Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Ice Capades

School's out for Christmas, and things have gotten pretty quiet around the UAA campus these days. Our recent weather has left us with a handful of mediocre options. There's the snowmaking loop at Kincaid. It's got good snow but there's only so many 2-km laps you can do before you start getting kind of bored. Marine skied with her husband at Hillside today on rock skis. She said it was fantastic skiing, groomed "like World Cup conditions" as long as you didn't look down at the snow and see all the rocks you were skiing over. She said a pair of skis would last about two or three sessions before being ground down to the bindings. Fortunately, she's got some skis that are perfect for those conditions. As for me, I've been ice skating and riding my fat bike on the ice around town a lot lately since I only have a couple pairs of rock skis and want to keep them in pristine condition, and I can only handle so many Kincaid laps before I start to lose my mind. 

A bunch of Skiwolves went north of town with Trond today to do some skating on the lakes of the Susitna Valley.  I wish I could have joined them, but at least I got these nice photos from Big Lake.

I like this photo. Trond, with his olde speedskating hat on, and everyone else looking like speedskaters... except for Trevor, who looks like he's ready to take a faceoff for the Bruins.



  
And there was citizen sprint racing last weekend at Kincaid Park.  Who are these bears?





Training at Kincaid Park last week.



I think this is the part where we were talking about the suicidal squirrel that Michaela and Anna narrowly avoided running over during their last interval.

Monday, December 9, 2019

Alaska Cup

Alaska Cup Weekend is in the books. Our first college races of the year, and our annual early-season showdown with the Nanooks from University of Alaska Fairbanks was contested this weekend in the Susitna Valley. We were pleased with our performance, considering that it's still early December. Our returning skiers are better skiers now than they have been in the past, and our new skiers are contributing and scoring points.  All is on track as we prepare for the racing season, and we were satisfied with the weekend. 

Saturday was an individual-start skate race; 10km for the men and 5km for the women. We raced at Government Peak Recreation Area.  

You can't go into a race weekend like this without a strategy. So on Friday we all got together in the UAA Ski Room and tried to come up with a good strategy.

The alpiners came out to Government Peak to support us, and we appreciated it!
When the alpiners weren't out beside the race trail screaming their lungs out for us, they were poking around in the woods, looking at nature and stuff. Nicole found this little vole someplace, and they became friends. Nicole is from Canadia. Last year, we had a different Canadian on our team. His name is Marcus Von Deuling and he's from the Yukon. When Marcus isn't ski racing, he's a hunting guide. It was great having Marcus around because he always spotted and pointed out interesting wildlife, even when the rest of us didn't notice. If Marcus was still on this team, and Nicole was not, this little vole would likely have been turned into little steaks or small hat or something. But Marcus has graduated, and Nicole is a freshman. For all I know, Marcus and Nicole might not even know each other, even though they're both from Canadia.  Sometimes, when I don't have anything more interesting to think about, I wonder what would happen if this little vole was noticed by Marcus and Nicole at the exact same time?  Would he (or she) become a little hat?  Or would the little vole make a new friend?  But that's a hypothetical question, and it probably isn't an efficient use of my time to think about that question for too much longer.

Here's Magnum.  He won both college races.

Corey

That's Jenna in the green. The Nanook in front is Mariel Pulles, the day's winner.

Trevor

Magnum won. JC was second. Espen was third.

Mariel Pulles won. Jenna was second. Anna was third.

The Alaska Cup is a college race.  But we allow extra skiers to race if they want, because why not?  So I should mention here that the men's overall winner, both days, was last year's World Junior Champion, Gus Schumacher. 

Sunday, it was time for mass-start classic races at Hatcher Pass.  15km for the men and 10km for the women. 
We had a shaky start to the day.  It had been snowing overnight, the road up Hatcher Pass hadn't been plowed, it was dark and snowing, and UAF's team van was unable to make it up the hill. By the time all the coaches had arrived at the start area, a serious discussion was needed to decide whether we could hold the race at all.  It was determined that, out of concern for safety on the road, we should tell the athletes not to attempt to drive up the hill.  We would cancel Day 2 of the Alaska Cup and we would all go back to Anchorage for some kind of a group workout or something... All the coaches loaded up and started heading down the hill, only to see the snowplows coming up, plowing and sanding!  The day was saved!  We all did a U-turn and drove the mile or so back up to the top of the pass, and it was game on!

This is a secret wax that I'm applying to this ski. So I can't tell you what it is. I'm sorry.

Marine was the starter for the men's race.

Hey, Look who came out to watch!  it's Dede Allen, Seawolf Associate Athletic Director!

The elevation at the finish was much higher elevation than the start. Head Coach Sparky made the trek up the hill, after the start, to catch the finish. It was a nice morning for a walk.

Natalie

Jenna is from Fairbanks. She likes to keep Fairbanksy things around to remind her of home. Remember how in the photo from yesterday's race, she was skiing with Mariel Pulles from Fairbanks?  She's doing it again here. It's just the way Jenna rolls. 

The Seawolf alpiners were out to support us.  You may have noticed that Nicole was supporting us yesterday, too, at Government Peak (and befriending voles). Today she geared up with a pair of skis. Here's a Canadian culture quiz for you:  Which of these Seawolves is from Calgary, and how can you tell?
(**answer below)

Natalie Hynes won the race today.

Here's Hannah, and Marine.

Hannah.  About 50 meters to go.

Post-race review.

There are a lot of people who set their alarms very early to come out, of their own free will, and help us stage the Alaska Cup this weekend.  I'm not going to try to name them all, but Bob Stehn was the timer, Ed Strabel had everything set up for us at Government Peak on Saturday when we arrived, Mark Strabel spent the early-morning driving around Hatcher Pass in a Pisten Bully 100, and a bunch of folks drove up to The Valley from Eagle River and Anchorage to help out. Thanks to all!

Next year, it'll be back to Fairbanks for the Alaska Cup.

(**answer:  Liam is from Calgary. You can tell because he wears jeans to go skiing. Calgary is full of cowboys.)

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Being Thankful For The Snow We've Got

I have some friends named Burky and Sally. They have been living and skiing in Anchorage since the early 1970's. In their observation, the average date that we can start skiing on our city ski trail system is around Thanksgiving.  If we get decent snow before Thanksgiving, then we're early. After Thanksgiving is late.

Here's Burky.  He knows that when the Thanksgiving weather transition (from rain to snow) comes, the best place to be is on the beach in Hawaii. Did I mention that Burky was the first head coach of the UAA Ski Team?
Here's Sally. She didn't get out of town quite soon enough. Real skiers don't break legs while skiing. They break legs in icy parking lots. Apparently, the broken leg isn't keeping Sally from going snorkeling.
I had to leave town the day before Thanksgiving. I had some errands to run and I couldn't be here for the Nordic team's annual Thanksgiving Training Camp. Anchorage was brown as I drove to the airport the day before Thanksgiving. Though I wasn't here to participate, I kept tabs on the local training program and weather conditions. I heard lots of good news about talent shows and mini-golf, but I also heard about rain storms and long training runs on snowless Turnagain Arm. 

Toom is a coach now. But that doesn't mean he's just going to give up and start losing sprints at practice.

Natalie and Anna

Michaela. Yes, there wasn't snow in town at Thanksgiving, but the skiing was just fine at Glen Alps, a fifteen minute drive up the hill from school.


Coming back to Anchorage at two o'clock this morning, I wasn't sure what kind of weather conditions awaited. But I got the memo when I arrived:  Morning training at Kincaid Park; on snow: classic skiing; intervals.  


Five hours' sleep and one Power Bar later, I was out there with the team again. Our first ski of the year at Kincaid Park.  It felt good to be back!

Pre-workout instructions

The boys.

The girls. Marine has the fitness to keep the pressure high in training.

Trevor, Espen and Marine. Snowmaking is in full effect in the ski stadium.

Espen. Doing his thing at 11am sunrise.