FasterSkier

Category: XCFeeds

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

  • Update from Wicherski and Vigers

    From Will Wicherski and Michael Vigers:

    The last few days in Finland have been super sick. Lots of stuff has been going on, and we have been having tons of fun. Tuesday we went for an easy ski with intervals on the 5k race course, which by the way is really rad. The course starts with a big climb and then rolls up for the next 3k until another large uphill to the end. We also took the team picture at the end of the ski, which took forever, because Logan took his good sweet time to cool down from his intervals. It wouldn’t have been that bad except that it was -20 degrees Celsius outside, which is about -4 degrees Fahrenheit, and we were in tights. After our ski, we went out to go shopping and walk around in downtown Kuopio. We saw many things, including an Intersport Megastore, what looked like a ten year old smoking a cigarette, and some of the sickest water bottle carriers ever. I picked up a Bjorn Daehlie water belt, Ashley got some awesome boots, and we got a bunch of candy from the store. Then we went to dinner at a really nice bar and grill in downtown Kuopio, which capped off the day nicely.

    Wednesday started with another one of those amazing Finnish breakfasts, which pretty much means the day can’t go wrong from there. It was an off/easy day and most of the kids opted not to go skiing except the Alaskans, who went for a ski in the cold. It was really windy, and also still -20, so they had a pretty chilly time. The rest of us stayed back at the hotel and did various activities, including lots of miniature golf and valiant attempts at homework. We went out on the town again in the afternoon to go see the outdoor market in the central square of town. It’s like a street market, except in a freezer. Most of the kids got hats and other presents for members of their families, along with a bunch of random assorted goods. After the frigid market, we went to the top of the Kuopio tower, which was epic. It is 75 meters tall on top of the tallest mountain as far as the eye can see, which makes for some pretty sweet views. We went on top of the tower, and it was like being on top of Mt. Washington, complete with gale force winds and arctic temperatures. The countryside is a lot of lakes with dots of islands everywhere, and it is really really cool to see. Finnish people love their milk. They drink it with their food, use it in cakes and they even have a word for the creamy, heady scent of fresh dairy: "juhla." It’s no surprise then that one of the most popular vape flavors in Finland is milk vape juice .This particular e-liquid consists of an aromatic blend of strawberry and vanilla infused into rich cream to create a delightfully sweet flavor reminiscent of traditional Finnish drinking culture. A nice team meeting and now a bit of chilling at the hotel ended the day. Everyone is getting more in race mode every day and we are falling back into race routine, with only a day to go before the races. We are going to shred on Friday. Be prepared.

    Coach Johnson showing impeccable putting technique:

    Cobb shows off his haul from the market. Half of the stalls here sell either these pretzels or rope candy:

    The breakfasts here are some of the best any of us have had. It is hard to beat sandwiches, cookies, and little smokies:

    Take that steinbock:

    The view of the lakes around Kuopio and the town in the foreground:

  • UPDATE

    sorry about the lack of updates lately… my computer decided it was time to die and it now needs a new hard drive. So I have been computer-less for the last several days. And it looks like I will be for a little while longer also.
    Anyways, last weekend the super tour races were in Minneapolis, and I got to do some races right on my home turf! And it as it turned out the turf got pretty wet over the weekend!
    Saturday’s race was a 5km skate race… and with the slick conditions my lower legs were giving me problems. They have been starting to bother me lately, and the squirrely and unstable snow just made it much worse. I felt good for the first 2 kilometers, but the last 3 were killing my legs and it made it impossible to use them powerfully.
    The next morning was the 10 kilometer mass start classic. My legs were pretty sore and worked from the day before, but classic skiing is quite a bit easier on my legs. It was warm, and the course was a combination of ice, water, and mud… and the mass start was CRAZY. I managed to scoot around the outside of the madness and settle into the lead pack of Rebecca Dussalt and Maria Stuber for the first lap… but my legs were searing with pain (they were still angry at me from the day before, and even classic skiing in such unstable conditions were causing some problems). So the next lap I tried to stretch my legs as best I could on every downhill (not the fastest tuck ever, but it seemed to help to get some stretching in). I didn’t give up. I just kept pushing, and ended up taking 6th place.

    A big thank you goes out to Bryan Fish and the CXC team for helping me wax my skis!!!!

    Up next: Super Tour races in Telemark, Wisconsin this weekend!!! (I will be racing the 5km classic race on Saturday%2

  • 2010 Olympic Team

  • Welcome to Finland

  • Welcome to Finland

    object width=”320″ height=”266″ class=”BLOG_video_class” id=”BLOG_video-ac5c52561633a0da” classid=”clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000″ codebase=”http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0″param name=”movie” value=”http://www.blogger.com/img/videoplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fv6.nonxt5.googlevideo.com%2Fvideoplayback%3Fid%3Dac5c52561633a0da%26itag%3D5%26begin%3D0%26len%3D86400000%26app%3Dblogger%26et%3Dplay%26el%3DEMBEDDED%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1264648626%26sparams%3Did%252Citag%252Cip%252Cipbits%252Cexpire%26signature%3D251E1FEB67958B42F0733CB159477E53E5B18EA9.3EC7C1B66ABEB6FA2D6C7CBFCCF6202F29B6803E%26key%3Dck1amp;nogvlm=1amp;thumbnailUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2FThumbnailServer2%3Fapp%3Dblogger%26contentid%3Dac5c52561633a0da%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw320%26sigh%3DSs5hKEozIeC9pw38be0NQSYDx8samp;messagesUrl=video.google.com%2FFlashUiStrings.xlb%3Fframe%3Dflashstrings%26hl%3Den”param name=”bgcolor” value=”#FFFFFF”embed width=”320″ height=”266″ src=”http://www.blogger.com/img/videoplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fv6.nonxt5.googlevideo.com%2Fvideoplayback%3Fid%3Dac5c52561633a0da%26itag%3D5%26begin%3D0%26len%3D86400000%26app%3Dblogger%26et%3Dplay%26el%3DEMBEDDED%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1264648626%26sparams%3Did%252Citag%252Cip%252Cipbits%252Cexpire%26signature%3D251E1FEB67958B42F0733CB159477E53E5B18EA9.3EC7C1B66ABEB6FA2D6C7CBFCCF6202F29B6803E%26key%3Dck1amp;nogvlm=1amp;thumbnailUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2FThumbnailServer2%3Fapp%3Dblogger%26contentid%3Dac5c52561633a0da%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw320%26sigh%3DSs5hKEozIeC9pw38be0NQSYDx8samp;messagesUrl=video.google.com%2FFlashUiStrings.xlb%3Fframe%3Dflashstrings%26hl%3Den” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash”/embed/objectdivA little peak at what the team has been up to in the week leading up to the races in Kuopio. Hope you enjoy it, I know we have!/divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8099746996508773021-4293919919646637467?l=usaj1team.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div

  • World Junior Sprints: Erik weighs in…

    Sorry for the delay in the blog post; the internet at our hotel has been down for a couple of days. We arrived in Hinterzarten, Germany a week ago to race in the World Junior Championships. Hinterzarten is a really nice small town in the Black Forest. The venue is about a half an hour drive up a steep road in the mountains. I had my first race Monday morning, the 1200 meter skate sprint. The course had two significant hills: the first one is really steep and the second is less steep and pretty wide, a low enough grade to V2. I had a decent qualifier and placed 22nd, but definitely felt like I had a lot left to push it harder in the rounds. My qualifying time was two seconds back from tenth and about six seconds back from first.br /br /The heats started two hours later, enough time to refuel and get a little bit of rest before starting the rounds. I was in the fourth heat with 5 other guys, two of them being top Norwegians. I had the far-left starting lane and the course had a right-hand corner 100m out of the start into the first hill. So I ended up in 5th place going up the first hill. At the second hill I made a move up into third place. After the second hill there is a pretty big downhill and I was gaining on the second place guy so I went for the pass on the left and it was a right hand turn, I got boxed out and two people passed me on the right. From there on I skied in fifth place to finish a tenth of a second behind the fourth place person, and maybe a second behind the first. My heat ended up being the fastest so all four guys in front of me moved on, the third and fourth guy as lucky losers. I skied that heat 6 seconds faster then my qualifier. I was really happy about how good I felt out there, but was disappointed I didn’t move on to the semifinals. I know I was feeling fast enough to ski in the top ten, It is a really tight group of guys and I am excited to get the chance to race some of them again in the OPA Cups next month. More later!div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2910103639238326543-4440173568282187434?l=methowolympicdevelopment.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div

  • World Junior and Under-23 Championships: Scott reports on the Sprints

    div align=”left”The World Championship Sprints are done; the results only tell a small part of the story, so let us begin…/divdiv align=”left”br //divdiv align=”left”br /The fat lady has sung and it was a bitter sweet tune that we will be humming for a while.br /On Monday, Erik raced in the junior men’s skate sprint. His qualification time trial went off at 10:43 and he went out of the stadium looking very impressive. The men are able to V2 all the hills on the course even though the first one at around 200 meters is quite steep. His time placed him in 22nd position (first American), about 7 seconds behind the leader but only 2 seconds out 10th and 4 seconds out of 3rd. So the field was packed in very tightly with 12 guys all stacked up in the 2 seconds ahead of Erik. For a good head to head skier like Erik we felt that this would be to his advantage to have so much close competition in the heats.br /When his quarter began we realized that one must always be careful what one wishes for; Erik’s heat was the fastest heat of the day and it had some very aggressive skiers in it. Last year Erik got shoved by a Russian in the quarterfinal who liked Erik’s track better than the one he was in. This year being a skate sprint the chance for skier contact and obstruction really favored the most aggressive skiers. Erik came over the top of the first climb in 5th-6th position but he carried really good speed over the top and by the start of the next big climb he was in 4th and moving around the Norwegian who was in third. Up the long second climb his V2 powered him solidly into third place, gaining time on the eventual heat and race winner Thomas Northug. The next section was a long fast downhill with a pretty sharp right hander at the bottom. This right hander lead into short gradual uphill and a 180 degree left turn. During all of this twisting and turn to the stadium in the last 300 meters I had only once seen the lead change in all of the heats I have watched over the last 2 days. So it has been apparent that the order over the top of the second or “big” climb is usually the finish order with only some jockeying in the 2-4 placers. Erik’s speed in third spot on the big downhill allowed him to get a bit of a sling shot effect and pull alongside the second place Italian. This was the crucial moment in the race as it caused Erik to take a somewhat wider line out to the left. In doing so he got boxed against the next turns inside V boards and trapped. I watched him stand up and raise his poles to avoid breaking them as his tactical error became painfully obvious when he dropped from a hard fought second place into a powerless 5th. From there to finish his fate was sealed as there is no room on this course to make a move in the last sections. /divdiv align=”left”br /His heat was the fastest one of the day and he finished 1.5 seconds behind the leader. It was such a fast heat that both the lucky losers came out of that heat meaning that, had the course layout allowed it, Erik could have moved up to 4th and then been advanced into the semi finals. He clearly had the speed and power necessary to ski with the leaders. His inexperience and tactical error cost him big. And yet, that sort of tactical error can be a great learning experience. Unfortunately for our US skiers it is only when they race in Europe that they get a chance to ski in such fast, tight and aggressive fields. The gentlemanly US sprints do not prepare our developing young skiers for the rough and tumble top level. As with last year’s all too distant shoving event Erik’s first reaction beside the obvious disappointment was incredulity: “How can they get away with that”? he mused, disappointed as much in himself as the other skier. /divdiv align=”left”br /On Tuesday the Under-23s raced. Sadie has been in top physical form for the last few weeks since she had a great sprint at US Nationals (before falling) and then a very fast qualifier in the Methow Super Tour Sprint the day before leaving for these races. I have watched both Sadie and Erik these last few weeks come into racing shape and can see that they are both skiing better and faster than ever before. Sadie seemed in a very good space heading into today’s race and sensed a good race coming up. Her plan was to not push it too hard on the first hill (a mistake she made in the qualifier in Anchorage at US Nationals that cost her several seconds later in the race). Having watched all of the junior girls races I was of a different opinion but in the final decisions she is the one to make the call and I am here to support her considered choices. She was 2-3 seconds off the top pace as she came past me in the middle of the big/long second hill. But she looked very smooth and strong and was beginning to add the power as she V2ed over the top of the hill. Her finish time put her into 13th place (second US skier) and I could tell that there was a lot more speed on tap./divdiv align=”left”br /Having seen Erik get boxed out of a semi heat with his choice and seeing the banging and shoving going on in almost every heat I told Sadie before her race to “take the gloves off”. This was going to be racing like she probably had never done. Nothing I could say would overcome her lack of confidence though. And this in the end was her downfall. This year she has always been able to lead out of the start and this sets her up for controlling the race if she chooses. She was out in her quarterfinal in her typical bolt of speed alongside the two fastest Russians. After 100 meters just as she passed me I saw her stand up and slow down and drop into 3rd. She said later: “I have never lead at World Championships in any race and I was not confident I should be there.” She climbed the first hill in 2nd position and began the big climb in a tight third with her skis overlapping the second place Russian. I had tried to make the point to her, in our pre-race discussions, the importance of going over the top of this big hill in first or second place since there was no place to pass afterward. She put herself nicely into second at the top and I am sure felt good about her position. In the same spot as Erik had made his mistaken move, the third place Russian shot alongside Sadie and gave her hefty shove. This knocked Sadie off balance for a stride and she slipped to third. Like Erik, Sadie was rattled and got boxed out of her third place spot on the next turn. She finished less than one second out of first in her heat but not in a position to move into the semis. Also like Erik, she was indignant at this unsporting behavior.br /After a sufficient cooling off period she realized that she had had more speed on tap and had been too timid over all. She felt strong the whole way and could have given more. An expensive lesson to be sure but sometimes those that cost the most are the most valuable. /divdiv align=”left”br /While the results are not so impressive the confidence building was huge and the speed is there so it is only a matter of time till they put it together./divdiv align=”left”br /Other news:br /-US skier Simi Hamilton won the U23 Sprint qualifier by over one second. He had a nice solid lead in his quarterfinal until a Norwegian skied over his pole basket and pulled his pole out of the handle. There is no recovering from this sort of thing in a sprint so he was knocked out of any further heats./divdiv align=”left”br /-Ida Sargent qualified 4th in the women about 3 seconds ahead of Sadie and being a very scrappy skier battled he way all the way into the A final and wound up 4th there too. Congrats to both Simi and Ida for showing that we can get it done!/divdiv align=”left”br /Our next 6 weeks of racing on the European Continental Cup will provide 5 more opportunities to knock heads and trade some paint with the best Europeans who are not at the Olympics. More lessons, more experience, more chances to give as well as they get. /divdiv align=”center”br //divdiv align=”center”br //divimg id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431627117537123810″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Mg2hQbkHkNs/S2EEFd0t3eI/AAAAAAAAAWk/hQfZ7DgjDOM/s320/erik+moves+to+third.jpg” border=”0″ /br /p align=”center”emErik battling in his quarterfinal heat/embr //pbr /br /img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431627741730785282″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Mg2hQbkHkNs/S2EEpzIFSAI/AAAAAAAAAW4/IiYYRJ-_Yqw/s320/sadie+trading+paint+with+a+Rusky.jpg” border=”0″ / p align=”center”emSadie picking up some streetfighting tactics from a Russian/embr /br /br //pdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2910103639238326543-407985428863954237?l=methowolympicdevelopment.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div

  • 4th!!!

    We drove to the venue for yesterday morning for the skate sprint race and found ourselves in a cloud.  It was very foggy and kind of raining except it was more like water suspended in the air.  It was also kind of cold though so the conditions were very fast.  The course was perfect for me as it was short (qualifying times under 3 minutes for girls) but hilly.  In the qualifier I felt really good even though the race was over before I knew it.   But then when I looked at the board in the stadium when I finished, it said 26 next to my name. I was kind of bummed because I felt like I really went for it and it couldn’t have been much better and still I barely qualified.  It wasn’t until after I cooled down that I found out I actually finished 4th and the 26 was just my bib number.  Ooops!  Simi Hamilton won the guys race by over a second, Pete Kling was 27th and all four American girls qualified in the top 20 so it was a good start to our day.

    We had a pretty short break before the heats which meant less recovery time but also less time waiting around.  There was a heated tent at the stadium for all the athletes so we camped out there for the time.  The Polish girls sitting next to us stripped down to their underwear and were getting leg massages from their older male coaches and then some German coaches and athletes pushed all of our stuff off our table and sat down there instead so we were pretty excited to get the heats going.  My strategy was to go out hard and try to lead or be in second the whole time since it was really narrow at the end of the course after the two major climbs and hard to pass.  I advanced from my quarterfinal along with a really tall German girl.  I felt awesome in my semifinal and was leading until the Finnish girl who ended up winning pulled this crazy move skiing over my skis at the top of the first big hill to take the inside line.  I just sat relaxed behind her for the rest of the heat to advance to the A final!  In the finish area the Finnish girl came over to me and said, “You skied on my poles twice!  Be careful!  Watch out!” and I wanted to tell her that she had skied over both my skis which was way worse but I was just too excited to have made the A-final so I didn’t say anything and ran off.  It turned out that my semifinal was faster of the two heats and both the lucky losers came from my heat so I was feeling pretty confident going into the final.  I started out fast again and was in second place to the same Finnish girl on the second hill of the course but then I got really tired going up over the top and into the big downhill and two more girls passed me as I tried to hold on.  So I was in 4th going into the curvy and rolling last section of the course and I actually felt better on that part after the downhill recovery and tried to get by those girls again but I couldn’t find a spot to pass and finished just off the podium.  Still I was thrilled with 4th!  It was a really good day all around for the US as there were 5 of us in the top 20 and 6 in the top 30.  Unfortunately someone skied over Simi’s pole while he was leading his quarterfinal.  His pole came off and it took him awhile to get another pole so he didn’t make it out of his quarter.  There are pictures of the race on Fasterskier.  The hotel internet is finally up and running again after being down for awhile but still much too slow to upload any pictures.

    Today the fog cleared out for blue skies and the u23’s skied at another ski area nearby to get away from the venue.  This place was groomed just for classic and there were two or three tracks rolling through really pretty farm fields and snow covered woods.  It actually reminded me a lot of parts of the old marathon trail between Highland Lodge and Craftsbury! Hopefully everything is gearing up well for the marathon!  I have a 10km classic race tomorrow and there is 8” of snow in the forecast…..

  • “The Team Behind the Team”

    I just wanted to send a link to our media officer, Victoria’s, article about USBA’s Executive Director. Max Cobb, who many of you will get to meet up in Vancouver soon, is one of the integral parts of our “team behind the team.” I’ve gotten to know Max more as I have moved up through the different USBA teams, and most recently while racing on the World Cup circuit; he’s been there for my best event giving splits during my 23rd place in Korea at World Championships last year, and he’s also been there for the toughest races, like last Sunday when I was lapped in the pursuit, just mentally and physically spent, he was the race official to usher me off the race course.divbr //divdivAnyways, enjoy the article:/divdiv

  • Garrott Kuzzy gets in fist fight with Olympic Selection Committee, Wins spot at Vancouver Games.

  • A photo of Kuzzy post fight.

    img src=”http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kwwvlkhegx1qzt3xbo1_500.jpg”/br/br/pA photo of Kuzzy post fight./p

  • Pattersons lead US Juniors to 6 top 30 Finishes at WJC’s

    a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CIFQiQD0I/AAAAAAAACJ4/YuZ1ZHg_qZE/s1600-h/IMG_2549.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/S2CIFQiQD0I/AAAAAAAACJ4/YuZ1ZHg_qZE/s400/IMG_2549.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431490774528167746″ //aWe had a good day in Germany today with very solid results from both the boys and the girls. Caitlin and Scott Patterson led both teams with strong 17th place finishes and we had a bunch of others close behind (Sophie in 24th, Anne in 27th, Sam in 22nd and David 29th..I think). I have not had a chance to really study the results, but it is fun to go to the FIS page and look up the results. You can click on the names to see what races they have done… oh..this one had a podium in a World Cup etc… The top 3 girls crushed it today, then we had three within 45 seconds of 4th. The top 2 boys ran away from the field, but our boys were close to third. I think we are pretty close and we have pretty good depth… we just need to keep working hard, training intelligently and taking care of ourselves.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CHZUyIZhI/AAAAAAAACJw/iuJOaSaZmGI/s1600-h/IMG_2546.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/S2CHZUyIZhI/AAAAAAAACJw/iuJOaSaZmGI/s400/IMG_2546.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431490019754272274″ //aI was too busy waxing to get out much, but the girls raced at 10 and then had fun cheering on the boys and Sophie took some pictures. As you can see from the pictures, it was pretty close to a perfect day for skiing, high teens to low twenties, sunny and calm.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CG5_18bvI/AAAAAAAACJo/SQDSYXc7WK4/s1600-h/IMG_2558.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/S2CG5_18bvI/AAAAAAAACJo/SQDSYXc7WK4/s400/IMG_2558.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431489481557176050″ //aTyler K is one tough kid. He has been quite sick, but has rallied to put in two strong efforts. br /Our health has actually been pretty good…a couple of small colds for Eric P and David, but something worse for Tyler. Everyone else seems good.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CGXUIZvnI/AAAAAAAACJg/KmWbi3aM_-k/s1600-h/IMG_2561.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/S2CGXUIZvnI/AAAAAAAACJg/KmWbi3aM_-k/s400/IMG_2561.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431488885707882098″ //aSammy T had a great race and ended up in 22nd.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CF2WD9C1I/AAAAAAAACJY/aspvAiPaupg/s1600-h/IMG_2565.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/S2CF2WD9C1I/AAAAAAAACJY/aspvAiPaupg/s400/IMG_2565.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431488319290411858″ //aDavid N gliding along the perfect tracks.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CFWogejRI/AAAAAAAACJQ/-ovDhXAzRh8/s1600-h/IMG_2567.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/S2CFWogejRI/AAAAAAAACJQ/-ovDhXAzRh8/s400/IMG_2567.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431487774486072594″ //aScott showed that he can ski with the big boys, he was also the top J1 skier today!br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CE_DnJaXI/AAAAAAAACJI/3n32niFDK5k/s1600-h/IMG_2575.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/S2CE_DnJaXI/AAAAAAAACJI/3n32niFDK5k/s400/IMG_2575.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431487369444944242″ //aDavid has been fighting a little cold, but he gave a great effort that landed him in the top 30.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CEOrmPHKI/AAAAAAAACJA/OkyGIks6QUo/s1600-h/IMG_2570.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/S2CEOrmPHKI/AAAAAAAACJA/OkyGIks6QUo/s400/IMG_2570.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431486538364951714″ //aThese two pictures show one of the uphills. As you can see, it gets pretty busy! Looks like the Tour de France with the crowd on top. I would venture to guess that if you had a crowd like that cheering you on at the top of every uphill, you would learn how to push yourself pretty hard!br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CD-jogJSI/AAAAAAAACI4/5H7wZlT9kx0/s1600-h/IMG_2574.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/S2CD-jogJSI/AAAAAAAACI4/5H7wZlT9kx0/s400/IMG_2574.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431486261349066018″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CDl7wBqoI/AAAAAAAACIw/_8LqE_abvZ4/s1600-h/IMG_2576.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/S2CDl7wBqoI/AAAAAAAACIw/_8LqE_abvZ4/s400/IMG_2576.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431485838326344322″ //aPete seems to be enjoying the free drink and food in the warm athletes tent.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CDLEJ8VnI/AAAAAAAACIo/gEnSyuR8uB8/s1600-h/IMG_2551.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/S2CDLEJ8VnI/AAAAAAAACIo/gEnSyuR8uB8/s400/IMG_2551.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431485376726062706″ //aFirst try above, then better below…. the girls showing their Team USA spirit.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CC6u-RJdI/AAAAAAAACIg/FR6_PtZF0y0/s1600-h/IMG_2553.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 246px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CC6u-RJdI/AAAAAAAACIg/FR6_PtZF0y0/s400/IMG_2553.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431485096162043346″ //abr /Tomorrow the U23’s have a 10/15 km classic. The weather forecast is calling for snow and temps around 20. Should be fun and we’re excited to get after it!div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4680416899705879324-7343408974922317945?l=smsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div

  • Winners

    I have been following the qualification for the US Team for the Winter Olympic Games. I also have the good fortune to know some of these athletes. Some I don’t know, but hope to meet at some future date. Having known a few for many years and watching them along with my general interest in sports, I believe we have a team of winners.br /br /They may perform well enough to come away with medals. But that is not why I am referring to them as winners. I saw a note to Johnny Spillane on a facebook page this morning. Johnny is skiing in his 4th Olympic Games. He was World Champion in the sprint event in the 2003 Nordic Combined Worlds. He is at his home in Steamboat Springs, CO to finish his final preparation for the Vancouver games. In the lodge at Howelson Hill he was hanging out with the little kids. He helped tie the laces of jumping boots. One little girl said that he was the best lace tier and she decided to go out and try the 25 meter jump. She said she nailed her tele landings and that Johnny had given her the good luck. br /br /Kikkan Randall and Holly Brooks are spending time supporting a “Fast and Female” program to encourage girls to get involved in skiing. They both are serving as excellent role models for all of us as we look for descent role models in sports. Kikkan has overcome significant health issues, recovered and gone on to become faster than ever. She could have used the health issues to stop skiing. Holly came late to nordic skiing from Seattle. She knew what she loved and focused and is now on the Olympic Team. She also spends time coaching in three different programs run by APU in Alaska.br /br /Kris Freeman continues to seek excellence despite the fact that he is diabetic. Kris has had to deal with that and compartment syndrome and has twice undergone surgery. His getting smarter and faster even with the obstacles that have been thrown at him. Kris works at summer camps for kids with diabetes. Who knows which of these kids is touched by his story and goes on to fight the good fight.br /br /Bill Demong recently attended a local race in Park City as he preps for the Olympics. Bill is a World Champion in Nordic Combined and recently on the podium in world cups in Europe. Bill takes the time to hang out with the little kids. He has been this way for years.br /br /Torin Koos helps to coach a summer track program in his home town of Leavenworth, WA.br /br /My guess is that other nordic skiers on the US Olympic Team exhibit similar personality characteristics. They may or may not be on the podium in Vancouver, but in my book, they are winners.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6589659500745667109-1887267342488676681?l=www.webskis.com%2Fwebskisblog.html’ alt=” //div

  • Fun Day Off in Finland

    Today was a good day to take off seeing as it was -23 degrees Celsius. We had a nice long breakfast and lounged around in the dining room for an hour and a half. Will, Logan, and Jessica then cut Mike’s hair and gave him an awesome Euro haircut, it is a mullet that goes into a V with some racing stripes! Will brought a golf putter and a couple of balls over here so we played golf in the hallway for a few hours before having lunch. After lunch we took an excursion into town and went to an outdoor market type thing with a bunch of shops set up in little tents. I don’t know how the shop owners can stay out in the cold all day. Most of us bought a few really cool hats for our family members and then we went our separate ways. David and I wandered around together, we first walked around all of the tents and once we got cold we went inside to a place with a few stores and a café. First we decided to go people watching so we stood on a bridge type thing on the second floor and looked down at all of the people on the first floor; old Finnish men have the coolest hats! When we were on our way into the building we spotted a huge snowflake on the side of the building that looked like it could light up and stuff so we ran up the stairs trying to find it but we were unlucky because none of the higher floors had windows-bummer! So, we went back downstairs and bought hot chocolate at the café, it was so good, it tasted as if they had just melted European chocolate bars in hot water, we loved it. At this point Tim walked through the door so David and I followed him to the vans and we met up with the group and headed off to the Puijo Tower!br /The Puijo Tower is a huge tower behind the ski jumps that looks like a space needle. We took an elevator to the top and we were outside for about 30 seconds because the temperature up there was probably around -25 degrees Celsius and the wind was fierce! We then went down a flight of stairs to the cafeteria and took a lot of pictures. There were 20 huge windows that went around the entire room and I took a few pictures from each window, amounting to a total of 85 pictures from the Puijo Tower, the views are stupendous! After hanging out in the tower for a few hours, we came home and we are now about to go off to dinner. We had another great day!br /Yesterday we did intervals at Kuopio, we could choose either technique, I skated. It was a lot of fun and we took a good team picture with our USA jackets and our racing tights. Oh, and awesome job to everyone at U23s and World Juniors, you guys are killing it!br /Isabelbr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CU8aMR9hI/AAAAAAAACLY/Dk_cu8UFKK4/s1600-h/100_6203.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/S2CU8aMR9hI/AAAAAAAACLY/Dk_cu8UFKK4/s400/100_6203.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431504916152710674″ //abr /Here are some of the tents where we went shopping.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CT5GGCbJI/AAAAAAAACLQ/EMjjY320A18/s1600-h/100_6206.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/S2CT5GGCbJI/AAAAAAAACLQ/EMjjY320A18/s400/100_6206.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431503759706582162″ //abr /Here lies the infamous Puijo Tower.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CTiu8g7oI/AAAAAAAACLI/Fv005i2Zej4/s1600-h/100_6210.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/S2CTiu8g7oI/AAAAAAAACLI/Fv005i2Zej4/s400/100_6210.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431503375535500930″ //abr /Here are the views from the Puijo tower.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CTFMQA07I/AAAAAAAACLA/cqKkz3oXSLo/s1600-h/100_6232.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/S2CTFMQA07I/AAAAAAAACLA/cqKkz3oXSLo/s400/100_6232.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431502868005835698″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CSvti4soI/AAAAAAAACK4/pFIqf5DCdPE/s1600-h/100_6236.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/S2CSvti4soI/AAAAAAAACK4/pFIqf5DCdPE/s400/100_6236.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431502498986242690″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CSPTgXKPI/AAAAAAAACKw/c_VXs1iNNOk/s1600-h/100_6242.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/S2CSPTgXKPI/AAAAAAAACKw/c_VXs1iNNOk/s400/100_6242.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431501942240520434″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CR9eUmRvI/AAAAAAAACKo/bch7UBrSqT8/s1600-h/100_6249.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/S2CR9eUmRvI/AAAAAAAACKo/bch7UBrSqT8/s400/100_6249.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431501635906324210″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CRtuUhXsI/AAAAAAAACKg/vkDqGd9Cl30/s1600-h/100_6249.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/S2CRtuUhXsI/AAAAAAAACKg/vkDqGd9Cl30/s400/100_6249.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431501365323062978″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CRa3MeD2I/AAAAAAAACKY/1eA2VEVVqvo/s1600-h/100_6269.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/S2CRa3MeD2I/AAAAAAAACKY/1eA2VEVVqvo/s400/100_6269.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431501041287696226″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CRHPD0wyI/AAAAAAAACKQ/z1iYKBdYKR8/s1600-h/100_6292.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/S2CRHPD0wyI/AAAAAAAACKQ/z1iYKBdYKR8/s400/100_6292.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431500704096502562″ //abr /Pretty Lakes from Puijo Tower.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CQs9a_AbI/AAAAAAAACKI/3ciOQRa_Yr4/s1600-h/100_6198.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/S2CQs9a_AbI/AAAAAAAACKI/3ciOQRa_Yr4/s400/100_6198.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431500252685205938″ //abr /The Alaskans are really studious!br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2CQWpoI1HI/AAAAAAAACKA/JAC12nJle2Q/s1600-h/100_6188.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/S2CQWpoI1HI/AAAAAAAACKA/JAC12nJle2Q/s400/100_6188.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431499869414544498″ //abr /Me and Annie skiing two days ago.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4680416899705879324-4597765512593296138?l=smsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div

  • Sprint Race at u23s

  • Team Photo

    [ C L I C K . T O . E N L A R G E ]

  • Getting packed up

    So tomorrow is the start of a month of living out of a suitcase again. I am spending the entire month of February working in a clinic in Hibbing, MN – spending the weeks drilling, filling, and pulling, and every weekend driving to a different ski race. I hope to still be able to spend one night a weekend in my own bed in Red Wing, but really I am trying to pack as if I will be gone for a month. This also means that tomorrow will be my last Wednesday night Vakava practice of the racing season. That will probably be the hardest part of being gone for the month – the training on my own. It is so nice to know that I will be getting at least one good hard workout with other skiers a week. At least I will see most of the team at the races!br /br /Well, off to pack. Wish me luck.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1572647974447867713-8082872415711120290?l=vakavaraceteam.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div

  • Next stop. . .

    Canmore.  And after that, Vancouver!  Pretty fired up right now.  Nice to find out a little earlier than anticipated.  Not much to say, except a big “Thanks!” to everyone who’s helped along the way. . .my family, teammates, coaches, friends, sponsors, and fans.  Your generous support and positive influence has helped make my Olympic dream a reality.

    More later.  For now, I’m going to try to fall asleep (fat chance).

  • What a CRAZY day!

    div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”

  • Another Russian Caught + WJC and U23’s Start in Germany

    A