FasterSkier

Category: XCFeeds

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

  • Round and Round

    A bunch of us showed up at Grafton for a ski today. The conditions are good, but limited. The little, flat loops encourage group skiing, so that is what we did. I guess it was alumni day, above are Gage, Cambria and Heather.
    Parker and Sophie enjoyed their ski and then hammered on each other a bit with some speeds.
    Charlotte.
    Tess has recovered enough from her “walking pnemonia” to get out and ski. Needless to say, she is happy.
    A good group from the local BKL program, West River, were out charging around.
    Issy, Megan, Gage and Cambria.
    Yup…skiing is pretty good, but a bit limited.

    Tomorrow we are meeting at 9 am for some skate intervals. Time to start gearing up for Nationals!

  • North American Mid-Season Overview

    During this lull before the Tour de Ski, I thought I’d show some graphs quickly summarizing how the US and Canada have fared thus far with some historical context. I think we all have a good sense of what’s going well (American women), what’s going not so well (American men) and what’s going OK (Canadian men, given their expectations). But it’s always nice to have some numbers.

    Women’s Distance

    Keep in mind that the number of results per race thus far this season is based on a smaller set of races since the season isn’t complete.

    As we all know, the American women are having a banner year. In two seasons they’ve gone from landing someone in the top 30 around around half the time to consistently putting two women in the top thirty, often three.

    Women’s Sprint

    On the American side, this steady improvement at all levels is of course all Kikkan Randall. And we’re finally seeing some recovery by the Canadian women after the departure of Beckie Scott and Sara Renner. Could we see a sprint final this season with three North American women in it?

    Men’s Distance

    The American men haven’t seen a dramatic fall-off in top 30 results (though they have gone down) but with Kris Freeman struggling, the small number of top ten results they’ve had just haven’t materialized. The Canadian men (Kerhsaw and Harvey mainly, in the distance races) have mostly been holding steady, but they are on pace for somewhat more top ten results than last season.

    Men’s Sprint

    That’s a stronger looking start for the Canadian men than I would have guessed, thanks in part I suppose to the addition of Len Valjas. As for the Americans, things haven’t changed dramatically, though they do appear to be slowly heading in the wrong direction.

    Related posts:

    1. <Mid-Season Recap: North American Distance
    2. <Mid-Season Review: North American Sprint
    3. <North American WSC Assessment


  • Merry Christmas

    Merry Christmas everyone! It’s dumping snow here in the Methow…. Pretty sweet! Just got back from a ski with the family. Doesn’t get much better then this.

    Last week Sadie and I hosted a camp for the local kids. It was very successful, nearly 50 kids between the age of 7 and 13 attended. We worked on some fun drills, waxing skills, mass start racing, and our finishing lunges. The kids seem to have a really fun time and we had a lot of positive feedback. I think we might just have to make this an annual event.

  • World Cup Eurosport Video Links

    With Universal Sports no longer showing World Cup ski videos to the U.S. intelligentsia this season, I’ve found a site that is. It just might be worth a look.

    Subscribe to World Cup Ski Videos to get the latest action at: http://www.youtube.com/user/WorldCupSkiVideos?ob=video-mustangbase

    Rogla Skate Sprint: Part I

    Rogla Skate Sprint: Part II

    Rogla Skate Sprint: Part III (Men’s and Women’s A Finals)

  • Craftsbury Christmas Video

    The Craftsbury EC race vid is up. Those guys and gals up there are crazy about ski racing, they literally worked all night, non stop to give us a world class race loop. I missed some of our SMSer’s while I was testing and tech-ing the race boards, sorry Brooke, Issy P and alums. I also picked up some tips from the Revived Films guys that I’ll try and employ in the future but for now enjoy. Direct link to vid: HERE

  • Snow Likely

    Wishing everyone a Christmas that is full of joy and contentment.   

    And hoping there’s a little new snow for everyone, too.

  • Back in Business!

    Last night (and for the past 48+ hours) I watched a movie because the Internet crashed in the entire Ramsau Valley.  I couldn’t get much work done or respond to all my unanswered emails but it wasn’t for lack of trying, that’s for sure!  So…  I finally allowed myself to enjoy “Water for Elephants” a movie about the Circus and really, life on the road or better yet, a train. I had to laugh because afterwards, I realized that a friend of mine had referred to the World Cup as the “White Circus.”  Ever since she brought the term up, It’s been surfacing everywhere. (Funny how that always works, isn’t it?)
    The girls squad competing in Rogla, Slovenia
    While we don’t have acrobats, lions, tiger, and an elephant named Rosie (if you’ve seen the movie you know what I mean) we do travel like vagabonds and spend a lot of time on the road.  The athletes, the mondo Norwegian wax truck, the blow-up WC Craft arch, the entourage of massage therapists, sports psychologists, wax techs, and VW vans full of skis bounce from one end of Europe to the other, unpacking and repacking every weekend in a different locale. People are good at opening up the show and closing it down when it’s time to leave and move on.  As for my road trip with the White Circus? Well, it looks as though my original 6-week stint in Europe has turned into much more – potentially even an entire World Cup season. 
    Ida kickin some butt and scoring her first legit World Cup points!  
    Throughout the past training season (April-November) I was worried about the 2011-2012 season.  Without an Olympic Games or World Championships to qualify for and race in, what in the world was I going to do?  I had a couple different brainstorms up my sleeve but the plan has morphed into Plan A+ or better than I had expected.  Where shall I race this season? Why, the World Cup of course!  Months ago my coach at APU, Erik Flora, told me: “Train hard, train well and good things will happen to you. Opportunities will present themselves.”  He was right.  Here I am in Ramsau, Austria, spending Christmas and getting ready to compete in my first Tour de Ski!!!!!  But more on that later… REWIND!
    In the Rogla press conference last week the women’s sprint winner, Maiken Casperson Falla stated that she couldn’t wait to go home because “they had been on the road since December 2nd” and it was “hard.”  To that I say: “Try five months on the road!”

    Liz and the Hoff chillin on the Pisten Bully, Rogla Stadium
    North Americans definitely have the proximity disadvantage when it comes to being a Cross Country World Cup ski racer.  From Alaska it takes close to 36 hours of travel to get to Europe and another 8+ days to “acclimate” to the ten hour time difference and feel like my body was in a place where it could perform well.  Realistically, any trip “home for a break” would take me a week to adjust to home, then another week upon my return here.  Maybe that is an unrealistic amount of time if I’m chasing points and trying to improve my world rank???
    Simi after a great sprint in Rogla – qualified 7th, finished 10th!!!! 
    What I’ve realized, through intimate realization is that living on the road and the “lifestyle” of the White Circus is a true skill; one that takes a long time to perfect.  Our team moves and makes decisions as a group; there is no “I” in we.  With limited transportation options and resources, compromise and working together is the name of the game.
    Rest and rejuvenation is an essential skill: how can one make a new hotel room every couple of days “homey?”  Some of you may be envious of not having to cook for yourself (ever) but it can be tiring to eat from endless buffets or sit through another 2-hour three course lunch when all you want is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich – on your own clock.  Speaking of peanut butter, it’s only available in select countries and certain stores. Your eyes have to scan at least 356 kinds of preserves, 87 kinds of honey and 34 varieties of nutella to potentially find a lone jar of the good stuff. Then, once you find it, you’d better buy a bunch, save it, cherish it, and make sure it doesn’t get lost in the bowels of the cargo van – you never know when the next opportunity to purchase it will be.  Being a traveler requires proactive planning you see!
    Noah and I using the “contrast bath”…… one minute in the blow up cold tub, the other person in a warm shower, then switch. (x4!)
    The Internet is a topic in and of itself.  I could write a book on my frustrations with this form of communication and my hours spent trying to get online embarrassingly outweigh my winter training log hours.  The Internet in many ways is my only true lifeline to family, friends, coaches, the US, Washington, and Alaska.  I don’t have a phone that works in Europe – I can’t place or receive calls.  So when the Internet doesn’t work, which is about 1/2 of the time, I feel like my limbs have been cut off.  Lame, I know. It’s not the end of the world to read a book instead but with Christmas just a couple days away, numerous plane tickets to buy for the next period, and countless emails to write, this is a problem. 
    “Friends of Liz” are good people…. 
    While technology frustrations are endless and I love peanut butter which is hard to find, the White Circus is well worth the buffet lines and occasional frustration.  As a relative World Cup novice I am experiencing “firsts” on a daily basis.  New countries I’ve checked off my list so far this trip include Austria, Slovenia & Switzerland.  Next are Italy, Czech, Poland, Russia (if my complicated VISA comes through!) & Estonia.  The travel from place to place is so swift that I find once I have finally learned the basics of one language: “Hello, Please, Thank You, Good bye” we’re already moving onto another place altogether!
    Good buddy and “North American teammate” Chandra Crawford, a minute before stepping on the Rogla sprint podium! 
    Me in Rogla! 
    Thinking ahead, knowing what to expect, but also having the ability to be flexible is SO important when you are living your life out of a duffel bag.  In terms of spontaneity, I try to find small, spontaneous & novel things that add to my travel experiences here.  My best example, by far, is the local, organic milk vending machine that we found while out on a run in Slovenia.  One can buy reusable plastic or glass milk bottles from a vending machine and fill them up from a “milk spicket.”  The milk shack is stand-alone and when you step up to purchase milk, or even to examine what in the heck is going on, the lights turn on and soothing music starts to play.  I decided fresh milk was a must – and I had to get one of the glass milk jars in honor all of my friends (and family!) that have any association with Williams College.  (For those that don’t know, the Williams Ski team competes in purple spandex cow suits.)  Check out pictures from this small adventure here: 
    That’s it for now!  HAPPY HOLIDAYS!  
    Cheers, 
    Holly 🙂 

  • It’s December, Dork!

    I say that because, well my last blog was not in this month. So much for more constant updates!

    Here we go- I’ll try to catch you up without too much ado.

    SuperTours and NorAms:

    In Bozeman we raced a sprint prologue, a 5k skate, and a 10k classic race. Both of the Saturday races went quite well for me, and it was quite nice to be able to come back to the house between the two races. We had only an hour and a half between the first start and second start, which was quite an unconventional format. Fortunately for me, I love unconventional. Invariably I will have better intervals if the location or course is changed at the last minute… it must have something to do with not being able to properly fear the coming challenge. Rolling with the punches, I planned out my sprint prologue down to each transition, and just skied the course as well as I could. I know I lost some time on the hairy downhill as I cut inside too early, but I didn’t fall and didn’t shave too much speed coming into it. As it turned out, that didn’t matter because my third place was still about 15 seconds behind second place. I don’t know how that happened, but it did. Caitlin and Jessie killed it. The 5k went pretty well also, I wasn’t able to pull off another top 3 placing, but I was happy with 5th.

    Sunday’s 10k race was funny because it was very conventional. It was everything that I love– interval start, classic 10k, and hardwax conditions. I should have been able to really rock that race, but for some reason I just wasn’t on my game. I have no excuses, I just wasn’t able to get into a really powerful rhythm like I ought to have. I ended up 7th, which wasn’t a disgrace, but wasn’t what I hoped for in my best event either. Fitz had a good day, and we were all stoked to see her on the podium!

    The next day we drove for 13 hours to get to Silver Star, BC. It was a long drive, but terribly worth it! Our accommodations in Bozeman were pretty swanky, but Silver Star’s housing is sweet and the trails are unparalleled. There is nothing like them anywhere in the world! (Not anyhere that I have seen anyways, and a lot of the Sprintgutta profile information for the norwegian sprint squad have Silver Star listed as their favorite place to ski). Nightly grooming, 100k of trails, hot tubs everywhere, and lift access for cross country skiers. What’s not to love?

    I was pretty excited about the promise of two classic races in a row in Silver Star, but the sprint didn’t go quite how I wanted it to. I learned that I need to start better in the heats, and that’s pretty much it. Last year I won the B final convincingly, and this year I was towards the back of it, so I felt like I didn’t quite do what I wanted to. The next day I came into it with a bit of a different perspective. In the 10k just tried to see what I could do, I tried to race hard but if I felt like I was going too slowly I didn’t panic and try to push way harder. I just let my body come around when it was ready. It worked out quite well! I was happy with my result, and it felt like I really got into a powerful classic rhythm in the middle of the race.

    Anchorage, Besh Cups:

    After those races we left Silver Star and headed home. I was excited to get back because it was snowing and I hadn’t seen the fam in a while! Also, Besh Cups were the following weekend and I hadn’t gotten to race in those in a few years. After following that circuit in high school and practically living for those races, I was looking forward to coming back and racing Besh as the ‘big older kid’. Luckily, it went pretty well. I had the skate sprint of my life on Saturday, feeling like I was on top of the world. For whatever reason, things seemed to come together and I was unstoppable. It was so fun! The trail was pretty fast and a little bit technical. It added some spice to the day as people ran into some difficulty with the corner coming into the stadium (see header photo). Brandon Kowalski’s crash takes the cake, especially when it comes to documentation. His pole broke into three pieces, and his dad got photos of the whole sequence! I mean, if you’re going to fall you might as well go all the way, and he certainly did. Go big or go home!

    [Loving every second of it!! photo: Karl Kowalski]
    Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. I had a bit of a scratchy throat the next day, so I didn’t race the 10k Classic and had a textbook sore throat by evening. That brings us to today, my first ski since Saturday, in Fairbanks. I am blissfully hanging out in Fairbanks with my family and grandparents, doing the christmas thing. It looks like my little virus was timed perfectly to be ready for Nationals in January, so I am excited to get there and really test my fitness a little! Fast conditions and sea-level racing– sounds like a fun change from the SuperTour.

    Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Years, and see you at Nationals!

  • How will Jessie Diggins fare on the World Cup?

    The only sure way to know, of course, is to wait a few weeks and see what happens when she gets to Europe. But there’s been some commentary from the peanut gallery about how dominant Diggins has been on the domestic circuit so far.

    This is one of those problems that FIS points are supposed to solve, but no sane person actually believes that they do. In an ideal world, you could simply look at the FIS points for Diggins’ domestic races and compare them directly to the World Cup field. But we all know that doesn’t work so well.

    My preferred method for making comparisons like this is to isolate comparisons between specific groups of skiers when they race against each other head to head. In this instance, I’d like to compare Diggins to the other three top American women Randall, Brooks and Stephen. If we took Diggins’ results and transfered them to the World Cup, how would they compare to the strong races these three ladies have had?

    For the cleanest comparison possible, we’ll restrict ourselves only to interval start distance races. What I’ve done is a little hard to explain clearly, even though it’s fairly simple. here’s the deal:

    • Take all the domestic interval start distance races that Diggins has done so far and identify the top ten women in each race. Let’s call them Diggins’ Opponents. Diggins has been (mostly) beating them soundly. Calculate the difference in FIS points between Diggins and Diggins’ Opponents.
    • Now consider all the times that Randall, Brooks and Stephen skied against Diggins’ Opponents (last season, of course, in interval start distance races). Calculate the FIS point difference between each of these three and DIggin’s Opponents
    • Now we can compare Diggins, Randall, Brooks and Stephen against each other, using Diggins’ Opponents as a common reference.

     

    This graph shows the median and middle 50% of those differences for each skier. Negative values indicate that skier did better than Diggins’ Opponents.

    Not surprisingly, Randall tended to fare the best. The degree to which Diggins has “crushed” the domestic field so far this season falls somewhere in between Brooks and Stephen, but definitely a bit behind Randall. I think this is fairly strong evidence that Diggins may very well be skiing no worse than Liz Stephen right now, which would easily plant her in the top 30.

    There are two big caveats. First, I think you’d have to subtract a bit given that she’s less acclimated to the travel and general commotion of the WC scene, but you never know. Second, it’s entirely plausible that at least Randall and Brooks (and possibly Stephen) are skiing considerably better now than they were last season. Since they’ve been in Europe so far this season, they haven’t raced against Diggins’ Opponents yet this year, so I only have last years races to go on.

    The end result here is that I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Diggins in the 30′s. Between 20-30 would be an excellent day, but not shocking. And anything in the 15th or better zone would be approaching “race of her life” (thus far) territory.

    Related posts:

    1. <Should Jessie Diggins Be On The A-Team?
    2. <US World Cup Split Times
    3. <Canadian World Cup Splits


  • Rogla in pictures

    The last weekend of Period 1 World Cup racing was in Slovenia.  We had once again heard rumors of no snow and those rumors proved to be true when we arrived Wednesday evening to a heavy warm rain in Zrece, the town where we were staying for the weekend’s races.  The venue was in Rogla, a resort village in the mountains and about a 30 minute drive up a steep, twisty mountain road.

    Due to the lack of snow, we were told that the course wasn't going to be open on Thursday so all of the athletes stayed in town and went on a rainy team run. Keeping the running muscles ready has continued to be valuable this winter. The coaches went to the venue that morning to set up the wax cabins and check out the conditions. This picture was taken from one of the better sections of the course. Apparently the ground was muddy and unfrozen, the stadium was completely bare, and there were a handful of old tractors slowly moving snow onto a narrow ribbon of trail.

    Due to the lack of snow, we were told that the course wasn't going to be open on Thursday so all of the athletes stayed in town and went on a rainy team run. Keeping the running muscles ready has continued to be valuable this winter. The coaches went to the venue that morning to set up the wax cabins and check out the conditions. This picture was taken from one of the better sections of the course. Apparently the ground was muddy and unfrozen, the stadium was completely bare, and there were a handful of old tractors slowly moving snow onto a narrow ribbon of trail.

    On Friday morning we went to the venue to ski and this was what we saw...not much! The weather was nasty on the top of the mountain. It was foggy, sleeting, and blowing over 50mph. The course was all out in the open so planting my poles into the crosswinds sometimes proved impossible and I landed on my face a few times. The waxing was just as tricky and we were struggling to find anything that would kick on the icy tracks but not completely catch and grab in the windblown snow. It was not the most ideal prerace workout.

    On Friday morning we went to the venue to ski and this was what we saw…not much! The weather was nasty on the top of the mountain. It was foggy, sleeting, and blowing over 50mph. The course was all out in the open so planting my poles into the crosswinds sometimes proved impossible and I landed on my face a few times. The waxing was just as tricky and we were struggling to find anything that would kick on the icy tracks but not completely catch and grab in the windblown snow. It was not the most ideal prerace workout.

    Our hotel proved to be just as interesting. It was a combination between a Slovenian four star hotel and a nursing home. Everyone staying there was either a World Cup skier or 85 years old and in a wheelchair. It was a really nice big hotel with spacious rooms and a spa center, but everything wafted of an old folks home. They provided us with these super fuzzy bathrobes which Liz is modelling and were even more often worn by the packs of elderly people walking with walkers down the hallways. Also being located in Slovenia wine country, at 1.10Euro per glass, it was cheaper to order wine than water with dinner.

    Our hotel proved to be just as interesting. It was a combination between a Slovenian four star hotel and a nursing home. Everyone staying there was either a World Cup skier or 85 years old and in a wheelchair. It was a really nice big hotel with spacious rooms and a spa center, but everything wafted of an old folks home. They provided us with these super fuzzy bathrobes which Liz is modelling and were even more often worn by the packs of elderly people walking with walkers down the hallways. Also being located in Slovenia wine country, at 1.10Euro per glass, it was cheaper to order wine than water with dinner.

    Saturday brought my first ever World Cup mass start race. I had previously scrambled in a couple relays and done a pursuit start but this was my first mass start race and it was a 10km classic, one of my favorite races so I was super excited. I was seeded 49th so towards the back of the field and I just wanted to stay out of trouble and move up through the field. I think I succeeded in both goals but the second one perhaps a bit too quickly. I moved up about 30 places in the first couple laps and was surprised to feel that it didn’t even feel that fast. I think the effort must have been masked by the adrenaline though because the last lap and a half were really tough. I was still in 30th with less than a half kilometer to go when a group of girls passed me and proceeded to put close to 15 seconds on me before the finish line! Yikes! I’m glad the race wasn’t any longer than it was! I finished a little bummed in38th but it was my second best distance finish.

    Saturday brought my first ever World Cup mass start race. I had previously scrambled in a couple relays and done a pursuit start but this was my first mass start race and it was a 10km classic, one of my favorite races so I was super excited. I was seeded 49th so towards the back of the field and I just wanted to stay out of trouble and move up through the field. I think I succeeded in both goals but the second one perhaps a bit too quickly. I moved up about 30 places in the first couple laps and was surprised to feel that it didn’t even feel that fast. I think the effort must have been masked by the adrenaline though because the last lap and a half were really tough. I was still in 30th with less than a half kilometer to go when a group of girls passed me and proceeded to put close to 15 seconds on me before the finish line! Yikes! I’m glad the race wasn’t any longer than it was! I finished a little bummed in38th but it was my second best distance finish. Fischer/Nordic Focus Photo

    Sunday brought a really big first for me as I scored my first World Cup points and skied in a quarterfinal! I just squeaked into the heats with a 30th place qualifying place! Making the heats had been my goal for this trip so it was awesome to do it in my last race here. I was pretty ecstatic and couldn’t stop smiling or running around. I went into the athlete lounge to grab a snack and relax before the quarterfinals and found an espresso machine. So after hitting that up, my excitement level was seriously high.

    Sunday brought a really big first for me as I scored my first World Cup points and skied in a quarterfinal! I just squeaked into the heats with a 30th place qualifying place! Making the heats had been my goal for this trip so it was awesome to do it in my last race here. I was pretty ecstatic and couldn’t stop smiling or running around. I went into the athlete lounge to grab a snack and relax before the quarterfinals and found an espresso machine. So after hitting that up, my excitement level was seriously high.

    In my quarterfinal I got a good start and was sitting in 2nd. I was content following but I guess I should have been more aggressive because I let up for just a moment and all of a sudden was in 6th place. It happened so quickly and made me immediately realize that this was a different level than anything I had experienced before. I tried my best to move up but with a twisty section and then a narrow hill, passing was tough.

    In my quarterfinal I got a good start and was sitting in 2nd. I was content following but I guess I should have been more aggressive because I let up for just a moment and all of a sudden was in 6th place. It happened so quickly and made me immediately realize that this was a different level than anything I had experienced before. I tried my best to move up but with a twisty section and then a narrow hill, passing was tough.

    I outsprinted one woman in the lanes and ended up 5th in my heat and 25th overall . Those two and a half minutes of racing were so incredibly fun and made all the tough qualifiers I had done earlier this winter totally worth it! I can't wait to do it again!

    I outsprinted one woman in the lanes and ended up 5th in my heat and 25th overall . Those two and a half minutes of racing were so incredibly fun and made all the tough qualifiers I had done earlier this winter totally worth it! I can't wait to do it again!

    It was another great weekend for the US team with 8 top 30 finishes and six personal bests in the specific discipline.

    It was another great weekend for the US team with 8 top 30 finishes and six personal bests in the specific discipline.

    This is the sunset from my last night in Europe. Now I’m back in Craftsbury and very psyched to be home! The crew here has done an amazing job getting the snowmaking system up and running and the skiing is really good. I have a lot of experience on short manmade loops of snow now and I think this is the best one yet! We are still doing our snow dances, though, with hopes for a white Christmas!

    This is the sunset from my last night in Europe. Now I’m back in Craftsbury and very psyched to be home! The crew here has done an amazing job getting the snowmaking system up and running and the skiing is really good. I have a lot of experience on short manmade loops of snow now and I think this is the best one yet! We are still doing our snow dances, though, with hopes for a white Christmas!

  • When the snow finally came

    We traveled from Dusseldorf back to Davos with rumors that it was actually snowing!  I was hesitant to believe it as it was pouring on the drive from the Zurich airport but when we climbed out of one of the upper tunnels on the drive, big fat fluffy flakes were falling.  Snowflakes in the air and accumulating on the ground!  It continued to snow for the rest of that day and then a few days later.  At first it was just enough to cover the mountains and ground giving an actual wintery look to the landscape but soon it was enough that we were no longer reliant on the manmade snow and we were able to venture out from the short training loops.  The day after the races in Davos our whole team along with the Canadian team headed out away from the stadium and up one of the valleys.  Kikkan had a portable speaker in her waterbottle holder and was blasting Christmas music as we skied along.  When we got to the end of the groomed trail, we continued on, first following ski tracks of others, and then breaking our own trail.  Powder…what is this stuff?  One 3 hour loop?  That’s almost overwhelming.  After a tough weekend of racing the ski was exactly what I needed and put the spring back in my step.  Spending the morning outside tromping through lots of fresh snow and cutting fresh tracks with my teammates and friends reminded me of how much I love the sport and how lucky I am to be here living this lifestyle.

    Looking up the valley towards Davos

    Looking up the valley towards Davos

    The girlies striding up the hill with Christmas carols in the air

    The girlies striding up the hill with Christmas carols in the air

    Liz on the way back down

    Liz on the way back down

    Making friends

    Making friends

    This is the view from the stadium on race day. It doesn't get much better than this!

    This is the view from the stadium on race day. There were lots of Swiss fans with barrel sized giant cow bells

    Feeling really lucky! It doesn't get much better than this!

    Feeling really lucky! It doesn't get much better than this!

  • WHITE CHRISTMAS = Ramsau!!!!!!!!!

    I really don’t mean to rub it in, but we will be having a white Christmas here in Ramsau, Austria! If I could share some of this snow with all of you back in the States who are snowless, I for sure would. But as I can’t, I have been doing my absolute best to enjoy every ounce of it. Last night we went to the second run of the Men’s World Cup Slalom race in Flachau, Austria, just a quick 30 minute drive away. It was a snowy night and the crowds were huge. What a show to be a part of. A World Cup night slalom in Austria, yeah, there were some people there. The day before was the Women’s race and Kikkan, Jeff and I caught the first run, which was really cool.
    Now we are all settling in for Christmas together. There haven’t been many times in my life when I have been happier than I am right now. We have an unbelievable team of people who train together and sit at meals longer than necessary because we are just chatting. We share ideas, thoughts, watch movies, play music, share really embarrassing things about ourselves like the fact I have listened to the complete Harry Potter series at least 8 times over again and can pretty much quote all 7 books. And now you all know that too, but my point is, we are all friends, not just teammates, who share a common interest that we get to try and perfect every day and are psyched to help one another get better too. There have been days and weeks that have been hard for one of us or another, and the group has held these people up. We are a unit, not just a bunch of individuals who happen to all be good at the same thing and are forced to be together and get along. We have gotten past that and are a genuine team, and it is this simple change in the way we think of one another and the way we think of the group as a whole that has been the change we needed to make to become faster. I am this happy because I am surrounded by people who I care about and who care about me. I am surrounded by people who I am working together with to try and be great, and there is nothing that I can think of that is more inspiring to be a part of than that. I don’t want to be anywhere else but right here, where I am now. I love ski racing, I love my team, I love snow. I will be very happy to make a snow angel for all of you who are praying for snow. Just let me know. Until Christmas….

    Sarah Schleper and Kikkan right after Sarah gave Kik her coat in the finish zone because she said it matched her hair!
    Day 1 of National Team’s Christmas Vacation. Yahtzee.
    Holly cutting some perfect Tele turns in the fresh powder on the most perfect day of skiing there is. I can’t help it, I’m totally addicted to this life.
    Holly smiling big. Andy, Holly and I went classic touring day 1 here and our faces hurt because we smiled so big the whole ski. The whole team was like a bunch of giddy kids on Christmas morning. Skiing really doesn’t get better than this.
    More from Day 1 skiing. Since then we have gotten about 2 feet of fresh snow and it is now officially a winter wonderland here.
    The first morning I woke up and opened my curtains this is what I saw. Crescent moon, white snow everywhere and fresh ski tracks. I really don’t mean to be rubbing this in to all of you stuck somewhere this time of year with no snow and freezing rain, but I recognize I kind of am:)
    Yep.
    Rogla got a bunch of snow the night before the classic race and then even more the night before the Sprint day, so it really made it look extremely pretty everywhere.
    Speaking of pretty! Here she is! The star of the day! Chandra Crawford, on her first World Cup individual podium since Lahti in 2008. She is a star in every way. She supports her teammates to all ends and is the most positive, outgoing, champion of a person you could ever hope to meet. She is a girl you should all root for, cheer for, and watch closely because she is just gaining momentum.
    Women’s podium on Sunday.
    That’s the smile that seems to never leave Chandra’s face. It’s like a sunny day.
    Noah and Sim after Simi’s Semifinal. Congrats to Sim for his first World Cup top 10!
    Ida sprinting it out in her first World Cup quarterfinal! YEAH!

    This was our hotel in Rogla. It was some sort of hotel/PT center/Spa/Rehab facility/waterpark/nursing home. It was tough to tell, but the Christmas crew did go check out this outdoor pool on our last night just to do a few cannonballs, you know, they just make you feel good.
    Complete with bathrobes.
    The Christmas Crew our last night in Rogla. Pizza. Yum.
    Me and my new guitar!!! Andy Newell bought a new one and I got his “Washburn Rover” travel guitar! So, I am trying to learn a new skill, opening up the artsy section of my brain. I’m still working out how to unlock the door, but it’s been really fun to try.
    Red sky at night, skiers delight. Beautiful sunset in Rogla.

  • Gifts

  • Treadmill Time…

    I arrived back home for the Holidays on Monday night and will be home for a whole six days before heading back over to Germany.  I have not been home for the Holidays in three years so it feels great … Continue reading →

  • Rogla Distance Races

    Oh yeah, there were some distance races in Rogla on Saturday too, huh?

    Once again, this will be short on the words; just some pretty pictures. The US women had another strong outing:

    Once again I’d note the continued downward trends for Holly and Kikkan and the generally flat trend for Liz. (Ida still has too few races for trends to be particularly meaningful.) In particular, I would emphasize that Kikkan’s classic skiing is showing the sort of trend her freestyle skiing has shown for a few years now:

    Alex Harvey and Devon Kershaw were probably hoping for more on Saturday, and although their results weren’t terrible, they also weren’t all that great (for them):

    The final thing I’ll note is that I noticed that the Russian women put three folks in the top ten on Saturday, a fairly strong showing for them. A sign of a resurgence for the Russian women? Well…

    In Ivanova’s case, that race appears to be at her ceiling (or floor, I suppose if we associate down with better performance). As for Iksanova and Medvedeva, it’s still a bit early to tell, but it’s a good sign for those ladies to be starting out with results in the negative zone of these graphs.

     

    Related posts:

    1. <Davos Recap: Distance
    2. <La Clusaz Recap: Distance Mass Start
    3. <Mid-Season Recap: North American Distance


  • Skiing in the Valley

    Skiing in the Valley

     This morning David Sinclair and I did a power workout on snow thanks to the Sugarbush Resort.  We were able to ski around the base area of Mt. Ellen and we pushed ourselves to the top of the new GMVS Poma three times.  Each climb took about 10 minutes.  We practiced traversing techniques and fast transitions as we switch-backed.  The surface was fast and easy to ski on.
    What goes up must come down:)  The bottom of the area provides pretty darn skiable terrain and they are going to have the base area smoothed out this evening.
    Visions of the wax room and preparation for the first Eastern Cups.  The marks of a good time all around, Flex Term, the Catamount Trail, Fischer skis and fast wax!

     Did I say Fischer skis??
    Wax art.

  • Low Flying Hamster

    Dear winter,
    I miss you. Please come back.
    Love,
    Nate

    Since the snow is not cooperating this year (dang did we get spoiled last year!), and all the races for citizen racers were cancelled, I figured that we needed to take things into our own hands and organize our own opportunity to go fast. So last Wednesday while sitting in my car in the pouring rain I called up Dave and proposed a time trial on the man-made snow of Elm Creek. Dave started spreading the word at practice that evening, an event was made on the Vakava facebook page (feel free to “like” us), and by Saturday morning we had a group of 40 to 50 skiers ready to knock the cobwebs off their racing muscles. This was made even more entertaining by Cheryl’s idea to make the time trial an “ugly race suit” contest too.

    When the start time rolled around everyone lined up and the race was on. I was lucky enough to have Bjorn Batdorf and Jon Miller show up, and the three of us soon formed a lead pack,and we traded off the lead every couple of kilometers. With about 1.5k to go in our 10k race I went to the lead to push the pace. The conditions were pretty soft and granular, and I figured if I could be in the lead going into the last uphill it would be hard to pass. This, in addition to a pretty ill-defined finish line, allowed me to just stay in front of a hard charging Bjorn. Jon came across another 5 or 10 seconds back.

  • COC Races 3 and 4

    So I am finally getting recovered from a weak of racing. It is now time for the holiday break and I couldn’t be more excited with my results for the first period of competitions.

    With not the best jumping this last week, I proved you don’t you don’t have to jump amazing to get podiums. I am very happy with my form in the cross country side. I can go into every race now, knowing I can push the pace very hard, and make up some spots with strong finishes.

    COC #3- First international win
    After strong races Friday and Saturday, I was very confident going into these next couple races. After the jumping portion and being almost 20 seconds closer to the leader, I knew right away I had a very good chance of getting my first Continental Cup victory. 

    Starting out, all I wanted to do was go out controlled and smooth. I knew that was going to be the smartest thing to do, now that it was the third race in three days. After a very fast but controlled first lap, I felt amazing due to the amazing skis I had. I then went into the next couple laps trying to pick up the pace with each lap and pick off each group of skiers. On the third lap, I had made it up to the lead group and decided to try and go straight by them. When I caught them and went straight by them, I was waiting for the sound of skis and poles to get closer and end up right behind me. It wasn’t till a couple hundred meters later, that I realized I had opened up a good size gap and decided to go for the win right away.

    For me to get my first win the way I did was fantastic! Skiing two whole laps on my own and keeping my time advantage all the way to the finish was nice, since it allowed me to celebrate going into the finishing line!

    COC #4- 2nd Place
    Coming off my first win and a day off, I was really excited to go and try for another win. After a better day on the jumping hill, I was closer to the lead and knew I had a very good chance.  Right away I was in the lead group and trying to push the pace like Sunday. One of the Germans and I had broke away from the group, and opened up a large gap to third place. On the last lap I went as hard as I could to break away, I was only successful in getting 4 to 5 seconds. Going into the stadium I was going as hard as I could, but Mark had very fast skis in the stadium and was able to close the gap making it a sprint for the finish. I did try as hard as possible for my first sprint finish victory, but wasn’t able to over take him, putting me in 2nd place!

    I was really happy with the start of the season! With some time off and jump training, I feel like I will be in very good form going in to the next set of competitions in Schonach, Germany and Chaux Neuve, France. My main goal while I am there will be trying to secure another spot on world cup. With that, I will need to be in the top 30 multiple days, which is something I know I can do!

    Stay tuned!

  • Craftsbury Pictures!

     Some great shots from MK’s dad! Anthony Cirelli.

    Yes!

  • Craftsbury Eastern Cup Recap

    Kris Dobie photo.
    Due to the amazing work of the Craftsbury community we were able to get the Eastern Cup Season off and running.  Alum and current GMVS mentor, Tim Reynolds stole the show and led an impressive crew of current and alum skiers with a big Double Victory on Saturday by double poling both the Sprint and the Prologue.
    It was great to see skiers from throughout New England and Canada getting after it right out of the blocks.  Many juniors and some college programs have had limited time on snow so far so it was interesting watching it all come together.  We had six current GMVS skiers out on the trails racing and all had some great moments.  We had Peter Kling, PG alum and APU skier, racing off our wax bench too and he had two solid 7th place finishes in the Sprint and Prologue.
    Other alums out there racing included: Doug Debold (Middlebury) with a fifth and sixth in the Sprint and Prologue respectively, Dylan Grald (UVM), David Sinclair (Dartmouth), Ryan Kerrigan (VTXC),  Antoine St-Louis, Daniel Moore, Robin Anderson (VTXC), and Emily Stitt (Middlebury).
    Doug Hardy photo.
     Heidi led our current crew with two impressive 11th place finishes on Saturday finishing second and third for J1’s in the the Sprint and Prologue.  Devlin Shea was the fourth American J1 in the Sprint and fifth in the Prologue.  Coach/athlete, Evan Dethier suprised himself a bit in the sprint and pulled off a 26th place finish!
    Sunday, MK had an awesome skate race, pulling 23rd.  Heidi was 28th.  Kaitlin had a very consistent weekend and has gained some ground on her peers since last year, she finished with 48th, 50th and 53rd in a field of over 150 women.
    Ryley is recovering from a hip injury and raced Saturday and trained and cheered on Sunday.
    Craftsbury photo.

    It was a solid start for the Gumbies.  We will have some pictures up in a few days.  Most of us are going to see our families this week and get a well deserved rest before commencing team practice on Thursday to start a last intensity block before Nationals.  We have some skiing available to us at the base of Sugarbush which I am going to check out tomorrow morning with a few of our local club skiers.  Keep up the snow dances:)