May 25, 2010 – In order to be an elite athlete, it’s necessary to race against elite athletes.  One of the greatest challenges of being an elite athlete is finding ways to travel to events.  CXC shoulders the responsibility of covering the travel cost for CXC Team Vertical Limit athletes to National Championship events, but their race season doesn’t end there.

We’re asking for your help to get our CXC Team Vertical Limit athletes to ALL the races they put on their race calendar.  If you or your business has enough airline miles to purchase a ticket for an athlete to travel to an event or you would like to make a personal commitment to help with an athlete’s travel please give us a shout!  We’ll make sure you get a receipt for your contribution and a sincere letter of appreciation from the athlete who received your help.

Write to Yuriy Gusev at yuriy.gusev@cxcskiing.org or give us a call (608) 277-0220

Camps

REG – Regional Elite Group Camp is getting close to capacity.  If you qualified for Junior Nationals for the Midwest Division or Great Lakes Division you can sign up for the REG camp.  If you did not qualify for Junior Nationals this year, write us a really compelling letter (it doesn’t have to be that compelling, really) telling us why you should be at this camp.  With two Olympians and two US Ski Team coaches on hand, this camp is sure to be awesome!

Register for REG today here.

Jr. Birkie Camp – The Birkie Junior Technique Camp will be a 4 day camp for all ages of junior athletes to train together.  If you come to this camp, all of your friends will be jealous.  That’s not even a joke (ok, maybe it’s a joke, but the camp will be awesome!).  Athletes should plan to do running drills, strength exercises, ski imitation, and rollerskiing during this time together.

Registration is open for this camp here.

Birkie Masters Camp (7/30 to 8/1) – With the weather in the Midwest getting dangerously close to 3-digits winter is looking pretty sweet!  Well, this is the perfect way to remind you that the ski season isn’t so far away.  Come out and meet other skiers, train hard, and enjoy!

Register for this camp here.

Birkie Women’s Camp – This is, as the name suggests, a camp for women.  The main selling point here is that it is a camp for awesome women run by awesome women.  Nina Gavrilyuk has three (3!!!!) Olympic gold medals and she’s going to be the coach!  We aren’t promising that you’ll be in the running for an Olympic medal of your own after this camp, but we can promise you will leave inspired and more knowledgeable.

Come join the fun by registering today here.

CXC Team Vertical Limit Elite Coach
Jason Cork was named CXC Team Vertical Limit Elite Coach. To read more please click here.

CXC Team Vertical Limit
The 2010/2011 CXC Team Vertical Limit is set. The team is listed below. Athlete profiles will be available when we can get them in one place, and standing still long enough to take their picture.

Women’s Team:
– Caitlin Compton
– Jessie Diggins
– Jennie Bender
– Brooke Gosling
– Maria Stuber
– Melissa Schwartz
– Johanna Winters

Men’s Team:
– Tad Elliott
– Garrott Kuzzy
– Brian Gregg
– Karl Nygren
– Santiago Ocariz
– Eric Wolcott
– Matt Liebsch
– Bryan Cook
– Andre Watt
– Ben Lannin
– Doug DeBold (Post Grad Program)

Adopt an Athlete Program
Here’s the drill: Find 11 of your friends, squeeze them for $500 apiece, pick the athlete you would like to adopt, and let us know you’re ready to be a really eclectic family.  We’ll put you in touch with the athlete, and they will schedule two weekends where they will come and run clinics in your area.  All of the donating members of this adoption will also receive Premier Membership for their participation (a $250 value).

Athletes already spoken for:

– Jennie Bender (Don Becker and Becker Law Office)
– Matt Liebsch (Renee Callaway)
– Brian Gregg  (John Hugus and Knicker Nordic Ski Club)
– Garrott Kuzzy (St. Croix Valley Ski Club and Bikery Cycling Club)
– Tad Elliot (Oyvind and Susan Solvang)

If you would like more information on the “Adopt an Athlete” Program please email Justin Easter at justin.easter@cxcskiing.org

Midwest Junior Olympic Team
Midwest JO Team is accepting applications for the Head Coach position. Please download application here.