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Skiing with Tommy
Hi all,
I had a pretty exciting time in West Yellowstone, and now I'm back in windy, snowless, Reading MA. I wrote up an article about my experiences. I've included the LONG version below. I hope you all enjoy. I'll write up all the new wax secrets I learned in a day or two. Rob West Yellowstone Report Every November Americas ski family gathers in West Yellowstone Montana for a Thanksgiving holiday of skiing and socializing. My wife and I had the feeling we were coming home. First, I turned around on the plane and found Bates skier Kyle Rogers in the seat behind me. Arriving in Bozeman we met a large group of skiers from the Holderness School. The next day on the trails we saw the Stratton Mountain School contingent, former New England skiers like Andy Newell and Andrew Johnson leading the U.S. Ski Team through interval training, and racers from college teams Middlebury, UVM, and Bates. There were other skiers from all over the country as well as The Factory Team, The Rossignol Team, and the Toko Tech Team. And this year we had a very special guest for the holidays. At the invitation of Toko (poles and gloves) and Madshus skis, Thomas Alsgaard, the fastest skier in the world and a multiple Olympic and World Championship gold medallist, flew in from Oslo to spend a few days skiing and hanging out with Americas skiers. I first met Thomas when he strolled into breakfast at the Stagecoach Inn escorted by Ian Harvey, Toko Brand Manager, and Peter Hale of Madshus. Thomas looked tired, but perked up after a hearty meal of scrambled eggs, toast, and coffee. After eating Ian said, Who would like to take Thomas for a ski?. Jim Levins, NENSA Board of Directors member, and I jumped at the chance. A half hour later Jim, Thomas, and I were dressed in our bright yellow Toko warm-ups striding quickly toward the trails. Alsgaard is a tall man, but what really sets him apart are his broad shoulders. We had to march quick-step to keep up with his long, rapid strides. Ski conditions were ideal with fresh, cold, packed powder on the trails and bright sun painting the snow-laden pines with yellow light. We asked Middlebury skier Kate Whitcomb to join us, and we started up the Rendezvous trail. Before beginning our ski in earnest we had to pass through the brightly colored gauntlet of ski product tents lining both sides of the trail. Thomas created quite a stir as we passed. He stopped and chatted politely while skiers asked questions and gushed. He was anxious to get skiing so after a few hellos we skied off into the trees. When we reached the Dead Dog trail, Thomas was really enjoying the day and wanted to cruise. I suggested he take the lead, but he said, No, you set the pace. Try to imagine the pressure of having the worlds best skier clicking your ski tails as you struggle to maintain some semblance of good form on the uphills and to not fall headfirst into the soft snow on the downhills. I snuck a glance at my heart rate monitor at the top of a hill and saw that I was enjoying a good level 5, maximal effort. Thomas was not breaking a sweat, skiing relaxed, and enjoying the scenery. To give myself a break I would ask him questions. He told me that he never uses a heart rate monitor, but just skis hard when he feels good and it is fun to go fast, and skis slow when he is tired. It was his first day of classic skiing since March and the best conditions he had seen this year. It was clear that above all he loved to be out in nature enjoying a good ski. We discussed Alaska and he admitted that he dreamed of going there, but the demands of elite level training left him no time for such a trip. As you may have gathered, his English is excellent. After 90 minutes we had skied almost all the open trails, so we returned, me gasping, Thomas smiling, to the tent area. We headed out again with Middlebury skier Clare ??? so Thomas could give some her some technique advice. This gave me a chance to ski behind him and observe his smooth and powerful technique. He never slipped kicking up the steep hills and double-poled with long, crisp thrusts. At the end of our short tour he gave Clare some good suggestions for improving. I asked if he had any tips for the old man. He smiled impishly at me, No, it is too late for you. But, then he followed his joke with some good pointers for me too. Ian asked Thomas when he arrived what he expected to do on his trip. Work was his simple answer. And work he did, spending the rest of the days working with various groups out on the trails and the evenings signing autographs and answering questions. He is a shy man in a crowd, but with a group of juniors on the trails he was open, humorous, and fully at ease. St. Lawrence skier Amy Laverack gathered lots of good information. His biggest training week was 35 hours, and he trained about 800 hours per year. However, as a junior he trained 420 to 460 hours per year and enjoyed playing many sports including soccer and cycling. Amys former teammate on the Holderness team, Todd Nordbloom, asked Thomas if he would autograph his chest. Well, maybe if you were a girl replied Thomas. The next day on the trail Thomas spotted Todd and just shook his head. And dismaying news for we coaches, he told the juniors to not listen too closely to their coaches, but to listen to their own instincts about what works for them. He told the story of the time before the Olympics in Lillehammer in 1994. He would do no-pole skate workouts for over an hour. The older members of the Norwegian team derided these workouts. After Thomas crushed the field for a decisive win in the 30K skate the rest of the team decided that no-pole skate workouts were not a bad idea. Murray Banks, World Masters Champion from Vermont, told me of seeing Thomas skiing back from the trails to our hotel. West Yellowstone lightly plows and packs the snow on its streets and uses no sand or salt. Thomas took a flying leap off the snow bank into the street, weaved in and around two on-coming cars, and dashed down the road around the corner. As one young skier said, He gave me five tips about skiing, but the only one I remember is to have fun. ===== Rob Bradlee Java, C++, Perl, XML, OOAD, Linux, and Unix Training |
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Skiing with Tommy
Rob Bradlee wrote:
reached the Dead Dog trail, Thomas was really enjoying the day and wanted to cruise. I suggested he take the lead, but he said, No, you set the pace. Try to imagine the pressure of having the worlds best You were lucky! The current norwegian team have admitted that it might even be an advantage for them that Thomas has left, since he tended to 'cruise' along on long-distance training days at a tempo that overtaxed nearly all of the rest of the team. This year it's become a bit easier to 'listen to your body' and stay within the proper envelope. :-) skier clicking your ski tails as you struggle to maintain some semblance of good form on the uphills and to not fall headfirst into the soft snow on the downhills. I snuck a glance at my heart rate monitor at the top of a hill and saw that I was enjoying a good level 5, maximal effort. Thomas was not breaking a sweat, skiing relaxed, and enjoying the scenery. See? :-) Terje -- - "almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching" |
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Skiing with Tommy
Just think what Alsgaard could have accomplished if only he'd used modern
training techniques -- like heart monitor zones, and being sure to go slow enough on easy days. Thanks for the great story, Rob. Ken |
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Skiing with Tommy
Dahelie was the same way as Alsgaard. He didn't use a pulse monitor
but went on how he felt. I think those guys knew their training so well that they could tell you what their heart rate was at any given moment within a few beats. As for modern training techniques, the Norwegians invented them. Check out the "Joy of Skiing " video leading up to the Lillehammer Olympics. Those guys are getting stuck with needles by the team doctors etc. Lactic Acid, Oxygen Uptake, Altitude training, you name it, they knew it. Jay Tegeder "On the podium if the right people don't show up!" JT "Ken Roberts" wrote in message ... Just think what Alsgaard could have accomplished if only he'd used modern training techniques -- like heart monitor zones, and being sure to go slow enough on easy days. Thanks for the great story, Rob. Ken |
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Skiing with Tommy
"Rob Bradlee" wrote in message o.com... When we reached the Dead Dog trail, Thomas was really enjoying the day and wanted to cruise. I suggested he take the lead, but he said, No, you set the pace. You think he would have learned his lesson in Lillihammer at the '94 Olympic relay race. I'm surprised he offered you this after it backfired when he tried it with Silvio Fauner. Great post. Brought a big smile to my face. What a thrill it must have been. What'd you learn about waxing and ski prtep? Gary Jacobson Rosendale, NY |
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Skiing with Tommy
George Cleveland wrote:
It is so hard to believe its been 10 years since Lillehammer. :^( Yeah, I know! Last year, when visiting my Utah friends, they had to remind me that 'the Olympics (unspecified year) was the one in Utah, not Lillehammer!' Terje -- - "almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching" |
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Skiing with Tommy
"Gary Jacobson" wrote in message ...
You think he would have learned his lesson in Lillihammer at the '94 Olympic relay race. I'm surprised he offered you this after it backfired when he tried it with Silvio Fauner. umm...that was bjorn that got kicked down by fauner. phil |
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