January 19, 2008 (Canmore, Alta.) – USA XC Ski Team coach Justin Wadsworth had his top sprinters powering down the Canmore Nordic stadium hill on the fresh, powdery snow that dumped here on Friday, in preparation for the Alberta Cross Country World Cup on Jan. 22-26. With temperatures hovering around -7C and blue skies showing off Canmore’s surround-sound mountains, the skiers were having a great training session. But this isn’t the team’s first time to Canmore.

Andy Newell has fond memories of his last time in the upscale mountain town for the Alberta Centennial World Cup in Dec. 2005. “I liked Canmore a lot,” said Newell, “How great the snow is here and the conditions with the cold temperatures at night. I’m from Vermont and there is no snow there right now. There is green grass in people’s yards.”

The US A-Team men have decided to spoil themselves a little this week and got together to rent a house in Canmore, as opposed to staying in a hotel.

“It gives us a break,” Chris Cook said. “We are going to be on the road for a month after Canmore. The house has a pool table, so it’s nice.” At night the guys hang out as a team. “We wish we could go out and look for a hockey rink,” Torin Koos, from Washington State added.

At some point they may check out some of Canmore’s exquisite restaurant scene that celebrates many award winning restaurants, including the newly refurbished Crazy Weed or the funky atmosphere at The Trough. The new restaurant was recently featured in Air Canada’s EnRoute magazine after it was named the seventh-best new restaurant in Canada.

This week, though, the three top skiers will be focusing on results and put pleasure aside. “I think it’s going to be a good week for the US ski team,” Newell said. “We have some younger skiers, or skiers that haven’t started World Cups before coming here. It’s definitely good for them. It’s also a bonus not to have to travel to a foreign country,” he added.

“It’s good to race in North America,” Koos agreed. “It’s hard for the Euros to come here and have to deal with the change in altitude and the time change.”

The team will be working on interval training tomorrow.