Fasterskier.com got a chance to ask US Ski Team coach Trond Nystad a few questions following Saturday's 15 kilometer World Cup skate race
Trond, how do view the first race of the season for Kris Freeman, Carl Swenson and Lars Flora?
“The race was about like expected. It takes a little time to get used to the time difference and to get over the long travel to come over here. All in all it was a good race by Kris.  He was only about a minute out from the winner, so that puts him easily within striking distance to challenge for the top spots. Carl was a little below par, but there is no doubt he will ski very fast soon. Lars was struggling. He possibly skied a little too many races last weekend and is a little tired (3 races last week)
How was the race in general, the technical aspect, the course, temperatures and snow?
“The race was organized w/o a glitch. The race organizers definitely did not have a lot of snow to work with on one of the loops, but they pulled it off. We only got a few little scratches and dings in the skis. There was not much room for a warm up track, so they left the first 2 kilometer of the race course open all the time for warm- up. It got colder on race day than what we had earlier this weekend. -10 C in the morning, and the humidity dropped. During the race it was -7 and sunny weather”
Did things function well on the technical side with skis, wax and so on?