November 10, 2011 (Toronto) – While FIS and World Cup race organizers in Scandinavia are praying for cold weather and snow in the next few days in order to pull off the opening events of the 2011-12 season, the Canadian and US ski teams are taking the unusual lack of snow in stride.

Both squads have athletes in Scandinavia, where they are doing their best to find snow and have quality training sessions, while a handful of athletes remain in North America, where they have taken advantage of better snow and training conditions.

Canada’s Senior World Cup team, including Chandra Crawford, Perianne Jones, Devon Kershaw, Len Valjas and Alex Harvey, has been in Osterund, Sweden, for the last week, where they have access to a 3km loop of artificial snow. Joining the team there are Graham Nishikawa (2011 NorAm champion) and the three members of the “convergence group” – Drew Goldsack, Kevin Sandau and Alysson Marshall.

Training has consisted of morning sessions on snow, with afternoon rollerski sessions owing to the breakdown of the snow by that time of day. Skiing has been limited to skating, as there is no set track, so rollerski sessions have focused on classic technique.

Reached by email this morning, Len Valjas reported that, “…the conditions were awful when we arrived here. By Tuesday the snow had almost completely melted in some spots, I had to walk across some pavement is one section to keep skiing the loop. It was rough.” Conditions have since improved, however, with the recent addition of fresh snow: “Overall, it’s WAY better than it was just a day ago,” commented Head Coach Justin Wadsworth when reached by SkiTrax via email.

Meanwhile, Dasha Gaiazova and Ivan Babikov, both of whom were originally scheduled to travel to Scandinavia this week, have delayed their travel plans in order to continue training in Canmore and Lake Louise, where ski conditions have been good. Wadsworth is comfortable with the decision, despite the athletes’ missing the first race of the season: “Yes they will miss the opening race in Bruks, but I think it’s safer for them to train in Canada.”

The Canadians in Scando will be racing in Bruksvallarna, Sweden, this weekend, with the five men contesting the 15km Freestyle on Saturday and the three women racing the 10km Freestyle on Sunday. The organizers of Bruksvallarna have reduced the number of races in order to preserve their limited snow base.

After the races in Bruks, the team’s plans remain up in the air. With the first World Cup moving to Sjusjoen, Wadsworth said that there were a number of options for the Canadians to continue training: “Our options would be to stay here in Ostersund, or maybe stay in Bruks after the weekend of racing, or maybe the ski tunnel in Torsby. It is also cooling up north now, so Finland could be an option.”

Unlike the Canadians, most of the members of the U.S. ski team elected to stay in North American for an extra week, which is looking like a good call at the moment. While geographically fragmented, all are getting in good quality training, whether dryland or on snow. US athletes still in North America include Kikkan Randall, Holly Brooks, Sadie Bjornsen, Jessie Diggins, Liz Stephen, Tad Elliot and Kris Freeman, as well as Head Coach Chris Grover.

Randall, Brooks and Bjornsen have been taking advantage of heavy snowfalls in Alaska to ski most days. “I’m happy to be in Alaska rather than battling it out on a small gerbil loop with everyone else and their mom!” Brooks recently blogged.” The other four athletes continue dryland training at home, with Diggins in Minnesota, Stephen in Vermont, Elliot in Colorado, and Freeman in New Hampshire.

Andy Newell has already made the trip across the pond, where he has joined up with Simi Hamilton and Noah Hoffman in Torsby, Sweden, to put in the miles in the ski tunnel there. While the the snow is old and artificial, no one is complaining. “Conditions are okay… at least it’s skiing. The tunnel is a little over 1km, and the snow is quite transformed and old, which makes for both the classic and skate tracks breaking down quickly in the morning. But like I said, at least it’s skiing,” Hamilton commented to SkiTrax by email.

Noah Hoffman is somewhat more sanguine about the conditions in the tunnel: “Honestly, it’s great training as long as you don’t mind doing lots of laps. The best part of all is that the snow is guaranteed. Surprisingly, it’s not very crowded. The conditions are a little soft, but there is great terrain in the tunnel. It’s really good to be on snow.” When the snow breaks down in the tunnel in the afternoon, the training moves outdoors to the surrounding rollerski terrain. “The training right outside of the tunnel is great, with about an 8km rollerski loop on the local race trails and great trails for running,” added Hamilton.

Ida Sargent was one of the first Americans to travel to Scandinavia over a week ago, where she and her Craftsbury Green Racing Project teammates have been training on a 3km man-made snow loop in Muonio, Finland. “Reports from around Europe and especially Scandinavia make us feel quite lucky to have our 3km loop,” Sargent recently wrote on the team’s blog, “More and more skiers are travelling to Muonio in search of snow and ski races …  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.”

As far as racing goes, with the exception of Sargent, most U.S. athletes will pass on this weekend’s FIS  races. “We are not planning on racing this weekend,” said Head Coach Chris Grover when contacted by email, “it is simply too much travel from Torsby to Bruks for poor conditions (training and racing).” Sargent will be racing this weekend in the FIS sprint event in Muonio, along with her Craftsbury teammates.

Grover is encouraging the athletes still in the U.S. to remain there as long as possible before making the trip over for the World Cup opener: “I am less concerned about acclimatization to the Euro time zone for [Sjusjoen] and more interested in quality training and living venues.  The season is very long as it is, so in my opinion it is not critical to be in the best shape at the [Sjusjoen] WC, especially if it means hunting around for skiing in poor conditions.”