October 16, 2015 – It gave me goosebumps. I cut it out and tacked it to my wall. In the US it was hard to find images or even results from the world cup back then. That picture was an image of what I wanted to do and be. I committed myself to winning an Olympic medal. In training and in races I skied how that picture looked. In 1986 I went to my first junior nationals. I qualified as a classical specialist as none of my skate results put me on that JN team.

That year at Junior Nationals they cancelled all the classical races. What!? I did quite poorly but I loved it. I couldn’t believe how cool racing at Junior Nationals was. I worked hard on skating the next summer – on three-wheeled roller skis – and as a second year J2 got inside the top 10 at Junior Nationals in skating.

That did it. The feedback loop, of work and progress, provided the motivation that would propel me for the rest of my time in skiing. By the time I finished my years as a Junior I won a few national titles and really felt I was on my way. I never raced well enough to qualify for Junior Worlds and in 1991, my last year as a junior, I failed to make the Junior Worlds team for a final time. Motivated by that failure I trained better and more than ever and in 1992, I made the Olympic Team. The more and the better work I did, the stronger and faster I got.

I competed in world cups and in two Olympics between 1992 and 2002. I never won an Olympic medal. I did not come remotely close.

And though some came a lot closer than I, no American at that time came close.

There were many reasons this was the case and I felt I could see those reasons quite clearly. My experience with the US Ski Team, and in college and within the greater US Ski community in the late 80’s and throughout the 90’s had a strong impact on me. Winning at the highest level was something I believed we should be able to do.

The clarity of what was possible for cross country skiing in the US really became a motivator. It is like the mountain climber who with experience puts their eyes to the binoculars and slowly begins to see a way up the rock. A vision for a path to the top becomes clear and what it takes to follow that path becomes clear too.

The vision of that path, the planning and the execution of that plan completely over took me.

In 2002 I became the assistant coach of the US Ski Team. I would continue to coach with the team through 2012.

This story is too short to go into the history of who was coaching and who was racing at what point. Suffice it to say, the turn around of American skiing required the work of the whole country, came about because of the work of a long string of coaches, staff and athletes, supporters and parents. It also resulted from stronger doping controls, and from (not without a lot of hard work and pressure) greater financial support from the US Ski Team.

A small detail there, the budget in 2002 went from around 500 thousand dollars to around a million in about 2004. Perhaps most importantly it required a shift in the culture of cross country ski racing in the USA. We had to become a nation that was willing to prepare at the level of our competition. From that preparation, the results that came from it – from this feedback loop of work and progress – we could build true confidence in our ability to win.

I cannot imagine that much is more important now than it was back then, especially the hard work toward a shared goal of the entire ski nation. When it comes to funding NNF is instrumental in that effort. At this point US cross country skiing would be sunk without it. As importantly NNF is serving as a rallying point for the ski community and the drive for 25 is a very important part of that rallying effort.

This is a graph of the world cup points scored by the USA:

That is incredible improvement. The USA went from seldom getting a skier into the top 30 to winning medals at the World Championships, winning the overall, and scoring world cup podiums on both the men’s and women’s side.

We still have not won a second Olympic medal. It is a failure that stings. But it is not a failure that over shadows our successes, our improvement or our potential. Failures and setbacks are the most important part of the path. It is the ultimate tool in the feedback loop. You don’t cruise to the top of anything significant. It is going to be hard. It has to be hard to be motivating and rewarding. But to learn from setback and failure, to be motivated by them, you have to pay attention and apply experience to them. Step back and focus the binoculars back up on the wall. See there, that is how far we made it last time, see there that is where we fell… OK, now here is what we are going to do to make it all the way this time. That is motivational. That is goosebumps.

Support the Drive for 25 HERE.

The Challenge to Hit $30K by October 20th to Gain $30K in Matching Funds For Cross Country // $10K for Nordic Combined

We’re under the gun! We need to raise $30K by October 20th to receive $30K of matching funds. Help us double our money and spread the word.

Likewise, the Nordic Combined Community will receive $10,000 for NC when we reach $5,000 in NC donations

Help us by reaching out to 10 skiers today and asking them to donate $25.