The Guru

The man has been slaving night and day.  

Is this the face of a lunatic?  Yes, perhaps it is.

In any coaching team, there has to be a division of duties. Given enough time, a coaching team can gradually develop a rapport, and different responsibilities naturally shift to different team members who are most comfortable and adept at performing them. When a team is thrown together for a week, though, decisions need to be made up front about who's going to handle what.  Galen, with his "day job" coaching junior skiers and preparing skis for junior skiers, was a natural fit for the job of "chief of waxing" for Team Alaska. It also doesn't hurt that he cheerfully admits to being a "tech nerd who likes to test and tinker with waxes and base structures and is very content to spend the entire day in the wax cabin" (this is a direct quote). Whatever he's doing in there seems to be working because in these blustery, snowy conditions, I've heard only glowing reviews from the racers regarding the wax concoctions that Galen's cooking up.

From the vault: Here's a photo of Galen taken the last time Arctic Winter Games was held in Greenland. I was the head coach that year, and Galen was still a couple inches shorter than me.  Obviously, that wasn't going to last for long. Look at the size of those lobster claws! Considering the size of my parka, this photo could only have been taken in Fairbanks.


Abby probably got the best photos of the opening ceremony, thanks to Galen


The master of his domain.