FasterSkier

Category: XCFeeds

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

  • Yea Rosanna!

    The countdown is on and I am gearing up for the much-anticipated opportunity of a lifetime: the home Olympics! As if that wasn’t incredible enough, my sister will now be joining me at the Olympics.

    Everywhere I go in town people congratulate me on my sister’s recent qualification and the main they ask is “Are you so excited?” or “Are you ready?” Yes, I am very excited. I’m looking forward to racing in the Callaghan Valley with so many people I know out cheering. I’m looking forward to walking in the opening ceremonies. I’m looking forward to my sister and I racing in stadiums that are separated by a mere few hundreds meters of ski trail.

    That’s right, my 21-year old little sister Rosanna qualified for the Olympics in biathlon in the recent final trials race. We once dreamed of being “2010 sisters.” Through the past few years of setbacks and more downs than ups we’ve propped each other up and got through it all thanks to our amazing family who’ve been positive and optimistic enough to fill in our doubts whenever we suffered new injuries or medical problems.

    Just as family is part of what I call “The Team Behind the Dream,” the amazing people in our hometown of Canmore, Alberta and beyond have played a huge role in getting all us athletes to this point. The preparation and training has been possible thanks to the encouragement and support of so many Canadians… and we athletes don’t tell you enough but we really, really appreciate all that you do for us!

    As for Rosanna and I, we will both be doing training camps at Mt. Washington on Vancouver Island in preparation as both our respective teams have chosen that place for the final prep because of it’s similar snow conditions to the Callaghan Valley.

    In the meantime training in Canmore where it’s at for me and Rosanna is doing World Cup races in Europe.


    **Here are some photos of me cheering for my sister during her trials race. In the second one I actually had to take off my big jacket to be able to run fast enough to keep up with her while yelling “You can do it!! Focus! Ski hard!” In the end if she’d gone 15 seconds slower she wouldn’t have made the Olympic team – every second counts and I was glad to be there to cheer her on.

    Thank-you for reading,

    Chandra

  • All New. The Johnny Klister CS Index

    pThe Johnny Klister Compartment Syndrome Index measures the national intensity of cross country skiing though the number of buntreated cases of compartment syndrome/b./p

    pbThe current index through January 2010 is:    7.5/b/p

    pEmail johnnyklister@gmail.com if the heat of the season (remember Cologna’s fart poster) is too much for your shins to handle./p

  • Photo

    img src=”http://7.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kw4wl3N44A1qzt3xbo1_500.jpg”/br/br/

  • On the Road (Again)

    I was at home in Minneapolis long enough to do my laundry and repack my bags, before heading back to the airport and flying to Salt Lake City for an altitude training camp in Park City.

    What did I do with my 24 hours at home?

    part of this complete breakfast

    part of this complete breakfast

    After two weeks living in a hotel room with only cereal and oatmeal for breakfast, some scrambled eggs, fresh bread with Keweenaw jam, and juicy bacon sure hit the spot.

    I got out for a relaxed, flat ski with my Dad.  He just completed the inaugural Sisu Ski Fest at the ABR trails in Ironwood and had great things to say about the event.  Needless to say, we were both content to stick to the flat trails on the lakes.

    Check out Downtown Minneapolis

    Channel between Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles

    Channel between Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles

    We ended the day watching the Packers in the playoffs against the Arizona Cardinals.  The highest scoring NFL Playoff game in history made for an exciting game.  My new favorite team is the New Orleans Saints.

    This morning I was back at the airport, watching my ski bag get loaded onto the plane once again, this time for sunnier skiing.

    I rarely get the window seat, but after this most recent trip to Alaska, I was awarded Medallion Status on Delta.  Three flights to Alaska and one to Europe in a year will bank miles in a hurry.  The advantages to the upgraded status include shorter check-in lines, free checked baggage (saves $100/trip!), and a First Class upgrade if seats are available.  Usually I don’t get to sit by the window, but with the First Class leg room, I really enjoyed the view!

    Downtown Minneapolis

    Downtown Minneapolis

    From front to back: Lake Harriett, Lake Calhoun, Lake of the Isles, and Cedar Lake

    From front to back: Lake Harriett, Lake Calhoun, Lake of the Isles, and Cedar Lake

    These were the lakes we skied on yesterday, putting on our skis just blocks from my folks’ house.

    Of course, the view of the Rockies (between Denver and Salt Lake) wasn’t bad either.

  • 2nd- 4th- 2nd

    pSecond, Fourth, Second is how my Quebec NorAm weekend ended up. The following are some sweet photos taken by my buddy Charles./p
    pUp Next: Estonia this Saturday! 15km Classic World Cup/p

  • Photo Charles Brassard

    img src=”http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kw421bkJEv1qzvvqho1_400.jpg”/br/br/pPhoto Charles Brassard/p

  • Photo Charles Brassard

    img src=”http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kw41zfPQS11qzvvqho1_500.jpg”/br/br/pPhoto Charles Brassard/p

  • Photo Charles Brassard

    img src=”http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kw4209GtDL1qzvvqho1_500.jpg”/br/br/pPhoto Charles Brassard/p

  • “I’m pretty sure it’s going to be one of those shaved Polar Bears in the blue suits.”

    “I’m pretty sure it’s going to be one of those shaved Polar Bears in the blue suits.”br/br/ – em The last overheard at US Nationals, in response to the question “Who’s gonna win today?”/em

  • I bet your Walmart doesn’t have Bush Mail Service.

    img src=”http://22.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kw41a3VnWd1qzt3xbo1_500.jpg”/br/br/pI bet your Walmart doesn’t have Bush Mail Service./p

  • Short of service gloves, nothing says PRO, like hunting barefoot…

    img src=”http://11.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kw41795wPC1qzt3xbo1_500.jpg”/br/br/pShort of service gloves, nothing says PRO, like hunting barefoot through a cardboard box full of wax./p

  • Little Susitna Tidal Flats Ski-Exploring

    A 32 mile backcountry xc ski loop to check out the Little Susitna Tidal Flats along Cook Inlet.

  • Final Climb Recap

  • On to Ruhpolding

    A

  • On The Home Front

    Our older kids have been in Alaska, the younger ones were in Canada, and the up and comers have been tearing things up closer to home. One of the nice things about a large team is that you’ll most likely always have a group to train with, and that’s really important. You are not left behind, you’re doing what you need to be doing, to get to the level you need to be at when you are one of the older kids. And Mac, Tyler and Brooke have been gettin’ it done. Tyler and Mac raced in Craftsbury and placed 1,2 in their race. Brooke tore it up in Lake Placid and won the J2 race. This past weekend we again tore it up at the classic BogBurn races. Brooke impressively won the J3 race, Tyler continued his winning ways and Mac placed 4th, pushing himself impressively through the last 2 k’s of uphill. Additionally, Heather, completed the Mooney trifecta for the day and won the J2 race. (Scott had won the J4 boys race earlier.) That’s all from the home front. This week we’ve got some tough workouts ahead and then some rest headed into the weekend. Brooke’s going to do the favorite BKL Viking night race (her last year), and Tyler and Mac will be looking to cement and improve their JO standings.br /br /I also want to give a quick shout out to Mr. Eli Grossman, J5 and little bro to Hallie ’11. He’s now the proud owner of a pair of BogBurn tights! Way to go Eli! Nice work :-)div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4680416899705879324-4644815541522611274?l=smsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div

  • The Aftermath

    The Tour is done another year and most athletes will start to look forward to the Olympics while some have their sights on more immediate races that will be taking place in Otepaa this coming weekend. Numerous athletes have yet to qualify to represent their country and this is their last chance to prove their worthiness. It should be another great weekend of racing. Arguably, my favourite race took place in Otepaa back in the 2005-2006 season when Bjorn Lind was at the height of his sprinting powers. In the final, he absolutely destroyed the field by such a margin that he was able to bow to the crowd on the home straight. You can check out the race for yourself on youtube. Four years after that win, he will go to Otepaa to fight it out with his teammates to punch his ticket to Vancouver.

    This years edition of the Tour de Ski saw record numbers of participants, but also record numbers of drop-outs. A total of 42 female athletes completed the Tour out of the 74 that started 10 days ago in Oberhof. That equates to 57% of the athletes completing all eight stages while the men’s side had an even worse ratio as 39 of the 88 men finish…a mere 44%. The Olympics and Otepaa obviously had their say on the amount of drop-outs due to racers choosing – smartly – to prioritize those races instead.

    Langrenn.com has gone about doing some confidence padding calling Northug the king of this years Tour and how he won the hearts of Norwegians. Also, another article has raised questions about the rules of the Tour, citing there aren’t anough bonus seconds. I’m sure if Northug had won, this wouldn’t topic even be discussed. There are many different views on this but the response of Norway’s sports director Åge Skinstad says it all, “I will not talk about it now. Then it sounds as if I am a bad loser.” At the end of the day Bauer was the fastest skier over the past 10 days and it’s as simple as that. If you compare how many bonus seconds Northug (136 seconds) racked up compare to Bauer (60 seconds), Northug had 76 seconds of additional help to win the Tour but he didn’t deliver. Had no bonus seconds been awarded in this years Tour, the final standings would’ve looked like this…

    1. Lukas Bauer                  4:14:10.6
    2. Jean Marc Gaillard           +1:26.6
    3. Dario Cologna                  +1:42.2
    4. Rene Sommerfeldt            +2:01.4
    5. Marcus Hellner                 +2:03.4
    6. Daniel Rickardsson           +2:25.3
    7. Petter Northug               +2:32.4
    8. Ivan Babikov                    +2:36.8
    9.Georgio Di Centa              +2:43.4
    10.Axel Teichmann              +3:10.0

    So how many more bonus seconds should be introduced if the Norwegian’s had their way? Well even if Northug had qualified and won the Prague sprints (which was unlikely due to the form of Jönsson), he still would’ve needed another 16 seconds on top of the Prague sprint bonus to overtake Bauer.

    Some have suggested to add bonus seconds to the pursuits. I think this is a bad idea and tilts the playing field unfairly. It would be like “making the rich richer while the poor get poorer” in terms of athletics. It would essentially make it easier for those in the lead to make their lead even bigger while those who were chasing fell further behind.

    Others argue that sprinters don’t have a chance because of the format, but one has to remember the roots of cross-country skiing and that sprinting is something realtively new to this sport. Skiing was never an all out sprint that was over only 1-2kms. I think next years version of the Tour will be even better and I don’t believe that more bonus seconds should be handed out.

    I think there was an ample amount of bonus seconds up for grabs in this Tour and if someone of Northug’s calibre can’t win the Tour by having that many bonus seconds on his competitors..tough. Is Bauer the best all-rounder? Not a chance, Northug still holds that crown, but Bauer is easily the best distance skier in the world right now and his achievements over the past two days of distance racing is frightening for those who will be racing him in the near future.

    In the World Cup overall standings, Northug now has a demanding lead over the rest of the athletes. Bauer is in seconds and 397 points adrift while Hellner rounds out the top three 433 points off of Northug.

    On the womens side, Kowalczyk and Majdic are rather close with the Pole ahead of the Slovenian by only 67 points. Saarinen is in third and 300 points back of Kowalczyk.

    On a more somber note, the Russian’s Alypov and Kuznetsov didn’t drop out of the Tour prior to stage 7. Reports from ski-nordique.net suggest that the two Russians were banned from the races due to hemoglobin levels above the allowed limit. Speculate what you will from that, all I know is that this will not help lift the doping cloud of suspicion off the Russian team.

    Til Next Time.

  • Canmore World Cups

    Feb 5-6, I’ll probably only be starting the 10K Freestyle race on the 5th.

  • Methow SuperTour

    Jan 16-17

  • The SuperTour is NOT Just for BIG Shots!


    There will be fun kids’ ski events at the SuperTour both Saturday, January 16 and Sunday, January 17th. Come bring your little skier and watch the Big Shots in the Skate Time Trial Saturday morning … but bring skis. Eleven year olds and younger get to ski in the stadium, chasing celebrities on skis, between the Time Trial and the Sprint Heats. On Sunday at 9am there will be a Classic Event for 11 and unders at the loop by the Elementary School. No registration required, just listen for announcements. For more info email annieb@methownet.com Be part of the action!!

  • The SuperTour is NOT Just for BIG Shots!


    There will be fun kids’ ski events at the SuperTour both Saturday, January 16 and Sunday, January 17th. Come bring your little skier and watch the Big Shots in the Skate Time Trial Saturday morning … but bring skis. Eleven year olds and younger get to ski in the stadium, chasing celebrities on skis, between the Time Trial and the Sprint Heats. On Sunday at 9am there will be a Classic Event for 11 and unders at the loop by the Elementary School. No registration required, just listen for announcements. For more info email annieb@methownet.com Be part of the action!!