Wow, it must have been really bad. I came very close to traveling to
Norway just to ski that race this year, I'm now glad I didn't. I
decided to go ski the Tour of Anchorage instead. The friendly people,
cold and biting wind, cold sunshine, and the packed snow/ice
everywhere reminded me of growing up in North Dakota. Except that ND
doesn't have any mountains, or trees, or oceans, or glaciers, or
bears, or fjords. Come to think of it, it wasn't much like ND.

Speaking of the Tour, I had a great time skiing the tour, very nice
course. I was doing great through 45K, but I planned my food/liquids/
pace poorly and hit the wall hard. I struggled throught the last 5K
and lost a lot of time and places, but I still finished OK. I'd
definitely do it again, but woe to those who ski that on a windy day.
Much of the course is right on the Cook Inlet with marginal wind
protection, it would not have been fun a couple of days earlier.

Jon