HOUGHTON MI — The nation's top cross country skiers will travel to
Houghton, Michigan, in early January for the 2007 US Cross Country
Championship. The Michigan Tech Nordic Training Center will host the
national championship for cross country skiing January 1-7, 2007.
The event features four days of racing, including distance races on
January 3 and 4 and sprint races on January 6 and 7. More than 400
skiers will participate, including many members of the U.S. Ski Team,
regional development teams and top collegiate teams.
Spectators will walk on groomed trails leading to virtually any part
of the race course. Three web cams will allow distant visitors to log
into www.seniornationals.org and track starts and finishes. A huge
stadium scoreboard will display results throughout the race day.
Both the 2007 and 2008 championships will be held in Houghton. The
races are the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA)
national Nordic skiing championships. USSA is the national governing
body for skiing (both Nordic and alpine) and snowboarding.
The Houghton organizers earned the bid based on the success of the
2006 Junior Olympics (JOs), which were held at Michigan Tech
University last March. The JOs serve as the national championship for
skiers ages 14-19. More than 350 skiers from around the country
attended the week-long series of races.
“The upcoming event is the national championship for cross country
skiing in the U.S.,” said Mike Abbott, chair of the organizing
committee. “With the experience our volunteers and organizers gained
at the JOs, I'm confident we will be just as successful with this
event.”
The cross country championship week begins with two training days,
January 1 and 2, before the first races commence on Wednesday, January
3. Skiers will participate in the distance classic races, with men
covering a 10km course, while the women will ski 5km.
January 4 features the freestyle races: 10km for women and 15km for
men. After a training day on January 5, skiers will race a classic
sprint on Saturday, January 6 and participate in a team freestyle
spring on January 7. This will be the first time the USSA has held a
team sprint at a national championship.
The Michigan Tech Nordic Training Center was designed to be spectator
friendly. Many viewing locations are an easy walk, on a groomed trail,
from the stadium. Most of the sprint course can be seen from the
stadium. The large stadium, including bleachers, allows easy viewing
of the start and finish areas.
The newest improvement to the trail system is the Boss Snowplow Nordic
Wax Center, added for the Junior Olympics with a generous donation
from Boss Snowplow, based in Iron Mountain, Michigan. The center
includes ten separate team wax rooms and a community wax room and
changing area.
Complete information on the event, and a peek at the webcams, is
available at www.seniornationals.org
