FasterSkier

Category: XCFeeds

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

  • Utah

    I just arrived home after an incredible three-week training camp in Utah.  One of the reasons that we always travel to Utah for October training is that it is one of the few places in the World with a great … Continue reading →

  • Lithuania And Co.

    In the same vein as my previous post following up on Spain’s WC prospects, the FasterSkier series next looked at Lithuania. I’m sometimes curious why some of the former Soviet republics aren’t better represented in cross country skiing. I imagine many of them have struggled economically since the breakup of the USSR and national sports programs wouldn’t be a priority in that case. (I don’t know anything about Lithuania’s economy, for the record. Update: An actual Lithuanian has popped by in the comments to other their own insights.)

    But whatever the reason, Lithuania is sort of a prototypical example of the former Soviet republic. For instance, by far the best Lithuanian skier that I can find in their history (post-Soviet era) is (was) Vida Venzene. And she was a rather talented Soviet skier who switched to her native Lithuania once they became independent. So a lot of these new nations inherited some great skiers (Vladimir Smirnov, anyone?) but suddenly cut off economically from Russia some of them haven’t been able rebuild their own program.

    The only three Lithuanian skiers that I can find who have recorded top 30 results are Venzene, Ricardas Panavas and Irina Terentjeva. Terentjeva’s Wikipedia page is out of date, as she has had a few top 30 results since the 37th listed there as her best result.

    But as with Laura Orgue in my last post, there’s reason for concern when looking at Teretjeva’s results:

    Her median distance result (in blue) has been up and down over the years. But what stands out to me is the steady decline in her best result over the past five years or so. Her sprint results don’t reveal an encouraging trend either:

    Related posts:

    1. <Most Unimproved Men: Distance
    2. <NOW Is It Panic Time For The Norwegian Men’s Distance Team?
    3. <Rybinsk: Sprint Recap


  • Lithuania And Co.

    In the same vein as my previous post following up on Spain’s WC prospects, the FasterSkier series next looked at Lithuania. I’m sometimes curious why some of the former Soviet republics aren’t better represented in cross country skiing. I imagine many of them have struggled economically since the breakup of the USSR and national sports programs wouldn’t be a priority in that case. (I don’t know anything about Lithuania’s economy, for the record. Update: An actual Lithuanian has popped by in the comments to other their own insights.)

    But whatever the reason, Lithuania is sort of a prototypical example of the former Soviet republic. For instance, by far the best Lithuanian skier that I can find in their history (post-Soviet era) is (was) Vida Venzene. And she was a rather talented Soviet skier who switched to her native Lithuania once they became independent. So a lot of these new nations inherited some great skiers (Vladimir Smirnov, anyone?) but suddenly cut off economically from Russia some of them haven’t been able rebuild their own program.

    The only three Lithuanian skiers that I can find who have recorded top 30 results are Venzene, Ricardas Panavas and Irina Terentjeva. Terentjeva’s Wikipedia page is out of date, as she has had a few top 30 results since the 37th listed there as her best result.

    But as with Laura Orgue in my last post, there’s reason for concern when looking at Teretjeva’s results:

    Her median distance result (in blue) has been up and down over the years. But what stands out to me is the steady decline in her best result over the past five years or so. Her sprint results don’t reveal an encouraging trend either:

    Related posts:

    1. <Most Unimproved Men: Distance
    2. <NOW Is It Panic Time For The Norwegian Men’s Distance Team?
    3. <Rybinsk: Sprint Recap


  • Lithuania And Co.

    In the same vein as my previous post following up on Spain’s WC prospects, the FasterSkier series next looked at Lithuania. I’m sometimes curious why some of the former Soviet republics aren’t better represented in cross country skiing. I imagine many of them have struggled economically since the breakup of the USSR and national sports programs wouldn’t be a priority in that case. (I don’t know anything about Lithuania’s economy, for the record. Update: An actual Lithuanian has popped by in the comments to other their own insights.)

    But whatever the reason, Lithuania is sort of a prototypical example of the former Soviet republic. For instance, by far the best Lithuanian skier that I can find in their history (post-Soviet era) is (was) Vida Venzene. And she was a rather talented Soviet skier who switched to her native Lithuania once they became independent. So a lot of these new nations inherited some great skiers (Vladimir Smirnov, anyone?) but suddenly cut off economically from Russia some of them haven’t been able rebuild their own program.

    The only three Lithuanian skiers that I can find who have recorded top 30 results are Venzene, Ricardas Panavas and Irina Terentjeva. Terentjeva’s Wikipedia page is out of date, as she has had a few top 30 results since the 37th listed there as her best result.

    But as with Laura Orgue in my last post, there’s reason for concern when looking at Teretjeva’s results:

    Her median distance result (in blue) has been up and down over the years. But what stands out to me is the steady decline in her best result over the past five years or so. Her sprint results don’t reveal an encouraging trend either:

    Related posts:

    1. <Most Unimproved Men: Distance
    2. <NOW Is It Panic Time For The Norwegian Men’s Distance Team?
    3. <Rybinsk: Sprint Recap


  • C’mon winter

    The warm weather in Muonio has continued and it feels a lot like April in Vermont.  The forecast had called for a fair amount of snow the past two days here but then the temperatures were a few degrees too warm and the precipitation came as rain.  Luckily they spread the manmade and saved snow thickly and it is holding up quite well.  The skiing remains solid even though it hasn’t even froze at night for the past few days, preventing any more snow from being blown.  Thus, each day the white ribbon of a trail develops a bit more of a brownish hue.

    Reports from around Europe and especially Scandinavia make us feel quite lucky to have our 3km loop.  With incredibly few options for skiing anywhere on the continent, more and more skiers are travelling to Muonio in search of snow and ski races.  The Czech and Belarussian national teams are the latest arrivals and we’ve heard that the Germans, Swedes, and others are on the way.  Each day Muonio becomes a little busier.  The ski trail is packed and we were even throwing elbows in Muonio’s small gym yesterday afternoon.   On distance days I’ve realized it’s easiest to just  ski my own pace and not worry about all the people around me.  If someone wants to pass me, I keep going and let them go around and then do the same when passing other skiers.  It’s easy to get intimidated and jump out of the way for every approaching skier but that just makes for a lot of stopping and starting.

    Intervals on the busy trail become exciting and great practice for skiing in a pack.  Today we did some 2 minute hard classic intervals in the rain and right in the thick of the crowds.  We lucked out and the majority of people were skating today leaving the classic track a little more free for us.  Still, there was lots of passing and jumping in and out of the track necessary.  In the middle of one of my intervals, I was gaining quickly on another classic skier in the track ahead of me, another guy doing skating intervals was passing me and meanwhile we were all converging on a train of four Russian biathletes skiing distance with their guns.  The skater doing intervals and classic skier tangled and went down, one of the biathletes let out a surprised and high pitched scream while another yelled something loudly in Russian and by sheer luck I was able to scoot around the mess to the far right being careful to not fall off the raised ribbon of ski trail.

    Here are some pictures Hannah took of our rainy, hard, but fun workout.  When winter does arrive, the hard extra blue tracks are going to seem just a bit too easy!

    Ida

    Ida

    Tim

    Tim

    Pepa on the side of the trail

    Pepa on the side of the trail

  • C’mon winter

    The warm weather in Muonio has continued and it feels a lot like April in Vermont.  The forecast had called for a fair amount of snow the past two days here but then the temperatures were a few degrees too warm and the precipitation came as rain.  Luckily they spread the manmade and saved snow thickly and it is holding up quite well.  The skiing remains solid even though it hasn’t even froze at night for the past few days, preventing any more snow from being blown.  Thus, each day the white ribbon of a trail develops a bit more of a brownish hue.

    Reports from around Europe and especially Scandinavia make us feel quite lucky to have our 3km loop.  With incredibly few options for skiing anywhere on the continent, more and more skiers are travelling to Muonio in search of snow and ski races.  The Czech and Belarussian national teams are the latest arrivals and we’ve heard that the Germans, Swedes, and others are on the way.  Each day Muonio becomes a little busier.  The ski trail is packed and we were even throwing elbows in Muonio’s small gym yesterday afternoon.   On distance days I’ve realized it’s easiest to just  ski my own pace and not worry about all the people around me.  If someone wants to pass me, I keep going and let them go around and then do the same when passing other skiers.  It’s easy to get intimidated and jump out of the way for every approaching skier but that just makes for a lot of stopping and starting.

    Intervals on the busy trail become exciting and great practice for skiing in a pack.  Today we did some 2 minute hard classic intervals in the rain and right in the thick of the crowds.  We lucked out and the majority of people were skating today leaving the classic track a little more free for us.  Still, there was lots of passing and jumping in and out of the track necessary.  In the middle of one of my intervals, I was gaining quickly on another classic skier in the track ahead of me, another guy doing skating intervals was passing me and meanwhile we were all converging on a train of four Russian biathletes skiing distance with their guns.  The skater doing intervals and classic skier tangled and went down, one of the biathletes let out a surprised and high pitched scream while another yelled something loudly in Russian and by sheer luck I was able to scoot around the mess to the far right being careful to not fall off the raised ribbon of ski trail.

    Here are some pictures Hannah took of our rainy, hard, but fun workout.  When winter does arrive, the hard extra blue tracks are going to seem just a bit too easy!

    Ida

    Ida

    Tim

    Tim

    Pepa on the side of the trail

    Pepa on the side of the trail

  • C’mon winter

    The warm weather in Muonio has continued and it feels a lot like April in Vermont.  The forecast had called for a fair amount of snow the past two days here but then the temperatures were a few degrees too warm and the precipitation came as rain.  Luckily they spread the manmade and saved snow thickly and it is holding up quite well.  The skiing remains solid even though it hasn’t even froze at night for the past few days, preventing any more snow from being blown.  Thus, each day the white ribbon of a trail develops a bit more of a brownish hue.

    Reports from around Europe and especially Scandinavia make us feel quite lucky to have our 3km loop.  With incredibly few options for skiing anywhere on the continent, more and more skiers are travelling to Muonio in search of snow and ski races.  The Czech and Belarussian national teams are the latest arrivals and we’ve heard that the Germans, Swedes, and others are on the way.  Each day Muonio becomes a little busier.  The ski trail is packed and we were even throwing elbows in Muonio’s small gym yesterday afternoon.   On distance days I’ve realized it’s easiest to just  ski my own pace and not worry about all the people around me.  If someone wants to pass me, I keep going and let them go around and then do the same when passing other skiers.  It’s easy to get intimidated and jump out of the way for every approaching skier but that just makes for a lot of stopping and starting.

    Intervals on the busy trail become exciting and great practice for skiing in a pack.  Today we did some 2 minute hard classic intervals in the rain and right in the thick of the crowds.  We lucked out and the majority of people were skating today leaving the classic track a little more free for us.  Still, there was lots of passing and jumping in and out of the track necessary.  In the middle of one of my intervals, I was gaining quickly on another classic skier in the track ahead of me, another guy doing skating intervals was passing me and meanwhile we were all converging on a train of four Russian biathletes skiing distance with their guns.  The skater doing intervals and classic skier tangled and went down, one of the biathletes let out a surprised and high pitched scream while another yelled something loudly in Russian and by sheer luck I was able to scoot around the mess to the far right being careful to not fall off the raised ribbon of ski trail.

    Here are some pictures Hannah took of our rainy, hard, but fun workout.  When winter does arrive, the hard extra blue tracks are going to seem just a bit too easy!

    Ida

    Ida

    Tim

    Tim

    Pepa on the side of the trail

    Pepa on the side of the trail

  • Final Fairbanks update

    I just got back from our camp in Fairbanks. I spent 8 days up there and skied close to 500 kilometers in that period. This was a great chance for me to get on snow early in the season. Not a lot of ski venues had all of their trails open for the last week of October, but Birch Hill did.

    Friday through Sunday, myself and the other APU athletes helped host a kids camp. We did lots of drills with the kids, like no pole skiing and one pole skiing. We would work on the kids technique for the first hour of each workout then the kids spent the rest of the workout following us around the trails. A big part of being a successful skier is just getting out there and doing kilometers and kilometers of skiing. The camp was organized by a non profit group called Challenge Life. It was a lot of fun to be apart of the camp and get a chance to teach some of the younger generation. There were a lot of kids out on the trails that are just starting the sport and were so passionate about having fun and learning.

    Here is a video of my friend and teammate, Reese Hanneman and I. He put the clips together, I did some of the filming.  It’s from one of the downhills on the race course. We spent a lot of time working this one corner. I have a pretty good feeling Reese and I will have one of the fastest times on this section of the course in three weeks.

  • Apply for the Ski Strong Birkie Scholarship

    Hello All,I’ve just been informed about this great scholarship which is offered in the name of Dave Landgraf.  Please spread the word!
    Ski Strong
    This foundation is created in memory of Dave Landgraf, a Birkebeiner founder, who’s life was greatly affected by the wonderful sport of cross country skiing. He skied every Birkie from 1973-2011. The name Ski Strong was the idea of Emalea Landgraf, Dave

  • Apply for the Ski Strong Birkie Scholarship

    Hello All,I’ve just been informed about this great scholarship which is offered in the name of Dave Landgraf.  Please spread the word!
    Ski Strong
    This foundation is created in memory of Dave Landgraf, a Birkebeiner founder, who’s life was greatly affected by the wonderful sport of cross country skiing. He skied every Birkie from 1973-2011. The name Ski Strong was the idea of Emalea Landgraf, Dave

  • Apply for the Ski Strong Birkie Scholarship

    Hello All,I’ve just been informed about this great scholarship which is offered in the name of Dave Landgraf.  Please spread the word!
    Ski Strong
    This foundation is created in memory of Dave Landgraf, a Birkebeiner founder, who’s life was greatly affected by the wonderful sport of cross country skiing. He skied every Birkie from 1973-2011. The name Ski Strong was the idea of Emalea Landgraf, Dave

  • Max Speed/Power

    Today we stepped out the backdoor onto some fresh pavement to do max speed/power work on foot and on roller skis. After warming up on the classic boards, we launched into the workout, designed to develop fast, explosive impulses.
    We started with the running component: 6, 8, and 12 second max efforts repeated three times.

    The workout is deceptively hard… we brought some pain faces out to play.

    Dev… killing it in bare feet.

    We were all channeling our inner Usain Bolt.
    After the running, we strapped on the skis, rolled up the hill easily, then returned (with skis still on!) to the start line in the van. Three more sets of max speeds and we were done. A solid workout all around.

    It was all about speed today: first raw speed, then trying to go as fast as possible while holding together some classic technique!
    And it was beautiful in Waitsfield to boot!

  • Max Speed/Power

    Today we stepped out the backdoor onto some fresh pavement to do max speed/power work on foot and on roller skis. After warming up on the classic boards, we launched into the workout, designed to develop fast, explosive impulses.
    We started with the running component: 6, 8, and 12 second max efforts repeated three times.

    The workout is deceptively hard… we brought some pain faces out to play.

    Dev… killing it in bare feet.

    We were all channeling our inner Usain Bolt.
    After the running, we strapped on the skis, rolled up the hill easily, then returned (with skis still on!) to the start line in the van. Three more sets of max speeds and we were done. A solid workout all around.

    It was all about speed today: first raw speed, then trying to go as fast as possible while holding together some classic technique!
    And it was beautiful in Waitsfield to boot!

  • Max Speed/Power

    Today we stepped out the backdoor onto some fresh pavement to do max speed/power work on foot and on roller skis. After warming up on the classic boards, we launched into the workout, designed to develop fast, explosive impulses.
    We started with the running component: 6, 8, and 12 second max efforts repeated three times.

    The workout is deceptively hard… we brought some pain faces out to play.

    Dev… killing it in bare feet.

    We were all channeling our inner Usain Bolt.
    After the running, we strapped on the skis, rolled up the hill easily, then returned (with skis still on!) to the start line in the van. Three more sets of max speeds and we were done. A solid workout all around.

    It was all about speed today: first raw speed, then trying to go as fast as possible while holding together some classic technique!
    And it was beautiful in Waitsfield to boot!

  • NNF Friend Raising Party

    Sunday evening the Kaedings hosted a nice dinner at their home to introduce people to the National Nordic Foundation. NNF director, Dave Knoop, came from Park City and USST athletes Andy Newell and Liz Stephen attended and entertained us with a slide show and stories about their World Cup experiences.

    The NNF raises money to help offset costs for many of the USST development trips including the J1 Scandinavian trip, World Jrs/U23’s and some Europa Cup races.
    Pictured above are Andy, Gus Kaeding (host…well… the hosts son) and Paddy Caldwell (recipient of NNF funding help on the J1 trip). Paddy got to hear “old” SMS stories over dinner this evening.
    Thanks to the Kaedings for hosting the dinner and to NNF for helping the US nordic development effort.
    Meanwhile, the snow from the weekend storm is melting so we went back to roller skiing today.
    Hamish, Corky and Anika.
    Liz gives Mackenzie and Tess some pointers.

  • NNF Friend Raising Party

    Sunday evening the Kaedings hosted a nice dinner at their home to introduce people to the National Nordic Foundation. NNF director, Dave Knoop, came from Park City and USST athletes Andy Newell and Liz Stephen attended and entertained us with a slide show and stories about their World Cup experiences.

    The NNF raises money to help offset costs for many of the USST development trips including the J1 Scandinavian trip, World Jrs/U23’s and some Europa Cup races.
    Pictured above are Andy, Gus Kaeding (host…well… the hosts son) and Paddy Caldwell (recipient of NNF funding help on the J1 trip). Paddy got to hear “old” SMS stories over dinner this evening.
    Thanks to the Kaedings for hosting the dinner and to NNF for helping the US nordic development effort.
    Meanwhile, the snow from the weekend storm is melting so we went back to roller skiing today.
    Hamish, Corky and Anika.
    Liz gives Mackenzie and Tess some pointers.

  • Alum Highlight: Tim Reynolds

    Tim Reynolds and fellow Green Teamers, Patrick O’Brien and Dylan McGuffin training in Finland.              

    We are happy to spotlight and welcome Tim Reynolds back into the GMVS community as a Club Coach, mentor, and promoter of the sport of Cross-Country Skiing.  Tim grew up in Bristol, VT and skied withBreadloaf BKL.  He transferred to GMVS during his sophomore year ofhigh school, because his local high school did not have a skiteam and and he realized he wanted topursue skiing at a higher level.
    Tim took full advantage of the many opportunities available at GMVS, playing soccer and lacrosse alongside his skiing.  He also ran cross country during hissenior year in addition to captaining the soccer team.  During this year he represented Vermont in the annual Twin State soccer game andwas runner-up at VT State XC Championships, alongside being a three-timeAll-American in XC Skiing. 
    Beyond athletics Tim was his class’ valedictorian, a VSAC scholar, andclass president.
    Since graduating, he has maintained close ties with the Nordic program, helping out at summer camps and falltraining and participated in GMVS xc events each year since Igraduated in 2004.
    Tim is excited to be a part of the institution that helped his development:
    My goals working with the team aretwo-fold. GMVS was like home for me. When I visited campus lastmonth and caught part of the soccer game on the quad against my oldschool and perennial rival Mount Abe, watched the kids take off fromthe post game cheer straight to the powder room to get their make-upfor that evenings theater debut, I was overwhelmed by nostalgia. This school was the place I became independent, where I learned howto learn, how to ski, how to achieve my goals. I’m excited to helpother people understand that GMVS is an excellent place to grow bothas a person and an athlete and build a solid foundation for asuccessful collegiate experience. 
    I’m also looking forward to helpingbuild the local Nordic ski program. I was very active with FrostMountain Nordic while at Middlebury, and assisted in thetransformation of a growing BKL program into an all inclusive clubthat has become an integral community asset. I hope to encouragesimilar growth in the Mad River Valley.

     

    Tim is currently at a camp in Finland, getting some early snow and readying himself for the 2012 ski season.  Here is a letter he recently wrote to us from camp:
    It’s hard to believe, but it’ssnowy in Vermont and warm and rainy in Muonio, Finland, about 300kmnorth of the Arctic Circle. It seems a cruel trick to travel so farto find snow only to have it fall at home, but despite theunseasonable weather in this true north country, my team fromCraftsbury has had some solid skiing conditions on a 3km loop.
    The track has held up surprisinglywell, considering the hundreds of skiers making laps all day, and allnight, or rather the night time that is still technically considered‘day.’  We have a training camp here for twoweeks, followed by the Finnish FIS Openers which should see a numberof national teams and Russian and Finnish club teams vying for thelast World Cup start spots in the first few Scandinavian World Cups. Following the races we head south to Rovaniemi, the officialhometown of Santa Claus, for another weekend of very competitive FISraces.
    I’ll part ways with Craftsbury afterthat and spend a long day on the train via Umeaa and Oestersund,Sweden, en route to Aare, Sweden, where I spent a year abroad aftergraduating from GMVS before matriculating to Middlebury. I’vemaintained some really close connections in this town, and I’llspend two weeks, hopefully on snow if the weather turns around,before wrapping up my Scandinavia preseason racing the first SwedishCup Opener in Boden, Sweden with my old club from Aare.
    It’s great being able to race andtrain in Europe for such an extended period of time. The skiing isat a different level here: everyone is fast. The differencebetween an on day and off day can be from the first to the fourthpage of the results. It’s a much deeper game than at home.
    That being said, I’m excited to getback to Vermont and start working more formally with the program atGMVS. I’ve skied my whole life, but got serious about racing whenI began attending school in the Mad River Valley as a sophomore. Looking back, it was the source of a path I’ve been following forseveral years now, chasing this skiing dream: from a year abroad inSweden, to 4 years skiing in college, to pursuing skiing full-timewith Craftsbury’s Green Racing Project.
    It’s a path I’ve found veryrewarding. I’m looking forward to encouraging others to follow it,and helping the skiers at GMVS who have already started along theirway.

  • Alum Highlight: Tim Reynolds

    Tim Reynolds and fellow Green Teamers, Patrick O’Brien and Dylan McGuffin training in Finland.              

    We are happy to spotlight and welcome Tim Reynolds back into the GMVS community as a Club Coach, mentor, and promoter of the sport of Cross-Country Skiing.  Tim grew up in Bristol, VT and skied withBreadloaf BKL.  He transferred to GMVS during his sophomore year ofhigh school, because his local high school did not have a skiteam and and he realized he wanted topursue skiing at a higher level.
    Tim took full advantage of the many opportunities available at GMVS, playing soccer and lacrosse alongside his skiing.  He also ran cross country during hissenior year in addition to captaining the soccer team.  During this year he represented Vermont in the annual Twin State soccer game andwas runner-up at VT State XC Championships, alongside being a three-timeAll-American in XC Skiing. 
    Beyond athletics Tim was his class’ valedictorian, a VSAC scholar, andclass president.
    Since graduating, he has maintained close ties with the Nordic program, helping out at summer camps and falltraining and participated in GMVS xc events each year since Igraduated in 2004.
    Tim is excited to be a part of the institution that helped his development:
    My goals working with the team aretwo-fold. GMVS was like home for me. When I visited campus lastmonth and caught part of the soccer game on the quad against my oldschool and perennial rival Mount Abe, watched the kids take off fromthe post game cheer straight to the powder room to get their make-upfor that evenings theater debut, I was overwhelmed by nostalgia. This school was the place I became independent, where I learned howto learn, how to ski, how to achieve my goals. I’m excited to helpother people understand that GMVS is an excellent place to grow bothas a person and an athlete and build a solid foundation for asuccessful collegiate experience. 
    I’m also looking forward to helpingbuild the local Nordic ski program. I was very active with FrostMountain Nordic while at Middlebury, and assisted in thetransformation of a growing BKL program into an all inclusive clubthat has become an integral community asset. I hope to encouragesimilar growth in the Mad River Valley.

     

    Tim is currently at a camp in Finland, getting some early snow and readying himself for the 2012 ski season.  Here is a letter he recently wrote to us from camp:
    It’s hard to believe, but it’ssnowy in Vermont and warm and rainy in Muonio, Finland, about 300kmnorth of the Arctic Circle. It seems a cruel trick to travel so farto find snow only to have it fall at home, but despite theunseasonable weather in this true north country, my team fromCraftsbury has had some solid skiing conditions on a 3km loop.
    The track has held up surprisinglywell, considering the hundreds of skiers making laps all day, and allnight, or rather the night time that is still technically considered‘day.’  We have a training camp here for twoweeks, followed by the Finnish FIS Openers which should see a numberof national teams and Russian and Finnish club teams vying for thelast World Cup start spots in the first few Scandinavian World Cups. Following the races we head south to Rovaniemi, the officialhometown of Santa Claus, for another weekend of very competitive FISraces.
    I’ll part ways with Craftsbury afterthat and spend a long day on the train via Umeaa and Oestersund,Sweden, en route to Aare, Sweden, where I spent a year abroad aftergraduating from GMVS before matriculating to Middlebury. I’vemaintained some really close connections in this town, and I’llspend two weeks, hopefully on snow if the weather turns around,before wrapping up my Scandinavia preseason racing the first SwedishCup Opener in Boden, Sweden with my old club from Aare.
    It’s great being able to race andtrain in Europe for such an extended period of time. The skiing isat a different level here: everyone is fast. The differencebetween an on day and off day can be from the first to the fourthpage of the results. It’s a much deeper game than at home.
    That being said, I’m excited to getback to Vermont and start working more formally with the program atGMVS. I’ve skied my whole life, but got serious about racing whenI began attending school in the Mad River Valley as a sophomore. Looking back, it was the source of a path I’ve been following forseveral years now, chasing this skiing dream: from a year abroad inSweden, to 4 years skiing in college, to pursuing skiing full-timewith Craftsbury’s Green Racing Project.
    It’s a path I’ve found veryrewarding. I’m looking forward to encouraging others to follow it,and helping the skiers at GMVS who have already started along theirway.

  • Alum Highlight: Tim Reynolds

    Tim Reynolds and fellow Green Teamers, Patrick O’Brien and Dylan McGuffin training in Finland.              

    We are happy to spotlight and welcome Tim Reynolds back into the GMVS community as a Club Coach, mentor, and promoter of the sport of Cross-Country Skiing.  Tim grew up in Bristol, VT and skied withBreadloaf BKL.  He transferred to GMVS during his sophomore year ofhigh school, because his local high school did not have a skiteam and and he realized he wanted topursue skiing at a higher level.
    Tim took full advantage of the many opportunities available at GMVS, playing soccer and lacrosse alongside his skiing.  He also ran cross country during hissenior year in addition to captaining the soccer team.  During this year he represented Vermont in the annual Twin State soccer game andwas runner-up at VT State XC Championships, alongside being a three-timeAll-American in XC Skiing. 
    Beyond athletics Tim was his class’ valedictorian, a VSAC scholar, andclass president.
    Since graduating, he has maintained close ties with the Nordic program, helping out at summer camps and falltraining and participated in GMVS xc events each year since Igraduated in 2004.
    Tim is excited to be a part of the institution that helped his development:
    My goals working with the team aretwo-fold. GMVS was like home for me. When I visited campus lastmonth and caught part of the soccer game on the quad against my oldschool and perennial rival Mount Abe, watched the kids take off fromthe post game cheer straight to the powder room to get their make-upfor that evenings theater debut, I was overwhelmed by nostalgia. This school was the place I became independent, where I learned howto learn, how to ski, how to achieve my goals. I’m excited to helpother people understand that GMVS is an excellent place to grow bothas a person and an athlete and build a solid foundation for asuccessful collegiate experience. 
    I’m also looking forward to helpingbuild the local Nordic ski program. I was very active with FrostMountain Nordic while at Middlebury, and assisted in thetransformation of a growing BKL program into an all inclusive clubthat has become an integral community asset. I hope to encouragesimilar growth in the Mad River Valley.

     

    Tim is currently at a camp in Finland, getting some early snow and readying himself for the 2012 ski season.  Here is a letter he recently wrote to us from camp:
    It’s hard to believe, but it’ssnowy in Vermont and warm and rainy in Muonio, Finland, about 300kmnorth of the Arctic Circle. It seems a cruel trick to travel so farto find snow only to have it fall at home, but despite theunseasonable weather in this true north country, my team fromCraftsbury has had some solid skiing conditions on a 3km loop.
    The track has held up surprisinglywell, considering the hundreds of skiers making laps all day, and allnight, or rather the night time that is still technically considered‘day.’  We have a training camp here for twoweeks, followed by the Finnish FIS Openers which should see a numberof national teams and Russian and Finnish club teams vying for thelast World Cup start spots in the first few Scandinavian World Cups. Following the races we head south to Rovaniemi, the officialhometown of Santa Claus, for another weekend of very competitive FISraces.
    I’ll part ways with Craftsbury afterthat and spend a long day on the train via Umeaa and Oestersund,Sweden, en route to Aare, Sweden, where I spent a year abroad aftergraduating from GMVS before matriculating to Middlebury. I’vemaintained some really close connections in this town, and I’llspend two weeks, hopefully on snow if the weather turns around,before wrapping up my Scandinavia preseason racing the first SwedishCup Opener in Boden, Sweden with my old club from Aare.
    It’s great being able to race andtrain in Europe for such an extended period of time. The skiing isat a different level here: everyone is fast. The differencebetween an on day and off day can be from the first to the fourthpage of the results. It’s a much deeper game than at home.
    That being said, I’m excited to getback to Vermont and start working more formally with the program atGMVS. I’ve skied my whole life, but got serious about racing whenI began attending school in the Mad River Valley as a sophomore. Looking back, it was the source of a path I’ve been following forseveral years now, chasing this skiing dream: from a year abroad inSweden, to 4 years skiing in college, to pursuing skiing full-timewith Craftsbury’s Green Racing Project.
    It’s a path I’ve found veryrewarding. I’m looking forward to encouraging others to follow it,and helping the skiers at GMVS who have already started along theirway.

  • Skating Speed

    This morning Skyler worked on some fast skating intervals. Our goal was to work on leg speed and figure out which techniques were fastest and most efficient. We chose to ski a course that ended a bit lower than it started so that we could really focus on speed. For those of you familiar with BMD, we started where we usually start leg speeds, went past the gazebo, down the gradual hills and ended on top of the first uphill rise. The course is about .8 kms and is built for speed.
    Skyler warmed up and then did 6 intervals. For each interval he focused on something a bit different..1) snappy, 2) long, 3) quick…. After the first 3, it was quite apparent that a combination of techniques and tempos would produce faster skiing so then we did 3 mixing it up but having an emphasis ( more no pole skating, lower V2 alternate, rythm).

    His last 3 were faster and harder. No one technique really jumped out, but we learned the importance of mixing it up to keep the motions sharp and dynamic.
    Even rolling downhills can be tough…..