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| The Seawolves |
Just like every fall, every year, for at least the past 35+ years and probably longer, local ski racers run an uphill time trial following the gas line from Hilltop Ski Area to Prospect Heights trailhead. It takes between around nine and fifteen minutes, and it's a pretty good gauge of skiing fitness. Of course, some skiers are naturally faster runners than others, so if you're slow in the Gasline Time Trial, it doesn't necessarily mean you'd be slow in a ski race. But doing the time trial multiple times each year, we can compare our present selves to our former selves to see if we're progressing. Or regressing.
I don't know for sure, but I think John Clark may have founded this time trial course sometime in the late 1980's or early 1990's when he was coaching the Dimond High School Ski Team and was also coaching a summer training program for local skiers. His program didn't have a name and it wasn't a business. It was just "John Clark's training group". John Clark died last year, and there are a lot of people in this town who truly miss seeing John around the local scene. Anyway, if John wasn't the one who came up with this time trial course, track me down and let me know and I'll stop claiming it was John Clark's idea. I do know this: While John Clark's Gasline Time Trial of the 1990's followed the same course and had the same finish line as the present course, there was a significant period of time when UAA's team time trial started in the same spot, but continued uphill on the pavement for an additional six or seven minutes beyond the present finish line. I found that course to be particularly brutal, because you would come off the steep, narrow dirt trail of the gasline and then transition to a wide paved uphill road, and somehow it always felt like you had suddenly slowed to a crawl. Perhaps it was a matter of perception. Maybe the narrow, brushy trail gave a false perception of moving quickly, but coming out onto the open road made you realize how slow you really were going. Maybe Skiwolves from a generation ago will read this and have some answers, or at least some uncomfortable memories of that version of the course. Anyway, I don't know why the UAA time trial was later shortened back down to the traditional, standard distance about ten years ago. You could ask Trond and he could tell you for sure. I could ask him too, but this blog makes no attempt to pass itself off as "real" journalism, so I'm not going to bother to do the research.
Traditionally, this is a workout for the cross-country skiers of this town. But our alpine skiers joined in the fun this time, and I'm glad they did! Their presence really heightened the vibe of the morning, and it was a good chance to get to know each other better. And though you might think that because the alpiners ride chairlifts to get to the top of their race courses, they might not need the capacity to run fast uphill for twelve minutes, that's not the case at all. It takes a maximal effort for a full minute to ski a slalom course. And top aerobic fitness allows alpine skiers to complete longer and higher-quality training days on the slalom hill. I hope it's going to be a regular thing that the alpine skiers join us for this workout. Their presence made a big difference in the tone of the morning!
Many personal records were achieved on the Gasline Time Trial course yesterday morning.
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This photo may lead you to believe that Head Coach Sparky Anderson won the gas line time trial. But he did not.
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| No records, personal or otherwise, were in danger while this guy was on course. |
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| Hedda Halvari |
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| Freshman Aria Grandi |
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| Freshman Tuva Svindland |
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| Constance Lapointe |
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| Freshman alpiner Baptiste Cais. He was fast! Maybe if the alpine thing doesn't work out for him, we can strap some "misery sticks" on his feet and see what happens. |
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| Marit Flora set a new personal best. |
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| Before the time trial, I asked Murphy how he was going to do, and he told me he was going to set a new personal best. He was true to his word. He went more than 30 seconds faster than he ever has before! |
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| Our freshman Kasilofer, Chase Laker. Freshmen typically have a big disadvantage on this course because the gradient changes throughout the route and it takes a few tries to learn the right tactics. But Chase, being an Alaskan, has done this time trial before, and it showed. He was fast. |
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| Alpiner Tommy Olcese is in good shape this fall. |
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| Henry Skjønsfjell |
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| You might think last year's team captain, Matt Seline, wouldn't race this year's time trial because he doesn't have to. He graduated from UAA and is now working in the emergency room at the Alaska Native Hospital until November when he becomes a cadet with the Anchorage fire fighting academy. But Matt's not one to shy away from discomfort. Besides, for all I know, the Fire Department might require their recruits to pass some kind of physical test. So I guess Matt ought to stay on the training plan after all. |
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| Freshman Caleb Brooks |
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| Garrett Siever |
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| Erling Bjørnstad |
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| Freshman alpiner Niki Buchar |
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| Freshman alpiner Guro Vognild. Last year, Guro skied for Westminster College. They cut their ski team. |
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| Ethan Eski |
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| Freshman alpiner Dora Ljutic |
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| Chase High was doing double duty yesterday. After working as the starter, Chase started himself. It was only a year and a half ago that Chase was racing for Saint Scholastica at the NCAA Championships, so I was not surprised that he was fast in the Gas Line Time Trial. |
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| Freshman Fredrik Johansen |
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| Dylan Timm. Encouraged by Baptiste, who'd finished earlier. |
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| The scene at the finish line. |
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