Category: XCFeeds

““I’d rather CAT ski than snow ski because I get a better workout.””br/br/ – em from the CatSkier.com website testimonials./em

pDear Inventor and Followers of Catskiing.  The Cat Ski thing.  Stop it.  Just stop.  Stop with the techniques.  Stop going to the Birkie expo.  Stop the Cat Ski World Championships. Stop it./p
pNot because I think it will catch on.  Not because you are ion to something./i Stop because what you are doing is so pointedly absurd, the nordic ski world, the ireal/i nordic ski world where people try to get better through legitimate training techniques (running, rollerskiing, cycling, strength work, tai-chi, virtually iany damned physical activity short of cat skiing/i, ) finds your schtick SO hilarious.  So patently absurd that they keep emailing me with requests to put it here.  On a slow day in June, when there just isn’t much nordic news going on, I put it up for a laugh.  iLook at the silly guy on Cat Skis/i.  iLook how silly they are.  Oh the silliness/i. But now I feel dirty. This is absurd. So I’m going to take you seriously for about 300 more words.  Here they are:/p
pWhy One Should NEVER Cat Ski./p
p1.  Cat skis are a terrible training tool.  Late kick, poor replication of the glide.  Sillier looking than even rollerskis. Your “testimonial” page goes to a broken link on your website.  Nothing is more fitting./p
p2.  Cat ski techniques are not new or groundbreaking.  People did them in the past on wooden skis way iway /iback.  They weren’t faster.  That’s why people don’t do them any more.  It like you rediscovered pine tar…or t-grips.  Congratulations./p
p3. Cross country skiing suffers enough from how remarkably different it is from the rest of sports.  People think it is odd and for un-athletic driven people.  You are confirming this.  This is something that you are perpetuating through your continued and absurd allegiance to your ski-spin off hobby.  We have enough legit spin offs.  (Think biathlon, nordic combined.) Hence the oddities that adhere themselves to nordic skiing like a lamprey sucking the life out of a legitimate sport need to be poisoned or burned. (Think ski archery, nordic ski ballet and, yes, Cat-skiing.)/p
p4. You seem like a fellow with a lot of energy and ingenuity.  Use it to ihelp/i skiing.  Take a 100 level USSA course, help teach other people to ski, get folks into the sport in ways that bring us closer together not divide us.  What you are doing is tantamount to bringing a dodgeball to a softball tournament and demanding that the pitcher huck that over the plate.  It iain’t/i the same sport.  Let’s face it, as satisfying as it is to clock that rubber ball with a softball bat, you look ridiculous./p
p5. If you must continue to work on this Cat-ski thing, please start by taking the clearly sizable profits you’ve reaped soaking the snow-starved masses back in wave 17 of the Birkie and purchase an island.  Move there and rename it Catskitonia.  Pack all the cat skis with you. (all 2 dozen pairs) Bring Cloxxi.  Don’t worry.  We’ll meet you there when we piece together, on our own, what iunbelievable/i training you’ve created./p

“Conditions at the resort are now so grim that dump trucks have been employed to haul more than 300 truckloads of snow from a neighboring mountain.”br/br/ – emSkinet.com on the Vancouver Games conditions.  Craptacular./em

Yesterday we had a good classic ski at Wild Wings. They are very nice and let us ski there for free. In return, we offer to help out with trail work when needed. The skiing is great, but some of the outer loops needed shoveling to fill in low spots that melted during the rain last week. We grabbed our shovels and went to work. It was a good way to add in a little basic strength and to help them out.a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2s5MH7JRDI/AAAAAAAACRI/IZOR1Slvxu0/s1600-h/IMG_2686.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/S2s5MH7JRDI/AAAAAAAACRI/IZOR1Slvxu0/s400/IMG_2686.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434500255800968242″ //aAfter shoveling, we had an easy ski followed by a mixed medley sprint relay. Each team had 3 people and each person had to do 4 laps (no pole, single pole, double pole and any classic technique). It was fun and close!br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2s43haLv8I/AAAAAAAACRA/gxiFKi8H0Sg/s1600-h/IMG_2688.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/S2s43haLv8I/AAAAAAAACRA/gxiFKi8H0Sg/s400/IMG_2688.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434499901864787906″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2s4fJk8xvI/AAAAAAAACQ4/mqQPYacZHAs/s1600-h/IMG_2676.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2s4fJk8xvI/AAAAAAAACQ4/mqQPYacZHAs/s400/IMG_2676.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434499483150632690″ //abr /Attached to our weight room is the trainer’s room (where Matt B.’s fiance hangs out). In the training room we have hot and cold tubs which we like to use to help speed recovery.a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2s3wv0toMI/AAAAAAAACQw/28wKk91v2I0/s1600-h/IMG_2696.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/S2s3wv0toMI/AAAAAAAACQw/28wKk91v2I0/s400/IMG_2696.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434498685963444418″ //a”This is c….c….c…..cold”.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2s3TL4WXPI/AAAAAAAACQo/Vaw7e25b_ZE/s1600-h/IMG_2697.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/S2s3TL4WXPI/AAAAAAAACQo/Vaw7e25b_ZE/s400/IMG_2697.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434498178098814194″ //aThe transition.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2s20DRjozI/AAAAAAAACQg/mSU6K0IS-NY/s1600-h/IMG_2698.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/S2s20DRjozI/AAAAAAAACQg/mSU6K0IS-NY/s400/IMG_2698.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434497643212677938″ //abr /Ahhhh, the hot tub feels so good!div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4680416899705879324-213866733224133355?l=smsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div

It’s on the outskirts of the Banff National Park where I find myself for the last days of preparation before West to Whistler. Isn’t this the way it always is, headed West, leaving the stepping stones behind for the land of new adventures and experiences. In my mind’s eye I can see the big mountains as I can breathe in the wet, slightly salty maritime air. Ah, sometimes life’s too good, isn’t it?br /br /Writing these last lines reminds me about what it’s all about – the universal appeal of sport and the Olympian’s quest. It’s to fully inhabit the most traditional and hallowed sense of the world amateur; a lover of. What a feeling it is to wake up every morning, pop out of bed, let out a big, boisterous Shazaam! and get right to it, loving every minute of the process. Maybe it’s encouraging to know (somehow, it is for me anyways) that this state of perfection is beyond most Olympian’s daily way and means. This, though, is the personal standard. The one most worth striving for. br /When you get to this level, hold it, cherish it, nourish it, share it and carry it’s memory with you always. I’ll try to do the same. br /br /A friend says, “It’s so easy to die before the fact of it.” This reminds me of the Jack London penned poem, the work urging one to be the spark that burns out in a brilliant blaze, to be that meteor, every atom in magnificent glow. br /br /To this I say, raise high that roof beam, carpenters! To use every fibre of our bodies in taxing effort, to beat back the deadening effect of habit, to abhor merely existing and instead shine, shine, shine like that exploding star shooting across the dark night sky.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2691525267872963085-3295318483749137631?l=in-the-arena-torin.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div