November skiing at Star Lake

Just when the cold rainy rollerski workouts were pushing the team to their breaking point, our "top secret" training facility at Star Lake got hit with 6 inches of lake-effect snowfall. It was an early-November treat to make the 35 minute drive up into the hills, watching the snow gather on the roadsides and tree branches as the vans climbed in elevation.

Much of the team gathered at the entrance to the Star Lake golf course on Tuesday afternoon

Never underestimate the value of a homemade human-powered groomer. This is the updated version of my grooming device I built in 2011...the TerkTech! 

It's been reassuring to see the changes in what Star Lake represents to this team...when we trained here in the early season of my first year (fall 2008) the main activities at Star Lake included jumping rivers and whipping 360s from the sand bunkers...I'm not saying I wasn't contributing, because I even made a video of it back then:

No extra offense intended toward Pepper or Bogden, they were just better at jumping on skis than the rest of us

We were lucky enough to be granted two excellent days of midwinter on-snow training this week (it is melting tomorrow) and instead of catching air we had productive sessions of easy distance and some specific-strength double-pole drills. The whole team "skied-in" a loop of about 2-2.5k of mixed terrain until it was smooth and fast. We were able to use good (not quite race) boards instead of slow rock skis. Instead of wandering through powder or huckin' creek beds, we created our own buffed-out trail surface perfect for the first few snow sessions of the year. Practice today looked more like this:


Easy distance skate skiing for some, with doublepole technique drills for others

And that clip is just the small crew who was able to make the early van before darkness hit. The rest of the team arrived just as the flat light was fading into the hills, and were guided by their headlamps for the rest of the ski.

No time to grab your headlamp when you are in the middle of a specific strength session: Phil, Will and Kyle take a few laps of double-pole only skiing

Unfortunately warm temperatures will almost surely melt the snow tomorrow, but the extra boost from a few days of real skiing was certainly a boost! The countdown to training camp in Canada, beginning November 23rd, is well underway.