer Races

    Our annual camp in Jericho, VT just finished and now we’re hanging in Sugarloaf with our X-C teammates. Jericho was what Jericho is good for. It’s a reminder of what we have left to work on in the next months before we get on snow. We did a few time trials and it’s something foreign to most of the athletes now – skiing really hard and trying to hit targets. we’ve done a lot of shooting and a lot of training, but nothing like the real thing we call a biathlon race.

    Everyone is really excited to be here in Sugarloaf now. It’s a great place for just being outdoors and putting in some quality training hours. The atmosphere is awesome with our entire MWSC Team here. We’re staying on the campus of the Carabassett Academy, which has a reputation of producing some top alpine and snowboard athletes. Seth Wescott’s brew pub is just down the road and the spirit of Bode Miller still lingers!


    Raleigh cruising through the range


    A strong day on the skis for Kat


    Grace heading out back on course


    Grace and Corrine on the podium showing off their new Team shorts


    Corrine in her first race with MWSC colors


    An up and comer…Chester Jacobs


    Tracy sporting her Team Otis uniform


    BethAnn throwing down!


    Ben leaving the range


    Andrea with a strong start


    MWSC alumni…Tracy, Lanny and Laura


    Even Kat’s younger brother raced…and he cleaned prone!

  • Jericho Camp & NorAm Cup Summer Races

    Our annual camp in Jericho, VT just finished and now we’re hanging in Sugarloaf with our X-C teammates. Jericho was what Jericho is good for. It’s a reminder of what we have left to work on in the next months before we get on snow. We did a few time trials and it’s something foreign to most of the athletes now – skiing really hard and trying to hit targets. we’ve done a lot of shooting and a lot of training, but nothing like the real thing we call a biathlon race.

    Everyone is really excited to be here in Sugarloaf now. It’s a great place for just being outdoors and putting in some quality training hours. The atmosphere is awesome with our entire MWSC Team here. We’re staying on the campus of the Carabassett Academy, which has a reputation of producing some top alpine and snowboard athletes. Seth Wescott’s brew pub is just down the road and the spirit of Bode Miller still lingers!


    Raleigh cruising through the range


    A strong day on the skis for Kat


    Grace heading out back on course


    Grace and Corrine on the podium showing off their new Team shorts


    Corrine in her first race with MWSC colors


    An up and comer…Chester Jacobs


    Tracy sporting her Team Otis uniform


    BethAnn throwing down!


    Ben leaving the range


    Andrea with a strong start


    MWSC alumni…Tracy, Lanny and Laura


    Even Kat’s younger brother raced…and he cleaned prone!