Saturday morning, Dan Johnson skate skied his 30 km virtual Denal State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot in an official time of 2:43:38.

Dan writes:

“What a beautiful day to ski the “30 km” Sonot Kkaazoot! Perfect weather and beautiful grooming.  

My Strava said my moving time was 2:40:42, and only 28.54 km I’m almost certain I didn’t take any shortcuts, but I’ll trust the Race Director to decide if this is an official time. 

I’m not sure exactly how and when it stops timing when I stop, but I stopped a couple of times to take a drink and catch my breath. I also used the stop watch on my phone – It gives 2:43:38, so that’s what I’ll call it.

Not to brag, but in addition to several 2nd and 3rd bests, Strava says I set PRs on:
North 40 A Climb, Blue Loop, Tower Loop, Medevac, White Bear from Suicide Cutoff, White Bear Hilltop B Climb, “Saddle”, Terminator.

I have no idea which segments some of these are. I also wasn’t aware that Strava knew so much about me and the details of the Birch Hill loops!  I’m afraid of what else my phone knows about me.

Thanks to to groomers for making this such a great ski.”

I agree that trail conditions today (Saturday) were awesome. We’ll let your phone brag for you since your son-in-law will still make you work to keep up with him and Mara on the trails.

The amazing Dr. Owen Q. Hanley, who decades ago told me that he was unable to skate ski, crushed the 30 km virtual Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot in 2:43 on his skate skis through several inches of new snow.

He writes: “Several inches of new snow meant double poling downhill to the WB turn-around and granny-skiing up the hills. I need a pair of e-skis!”

Sorry, Owen. You can skate, and if you can skate the hilly 30 km Sonot Kkaazoot course in 2:43, you do not need a pair of e-skis. So far, only 3 skiers have attempted to skate the 30 km course, and they are all a lot younger than you.

Don Pendergrast and Cam Leonard classical skied the 30 km virtual Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot yesterday in a time of 3:21:23.

Don writes: “Temperatures were 26-28 degrees, the tracks had just been set (Yippie), but the light snow made them slow.  Wax was Start Tar 5 and worked well.

We kept up a steady pace throughout the course, but a careful examination of the pace data revealed something that I’d expected for some time; the data support that I ski faster down hill than I do up hill.  I wonder if others have noticed this phenomenon?  I believe further studies with more participants are needed to verify this observation.”

Congratulation, Don and Cam! I think Don has come up with a suitable topic for his second Ph.D. dissertation. Get to work on it.

On Sunday, Bad Bob and Sharon Baker skate skied their virtual 30 km Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot. Sharon finished in 2:11:48 and Bad Bob’s time was 2:21:43.

Bad Bob writes: “Sunday was a beautiful day to ski at Birch Hill.  Sharon and I skated our way around the 30 kilometer course under blue skies and 15 to 20 degree temps.  Most of the trail system was fairly freshly set with wonderful corduroy and smooth tracks! 

Unfortunately, both Sharon and I have not skated a whole lot, and before we even climbed out of the BLACK HOLE, our legs were screaming, NO!!!  It was at about this point in our virtual 30, that Sharon began to pull away…nothing physically I could do about it, but just keep skiing and hoping for a bodily comeback, which never happened. 

FINAL RESULTS for us were….Sharon 2:11:48, and for BAD BOB  2:21:43.  I measured 28.97 km for a distance, but hey, that’s what the course is, so no need to ski any farther, besides, I was not sure I could…very humbling.  Can’t wait for the 50K!”