FasterSkier

Category: XCFeeds

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

  • Some Notes On Marcus Hellner

    Since I was pondering Marcus Hellner’s season just the other day, I thought I’d take a closer look at how his result tend to shift over the course of a season. He has struggled during the later parts of this season, but has that been true before in general?

    Here are his results in distance races:

    This season’s results are highlighted in red. The interesting trend in the later half of the season for Hellner is that he tends to have either great races, or mediocre races, but not much in between.

    The trend line here for his sprint results bounces around a lot in a spurious fashion due to some small sample sizes. But note the mid-December to early January period. Hellner seems to have had good luck sprinting in the Tour de Ski, but considerably less so elsewhere.

    Related posts:

    1. <Did Petter Northug Have a Slight Edge On Marcus Hellner?
    2. <Head-To-Head: Petter Northug vs. Marcus Hellner
    3. <Mid-Season Review: North American Sprint


  • A Day I’ll Never Forget

    I like to describe biathlon as an emotional rollercoaster.  For athletes, the highs are very intense and the lows can feel devastating as we seek to have the “perfect race.”  I rarely come close.   Many different pieces must come together on the same day.  I lucked out on a special day in Ruhpolding, Germany.  Many pieces came together for me when it counted the most and I placed 5th at World Championships in the Individual race.

    Racing in Bib #1 meant being alone on the first loop. Photo: NordicFocus/USBA

    Racing in Bib #1 meant being alone on the first loop. Photo: NordicFocus/USBA

    I usually prefer being seeded about 1/3 of the way through the race field so that I can ski around the fastest competitors.  However, in these Championships I was not destined to have a normal starting number.  Earlier in the week, I started the Sprint last with  bib #118.  For the Individual, I had the opposite  experience and was assigned bib #1.  So much for sticking to routine.  I felt a little nervous, but Hannah pointed out a positive: “you’ll get to be famous, no matter how you race!”

    A few of the 30,000 fans packed into the Chiemgau Arena. Photo: Jonne Kahkonen

    A few of the 30,000 fans packed into the Chiemgau Arena. Photo: Jonne Kahkonen

    Despite a few extra nerves, I enjoyed myself at the starting line.  I hadn’t put much pressure on myself for the Individual.  Going into the Championships, I believed the Sprint was my best chance for doing well.  The Individual is usually my weakest race because it is more of a shooter’s race and each missed target results in a costly one minute penalty.  That said, it is a race where anybody can have a good day if they shoot well, and I knew that included me.

    My parents, Stan and Judi made it over to Europe to watch. Photo: Chelsea Little/Fasterskier.com

    My parents, Stan and Judi made it over to Europe to watch. Photo: Chelsea Little/Fasterskier.com

    I later heard that the film crews found my parents in the crowd and showed them on the big screen as I started.  Once upon a time, my parents used to cross-country ski race for the University of Vermont.  My father also competed in the ’76 and ’80 Olympics.  Since then, they have turned into elite level fans who will arrive at the venue 5 hours before race start to claim a front row spot along the fence. Over the course of the championships, they befriended (i.e. were adopted by) several other spectators around them. One afternoon they even returned with German flags painted on their faces.  I told them that this was only acceptable if their new friends started sporting stars and stripes.  However, I must give them credit for turning their section of fence into a giant American cheering section.

    Cleaning prone. Photo: NordicFocus/USBA

    Cleaning prone. Photo: NordicFocus/USBA

    Any serious biathlete can clean (hit all their targets) during practice, even during high intensity workouts.  However with the pressure of a race, shooting becomes a lot more difficult.  I find that the more I want to hit my targets, the less likely the paddles are to fall.  Until a few weeks ago, I had never cleaned a race.  I finally cleaned an Italian Cup Sprint the week before World Championships, which was a huge boost for my shooting confidence.

    During the Individual, I felt like I couldn’t miss my targets.  I was very careful and deliberate in the range, taking a little extra time to nail my set up.  Once I was confident it couldn’t be better, I focused on having a smooth trigger squeeze.  During the second stage I missed a single target, which actually shocked me.  The shot looked good, felt good, and I had followed through.

    The final loop was all about hanging on. Photo: Chelsea Little/Fasterskier

    The final loop was all about hanging on. Photo: Chelsea Little/Fasterskier

    Halfway through the fourth (penultimate) loop I skied under a jumbotron and heard the announcer mention the “surprising leader of the race so far… American Susan Dunklee.”  Hearing that sent a jarring shock of adrenaline into my system and my heart jumped into my throat.  I had known I was having a good race, but I hadn’t dreamed that I might be leading!  All I could do at that point was put all my focus into climbing the hill ahead of me.  I hoped my head would clear by the time I arrived in the shooting range.  Thinking back, I don’t really member what was going thru my head during the last standing shooting.    I remember feeling completely relaxed and all 5 targets turned white.  It was incredible!

    The work wasn’t done.  Skiing was very challenging, especially in the later loops.  Warm temperatures over the past several days had created lots of deep, slushy snow and my legs felt like toast.  On the last loop, all our coaches and staff were yelling that I was in medal contention.  The crowd was roaring too, and I felt blasted by a tunnel of sound with no place to escape.   I tried to ski faster, but I couldn’t find my highest gear.  It still ended up being the race of my life.

    At the finish line. Photo:NordicFocus/USBA

    At the finish line. Photo:NordicFocus/USBA

    I smiled up at the crowd from the finishing pen and they went crazy.  It surprised me to see them so excited.  They seem to like seeing the Americans do well.

    A new experience: Sitting in the leader's lounge until I got bumped from the medals. Photo: Chelsea Little/Fasterskier.com

    A new experience: Sitting in the leader's lounge until I got bumped from the medals. Photo: Chelsea Little/Fasterskier.com

    Pat, one of my primary coaches the past several years (and a Vermonter!), watching my last standing shooting with both the video stream and live results. Photo: Pat Coffey

    Pat, one of my primary coaches the past several years (and a Vermonter!), watching my last standing shooting with both the video stream and live results. Photo: Pat Coffey

    It was really cool to hear how many people had been watching the races live from back home.   Apparently my little cousin Camerin went to school after watching and spent show-and-tell explaining skiing and shooting to her friends.  I was psyched to hear about that.

    The evening awards ceremony in downtown Ruhpolding. Photo: Chelsea Little/Fasterskier.com

    The evening awards ceremony in downtown Ruhpolding. Photo: Chelsea Little/Fasterskier.com

    The race didn’t really sink in for me until I got off the awards stage.  My teammates, my parents, and all our staff were there.  Everybody was so excited and it was very special to share that moment with them.  We had pictures and hugs all around.

    This is one of my favorite pictures from the week. Post awards ceremony with teammates Lanny and Annelies. Photo: Chelsea Little/Fasterskier.com

    This is one of my favorite pictures from the week. Post awards ceremony with teammates Lanny and Annelies. Photo: Chelsea Little/Fasterskier.com

    My teammates helped me pick out a souvenir to remember Ruhpolding. I decided on a Dirndl (traditional Bavarian dress).

    My teammates helped me pick out a souvenir to remember Ruhpolding. I decided on a Dirndl (traditional Bavarian dress).

    A couple of months ago, our coach Jonne promised the women’s team that if any one of us placed in the top 10 on a World Cup then we could all dye his hair any color we wanted.  We went searching for cool colors…

    Small Bavarian towns don't have a lot of color options but we found something suitable.

    Small Bavarian towns don't have a lot of color options but we found something suitable.

    We all decided to tag along with some temporary pink dye on relay day. Photo: Chelsea Little/Fasterskier.com

    We all decided to tag along with some temporary pink dye on relay day. Photo: Chelsea Little/Fasterskier.com

  • Men’s 3 x 5km Relay Video

  • Off to the Finals…

    After a four week training block rotating intensity every other day, it’s finally time to get back on the plane and head to the last races of the season. I’m going first to Quebec to compete in the skate sprint and 15km skate race of Canadian National Championships. Then it’s on to tropical Vermont for Super Tour Finals and the National 50km Champs. Interestingly, the only other 50km I’ve done was the Craftsbury Marathon, my freshman year of college. Hopefully this time around I won’t bonk like a fiend…

    Most important thing when heading into a spring racing series: fresh Nordic Ultratune grinds. Specifically: i5. Booyah.

  • Toblach, Italy

    Tomorrow is Day 1 of the EurOPA Finals mini tour here in Toblach with a 3.3km Prologue.  Mostly racing and not much training these last few weeks of the season. We are in Toblach which has been an annual host to World Cups for the past few years.  I remember checking the place out in 2009 when my teamate Garrott came over to compete in the World Cup Finals.

    The stadium, note the hill created by going over the race builting.  Pretty awesome and that hill is legit.  Also pretty nice to have carpet laid over the mud for the 2 minute walk from the hotel to the venue.

    Clarke Sullivan has joined the wax crew here for the Finals.  We had to wax outside and without power for the first days but these guys are on it.

    Race course for the weekend. 

    Tad and I testing out the Salomon boards.  Most of the racing in the US is on cold dry snow so it has been fun to test out my warm skis.

    The mountains are amazing here, but the most beautiful thing just arrived in Toblach.  

  • Stratton Mountain School Announces Elite Team Members

    Stratton Mountain School is starting an Elite Team and has hired Gus Kaeding to coach the program. Our Elite Team will work closely with the Stratton Mountain School nordic team and help out with the local youth skiers. SMS nordic program director Sverre Caldwell will oversee and coordinate all of the Stratton programs.

    We have two major goals for the program;
    1) Help athletes achieve International excellence.
    2) Expose local skiers to top level skiers.
    This will be a community collaborative and should be a win-win situation. The Elite Team will benefit from the energy of the younger skiers and the community support while the upcoming skiers will be able to train alongside some of the best skiers in the country and the world. By coordinating programs, we will have a clear pathway from youth skiing up to Olympic athletes.
    We are starting the program with a small, select group. We are very excited about the team; they are all good people and strong skiers who are looking forward to working together and working with the local programs.
    Over the next month we plan to add 2-3 recent high school skiers to our PG program These skiers will be able to train extensively with the Elite Team as well as our SMS team (which was just awarded the prize for the top Jr Club in the US for the second year in a row).
    Here is the team!
    Erika Flowers, Bozeman, MT. Erika just capped off an impressive collegiate career with All American finishes in both races at NCAA’s.
    Skyler Davis, Jericho, VT (SMS ’10). Skyler is a member of the USST D Team and last year he medaled in the Sr. National Championships sprint.
    Sophie Caldwell, Peru, VT (SMS ’08). Sophie is a two time medalist at Sr. Nationals. This year she was ranked as the top college skier in the East and she placed second and third at the NCAA Championships.
    Eric Packer, Anchorage, AK. Eric earned two medals at the Sr. National Championships this year as well as two NCAA All American performances this spring.
    Andy Newell, Shaftsbury, VT (SMS ’02). USST A Team. Andy just finished 6th and 7th in his last two World Cup Sprint races!

    Bill Koch, neighbor and Olympic medalist, is very excited about the new program and the direction that we are moving: “Sverre and Gus embody a rare breed of coach, the “Athletes’ Coach”. Rather than dictate a regimen, the Athletes’ Coach empowers each individual. This not only produces the best race results but, more importantly, engenders a quality of life and personal growth that athletes take with them into life beyond racing.”
    Eric, Bill Koch and Sophie.

  • A Reflection: USA J1 Scando Trip 2012

    It’s hard to believe its already been 3 weeks since touching down from our Scandinavia trip and representing the U.S.A. in Estonia in the National Junior (under 18) championships.   Athletes have since returned home to their respective clubs and bounced back to racing this week at US Junior National Championships at Soldier Hollow.  I missed the team the moment we parted ways in Tallinn and I was thrilled to get to see everyone racing (fast!) again in Utah.  It was exciting to see everyone out representing their home regions and battling it out for Alaska Cup points.  I saw teammates turned to fierce competitors in a matter of days. 

    This year’s trip was a valuable learning experience.  I wanted to give a shout out to the kids and to Scott and Adam for being so flexible, understanding, animated and inspiring.  Three crazy days of racing culminated in the team relay event; a perfect conclusion to an amazing week.

    Its hard to calculate success on this trip.  For most athletes, this is their first ski racing trip overseas and for many their first high level international competition.  Exposure to this kind of event is the first step to creating comfort and confidence on the international level in the future.  Its easy to be intimidated by the bus loads of kids hopping off of team Norway or team Sweden’s bus in matching national team jackets, suits and backpacks.  But, what you realize as soon as you strap on your skis and hit the trails with them is that we’re not all that different.  They love to ski.  They train really hard.  And, they race fast.  The biggest difference I see is level of support and cultural respect for the sport.  One afternoon while we were training at the venue an endless stream of Estonian schoolchildren were bussed in to the Mammaste Sport Center.  By the time we were packing up to leave their were several hundreds of kids taking part in some kind of outdoor winter sport.  Some were racing on cross-country skis, some were sledding, or snowboarding, but all were enjoying their time outside.  Later in the week we leap frogged around the Estonian countryside chasing some famous names as they navigated the 63 kilometer Tartu Marathon course.  We saw military personnell at every road crossing and hundreds of townspeople lined up to offer food, drink or encouragement to any of the thousands of racers.  Skiing is a part of the culture here and you can feel it all over.

    The trip:
    We started with a week long training Camp at the Tehvandi Sport Center in Otepaa Estonia.  We were greeted by cold clear skies and sunny days at this world cup venue and enjoyed exploring the challenging trails.  We checked out the ski jump, went night skiing, snow tubing and explored the “winter capital” of Estonia.  At the end of the week we ran a classic time trial and hopped in our VW vans to drive 40km East to Polva.  This year’s competition took place at Mammaste Sport Center, a short 3km drive from our hotel in Polva.  We arrived 5 days before the first competition to dial in the wax and begin testing.  The race courses were awesome.  The trails had a bit of everything, from rolling hills to steep difficult climbs, and tight fast corners.  From a waxing perspective things were tricky.  We were greeted by warm and wet weather.  About half of the track was man-made and half was natural.  A few km’s had a bit of each.

    Thursday the 23rd of February brought the eve of our first race: A night sprint!  Qualification began at 1600 and final heats concluded under the lights at 1930.  All 6 women qualified for the heats and 4 of the 6 men.  Adam Martin raced his way from a 30th place qualifying time all the way to the B final, and our women hung tough through the rounds to put 3 in the top 12 (Nichole Bathe 8, Heidi Halvorsen 10 and Anika Miller 11).  At the end of the day we put 4 men and 4 women in the top 20.  The following morning we woke to contest the classic individual start.  We tested rigorously and ended up settling on straight klister.  Conditions remained tricky and slow throughout the day and upper body strength proved an important factor in success.  Julia Kern (’97) posted our fastest finish in a respectable 14th over 5km.  Bathe and Halvorsen were close behind in 17th and 19th respectively.  In the men’s 10km, Adam Martin paced the team in 23rd and teammates Jack Hegman and Eli Hoenig followed close behind in 24th and 25th.  Two days down, one to go.  On the final day of competition the women raced a 3 x 3km relay and the men a 3 x 5km.  Leg one was classic, and legs two and three were freestyle.  We rallied together and everyone pushed themselves to the limit one final time for team USA.  Our women crossed the line in 6th and 8th place and the men battled hard with Finland 1 for 8th and 11th.

    One of my favorite parts of the entire trip happens the moment the competition ends.  After the final award is handed out all of the kids gather together to trade hats, jackets, suits and stories.  A few lucky guys will get the top Norwegian’s number and most trade Facebook or other contacts.  The coaches were removed packing and travel waxing skis, but it was easy to see how much fun everyone was having wagering (sometimes in broken English) for the coolest gear they could find.  Best trade goes to Max Scrimgeour for his Team Finland (Nordic Combined) Parka and best gift goes to Adam Martin for the pine bough bouquet (and digits) he received from A certain fast and beautiful blonde Norwegian.

    And finally, THANK YOU NNF.  Without the National Nordic Fountain, and all of its generous supporters, this trip would not be possible.  We Thank You for your generous support.

  • Photos of New England Team at JNs

    Thanks to Michael Cobb (Austin & Alex’s dad) and Jeanne Pastore (Gino’s mom) for taking great photos of the whole New England team out in Utah!  Click here to find a bunch more photos from JNs. 

  • Guess Who?

    Made it into the Adirondack Daily Enterprise!

    Check it out.

    www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com

  • Junior Nationals Recap

    Team New England and the SMS racers at Junior Nationals finished the week on a high note with some awesome classic racing and a lot of really strong performances in Saturday’s relay event.  As most everyone knows now, New England successfully defended the Alaska Cup for the fourth straight year, taking a big lead in the first day of racing and never looking back, scoring over 1500 points, nearly 500 points more than the second place team.  Nice job to all New England racers!  It was a really strong team performance and lots of different athletes stepped up to score Alaska Cup points for New England.
    For the second straight year, SMS was recognized as the top overall club in the country.  It was pretty special for our team to get up on the podium and be recognized for skiing fast at this event.  Even though we had our 12 JN athletes up on the podium accepting the club award, our whole team deserves to be up there.  We work together to push each other, and while we have a lot of fast skiers racing at an event like Junior Nationals, those at the top get pushed by the skiers below them to become better. 
    Our boys deserve special mention this year for taking home the Roger Weston Award for the top high school team in the country and the boys club award.  Our girls put up a good fight and were second in both categories, but hats off to Steamboat Springs HS who won the high school trophy and to CSU who won the girls club award. 
    We had lots of parents out there cheering our team on – thanks for all your support!  Special thanks to Michael Cobb and Jeanne Pastore for many of the photos that appear in this post.
    Issy has skied very well all year and this week was no exception.  She had a great day on Wednesday with a 4th in the freestyle race and then blitzed the middle leg of the relay and skied her team into first place before they settled into silver medal position. 
      
    Katharine went from 5th to 4th to 3rd to 1st in her four races this week and though it was her first national level race, you’d never know.  Though I didn’t see it myself, Pepa from Craftsbury raved about how well Katharine skied Hermod’s Hill in the classic race – “just like a professional skier!”. 

    Brooke had a great week – silver in the sprint, 4th in the classic race.  She wasn’t psyched with her freestyle result, but she bounced back and charged out of the start in the relay and skied an aggressive scramble leg.  It was a gutsy move that strung out the field and put her team in contention for a top spot. 
     Boobar rallied the troops all week and kept all the coaches organized and on task.  This is his fourth year as the head coach of the New England team and NE has won the Alaska Cup each year.
     Gino, surrounded by Rocky and Intermountain skiers, at the start of the freestyle race.  Gino skied his strongest race on Wednesday with a fifth place finish and then skied a great scramble leg for his J1 relay team, bringing them into the tag in fifth place, only 3 seconds out of the lead.

     Hamish had a really nice prelim on Monday – 6th overall – but then just missed advancing to the semis from his quarterfinal.  He skied a nice anchor leg for his relay team on Saturday – bringing them up several spots to finish 7th. 
     Tyler sprints to the finish in the 10k freestyle race.  Tyler paces himself better than most people on our team and the freestyle race was no exception.
     He went from mid-20s after the start to 19th at the 5k and then moved all the way up to 12th place.  A really nice result for a first year J1.  He skied another great race on Friday (18th) and then anchored his relay team to a 5th place finish.
     
     Paddy never finished lower than 2nd in any race this week – silver in the sprint, classic, & relay, and gold in the freestyle race.  He was also the New England nominee for the Dave Quinn Award, given to an athlete at JNs who exemplifies leadership, work ethic, & love for the sport. 
     
     Heather Mooney picked up a silver (classic distance) and a bronze (relay) medal this week.  It was great to have her energy and talent on the team this week!
      Anika hit her stride in the relay and skied a beautiful race.  She brought her team into the exchange zone in second place overall for both J1 and OJ teams.
     
    Koby had an awesome first trip to JNs –  he racked up 3 All American performances in 4 races: 4th in the sprint, 10th in the classic, and an anchor leg on the 3rd place relay team.  
     Rachel Hall was the skier of the day for SMS on Friday with a national title in the classic race.  She’s on the podium with fellow New England athlete Mary Kate Cirelli from GMVS.
     Boobar with SMS/Middlebury skiers Rachel & Heather after the classic races.  I don’t have a picture of him skiing in the relay, but it should be noted that fellow Midd kid Austin Cobb crushed his leg of the relay after missing the two distance races due to illness.  Cobby got silver in the sprint on Monday and then came down with a cold, leaving him down and out for Wednesday and Friday.  By the time Saturday rolled around, he wasn’t sure how he was going to ski in the relay… turns out he skied pretty well!  Austin moved his team up from 12th to second with the fastest split for the middle leg of any other J1 or OJ out there.  
    This pack of boys ended up 2, 3, 4, 5 in the freestyle race.
     Nice race Paddy!
    The J2s got a tour of the USSA Center of Excellence on one of their off afternoons.
    Sweet foam pit! 
    Kris Freeman up on the right.
    Tessa and Zoe check out the anti-gravity treadmill.
    The huge rollerski treadmills that the USST uses for testing – most of our group had watched videos on YouTube of the USST crew hitting their max and falling off the back of the treadmill (harnessed in, of course), so seeing the treadmills in person was pretty cool!
    Hard to see, but the three SMS J2s posing underneath the photo of Ross Powers (SMS Snowboard Coach) who won a gold medal at the Olympics in 2002.
    J2 girls team photo at the COE. 
    Boobar gets a total body workout.
    J2s pose for a team picture.
    Brotherly love. : ) 
    The J2 relay was a nailbiter!  Julia Kern (NE anchor) and Alaskan skier Lydia Blanchet sprinted for the line and it took a photo finish review to determine the outcome… (the two teams pose for a photo above before the result was annonuced)
    New England wins by a boot!
    Our J1 boys got up on the podium for second (Paddy’s team) and fifth (Gino & Tyler’s team). 
    SMS boys up on the stage with the Roger Weston Trophy.

    The whole team up on stage accepting the overall club award. (Thanks Tim for the photo!)
    Team New England with the Alaska Cup!

    On Sunday morning, we slept in after a late night of dancing (athletes) and chaperoning (coaches). : )  A few skiers headed out for some alpine skiing with their families, while Matt and Liz took the rest of the crew to Sundance for a recovery ski.  Beautiful trails, sunny, and warm!  A great way to end a great trip.  Now we’re all back in Vermont and getting psyched for our last two race series: Canadian Nationals starting this weekend and Super Tour Finals/Spring Series the following week.  Fingers crossed the snow holds until then. : )

  • Rogla

    Last week I spent in Rogla, Slovenia. This trip to Europe I have gotten to experience a lot of new countries and this was one of them. We stayed in a small resort town on the top of a mountain, a little different then most ski resorts in the U.S. where the lodge is at the bottom of the hill. The mountain wasn’t exactly what you picture of when you think of a downhill area but it was obviously really popular because the big hotel was PACKED, tons of families on vacation. When you went to the buffet dinner you had to use your elbows and fists to get to the food. People in Slovenia don’t believe in lines.
    A church in town.
     Most nights I go on a run to try to stretch out the legs, it also gets the blood moving which I have found helps recovery. Nothing crazy, no marathons, just a 15-45 minute run. It’s been really fun to do this in Europe because you usually end up finding something cool. Last week a couple friends and myself found a huge tower that we thought might have been a radio tower from the distance but was actually for public use. It didn’t seem like it was necessarily the sturdiest thing but it was obviously safe. It had a pretty good view from the top, check it out-


    On Wednesday we took the 30 minute drive down to Celje, the third biggest town in Slovenia. We explored the town for a couple hours and then we drove up to a castle purched up on one of the mountain sides looking over town.
     

    We raced Saturday and Sunday, Skate 10km first and then 30km mass start classic. The skate raceing is starting to feel a little better and I think I’m learning a lot from these guys that are passing me during the races. I’m not as competitive in the skate skiing right now as I am in the classic, I don’t know why. It seems to go back in fourth, I will be . I think on a good day in a classic race I can be within reach of these Euros. I finished 37th in the skate race. In the long classic race I finished 23rd and I was the first American.

  • Search No More

    After a hectic, long travel day I (and all my belongings!) made it to Bozeman.

    You know… super simple.  Because getting anywhere from Lake Placid is… painless?

    Just a 2+ hour drive to Albany, a 30 minute prop plane flight to Boston… One heck of a time in Boston.  (you have to change terminals? by leaving security?  can you say poor planning???) 4 hour flight to Denver, which I slept through like a champ.  Followed by one last hour long flight into Bozeman. Phew.  Felt good to lug my belongings into Karina’s house and exhale.  Where only after writing a quick note to Karina’s room mate and leaving a pillow and blanket for Laura on the couch,  I crawled up the stairs and passed the heck out.

    After a lovely  morning… the kind that makes me wonder why I ever left Bozeman… including a ski up at Bohart and coffee on the deck of the Co-op we filled our guts with gigantic burritos and made the final trek from Bozeman to West Yellowstone.

    And guess what??? West Yellowstone has all the snow.  So much that the snow banks are taller than me.  So much that there is a dangerous amount of snow threatening to fall on our heads as we make  a dash for it out of our condo..  So much…. Ok enough jibber jabber.  Enjoy these poorly documented pictures.  More to come…with an actual camera!

  • The Effect of Kikkan Randall On US Women’s Skiing

    I’ve commented on this before, but here’s a slightly more comprehensive look at the historical record. Here is a plot showing Kikkan Randall’s World Cup sprint results as well as those for any other American woman:

    Note the handful of top twenties just this season, and there’s certainly more results clustered around 30th or so, but the median result hasn’t budged all that much. Contrast that with the equivalent graph for distance skiing:

    Is it possible that Kikkan has done more to improve US women’s distance skiing than sprinting?

    Related posts:

    1. <USST Preview: Kikkan Randall
    2. <Can Kikkan Randall Win The Sprint WC Title?
    3. <Follow-Up On Kikkan Randall


  • Summer Camps at GMVS!

    GMVS is once again offering it’s two popular summer ski camps and opening group training throughout the summer.  Based in Waitsfield, Vermont, the camps kick off the summer training season for GMVS athletes, which meet for 3 day “mini-camps” every other week through the summer.  These unique camps focus on quality training practices, adventuring in our amazing Green Mountain backyard and eating healthy and local food.
    Group photo from one of last year’s camps!



    There are two camp sessions. The first is appropriate for strong J3s through J2 skiers.  The second is a high level training camp for strong J2 through OJ.  Both sessions conclude with an App Gap Challenge that draws top level skiers.  The official App Gap Challenge, with current record holders (David Sinclair and Heidi Halvorsen) is held on July 3 – this is an open event with prize money for breaking records (details forthcoming).
    Kick off your summer with a super fun camp devoted to learning about dry land ski training and having fun adventures in the Green Mountains.  If you like tasty local food, cool swimming holes after workouts, and want to improve your understanding of Summer Ski Training — come to Waitsfield and see what it’s all about.
    Activities: Foot training in the mountains, Roller skiing, Strength Training, Swimming, Games and more!
    Camp is led by Justin Beckwith (GMVS Head Coach).
    -Evan Dethier (Williams College ’11)
    -Tim Reynolds (GMVS alum, Middlebury ’08, Craftsbury Green Team)
    -Dylan Grald (GMVS alum, Current UVM, and 2012 NCAA National Champion Team Member!)
    Camp is based on the GMVS campus in Waitsfield, Vermont.  Contact Justin Beckwith at beck@gmvs.org for more information.
    Session One.
    June 24-June 27.
    cost $325
    Session Two.
    June 29-July 3.
    cost $425
    Invite “Mini-Camps”
    Held throughout the summer.  Opportunities to train with current and past GMVS athletes and other amazing athletes.  Schedule to follow. Please inquire directly with Justin and stay posted to gmvsxc.blogspot.com for more details.
    GMVS Athlete and Junior National All-American Mary Kate Cirelli does an agility drill during last year’s final invite mini-camp.

  • Rogla 30km Classic Mass Start

    Originally I had planned on not racing the 30km classic race in Rogla, but I have been feeling good and I felt it was just too good an opportunity.  The pack was huge and almost everyone was together at 5km.  It is a bit surprising to feel good in a race and be skiing as far back as I was.  Casey has been helping me adjust my klister zones and I had fantastic kick.  I think I chose to go with a bit too much kick because my glide was not the greatest but I was able to make a lot of time up on the climbs.  

    It has been hard to adjust to my results over here.  My goals were to finishi top 3 in the swiss cup races and top 5 in the OPA races.  I haven’t been close to that yet but have still battled in each race.  Although I was a big chunk of time from the win I still found myself skiing with other racers throughout the course.  On the last lap I caught a few skiers ahead of me and had a sprint with a Spanish skier who I had skied most of the race with.

    portrait

     

    Results on FIS at http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/610.html?sector=CC&;;;raceid=20103

  • Slovenia to Italy

    My first trip to Europe as a ski racer I came to Slovenia for the U23 World Championships in 2006.  I didn’t really know much about U23 and World Juniors and actually found out that I qualified for the championshipis by an email that I thought was junk mail.  The trip was a real eye opener for me and helped shape me into a professional skier after graduating college.

     

    On Monday we made the short 5 hour drive to Italy.  We traveled through the capital, Lubijana, and the small resort town of Bled.  Bled was the home base for the US Team at the U23/World Junior Championships in Medvode, Slovenia.  

    The weather on our travel day was beautiful.  This was great since my memories of racing in Slovenia back in 2006 were mostly of fog and rain.  There is a large castle on top of a knoll in Bled and we stopped for a tour to break up the drive.

  • Tess And Pippin At NE J2 Championships

    Pippin (above) and Tess (below) just returned from the New England J2 Championships that were held in Rumford.

    The J2 Champs pits teams from the East along with some guests from the Midwest and West. Each State team is allowed to bring 20 boys and 20 girls and everyone scores for their team. Competition is fierce over the busy 4 race weekend and a good time is had by all.
    Hopefully we will get a story from the girls up soon, but here are some pictures sent in from Grant B. and Kara E. !
    Congratulations to Team Maine for winning, Vt for placing 2nd and all of the other teams for racing their hearts out and making a great competition.


    Thanks to Black Mtn for hosting another excellent event.

  • Methow Endurance

    When you spend the vast majority of your time in pursuit of athletic success you’re bound to get pretty involved in the process. For the past two years Alison and I have talked each others’ ears off about running, skiing, and endurance training and preparation. How to do it, what to focus on, what is and is not working, etc.

    Recently, we came to the conclusion that with all this generated knowledge and enthusiasm, we should put it to work by helping other folks do similar things we strive for in sport.

    Introducing Methow Endurance: a Mazama-based coaching and training source for endurance athletes of all ages and abilities. We currently have on our schedule two camps for this spring – the first is a Women’s Running and Yoga retreat which reprises a very successful format which Alison began last year. The second is a Spring “Jump-Start” clinic for runners and skiers to learn how to best utilize their time and energies and how to direct them at getting faster, and fitter.

    Learn more about what we’re doing at the Methow Endurance blog or Like us on Facebook.

  • A Tough Year For Sweden?

    It struck me glancing at the results last weekend that I feel like Sweden has been having a bit of a sub-par year. Which might seem a little strange, given Johan Olsson’s recent return to form, but hear me out. Certainly, they’ve had some skiers with some great results. But I feel like overall they’ve struggled a bit. When I glanced at a summary of their men’s distance results, it seemed I might be imagining things:

    But then when you look at some other categories, you see something different. For instance, men’s sprinting:

    That’s a pretty consistent decline across the board. Of course, this comes after a fairly recent resurgence. And the explanation is pretty clear:

    Hellner and Modin are simply not having a good time with the sprinting this year.

    The Swedish women have had similar problems, beginning with distance events:

    and continuing with sprints:

    Related posts:

    1. <Victims & Nemeses: Sweden Edition
    2. <WJC/U23 Assessment: Finland, Germany and Sweden
    3. <Sweden’s Men’s Sprinting


  • Bretton Woods Ski Marathon

    On Saturday, we took the kids who were not at JN’s or J2’s and went to Bretton Woods to ski in the 1/2 marathon. It was a beautiful day and a spectacular setting with the famed Mt Washington Hotel sitting below the Presidential Range.
    Waxing was a bit tricky because of variable conditions (icy, granular, powder..), but Poppet found some stuff that worked in most places and away everyone went.

    Corky and Calvin waged their own own private battle and finished in 2nd and 3rd overall.
    Charlie was not far behind in 4th.
    Sverre wasn’t feeling too good, so Corky and Charlie kept their distance while giving the race report.
    Mollie (2nd female) and Mac (6th overall) both skied well and posed for the picture after the finish.
    Kate had slippery ski problems, but she toughed it out and got a good upper body workout.
    Our J3’s skied (and chatted) the whole way together. Here, as they crossed the bridge, the finish came into site and they sprinted in.
    Alex and Helena enjoy the post-race banquet.
    Charlie shows that he skied hard :).