Sweden World Cup

Posted on May 16th, 2011

After a couple of hard weeks of training around Canmore I headed back to Europe, this time for World Cups in
Sweden and Germany. I flew via Frankfurt and after 6 weeks of really cold temps it was a pleasant change to encounter springlike conditions at the airport. Sweden, though, was still mid winter with flight cancellations due to massive snowfall and some major travel delays making for a really long day. The Stockholm airport had stockholm airport snow
some cool snow removal machinery buzzing circles around our plane and after another flight and a bus ride we finally made it to Solleftea.
This was my third time here and every trip so far has had some major logistical issues with transportation. Added to that it is always bitter cold and the food is quite awful. Solleftea Sweden is not my favorite place. Fortunately my head did not get smashed in the elevator.

And when the sun came out the converted army barracks we were staying in looked pretty cool.

They had great snow and since we arrived 5 days before the first race I was able to do some solid training on the extensive trail network.

Finland World Cup

Posted on February 1st, 2011

This was my 8th trip to Finland and as my domestic connection is always late in the day I scheduled a 7hr layover in Helsinki. As funds were tight my first race was 3 days after arriving and with 9hrs of time difference I knew that anything I could do to reset my bodyclock would be helpful come race day. I had explored downtown Helsinki a few years ago on the same layover and was determined to get in a gym workout this time. I took the 45min bus ride to downtown, wheeled through ankle deep slush and cobblestones for 20min with my 15lbs backpack and finally found the gym. I had scouted out in advance that they had day rates, used google streetview to check roadside wheelchair access and my Finnish friend had confirmed by phone that the gym area would work. With a Red Bull Energyshot coursing through my body I was fired up and ready for a solid workout once I got in the building. Everything went perfectly and I was able to grab a small snack at the airport before my last flight.
racing in the tunnel
Vuokatti had great snow but also bitter cold temperatures and so the first couple of races were held in the skitunnel. After a couple of days of training I knew my recently modified sitski would work and I was fired up to get the World Cup race season under way. Having spent a couple hundred hours training in the Tunnel over the years it was actually pretty cool to race in there. I qualified well and almost made it to the finals in the sprint. 5th place in the first race was good but not great. 2 days later I was able to step it up a notch and finished 3rd in the pursuit race.

It is always good to get on the podium early in the year to able to confirm that preparations are on track. Then it finally warmed up a little and I did a photoshoot with a local photographer for a new resort brochure.
vuokatti photo shoot
The day of the 15k race outdoors, I was 4th, I headed back to Canmore for 3 weeks of training before the next world cup trip. This included a cold trip up to Edmonton for another Alberta Cup race, the second one had to be cancelled because it was too cold and some skiing on various trails around Canmore like Cascade Fire Road and Mt Shark.
Cascade Fire Road Banff

Mid Winter

Posted on January 15th, 2011

By early December my race calendar and schedule were finally in place after i finally secured some funding. This gave me additional focus in my training and something specific to look forward to. By Christmas i had been freezing for about 6 weeks straight and was really excited to go spend a week in the desert over the holidays. Unfortunately i got a nasty case of bronchitis after 2 days and had to shelve quite a bit of my planned training. I still enjoyed the warm weather and sunshine and one night it even snowed.
Snow in St George
After returning to Canmore i was suddenly rushing to shed about 2 lbs of weight off of my hastily modified sitski and therefore spent many late nights building something much better. Instead of some bolted on aluminum tubes i crafted some sandwich composites which ended up not getting on snow until i landed in Finland. Not the best situation, but the homebuilt sitski worked all season, survived a few nasty crashes and got me on the podium. Not bad. Here it is nearing completion, late one night.
Composite Sitski

Early Winter

Posted on December 20th, 2010

Despite early winter being a shock to my system, it got really cold really fast, I was quickly yearning to get out on snow. In November there was not that much natural snow initially, but it was so cold that the snow guns were blasting at the nordic center day and night and there were quickly quite a few kilometers of good skiing. I just had one little problem. No sitski. Finally I could not take the rollerkiing on frozen ground any longer, while listening to the stories of early season delight on the snow covered trails, and I spent a few late nights with Robin modifying my rollerski frame for snow use.
New sitski frame
My initial plan had been to build a separate composite frame for skiing, but between training and a busy schedule I ran out of time. Suddenly I was skiing on my very experimental prototype that was supposed to only be used for a couple of weeks in the fall. Half of it was made out of fiberglas covered plywood! Well the quick and dirty modification worked and I was out skiing on the nordic center trails enjoying all of the early season snow. By mid november a bunch of natural snow had fallen and it remained very cold, so we lost none of it, and suddenly all of the various ski spots were useable.
cold November
The cold weather continued into early December. I was able to get a race start in the Alberta Cup race and then headed to BC for a few days and raced in some Nor-Am races. It was great to have a race bib on again and start to really hammer. After a long summer of training those early races always feel so good.
Sovereign Lakes Nor-Am

Fall

Posted on December 1st, 2010

Unlike previous summers, when training was kept fresh and interesting by frequent travel to different places, this past summer I was in Canmore for 5 months straight. I got a little stir crazy. Yes the surroundings are beautiful, yes i was repeatedly warned that i had just passed a grizzly where i was training, i never saw one, but i got bored. Finally my house in Utah sold and it was October and i needed a road trip. I had been keeping myself entertained over the summer months by building myself a new sitski frame and finally before heading down to St George for some heat and intensity i decided to quickly finish my composite creation and put months of learning to the test.
composite rollerski frame
It did not break, was much more responsive than my wooden prototype and i was excited to be in a tank top for one last week before heading back to the beginning of winter. Little did i know at the time that i would be spending many more hours training on this experimental creation.
I returned to Canmore where the early snow track was already open but the weather could not decide if it was ready for full on winter. I therefore was able to go out for a couple more chilly rollerski adventures in the rain and mud.
muddy mountain board
Canmore was still beautiful and winter was approaching rapidly. This was the view one day.
calm view Canmore
10 days later it was frozen solid and covered in snow.
frozen lake Canmore

Summer

Posted on October 1st, 2010

I arrived in Canmore during the first week of June excited for the next chapter in my life. I had just spent the last month sorting through all my earthly possesions and pared them down to one car load and what would fit into a very small storage unit. I therefore arrived in my new abode with only the essentials and an eagerness to train and explore my new surroundings.
summer porch panorama
Having spent the past 7 years in the Colorado and Utah mountains, or so I thought, I was not really prepared for the ruggedness that I was suddenly surrounded by. Compared to Canmore I may as well have been living at the beach. Canmore has a harsh edge to it, which may be encountered high up at 10,000 ft or more in CO or UT, but you are instead at a pleasant 4,400ft. The weather is abrupt and unpredictable, when it is windy it feels like the house is going to blow away, it rains and snows quite a bit all summer and the soil and trails are hard and rocky. And winter lasts from October well into May.
Canmore Nordic Center rollerski trail
The flipside of all this is that Canmore is cross country skiing heaven. There are hundreds of athletes who live and train here, there are hundreds of kilometers of fantastic ski trails and the trails are groomed October till May. This makes for fantastic training in the winter and once I wrapped my brain around the cold and the rain in the summer I also found some great rollerskiing.
Spray Lakes Road Canmore

15k race at US Nationals

Posted on January 5th, 2010

only -4C today in Anchorage. 10th win at US Nationals in the last 6 years
15k podium US Nationals

first World Cup race today 15k

Posted on December 16th, 2009

raced today in Sjusjøen Norway and came in 3rd. which is a good start to the season. it was super cold, windy and the snow was pretty slow, but i raced a fairly smart race and made up places on the last few laps. tomorrow is another race, 10k, and it is supposed be colder. Yay!
i’ll try to get some photos up, but unfortunately tomorrow will be hectic as i need to pack and be ready to leave early, early Friday morning to fly home.