This video is currently all over the web and most everyone in the skiing world has watched in over 30 times.  Just to make sure that my family and friends (who don’t follow World Cup skiing as much) have gotten a chance to see it I’m going to post it again.  Bib number 53 is my teammate Brian Gregg.  Watch what happens to him at around 20 seconds into the video.  What a tropper.

The past 10 days I’ve been able to stay at home in Marquette, MI.  It is funny how being at home for an extended period of time in the winter feels like vacation.  I have not been writing updates because I am totally enthralled by the Olympics.  Not just the cross-country races, the whole big thing.  It’s like a 2 week long holiday where I wake up, spend a long time drinking my coffee and eating breakfast, while I read all the new stuff and watch the new videos on www.nbcolympics.com.  The weather has been in the high 20’s, it’s been snowing like crazy, and the skiing has been magical.  Life is good.  Happy Olympics to all.

Here are some of the noteworthy things that have happened since the Telemark SuperTour:

I competed in the City of Lakes Loppet in Minneapolis, MN.  I was 2nd place overall and part of another awesome CXC Team Vertical Limit sweep with teammates Kristina Owen and JoJo Winters.

I’m dog sitting for my parents puppy, Kya.  She fits in very well at my home when I am not traveling.

Puppy Kya (she is much bigger now)

My older brother, Matthew, and his dog, Sammy, came to visit last weekend.  We did lots of skiing on the dog trails in Marquette and Olympic watching.

The CCSA Conference Championships were in Marquette last weekend.  I went out to cheer on the NMU squad.  You can read about the race HERE.

My vacation ends tomorrow when I hit the road for Madison, WI and the Madison Winter Festival.  We will be racing on the streets around the capitol.  It’s one of the greatest events of the year so be sure to come watch if you’re in the area.  After Madison we will head up to Hayward, WI for The Great American Birkebeiner!

Here is a visual preview of the next 2 weekends:

Madison Winter Festival Excitement 2009 (Renee Callaway photo)

Brian Gregg Skis to 1st place -Madison Winter Festival 2009 (Renee Callaway photo)

Maria jockeying for spots at the Madison Winter Festival 2009 (Renee Callaway photo)

Looking tired at the 2009 Birkie with only about 30K to go (AP Photo)

The Telemark SuperTour in Cable, WI was another successful weekend of racing for the CXC Team Vertical Limit.  Bryan Cook won the Men’s 10K Classic race on Saturday, followed by Matt Liebsch (CXC Team Vertical Limit), Brian Gregg (CXC Team Vertical Limit), and Chris Cook (Steinbock Racing).  Rebecca Dussault (CXC Team Vertical Limit) won the Women’s race followed by myself (Maria Stuber–CXC Team Vertical Limit), and Melissa Schwarts (NMU Ski Team Alumni SuperStar), and Laura Dewitt (NMU).

Five of the top eight athletes at the Telemark SuperTour were CXC Team Vertical Limit athletes and five of the top eight athletes were Northern Michigan University graduates!

My classic race went really well.  I went out fairly conservatively, thinking only about my technique (as I have done in many classic races this year).  It was a hard race, but I love the Olympic loop at Telemark Resort and was excited to have a good race there.

Stay tuned for Sunday’s race report and lots of photos from Telemark.

Women's Race at about 1K

Rebecca Dussualt, followed by Maria Stuber (both CXC Team Vertical Limit athletes)

Maria, Lap 2

After 24 hours of rain, calling the trails at Theadore Wirth Park sloppy was an understatement.  Skiers were pulling out there super course grinds and coaches were blistered and sticky from klister.

CXC Team Vertical Limit’s Brian Gregg received his first ever individual SuperTour victory in the Men’s 15K Classic race.

Brian Gregg (CXC Team Vertical Limit) finishing strong

Gregg summarizes the Men’s race here: “There are two 180 degree corners in the first 500m so it was an exciting start. Thankfully the group skied relaxed and there were no big crashes. The first lap was certainly the fastest and we more or less formed a big train. The entire course is double tracked and there were plenty of opportunities to pass. We all led for a bit, but Chris Cook did the majority of the pace setting and brought the lead pack to five. At 9 km, Martin Banerud, a Norwegian red-shirt from NMU broke away and put a 20-30m gap on the field. My teammate Bryan Cook led the chase pack and with 1km to go I surged to bridge up to Martin. We skied together into the finish and I just went as hard as I could.”

Martin Banerud ended up finishing 2nd place, with Bryan Cook in 3rd.

After the men thrashed around the course three times and temperatures got even warmer, it was the women’s turn.  The women’s race played out much differently with CXC Team Vertical Limit’s Rebecca Dussualt taking the lead early on and skiing alone to the finish.  I was able to stick with her for about 5K of the 10K race.  Then I fell off and skied alone to 2nd place on the day.  I was 17 seconds behind Rebecca and 48 in front of 3rd place UAF Skier Aurelia Korthauer.  Although this was a very good race for me, I owe a huge thanks to our coaches for the really fast skis.  I’m very excited that my classic skiing is finally coming along.  The above photos in this post are courtesy of www.skinnyski.com.  There are hundreds more great photos of the Mayor’s Challenge SuperTour/JOQ at www.skinnyski.com.  Thank you to all of my friends and family that came out to watch!

Maria Stuber, Mayor's Challenge SuperTour (photo courtesy of skinnyski.com)

CXC Team Vertial Limit take 4 of the top 5 spots! (photo courtesy of my Aunt Kim and Uncle Bill)

Women's Podium, 10K Classic (Aunt Kim and Uncle Bill Photo)

There are a bunch of great photos of yesterday’s sprint race HERE (courtesy of Rob Whitney).

This is my quarterfinal. Holly Brooks is leading, followed by Ida Sargent, Lindsay Williams, and then me. You can see is my arm sticking out behind Lindsay. (Rob Whitney Photo)

Photo of my quarterfinal nearing the home stretch, same order (Laura Gardner photo taken from garrottkuzzy.com)

Photo from the Prelim (Rob Whitney Photo)

Also, congrats to my little brother Thomas who won the Nashota Race in the Waukesha area yesterday and to my CXC Team Vertical Limit teammate, JoJo Winters, who won the Twin Cities Championships Pursuit on Sunday.