FasterSkier

Category: XCFeeds

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

  • Course preview

    Previewed the 5km race loop today on an easy classic ski.  Girls will race 1 lap and the boys will race 2.  Tomorrow its skate intervals on the sprint course and a tune up on starts and finishes in the afternoon.  We’re 4 days out and we’re getting pumped. 
    Adam and Tom followed by Adam

    Lodge at the venue

    Beautiful courses

    Teagan

    Heidi and Teagan finish some speeds

    Veerpalu’s prodigy.  Seriously.  They met up for skate practice in Mammaste today during our work out.

    Kyle and Anika

    Jack Max and Eli

    Julia

    Adam

    Team USA.

  • Poland Sprints Recap

    As always, thanks to Jan at worldofxc.com for the heat time data…

    I’m beginning to get a feel for the relationship between heat times and sprint courses. It’s hard, cause I’m not actually there skiing on the courses, so I do the best I can reading about them. But it seems this course was pretty fast and mostly flat until the very end. That led me to guess that we’d see fast qualifying times, and then the heats would get progressively slower as folks get more tactical. Sure enough, the men’s finals:

    Fast qualification, slower quarterfinals. Then one semifinal was quite fast, the other was slower, and the final was back to the quarterfinal pace. The men’s first semi really was considerably faster, as well:

    As for the women’s finalists:

    Once again, same exact pattern! Fast qualification, slower quarterfinal. Then an obvious split in speeds between the two semifinals. And again a significant difference between the two semifinals:

    Related posts:

    1. <Recap: Davos Sprint
    2. <Otepää Sprint Recap
    3. <Drammen Sprint Recap


  • More Pics from WJ’s

    Here are a few more pics. I am getting a little behind on some race pics, since the last two days were a little busier and at 30s pp (per pic) upload it takes a solid block of time.
    The language barrier is THICK. The actual race courses and organizing seems great. The behind the scenes logistics takes a while to figure out.
    Up above our hotel at 11,000 feet. Logan, Will and I scored a free ride up the gondi right from our hotel parking lot.

    These are actual houses on the way to the race course. According to my wife this could bring my “dirt ballness” to a whole new level.

    Is that Sverre in his old hat?

    More of the lower level housing.

    Lost in translation….

    Well at least if they went to the pic above they might get checked out later.

    Everything room, bus etc, is waayyy hot in Turkey. The AK boys sweatin it at 30c on the way to the race

    Even the ping pong room is hot!

    Safety first, or not. The Gondi door popped open on the way down from the top.

    Logan and Will on the summit.

    Another view over the city. The towers are the ski jumps.

    My favorite refreshment. Coke Light!

    I finally found it! Real Turkish Coffee. It was gritty and filled with thick silt at the bottom.

    A bear’s dream with out the stings. They put out a rack of honeycomb complete with wax. Just cut some off and put it on toast. Man it sticks to your teeth.

    Salt and pepper, not enough here. The daily spice table. I slowly try each one to make sure I don’t get super spiced.

    For Mac and T-bone. Not sure if they have seen these yet…

    To wedge or not wedge. I am not talking about a fast DH. We also check binding position in relation to balance point. It can change feel, control, tracking and gliding speed. Another thing to test for skate days.

    Emily, Will, Mary all from CO and Stephanie from AK. Relaxing like pro’s at the hotel.

  • Eastern Cup Finals

    Craftsbury hosted another great weekend of racing. We arrived late saturday morning, just in time to see the college kids racing in the Williams Carnival. As always, it was great to see so many alums skiing well!
    The Eastern Cups started with the J2’s and womens 5 km and followed with the mens 10km. The tracks were variable with some ice, dry granular, wet granular and even a bit of powder so the racers had to keep their wits about them and ski a smart race knowing that kick would not be perfect everywhere.

    Brooke felt flat on Saturday, but came back with a good skate race.

    Katharine and Brooke hug atop the J2 podium. I think a Norwegian girl actually won this race, not sure where she is.

    These pictures are a bit mixed up from the two days of racing :).

    I think they are from Herve…Thanks!

    Calvin is coming off sickness. He skied two very solid races. It’s great to have him back feeling healthy!

    Charlie looks good striding up the hill.

    Corky had a good weekend, skiing well in both races.

    Gino skied really well, placing 2nd for J1 boys in both races.

    Hamish is coming off of pneumonia and he had a miserable classic race but bounced back to have a very solid skate race.

    Issy was our “skier of the day” yesterday as she skied a gutsy and intelligent race in the mass start 10 km, finishing as the top Jr and 2nd place overall.

    Kate has been quite sick, but she really wanted to race and she felt good in the warm up so away she went. She skied beatifully for awhile, but went too hard up one of the big hills and found that she isn’t quite healthy yet :(.

    Katharine continued her strong season with another good weekend.

    Mac, Murph and George lap through the field in the Sunday skate race. Mac had another good weekend and seems to have found some consistency, Nick did not have any energy and we need to figure that out.

    Think Mollie is concentrating? She had her best combined weekend to date 🙂

    Nick cruises the hill.

    Sundays races were mass start skate races. The J2’s went 5 kms, women 10 kms and men 15 kms. The course was in excellent condition, with fast, hard snow. The temperatures were in the low 20’s and everything was fast (we didn’t use any fluoros).

    The mens race was very exciting, with good skiing, a tough pace and some great tactics.

    Here is the lead group heading out for their third lap. Justin Freeman (202) hammered the hills on the second lap and that narrowed the group to 7. Here you can see Paddy, Dave Sinclair and alum Bret Bedard (206) in tow. On the last uphill in the race, Justin put down the hammer and he, Dave and Paddy opened a lead on the rest of the group, but Bret came back and managed to sprint by all 3 for the victory. Congratulations to Bret!

    Paddy had an excellent classic race taking the overall victory and leading SMS to a 1,2,3 J1 sweep (with Gino and Tyler).

    Tess is clearly more comfortable with classic races and interval starts. We are working on teaching her the joys of mass starts :).

    Tyler is back (from pneumonia) and he skied two good races.

    Pippin charges up the hill in the classic race. It is nice to see her improvements in technique and racing.

    The weekend served as the conclusion for our Junior Nationals qualifiers. Congratulations to Issy, Anika, Brooke, Katharine, Paddy, Gino, Hamish, Tyler and Koby for qualifying for the NE JN team :).

  • Athlete update: Max and Adam


    Today we woke up and watched the Tartu marathon. It was an early start to the day but worth it to see 6000 skiers go by, including some of the best in the world. The classic race started in the stadium in Otapaa and ended 63km later. Scott Jerome’s friend who lives in estonia was able to get us team passes, which meant that we could follow all of the professional team coaches to checkpoints along the course. At the end of the day we got to see a close finish between five racers and a hard effort from our coach Adam St. Pierre who lead the U.S. with his finish.

    Oh and its snowing, the new trails we have moved to are pretty sweet and we are going to kick butt there!!
    Max rocks his new norway hat that he traded Jorgen Auckland a U.S. ski team hat for. (he is kinda a big deal)




    The local ski shop rolls around in style.


    Joergen Brink out sprints Daniel Rickardson.




    Jack, Max and Tom on the skispringun hill



    Tartu cheering!













  • Sectionals 2012 !

    Sectionals is the 2nd biggest day of the year when it comes to High School Skiing here in NY. Their is a lot on the line and as usual you find out what people are made of. You could win every race of the year but when it’s on the line will you come through? This year the 2 most dominate skiers in Section 5 did just that ! Eric and Alyssa have been on top of the results list all year and Monday was no different ! They are both deserving champions and representatives of their High School programs. Lucky for us they are also part of Rochester Nordic Racing ! They have been a part of the program almost from the start and it is a testament to themselves, family, friends, and coaches that they have been able to be successful !
    (Alyssa and Eric 2012 Sectional Champions !)
    One of the reasons that Sectionals is such a pressure packed event is that you throw all the season results out the window and it’s a one day showdown to qualify for states. If you finish in the top 12 your headed to the big show if not your a spectator. You could argue that it is not fair or you don’t like it but that’s the way it is !
    Luckily in a sport like nordic skiing hard work is often rewarded and this year was no different. It was pretty obvious in many ways that the athletes who have been making an effort to become better are doing better.

    This year R.N.R athletes were stacked in the top 12. On the girls side Alyssa led the way claiming the over all victory Margot had a repeat performance from last year and finished 3rd, Colleen had arguably her best race of the year to finish 4th, Emmy was 6th, Jenna 10th, Maggie 11th and Hanna 12th, Just out for the 2nd year in a row finishing 13th was Katie ! Sara also had a great race finishing in 18th followed by Megan in 27th and Jenna in 29th.
    The biggest story of the day was that the Mendon girls were ahead of HF-L in the team score. I’m not sure when if ever HF-L had not won sectionals on the girls side? So the overall came down to the relay the next day where HF-L was able to get the victory and secure the Sectional Title ! ! Congratulations to HF-L !
    (Top 3 girls from the distance Race Alyssa, Riley, and Margot. )
    The picture below is from the top 3 teams in the relay race. HF-L had 3 teams in the top 4 places but only one scores so Webster was 3rd ! I really like this picture because EVERY GIRL EXCEPT 1 attended an R.N.R Practice this SUMMER ! ! A picture is said to tell a 1000 words but this one probably reviles more than that!
    (Top 3 Relay Teams)
    Girls State Team ! Lot’s of familiar RNR faces !


    On the boys side of things Eric led the way winning the race ! I’m not sure if he is the 1st Champion from Webster or not ? I will have to ask coach Weston but Eric has brought Webster back in a big way the last couple of years ! Just behind Eric was Langton in 2nd, Gavin in 3rd, Peter in 4th, Conner in 6th, Tommy in 8th, Jack in 11th and Marco in 12th ! Yea your reading that correctly 8 R.N.R’ers in the top 12 !! YAHTZEEEEE ! The boys of the summer have been rocking all year long and sectionals was no different great to see them make the show ! Woody had a good race and was 14th less than 10 seconds out of 12th! He has had a great season and will be working hard this summer to make his way in to that top 12! Scott also had a great race finishing 19th, Mike was 29th I think he was a little disappointed but will be back to fight again at JN’s !
    (Boys top 12)
    As with the Girls the Boy’s title would be decided by the Relay and the biggest surprise of the weekend was the Pittsford Boys knocking off HF-L to win the team title ! Piitsford has been knocking on the door recently and they were able to make it happen. Congratulations to coaches Gorbold and D’Hont ! As with any high school program the coaches put in more hours than anyone and they were rewarded today !
    (Boys relay team bringing home the trophy ! All 3 of these guys were a part of the summer program so it was pretty awesome to see them win ! Also to note is that they all will be back to defend next year !)
    I’m lucky to have the opportunity to coach all of the athletes of R.N.R and without the help and support of all the high school coaches that would not be possible. The reason R.N.R was started was to raise the level of skiing within the Mid-Atlantic division and I think we are doing that one stride at a time ! Thanks for all the support and congratulations to all of the coaches, athletes, friends and families !

    Next stop Lake Placid for the State Championships !
    www.rochesternordicracing.com

  • Remember when I said racing hurt?

    (Photo by: Noel Charchuk)

    Well after my body realized how much fun suffering is last Saturday and Sunday I got to hang around Canmore for 5 days to train and cheer on my team mates in the last two races Wednesday and Thursday.  After another interval workout in the sunshine I found myself a little bummed I wouldn’t get to race.  I finally felt like I was skiing again!  (As opposed to my limbs wiping about seemingly without any control)

    I decided to make the most of not racing.  I woke up early running up to the venue in the dark in time to get on my skis before the boys started their race warm up.  On thursday I even donned a “Team Service” bib so I could skate on course as the boys got ready.  It was fun to rip around their race course, the mystery in the oversized bib.  ”Did you see that?  That is the smallest wax tech I have ever seen?”  um… “They told me to ski the 5′s until they felt fast???”  Yeah right.

    A muffin and a change of dry clothing later I was back on course.  Coach Corrine, reporting for duty.

    Course official: “So you’re a coach?”

    Me:  ”Um… yes?”

    I poached a spot on the big sunny hill.  Sunburn?  Hello ridiculous tanlines, it’s been so long.  I spent the morning and afternoon chasing men and women up and down the hill.  Yelling splits.  Gesturing wildly.  I know that often times athletes are so zonked that they have no idea what words are suppose to be forming from you and reaching their ears.  But they know it’s noise, it’s loud, it’s excited.  GO GO GO! It was a hard hill.  And I was darned if they were going to slog up it in front of me. No way. no how.  They would move fast up this sucker even if it was only because that was the only way they could get away from me.  Hey… motivation comes in many forms.

    It was really cool to watch these athletes put it all out there.  In a way it was my own mini technique tutorial.  Some skiers better than others…  The mental notes hit max capacity fast!

    What else did I learn?

    Coaching is really tiring! When I finally got back to our condo after the races on wednesday I was plum tuckered out!  I hadn’t even raced!?  Man respect those guys and gals.

    I also learned how to optimize the ‘art of doing nothing’.  But more on that later…

  • It’s a "laundry weekend"

    You may be wondering why I wasn’t on the start lists and/or the results from this weekend’s World Cup in Poland…… that’s because, as I write this I’m sitting at my kitchen table half way across the world in Alaska.  Yep. After more than twelve consecutive weeks on the road my bed was calling and I decided to take a short, un-planned trip to AK for a few days. It was a hard decision, and one that had to be made “spur of the moment” as opportunities for transport are limited and timelines were tight. Also, next weekend is one of the few “off” weekends on the World Cup and to make flying back to the US count, it’s nice to have a larger chunk of time for the visit. 
    It’s funny that I’m home now, as opposed to earlier this winter.  After breaking my wrist there was certainly some pressure to come home for rehab but I choose to stick it out in Europe and continue onwards. My thought was to avoid travel, the ten-hour time change, and to stay in my racing/training “groove.”  I toughed it out, training in Ramsau with one pole by myself through snowstorms and wind. Then came Russia and it’s frigid conditions.  I thought the cold would give me an advantage (being from Alaska) but I had a really hard time in Saturday’s -19c race with my face turning white and my body feeling horrible. Sunday I turned things around a bit and things were looking up. My result wasn’t anything spectacular but it was coming around & I looked forward to finding that groove yet again. 
    Monday we flew back to Munich on the charter flight from Yaroslav and Tuesday, it was all I could do to get out of bed. I slept all night & all morning. I finally got outside for a ski at noon but could hardly move. I went back to bed. The next few days were low in energy and I had some digestive issues – either from Russia or beforehand, I am not sure. Needless to say, the week was rough and on Saturday, in the Czech Republic, I dropped out of the race which is something I simply don’t do.  My body felt like an underpowered fiat or a 20-watt light bulb; horrible. Also, I knew that I would be counted on to race the 4x5k relay the next day for the team. Had I struggled through the 15k in Czech, I would have absolutely nothing left in my already diminished tank for Sunday’s team event and the team needed me; I needed the team.  
    Saturday night I booked my ticket to fly home with the departure scheduled for the following day, a couple hours after the relay race. Then, funny enough, Sunday was great. I was able to hang with the pack and helped the US ladies have the best women’s relay finish of all time. I felt better and I was having fun.  Then, I had to decide: Get on the plane and come home for a break, or stay in Europe, per my original plan and not return until April. I was indecisive; I agonized for a few short hours. As the song says, “Should I stay or should I go!?”  Part of me wondered, why, after such a long stint in Europe is this happening now? I’ve been here this long; don’t go home when there are race opportunities to be had. After waking up my coach at 4:30 in the morning to talk it out and calling Delta only to realize that my special Internet fare was non changeable & non refundable (even though I had purchased it within 24 hours) I decided to get on the plane. 
    A part of me felt like taking a short trip home was a retreat, a “white flag” so to speak. But I think that the winter caught up with me. My wrist, racing the tour with an injury, the rehab, and then to top it all off, feeling horrible for the week heading into Czech and then dropping out of a race. All of this compounded and I felt that the best way to recover, both mentally and physically was to do so in my own bed, in my own zip code.  So, that’s what I’m doing. I saw my parents briefly in Seattle, I cooked a spicy Mexican dinner for my in-laws (four different kinds of salsa, FYI) I’m hanging out with my husband who has been a great sport (about living the “bachelor” lifestyle) about all of this, napping with my cat Buggz, and ensuring that I’m 100% healthy for my return to Europe and the World Cup. 
    Yes, I will potentially be jet-lagged, yes, I will “toe” the line with some travel in my body, and yes, I’ve given up some precious World Cup starts and potential point scoring opportunities. But, a break was needed and as one my teammates so eloquently put it, she said, “Holly, think of this as an opportunity to go home and do your laundry!”  And that is exactly what it is….. a chance to do my laundry…. maybe wear a new shirt….. I might also tackle my taxes, my PFD application, enter a domestic race….. I will be back in Europe in time for races in Lahti, Finland and Norway. After that, only time will tell. 
    If you’ve gotten this far into my detailed account of why I’m not in Poland at the moment, thanks for sticking with me.  It probably would have been enough (and acceptable) for me to say, “I’m home for a short break before the remainder of the season.” Yet, the decision for me was difficult and I find myself questioning whether I did the right thing everyday.  However, I’m working on letting go of things that are out of my control and focusing on making the most of every situation. After all this is ski racing, not brain surgery and it’s not a big deal, right?  Every other competitor, from every other country has taken break(s) at home and this is mine.  After just a couple days I’m already feeling better and I can’t wait to get back to it – Lahti, here I come! 

    Sincerely, 
    Holly 🙂 

  • Classic TT and Polva!

    9a.m.

    Adam

    Kyle
    Jack

    Max

    Thomas

    Nichole

    Sloan

    Anika

    Julia

    Teagan

    Heidi

    Adam timing in his new BLIZ

    Viewing box a tthe stadium

    Espresso! in the box

    Marathon start.  18 tracks. 6000+ racers

    Pretty tired crew here!  Its been an eventful couple of days.  Today: classic time trial.  With clear skies and cold tempertures greeting us we fired up the engines for a couple of laps around the 2.5km race loop.  After the time trial we packed up, showered and checked out the Tehvandi stadium one last time before hopping on the road to Polva.  The Tartu Marathon begins tomorrow in the stadium and it is a pretty wild scene up there right now.  Adam, Scott and I even got (snuck) into the team captains meeting.  The press rooms and media set up were pretty sweet to say the least.  We arrived in Polva after a short drive east and checked into our new hotel Pesa, in ‘downtown’ Polva.  Otepaa, lived up to its name of Estonia’s “winter captial” and Polva feels a bit more like the real thing.  We’re all excited to get out and explore the town.  After settling in, the coaches and girls ventured over to the competition venue which is located about 3km from our hotel for a recovery ski.  The trails were fast and fun and everyone was very welcoming…and the cafe in the lodge made a mean hot cocoa too (thanks Scott and Adam).  Also, we found more Estonians snow tubing and snowboarding off jumps with flat landings.  Tomorrow we’ll head to the marathon start in Otepaa.  Then, we will caravan around the 63 kilometer race course cheering, feeding (Adam’s racing!!!!!) and checking out the scene.  We’re very disappointed that Petter decided to pull out at the last minute, but psyched to see a ton of other fast racers.  For now, its off to bed!  Enjoy the pictures and we’ll post more tomorrow.  Go USA!

  • WAX TIP: 2012 American Birkiebeiner

    Race day waxing can be hectic, so rest easy the night before the Birkie by waxing in advance.  Above, the author helps classic racers at the Mora Vasaloppet apply the klister of the day.

    Following is the preliminary Cyclova XC Racing Service 2012 Birkie Wax tip for the 3 major wax brands of the region. Note that these are not officially endorsed wax tips by the wax companies, rather these are tips that I have personally created based on my 11+ years of professional experience in creating race wax tips. 

    For the full scoop on how to follow wax tips, check out MY ARTICLE on the topic.

    Event:  American Birkiebeiner, from Cable to Hayward, WI.

    When:  23k, 52k, or 50k Freestyle / Classic. 10 waves, with the elites starting at 8AM at Telemark on Saturday

    Forecast & Conditions:  Overnight low in between 5’F and 12’F with a temp in the mid teens at the start.  Daytime high will be in the mid to upper twenties. with mostly overcast conditions. The snow temp will be relatively cold.  Expect machined track conditions with a mix of primarily old and a bit of new snow.  Some dirt will be present in the snow – particularly on the final 15 k of the Birkie course on the south facing hills.  Classic tracks will be very firm and somewhat glazed.

    Ski Flex Tips:  Moderate to firmly flexed skis for machined track conditions

    Structure Tips:
    Structure (Elite through wave 3):  Cold Universal Grind or a fine structure (1 pass with the Blue Toko Structure-Rite tool).  
    Structure (Wave 4 and back):  Cold Universal Grind or a medium structure (1 pass with the Red Toko Structure-Rite tool).  
    Glide Wax Tips:
    Fast Wax (Elite through wave 3): HS-10 Teal, Scrape, Brush, HSF-10 Teal, Scrape, Brush.  Apply Flite #11 Cold (Blue) Flourocarbon ironed (using the Fast Wax Base Saver) or roto-corked in, brush with dedicated flouorcarbon brush, and polished with polishing pad.
    Fast Wax (Wave 4 and later): HS-20 Blue, Scrape, Brush, HSF-20 Tan, Scrape, Brush.  For Apply Flite #11 Cold (Blue) Flourocarbon ironed (using the Fast Wax Base Saver) or roto-corked in, brush with dedicated Flouorcarbon brush, and polished with polishing pad. 
    Swix (Elite through Wave 3):  LF-4, Scrape, Brush, HF-4BW, Scrape, Brush, FC-7 (Cold Cera) ironed in, brush with dedicated flouorcarbon brush, and polished with polishing pad
    Swix (Wave 4 and later):  CH-7, Scrape, Brush, HF-7BW, Scrape, Brush, FC-8 (Med Cera) Ironed in, brush with dedicated flouorcarbon brush, and polished with polishing pad
    Toko (Elite through Wave 3):  Dibloc LF Moly / Dibloc LF Blue mix (2 : 1 Ratio) Scrape, Brush, Dibloc HF Blue, scrape, brush, Jetstream Blue ironed or roto-corked in, brush with dedicated flouorcarbon brush, and polished with polishing pad
    Toko (Wave 4 and later):  Dibloc LF Moly, Scrape, Brush, Dibloc HF Red scrape, brush, Jetstream Red ironed or roto-corked in, brush with dedicated flouorcarbon brush, and polished with polishing pad

    Grip Wax Tips:
    Swix:  Roughen grip zone with 150 grit sandpaper.  Apply KR-20 Base Binder Klister, iron, and smoothen with your thumb while still warm.  Wait to apply your grip wax of the day until Friday night, and check wax reports / weather.    The optimal grip wax of the day will likely be an ice klister (KR-30) lightly covered with a medium hard wax (VR-40).
    Toko:  Roughen grip zone with 150 grit sandpaper.  Apply Base Green Klister, iron, and smoothen with your thumb while still warm.  Wait to apply your grip wax of the day until Friday night, and check wax reports / weather.    The optimal grip wax of the day will likely be an ice klister (Toko Red or Blue Klister) lightly covered with a medium hard wax (Toko Red Hard Wax).

    Should you have any questions on Birkie ski prep, feel free to stop by or contact the expert ski technicians at Cyclova XC.  Have fun and see you on the trail!  Give a fun shout out to all of the Cyclova XC Team Skiers on the trail – as well as everyone wearing the Ski Like Landgraf Hats (note, we will have more in stock by Wednesday of next week)!


  • Turkey

    I made a video yesterday from my first day in Turkey. So sweet here!!! Once and a life time experience. Tried to put a few clips together to give you feeling of atmosphere. I will write an update soon.

  • Athlete update: Nichole and Sloan

    Tere everyone!  (Yes, we do know Estonian).  This morning started off with a very photogenic picture of our amazing team.  Next we set out on a distance skate ski checking out our course for tomorrow’s classic time trial and the potato? farms.  Lookin’ speedy in our matching uniforms.  Surprisingly the group became extremely studious and got some solid hours of homework in this afternoon.  We watched some awesome skiing from our US ski team today at the world cup sprints in Poland.  Killin’ it!  Tonight we went on some ‘tubular’ tube rides.  We (Nichole and Sloan) were forced to face the man who was not so happy the night before due to our “idiotic” idea that the rope tow was free and Nordic skiers were aloud to use it.  Apparently Estonians are very good with their English profanities and show their anger.  But all went well when the team of 12 showed up to have a good time on some tube rides.  We had a blast shooting down some frighteningly vertical slopes with out soon-tube sore butts.  Not to mention the beautiful Estonian women that Eli Hoenig has such a way with.  🙂  It was an eventful day to say the least!

    -Nichole Bathe (Madison, Wisconsin) and Sloan Storey (Sun Valley, Idaho)

  • Hitting the trails in the Middle east

    We were real proud of our flag placement right next to the hosts, yep it was blowing hard today.

    We’ve been out to the trails twice now. It is 45min-1h on the bus each way. The trails are wide, level, and nicely groomed. They are not super techinical or super difficult in regards to tough steep climbs. They seem to be good “fitness” courses. Bascically they cirmcumvent a smaller hill with climbs up and over the hill from several sides. The area is wide open, no trees, kind of like Soho or Sun Valley. I still have not found turkish coffee, but Uncle Pete tells me it is not actually from Turkey…He is on the case and is doing a little fact checking for me. It might be like when I went to Sweden and never got one meatball. (aren’t swedish meatballs supposed to be famous?)

    Coach Pete loading our daily shuttle bus. He now likes to be referred to as Uncle since Grandpa (me) and he like to ski around real slow and take lots of breaks

    America has a sweet Bald Eagle but this thing is crazy, not sure if this is a local or national mascot yet. There is a real scary iron statue of it at the University Gates.

    Guess who drove 5000k with the team gear?

    Some things are very different here, some not. Your typical and quite nice wax set up.

    Yep, looks like wax rooms are pretty much the same around the world. We have one room for the techs and race boards and one for the athletes, pretty nice.

    New England circuit regular Corey Stock trying some L3 altitiude intervals, testing out what breathing feels like here.

    Western boys, Mike Vigers, Vail and Cole Morgan, Sun Valley.

    Ok the light was real flat, but this is the top of the course looking across the valley. Those pipes are sweet snow guns that can pivot and hit trails on both sides.

    We brought skis, not kayaks hope that is not a problem.

    Local military base on the way out of town. Fully stocked with soldiers with machine guns

  • Follow-Up On Devon Kershaw + World Cup Overall

    A commenter on Monday’s post noted that there are some folks fairly close behind Kershaw in the WC overall, so he has more to worry about than just catching Petter Northug. In particular, Marcus Hellner is only 57 points back, while Alexander Legkov is fully 168 points back. Hellner is obviously the more immediate concern, but you can’t really count out Legkov. Then you have Maxim Vylegzhanin 270 back.

    I’m going to approach this a bit differently than my last post. Starting with the schedule, we see that the end of the season is pretty heavily weighted towards classic skiing all around. We have 6 classic events, 2 (and a half) freestyle events and the pursuit. (The ‘half’ is the last stage of the World Cup Final, which apparently doesn’t count for WC points itself, but does contribute to the overall stage results.)

    The good news for Kershaw is that he has tended to fare better against these guys in classic distance races, as compared to freestyle distance races:

    Positive values here are better for Kershaw. So not only does he tend to do better against these four guys in classic races, the difference swings the most in his favor (although just barely in his favor) against Hellner and Legkov, his closest competitors.

    On the other hand, basically the reverse is true for sprinting:

    While Kershaw has in generally been fairly even with both Legkov and Hellner in sprints, he’s actually done better against them in freestyle sprints.

    The final aspect of this question I’ll consider is how skiers tend to fare late in the season. This is something that Kershaw has struggled with, particularly last season. All the news reports seem to suggest he’s feeling great, so I’m hopeful he’s kicked that habit, but what about his competitors? How have they fared?

    In sprinting:

    This might be a potential weak spot for Legkov, but not the others. As for distance events:

    Only a very slight glimpse of a weakness for Legkov here.

    So for holding off Hellner? It’s a mixed bag, but my hunch is that he’s more likely to hold off Hellner than he is to catch Northug.

    Related posts:

    1. <Canadian National Team Preview: Alex Harvey & Devon Kershaw
    2. <Can Kikkan Randall Win The Sprint WC Title?
    3. <World Cup Field Strength Follow-Up


  • LIVE WEBCAM

    http://weather.ee/otepaa/

  • Kootenay Cup – Nelson

    It’s not too often that I get to watch races, but after traveling home from Gatineau QC only four days ago, I was stuck on the side lines for the 2012 Kootenay Cup in my hometown of Nelson, BC. Aside from myself and David Palmer – who was also in QC, all of the Black […]

  • Sizz-What and Boos for Bjoergen

    While I have literally no idea how to actually pronounce this weekends’ World Cup venue, there is no doubt in my mind that Poland will put on a show.There are also loads of questions swirling about performances, at least in my mind.Here are a few of the potential headlines:- Can Kikkan Randall bounce back from illness and a weekend off of racing to win another skate sprint? Which is a must if she

  • USA J1 Nordic Team 2012-02-16 13:50:00

    Today we did an easy distance classic ski with some speed bursts thrown in to rev up the engines.  The sun was out and the tracks were cold and fast.  We had an amazing ski exploring the Tartu Marathon course and some less hilly trails around some nearby potato? fields.  Everyone spent the afternoon exploring town, catching up on emails and doing homework.  Before dinner we hit up the gym here at the Tehvandi to do some stretching, mobility and core.  Most the kids just got home from a night ski on the lighted track.  Tomorrow morning we’ll head out for a skate and then take the afternoon off to recover and explore some of the attractions here in Otepaa.  The coaches are trying to figure out how to get Adam an optimal feed in his RACE on Sunday (The Tartu Marathon).  63 classic km’s.  Boom!  check back soon for more.  Thanks for tuning in!  

    Check us out on Facebook: USA J1 Trip 

  • ADN on the Czech Relay….

    Alaskan on relay win best in US women’s World Cup history

    Anchorage's Holly Brooks, bottom right, and her teammates on the U.S. ski team celebrate their fifth place effort in Noze Mesto, Czech Republic.


    NORDIC: Alaskan helps u.s. quartet to best-ever finish at world cup.
    By BETH BRAGG
    Anchorage Daily News
    Published: February 12th, 2012 11:39 PM 
    Last Modified: February 12th, 2012 11:40 PM
    The American women continued a historic World Cup season Sunday in the Czech Republic, and this time they did with their star on the sideline.
    Story tools
    Holly Brooks of Anchorage helped the U.S. ski team to fifth place in a cross-country relay race in Noze Mesto, Czech Republic. The result is the best relay finish by an American women’s team in World Cup history, according to the U.S. Skiing and Snowboarding Association.
    “The crazy thing is that we did all of this while Kikkan was on the side of (the) trail taking pictures!” Brooks wrote in an email.
    Randall, the three-time Olympian from Anchorage who is the world’s fifth-ranked skier, skipped the race to hasten her recovery from a cold.
    As for Brooks, she returned to competition a little more than a week ago after missing a month with a broken wrist. She skied the scramble leg Sunday and put the Americans in good shape after the first leg of the 4×5-kilometer classic. Brooks was part of a five-woman pack vying for fourth place in the exchange zone; just four seconds separated them when they tagged off.

    Ida Sargent and Liz Stephen skied the middle legs and 20-year-old Jessie Diggins, a budding star not just on the American team but on the World Cup tour, powered the Americans to fifth place by skiing the fastest anchor leg.

    Charlotte Kalla held off Diggins at the finish line to give Sweden fourth place, one-tenth of a second ahead of the United States.
    It was a shining moment for the Americans, who are registering the country’s best results ever this season, and a encouraging one for Brooks.
    “To be able to sit Kikkan today … and still put together a result like this is a good snapshot of the strength of these ladies,” Matt Whitcomb, the U.S. women’s head coach, said in a USSA press release. “We are moving forward with big visions for the next relay.”
    The Americans could very well contend for a medal with Randall in the mix. They were very nearly fourth without her. And there were two Norway teams in the race, both of them finishing in the top three. At the Olympics and World Championships, a country can enter only one team.
    “In different circumstances,” Brooks wrote, “this would have been a sprint for a bronze medal. If we can do this well without (Randall), just imagine how well we can do with her.”
    Brooks, 29, is coming off a broken wrist suffered when she slipped on ice while on a Christmas day training run in Austria. She skied the entire Tour de Ski — nine races in 11 days — with the injury before taking a month-long break from competition to rehab.
    Though her wrist is better now, she’s dealing with some stomach issues and dropped out of Saturday’s 15-kilometer individual classic race at Noze Mesto. She said she quit that race in order to save energy for Sunday’s relay.
    “Even though I didn’t feel close to 100%, I was able to keep our team in contention,” Brooks wrote. “Today’s race was a lot of fun and just the pick me up I needed after a difficult beginning to the 2012 ski season.
    “It’s been a hard road back but I’m looking forward to the remaining races of the season.”
    Reach Beth Bragg at bbragg@adn.com or 257-4335.

  • Update from Anika on the J1 Trip

    I arrived here in Estonia last Tuesday and have been training here with the rest of the kids that made J1 trip. We are training at the world cup stadium called the Tehvandi Stadium in Otepaa. The skiing here is awesome, and the trails are groomed perfectly. The race course here is considered one of the toughest on the world cup, and after skiing it we see why! The hills are steep and long, and when you think you’re at the top you still have some more to go. The downhills are fast and very very steep! Once you get off the race course though, it’s perfect training.

    Our hotel is right next to the trails and lovingly nicknamed “the bunker” by the U.S. Ski Team because it almost looks like a bomb shelter from the outside. The town is very pretty, and there is a ski jump right in the middle of the trails. We got to go up to the top and watch some kids practicing which was very neat. There are also many other fast skiers here training. We will leave Otepaa Saturday after our time trial and go to the venue that the Scando Cup races will be held at in Mammaste. I will send pictures as soon as I get them, and there are already some on the blog at usaj1trip.blogspot.com.