Dune

I'd been out traveling in western Alaska for a few days, but came back to Anchorage just in time to be brutalized by this morning's nordic/alpine full team workout at the sand dunes at Kincaid Park. There was ice on the puddles in my driveway and snow on the tops of the mountains in the front range, but we stayed near sea level today.

The warm up run, with ocean below.

These were not easy.

Nor were these.  The women's alpine and nordic teams.

Men's alpine and nordic.

Afterward.  Some tired guppies.

 

Most - but not all - of the UAA Ski Team

 

Similar, but with a coach switch.

The Glorious Life of a Cross-Country Ski Racer

Here's a glimpse into the world of Lasse Mølgaard-Nielsen, UAA Ski Team Member 2010-2013, as he prepares to qualify for and compete in next winter's Olympic Games:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTwLaqcyHVI&feature=youtu.be

Clark's Road

Not a bad morning for some intervals on the roads above Anchorage:

Marine.  Anchorage in the background.

Etienne

Brandon and Alex

Lucky

Marine. Those are the Chigmit Mountains in the distant background including Mt. Spurr, which occasionally dusts Anchorage in volcanic ash when it erupts.

I protest!

Though life is generally pretty good around the UAA Ski Team, it's not all rainbows and unicorns. There are occasionally disputes and disagreements between the athletes and between the coaches which must be dealt with and resolved. Just the other day, for example, Andrew sprung the news on me that he wants to add one more wax tech to our coaching team this winter.  Apparently, he feels our crew could be bolstered with some extra help with kick waxing. But I've always thought we handled the job just fine with three coaches.  Don't get me wrong, Sylvie is my best friend under the age of five.  She's fun and interesting to talk to, she's got a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and I truly respect her ideas and opinions.  But seeing her waxing technique in this video... I just don't feel she's ready yet.  I mean, look at what she's doing - putting purple kick wax in the glide zone - everyone knows you just don't do that!  I say let her get one more year of experience and then she can be our chief kick waxer for winter 2015.

Snow in the Mountains

OK, it wasn't much, but we did see new snow in the mountains today while out hiking.

Arlan De Yong

The entire UAA Ski Team sends its condolences to the De Yong family.  UAA ski coach Nicole De Yong's father, Arlan, passed away recently.  Our thoughts are with Nicole and her family.

Rabbit Lakes

The UAA Ski Team spent this morning galavanting around the countryside above Anchorage.  I, for one, can't think of a better way to have spent the morning.

That's Anchorage, in the background, below the clouds.

Variety is the spice of life

Today we played the annual Nordic vs. Alpine soccer game in the dome.  It's a rare thing when the Nordic team beats the Alpine team in soccer, but it happened today so we celebrated with a Nordic team picture. Many of us gave the "We're #1" sign, except Marine who gave the "We're #2" sign. She must have been confused by the fast action of the game.

Later in the day, it was mountain biking at Kincaid Park.  I was happy to hear Marine say that riding Kincaid's single track bike trails was the best mountain bike ride of her young life, especially considering that she has friends back home who are World Cup mountain bikers, and her family has a home at the bottom of the Col du Tourmalet, one of the most famous climbs in the Tour de France.

Andrew Arnold and Marine Dusser

Andrew Arnold, Marine, Andrew Kastning, Me

Rollerski Life

Here we are, doing our thing this morning:

Today was a day of drills. Andrew demonstrates what he wants from the boys.

The girls must have gotten together and decided pink/purple were going to be the colors for the workout.

I've been told there are some people who think Alaska is all igloos and polar bears.  While there may be some truth to that, the buildings in the background should be sufficient proof that not all our buildings are made of blocks of ice. On the other hand, I got chased by a polar bear right after I took this picture.

Coach Andrew, Marine, Synnøve, Patricia.

Hope

This is team-bonding weekend for the UAA Ski Team.  We all (alpine and nordic) drove an hour south of town for a hike up Point Hope on the south side of Turnagain Arm, after which most of the team stayed overnight for camping beside Sixmile Creek.

Racing the train down the highway.

The nordic team with the exception of Patricia, Marine, and Coach Nicole.

Andrew Arnold pointing out beluga whales in Turnagain Arm.

Do you think the coach is fired up for this season?

Descending back to Hope.

The entire team (alpine and nordic) minus Marine and Sean.

Travels

Here's one of those blog posts that has little to do with the UAA Ski Team, except that the activities described herein kept me from making it to UAA practice:

We recently rode our bikes from Anchorage to Seward - 130 miles.  It's the farthest I've ever ridden my bike in one sitting. We caught the train back home afterward. It was nice.

And last week I missed practice because I was out in the desert doing this:

Back in the Saddle

I joined the team for a little specific-strength rollerski action today.  It was good to be back with the group!





Lukas



Good News!

The first time I met Nicole De Yong was some time in the mid-1990's. Nicole's older sister, Kristy, was a member of the East High School ski team, and I had been asked by East's legendary ski coach, Harry Johnson, to show up at practice from time to time that winter to help out with some technical advice and other "special projects" as needed.  Before the state high school championships, there was a team spaghetti dinner at the De Yong house. After dinner, brownies and ice cream were brought out, and they were the best brownies I'd ever had!  I was told that Kristy's younger sister, Nicole, had made the brownies. Nicole was not yet in high school at that time, so I wasn't following her racing too closely, but I'll never forget those brownies!

Eventually, Nicole ended up on the UAA Ski Team and worked her way to the top of the college circuit, finishing second to her teammate, Mandy Kaempf, at the 2005 NCAA National Championships in Stowe, Vermont. She continued racing after college on the Nor-Am, Europa Cup, and World Cup circuits. As recently as this past winter, Nicole was one of the top racers in the US, with a win at the Owl Creek Chase and a 5th place in the American Birkebeiner Worldloppet race.

As I write this, Nicole is spending some time parked in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. She's on her way north from Sun Valley, Idaho, where she's been an athlete / coach for the past several years.  She'd already be in Anchorage by now but she blew a head gasket on her Subaru engine on the Alaska Highway in Watson Lake, and had to get her car towed to Whitehorse for repairs.

Nicole is on her way to Alaska to become UAA's new assistant nordic coach, and this team is very fortunate to have her!  Nicole brings her enthusiasm for the sport, her World Cup racing experience, and perhaps most importantly, her maturity and warm, friendly personality to this organization, and the team is certainly going to benefit from her involvement. Andrew and I are very excited to have Nicole join the coaching team this year.  With any luck, she'll manage to get her car fixed, get back on the road, and we'll see her in a few days.  Welcome back to UAA, Nicole!

Here's photographic proof that this coming winter won't be Nicole's first time giving feeds in a UAA jacket.  Here she is in 2005 or 2006, giving a drink to her UAA coach, Trond Flagstad, at the national championships.