The Ski Festival

November 28th, 2008. Published under Maria Stuber. No Comments.

Maria, Jo Jo, Caitlin, & Heather

The skiing festival really kicked up this week in West Yellowstone, MT.  The grooming has been great and the trails are full of smiling, happy skiers.  On Monday night my older brother, Matthew, came up to get some skiing in.  He is in graduate school at Boise University in Idaho.   It was nice to catch up with him for a couple of days.  He went back home Wednesday morning to play in a soccer game and have Thanksgiving with his friends.

Wednesday afternoon, we participated in an event hosted by Salomon called “Ski with the Best.”  A bunch of CXC Elite and Saab Salomon athletes met on the Plateau to take groups of kids, high school athletes, and master skiers out for a ski.  There were kids of all ages and it was fun to see everyone having fun and sporting their club and/or high school team apparel.   I worked with a group of high school skiers on some classic technique.  I have not been at this event in the past, but it was wonderful to see such a great turnout, even in a low snow year.

Wednesday evening, my former NMU teammate, roommate, and friend, Tami Kochen drove to West Yellowstone from Boulder, CO.  Tami took a little break from ski training this fall to focus on graduate school; however, she entered the race and had a very respectable result today in the classic race (38^th place).  I miss Tami lots and I was very glad that she took a break from her books to come up to West Yellowstone.   It was great to see her.

Tami Kochen and Maria Stuber

The CXC Women’s and Men’s teams did an excellent job today, even though the results were not stellar.  We will look at the things that were done well and build on them throughout the rest of the season.  The Women placed 20^th, 22^nd, 25^th, 32^nd, and 36^th, while the Men placed 16^th, 27^th, 31^st, and 35^th.

Heather Zimmerman and Maria Stuber

Other noteworthy performances by former NMU teammates include: Morgan Smyth taking 4^th place overall (USST), Lindsey Dehlin taking 8^th (USST), and Lindsay Williams in 14^th(USST).  Also, former NMU teammate, Bob Baldwin drove up from Park City to watch the race and cheer us on which was wonderful.

Morgan Smyth, Lindsay Williams, Lindsey Dehlin

Unfortunately, I was in charge of running the video camera so I do not have any pictures of the race.  I will try to find some good ones to post later.

Racing Time.

November 27th, 2008. Published under Bryan Cook. No Comments.

Well, we have been in West for just about two weeks, and that means it is racing time.  We will be racing a 10km classic for ladies and a 15km classic for guys tomorrow.  I am pretty excited to finally be racing, but I am not thrilled with the out and back course.  There is not enough snow to race on the normal race courses so we will be racing at about 7,500 feet up on the plateau.  The course is, as I said, out 7.5km and back 7.5km on a road that is very gradually downhill on the way out and uphill on the way back.  It should be quite interesting, and I am glad I will have the, “Fish factor.”  The “Fish factor” is always having fast race skis.  Check back later this weekend for an update on how the races went.

Racing Time.

West.

November 21st, 2008. Published under Bryan Cook. No Comments.

Well, we have been in West for almost a week, and unfortunately, every day the snow has been melting.  At first we could ski in town on almost all of the trails.  Currently, the only good skiing is up on the plateau.  The good news is that they groomed up on the plateau this morning and conditions are great up there.  The bad news is that the forecast does not look promising for the annual, “West miracle blizzard.”  Training has been going really well so I cannot complain about that.  We just need to keep our fingers crossed for snow.

Skiing at Houghton nationals two years ago while with CXC.

The Plateau

November 20th, 2008. Published under Maria Stuber. No Comments.

I’ve been feeling a little bit tired lately, so I’m taking a break from intensity to make sure I get my energy back before the race season.  Today, the CXC Elite team did L-3 classic intervals, and it was difficult not to jump in and play.  Fortunately, the views from the plateau were so beautiful that I was distracted, and I had a blast exploring on my own.  The plateau trail is not groomed, except for the tracks laid down by fellow skiers.  It was sunny and perfect for training again.    

Skiing at the Rendezvous trails is no longer very good, but the plateau has 6-8 inches all over.  Unfortunately, it is hard to imagine snow rolling in tonight, but I will remain optimistic.

More Photos

November 17th, 2008. Published under Clinics. No Comments.

West Yellowstone, Day 2

November 16th, 2008. Published under Maria Stuber. No Comments.

Here are some photos from our ski today.  The snow is thin and there are some sunny spots that are completely bare.  Fortunately, about 98% of the trail is completely covered and the skiing is still great.  The sun was out all day and several members of the CXC team have rosy cheeks.

Caitlin Compton

Alastair Duncan

Between our workouts, Bryan, Garrott and I walked over to Bullwinkle’s Bar to watch the Packer game.  Bullwinkle’s owners are from southern Wisconsin and have the place filled with Green Bay Packer memorabilia.   It is wonderful that a town halfway across the country containing only 1000 people has two Green Bay Packer bars.  Garrott even had a couple of Johnsonville Brats for lunch.

Tomorrow we are taking the day off from skiing, and I look forward to getting out and exploring the town some more.