Heading to the midpoint

The coffee is still draining out of me from that drive...

Our team results this past weekend were not great. I won't try to spin it or make excuses, and with all of the cyber-coverage our there its not as if there's anywhere to hide. So far this season every race has featured at least one (often two) 'best ever' performances. Our skiers are stepping it up left and right, and this young team is putting up really encouraging results.

We've had two first-year girls score NCAA points in only their first two carnivals (Sienna was 29th Saturday, Cassidy was 30th on Sunday) and another just outside (Erin was 31st, .2 seconds from 30th, in the SLU Prologue). Kelsey has stepped into the role of Senior leader, and has been hovering around the top-20 in every race so far.

Meng has been the story of calm, consistent skiing, paralleling Kelsey's results and finishing just seconds out of the top 20 in almost every race. He was our top finisher in Sunday's mass start despite losing a ski and working up from the very back of the pack. Will had the breakout race he's been heading toward all year on Saturday, skiing to 26th place in the 10k classic.

The only thing we seem to be struggling to find is a third scorer in each race. Carnival team results are based on the three top skiers in each event, and for one reason or another we've just had trouble with that third racer. Really this skier (male or female) can be anyone on the team at this point: both teams are competitive enough within themselves to produce that great third result, it's just a matter of having it all come together at once.

This weekend provides a great opportunity to head in that direction. The course at Trapps is basically 'home' for the majority of our team, and for all others, well...we raced here enough last year to have it pretty well calculated.

The SLUHaul has been a great addition, so be sure to peek in and check it out! Maybe after the races are over, as Sunday might be a wild waxing event in true East Coast style.

Don't have many pictures from these past few weekends, but here's one of Reed in Saturday's 10k classic. Skiing intervals yesterday it's clear that Reed is in great shape and is on the verge of a big race this year...

Mt Van Snow-venburg

The team is in Lake Placid this week gearing up for the SLU Carnival. We had a bit of a scare a few days ago as last weekends warming temps melted a good deal of snow at the venue. No worries, though. ORDA brought out the bucket-loaders, NYSEF brought out the snowmobiles, and SLUSKI brought out the shovels and we patched up the trails with a few hours of handiwork. On top of that, 3 inches fell today, and the trails should be ready to rock. The course had to be slightly modified, but we have a challenging 4.5k loop, so Friday's races will go off nearly as planned. Saturday is still in the works, but some type of race will happen. Here's some pictures of the shovel-work and post-work sledding on the trails.

Sledding fast and skiing fast: pure joy with both!

Mtn Top Day 2

Spring skiing! Slushy klister skiing is my favorite type of classic skiing, and this race was like a late-March match-up in early January.

This is what the course looked like at 8am. Trust me, it didn't stay this clean and solid for long. By 8:30 it a spring mix of slush, dirt and water. Sweet!

Kick testing went pretty smoothly. With such warm temps everyone knew that the ticket would be some type of extremely warm klister. I tested two (Rode Silver Extra and Rex "OU"). The OU (a "special klister for wet and slushy snow" that Ethan suggested) gave great kick, but when I added just a touch too much it grabbed like crazy; you could feel the corn chunks piling up under your feet as you slid forward. I knew it would be race-able and in play with the right application, but for the sake of trying something else and because I had the time, I dug around the big black klister box and pulled out some Guru Red klister. I knew it was good 20 seconds in. Same kick, less drag. One layer for the girls over a klister binder and a few dabs under the toe and they were ready to rock. Of course, as soon as I realized that we were racing on the stuff I remembered Sylvan's internet-sensation "Red Guru Kick" and couldn't get it out of my head for the rest of the day. Here's the music video:



As for the racing...

Sienna had a great race, and though results are a bit late in coming out I'm reasonably confident she was 26th overall and 5th OJ. That 5th spot in the OJ category is huge because she was right on the front of a huge pack of girls in that category; ten seconds slower and she would've been around 10th or 12th OJ. Her top-5 in that age class could've just punched a ticket to Fairbanks for Junior Nationals this year, which is a big goal. Erin skied a solid race, and most importantly she looked like she really kept her speed up and stayed competitive through the second half of a race, which is a big step forward. Melanie surprised me most today: she is a klister animal! She was applying the stuff to her training skis in record time, scraping it off, trying more options...she even asked me to make the race layer a little smoother on her race skis: calling out the coach for poor prep! Then I realized that, being a Westerner, when we are all in the gym and riding bikes in May, she's still up at elevation cruising around in spring snow in California. This type of skiing was her jam and she looked super comfortable. She said it was the first time she felt really good in a race this year, and what a time to have that feeling: in fact, all three of the girls came away from the weekend with at least one really great race, which is the perfect momentum heading into the first Carnivals. I know some of the pressure is removed now that they know they are skiing at a high level, and right in the mix with strong college racers.

Mel the klister-master. Check the T-shirt: I don't think anyone raced in sleeves

It wasn't even noon when all was said and done, so we decided to skip watching the guys race. I suggested we take a break from the skiing world (that last chance we'll get for 6 weeks) and celebrate a successful weekend by making a trip to bustling Rutvegas. While the men were hammering around the course we walked around the downtown area and got some brunch at a local diner. The Dier family was kind enough to let us stay in their condo one more night, so instead of driving up to Canton for one night at the Best Western, we had the luxury of just heading back to our beds and sleeping in (the girls are still asleep right now, actually) before meeting the rest of the team in Lake Placid later today for a final race prep camp.

Mountain Top Day 1

(The majority of the team is in Mont St Anne, but a small crew traveled with coach Terko to Mtn Top for this weekend's Eastern Cup)

Today was a huge breakthrough for Erin! There's been shades of this kind of speed all year from her, but things hadn't come together in a race setting until this morning, when she blasted through the qualifying round to take 20th spot overall. Erin's quarterfinal left her a little behind out of the gate, but throughout the course she continually tried to push through and move up. Unfortunately the other women were skiing pretty aggressively as well, and each time Erin tried to move alongside she would get boxed out or cut in front of. The course ended with huge sweeping downhill into a uphill finish. If you tried to win the heat from the front (plenty tried with little success, aside from eventual winner Maddy Pfiefer who was still almost caught at the line) you risked being swallowed up, but if you were too far from the lead you were unable to respond to the inevitable push up the final hill. Erin ended up in the latter situation, but came away ready to fight and throw some elbows next time she's in some heats. Trust me, she will be there.

Sienna was tantalizingly close (try .4 seconds away) to making the open heats in 32nd place. Still, her time made her the 2nd fastest qualifier for the J1/OJ heats. The top 12 J1 and OJ skiers who are outside the top 30 race in what used to be called 'consolation heats'. There are 2 heats of 6, and an 'A Final' and 'B Final' generated from these results. Get all that? It still confuses me sometimes...These heats don't affect final placing but are good experience. In her first heat Sienna took 4th skiing solidly within the group. For the 'B Final' I told her to try something different and just go for it from the start. Why not? Nothing would change, and it would be good to see how fast she could take it. Within the first 50 meters Sienna had gapped the field by a good 5 ski-lengths, and had a big lead coming into the big downhill. And then, like I described above, she was swallowed up by the pack working together on the long descent. But as I said, nothing was at stake so why not go for it? And I think she did have some fun blasting away from those girls and knowing she has the pure speed to draw on.

Melanie was also joining us, racing in her first Eastern Cup ever. She said that a big race in Nevada or California would be around 30 or 40 people...so having 150 girls in today's race is definitely a good pre-carnival scene. With the big drop in altitude Mel said she felt like she was lacking a little in quickness, though her lungs felt unsurprisingly superhuman.

We owe a huge thanks to the Dier family, who are letting us stay for the weekend at their slopeside condo at Killington, just down the road from the races. Quite a step up from the questionable Rutvegas we would have been staying in otherwise!

Things have been pretty warm here. There was some serious slush forming today by the later heats and it isn't gonna get below 40 overnight. The sounds of blowtorches will be everywhere in 'tent village' tomorrow!

Discussing some race stragegy

A girls heat heads through the lower field

Conditions at the end of the day. Spring skiing, anyone?

Slopeside amenities at Killington: big thanks to the Dier family!

Sienna showing how it's done in one of her heats