April 05, 2011 (Ketchum, ID) – Fast and Female hosted its third and final X-Country SkiFest of the year on American snow this past Sunday in Ketchum, Idaho. Held under clear and sunny skies, the event was highlighted by the participation of 70 female ski enthusiasts between the ages of 7 to 19 years who had the opportunity to spend a morning of inspiration with 23 ambassadors – 7 of which are Olympians.
As part of the unique event, Fast and Female event participants kicked off their day with first-hand ski tips from some of the world’s best cross-country ski racers including Kikkan Randall, Liz Stephen, Holly Brooks, Caitlin Compton, Morgan Arritola, Chandra Crawford (Canada), and Biathlete Sara Studebaker. All ambassadors volunteered their time to the event and dressed the part to ensure a fun and relaxed atmosphere.
“It was super awesome,” said 17 year-old participant Emily Williams. “We had so much fun dancing, singing and learning new technique drills. It was amazing to spend the day with these great athletes.”
After the skiing, all girls enjoyed a healthy lunch, took part in an inspirational speech, and concluded the day with a fun yoga/dance session.
“The speeches were really inspirational and not just for cross country skiers,” admitted Kailey Wilt, age 14.
In keeping with Fast and Female’s vision, each event segment served a specific purpose to motivate girls to stay involved in sports as a tremendous vehicle for reaching one’s personal and athletic best.
“The looks we saw on our athletes’ faces today showed us what an important message Fast and Female sends to young women,” added Kelley Sinnott from the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation. Sinnott played a key role in coordinating the event along with colleague Ashley McQueen.
Throughout the 2011 winter, Fast and Female hosted three events in the USA, reaching a total of 470 girls in Maine, Alaska and now Idaho. Historically, events are not only inspiring for the young participants but even ambassadors leave the day feeling energized.
“It’s always refreshing to be reminded of kids’ energy and enjoyment of whatever they are part of,” said World Cup racer Liz Stephen. “Fast and Female is a wicked program and the local community and Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation did an awesome job with all the work!”
Parent volunteer, Gretchen Wagner, also commented on the impact of the day: “What an amazing group of women! It was great to see all of the girls inspired by these fast female heroes. Smiles from ear to ear!”
All event participants left with a Fast and Female t-shirt, Buff and autographed poster.
This activity was made possible thanks to valuable local partners such as the Works of Grace Foundation, the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation, Cheatwood Photography, and many parent volunteers. Fast and Female’s national sponsors – including Best Buy, Buff Multifunctional Headwear, lululemon athletica, and Cold-FX – are also providing resources to make this event possible. For a complete list of Fast and Female national program supporters and sponsors, please click HERE.
Fast and Female will be releasing more event information shortly. Until then, continue to visit www.fastandfemale.com.
April 05, 2011 – I just returned from product development meetings in Switzerland. As a company, we meet a few times each year to look at opportunities to go in new directions and take advantage of opportunities. The World Cup race service team is there as well as the team of scientists. Additionally there are representatives from the major markets. There is always a great synergy and passion. There were follow ups on initiatives that were taken since the last meeting. Also, some new ideas. Most exciting are some new products that involve some new technologies (new raw materials that nobody else has). Good stuff!
Summer Storage Waxing
Here are Toko’s recommendations for storage waxing of skis. First, brush the base out with a copper brush. Then drip on a generous amount of System3 or LF Red. Iron it in making sure that there is enough wax to provide a thick layer on the base and that the iron is hot enough to ensure a good bond between the wax and the base. This ironing procedure is normal, but sometimes a person rushes through storage waxing and the wax is not really heated outside of that it becomes liquid. The ski bases often times don’t even become warm. This will result in air between the base and the ski and less protection.
Red is our choice for storage waxing as Blue is so hard that it is more difficult to make sure that there is no air between the ski and base and Yellow is so soft that it gets “eaten away” quicker. System3 Red is good, but LF Red is even better as its consistency is perfect. If waxing skis or a board with metal edges, slop the wax over the edges and cover them too.
A SUMMARY:
1. Brush skis out well with Copper Brush
2. Iron in System3 Red or LF Red making sure adequate wax is used and that the wax is heated in well.
See you on the Flip Side!
It was an epic season. The US had a super winter in terms of snow coverage. The industry posted some very good numbers. Toko USA had an all time record year (and the 4th in 4 years). The US had some solid results internationally in all disciplines. Gotta love it!
This is the final Toko newsletter for the season. Thanks for your interest! We’ll leave you alone until the late fall unless something remarkable happens.
March 30, 2011 (Auburn, NH) – Fischer Skis announced today that its skis and boots dominated the Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo, Norway, and Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, held February 24 through March 6, 2011. The company beat its record figures from the Vancouver Winter Games to win 50 gold, 45 silver and 35 bronze medals, making Fischer more successful than ever before. Overall, 71% of the ski medals and 32% of the boot medals went to athletes who choose to compete on Fischer equipment.
U.S. Ski Team member and Fischer ski athlete Kikkan Randall finished third in the sprint rankings and tenth in the Overall World Cup. Her third place finish in the overall sprint was the best finish ever by a U.S. Nordic sprint athlete.
“Fischer has a long history of dominating the race circuit, and our performance at the 2011 World Championships proves that our commitment to innovation is second to none,” said Chris Hall, Nordic racing director, Fischer Skis U.S. “We are especially pleased with the success of our boots, which exceeded our expectations.”
“This World Cup season has been my most successful yet,” said Kikkan Randall. “I rely on the consistency that Fischer skis deliver to help me compete in every stage of the season, and I am already excited to see what we can accomplish together in the coming year.”
For a complete list of Fischer’s Nordic World Ski Championships medals and winners, please click HERE.
March 30, 2011 – Check out this video by Plum TV featuring shots of last weekend’s US XC Ski National Championships 30/50km Classic races in Sun Valley, Idaho, along with an in-depth description of the event and explanation of the USSA SuperTour by Travis Jones, Cross Country Olympic Development Coach for the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation.
March 29, 2011 (Canmore, AB) – Hello to all ski lovers out there, it’s my first blog and I’ll try not to bore you too much with it….so enjoy it… 2010/2011 season is over now and I guess I’ll like to talk about all ups and downs and all the bad and (not so many) good decisions I’ve made in past few month, about “good living”, and rolling big of Canadian National Ski Team at the Tour de Ski, excitement and experience of World Champs in Oslo, Norway – keep reading and check out Babikov’s blog here.
FIRST HALF OF THE SEASON….slow…
Let’s start with beginning of the World Cup season in Gallivare, Sweden and (very depressing for me) Kuusamo, Finland. I’m one of those all dogs that need a good, and I mean very good amount of hours on snow, before I can ski fast. That’s why I usually skip these couple of early World Cups races of the season. I guess looking at youngsters such Devon and Alex, I’ve decided to give it a chance…turned out as an “Epic Fail”. Not only I didn’t race well but also screwed up my shape for the next races, just because there were not enough time for good training.
Than was “pretty good” 17th place (considering that “Epic Fail” from above) result for me in La Clusaz, France World Cup. I always like racing there, first of all, there some very serious climbing involved and a lot of it, and secondly it’s pretty high altitude, about 1600 meters above the sea level.
From there team moved to Davos, SUI for pre-Tour de Ski training camp. Svetlana and Sergey (my wife and son) visited me there for Christmas. Some great training + family time = I’m happy 🙂
THE TOUR DE SKI…. WORLD CHAMPS….WORLD CUP FINALS….faster, but still slow….
Can’t say that I expected better result than 9th place overall at the last year’s Tour de Ski, but this time it didn’t go my way at all. With some bad sprinting at the beginning and losing a ski during 20km Pursuit, but holding strong at the end, I finished it with 21st place in overall. Amazing job by Devon, winning a stage and medalling on couple more, as well as Alex by finishing pretty much all the stages in top 10. Well at least I had a chance to live a week like a Rock Star, riding a very nice tour bus between the stages. Yea Buddy…
Very tired and not satisfied with my season so far, I got back to Canmore, and put the pedal to the floor with training for the 2011 World Championship in Oslo. It’s very hard to describe that atmosphere we had there, just going to say that was The Best skiing time in my life. I’ve never seen people so fired up about ski racing. Just imagine about 200 000 people, camping for two weeks out on the trails, and cheering us every day, that’s a spirit of skiing in Norway. It’s made it even more special when Alex and Devon became World Champions in Team Sprint relay. I personally, had my best (World Championship) 15th place in 30km Pursuit and 17th at 50km skate. Again not the best but I’ll take it.
I found my shape in the end of the season, with 8th place at 20km Pursuit in Lahti, Finland, and having a couple solid “top 15” races at World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden.
So it wasn’t my best season, but also not the worst one. It will just make me train way harder in upcoming summer. What doesn’t kill you, that makes you stronger, at least that what “they” say.
Also I’ll say “Big Respect” to my friend George Grey, and thank you for all those days we spent at the many camps and races. You had an awesome career. We’ll miss you teammate.
Now I’ll have couple is week to rest and recover, and then back to the battle. Very excited about two things for now, first – it’s a start of another soccer season, and second – my Wipeout Canada episode on TV on April 14th. But about that in my next blog.
P.S. Huge THANKS to my friend Sergey Yermolayev for this website….
March 29, 2011 (Quebec City, QC) – Listen to this heartwarming CBC interview with Alex Harvey, one of Canada’s top XC skiers on the history-making men’s National Ski Team. Harvey and Devon Kershaw are blazing the way for men’s XC skiing in Canada with two top-10’s in the overall 2011 FIS World Cup standings.
March 29, 2011 (Engadin, Switzerland) – I just returned home to Hayward after a week long adventure in St Moritz, Switzerland for the 2011 Engadin Ski Marathon. The crust cruising is at its finest right now and, after skiing all day, I am finally able to sit down and recap the events from Switzerland.
The 2011 Engadin was the inaugural CXC Masters Team Worldloppet trip. Originally, my plan was to compete in the Elite Wave and go for the win. That plan changed when I came down with appendicitis two days before the Birkie and ten days before leaving for Switzerland. Although it felt agonizingly slow at the time, my recovery was actually very swift and smooth thanks to the help of my friends and teammates (I had a cowbell in my room and, when I rang it, Caitlin (Compton) and Brian (Gregg) would bring me any food I requested-so long as it was liquid). The day before the trip, my doctor took out the stitches and gave me the go-ahead to fly to Switzerland. Instead of fighting for the win, I was fighting to simply make it through the airport with my luggage.
Now I was able to really enjoy the finer aspects of the trip and no worry as much about the racing. We ended up doing lots of easy skiing to check out the course, drank Rivella (the official sports drink of Switzerland) by the gallon–or liter, rather, while sitting out in the sun, and even spent an afternoon sledding in the Swiss Alps.
For the race itself, I followed the Toko wax recommendation and waxed up my best skis, along with the rest of the CXC Masters, with the straight-forward combination of an HF Red/Yellow mix, JetStream Red block, and topped it off with JetStream Red powder for good measure. The one thing I forgot was a riller, but the temps were supposed to stay cold and the snow dry.
On race morning, we toed the line. I had barely done any skiing, let alone intensity, in over two weeks since the surgery, so I decided to line up toward the back of the Elite Wave and start easy. Over 11,000 anxious skiers danced around in the gates while we waited for the gun to go off. Immediately after the start, I realized I was feeling great and decided to get up front with the leaders-passing about 500 people on the wide lake start and tucking into third place in the lead pack with the likes of Cristian Zorzi, Bjorn Lind, and Remo Fischer. The first 15km of the Engadin are totally flat as the trail goes across frozen lakes to the town of St Moritz and we were flying with a swift tailwind.
Before I left for the trip, I ran into Ben Husby at Junior Nationals on my home trails of Wirth Park in Minneapolis. When I told Ben I was going to the Engadin, he gave me some advice about “how to win the Engadin.” Specifically, “when you hit St Moritz, there will be a steep climb, wide enough for three lanes of skiers coming off the lakes. Make sure you are leading one of those lanes.” At the time, I thought, ‘Okay, Ben, I can barely ski right now, there’s no way I’ll be leading the Engadin at 15km next week.’
However, I surprised even myself (pretty hard to do) and found myself in third place going into the St Moritz climb! Sure enough, the skier in first went right, the skier in second went left and I found myself leading the middle train up the steep climb. Remo Fischer punched it over the top and I hopped in close behind him. We skied together down into the Expo Area at St Moritz and Remo kept the throttle wide open-we were flying! Shortly after St Moritz, he backed off the pace a little bit and I looked behind me, expecting to see hundreds of skiers over my shoulder. To my surprise, there was no one; I’d just made the two-man break off the front of the Engadin-thanks Ben!
I was feeling great. Unfortunately, as we got into the woods, the snow changed from dry and wind-blown, to wet and soggy. We soon hit a downhill and Remo pulled away effortlessly. I was in no-man’s-land doing my best to earn time back on the climbs, but on every descent, he’d pull away more. Soon, the pack we’d dropped had caught me and I was losing even more ground on the descents. I’m not sure how much of it was the fact that I hadn’t skied for the two weeks prior to the race (maybe that’s what got me into trouble-feeling so fresh) or how much was the fact that I had forgotten to add structure (my cold skis had a cold grind: faster than ever in the windblown snow, but way too much suction in the wet snow). At any rate, I slogged it out for the final 20km of the race and still finished much better than I’d expected going into the race. I was satisfied with the race and happy that I didn’t bust my gut in the process. Remo ended up capitalizing on our breakaway and winning by over two minutes.
In the Engadin, I learned an important lesson about the value of structure. Now that the weather is getting warm and the snow is getting soft, it is more important than ever to have the right structure. Go out and enjoy the spring crust cruising, but don’t forget to rill. And have fun!
Muffy Ritz Commentary from Masters WC I had a very successful Master’s up in Silver Star. Despite being very sick with bronchitis for the 2 weeks prior and even into the racing week, I somehow managed to ski myself into a Gold in the 10 km FS, a Gold in the Relay, and a silver in the 15 KM CL race. I have to make a very interesting remark about the TOKO wax. We ended up using Blue all the way- for every race ( LF Moly, HF Blue, Jet Stream Blue, blue structurite tool) It didn’t matter the temperature, blue always ran the fastest. The temps were very consistent throughout the week- with only about 5 degrees of warm-up during the days. Lows would be around 21 and highs around 26 degrees F. Every night or during the day, a little bit of new snow would fall. What would appear as a red/blue mix – according to the thermometer- blue was always faster. In the rockies, with new snow, blue seems to be the best choice despite the temps. However, if snow temps went upwards of 32- blue would probably not be the fastest choice. I think all winter long in Sun Valley and other nearby races, I never strayed from Moly, HF Blue, JS Blue all season!
Thanks to the Toko Tech Team of their efforts and wax tips at the Masters.
March 29, 2011 (Oro Station, ON) – Due to the cool weather and good snow coverage Hardwood will remain open for one more week until Sunday, April 3rd. The majority of our trails are open with good spring skiing conditions and trails will continue to be groomed as conditions permit.
We still have good snow coverage on the trails that are open, so you do not have to end your ski season yet. We take care of our snow like gardeners take care of lawns and flowers. For more, info check out the webcam or give us a call at 705 487 3775. We will always tell you the truth about conditions. It doesn’t do us any good in the long run to misrepresent the snow conditions and have you come up here and find that they are not what we said.
Hardwood Ski and Bike is a family oriented cross country skiing, mountain biking and outdoor recreation facility with 300 acres of beautiful trails. We have 80 kms of mountain bike, 74 kms of cross country and 18 kms of snowshoe trails. Our facility is located 15 mins. north of Barrie just off Highway 400, within 1 1/4 hour drive from downtown Toronto. “A place where everyone can enjoy pursuing their outdoor fitness activities in a fun, social, safe and healthy atmosphere.”
March 28, 2011 – This morning, when I was busy speculating on just how much a 30km might possibly hurt, I got a text from my family wishing me and the team luck and saying “Kenzie says 35km was a blast.” Kenzie is my 14-year-old sister. And she raced 35km before I’ve even raced 30! So THAT threw all my plans of complaining out the window…and got me motivated to suck it up and get tough. And it was a beautiful day, which always helps!
I went into the race with these goals in mind:
1. DON’T break a pole. And don’t fall down.
2. If you do fall, fall where nobody can see you.
3. Don’t give yourself a gatorade facial again. Take at least one feed the RIGHT way. (In Oslo I managed to disgrace myself in front of coaches from around the world my first dropping a feed, and then slooshing the next one all over, yet still not getting a drop in my mouth. Sooooo embarrassing).
And believe it or not, I managed to accomplish all three (although I got ridiculously close to going down face first on the largest downhill a few times). And I’ve decided I need to start figuring out which feeds to take when during a distance race, because my stomach was doing some curious flip-flops in that last lap. But hey, it’s all a learning experience, right?
And wow, did I learn a lot today. It was such an honor to ski with more experienced girls who know how to pace and navigate a pack without wasting energy. After the second lap, I was in a small group with Kikkan, Maria, Morgan and Holly. During the third lap, we lost Holly and Morgan, and I tried my hardest to hang onto Kikkan and Maria but the long climb at the end of the lap was more than I could handle. So I skied the final lap alone, always within sight of Kikkan and Maria but never quite able to bridge the gap. On that final hill, I knew Morgan was putting in a huge effort to catch me and I was totally dying, but our coaches (Gus and Cork) gave the CXC girls such fantastic skis that I knew I just had to make it over the top with a tiny gap and I could stay in 3rd place. Although I’m not going to comment on my technique in the last few km of the race because if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.
One of these days I’ll remember to bring a camera to the race, but for now I think the words “sunny”, “picturesque mountains” and “totally enthusiastic cheering crowd” ought to do it!
March 28, 2011 (Apeldoorn, Netherlands) – Hot on the heels of winning the 2010/11 World Cup series title in the women’s track cycling Omnium event, former Canadian National Team XC skier Tara Whitten won the Track World Championship title in the same event in Apeldoorn, Netherlands on Sunday.
The former high-level skier turned cyclist from Edmonton also excelled on the snow, achieving a sprint silver medal at the 2003 Under-23 World Nordic Championships.
Whitten is on track to represent Canada at the London 2012 Summer Olympics with the strong potential of winning a medal.
March 25, 2011 (Sun Valley, ID) – Welcome to the 2011 US Championship 50km and 30 km races and to the 2011 USSA SuperTour Finals in Sun Valley, ID, March 26-April 2. Below, you will find essential information about the 2011 USSA Distance National Championships and SuperTour Finals in Sun Valley, ID. Racing kicks off on Saturday, March 26 with the Men’s 50k CL U.S. Championship. Check out everything you need to know about the event below.
SCHEDULE:
2011 US Championship 50/30 km / SuperTour Finals Schedule HERE.
MAPS:
Local Maps:
– Ketchum / Sun Valley Overview Map HERE.
– Downtown Ketchum Map / Coaches Meetings HERE.
Course Maps:
– US National Championship 50/30km CL (7.2km Loop) HERE.
– SuperTour Finals Men’s 3.3km Prologue FR HERE / SuperTour Finals Women’s 2.8km Prologue FR HERE
– SuperTour Finals Men’s 5km loop for 15km CL HERE / SuperTour Finals Women’s 3.3km loop for 10km CL HERE.
– SuperTour Finals Sprint CL HERE.
– Image of SuperTour Finals Hill Climb FR HERE.
Stadium Maps:
– SuperTour Finals Prologue FR Stadium HERE.
– US National Championship 50/30km CL / SuperTour Finals Mass Start CL Stadium HERE.
– SuperTour Finals Sprint CL Stadium HERE.
CURRENT 2011 USSA SUPERTOUR STANDINGS:
– Current USSA SuperTour Standings HERE.
CURRENT MINI-TOUR STANDINGS:
– Check back…
PRIZE MONEY GUIDELINES:
– 2011 US Championship 50/30 km / SuperTour Finals Prize Money HERE.
SCORING GUIDELINES:
– 2011 US Championship 50/30 km / SuperTour Finals Scoring Guidelines HERE.
FAST AND FEMALE:
– Fast and Female Registration HERE.
– Fast and Female Poster HERE / Fast and Female Press Release HERE.
LODGING INFORMATION:
Official Lodging Partner is Sun Valley Company – contact them at 800.786.8259 and mention the SuperTour Finals for discounted rates.
March 25, 2011 (Canmore, AB) – Nationals week has now come to an end in Canmore and what a great week of ski racing it was! Although my personal racing was a disaster, it was great to be a part of such an outstanding event.
The 10k Skate:
In a word: Ouch. The day started off well; perfect weather, perfect snow, perfect conditions for a ski race! After flying through 7km with the lead, followed closely by George, I felt like I had paced myself perfectly to contend for the win. At points early in the race I felt as though I was skiing too easy but could tell I was skiing well as I had managed to get within a few seconds of my 30-second man (Graeme Killick). Little was I aware though that the wheels were about to come off in a big way!
Perhaps my pace was too high for the grueling course, or maybe my lack of quality training over the past month started to show… whatever it was, my body checked out early. Feeling like someone had thrown out the anchor at full throttle I began to die a quick and unexpected death. There was little I could do but dig deep and try to minimize the damage. Despite redlining most of the last 2.5km I watch in dismay as Killick skied away from me and my split times steadily got worse.
I suffered to the line for 4th place, losing 30 seconds to Grey and Gkill (Killick) who skied an incredible final lap. There’s nothing worse than blowing up in a race, especially when you have the energy to keep pushing, but the body just won’t go. It’s like being chased in a dream, no matter how fast you try to run, it seems like you just can’t go as fast as you need to!
This is most certainly the most I have made myself hurt all year. Lying on the ground at the finish, feeling like my head was about to explode, all I could do was hope such a hard effort would stimulate the body to perform better for the rest of the week.
The 15km Classic:
If the 10k was rough, this race was nothing short of a train wreck. Warm temps, icy tracks and new snow made for a waxing nightmare. With cool mornings and rapidly warming temperatures, the few cms of fresh snow in the early morning was icing on the cake of suffering. As the Alberta World Cup Academy wax team scrambled to anticipate the rapidly changing snow conditions and make the all important klister or hardwax decision, I began warming up for the type of classic conditions I always dread. Faced with having to make a last second guess on what the weather was going to do and which skis were going to be the best- I chose wrong. I was banking on the sun continuing to shine and temperatures rapidly rising, so went with a heavily klistered pair of skis. The weather wouldn’t cooperate though and I ended up with a painfully slow, icing, draggy mess. After losing 12 seconds to the leaders in the first 1.5km (most of which was downhill) I knew I was in for a hard day at the office. Most of the field struggled with the wax but it was apparent that the top 3 (all waxing together) had nailed it, gapping the rest of the field by a whopping 1minute and 40 seconds!
The Classic Sprint:
I would have paid good money for the usual hard and fast ‘Canmore Snow Conditions’ this week however the Classic sprint day brought more of the same difficult conditions. More fresh snow overnight and rapidly warming temps once again left me scrambling to find a ski/wax combo that was working well. After having adequate skis in the morning qualifier but a disappointing result, I returned in the early afternoon to much different conditions. Warm sun and some lingering fresh snow had made for a glazy hard to kick track. I tried a few different options and settled on what I thought was going to be my Ace in the hole… Hairies Skis. With a relatively easy course and not being able to kick my hard wax skis, I figured hairies would be the ticket… I was wrong again. Kicking poorly and not gliding as well as others, I struggled through the rounds on hairies and ultimately went down in a crash on one of the two hairpin corners to end my day. In the words of Forrest Gump: ‘That’s all I have to say about that.’
I do have to give a shout out to AWCA teammates Jess Cockney and Joey Burton who put on a gun show out there, double poling their final rounds finishing 4th and 10th respectively. Also a shout-out to Lennardis Valjas, freshly back from Europe, who was strong all day winning the qualifier and going on to take a commanding win in the final.
The Mass Start 50km Skate:
Finally!! Hard fast conditions had at long last shown up for a race in Canmore! The 50km is by no means one of my strengths but being as it was the last event of the National Champs and even more importantly the last time I’d line up at the start with long-time teammate George Grey, it was a race I wasn’t going to miss. And what a race it was! Fast conditions made for 25min 10km laps and a winning time of just over two hours! I was finally able to find a great pair of skis and would say that I probably had the best skis in the field. Even the fastest skis in the world wouldn’t help me though as my legs started to give out on me at around 40k. Brutal cramping (as is a normal occurrence for my sprinter legs in long races) caused me to lose contact with the lead group of 12 who had been skiing together since the 15k mark. I hobbled to the line for 11th place, pretty happy with my result in a race that is often complete hell for me!
A huge congratulations goes out to neighbor, teammate and friend, George Grey, he finished off a brilliant career with a big win in the 50k-his final race. That win was on top of two National titles won earlier in the week, an incredible final week of racing for George and I couldn’t be happier to see him go out on such a high note!
It was with a heavy heart that I watched George make his final trip to the top of the podium, we have had so many great times together over the years I’m sad to see him leave the racing scene. The race trails just won’t be the same without him. I know that many great things lay ahead for George and wish him all the best in his future endeavors!
Overheard:
“Mmmkayyyy” -George Grey
In the Tape Deck:
Artist: Robortom, Track Paganini Rocks (Feat. Au Revoir Simone)
Artist: Cold War Kids, Track: Hang Me Up To Dry
March 24, 2011 – The general feedback on the 2011 World Championship in Oslo was that it was the biggest most spectacular World Championship ever held. Over 100,000 spectators were in the stands or out around the track each day for the last weekend of competition, and even the qualification race the day before the first official World Championship medal event had a bigger crowd than most World Cup events in central Europe. Seven Australian athletes competed – Esther Bottomley, Ben Sim, Callum Watson, Ewan Watson, Nick Grimmer, Mark van der Ploeg and Chris Darlington. The competition highlights for the Australian Team were Esther Bottomley’s 44th place in the Sprint Freestyle, the 19th place of Ben Sim and Callum Watson in the Team Sprint, and the 10km qualification race in which Mark van der Ploeg and Ewan Watson finished 4th and 6th. The lowlight was the overlapping of the men’s relay team before Mark van der Ploeg had a chance to start to the final leg. Waxing conditions were the most challenging the team has experienced probably since the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, not with grip waxing as can often be the case but from the glide perspective. The overall summary: Great atmosphere, incredible event, some solid results, it would have nice to have some faster skis and higher results in a couple of the distance events.
Most of the team athletes are now back in Australia, with the exception of Esther Bottomley who finished a very creditable 14th in the Engadin Ski Marathon two weeks ago and plans to race the Swiss Championship next weekend.
More details from the World Championship can be viewed on the AUS XC Website HERE.
National Rollerski Event, Canberra, April 23-24
On the Easter weekend of April 23-24 Ski Australia is organising some rollerski events in Canberra. While there are still some details to be sorted out with ACT Roads and the land managers, the preliminary schedule of events is as follows:
Saturday April 23
– 10:00 am – 3.3km Uphill Classic Time Trial – Mt Stromlo Road
– 2:00 pm – Freestyle Criterium – Canberra Institute of Technology, Bruce Saturday April 24
– 10:00 am – 3.3km Uphill Freestyle Event – Mt Stromlo Road
More details will be available soon on the AUS XC Website.
March 24, 2011 – You have 7 more days to upload your best photo for a chance to win! Upload your XC, snowshoeing and backcountry ski pics to WIN the $1450 Ultimate Nordic Winter Getaway in BC from Tourism Whistler! There’s still time to vote for your faves and help give away the 2nd Prize: The Yeti Snowshoe and Silver Star XC Weekend Warrior Combo Pack. Click HERE to enter.
We’re going deep in the prize bag and still giving away daily prizes during this last week. Join us on Facebook for updates and prize announcements! Does your photo got what it takes to win? Click HERE to check out the competition. Contest deadline: March 31, 2011.
UPCOMING EVENTS
– Vancouver Island Loppet at Mount Washington: March 26
– North American Biathlon Championships at WOP: March 31-April 3
– Retro Day at Silver Star Mountain Resort: April 2
– 3rd Annual 30k Woppet at Ski Callagan: April 9
– Spring Fling at Ski Callaghan: April 30
For more upcoming events visit the BC Nordic event calendar HERE throughout the winter season.
CHECK IT OUT
Sparkling Hill Masters World Cup: Race Photos
By all accounts the Masters World Cup at Sovereign Lake was a huge success! Click HERE to view the race photos. If you’re interested in competing next year, the 2012 MWC will be hosted in Oberwiesenthal, Germany.
Backcountry Beckons
There are miles of off-track trails to explore in BC during the spring season and backcountry skiing is a great alternative outdoor experience. Backcountry and Nordic ski touring equipment and hut rentals are available at many Nordic facilities and resorts. The backcountry ski season typically lasts until May and even June at some locations.
Bulkley Valley Nordic Centre operates two backcountry huts Starr Creek Cabin (1400m) and Harold Price Cabin (1600m). These cabin rentals are very affordable at $5-12/pp .The Bulkley Valley area near Smithers, BC is surrounded by mountains and known for its plentiful backcountry offerings.
Dakota Ridge Winter Recreation Area on the Sunshine Coast is a 1,532 acre winter playground that not only offers XC ski trails but also an abundance of backcountry terrain. Check out a quirky extreme snowshoeing video HERE shot at Tetrahedron Provincial Park.
You’ll need a few days to fully explore the 98km off-track trails at Larch Hills XC Ski Area. The trails also run through portions of the Shuswap’s Violet Creek Provincial Park. Click HERE for more info.
Explore Vancouver Island backcountry with Strathcona Nordic’s guide Andrew Pape-Salmon. He’s hosting two upcoming trips: March 27 at Mount Cokely and April 17 at Mount Albert Edward. Click HERE for detailed trip information. Mount Washington also offers daily guided off piste backcountry ski tour options.
Rossland, BC is world famous for its deep powder snow and lures backcountry skiers from around the world. Click HERE to download the Black Jack Nordic Trail and backcountry map. Sun Peaks Resort offers a 14.3 km of backcountry Nordic trail system along with the comforts and amentites of a full-service resort.
The Callaghan Valley, with 4,500 hectare terrain and high vertical drops is a prime backcountry ski touring destination in the Southern Coast Mountain Range. Start your tour from Callaghan Country lodge. A Backcountry Access Pass is only $10.
FRESH DEALS
Spring is in full swing and the ski conditions have never been better! Looking for a spring Nordic getaway? Check out these offers. Get to know other Nordic ski areas and resorts in BC and find out what makes them great.
Spring XC Skiing on the Sunshine Coast
There’s still time to get in some XC skiing and snowshoeing at Dakota Ridge. Take advantage of special deals at B&Bs and cottages before the mid-season rates kick in. A family day pass is a bargain at $20. Click HERE for deals.
Ski Callaghan Spring Specials until April 3
Ski Callaghan is offering sweet deals for the entire family: XC ski lessons, snowshoe tours and the ever popular “Biathlon Experience” sessions. Click HERE for Callaghan specials.
Snowshoeing Hotspot – Otway Nordic Ski Centre
There’s plenty of snow at Otway Nordic Centre this season! Over 10km snowshoe trails to explore on varied terrain, easy to advanced. Trail pass only $6. Otway’s spring hours are 8:30am until 9:30pm.
ASK THE EXPERT
Common Nordic Skiing Injuries
by: Sophia Sauter Registered Physiotherapist, Active Life Physiotherapy
Cross-country skiing is a sport with a very low incidence of injuries due to its low impact nature, however some of us may have endured some injuries during the ski season or inadvertently aggravated pre-existing conditions. Approximately 75% of injuries sustained by Nordic skiers are a result of overuse due to the repetitive nature of skiing, while the remaining 25% are a result of trauma. The following outlines some common injuries and appropriate treatment.
Traumatic Injuries (25%), for example: Ankle sprain; Thumb sprain; Knee ligament sprain; Groin muscle strain; Wrist sprain. The recommended treatment is RICE: Relative rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. Then, slowly restore range of motion, strength, proprioception and power. It’s best to see a physiotherapist to obtain a proper diagnosis and set of rehabilitative exercises.
Overuse Injuries (75%), for example: Knee pain (patellofemoral, ITBand); Compartment syndrome (shins); Achilles tendinopathy; Rotator cuff tendinopathy (shoulder); Low back pain. The recommened treatment is a bit different. In these cases it’s important to correct muscle imbalance (e.g. tight/weak), equipment faults, and possible training errors. Seek medical advice from a physiotherapist or other qualified health professional specializing in injuries common to Nordic skiers.
Of course, the best treatment for any injury is prevention. This means utilizing appropriate training progressions, maintaining physical strength, balance, flexibility, adopting appropriate recovery techniques, and treating any lingering individual malalignments/weaknesses/imbalances.
Check in with a physiotherapist for full body analysis to identify individual mechanical inadequacies. Also consider an athlete specific core stability and functional strength program. Think about dealing with your injuries now so you can start your next season off right!
Sophia Sauter is a Registered Physiotherapist at Active Life Physiotherapy in North Vancouver. Sophia is also a Clinical Instructor, Department of Physical Therapy at UBC, and is an avid Nordic skier and runner.
March 23, 2011 (Toblach, Italy) – Check out this fantastic video coverage of Devon Kershaw’s (CAN) first World Cup victory during Stage 5 of the 2011 Tour de Ski in Toblach, Italy. He beat out the world’s best sprinters with the ultimate breakthrough performance that paved the way for a historic season in Canadian men’s XC skiing, including a gold medal in the Team Sprint with teammate Alex Harvey at the Nordic World Championships, at the famous Holmenkollen in Oslo, Norway.
March 23, 2011 – Check out these video highlights of one of the greatest moments in Canadian XC ski racing history – Pierre Harvey’s first World Cup win in 1987 in Falun, Sweden. Harvey’s amazing feat is even more significant as we fast-forward to the present where his son, Alex, and his Canadian teammates, have continued Pierre’s legacy, enjoying a break-out season, winning multiple medals on the FIS World Cup and World Championships circuit.
March 23, 2011 – You’ve supported us all winter long by participating in NENSA events and sharing your love of skiing with those around you, now is your chance to contribute to NENSA financially, to help provide us with the platform to get even better as we move forward.
Make a Donation and check on our drive’s progress HERE.
Create Your Own Fundraising Page for NENSA to encourage your friends to contribute HERE.
We’ve had a wonderful winter. We’ve set records for membership again this year, with growth of at least 5% (numbers are still coming in!) had great snow throughout the region once it got started, and enjoyed wonderful events at fantastic venues all winter long. Now is our chance to say thank you for being a part of it and to ask you to support both the current work of NENSA and build a strong foundation for its future growth.
What does the future hold? Short-term, I envision full funding for New England qualifiers to J1, World Junior, and U23 trip. I also see further expansion of our successful ski lease program that helps get kids and families on skis for the first time. And, yes, it means continual improvement of our core programs like the TD Bank Eastern Cup Series, BKL Festival, Championship events, Gaining the Edge Clinics, Kids Ski Days, and more… Longer term, a strong financial foundation gives us the strength to spot and seize opportunities for new programs and avenues to enhance our mission. In summary, the Annual Fund Drive is important and your contribution matters!
What will it take to reach our goals? A big part of it is the continuous support of our major sponsors like TD Bank, LL Bean, and Trapp Family Lodge, but in recent years our Annual Fund has grown… and grown… and is now a critical component of our success. Donate $5 or donate $500 if you can… NENSA is doing well, we are strong, but we need your continued support to continue to serve the xc skiing community.
March 22, 2011 – Check out this video by Andrew Casey (Aurora Nordic) from the NL Provincial Championships in Labrador City, featuring Marty Whalen, Luke and Noah Taylor, Emma Holmes, Allie Crowley, Natalie Chambers-Hughes (Aurora Nordic), Peter Boland from Corner Brook (Blow Me Down Ski Club) and Andrew Casey. A few other skiers make cameos throughout the video from Menihek Nordic. Everyone really enjoyed themselves at the races and all look forward to going back to Lab. City and the trails at Menihek Nordic to race, train and hit up Koch’s Delight once again. Good times and fun all around.
March 22, 2011 (Canmore, AB) – Brian McKeever will lean on childhood ski friend, Erik Carleton, to guide him to the top of the podium at the IPC Cross-Country Skiing and Biathlon World Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, March 30 to April 10, Cross Country Canada announced today.
With Robin McKeever, who has guided Brian to 10 Paralympic medals including seven gold and three at the 2010 Games in Vancouver-Whistler, forced to the sidelines with a torn ACL, the legendary brother tandem tapped on the shoulder of the 33-year-old Carleton to carry the torch and lead the visually-impaired Brian in the cross-country skiing events at the 2011 World Championships.
“I was surprised and shocked when the McKeevers first asked me, but this is a great opportunity for me and one that I could never turn down,” said Carleton. “It is an honour to race with Brian. He and Robin have done so much for Para-Nordic sport, and I just hope to do whatever I can tohelp continue to build on what they have already accomplished.”
While Robin will return to guide his brother along the road to the 2014 Games, the elder McKeever was also named coach of Canada’s Para-Nordic Team this fall.
“Erik is a very talented, and dedicated athlete and a great friend who I know will do everything he can to ensure we have the opportunity to hear the Canadian anthem being played at the World Championships,” said Brian McKeever who has never worked with another guide other than his older brother since he began competing in Para-Nordic skiing prior to the 2002 Paralympics. “This is obviously a new beginning, but our goals will not change. We are focused on gold, and I’m excited to be heading to Russia knowing I have a great friend and hard-working athlete guiding me to the podium.”
Carleton and the younger McKeever are longtime friends who were introduced to skiing at the same time when they signed up at the same time for a Jackrabbit ski program in Calgary. The two began racing together at the age of 13, and the friends became roommates when they moved to Canmore after eventually qualifying for the National Development Team.
While McKeever’s accomplishments are well documented having won everything on the table in Para-Nordic sport including earning a spot on Canada’s 2010 Olympic Team, Carleton has had numerous top-10’s as recently as this season while mucking it out on the Haywood NorAm Series throughout hiscareer. A part-time database administrator with a degree in computer science from the University of Calgary, Carleton’s best results as a senior racer came at the 2000 National Championships when he won two bronze medals.
“This is a new experience for me racing internationally so I’m nervous about maintaining my form through the travel and time zone changes, but I am also extremely excited,” said Carleton. “Brian and Robin are connected in a way that I will never be able to replace, but I am confident I can ski a pace that will help Brian perform at his best and reach his goals.”
The newly-formed McKeever-Carleton duo will lead a high-powered Canadian contingent into the showcase event on the 2011 IPC calendar. The Canadian squad will include a group of six athletes who have combined to win medals at the Paralympics, World Championships or World Cups.
Six-time Paralympic medallist, Colette Bourgonje will be the lone athlete entered in the women’s sit-ski category. Saskatoon’s Bourgonje, who has competed in six Paralympics in both winter and summer sport, captured a silver and bronze medal at the Vancouver-Whistler Paralympics. Chris Klebl, of Canmore, Alta., who sits fourth overall in the men’s sitting class, has a World Cup bronze medal to his credit this year.
Rising young star, Mark Arendz of Springton, P.E.I., who has enjoyed a dream season in 2011 where he finished second overall in the IPC Biathlon World Cup standings in the men’s standing division will be gunning for his first World Championship medal. With a goal of following the legendary path set by Brian McKeever, the 21-year-old Paralympian shocked the world by winning three gold medals, two silver and two bronze medals this year.
Jody Barber, of Smithers, B.C., who has five IPC World Cup medals to her credit, rounds out the Canadian squad. Barber, who is a 2010 Paralympian and also an accomplished Para-Triathlete where she won a bronze medal for Canada at the 2010 Triathlon World Championships, will compete in the women’s standing category in cross-country skiing.
The Canadian contingent will depart for the IPC World Championships on March 23 where they will take part in a training camp prior to the weeklong competition, which kicks off March 30, 2011.
March 22, 2011 (Cottage Grove, OR) – Over its 33-year history of building the highest-quality modern yurts, Pacific Yurts’ long list of innovations coupled with outstanding customer service has kept them at the top of the industry they created. From reflective insulation and French doors to heavy-duty snow and wind upgrades, the Cottage Grove, Oregon company was the first to introduce most of the features that have made yurts tremendously popular in a variety of settings and applications.
Now Pacific Yurts is pleased to introduce one of its most exciting innovations to date: the unique Custom Curve™ window system. Custom Curve™ is the first glass window system with a structurally engineered framework that follows the curved wall of the yurt. It thereby avoids the “flat panel” appearance of other systems and creates the most aesthetically appealing window available in a yurt today.
This latest innovation comes in response to customer requests for a new, energy-efficient window system that could be opened from the inside, says Pacific Yurts founder and CEO Alan Bair. “One of the many benefits of a modern yurt is its flexibility. It can be used in a wide variety of locations, and sometimes that means customers will be placing them on a mountain slope or atop a tall platform,” Bair says. “Since the standard yurt window opens from the outside, we wanted to give these customers an easy option for opening any hard to reach windows without the need for a wrap-around deck.”
Pacific Yurts solved that problem through a mixture of ingenuity and technology. The Custom Curve™ design utilizes a Low-E thermal glass window for maximum energy efficiency, and integrates a fabric flange into the window system to assure a weather-tight seal. By engineering the window into the yurt design, and supporting it with a beautiful top-quality Douglas fir framework, Pacific Yurts has been able to eliminate the latticework that crisscrosses through the standard yurt window, thereby enhancing the view.
Pacific Yurts’ new window system can be installed virtually anywhere along the wall of their three largest yurt sizes. It can be ordered with a new yurt or retrofitted to an existing yurt, and easily lends itself to customization with shelving, wood panels or window treatments for a personalized look.
As the company that pioneered the design and development of the first modern yurt, Pacific Yurts has been responsible for the most important advances in the industry. The Custom Curve™ window system ranks with the best of them, Bair says. Visit our website at www.yurts.com for more information.
March 21, 2011 (Falun, Sweden) – If you missed the action at this past weekend’s 2011 FIS Viessmann WCup finale in Falun, Sweden check out this great photo gallery of some of the sport’s top skiers as the season’s final champions were crowned following the 10/15km Handicap start pursuit race. Norway’s Marit Bjoergen and Petter Northug won the final mini tour while Dario Cologna (SUI) and Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) were crowned the overall season champions – read more here and here.
March 21, 2011 (Canmore, AB) – Here are some more great photos from Saturday’s Junior and Juvenile races at the 2011 Haywood Ski Nationals in Canmore, AB.
March 18, 2011 (Canmore, AB) – The Juvenile and Junior categories competed in the 1km Teck Classic Sprints yesterday at the 2011 Haywood Ski Nationals with Quebec’s Emilie Stewart-Jones of Nakkertok winning the Juvenile Girls race and Angus Foster of Big Thunder taking top spot in the Juvenile Boys competition. Alexia Rancourt of Mont Ste. Anne won the Junior Girls title with Julien Locke of Black Jack snapping up the victory in the Junior Boys race. Today is a rest day at the Nordic Centre before racing wraps up tomorrow with the mass start long distance skating events.
March 17, 2011 (Stockholm, Sweden) – Here are some great photos from yesterday’s Royal Palace Sprint in Stockholm won by Petra Majdic (SLO) and Emil Joensson (NOR). With their victories, Joensson and Majdic sewed up the respective men’s and women’s 2011 World Cup Sprint titles, as the series now heads into the final weekend in Falun, Sweden. The USA’s Kikkan Randall claimed third overall in the women’s Sprint Series – read more here on the women’s race and here for the men’s race.
March 17, 2011 (Canmore, AB) – When two-time Olympic cross-country skier George Grey hits the start line for Saturday’s 50-kilometre skate-ski race at the Haywood Ski Nationals, it will be his final competitive trip around the famed Canmore Nordic Centre.
After racing on the World Cup for nearly a decade against the top athletes on the globe, and competing in the Torino and Vancouver Olympics along with five World Championships, the 31-year-old Grey, of Rossland, B.C., has decided to retire.
“For me the timing just felt right,” said Grey, who started skiing when he was four years old, and racing at age seven. “In the last two years I felt like I accomplished many of my career goals and reached a performance level that was as high as I could attain. I am now looking forward to being a husband, father, and to new challenges and experiences in life.”
“I reached a peak in 2010 and thought maybe, just maybe, if I skied one more year I could contend for a medal in 2011 at the World Championships. To be able to hang in for one more season and experience the World Championships in Norway, and see Devon and Alex become World Champions, was an incredibly memorable final season.”
With Canada’s Beckie Scott having just broken through to win Canada’s first Olympic medal in the sport, Grey emerged onto the National Ski Team in 2002 with a group of bright-eyed, energetic young men from across the country poised and determined to follow Scott’s trail to the international podium.
Devon Kershaw was the first to find his way onto the podium. Kershaw became the first male in more than a decade to mount the international podium in 2006, and it didn’t take long for the others to follow suit. Four years later, Grey enjoyed a breakthrough moment of his own with his most memorable races coming at Whistler Olympic Park. The veteran teamed up with National Ski Team rookie, Alex Harvey, in 2009 to win a World Cup bronze medal in the sprint relay at the Olympic Test Event in Whistler. His best Olympic and individual career finish was eighth during the pursuit competition in 2010 when all three Canadian men finished in the top-10, and all four in the top-20.
“Getting my hands on just one medal was such an incredible high for me, and sharing it with such a talented athlete and friend in Alex made it even sweeter,” said Grey, whose best individual result outside the Olympics was a ninth-place finish at the Tour de Ski prologue in 2009. “My fondest memory has to be the 30-kilometre pursuit race with Ivan (Babikov), Alex (Harvey), and Devon (Kershaw) skiing right at the front of the pack with me. We were showing the world that we had finally arrived, and what we were capable of as a team. It was a career best for me, and to do it at a home Olympics with three of my buddies was amazing.”
After 10 years of blood, sweat and tears, Grey leaves the sport with the Canadian men’s squad amongst the best in the world.
“When I joined the Canadian men’s team we were described as ‘Canada’s most anonymous athletes,’ he said. “Now our team has World Championship medallists, World Cup medallists, Tour de Ski medallists. We have delivered a solid team. I know Canada is in good hands and there is loads of great talent coming up the system so I will sleep well.”
While racing was such a small part of his career, it was the countless hours of training with his friends and teammates that taught him to be patient, driven, tough and most importantly, goal-oriented along the journey.
“I get nostalgic thinking about all the hard training days that I endured with teammates at my side,” said Grey, who cites five-to-six hours of roller skiing in the pouring rain, nearly 50 kilometres of running and stomping their way up to glaciers as some of the most grueling training moments. “Only with your closest teammates is it possible to repeat training days like this every other week. My team and I have shed more sweat and spit on mountains than most would ever think possible.”
With the last goal remaining in his career to ski to the top of the podium on Saturday at the Haywood Ski Nationals, Grey would like to stay within sport if there is an opportunity to do so in the future, while also studying in the securities industry.
“The 2010 Olympics were sensational. The World Champs this year in Norway were staggering, but I am more than happy to wave a warm good-bye and smile at all the precious memories that I have accumulated. Thank you to everyone for your incredible support. My father always told me it is the process and not the outcome. I have fully realized that now, and I will never forget those who have helped me along this incredible ride.”
March 17, 2011 (Clark, CO) – On March 19, the U.S. National Marathon and Ultra-marathon Championships takes place in Clark, Colo. The seventh annual North Routt Coureur des Bois offers participants the choice of a 45-kilometre loop or a 90-kilometre loop in either classic or skate techniques.
Both races go through Steamboat Lake State Park, Routt National Forest and the National Continental Divide Trail. The North Routt Coureur des Bois is the only time these trails are open to skiing.
The 45-kilometre loop takes place on rolling, technical trails with close to 3,000 feet of vertical climbing. There are four feed stations on the course and a good mix of challenging climbs and descents.
The 90-kilometre loop is considered to be highly challenging with several long, solitary stretches. The total climbing is more than 6,500 feet. Racers choosing the 90-kilometre option will be required to carry appropriate food, water, clothing and gear, in case of emergency. There are feed stations approximately every 15 kilometres along the route.
Both courses are expertly marked and groomed in addition to having contingency courses set up in case of either poor or excessive snow conditions.
March 17, 2011 (Burlington, VT) – Forty-five adventurous skiers from throughout New England and New York stood on the starting line at Trapp Family Lodge for the 4th Annual Catamount Trail Backcountry Challenge Race and Tour on March 13th.
As the valley residents were experiencing rain in the lower elevations, these hardy backcountry participants were treated to lightly falling snow and up to five inches of fresh cover in the elevated mountainous areas. Unlike other Nordic ski races and tours, the participants were totally self sufficient on this remote backcountry trail. The 17km course in one of the most famous and well used sections of the Catamount Trail, generally skied from South to North. Race and Tour participants skied it in reverse fashion, which entailed a 2300 ft vertical climb and a 1300 ft hair raising descent off Bolton Mountain to the Bolton Valley Nordic Center below.
The touring division was given a head start before the competitive skiers raced off the start line 90 minutes later. While the touring division was able to enjoy the incredible scenery on their leisurely tour up and over Bolton Mountain, the racers were giving 100% of their effort to reach the finish line in the shortest possible time.
In the hotly contested field of elite racers, it was Eli Enman of Huntington Vermont who broke free of the main pack early in the race to set a new course record of 1:30:30, improving on his winning time and record from the 2010 race. Olympian Marc Gilbertson of Hyde Park and Eric Tremble of Jericho raced head to head down the mountain with Gilbertson making up ten seconds in the last kilometer to place second while Tremble nailed down the third position in 1:34:50.
The women’s race developed into a similar scenario as the men’s competition with Kate Crawford of Essex breaking free from the pack early in the race and setting a new course record in 2:05:22. The second and third positions were up for grab as Brie and Tyne Pike-Sprenger of West Dover, Vermont raced head to head throughout the entire race. Brie’s alpine racing experience paid off in the final descent, edging out her sister Tyne by two seconds to take second in a time of 2:13:13.
Following their heroic efforts over the grueling course, all participants were treated to a meal and over $2000 in donated raffle prizes and awards. Sponsors included Outdoor Gear Exchange, Rossignol Ski Company, Darn Tough Socks, Seventh Generation, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Silverwear Jewery. A special thanks goes out Trapp Family Lodge, Bolton Valley Resort, and the Bolton Valley Ski Patrol for making this Catamount Trail Association event so successful. Proceeds from this event will help protect the 300-mile Catamount Trail.
March 15, 2011 (Midway, UT) – On Saturday, I started my last Junior National race. And it was my favorite – a relay! Five years ago, in Soldier’s Hollow, I raced my first Junior National relay ever, on a team with Libby Ellis and Lynn Duijndam. Libby scrambled, Lynn went second and I anchored. We started a lot of traditions that year, including racing in facepaint and glitter for the relay.
Every year since then, we’ve continued “bedazzling” ourselves come race day. Now I had an opportunity to close out JO’s with Libby scrambling again, and Elizabeth Simak skiing 2nd leg. And you know what? I still got nervous, just like the first time!
The conditions were quite tricky on Saturday, as the tracks were slower yet still glazed, and the outside of the track was icy and fast. We went on klister, and we had just enough kick for 3km but still had to work hard to close the wax pocket down. Because it was so icy, we stayed out of the track as much as possible and did a TON of double-poling.
Libby and Elizabeth did a fantastic job keeping us in the top 3, and staying within contact of the leaders. Because we started right alongside the J1 teams, it was sometimes hard to figure out which place you were in while racing. So we just hammered.
When I got the tag off from Simak, we were within sight of the leader – just far enough to have a fun chase. I started a little frantically, pretty much abandoning technique as I scrambled around the icy corners. How embarrassing. But once I got going, I calmed down (slightly) and got into a rhythm. The hometown crowd cheering was fantastic, and it helped enormously on the long grinding climb.
I was super excited to have such a great team; one that really topped off a great JO experience. And I don’t just mean my relay team – all the athletes, coaches, wax techs, family and friends that made this possible. Thanks guys!
The awards banquet was really well done (thanks to all the volunteers and organizers) but the best part was sharing it with my family and grandparents who came to cheer.
March 14, 2011 (Sovereign Lake, BC) – Sovereign Lake’s annual 30km freestyle loppet became an international competition as Petr Pavol of the Czech Republic finished in first place. Renowned competitors such as US Olympians Leslie Hall and Laura McCabe, who had participated in the Sparkling Hill Masters World Cup but were ready for more racing, competed in the loppet as well.
“He was looking forward to take part in this race as a finish or culmination of his results from the masters,” said a translator for Pavol. At the MWC2011 Pavol scored two golds and one bronze.
“He was really disappointed that he didn’t medal in the marathon race on the first day of racing so he was insisted on taking part in this one… he was trying to be first.” Pavol finished his race in a time of 1 hour and 22 minutes.
For Pavol skiing in Canada at Sovereign Lake was a memorable experience. When asked of his impression of the ski area he smiled and commented, “Skiing at Sovereign Lake is the best skiing in my life. Really, really.”
Pavol had new competition in the Sovereign Lake Loppet, as second place went to local skier David Harbocian who wasn’t old enough to race as a master skier in the previous week of racing.
“We had a pack of five to eight people at the start, then we went down Silver Queen, some Czech racer decided to attack so I went with him for a few minutes and he decided to drop me,” said Harbocian.
“There were a couple of sections where you would turn a corner and get a blast of head wind,” added Harboacian. “Racing was great, so was the temperature… and the snow was fast.”
Harbocian took the first place result in the men’s 18-29 age category in the 30km race with a time of 1:25. The fastest women’s time was American Olympian Hall with a time of 1:31.
In the men’s 15km race the men’s fastest time went to Jon Sader who finished in 49 minutes. In the women’s category, Theresa Korobanik layed down the fastest race with a time of 1:02.
Gareth Williams topped the 7km field finishing in 23:58 and Dana Allen lead the women 30:50. Ian Oliphant and Keeya Corbett were first in the kids aged 7-9. Mitchell Bond and Sofie Steinruck were the quickest skiers in the six and under category.
March 13, 2011 (Lahti, Finland) – Norway’s Marit Bjoergen was back on form on Sunday looking unbeatable again as she took the women’s 1.4km Classic sprint victory at the FIS World Cup in Lahti on Sunday.
On the flip side World Cup Sprint leader, American Kikkan Randall, had to deal with a topsy-turvey day as she qualified strong in 5th just behind Bjoergen only to meet disaster in her quarter final finishing 5th and was out early in the match.
It was a lucky loser day in the final as top qualifier, Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen (NOR), and Petra Majdic (SLO) both landed on the podium after advancing to the final as lucky losers. Jacobsen and Majdic were 3rd and 4th in the semi won by Bjoergen in a photo-finish over Follis. In final they both advanced one spot as Jacobsen claimed the silver and Majdic the bronze.
Majdic out-skied Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) for the final podium spot as Charlotte Kalla (SWE) ended up fifth and Arianna Follis (Italy) 6th. With her 60-point podium score the Slovenian star wrestled the Sprint leader’s jersey from Randall now third overall behind Follis in second.
The final series outcome will be decided on a shorter classic sprint in Stockholm, Sweden on Mar. 16.
The Lahti sprint course is one of the toughest on the circuit starting with a grueling uphill climb followed by a bit of downhill relief leading to a second smaller climb and then a fast dowhill with a challenging final right hand turn dropping skiers into the chute into the stadium to the finish. It was on this corner that the course delivered an unusual number of crashes throughout the day – moreso in the men’s race.
Randall, who began slipping after a strong start in the quarterfinal, could not keep pace and fell back to finish fifth. She wasn’t the only one who had difficulties with the tough snow conditions and demanding course as others like Bjoergen and Kowalczyk both experienced some slippage.
“It was a real bummer after a strong qualification,” said Randall in a phone interview with SkiTrax. “My skis were fine thru the qualification and start of the quarter final and I was in contention but soon after they slicked up – I was slipping with less glide than the others as well and lost ground. We think that perhaps my skis picked up some ice along the way that slowed them down.”
Randall concurred that the Lahti course is long and tough. “It’s precarious in some parts and perhaps has the most sustained sprint climb I’ve experienced. The qualification times were over 3:30 that tells you something.”
Four other North Americans did not qualify including Holly Brooks (USA) in 34th, Daria Gaiazova (CAN) in 48th, Chandra Crawford (CAN) in 55th and Perianne Jones (CAN) in 56th.
“Tough day today,” said Canadian Head Coach Justin Wadsworth in a brief email to SkiTrax. “Chandra and Dasha will head back to Canmore for XC Ski Nationals.”
dDespite the lackluster results for North America the day had some positives.
“Holly Brooks almost qualified for the rounds and Kikkan blazed her qualifier as if classic sprinting had been her strongest event. And perhaps it will be,” US Coach Matt Whitcomb told SkiTrax post-race.
“Kikkan struggled in her quarterfinal, finishing 5th. While her skis were great in the qualifier, they were not as competitive in the heats. The wax was the same as we used for Andy [Newell] who had great skis – both athlete and tech liked them in testing, but they didn’t roll as well as expected when the gun went off.
“It is classical racing in variable conditions. We own the choices we made and were confident in them, and own that it didn’t go as planned. When you miss by a little on the World Cup, you’re missing by a little against the best teams in the world.”
With only 29 points separating Randall from the Sprint jersey she’s keen to get another crack at it in Stockholm. “It felt good wearing it today and I’m looking forward to having the chance to take it back,” added Randall, who sits 10th in the overall WCup standings.
The US team heads to Stockholm on Monday and begins their final preparation for the remaining four WCup events in the series.
March 13, 2011 (Minneapolis, MN) – Winter returned to Minneapolis in the form of temperatures in the low twenties, strong winds, and a trace of new snow. The course was firm-to-icy and the tracks were filled with the fresh drifting snow. Given the abrasive conditions, coaches tested a variety of klister or binder bases covered with waxes slightly warmer than the temperature. The savvy athletes double-poled out of the tracks and strided in the tracks. Coaches tried to find the balance between wax that wouldn’t shear off on the ice and wax that offered good glide on the dry snow that filled the tracks.
Given the very short racing length – 3×3 kilometers – speeds were very high and aggressiveness played a big role in the scramble leg. The course had one long and one short very fast downhill, each with a corner at the bottom. The athletes who were both fearless and skilled on their feet had the advantage.
In the first race of the day, the J2 boys relay, New England’s scramble leg, Hamish McEwen, set the tone by taking an aggressive lead from the gun. McEwen and the other top skiers in the field double-poled out of the stadium between the many tracks. The remainder of the boys quickly caught on and also exited the tracks. Most then remembered to get back into the tracks for the climbs, but some forgot and were dropped instantly as they slipped.
McEwen gained an 8-second lead over the course of his leg and tagged off to Ben Hegman. Hegman lost two seconds to the Midwest team, but still held the lead when tagging off to Tyler Foulkes. To the delight of the hometown crowd, the Midwest’s Harris Dirnberger skied an aggressive anchor leg, passing Foulkes and skiing the Midwest to a six-second win.
Matthew Berntston, second leg for the Midwest, said the team had thought that they had a chance to win. “The goal of the first and second legs was just to keep up with the leaders. We hoped that Harris would beat out anyone.”
Unlike many Junior Olympic winners, Dirnberger has not been thinking about this day for a long time. “My first JO qualifying race was this winter. I went because I thought it would be fun to race the JOQ with my teammates. I did pretty well in the classic, so I kept going to the JOQs. I made the team, so here I am.”
Dirnberger’s success isn’t surprising to his coach Piotr Bednarski of Go! Training, who first saw his talent this summer. “He first came to practices this summer. He surprised me by staying with an elite CXC skier in rollerski sprints.”
J2 Boys
1. Midwest (Nick Proell, Matthew Berntson, Harris Dirnberger)
2. New England (Hamish McEwen, Ben Hegman, Tyler Foulkes)
3. Intermountain (Noah Anderson, Karsten Hokanson, Marc Jackson)
The J2 girls relay was also won on the last leg, when Alaska’s Marion Woods erased a 23-second deficit to pass New England for the win. Wood’s teammates were motivated by her successes this week. Sarrissa Lammers, the team’s scramble leg explained, “We really wanted to get Marion her four golds.”
Woods, for her part, still seems surprised by how well she finished this week. “I didn’t know what to expect coming down here. I knew a lot of people had been training a lot. I just planned to come to JOs and do my best.”
J2 Girls:
1. Alaska (Sarrissa Lammers, Mackenzie Flynn, Marion Woods)
2. New England 1 (Brooke Mooney, Cate Brams, Heidi Halvorsen)
3. New England 2 (Halie Lange, Zoe Snow, Hannah Benson)
The J1s and OJs raced together, even though they were scored separately.
The New England OJ’s scramble leg, Skyler Davis, posted the fastest time of the first leg, but Intermountain’s J1 team scramble, Cole Morgan, remained in touch, five seconds behind and in second place.
Strong second legs were put in by Intermountain’s Sawyer Kesselheim and Midwest’s Dylan McGarthwaite, who were the only two skiers in the second leg to dip under nine minutes. Kesselheim caught New England OJ Peter Hegman and passed him on the long climb, going through the lap in the overall lead by one second. McGarthwaite’s strong leg pulled the team into second for J1s and fourth overall.
The anchor for Intermountain, Akeo Maifeld-Carucci, faced the daunting prospect of trying to keep up with David Sinclair, the winner in this week’s mens OJ classic. “Sinclair caught me early on, so I tried to stay with him as long as I could.” Maifeld-Carucci held on bravely, staying within five seconds Sinclair (New England OJ team) and bringing Intermountain in for the J1 victory with a 24-second margin over the Midwest J1 team. Carucci summed up his experience: “I had really good skis and super-strong teammates. It all came together for us.”
OJ Boys:
1. New England 1 (Skyler Davis, Peter Hegman, David Sinclair)
2. New England 2 (Austin Cobb, Chris Stock, Bridger Tyler)
3. Alaska (Jack Novak, Silas Talbot, Peter Mamrol)
The Minneapolis crowd looked forward to the finale of the weekend, the OJ/J1s girls race, knowing the Jessie Diggins would anchor the Midwest OJ team.
Diggins and her team did not disappoint. First and second legs, Libby Ellis and Elizabeth Simak, accomplished their plan of staying within reach of the leaders. Simak tagged off to Diggins in 2nd among OJs and 4th overall. As expected, Diggins made up the slack. She roared by the three teams in front of her, bringing the team in first overall, 23 seconds in front of the New England J1s.
Teammates Ellis and Simak were confident that if they held their own on the first legs, Diggins would make up any deficit. “Jessie is the most motivated person we have ever met. If she wants something, she goes out and gets it.”
Victory was especially sweet for this close-knit team. Ellis and Diggins have been skiing together for five years, while Simak been with them for four. The team raced the course with gold-glitter face decoration, a tradition the Midwest girls started at the 2006 Soldier Hollow JOs. Ellis explains that this is the perfect end for her and Diggins, who are both in their last year as older juniors. “It’s even better that this race is here in Minneapolis. I love the fans and appreciate all the hard work the organizers did to put this together.”
The New England OJ team of Heather Mooney, Cambria McDermott, and Corey Stock won the J1 relay, although they were pushed by the team from Rocky Mountain. Heather Mooney and Michaela Frias were neck-and-neck at the front of the pack throughout the scramble leg; Mooney had a 1-second lead at the tag. Mary O’Connell put the hammer down on her leg, and tagged off to Emily Hannah with an 11-second lead. The speed of Corey Stock, who was likely motivated by being passed by Diggins, was just too much for Rocky Mountain. Stock brought the team in for the J1 win and second-place overall.
Second-place in the J1s was a good result for team Rocky Mountain. They followed their race plan perfectly. For Frias, that plan was to “get the team in a good a position.” O’Connell’s role was to “push the pace high.” Hannah was determined “to try to stick with their position.” All three skiers are from Steamboat Springs High School, the public high school in the community of Steamboat Springs.
J1 Girls
1. New England (Heather Mooney, Cambria McDermott, Corey Stock)
2. Rocky Mountain (Michaela Frias, Mary O’Connell, Emily Hannah)
3. Alaska (Celia Haering, Tristan Ramey, Teagan Yutrzenka)
OJ Girls
1. Midwest (Elizabeth Ellis, Elizabeth Simak, Jessie Diggins)
2. Alaska (Mackenzie Kanady, Alyson McPhetres, Kinsey Loan)
3. New England (Anne Hart, Mary Cirelli, Isabel Caldwell)
Look for final Alaska Cup results and high school and club team standings to be posted HERE.
March 11, 2011 – ONE WAY, one of the leading Nordic Sports brands from Finland, is launching a full range of cross country skis and cross country boots for 2012. ONE WAY is joining the Salomon SNS binding system. The Finnish Nordic Sports brand has probably been the fastest growing Nordic Sports brand in the last years with a wide product portfolio in cross country poles, Nordic sportswear, roller skis, Nordic Sports eyewear, technical Footwear and Nordic Walking products.
Many World Champions and medallists in cross country and biathlon are using ONE WAY products, like Martin Fourcade (FRA), Aino Kaisa Saarinen (FIN), and Tord Asle Gjerdalen (NOR), and several World Cup teams are exclusively equipped with OW textiles for their teams, like the French Nordic Team or Slovenia.
From 2012, ONE WAY will offer a full product range in cross country skies and cross country boots. The product range includes high performance racing skies for World Cup and elite ski marathon skiers.
In addition, ONE WAY will offer new ski and boot concepts for young and modern cross country enthusiasts. The cross country sport has developed in the last 2 years very positively towards a younger image.
The new line allows the market and retailers to meet the new consumer demand for new and fresh concepts for skis and boots.
Finland has a strong history in building cross country skis. ONE WAY will follow the tradition, building a new Scandinavian cross country ski brand for the modern consumer in the popular sport of cross country.
ONE WAY has signed a partnership with SALOMON using the SNS binding systems for all their products. The Salomon SNS system is in many countries one of the most popular and technically advanced connection between ski and boot.
Both companies are sharing a partnership and interest in developing the image of cross country sports for young and modern consumers, but as well building a cooperation in new technologies.
ONE WAY Sport OY Chairman of the Board Lasse Korppi: “Adding the cross country skies and boots, ONE WAY will be the most complete and exciting product offer in Nordic Sports world wide, textiles-footwear-eyewear-poles-roller ski- Nordic walking- accesories.”
March 10, 2011 (Sovereign Lake, BC) – Russia showed their strength once again at the Sparkling Hill Masters World Cup taking six golds, as competitors battled it out in the 4x5km classic-free relays on Wednesday. The U.S. walked away with five first place wins while Canada scored one gold.
Barry Makarewicz, Rune Harkestad, Kent Murdoch and Shaun Marchall-Pryde led the Americans in their first gold medal of the day winning the M04 (45-49) category with a lead of 2:27 against the pursuing Russian team.
“Barry laid the foundation for all of us,” said Harkestad. “Barry and I, if we could stay with it we were safe.” Teammate Marchall-Pryde was equally pleased adding, “I got the easy part today. They did all the work. All the guys had good legs. Barry got us started and in a good spot.”
J.D. Downing (American XC Skiers) speaks about the U.S. men’s team race.
The women’s races were led by the U.S. winning three of the four relays. Laura McCabe and Leslie Hall were joined by Angela Robinson and Beth Thomas to show their Russian counterparts they could take the lead and win gold in the F02 (35-39) category.
This was repeated in the F04 (45-49) with Trina Hosmer, Linda Mcclatchy, Carolyn Senty and June Lane winning gold. In the women’s F03 (40-44) Americans Muffy Rice, Ginny Price, Maria Allen and Rosalyn Singleton came in 28 seconds ahead of the Canadian women’s team.
Canada got on the gold scoreboard as their women defeated the Russians and US teams in the women’s F01 category (30-34) with two prior gold medalists Nikki Kassel and Marta Green joined by Doris Hausleitner and Nikki Norrie.
“It was a fast start,” said Kassel who followed a Russian skier. Then Hausleitner tagged in, “I came and caught the Russian and had a little gap on her.” Hausleitner was followed by Norrie who did the skating and “never saw the Russian after that.”
Norrie tagged in Green who described the race as “… all fun after that.”
March 10, 2011 (Oro Medonte, ON) – Hardwood Ski and Bike is introducing a fun new event on March 19 called the Pole, Pedal and Pound – an unconventional triathlon consisting of cross country skiing, biking and snowshoeing. This event can be done solo or as a team of three.
Race breakdown:
– 5km cross country ski
– 3km snowshoe
– 5km bike
Race Start Time: 9:00 am
For more information and registration information click here.
February 05, 2011 (Rybinsk, Russia) – Alexei Petukhov (RUS) held off the storming Norwegians who added some star power at Saturday’s 1.3km men’s free sprints in Rybinsk to secure another victory for Russia on home snow. Petukhov, who qualified first, dominated the competition to take a clear win ahead of the silver and bronze Norwegian duo of Ola Vigen Hattestad and Anders Gloeersen who qualified second behind Petukhov. Martin Jaeger (SUI) and Nikolay Morilov (RUS) rounded out the top five.
The absent World Cup top three, Dario Cologna (SUI), Petter Northug (NOR), and Lukas Bauer (CZE), maintained their overall rankings, while Hattestad took over the sprint rankings ahead of Emil Joensson (SWE) in second and Petukhov (RUS) in third. No North Americans competed.
February 05, 2011 (Rybinsk, Russia) – Today’s 1.3km women’s free sprints were led and won by Slovenians Vesna Fabjan and Katja Visnar. Visnar won the qualifier, but had to settle for second when she was nipped at the finish in the final by team mate Fabjan who qualified second. Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) secured the bronze medal in a late-race surge, successfully shutting the Italian team out of the medals. Magda Genuin (ITA), Arianna Follis (ITA), and Marianna Longa (ITA) finished fourth through sixth, respectively. Once again, competitor participation was low, with many of the top hitters absent. No North Americans competed.
Kowalczyk extended her overall World Cup lead to 1,576 points ahead of Follis with 975 and Marit Bjoergen (NOR) with 922. Despite her no-show, Petra Majdic (SLO) continues to lead in the overall sprint standings.
February 04, 2011 (Rybinsk, Russia) – Ilia Chernousov (RUS) edged out a very tight yet small field in Rybinsk today at the Viessmann FIS World Cup Men’s 20km Pursuit to score victory on home snow. He was tailed very closely by the top men to win by a mere four-tenths of a second over second place, Jean Marc Gaillard (FRA). Fellow Frenchman Mauric Manificat took the bronze medal, finishing only three seconds behind the leader.
As in the women’s race, the field was small and no North Americans were in attendance. Notable no-shows were World Cup top three Dario Cologna (SUI), Petter Northug (NOR), Lukas Bauer (CZE), along with Marcus Hellner (SWE).
February 04, 2011 (Rybinsk, Russia) – A small field of women took to the start line at the Viessmann FIS World Cup in Rybinsk, Russia today for the 10km Pursuit event, but that didn’t matter to Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) who snatched another victory, posting a time nearly 10s faster than second place skier, Italy’s Marianna Longa.Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (FIN) finished third.
With only 30 starters from eight different nations and no North Americans, it was the most poorly attended World Cup of the season so far. Kowalczyk continues to lead the overall rankings with 1,516 points as opposed to the 930 points held by Arianna Follis (ITA), who is in second spot and placed fourth in today’s Pursuit. Many big names, like Charlotte Kalla (SWE), Petra Majdic (SLO), and Marit Bjoergen (NOR) were not in attendance.
February 02, 2011 (Otepaa, Estonia) – Holy cow, today’s been an absolutely huge day! With 4 races going on I have no idea how the coaches and wax techs kept up with it all! First we had the junior women’s 4×3.3km relay, in which we finished 7th. I’m so totally excited because we moved up a place from last year!
The relay went like this: Amy Glen scrambled (classic) and tagged off to Kinsey Loan, who then tagged of to me for the skate half of the relay. I tagged Joanne and she anchored us for a solid 7th place. I’m also extremely excited about finishing second for lap splits to Heidi Wang (Norway) by 5.4 seconds. It was definitely a successful day – and we definitely had some crazy fast skis (yeah Salomon!)
After the relay, we travel waxed our skis, packed out bags and set out for a long day of spectating! And we did some HARD CORE cheering. We had numerous US flags and signs, and I do believe we also had the loudest voices on the whole course.
The junior men’s 4x5km relay went second, and they ended up finishing 10th in a close sprint with Canada. Then a short while later, the women’s 15km pursuit race set off, and Sadie led the US with a 17th place finish.
The last race of the day was the men’s 30km pursuit, and it was so much fun to cheer as the sun came out and it was an absolutely gorgeous day!
Noah led the US men with a 22nd place finish, but the coolest part of the whole day was seeing Alex Harvey crush it today and WIN THE WHOLE DARN RACE!!!! It was totally inspiring to hear an anthem other than Norway being blasted in the stadium.
I’m giving a huge shout-out to all the coaches and wax techs for all their hard work and patience in dealing with US. And thanks also to NCCSEF for all the support. It wouldn’t have happened without you!
So now I’m headed over to Madona, Latvia, with the Scando Cup team… and pretty much the only thing I know about Latvia is that car-jacking is basically a sport. The next week should be very interesting!
January 29, 2011 (Otepaa, Estonia) – The powerful Olympic silver medalist from Vancouver, Alexander Panzhinskiy (RUS), was dominant today in Otepää and took the gold medal in the men’s 1.4km U23 sprint classic picking up where he left off last season on the tracks at Whistler Olympic Park.
Panzhinskiy was strongest in the qualifications but the Canadian men loomed large, especially so with Hardwood’s Len Valjas, perhaps the tallest international skier of the day, with an impressive second behind the Russian. What’s more Jess Cockney qualified on the bubble in 30th, only a scant .21 seconds of being out of the big show. The lanky Valjas brings to mind images of the 1960s Norwegian star Harald Gronningen, a giant of the sport for Norway who had five OWG medals.
Timo Andre Bakken of Norway finished second and secured the silver medal. Magnus Moholt of Norway was fighting hard in the finishing straight with Dietmar Noeckler of Italy but Moholt edged out the Italian and captured bronze.
Overall it was a great day for the Canucks with Cockney of Canmore and Valjas, who hails from both Estonian and Swedish heritage, finishing sixth and seventh respectively. Looking back a year ago, Valjas was sixth in the U23 Championships in France. The top American today was Fairbanks, Alaska’s Reese Hanneman in 24th, who went out after the quarterfinals after qualifying in 29th. Canada’s Michael Somppi (CAN) did not start.
Following the race SkiTrax spoke with Valjas who commented about his race. “I felt Super good today out there. It was hard to get by the leaders in the heat because there was only one good glazed track to ski in, around the course. The rest of the tracks got completely filled in with windblown snow from the 40km/h wind. In my semi I came into the last 200 meters with the leaders, but I was forced into the very left lane which no one had skied in all day and it was filled with snow. I really didn’t have any other option out there. I had to break trail in the final sprint while the other guy beside me skied in a fast glazed track. I am very disappointed with my result today. I had the fitness to finish top 3 today, but ran into some bad luck.”
Cockney, who was second in his quarter final round losing out to Russian speed king Panzhinskiy, advanced to the final via a fast semi taking one of the lucky losers spots. SkiTrax caught up with the elated Canuck post race.
“Today was a mix of very different feelings for me and thankfully it ended with pure joy,” said Cockney. “I skied very poorly in the qualifications and I consider myself very lucky to have even made the heats. From then on I felt like I was playing with house money and figured the best thing to do was relax and ski my ass off in the heats.
“I am generally a smart heat skier and my goal is always to move higher in position than my qualifying result. This worked out and I was able to move from 30th qualifier to 6th overall on the day. This is a very new feeling for me as the last time I qualified for heats in Europe was two seasons ago in a German OPA race. Needless to say I’m ecstatic with how the day ended and I am already looking forward to next season and doing what I can to put up a better fight in the A final,” added Cockney, who skis out of the Foothills Nordic Ski Club.
Canadian coach Eric de Nys was happy with his young racers. “A great day for us today. Jesse had strength, speed and LUCK on his side today. He had a very strong quarter final just being nipped at the line by the Olympic silver medalist Panzhinskiy. Then in his semi, a Swedish athlete was DQ’d for a technique violation which moved Jess up to 4th. His semi ended up being quicker than semi number 2 in which Len placed third but lost the lucky loser spot to Jesse. Len had an amazing qualifier and first heat that he won easily.
“In his semi the cards didn’t fall Lenny’s way with two places on the track where he was forced to ski, not by choice. The clutch was the finishing stretch where Len was forced into the third track which no one had skied all day. He was strong enough to hold his own but not strong enough to get by and with the wind and falling snow, this track was a clear disadvantage but overall still a good day,” de Nys told SkiTrax.
January 29, 2011 (Otepaa, Estonia) – Finnish ace Kerttu Niskanen won the gold medal in the 1.2km sprint classic final at the U23 World Championships on Saturday morning. She started the day as the top qualifier and went on to dominate every heat on her way to the final. It was Niskanen’s second U23 Worlds gold – her first was in a 10km classic at Hinterzarten, Germany.
Niskanen came home with a clear margin in the A-Final to secure her victory. In the battle for silver and bronze Norway’s Britt Ingunn Nydal edged out Sweden’s Jennie Oeberg by a toe length to claim the silver.
“It feels great to be a U23 World Champion,” said Niskanen in a FIS post-race interview. “I wanted to win and this was a very good day for me. I was feeling very good during the whole race. My tactic today was to go as fast as possible after the shot. I had some problems to ski always in front because it was snowing.”
It was a solid day for North American skiers with six women advancing to the quarterfinals as the USA’s Sadie Bjornsen led the charge in 11th followed by Canada’s Alysson Marshall in 14th, Jennie Bender (USA) in 18th, Canada’s Emily Nishikawa in 19th, Ida Sargent (USA) in 21st and Sara Hewitt (CAN) in 30th. Canada’s Erin Tribe was 31st at 2s behind Tribe while Rebecca Rorabaugh was further back in 36th – only the top 30 advance.
Marshall was the only skier to make it through to the semis placing second in her quarter final but faced a fast and very close semi-final round ending up in 6th to finish 12th overall.
“My qualification round felt messy but I still had a decent time. I felt really strong and controlled in my quarter- final and finished in 2nd spot,” Marshall told SkiTrax post-race. “My semi-final was very fast and close. I fought the whole way but didn’t quite have the double pole strength left in the finishing stretch and I finished in 6th.
“It was a tight finish with all six of us crossing within 1.3 seconds. It was also 7 seconds faster than the other semi-final so my time in 6th spot was faster than the winner of the other semi-final. I am happy to be top-12 but I was disappointed to miss out on the final in such a tight finish,” she added.
Canadian coach Eric de Nys commented on Marshall’s performance: “Alysson Marshall skied strong all day. She was second in her quarter final and just got out-muscled in the finishing stretch in the semi, but it was a fight to the end. She should be happy with this result.”
The USA’s Bjornsen ended up 17th, Bender was 21st while Ida Sargent was 23rd. Taking 22nd overall was Nishikawa with Hewitt ending up in 30th.
January 29, 2011 (Houghton, Michigan) – Michael Sinnott (SVSEF) edged out CXC’s Garrott Kuzzy in the men’s 1.5km Classic Sprint in a tight finish in Houghton, Michigan on Friday winning by only 0.3s. In third another 8s back was Petter Sjulstad of Michigan Tech rounding out the podium.
Bryan Cook (CXC) was 4th and Canada’s Scott Sullivan (NDC Thunder Bay) finished in 5th. Conditions were excellent featuring fast tracks under blue skies with temperatures around 20 degrees.
Christina Turman (Northern Michigan University) took the win in the women’s sprint race with a time of 4:05.20 besting OJ racer Deedra Irwin in second place just over 5s behind with Go! Training’s Audrey Weber claiming third. The women’s field was 16-strong while 41 men were on the start line.
January 29, 2011 (Revelstoke, BC) – The Revelstoke Nordic Ski Club is looking for an individual(s) who will operate a stand alone cross country ski rental, ski instruction and small retail outlet out of the Club’s Day Lodge. This business opportunity would be solely owned by the proponent. The Club would not be involved in any aspect of this business operation. In return for use of the club facilities, the club is interested in receiving a percentage of gross revenues (to be negotiated) derived from the provision of these services.
In addition, the individual(s) will also be responsible for providing the custodial and ticket office duties associated with the operations of the Club facilities. In lieu of payment for these Club duties, the individual(s) would receive free rental accommodations in the Custodian’s Apartment on the top floor of the Day Lodge. Appendix One is a copy of the letter of offer and schedule for custodial responsibilities, as well as an addendum to the rental agreement for the Custodian Apartment.
January 28, 2011 (Otepaa, Estonia) – Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov won the gold medal in the Junior men’s 1.4km classic sprint over Norwegian Sondre Turvoll Fossli, while Russia took third place with Gleb Retivykh winning the bronze.
American Erik Bjornsen of the Methow Valley, WA, lead the way for the North Americans as the lone qualifier with a strong 10th place. Canada’s Andy Shields in 31st narrowly missed advancing to the quarter finals by .19s as the two skiers ahead of him tied in 29th. Bjornsen was 4th in his quarterfinal heat and did not advance as a lucky loser finishing 14th overall.
The men’s final told the story featuring only Russians and Norwegians. In the qualifying round Fossli was the class of the field but in the end Ustiugov had more power. It was a great battle between the pair as Fossli was leading from the start but Ustiugov was close behind with epic doubling poling and made his move to pass the Norwegian. Fossli was unable to counter and down the final stretch the Russian won by about a ski length.
Ustiugov was thrilled with his race, telling the FIS News Service, “This was a special day for me, because this is the first time I have beaten Gleb. This track was very difficult for me. I saw the race where the Russian girl crashed and I was really disappointed about it. It added strength to me because now, I had to bring the medals to the team.”
Fossli, was gracious and looked at things with perspective saying, “I felt pretty good out there today, but Sergey was just faster than me. I am not disappointed at all, because this is my first year at the junior championships. I am very satisfied.”
Other North American men who did not advance included Skyler Davis (USA) in 35th, Patrick Stewart-Jones (CAN) in 36th, Tyler Kornfield (USA in 38th, George Cartwright (USA) in 49th and Canada’s Jordan Cascagnette who was 73rd.
January 28, 2011 (Otepaa, Estonia) – Germany’s Lucia Anger claimed the Junior Women’s classic 1.2km sprint title as the two leading skiers Elena Soboleva (RUS) and Germany’s Hanna Kolb crashed over the final hill in the final leaving the door open for Anger. Norway grabbed the remaining spots with Kari Oeyre Slind taking the silver medal, while her teammate Ragnhild Haga won the bronze.
Canada’s Janelle Greer and Heidi Widmer both qualified but did not advance past the quarter finals and finished 21st and 28th respectively. American Heather Mooney (USA) missed qualifying by 0.29s, placing 31st, followed by Amy Glen (USA) in 42nd, Heather Mehain (CAN) in 45th, Izzy Caldwell (USA) in 57th, Kinsey Loan (USA) in 58th and Canada’s Annika Hicks who placed 61st.
“It was a disappointing day for me today,” said Widmer. “I was hoping to improve on last year’s 15th place qualification and 22nd overall sprint results but I just didn’t have access to those top gears today. In my qualifier, I skied the first half with decent speed, but during a transition on one of the small climbs, I wasn’t aggressive enough with my kick which cost me.”
“I quickly put the mediocre qualifier behind me and set my sights on the afternoon heats. I lost contact with the group on the second climb and made up some time on the descent thanks to some fast skis finishing 28th. Today taught me a lot and reminded me that I still have a long journey ahead and I’m excited to see what the future has in store,” added Widmer.
Kolb, the fastest qualifier, was the favourite and she and Soboleva advanced to the final winning their quarters and semis. The dramatics for the women’s Junior World title unfolded during the final match up as Soboleva was leading with Kolb right behind and Anger in tow as the others trailed.
Over the final uphill Kolb tumbled and took out Soboleva. That’s when Anger, reacting to what happened made her move and burned it to the finish line to take the win. The Norwegian Slind also came up from behind and finished 0.3 seconds back. Haga, the winner of the opening junior 5km free race, was third.
Anger basked in the spotlight saying, “I had hoped to win a medal in a competition here, but the sprint gold is a surprise for me. My tactics were to go as fast as I could. I saw what happened when the crash took place. I looked that I could pass them from the left and it was very close for me as well.”
Slind was happy with her finish. “The crash is part of the game, but I feel lucky. I passed them and did not get involved in the accident….you just have to be a little lucky to get there.”
January 27, 2011 (West Yellowstone, MT) – The time is now to register for the annual marathon ski race in West Yellowstone. With a bit of luck, a season’s worth of long skis, interval training, and hill climbs will pay off when the boom of the cannon signals the start of the race.
The Yellowstone Rendezvous Race has been a cornerstone to cross-country skiing in West Yellowstone for over three decades. The race takes place on the Rendezvous Ski Trails, located on the southern edge of this small gateway community and the trailhead is within walking distance from most lodging properties.
The Yellowstone Rendezvous Race is considered a long distance event and is part of the American Ski Marathon Series. There are six different races offered for skiers of all ages. True marathoners can enter the 50 kilometer race, which consists of two laps around the perimeter of the Rendezvous Ski Trail system. Racers can enter the 25 kilometer events under classic or freestyle technique. The 10k race is open to skiers not ready for a long race, with the 5k and 2k races geared for kids. Registration for all races is currently available online at HERE.
To support racers in the 25 or 50k division, local community groups man five feed stations along the trails. The theme to the 2011 Rendezvous Race is “Lost in Space”. Look for lots of aluminum foil, pointy ears, and galaxy dust. Bragging rights are on the line. Racers vote for their favorite feed station and the winners gloat for the rest of the year.
As the name implies, West Yellowstone sits at the western entrance to Yellowstone National Park, which is open to over-snow vehicles until March 15, 2011. Visitors are encouraged to extend their stay and truly enjoy a winter wonderland that is unlike any other place. Whether it is skiing or sight-seeing, West Yellowstone is the home base for winter fun. There is no other place in the world where you can spend one day racing on 25 kilometers of professionally groomed trails and the next day see bison grazing next to hot springs or bald eagles soaring past geysers. The skiing options in and around West Yellowstone are not limited to the Rendezvous Ski Trails. Multiple snowcoach companies offer ski tours around Old Faithful, a skier led track will take you from the western boundary of town to the Madison River just inside the Park, or a short drive will find many trailheads for those interested in a light backcountry tour of Yellowstone National Park or the Gallatin National Forest.
The Yellowstone Rendezvous Race is a fun, festive event in a unique location. The camaraderie at the start is evident and follows racers along the course. For most skiers, crossing the finish line is the goal. The fastest skiers will be rewarded with medals and cash prizes at the awards ceremony on Saturday evening. All racers are invited to treat themselves to the complimentary desert bar at the Holiday Inn after the race.
The Rendezvous Ski Trails are in great shape and the entire trail system is groomed with both a skate lane and classic track. With three feet of groomed packed powder on the ground and more on the way, there is no reason not to expect perfect corduroy for next month’s event.
There is still time to sign up for the Rendezvous Race. Register before February 1 to avoid late fees and all registrations will be closed promptly at noon on Thursday, March 3. For more information, go to www.rendezvousrace.com. End your race season with a bang at the 32nd Annual Rendezvous Race.
Stay in touch by becoming Rendezvous Race’s Facebook friend or email race organizers at yellrendrace@yahoo.com with any questions.
January 27, 2011 (Otepaa, Estonia) – Canadian National Team skier Kevin Sandau wanted to be in the top 10 in today’s men’s 15km Free Race at the U-23 World Championships in Otepaa, Estonia, and when the race was over he had turned in a stellar performance finishing 5th with a time of 36:04.8. Mission Accomplished!
”My goal today was a top 10, so I’m ecstatic about the result,” Sandau told SkiTrax post-race. “I started out the race conservatively so I could really push the final lap and finish strong.”
The USA’s Noah Hoffman also skied well today making the top ten finishing in ninth. The Aspen, CO native turned in a time of 36:42.4.
It was a Russian podium sweep as Evgeniy Belov took top honours as expected in today’s race, claiming the victory in 35:26.3, a comfortable 16.1 seconds ahead of his teammate Pavel Vikulin. Completing the hat trick for Russians today was Raul Shakirzianov placing third at 23.4 seconds behind Belov.
For Belov this marked the best day of his career so far after he was second last year in the interval start event at the FIS Junior Worlds. Reflecting on his win he told the FIS Press Service, ”My classical technique is better than my free, so I was prepared for a tough fight today. I had to speed up at the finish. All four laps were good for me. I want to win more medals here in Otepaa.
“I am familiar with this track because we have had training camps here,” he added. “And I also competed here last week at the World Cup.”
Another wonderful story played out with the skiing of the UK’s Andrew Musgrave. The hard-working athlete who has been training in Norway had the fastest time in the first lap but then lost some time to the Russians. At day’s end Musgrave had turned in an admirable performance finishing sixth one spot behind Sandau.
Demonstrating both smart and savvy skiing Calgary’s Sandau was very impressive. The skier-based out of Canmore-who grew up on the trails in Kananaskis Country told SkiTrax described his race.
“My first splits were top six, and by the half way point I was skiing around third. I still felt pretty fresh, so I was able to maintain and push myself further. I caught teammate Michael Somppi on my final 3.75km lap and he stuck with me until the finish, so he really pushed me till the end.”
Reflecting on an exciting, motivating day Sandau added, ”Before coming here I had my sights set on a strong pursuit race, so I’m really hoping for a podium spot on Monday.” The way he’s skiing that could well become a reality.
“The race today was hard. The course was technical and demanding,” the Hoff related to SkiTrax by email. “You had to constantly be working. I didn’t feel great, and I had a tough second lap.
“Then the German Andreas Katz caught me, and I was able to hang on him for the rest of the race. We caught Tad [Elliott] and the three of us skied together. It was really helpful to be able to follow Katz. I’m looking forward to watching some sprint races over the next couple of days. I think there is potential for some great results. Then the pursuit on Monday should be fun as well.”
Other North American finishers included Michael Somppi (CAN) 14th in 37:03.7, Tad Elliott (USA) in 19th with a time of 37:18.3, Jesse Cockney (CAN) in 27th stopping the clock at 37:36.2; in 32nd place was Graeme Killick (CAN) in 37:48.6, the USA’s Alex Treinen placed 35th in 38:04.9, and David Norris (CAN) in 39:03.0 was 46th.
“Awesome day for Sandau,” said an elated Eric de Nys, Canadian coach, “He skied consistent and strong. Michael Somppi and Emily Nishikawa also had very strong races which was great to see. Overall, today was a fabulous day and we know we have our strongest races still to come so we’re looking to build on these results.”
January 27, 2011 (Otepaa, Estonia) – Using her experience as a former Junior World champ, Finland’s rising star Krista Lahteenmaki dominated Thursday’s U-23 10km free technique in Otepaa. Her winning time of 26:33.3 was one minute ahead of runner up Mariya Guschina of Russia while third place went to Norway’s Hilde Lauvhaug.
Lahteenmaki, recently a remarkable 8th overall at this year’s Tour de Ski, controlled the race from the start. On the 3×3.3km course she was in the lead after every lap. The talented Swede Hanna Brodin was not far off her Finnish rival’s pace on the first lap, but the sprinter who was impressive this past weekend in Otepaa finishing second claiming her first world cup podium, paid the price for starting too fast on the challenging course and finished 14th.
Lahteemaki was pleased with her effort today. “I am happy about the victory – the feeling of being the U-23 World Champion is nice. The weather was very cold, but everything else was very good. My skis were good, the track was good. It’s a demanding course here in Otepaa. Now I will concentrate on my next race.”
For the North Americans, it was Canada’s Emily Nishikawa leading the way with a top-20 results placing a strong 16th in 28:41.5. Sadie Bjornsen was the top US skier in 23rd in 29:31.1 followed by Canuck Alysson Marshall in 25th with a time of 29:34.5.
“I was pretty happy with how things went today,” Nishikawa told SkiTrax. “I started off pretty smooth and relaxed, then on my 2nd lap I caught a sweet ride from a German girl who was just starting. I felt strong, pushed my hardest, and I paced it pretty well so I’m really happy with this race.
“It was pretty cold today, but being from the Yukon I’m used to it and prefer racing at colder temps. I’m looking forward to the rest of the week, it should be really exciting,” added Nishikawa.
“I had a decent race today. I was careful not to start too hard and I focused on being strong and relaxed throughout the race,” Marshall told SkiTrax by email. “The course had some difficult climbs but there were downhills after which allowed for some recovery.
“A Norwegian passed me about 1.5km before the finish and I stayed with her into the stadium so I got a good ride up the last couple climbs. I am excited to race the classic sprint on Saturday!”
Caitlin Patterson (USA) who was recently on the podium at collegiate races in Lake Placid was 26th in 29:34.8. Sara Hewitt (CAN) finished in 28th, Becca Rorabaugh (USA) was 29th and Erin Tribe (CAN) placed 36th.
January 25, 2011 – One couldn’t help but be impressed by the skiing of Afton, Minnesota’s 19 year-old sensation, Jessie Diggins at the recent 2011 US Nationals in Rumford, Maine. Diggins, who went to Stillwater High School, told SkiTrax she was “really surprised and very thankful” for her strong races there. She’s been very competitive with the junior fields in the US with five junior national titles to her name – and Diggins was featured last year in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd”. But this year she stepped it up a few levels and has done more racing than before. Hence, some outstanding performances and a national sprint title – plus making the 2011 US XC Team heading to Oslo for the Worlds. Diggins graduated from high school last spring and is taking this year away from school to focus on skiing. She skis for the strong CXC Vertical Limit team and is excited about the upcoming races on the international playing field.
Before we talk about the US Nationals in Maine tell us about your personal skiing history…how did you get into the sport?
Jessie Diggins: I’ve been skiing ever since I could walk, and before that, I would be in my dad’s backpack when he and my mom went skiing on weekends! I have a very active family that loves being outside and enjoying the trails, so ever since I was very young my family’s been part of the Minnesota Youth Ski League. But my parents have never pushed me into anything; I used to do a ton of different sports and although they’ve always encouraged an active lifestyle, they never made me do a sport I didn’t like and have always been supportive.
What did you find so captivating about cross-country skiing?
JD: I love cross-country because it’s so fun being outside, traveling all over and getting to see new places and meeting new people. It’s just such a healthy lifestyle! It’s a sport I can practice throughout my life and enjoy with my family.
Your time in Rumford, was like “WOW” – did you think you would have such a week there?
JD: Definitely not! I was obviously hoping to have some good races, and I knew that I was healthy and had been training hard all year, but I never expected it to pay off so well! It was very exciting for me.
Describe what it means to be “on” with your skiing – on top of your game?
JD: It can be tricky because sometimes you’re mentally there and ready to race but your body just isn’t having a great day, or maybe you’re fit and feeling good but your head just isn’t in it. But for me, being “on” with my skiing means I’m ready to go and consistently putting 100% into a race, not just popping one good race now and then.
Did that week surprise you?
JD: Yes! It was a very nice surprise, one that’s motivated me to train smart and try to keep the season rolling the same way it has been so far.
You’re off to Oslo for the Nordic World Championships right?
JD: Yep, but first I’m headed to Estonia for Junior World Champs, and then to some Scandinavian races in Latvia and Estonia, before going to Norway for Worlds.
That’s a lot to happen in one season?
JD: That’s for sure – but I’m also making sure that I don’t get overwhelmed with everything that’s been going on this year; I want to stay in the present and enjoy every minute of it.
Tell us more about your CXC program, your coaches…it sure seems to be going strong.
JD: Oh my goodness, I could go on for so long about how wonderful the CXC program’s been this year. It’s been great having such a strong team to train with and learn from. Being the youngest on the team, I really look up to the older and more experienced skiers, and I feel like I learn something new every day. Usually it’s the little things about being a professional athlete that I never really had to think about in high school, but now that I’m on the road more often it’s important to be on top of stuff like hydration and packing food and dry clothes for every workout. And even though it’s our first year with Jason Cork and Gus Kaeding as coaches, I feel like they’ve picked it up extremely fast and done an incredible job as both coaches and wax techs. I’m very impressed!
Looking down the pike, what would you like to accomplish with your skiing – what are your goals?
JD: I’d be pretty stoked on life if things just keep going they way they have been! Skiing’s always been such a positive and motivating part of my life and my biggest goals are to simply keep it that way, and improve as a skier with both my technique and racing. If there’s ever a day when I can’t say I’m enjoying it, then I’ll walk away from racing, but right now I see myself being a professional skier for as long as I can.
What other sports do you enjoy?
JD: A lot of things! When I was younger I used to play soccer, swim, do a lot of different events in track, and dance. I also like trail running and in the summer I get to do a lot of other sports mixed into my training. It keeps it fun.
Favorite subject in high school and why?
JD: Either English because I love to read, or Orchestra, because that class gave me such great experiences that I’ll always remember, like performing in San Francisco or Chicago.
What’s your idea of a perfect day?
JD: Oh man, I feel like I’ve had so many awesome days this year already! But my favorite probably involves doing a long over-distance run/hike in the mountains, preferably finding a lake to swim in after, and then just chilling out with friends. Luckily, this sort of day happens a lot when you’re training all summer!
What is a motto that you try to live by?
JD: Stay in the present and love every minute of it!
Thanks for your time and good luck with the rest of the season.
JD: Thank you.
January 25, 2011 (Barrie, ON) – It was so good to see a “traditional” cross-country ski race on Saturday from Otepaa. The 10 and 15km individual start classic races were great to watch. I grew up with this form of racing and it’s what attracted me to the sport in the first place. For me racing against the clock and yourself with no one to help you is the purest form of racing. I used to argue with cycling road racers about the merits of racing by yourself or in a pack, and we agreed that it takes a different kind of mentality to do these two types of races.
You can really see this in Petter Northug (NOR). He’s a pack racer and a sprinter with the perfect mentality and physiology for those types of races. He’s not nearly as good as an individual start competitor. His 8th place on Saturday in Otepaa was actually a good race for him. I believe that 20 years ago, he would not have nearly as many good results that he has achieved when most of the races were individual starts. I also do not believe that his compatriot, the great Bjoern Dahlie, would have been as good back then if they were using mass starts because he did not have a very good sprint. Most of his races were won long before the final 200 meters.
However the same cannot be said for Norway’s queen, Marit Bjoergen. She is the best at everything. She can win an individual start by over 30 seconds like she did on Saturday and also win mass start races and sprints. She is just so dominant that it has become a surprise when she does not win. Once again, on Sunday in the individual sprints, for the second week in a row she had problems with another skier and did not make it into the final.
The distance course in Otepaa is a very tough course. The 5km loop is very hilly with one big hill that goes up beside the ski jump seemingly from the bottom to the top. The last 200 meters feature 13%-plus grade and all of the skiers had to herringbone. To win on a course like this you need great fitness, great technique, great mental strength and you need to pace properly. Bjoergen had all of these and won easily.
Justyna Kowalczyk (Poland) and Teresa Johaug (Norway) also showed great skills. Kowalczyk is in great shape and very strong mentally and Johaug is the best female climber in the world. That these three women finished one, two, and three is no surprise.
The men’s 15km race was won by Elder Roenning because he paced it better than anyone else, especially fellow Norwegian Martin Johnsrud Sundby who was the leader at 10km but faded to 7th. Daniel Rickardsson of Sweden and Maxim Vylezghanin of Russia also showed great fitness and pacing to finish 2nd and 3rd. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Andrus Veerpalu finished 5th on his home track even though he is 40 years old. He is the master of the 15km classic having won two Olympic gold medals at that distance. He also does not like the mass start races with a sprint at the end and I’m sure that this race format was set up especially for him.
While the individual distance course was a true test of the skiers the classic sprint course from Sunday was not. There were not enough hills in this course so instead of watching a classic sprint race we got to watch a double pole sprint race. Yuck! I hate it when this happens – it’s like going to watch a hockey game and all they do is fight.
So, once again, with all six men in the final only double poling someone you have never heard of before – Eirik Bransdal of Norway won. Back in 2008 the same thing happened in Canmore where Bjoern Naess from Norway won. FIS tried to fix this by forcing race organizers to change the courses (they added a big hill in Vancouver to the sprint course) and we’ve never heard of Naess since. It’s a shame, really, because Otepaa obviously has the hills to make a good course. The ironic thing is that the Norwegians have been trying for years to preserve classic technique from the onslaught of skating and you would think that the head of the World Cup committee, Vegard Ulvang, who is Norwegian, would not want to have double pole only classic races. The other ironic thing is that Norwegians keep winning these kinds of races.
The female sprinters used all of the classic techniques in their race and the best classic sprinter in the world – Petra Majdic of Slovenia – won convincingly over last year’s World Junior champion, Hanna Brodin from Sweden, and Maikan Falla of Norway. Brodin will be staying in Otepaa for another week to contest the U23 World championships and she has to be the favourite to win the sprints next weekend.
Dasha Gaiazova had the best result of her career finishing 8th. She continues to improve, especially in sprinting and she has taken over the #1 spot on the Canadian women’s team. Chandra Crawford finished 27th after qualifying 17th. Her qualifying time was almost 3 seconds closer to the top time than what she did in Vancouver, so she is improving. However, she is still 6 seconds slower than the best classic sprinters so there is still plenty of room for improvement.
There were no Americans at Otepaa this weekend and the rest of the Canadian skiers were all young skiers who were there for experience and to race on the same courses that they will use next weekend for the U23 World Championships. The best results from these young skiers were the 31st place by Len Valjas (he missed qualifying for the heats by .02 seconds) and a 33rd by Alysson Marshall, also close to qualifying in the sprints.
There are no World Cup races next weekend because of these U23 World Championships which held in conjunction with the World Junior Championships. Both Canada and the United States have full teams at these events. The World Cup continues on February 4-6 in Rybinsk, Russia with a full weekend of pursuit, sprint and relay races.
April 05, 2011 (Ketchum, ID) – Fast and Female hosted its third and final X-Country SkiFest of the year on American snow this past Sunday in Ketchum, Idaho. Held under clear and sunny skies, the event was highlighted by the participation of 70 female ski enthusiasts between the ages of 7 to 19 years who had the opportunity to spend a morning of inspiration with 23 ambassadors – 7 of which are Olympians.
![(l-r:) Dario Cologna (SUI), Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Cologna-Kowalczyk-170311mf161.2.jpg)
![Bjoergen takes Falun mini tour. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Bjoergen200311mf584.3.jpg)
![Final WCup Sprint podium (l-r) Follis 2nd, Majdic 1st, Randall 3rd. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Sprint-Pod-200311mf539.21.jpg)
![Devon Kershaw (CAN) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Kershaw200311mf609.3.jpg)
![Goodbye Petra… Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Goodbye-Petra-200311mf585.jpg)
![Petter Northug (NOR) wins. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Northug200311mf620.3.jpg)
![Team Norway’s wax truck. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Johaug-Wax-130311al482.2.jpg)
![Alex Harvey (CAN) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Harvey200311mf613.2.jpg)
![15km men handicap start podium (l-r): Finn Hagen Kroch (NOR), Petter Northug (NOR), Dario Cologna (SUI) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Podium200311mf629.2.jpg)
![Emil Joensson (SWE) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Joensson170311mf198.21.jpg)
![Dario Cologna (SUI) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Cologna200311mf623.2.jpg)
![Kikkan Randall on the famous Mordarbakken climb. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Randall-200311mf577.3.jpg)
![USA’s Kris Freeman [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Freeman190311mf353.2.jpg)
![Marit Bjoergen (NOR) wins the 10km women handicap start race. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Bjoergen200311mf584.2.jpg)
![Johaug 3rd overall… [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Johaug200311mf587.3.jpg)
![Finn Hagen Kroch (NOR) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Krough200311mf622.3.jpg)
![Petra Majdic (SLO) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Majdic200311mf635.2.jpg)
![Team Norway’s wax truck. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Northug-Wax-130311al481.2.jpg)
![Petter Northug (NOR) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Northug200311mf594.2.jpg)
![Canada’s Babikov… [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Babikov-190311mf338.3.jpg)
![Emil Joensson (SWE) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Joensson200311mf595.2.jpg)
![Petra Majdic (SLO) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Majdic200311mf634.2.jpg)
![Kikkan Randall (USA) exhausted. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Randall200311mf571.2.jpg)
![Perianne Jones (CAN) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Jones200311mf582.2.jpg)
![(l-r): Kristoffersen (NOR), Fessel (GER), Randall (USA) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Randall-200311mf577.2.jpg)
![Petra Majdic (SLO) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Majdic170311mf187.2.jpg)
![Marit Bjoergen (NOR) wins the 10km women handicap start race. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Bjoergen200311mf583.2.jpg)
![Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Kowalczyk200311mf585.2.jpg)
![Petra Majdic (SLO) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Majdic-200311mf569.2.jpg)
![Charlotte Kalla (SWE) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Kalla200311mf589.2.jpg)
![Kikkan Randall – 3rd overall. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Randall160311mf013.3.jpg)
![Emil Joensson (SWE) wins. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Joensson160311mf069.2.jpg)
![Alex Harvey (CAN) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Harvey160311mf046.2.jpg)
![Petra Majdic (SLO) wins. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Majdic160311mf066.2.jpg)
![Andrew Newell (USA) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Newell2-160311mf126.2.jpg)
![Petter Northug (NOR) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Northug160311mf060.2.jpg)
![Perianne Jones (CAN) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Perianne-jones-130311al061.2.jpg)
![(l-r) Randall, Brun-Lie and Kylloenen (FIN) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Randall-160311mf090.2.jpg)
![(l-r): Majdic (SLO) leads Maiken Caspersen Falla (NOR). [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Majdic-160311mf131.2.jpg)
![Marit Bjoergen (NOR) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Bjoergen160311mf021.2.jpg)
![(l-r): Belov, di Centa, Northug, Newell. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Newell-Northug-160311mf128.2.jpg)
![Petra Majdic (SLO) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Majdic160311mf071.2.jpg)
![(l-r): di Centa, Northug, Newell, Brandsdal. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Northug-Newell-160311mf126.2.jpg)
![Devon Kershaw (CAN) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Kershaw160311mf107.2.jpg)
![(l-r): Cologna, Harvey, Kershaw, Eriksson [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Harvey-Kershaw-160311mf125.2.jpg)
![Kris Freeman (USA) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Freeman160311mf059.2.jpg)
![(l-r): Northug 2nd, Joensson 1st, Hattestad 3rd. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/M-Podium-160311mf074.2.jpg)
![Petra Majdic (SLO) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Majdic-160311mf065.2.jpg)
![Emil Joensson (SWE) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Joensson160311mf070.2.jpg)
March 13, 2011 (Lahti, Finland) – Norway’s Marit Bjoergen was back on form on Sunday looking unbeatable again as she took the women’s 1.4km Classic sprint victory at the FIS World Cup in Lahti on Sunday.
