pHuge musculature? Strong results? Similar uniforms? What happens when you drop these beats together? A pair or surprisingly seamless tracks. (photowork: RH)/p
Category: XCFeeds
A collection of live feeds from cross-country ski blogs around the web.
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Kris Bjorgen
img src=”http://12.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvd626ve9A1qzt3xbo1_500.jpg”/br/br/pKris Bjorgen/p
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Marit Freeman
img src=”http://3.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvd616p4Pm1qzt3xbo1_500.jpg”/br/br/pMarit Freeman/p
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winterizing, part 2
Lauren and I putting up a window quilt
I spent my Christmas break sewing insulated window quilts.
The saga of the window quilts is long, and my teammates are completely sick of it: back in early November, I bought a ton of flannel and heat-reflective batting to assemble window quilts for our house. Then, after Lake Tahoe, I tried to sew them. But I really struggled with Anna’s sewing machine so progress was extremely slow and, really, pretty nonexistent.
I then decided that I should bring the material home and sew it on my mother’s sewing machine. Problem: there wasn’t room in the car going to Presque Isle, with four skiers and all their belongings for a race weekend and a week at home. We crammed them in anyway, to the extent that Lauren and I couldn’t see each other from opposite sides of the back seat. Then, there wasn’t room in the Ford Sayre bus to get back to Hanover, so I had to send them separately with some parents and pick them up in Hanover Center later in the week.
Finally, I spent quite a few hours sewing, and my parents thought I was nuts. The payoff, though: Lauren helped me put them up on the eight huge windows in the living room today, so hopefully we’ll be a little toastier and our heating bill will go down!
The quilts roll up during the day to let light into the room….
… and hang down at night to keep out the cold.
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Chamberlain and Shepard depart for Rupholding, Germany
MWSC biathletes BethAnn Chamberlain and Walt Shepard, along with MWSC alum, Laura Spector, headed to Germany today for the last stage of Olympic Trials. They will be joined by Zach Hall, Susan Dunklee and Sarah Studebaker for a training camp at Rhupolding, Germany. The contingent will then travel to Altenburg, Germany to meet up with the rest of the US Team, competing for the ffinal two spots on the Men’s Team and final three spots on the Women’s teams.br /br /The competitions start Thursday January 7th with a 10K Sprint time trial between just the US Team. That will be followed by another Sprint competition on Saturday, this one as a part of the Altenburg IBU Cup Race. The last race will be a Pursuit race on Sunday, also as a part of the IBU Cup.br /br /Each race will be scored with a percent-back score and the two highest scores from the three race series will count for each athlete. The top two Men and top-three Women will be named to the 2010 US Olympic Team on Sunday January 10th, after the final race.br /br /The athletes who make the Olympic Team will join the World Cup Team for races in Rhupolding, Germany and Antholtz, Italy. The rest of the athletes will travel to Novo Mesto, in the Czech Republic for an IBU Cup series.br /br /The following athletes will be competing for the final spots on the Olympic Team:br /br /strongMEN/strongbr /Walt Shepard (MWSC), Lowell Bailey (MWSC Alum), Wynn Roberts, Zach Hall, Lief Nordgren, Kevin Patzholtbr /br /strongWOMEN/strongbr /BethAnn Chamberlain (MWSC), Tracy Colliander (MWSC Alum), Lanny Barnes (MWSC Alum), Laura Spector (MWSC Alum), Susan Dunklee, Sarah Studebakerdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6813061107698506856-8483509314534555315?l=mwscbiathlon.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
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On Snow Clinics
On Saturday, I went to Hayward, WI for the 3rd Ski and Tea clinic of the year. CXC Team Vertical Limit teammate, Kelly Chaudoin, came down from Ely, MN to help coach. We had an outstanding turnout of around 20 women. The weather was perfect and the snow conditions in Hayward were great. We met […]
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Boxing Day Round-Up
Last night saw millions of people around the world slip into turkey-induced comas; I was one such person. However, today is a new day and we’re now only six days from the start of the fourth edition of the Tour de Ski. This years Tour is starting a day later than years past, on New Years Day as oppose to New Years Eve. There will be eight stages in ten days ending in the climb up Alpe Cermis. Another big change to this years race is that athletes will not be penalized for dropping out before the Tour is done like in years past. Athletes will now be able to keep all the points they have earned in each race. I suspect we will see many more sprinters vying for points in the first half of the Tour due to this rule change. Since it is an Olympic year, some big names will not be partaking, including the likes of Bjørgen and Kalla. Regardless, the field will still be packed with contenders for this years title.
The FIS finally released viewing numbers from last years Tour a few days ago. A whopping 52 million viewers saw Cologna capture the title as the athletes climb the Alpe Cermis last year. I must say those numbers are mighty impressive when compared to the 37 million that watched the World Cup Finale in Falun last year. Hopefully, these numbers can grow even further in the years to come as the sport becomes more and more global.
Russian, Ivan Alypov won the Krasnogorsk 15km and has earned a spot on the Russian team for Tour de Ski. He’s currently in good form as he has placed in the top 10 in every Eastern Europe Cup in both distance and sprint races he has entered. The Russian team has looked exceptionally strong this year and it will be a tall task for Alypov to live up to the bar set by his counterparts.
The Swedish team announced their selections for the Tour de Ski with 13 athletes (seven men and six women). The selection has some notable names missing which made me realize how deep the Swede’s are this year. The likes of Johan Olsson, Charlotte Kalla, Anna Haag, will not be participating as they will be preparing for the Olympics, but the team still has an ample amount of talent such as Hellner, Modin, Ingemarsdotter, Brodin and the return from injury of Emil Jönsson and Anna Olsson. While the women’s side have an all-rounder in Kalla, the men’s side is missing that athlete that is a threat in every race he enters, whether it be sprint or distance. Someone like Norway’s Northug or Finland’s Jauhojaervi.
It’s old news, and you’ve all surely heard it by now, but it definitely deserves another mention; Brian McKeever’s win of the 50km in Canmore on the final day for Olympic qualifying. By going to Vancouver to represent Canada, he will be the first winter athlete to ever accomplish competing in both the Paralympics and the Olympics. There have been five other athletes to compete in both, but they are summer athletes. So congrats to Brian, and here’s hoping that he shows the same form we saw from him in Sapporo!
-Over at SkiTrax, they’re having a Fantasy FIS Tour de Ski 2009/2010. It’s fun, it’s free and the grand prize is a Rossignol ski/boot package with a pair of OneWay DS10 valued at $1,500US! Sign-up is open until December 31st.
To end off, here’s a great commercial from DnB NOR in Norway featuring Petter Northug which will definitely get you into the Christmas spirit.
Til Next Time, enjoy indulging in turkey left-overs.
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Great Morning in Grafton
a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/SzZW2yGU4eI/AAAAAAAABzw/T8v91dWErFo/s1600-h/IMG_1905.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/SzZW2yGU4eI/AAAAAAAABzw/T8v91dWErFo/s400/IMG_1905.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419614700748202466″ //aWe had a busy morning at Grafton Ponds. The SMS regulars plus a large group of alums and friends met to do a) skate intervals, b) a skate time trial or c) a pusuit practice. Skiing was very good and everyone got in a good hard workout.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/SzZWjUkbrvI/AAAAAAAABzo/kDu1Wwa2fPg/s1600-h/IMG_1903.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/SzZWjUkbrvI/AAAAAAAABzo/kDu1Wwa2fPg/s400/IMG_1903.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419614366403899122″ //aMost of the skiers going to Nationals did skating intervals. On the boys side, Patrick O’Brien, Kevin Cutts, Kalle Jahn and Koby Gordon joined Skyler, Bridger and Austin Cobb for 5 one km intervals. Fritz is coming off a cold so he jumped in for some pick-ups. For girls, Sophie, Parker, Megan, Anya, Kvehl and Gage did the same workout as the boys; Maddie did classic intervals.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/SzZWOkoiP9I/AAAAAAAABzg/COp0R59OKkM/s1600-h/IMG_1897.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 309px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/SzZWOkoiP9I/AAAAAAAABzg/COp0R59OKkM/s400/IMG_1897.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419614009938821074″ //aCambria wanted to test her legs (after compartment syndrome surgery) so she did a skate time trial with Izzy C and Tyler. They all looked good and Cam’s legs felt fine!br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/SzZWA912-0I/AAAAAAAABzY/AdjAc-SHSzI/s1600-h/IMG_1901.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/SzZWA912-0I/AAAAAAAABzY/AdjAc-SHSzI/s400/IMG_1901.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419613776187423554″ //aThe group that is heading up to Quebec next week had a pursuit practice. The boys switched equipment every 3 kms during their 12 km tt and the girls switched every 2 kms during their 8 km tt. Austin Caldwell, Magnus, Doug, Heather, Issy P, Hallie, Ashleigh and Brooke all go some good equipment switching practice!br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/SzZVmCAF9mI/AAAAAAAABzQ/UsqrD_0hOhs/s1600-h/IMG_1912.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 356px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/SzZVmCAF9mI/AAAAAAAABzQ/UsqrD_0hOhs/s400/IMG_1912.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419613313447622242″ //aMae Foster was there testing her foot so she kept it short and easy, but felt good.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/SzZVUWKinxI/AAAAAAAABzI/rZE8PmApWVA/s1600-h/IMG_1907.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/SzZVUWKinxI/AAAAAAAABzI/rZE8PmApWVA/s400/IMG_1907.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419613009622507282″ //aHere are some of the college girls hamming it up after the workout.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/SzZU5Jb6urI/AAAAAAAABzA/kHor-CQVlbg/s1600-h/IMG_1911.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/SzZU5Jb6urI/AAAAAAAABzA/kHor-CQVlbg/s400/IMG_1911.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419612542349261490″ //aIt was a good day with an impressive, happy, healthy group of 27 kids!div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4680416899705879324-8345154306900465588?l=smsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
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Video
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“Skiing is not fun. It’s life, fully lived, life lived in a blaze of reality.”
“Skiing is not fun. It’s life, fully lived, life lived in a blaze of reality.”br/br/ – em~Dolores LaChapelle/em
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reblogged from Stinson.
object width=”400″ height=”336″param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/95Xe8MvWHqgrel=0egm=0showinfo=0fs=1″/paramparam name=”wmode” value=”transparent”/paramparam name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”/paramembed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/95Xe8MvWHqgrel=0egm=0showinfo=0fs=1″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” width=”400″ height=”336″ allowFullScreen=”true” wmode=”transparent”/embed/objectbr/br/preblogged from Stinson./p
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All in for SMS Seniors (updated 12/25)
a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/SyqexneTLyI/AAAAAAAABwI/5Fa2DuXfe8w/s1600-h/IMG_1445.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/SyqexneTLyI/AAAAAAAABwI/5Fa2DuXfe8w/s400/IMG_1445.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416316077113290530″ //abr /Great news for our SMS seniors. They have heard nothing but good news from the colleges that they have applied to. Here is an update.br /br /Skyler Davis:br /UVM acceptedbr /Utah acceptedbr /CU acceptedbr /DU acceptedbr /br /Gage Fichterbr /UVM acceptedbr /UNH acceptedbr /br /Austin Cobbbr /Middlebury accepted (early decision)br /UVM acceptedbr /br /Austin Caldwellbr /UVM acceptedbr /UNH acceptedbr /br /Isabel Caldwellbr /Dartmouth accepted (early decision)br /UVM acceptedbr /br /Congratulations to them all! We have always had an outstanding college placement record, but this may be the first year where EVERYONE WAS ACCEPTED TO ALL OF THE SCHOOLS WHERE THEY APPLIED.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4680416899705879324-5782374142879700363?l=smsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
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Congratulations to Casey Smith of MV Biathlon!
a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T8lplfcx_Ro/SzNQYB6F_oI/AAAAAAAAAXg/6uQnFA-vdvc/s1600-h/caseysmith.JPG”img style=”margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 204px; height: 320px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T8lplfcx_Ro/SzNQYB6F_oI/AAAAAAAAAXg/6uQnFA-vdvc/s320/caseysmith.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418763150416019074″ border=”0″ //aA quick congratulations to Casey Smith from Winthrop, WA.br /br /Casey qualified for the Biathlon World Jr Championships this past weekend. The qualifying races were in Mt Itasca (MN), and for the youth men it was a best-two-out-of-three format. Casey finished 2nd, 5th, and 1st. br /br /His good performances were credited to good shooting and fast skiing. Casey commented that with the ‘same wax rule’ in place for the qualifying races, it was important to have good skis with the right grind. He took two pairs of Madshus skis to Minnesota, one pair with an “i5” grind and the other have the “s2″ structure.br /br /Casey has been working hard toward this goal for the past 3 years. He’s a no-nonsense young guy with a great work ethic.br /br /He’ll be traveling to Torsby Sweden in late January 2010 for his first taste of competition in Europe.br /br /Casey competes as a member of Methow Valley Biathlon, and also competes in XC with Methow Valley Nordic.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7250441303676475856-2306644940213068172?l=blog.ultratune.net’ alt=” //div
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Some Early Season Numbers
# of days since I’ve been in VT: 33
# of different hotels/houses I’ve stayed in: 5
# of races I’ve done: 10
# of times I skied around the same 2.5 k loop of manmade snow at Mt. Itasca, in races alone: 19
% of biathlon races that I made a dumb mistake in: 40%
% of shots hit in races: 69%
# of places I ended up being away from qualifying for the IBU cup team: 2
# of socks and hats knit: 7.5
# of frostbitten pinky toes: 2
# of times I did laundry: 1 (eek!)
Its good to be back home, I can’t wait to go ski the new trails at Craftsbury tomorrow!!
Me Playing Biathlon
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Merry Christmas from Nordic Walking Santa. (No shit-…
img src=”http://13.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kv4m9bUyfd1qzt3xbo1_500.jpg”/br/br/pMerry Christmas from Nordic Walking Santa. (No shit- that’s actually a NORDIC WALKING SANTA.)/p
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