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.