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Tag: Fort Kent

  • Babikov, Randall Headline U.S. 30/50 K Champs. In Fort Kent

    Babikov, Randall Headline U.S. 30/50 K Champs. In Fort Kent

    Ivan Babikov (CAN) is the heavy favorite for tomorrow's 50 k freestyle

    Ivan Babikov (CAN) has traveled more than 10,000 kilometers since the conclusion of the 2010 Winter Olympics in late February. He only has to go 50 more on Wednesday, but they’ll feel every bit as long and painful as his circuitous journey from Vancouver to Fort Kent, Maine.

    Babikov is the clear favorite for tomorrow’s U.S. freestyle 30/50 k championships, but racing just 72 hours removed from the World Cup Finals in Sweden, he’ll be tested by a host of better-rested competitors.

    Babikov’s strongest challengers include two American Olympians, James Southam and Torin Koos. Southam, a distance specialist, raced in Finland and Norway after the Games, but had just over a week of recovery in Alaska before traveling back east.

    Koos is a U.S. Ski Team sprinter who sat out the spring season in Europe. He hasn’t had much success in distance races at the international level, but was the second American in this same event (though in the classic discipline) in Fairbanks two years ago.

    Domestic racers most likely to contend include Americans Tad Elliot and Chris Cook, the second and third place finishers at the American Birkebeiner in late February.

    A world-class mountain biker, CXC Coach Bryan Fish said that Elliot has already made the transition onto two wheels, but still traveled to Fort Kent for the ski season’s last hurrah.

    Dark horses are Canada’s Gord Jewett and Americans Bryan Cook, Lars Flora, and Noah Hoffman, who uncorked a great race in last year’s 50 k championships.

    Kris Freeman (USA) is not racing due to illness, according to U.S. Ski Team Coach Matt Whitcomb, and Canada’s Stefan Kuhn was a late scratch.

    The women’s race will be Kikkan Randall’s to lose. Like Babikov, Randall is competing on the heels of the marathon trip back from Sweden, where she placed well in the World Cup Finals distance races. Her 14th place in the 10 k pursuit there was a personal best, better than big names like Anna Haag (SWE), Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (FIN), and Virpi Kuitunen (FIN).

    Kikkan Randall will race the women's 30 k straight off the plane from Europe

    Randall’s start was unconfirmed as of this morning, but she responded to an e-mail inquiry by writing “Oh the 30km…It’s on!!”

    The $1,200 winner’s check has to be a big incentive for her, but it’s not guaranteed. Holly Brooks (USA) finished a close second to Randall in the long-distance classic race at U.S. Nationals, and she’s gotten a few weeks of rest after a tough Olympics. Caitlin Compton is another threat, especially in freestyle races, and she’s also had a week to recover after racing at the Olympics in February and in Europe in early March.

    Americans Taz Mannix and Rebecca Dussault have stuck mostly to domestic races this year, but both posted some strong results at the Birkebeiner along with Canadian Brooke Gosling. Kristina Strandberg (SWE/USA) has struggled this year, racing mainly in Scandinavia, but recently showed her form could be coming around by posting a sixth-place finish in the Vasaloppet.

    A handful of biathletes are competing, including North American champions Tracy Barnes-Colliander and Russell Currier. They’ll have their hands full keeping pace with their cross-country counterparts.

    Athletes will be racing three or five laps of a ten kilometer course at Fort Kent’s 10th Mountain Ski Center, which features two big climbs: a steep one near the start, and a longer grind into the finish. A kilometer-long stretch in an open field in the middle of the course will let the racers know exactly where they

    Athletes skiing the field loop on the 10 k course Tuesday

    stand during each lap.

    Coverage was getting a little thin Monday after some long days of warm sun, but a shot of wet snow today should leave the course in decent shape. Wednesday’s forecast calls for continuing precipitation, with a full spectrum of snow, rain, and sleet predicted for the morning. That could make for a long, soft slog that would favor smaller athletes like Babikov, Elliot, Hoffman, Compton, and Brooks.

    The fields for the 30/50 k will be much smaller than the number contesting the SuperTour Finals later in the week; as of last night, figures from the organizers showed just over 40 male starters and just under 40 women, whereas over 180 were signed up for the weekend.

    FasterSkier will have complete coverage of the championships—check back tomorrow morning starting at nine for live updates during the race, and in the afternoon for a full report.

  • Currier Wraps Up Championships With Mass Start Win

    Currier Wraps Up Championships With Mass Start Win

    Marc-Andre Bedard, Walt Shepard, and Russell Currier shoot in the third stage

    It doesn’t happen that often, but when Russell Currier gets hot on the range, there’s not a lot that can stop him.

    The Maine native is a notoriously fast skier—but also a notoriously inconsistent shooter. Sunday, at the North American Biathlon Championships, he wasn’t exactly on fire—more of a slow burn, perhaps—but the fifteen of twenty targets he hit was just enough to net him a satisfying win in the 15 k mass start race, at the tail end of a frustrating year.

    “15 out of 20 is okay shooting,” said Gary Colliander, one of Currier’s coaches, “but when you show it head-to-head like it was today…this was a great performance.”

    Marc-Andre Bedard early in the race

    Currier’s victory wasn’t assured before getting past the last shooting stage. Having skied most of the previous loop glued to Canada’s Marc-Andre Bedard, the pair headed into the range together.

    As they stepped up to shoot for the fourth and final time, their movements were practically synchronized. But Currier had a big advantage over Bedard before they even started firing: He was using his own rifle.

    Bedard, who had been barred by the Border Patrol from bringing his own gun into the country, was using one that he’d borrowed from Maine Winter Sports Center.

    “I’m still trying to learn how to shoot with this [gun],” he said. “Standing is especially hard.”

    To make matters worse, Bedard jammed his second bullet after hitting his first shot. He had to stop and hand-feed the next round in, as Currier blazed through the stage with just one miss.

    Standing right beside him, Bedard said that by then, he knew he had to hit the next four targets to give himself a chance—then proceeded to miss two.

    By the time Bedard made his way over to the penalty loop, Currier was already heading back out on course, done with his one lap. And from the way Currier was skiing—huge, crisp strides—it was clear that the race had been decided. His coach let him know the size of his advantage, and he skied off assured of the win.

    “A whole penalty is…a good 25 seconds,” he said. “We’re about even on ski speed, so I knew I’d be safe.”

    Russell Currier at the line

    Currier said it was his first win in a mass start race, and it was particularly satisfying since the winter had been such a tough one. He had hoped to qualify for the Olympic team this year, but shot poorly and didn’t even make the initial selection.

    “This has probably been my worst season actually,” he said. “A nice little break like this definitely does the self-esteem good.”

    It did his hometown fans some good as well. Maine Winter Sports Center’s men had been close to breaking through all week, as Walt Shepard took second place in each of the first two races. Today, they finally got a victory.

    Shepard was third Sunday, in what was his last competitive biathlon race; he’s retiring at the end of this season. He was right with Bedard and Currier halfway through, but shot himself in the foot—not literally—with a handful of uncharacteristic misses.

    He had three penalties in his first round, then worked his way back into the race by cleaning the second. But in the standing, he “threw it away again,” with three misses in the third stage and one in the fourth.

    Walt Shepard ends his biathlon career with a bow

    It was especially frustrating, Shepard said, because he felt so good skiing on Sunday. But he was still content with a third consecutive podium finish, giving a big bow to the crowd as he crossed the line.

    “It worked out,” he said. “I’d rather be on the podium than not at all. I had written a little bit better end to the story—it just didn’t come true.”

  • U.S. SuperTour Finals and U.S. 30km/50km Championships Set to Go

    Fort Kent, ME—Spring has come early to Aroostook County, but the snow has stayed with us. Daytime highs in the 40s and 50s with cold, clear nights well below freezing have made for excellent crust skiing, fast early morning conditions and softening snow in the afternoons. Currently, our extended forecast calls for similar conditions with chances of freezing precipitation and snow on Thursday night and next Monday.

    While the snowpack is well below normal for this time of year, all courses have a minimum depth of 8” of packed snow right now. The photos below were taken at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 16, 2010 on the courses for the SuperTour Finals Sprint and Mass Start Classic. The skiing is unbelievably good!

    Second climb on the SuperTour Finals Sprint course, Madawaska, Maine 3.16.2010.

    Entries continue to roll in, and the series is shaping up to be the very best points races of the year on the North American circuit. With Andy Newell, Kris Freeman, Torin Koos, Ivan Babikov, Simi Hamilton, Chris Cook and Stephan Kuhn all planning to attend, it is very likely that the men’s point base will be below 20 FIS points. On the women’s side, Kikkan Randall, Caitlin Compton, Holly Brooks, Rebecca Dussualt, Liz Stephen, Morgan Arritola, Brittany Webster and Nicole DeYong are all planning to toe the starting line.

    Confirmations include: the entire U.S. Ski Team, Canadian National and top club level athletes, APUNSC, CXC Team Vertical Limit, SVSEF, MWSC, FAST, Craftsbury Green Team, XC Oregon, U. Laval, Dartmouth, GMVS, Stratton Mountain School, Burke Mountain Academy and athletes from Sweden, Japan and Brazil.

    The U.S. SuperTour Finals 2010 will feature a true Tour format, with prize money awarded for each individual race, time and cash bonuses in both the Mass Start and the Sprint, and a pursuit start Hill Climb that will leave the winners of the overall event splitting up more than $11,000 in cash. Visit www.supertourfinals2010.com to download the invitation and for complete details of the event.

    Additionally, the U.S. National 30km and 50km Championships are slated for March 24th, in Fort Kent, Maine.

    EARLY REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2010. REGISTER TODAY!

    www.supertourfinals2010.com

    The grooming crew at work on the SuperTour Mass Start Classic course, March 16, 2010.