Isaac Noyes '08 (Captain)

Whats up.
I am in Lake Placid right now, at the NENSA REG u23 training camp. Its been pretty fun, a lot of talented skiers and a lot of hard training. I'm getting ready to get back to school though, my car is sitting in the parking lot full of my garbage and im heading up to campus straight from here tomorrow (tuesday) after we do a time trial in the morning.
Friday we did ski walking intervals up white face. I broke off into a group with Tim Reynolds from Midd, Eli Enman and Dave Chamberlin. We got right to the top on the last one, so that was perfect. went for a swim after, and then did a steamin hot 2 hours skate in the afternoon.
The next day we did a two hour double pole in the morning out through Jay, NY, and then hiked/ran cascade mountain and on the trails at VanHovenburg in the afternoon. A tough day for sure, and I am feeling a bit of a head cold coming on so i decided to take yesterday a little easier. Most did non pole intervals, so i did a few pickups and just skied easy on E-Town hill for 90 mins, then spun in the afternoon and played a little pick up soccer. This morning we did a 2 hour classic roll and tomorrow we are doing a time trial in the morning.
all in all a good experience, we are getting great coaching from Chris Klein, Paul Stone, Pete Philips, Andy Johnson, etc etc and really getting to see some good skiers ski, but I am tired and ready to come back to school and see everyone, thats for sure.
Cheers,
Isaac.

Knut-Eric Joslin (asst. coach)

Although I always went skiing when I was a kid—usually accompanying my mom on tours of the local golf course a few times each winter—it wasn’t until the seventh grade that I competed in a Nordic race. It was a 5km skate at Prospect Mt. and I remember sporting a pair of purple track warm-ups, a green L.L. Bean vest, and a knitted hat rolled up about an inch (a peculiar style that was popular with the local H.S. racers). My only technique, V1, was pretty bad and, to put it nicely, my performance reflected this fact. My father’s refusal to “believe” in waxing also didn’t help (the other day—a decade later—he says to me: “I should really learn something about waxing.” Finally!). Despite the shaky start, even then I knew that skiing was something I would do for the rest of my life. I could list a dozen reasons, but the appeal of the sport is greater than the sum of its parts.
The opportunity to coach at St. Lawrence is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope to facilitate each skier developing his or her potential and, in this way, contribute to the storied SLU ski tradition. I also intend to foster a general enthusiasm and excitement about the sport. As for my qualifications, I worked as a coach and race administrator at MBSEF (the Mt. Bachelor Ski Education Foundation) in Bend Oregon during 06/07, and as a coach in the Ford Sayre program during college. In addition, I have completed over 100 hours of NSF (the Norwegian Ski Federation) training to earn T1, T2, and T3 Nordic coach’s certifications. My coaching philosophy, simply put, is based on the movement toward a personal ideal: I believe skiers must develop their own solutions (to technical problems, training, etc.), but that this is what makes sport rewarding.
A few personal notes which may be of interest: My formative years were spent in beautiful Williamstown Massachusetts. During high school I ran cross-country; Nordic skied; and competed in track and field. I have always been proud of the fact that in addition to the running events I was locally competitive in the javelin and the jumping events. At Dartmouth College I was a four-year ski team member and occasionally competed in cycling. During my freshman ski campaign I raced over 400km, and in my senior year I was given the development team award. I majored in chemistry and minored in physics. (If I could go back I would probably have majored in physics and minored in chemistry. Oh well!) If I had to describe my college experience with two words they would have to be “awesome” and “exhausting,” combined either as “exhaustingly awesome,” or “awesomely exhausting.” I am fluent in Norwegian, speak some German, and have an academic and mostly defunct understanding of Latin. To conclude, a few favorites: Cinemo Paradiso, Lil’ Wayne, Pinsky, Fagles, Basquiat, and The New Yorker.

Sincerely,

Knut-Eric N. Joslin
Assistant Nordic Coach

Kristen Bednar '08

Hope you have all had an amazing summer! I'm sure you guys are getting ready to go back to school...or at least thinking about it. :) I'm attempting to pack everything up to head abroad, but before I go I wanted to wish you all the best of luck this fall. I know most of the girls are getting ready to head away from SLU as well or are starting a different season, but Kalie and Robin will be there to hold down the fort, not to mention all the new blood we have coming in. Have lots of fun!

I'm planning on keeping a blog while I'm abroad (kbindk.blogspot.com) and would love to hear from you. I'll hopefully be able to do a good amount of training while I'm over there. Lots of running and biking for sure. Anyway, see ya in December! Good luck!

Robin Brooks '08

Hey Everyone! I hope you're all getting ready to get back to SLU and start fall training with the team. Well, at least I'm excited to train with other people again. Due to my job as a Wilderness Ranger, I haven't been able to do much ski specific training. However, I'm out in the backcountry four days a week hiking anywhere from 5 to 18 miles a day with a 50some pound pack. I'd like to think that I in great hiking shape at least! It's been wonderful to hike in the Cascades again, I wish you all could come out and see them, the hills of the east just can't compare.
On my days off I'm sick of hiking so I've been getting out on my bike and roller skis. One way that Canton beats Snoqualmie/Cle Elum is in roller skiing opportunities, I am looking forward to our North Country roads. I look forward to seeing all of you soon!