Unlike Sochi, where the Olympic cross country skiers are dealing with tropical conditions and deep slush, we will have firm trails with deep natural snow for Sunday’s third Buetow Dental Distance Race, the Raven Run. Anticipating rather cold temperatures, John Estle, Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks Competition Director, has selected the warmest, flattest course possible at Birch Hill Recreation Area. The 4-lap course gives skiers a 14 or 30 km option.
Here’s a map of the course:
In spite of the flatter course, classical skiing may be a faster option than skating for most skiers given the possibility of some delightful hoarfrost snow before or during this event. However, this final race in this season’s Distance Series will be a good endurance workout with the Sonot Kkaazoot a little over 6 weeks away. Also, you need to race to be eligible for the post-race drawing of valuable ski equipment and supplies from Raven Cross Country.
Reminder to the procrastinators out there, the Sonot Kkaazoot early registration ends in two weeks. Make the commitment now and save some money to use on the post-race celebration.
This Calvin and Hobbes comic strip was on my office door for years as a partial explanation for why I hadn’t retired yet.
However, the key to enjoying your hobby (for me, definitely cross country skiing from November through April), is adapting to whatever Mother Nature dishes out to us. During the past 19 years, the SCUM have met Sundays (regardless of temperature) once there is sufficient snow on the ground to ski, and last January it was -37 deg F at Birch Hill for one of our Sunday training sessions.That workout was documented on this blog then.
January 2014 was quite the contrast as summarized by the National Weather Service today:
In addition, because of the strong temperature inversions, temperatures remained well above freezing at higher elevations (like Birch Hill) even after airport temperatures had dropped below freezing. This has made for very hard, icy trails that can result in painful bruises, rashes, concussions, and broken bones if one makes a careless mistake
that can sideline skiing for an extended period of time (depending upon severity of injury).
As skiers, we need to be increasing our training volume with the Sonot Kkaazoot just 8 weeks away. So what is a skier to do, when hours of skate skiing on uneven icy trails overload our cerebral neurons and all those secondary stabilizers within our legs?
Relax, and enjoy a classical ski with klister for kick instead of hard wax. I admit, I usually skate when it’s too warm for blue hard wax, but today having rock solid tracks to direct my skis meant that I could concentrate on my knee and ankle bend or that my elbows were positioned out to the side when I doublepoled. Suddenly, the pointers that Pete Leonard had given us during this week’s FXC Masters skate ski sessions were easier to address without the fear of falling. Not only that, I enjoyed looking at the wonderful environment I was out in. Sure, klister is messy to deal with, but a little citrus cleaner (from your bike gear) will remove it from places it isn’t supposed to be. And a garbage bag around the kick zone area of your skis that have been secured at tips and tails will prevent the klister from getting inside your ski bag or the back of your car.
Try it! I’m sure you’ll enjoy your next skate session (or work for that matter) more. A little (or a lot) of change is good for all of us.
Six Fairbanks-based cross country skiers are in Austria competing in the 2014 Cross Country Masters Cup. These skiers include (in alphabetical order): Bad Bob Baker, Sonot Kkaazoot founder and longtime director; Dave Edic; Owen Hanley; Bruce Jamieson, co-President of the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks (http://www.nscfairbanks.org/); Ken Leary, the only guy to finish all 26 of the Sonot Kkaazoot (long course), and the organizer of the Wednesday Night Race Series (http://www.wnrace.com/Home_Page.html); and Chris Puchner. All these skiers, in addition to being amazing local racers, have contributed countless hours toward improving the nordic ski opportunities in Fairbanks.
Here’s the link to World Masters Cup race results with first event scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday, 24 January 2014):
http://mwc2014.com/en/pillerseetal-masters-world-cup/home
Have fun, and ski fast!
Although temperatures in town this morning were well below -30 deg F, the sun was out, skies were bluebird blue, and the temperature in the Birch Hill stadium was -16 to -18 deg F, depending on which thermometer you cared to believe. With days getting longer and the Sonot Kkaazoot just 11 weeks away, it definitely was a day to enjoy the enhanced sunlight of the South Side Classic Loops. However, to warm up, we skied the Relay and Tower Loops before heading down the White Cub and White Bear to SCUM corner where we assembled for a group photo before crossing Beacon Road over to Fort Wainwright.
Descending down the Sonot Connector, we skied past the Blackhawk Loop to the Chinook Loop that has bright southern exposure that warms a clear, chilly day.
Here Robert and Sam stop briefly to help the Sonot blogger demonstrate ski conditions.
We definitely saw more moose prints than skier face plants and had both trails entirely to ourselves. With blood and enthusiasm flowing even in distant appendages, we skied the Blackhawk and then headed back up the Sonot Connector:
The overachieving SCUM went ahead and did the other White Bear Classical Trails, but the group gradually found their way back to the warming hut for coffee and conversation while cars and bodies warmed up again.
Once again, the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks will offer an eight-week ski class designed to help prepare adult skiers for the Sonot Kkaazoot. The course is held Tuesday nights at Birch Hill Recreation area from 6 to 7:30 p.m. More information can be found here:
http://www.nscfairbanks.org/index.php/adult-lessons2/749-feb-2014-adult-lessons
with online registration available here:
http://www.nscfairbanks.org/index.php/racing/754-online-registration-for-adult-lessons-is-open
This is a great way to improve your marathon technique and strategy skills from an instructor with lots of experience doing the Sonot Kkaazoot.
World Cup quality tracks, temperatures in the high teens (above zero), and a new race course incorporating the “mellowed” black loops awaited participants in Saturday’s Buetow Dental Distance Race #2, the January Jaunt presented by Raven Cross Country. Smiles, grimaces, and deep concentration were captured by photographer Bob Wilkinson on the new downhill section of the blacks and elsewhere. Skiers ranged in age from 12 to 70, many of whom are training for the Sonot Kkaazoot to be held on 29 March 2014.
Please consider joining these female skiers (and those in the earlier gallery) who finished the 40 or 50 km events last year. Female skiers should make up more than 29% of the 40 and 50 km finishers. The 40 km event helped increase female participation in the longer distance events in 2013. Over the past 26 years, women have been roughly 20% of the finishers in the 50 km Sonot Kkaazoot. (All photos by Sam Lamont).
If you skied 50 km or more during the Ski Your Age event last Saturday, you probably need a new training challenge. You’ll have one if you ski the Buetow Distance Race #2, presented by Raven Cross Country. This 10 or 20 km classic technique race on Saturday, 4 January 2014, will have a new course this year utilizing some of the Outhouse and the recently “mellowed” upper Black Loops. Geographically challenged racers will want to make sure that they don’t get left behind in the colder regions of the Birch Hill Recreation Area. Here’s a look at the race courses: 20 km Distance Race_2013
Entry forms may be dropped off at Raven Cross Country and Beaver Sports through 5:00 PM Thursday evening. Entry fees are $15 for Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks members and $20 for non-members. Race day entries will be accepted between 9:45 AM and 10:45 AM Saturday, but will be $5 higher than the early entry fee.
by Eric Troyer
More than 120 people skied just over 2,600 kilometers on Saturday at the Ski Your Age in Kilometers. The event, presented by Banner Health / Fairbanks Memorial Hospital (FMH), drew more than 120 people to Birch Hill Recreation Area ranging in ages from 78 to 7.
Josie Adasiak and Lucie Meyer, both 7, were the youngest participants who signed up. Carol DeVoe, 78, was the oldest. DeVoe and her grandson, Eric DiFolco, were the only grandparent / grandchild pair in the family category. They skied a combined total of 30 kilometers.
An impressive number of people under 20 skied their age or more. Nearly 40 young skiers, some skiing twice their age or more, reached either the Platinum (top) or Gold (second) achievement levels. Just fewer than 40 skiers of all ages reached the Platinum level, while 26 reached the Gold level, 27 reached the Silver level, and 19 reached the Bronze level.
This was the tenth year of Ski Your Age, which is organized by Fairbanks Cross Country (FXC), the junior race-training program of the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks (NSCF). The event serves as a fundraising for FXC and this year raised just over $2,000.
“We really appreciate the support of Banner Health and Fairbanks Memorial Hospital for this great community event,” said Eric Troyer, FXC parent and event organizer. “After being cold all week, the temperatures warmed enough on Saturday to make it a lot of fun to be out on skis. It was awesome to look outside and see the trails full of skiers all day.”
The Birch Hill Cross Country Ski Center, owned and operated by the Fairbanks North Star Borough, was open for the event. People brought in food to share and the center was the focal point of the day.
“The skiers, especially those skiing their age or more, really appreciated the hot food and desserts,” Troyer said. “Many thanks to those who contributed and to all the volunteers.”
Bill Husby, a longtime NSCF member and trail groomer, skied the most kilometers for an individual. He skied his age of 61 and added 1 more for good measure, for a total of 62 kilometers. Corrine Leistikow skied the most for a woman, skiing her age of 54 plus 1 more for a total of 55 kilometers.
Five people met the 50-50 Challenge by being 50 or more years old and skiing 50 or more kilometers. Nine skiers met the Century Challenge, in which their age and kilometers skied equaled at least 100.
Max Kaufman was the only person to meet the Sunup-Sundown Challenge, which requires a skier to ski at least 50 kilometers between the official sunrise at 10:57 am and sundown at 2:49 pm. Kaufman skied 51 kilometers.
In the couples category, Corrine Leistikow and Eric Troyer skied the most kilometers at 109. They were also the only couple to reach a Double Century, in which the total age in years plus the kilometers skied equals at least 200. Leistikow and Troyer had a combined total of 216. (To be available as organizer of the event, Troyer skied on Friday.)
The family category the achievements were gained by several families. The Rueters (Jose, Helena, Gabe and Adela) had the most kilometers for a family of 4 or more with 124. The Leistikow-Troyers had the most by a family of 3 with 115 kilometers. The Rueters also took the father/son subcategory with 82 kilometers. The father / daughter subcategory went to Dan and Tjarn Bross with 73 kilometers. Leistikow and Montana Troyer took the mother / daughter subcategory with 61 kilometers. Donna and Eric DiFolco took the mother / son category with 76 kilometers. Eric DiFolco also joined with his grandmother, Carol DeVoe, to ski 30 kilometers, the most by a grandparent and grandchild.
Longtime ski club members and volunteers Chris and Byron Broda created their own category by each skiing 20.5 kilometers, which combined equals the 41 years they have been married.
Full results as PDF can be found here: 2013 Ski Your Age Results & Story
Sonot Kkaazoot 