After a record warm winter so far in Interior Alaska, when the temperature was colder than -20 deg F this morning with wonderful hoarfrost snow still condensing from the skies, Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks Race Coordinator, John Estle, postponed Distance Race #2. However, with the course already groomed (but not marked with “V” board and pin flags), race-ready skiers ventured out onto the trails to take advantage of the opportunity to do their own time trial. As it turned out, they also got an opportunity to do their own course because of late changes only the groomers had seen:

Like little vegetable and flower starts that have spent the winter in a greenhouse, our training session today was like the “hardening” sessions that transplants get before moving outside to garden plots.

Thanks to Dermot Cole (cold weather photographer), here’s an action shot of two skiers on the course:

and one of them at the end of the “race”, sufficiently “hardened” to thrive in the race when it is rescheduled.

Stay tuned for the new race date.