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sknyski's "old school" world tour 2004



 
 
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  #1  
Old January 12th 04, 06:17 PM
sknyski
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Default sknyski's "old school" world tour 2004

Well I'm packing away the eyeball-level poles, putting my
two-step-paddle-v2-offset-whatever on ice, and leaving the skis with
the funny lengths in the bag for this year. Seeing that I may be
spending more time next season cleaning poop off a baby's butt than
sitting in my subaru on the way to the snow, I've decided to return to
my roots and go "au naturale".

Coming to a race near you:

* Gunnar Haugen 30km, Jan 18, outside Seattle. A low-altitude warmup
(did I say low altitude?). Hoping that I will be able to use my
secret-weapon Madshus waxless, with a fresh R2.3 grind from NAT
BROWN'S NORDIC ULTRA TUNE IN EDMONDS WASHINGTON. I'll be the guy in
the polka-dotted uni, wearing headphones during the race because the
NFL was inconsiderate enough to schedule the AFC championship game,
starring my New England Patriots, during the race. Goal will be to
see how close I can get to that hot-shot Kent Somebody guy that my
friend Brian is always blathering on about.

* American Birkiebeiner, Feb 20 (?), Middle of Nowhere, Wisconsin. I
am grudgingly wasting both vacation and frequent flyer miles to attend
this stampede across a frozen snowmobile trail that somehow qualifies
as the Grandfather of American nordic ski races. I will be the guy
classic skiing with a fake moustache, nose and glasses setup to
disguise myself from all the midwesterners whom I have insulted over
the years on r.s.n. Why am I doing it? Because I feel obligated, as
an American, and because I've sceduled two trips before and had to
cancel. I'm not a quitter.

* The Great Race, March 7 or something, Truckee, CA. Yes, this is a
skate race, but it used to be a striding race, so in the theme of
returning to my roots, I will return to the race's roots. Plus, I
LOVE ****ing skaters off when I pass them in a graceful diagonal
stride.

* The Norweigan Birkie, March 20, Norway. I can't remember wxactly
where it is, btu I've signed up for it, and I figure there will be
signs from the airport telling me where to go. No goals other than to
see if I can podium in the female 70-74 category. That should be a
challenge considering it's probably populated by a bunch of former
olympians.

That's it for this season....

****TENTATIVE*****TENTATIVE****TENTATIVE****

* Dachstein Glacier, July 5-6. Not really a race, but challenge
enough when you are skiing at 9,000 ft.

* Kangaroo Hoppet, end of August. Since I'm not going to be able to
match my top 20 performance of a couple of years ago, perhaps this
time I'll kick and glide, and see how Aussies react to an American
beating them while skiing in first gear.

See you on the slopes!

bt
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  #2  
Old January 12th 04, 06:38 PM
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Default sknyski's "old school" world tour 2004


bt : I envy your Norwegian Birkebeiner trip. Maybe you were joking,
and Terje or someone might have better advice, but to get there, get
off the plane, walk down one flight of steps, get on a train going north,
(Oslo is south), get off at Hamar (less than 1 hour IIRC), get the
next train to Rena (about 1/2 hr IIRC), and you're there. If staying
near Lillehammer or Susjoen, just stay on that first train a bit
longer (maybe 1/2 hour) and you're there.

Best, Peter
  #3  
Old January 12th 04, 08:03 PM
chris esposito
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Default sknyski's "old school" world tour 2004

sknyski wrote:

Coming to a race near you:

* Gunnar Haugen 30km, Jan 18, outside Seattle. A low-altitude warmup
(did I say low altitude?). Hoping that I will be able to use my
secret-weapon Madshus waxless, with a fresh R2.3 grind from NAT
BROWN'S NORDIC ULTRA TUNE IN EDMONDS WASHINGTON. I'll be the guy in
the polka-dotted uni, wearing headphones during the race because the
NFL was inconsiderate enough to schedule the AFC championship game,
starring my New England Patriots, during the race. Goal will be to
see how close I can get to that hot-shot Kent Somebody guy that my
friend Brian is always blathering on about.


The Gunnar Hagen is put on the the Kongsbergers, the local Nordic Racing
club. For more info on the race, see http://www.kongsbergers.org .

The race location is about 9 miles east of and below Snoqualmie pass, on
I-90. Since the pass itself is only at 3000 feet, the race takes place
at 2500 feet or so at the Cabin Creek Sno Park.

`Kent Somebody' would be Kent Murdoch. Good luck. He either wins or has
a top 3 in most everything he enters around here.

Chris

  #4  
Old January 13th 04, 02:24 AM
Erik Brooks
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Default sknyski's "old school" world tour 2004

To add to Chris's notes. I love this race, and I'm sorry that I'll
miss it since this year. But it seems also to be cursed somehow - the
temps always seem to be right at freezing. I've heard more than one
good strider cursing at the end of the race "I'll never try this race
again with waxable skis!". One guy was seen to throw his skis into
the woods at the finish.

Last year there were 2 pair of those Madshus in the race. Those
skiers finished 1st and 2nd.

Have fun, and be careful on the sharp left coming down the big hill
(Ozbaldy).

Erik Brooks,
Seattle

----- Original Message -----
From: "chris esposito"
To: "Multiple recipients of list NORDIC-SKI"

Sent: Monday, January 12, 2004 12:41 PM
Subject: sknyski's "old school" world tour 2004


sknyski wrote:

Coming to a race near you:

* Gunnar Haugen 30km, Jan 18, outside Seattle. A low-altitude

warmup
(did I say low altitude?). Hoping that I will be able to use my
secret-weapon Madshus waxless, with a fresh R2.3 grind from NAT
BROWN'S NORDIC ULTRA TUNE IN EDMONDS WASHINGTON. I'll be the guy

in
the polka-dotted uni, wearing headphones during the race because

the
NFL was inconsiderate enough to schedule the AFC championship

game,
starring my New England Patriots, during the race. Goal will be

to
see how close I can get to that hot-shot Kent Somebody guy that my
friend Brian is always blathering on about.


The Gunnar Hagen is put on the the Kongsbergers, the local Nordic

Racing
club. For more info on the race, see http://www.kongsbergers.org .

The race location is about 9 miles east of and below Snoqualmie

pass, on
I-90. Since the pass itself is only at 3000 feet, the race takes

place
at 2500 feet or so at the Cabin Creek Sno Park.

`Kent Somebody' would be Kent Murdoch. Good luck. He either wins or

has
a top 3 in most everything he enters around here.

Chris






  #6  
Old January 13th 04, 04:36 PM
sknyski
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Default sknyski's "old school" world tour 2004

You're probably right. Maybe I ought to start reading those
47-message technique postings that frequently gum up the
newsgroup....after I finish reading the telephone book.

bt
  #7  
Old January 15th 04, 03:55 AM
Ken Roberts
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Default sknyski's "old school" world tour 2004

bt wrote
* The Norweigan Birkie, March 20
That's it for this season....


What ?!
The _world_ ski season is only getting started in mid-March.

Sharon and I routinely ski into the second week of May, and nearly half the
years we make it into June.

If you're serious enough about skiing to fly to other continents and ski in
July and August, then it's time you got into the _interesting_ way to ski in
other seasons and places.

Backcountry.

There's 100 times more skiable terrain outside the groomed tracks. (or is
it 1000?)

And the backcountry snow and terrain has way more variety, and most it is
way more challenging. Lots of it is way prettier than the groomed-track XC
centers.

Best of all for anybody on this newsgroup: New equipment to play with (and
argue about).

Better than Best: New kinds of races to enter.

Here's some ways to build on your current world tour:

* Gunnar Haugen 30km, Jan 18, outside Seattle.

Often there's lots better backcountry skiing in the Cascades than the XC
tracks -- several guidebooks available. But January is a bit early to bet
on the weather for it.

* The Great Race, March 7 or something, Truckee, CA.

Tahoe is not the greatest place to _do_ backcountry skiing -- they've put
ski lifts in too many of the best spots. But it's a rather good place to
_practice_ for other destinations. And it's not a long drive from there to
a truly great backcountry skiing region -- the southern Sierras from Mt
Whitney to Bridgeport.

* The Norweigan Birkie, March 20, Norway.

How staying around longer and adding something like an excursion out onto
the Hardangervedda, or maybe a ski traverse of Jotunheim?

Before or after Norway, make a stopover to France and ski some of these:
For XC tracks: (a) remaining snow in the Jura -- it's easy to find the
Transjurasienne course; (b) La Feclaz; (c) Bessans. For a backcountry
"cheaters" tour -- wait for a blue-sky day, join a guided party, and ski
down the Mer de Glace to Chamonix. For non-cheater backcountry tours,
there's some new English-language guidebooks (but the French Alps are real
serious, as in like dying).

* Dachstein Glacier, July 5-6.

How about April or early May for a hut-to-hut ski mountaineering tour in
Austria. If you time it right, might be able to combine with the last week
or two of track skiing at a great XC center like Seefeld (instead of lap
after lap up on some glacier.)

There's a whole other world of skiing out there -- and it's bigger.

Ken


  #8  
Old January 15th 04, 04:29 PM
sknyski
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Default sknyski's "old school" world tour 2004

Thanks for the ideas, Ken!

bt
  #9  
Old January 17th 04, 07:43 AM
Ken Roberts
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Default sknyski's "old school" world tour 2004

Some things I've noticed on Sharon and my vacation here in Utah:

-- some backcountry skiers have a strong appetite for planning trips to
other regions and other countries (more than XC track skiers). We've spent
hours talking about Canada and France and Austria with some of Salt Lake
backcountry friends. So if you want to raise your odds of finding
enthusiastic travel partners and planners, get involved with backcountry
skiers.

-- We probably would not have chosen to come to Salt Lake if we were looking
for a pure cross country track skiing vacation. But for the _combination_
of backcountry + XC, Utah jumps to the top tier. So far out of
four-and-a-half days in Salt Lake, I've done two steep-ish backcountry
tours, four XC track sessions, and one lift-served downhill day.

Adding backcountry skiing to the mix expands the list of "good" places to
go. In our modern world of questionable snow conditions, having a longer
list of travel destinations is a big help.

Ken


  #10  
Old January 20th 04, 08:37 PM
Chris Cline
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Default sknyski's "old school" world tour 2004

--0-1364811530-1074630612=:56778
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Hi Ken-
Sorry to have missed you on your swing through Utah. But I was enjoying my respite from the inversion fog in the Salt Lake Valley by experiencing Sun Valley living up to its name. After 6 days there, I'd also have to put the Ketchum/Sun Valley/Galena Lodge area up to the top of the list of backcountry-track areas. Even above SLC. The other great thing about Sun Valley backcountry is that there's hardly any one in it, as opposed to the sometimes crowded ridges in the relatively compact central Wasatch.

Good thing Sun Valley's only 250 miles away from SLC!

Oh yeah- they have MUCH better beer there!

Chris Cline

Ken Roberts wrote:
Some things I've noticed on Sharon and my vacation here in Utah:

-- some backcountry skiers have a strong appetite for planning trips to
other regions and other countries (more than XC track skiers). We've spent
hours talking about Canada and France and Austria with some of Salt Lake
backcountry friends. So if you want to raise your odds of finding
enthusiastic travel partners and planners, get involved with backcountry
skiers.

-- We probably would not have chosen to come to Salt Lake if we were looking
for a pure cross country track skiing vacation. But for the _combination_
of backcountry + XC, Utah jumps to the top tier. So far out of
four-and-a-half days in Salt Lake, I've done two steep-ish backcountry
tours, four XC track sessions, and one lift-served downhill day.

Adding backcountry skiing to the mix expands the list of "good" places to
go. In our modern world of questionable snow conditions, having a longer
list of travel destinations is a big help.

Ken







---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes
--0-1364811530-1074630612=:56778
Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii

DIVHi Ken-/DIV
DIVSorry to have missed you on your swing through Utah.  But I was enjoying my respite from the inversion fog in the Salt Lake Valley by experiencing Sun Valley living up to its name.  After 6 days there, I'd also have to put the Ketchum/Sun Valley/Galena Lodge area up to the top of the list of backcountry-track areas.  Even above SLC.  The other great thing about Sun Valley backcountry is that there's hardly any one in it, as opposed to the sometimes crowded ridges in the relatively compact central Wasatch./DIV
DIV /DIV
DIVGood thing Sun Valley's only 250 miles away from SLC!/DIV
DIV /DIV
DIVOh yeah- they have MUCH better beer there!/DIV
DIV /DIV
DIVChris ClineBRBRBIKen Roberts >/I/B wrote:/DIV
BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"Some things I've noticed on Sharon and my vacation here in Utah:BRBR-- some backcountry skiers have a strong appetite for planning trips toBRother regions and other countries (more than XC track skiers). We've spentBRhours talking about Canada and France and Austria with some of Salt LakeBRbackcountry friends. So if you want to raise your odds of findingBRenthusiastic travel partners and planners, get involved with backcountryBRskiers.BRBR-- We probably would not have chosen to come to Salt Lake if we were lookingBRfor a pure cross country track skiing vacation. But for the _combination_BRof backcountry + XC, Utah jumps to the top tier. So far out ofBRfour-and-a-half days in Salt Lake, I've done two steep-ish backcountryBRtours, four XC track sessions, and one lift-served downhill day.BRBRAdding backcountry skiing to the mix expands the list of "!
good"
places toBRgo. In our modern world of questionable snow conditions, having a longerBRlist of travel destinations is a big help.BRBRKenBRBRBRBRBRBR/BLOCKQUOTEphr SIZE=1
Do you Yahoo!?br
Yahoo! Hotjobs: a href="http://pa.yahoo.com/*http://us.rd.yahoo.com/hotjobs/mail_footer_email/evt=21482/*http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/signingbonus"Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes/a
--0-1364811530-1074630612=:56778--




 




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