As the winter starts to take over the northern part of the U.S., Team Rossignol skiers do the same on the race circuit. Mt. Bachelor in Bend, OR was the site of the Par For the Course Season Opener Skate Race. Colin Mahood, Team Rossignol racer and one of the country's top sprinters showed that he was not such a specialist after all by taking top honors in the 10km race. His teammate, Jack Hart managed to sneak in the race in between a busy rep schedule to take 2nd place.

The annual Winterstart race in Sun Valley, ID gave 150 Idaho racers their first start of the season. Team Rossignol racers and Ketchum residents Peter Webb and Brooke Baughman won both the male and female events while Muffy Ritz had a solid 2nd place behind Baughman. Both Brooke and Peter were named the athletes of the month by the Wood River Valley newspaper.

In Utah, the Soldier Hollow Olympic site and man-made snow were the key ingredients needed to get the first seasonal race off the ground. John Aalberg, a two time Olympian and the 2002 Winter Olympic Nordic director came out of retirement to school a strong field of Utah racers. He won the classic race with a good lead on the course that he had previously designed for the Olympics.

As the racers in the Midwest were getting anxious about the lack of snow and no race starts, the skiers in the East were racing their second race of the season in Grafton, VT at the NENSA opener. Team Rossignol skier Eli Enman won his first big race followed closely by Matt Shadow, another Rossignol skier and UNH student. In the women s race, junior Rossignol skier and Burke Mtn.Academy student Carina Hamel won her third race of the season by taking the overall women s class.

As of Dec 21st, Rossignol skiers were continuing to show their dominance on the World Cup circuit. Norwegian skier Tor Arne Hetland leads the standings in Cross Country with Vincent Vittoz in 6th place. In Biathlon, French racer Raphael Poiree sets the pace for the pack in the top spot ahead of his Norwegian friend and four-time Olympic Gold medallist Ole Einar Bjorndalen. German biathlete, Ricco Gross was holding down 5th place. The Nordic Combined circuit had German skier Ronny Ackermann in 3rd position followed closely by Finnish skier Samppa Lajunen in 4th and U.S. skier Todd Lodwick in seventh place.

All of us from Team Rossignol would like to wish you a very white Christmas.

Many Thanks to our Team Rossignol sponsors
TOKO: http://www.tokous.com
YOKO: http://www.yokogloves.com
DANSKO: http://www.dansko.com
Rudy Project: http://www.rudyprojectusa.com
CRAFT: http://www.craft-usa.com
Yellowstone Lodge: http://www.yellowstonelodge.com
SkiTrax: http://www.skitrax.com
The Master Skier: http://www.masterskier.com
Turtlefur: http://www.turtlefur.com
Kavu: http://www.kavu.com