Category Archives: Training Ideas

Training for the Sonot at the Birkie

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If you’ve been sweating what to use for kick wax on the 30 km Distance Race #3 to be held Sunday at Birch Hill Recreation Area, you could be in Wisconsin with 10,000 other skiers worrying about wax for the various Birkie events there tomorrow.

Bad Bob Baker, originator and longtime organizer of the Sonot Kkaazoot, is searching the world (literally) for races that will give him a special edge in the Sonot Kkaazoot. Baker and Dave Edic, former Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks skier, are currently wax testing for tomorrow’s 55 km Classical American Birkebeiner Marathon. Here’s his update on wax testing near the course (that is currently closed to save the snow).

“Today Dave and I tested waxes for tomorrow’s BIRKIE. It was raining fairly hard and 38 degrees. We found that most of the universal Klisters were all working OK, but not great.  Zero’s were worse and slower. We also tested red Klisters, with and without silver and other great sticky stuff. Bottom line is nothing came close to a great kick wax. However, we did manage to get totally soaked while testing and we ran into David Norris, Lex Treinen, Tyler Kornfield and other APU racers, who all got wet testing too. They are all skating tomorrow and gave us a smile as to say, we’re glad we aren’t classic skiing. The BIRKIE course has not been groomed all week, so our testing was in an area sort of near the BIRKIE course. They will groom the race course sometime after midnight, so the actual conditions on race day morning will remain a mystery until we arrive at the start in the AM. Dave and I have now decided to just wax our skis up with a base klister and a universal klister, head to the start with lots of other waxes and a torch and iron and pray that things go well. I will carry some kind of crazy wax with me in case I lose my grip and bonk, just to get me to the finish. Present attitude is …”CAN’T WAIT TILL THIS IS OVER”..  ENJOY your FAIRBANKS ski conditions!  It could be worse.”

Let’s just hope that Bad Bob and Dave Edic manage to stay ahead of this 85 year old skier from Anchorage:

http://www.adn.com/article/20160218/eve-86th-birthday-anchorage-skier-will-aim-age-group-win-55-k-birkebeiner

Preparing for the Sonot Kkaazoot in Finland

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Several Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks skiers are currently in Finland participating in the Masters World Cup 2016. Bad Bob Baker reports that conditions 2 hours before race time were 35 deg F and raining.

In the 10 km classical event, Bad Bob’s time was 36:07 (32 of 41 among the M6 men). Chris Puchner was 41:35. In the 10 km freestyle event, Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks Board President, Bruce Jamieson was 42:16. Congratulations, guys!

Have fun and we’ll see you when you return.

Despite snow drought, trails are fantastic!

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Although it’s been almost a month since Fairbanks has received any significant snowfall, thanks to the fantastic work of Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks (NSCF) groomers, all the trails at Birch Hill, and the section of the Chena River used for the Sonot Kkaazoot have been groomed, so skiing conditions are awesome. Nothing can be finer than sunshine and fresh corduroy for a nordic skier. That’s exactly what we encountered today.

Blue skies and frest corduroy.jpg

Even without the sun, the temperatures have been moderate (but below freezing) so last Sunday, the SCUM (Sonot organizers) skied the Grand Tour (all the trails at Birch Hill with frequent rest stops.

SCUM resting

If you aren’t enjoying Hawaiian beaches or competing in crosscountry races in Europe, skiing in Fairbanks is pretty close to perfect right now for either classical or skate skiing.

Remember to donate to the NSCF Trails fund since the NSCF (not the borough) does all the grooming at Birch Hill (and on the Chena River for the Sonot).

https://nordicskicluboffairbanks.wildapricot.org/Donate/

Sonot Training Class Starts January 26, 2016

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Kristen Bartecchi Rozell is teaching a 9-week long class at Birch Hill specifically designed for skiers preparing for the Sonot Kkaazoot. This Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks class involves skate technique and interval training as well as video analysis and an opportunity to have a guided session on the Sonot Kkaazoot connector trail to the Chena River. The class meets Tuesday evenings from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. beginning tomorrow, 26 January 2016.

To register, see:

http://nscfairbanks.net/index.php/adult-lessons/956-mid-winter-adult-lessons-registration-open-now

This class is highly recommended for the skier hoping to ski the 50 km Sonot Kkaazoot for the first time.

Ski the 50 km Sonot Kkaazoot in 2016

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The winter of 2015-2016 is a huge El Nino one, so the mild weather in Interior Alaska makes is much easier to train for the 50 km Sonot Kkaazoot. Unlike many ski marathons, the 50 km field in the Sonot tends to be dominated by the 50 and older crowd. In fact, this year, the Sonot Kkaazoot may have our first finisher in the 80 and over category. Can you pick him out of this photo from our first SCUM workout of 2016?

New Yeark at SCUM corner sm

Everyone in this photo has done the 50 km Sonot Kkaazoot multiple times. Everyone is older than 56; two have totally bionic knees, one has had multiple heart valves replaced, one has had 8 concussions. If we can train for and complete the Sonot Kkaazoot, why not you?

Here are some suggestions for finishing your first 50 km Sonot Kkaazoot with a smile from a 66-year old skier who has done 28 of them while working 50 to 60 hours a week at a desk job.

  1. Make a generous donation to the Birch Hill trails fund. The groomers make it possible for you to train after snowstorms, windstorms, and huge swings in temperature. The groomers also serve as trail sweeps during races, including the Sonot Kkaazoot, so thank them for their efforts by contributing as much as you can to the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks trail fund:          https://nordicskicluboffairbanks.wildapricot.org/Donate/
  2. Register for the Sonot Kkaazoot 50 km event. Skiing 50 km is at least 50% mental. Make a public commitment to do the event.           https://sonotkkaazoot.org/register/
  3. Ski the black loops before the Sonot Kkaazoot. These loops are much less intimidating once you know where to expect the corners.
  4. Ski the Sonot Connector (both directions) going down as far at the Fort Wainwright alpine hut.
  5. Ski the “Grand Tour” (all 26 km of the Birch Hill trails) or the 30 km Distance Race #3. Test out your hydration and feed strategy for a long distance effort.

Ski the Sonot Connector in November

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Although our September skiing at Birch Hill didn’t last long, we have made up for our slightly late start with an abundance of snow in November. The snow cover is so good that the SCUM (Sonot Kkaazoot organizers) skied the south side classical only trails in mid November. Today, we skied the Sonot Connector on piston bully groomed trails and tracks, which our SCUM groomer tells us is a first for this time of year. The packed platform is about 5 inches thick on the inside corners.

Poles & Dermot on Sonot Connector

The winds accompanying the chinook on Friday removed the snow burdens from the birch and spruce trees lining the trails but the piston bully did a great job of grinding up the ice and mixing it with the abundant power snow.

Early registration for the 29th annual Sonot Kkaazoot is open now. Make the commitment to skiing 50, 40, or 20 km on March 26, 2016, and register online at the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks secure site.

https://sonotkkaazoot.wordpress.com/register/

Then get out and enjoy the wonderful trails. Please make sure that you donate what you can to help support our wonderful skiing conditions.

https://nordicskicluboffairbanks.wildapricot.org/Donate/

 

Doing transitions Robert’s way–a comedy in three acts

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???????????????????????????????One down on Smith Lake (with witnesses),???????????????????????????????another on the T-field notch for no obvious reason.Poles showing the way smPoles tests the waters at the base of the T-field and shows how he stays on the top of this game, while

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???????????????????????????????Robert finds his own way to wash the mud off his warm-ups from when he took the muddy path down from the top of the T-field instead of the icy one.

End of the season ski and swim scheduled from Wednesday, 22 April 2015 beginning at 11:00 a.m. ADT on Smith Lake. Come join the fun. Bring skis. shades, and sunscreen. For the gullible, a snorkel might be handy.