 in 1995. I raced for a couple of years at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and then moved to Duluth, Minnesota to train with Nikolai Anikin and the Gitchi Gummi Sport Association. I got into GGSA at a time when there were a lot of good racers in the group — John and Bruce Bauer, Brad Nelson, Christa Case, Phil Bowen — so it was really good for me to see how these guys were training. (Also, I trained with an 18-year-old Andrew Gardner — frightening.) I spent a few years there and then raced a semester at Whitman College — I hated it, though Ethan Townsend (now coaching at St. Lawrence) was great; in retrospect, I would have kicked myself off the team a couple of times. After that I just bummed around Duluth for a couple of years, painting houses. In 2003, I got it into my head I should coach, so I moved to Crested Butte, Colorado and got a job as assistant. I got the head coaching job for Durango Nordic in 2004 and am now going into my fourth season here.</p>
<p>I work primarily with the J2 and older group (Smiling Giraffe Posse). Brent Brown and Jeanne Pastore work with the J3/4s (Deadly Assassins), and Kate Greenberg and Sarah Tescher work with the J5/6s (Buckets o' Blood). All ages do certain workouts together — core strength, sprint relays, Speedball…..</p>
<p>I’m glad I lived in Alaska when I was younger and didn’t really understand how unbelievably cold it could be. It should be noted that as I’ve grown older, I’ve progressively moved south. That being said, learning to ski at Birch Hill and Salcha was pretty cool.</p>
<p><I>Can you give us some background on Durango Nordic?</I></p>
<p>Durango Nordic has been a cross-country racing club for something like 52 years now. Dolph Kuss started it back in the day; he worked with Mike Elliott as a junior. Both of those guys are still involved and have kids in the program. We run a racing program, but we let the athletes set their own goals — if they just want to learn how to ski, they’re welcomed. We have a lot of parent involvement — they all kick in with waxing, driving to races, working as course marshals, whatever. This works surprisingly well. I would credit that to the fact the Mike runs a tight ship and that I have very little compunction about telling people what to do or when to step away. In the past three seasons we’ve had an athlete qualify to World Juniors twice, a junior national champion and had six athletes get All-American 27 times at junior nationals.</p>
<p><I>You graduate this December with your bachelor’s degree from Fort Lewis College Relieved? Ready for more? Going to keep with skiing and coaching?</I></p>
<p>Let this be said: The 13-year college plan is not the best path. I’m trying to think of a word that’s more powerful than “relieved†when it comes to my feelings about finishing this thing up. I’d be into getting another degree if I could find a college that would give me credit when I figure things out on my own. Like, “This girl needs to bend her knees when she double-poles†equals two credits.</p>
<p>I’m definitely going to keep working with skiing. The only reason I’m going to Fort Lewis is that I got dissed when I applied for a college coaching job because I didn’t have a degree. I’m not certain I want to coach NCAA, but it’s good to have the option.</p>
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What's the one thing you are really nagging the skiers on right now?
Right now, I’m really focusing on technique while also working strength. We’re doing a lot of double-poling, no-poles skiing and pull-ups. We also do a fair amount of speed and coordination work. I can’t absolutely say that doing agility drills and speed-work will make my skiers faster, but I can hope that when they play pick-up ultimate in college they won’t embarrass themselves.
Your junior skiers comment on your enthusiasm and the energy you bring to the team every day. It's obviously contagious, as some of your junior skiers had incredible results this past winter. What fuels this?
To be honest, probably once a week I look at my watch and think, “Hmm, I could be hitting up happy hour instead of going running with these kids …†But once I get to practice, I’m stoked to be there. I’d say that in the last five years, I’ve only gone through an entire practice all fussy and cranky once or twice, and that was when I was sick. I really love skiing; I was lucky to have coaches like John Schauer in high school, and Nikolai later on, who instilled the notion that training and skiing is awesome. It helps a ton that I’ve got cool skiers who show up every day ready to train. Also, they invariably have something interesting and/or ridiculous to talk about, so that’s highly entertaining.
Who are your favorite skiers?
Growing up, I would have said Harri Kirvesniemi, Mika Myllylä or Erling Jevne — Jevne especially, since he always looked like he was working so hard. Whenever I was suffering out on course, drooling and cross-eyed, I hoped that I at least looked as cool as him.
But now, I’ve got to be all jingoist and go with Newell, Koos, Freeman and Randall. I’ve been impressed with the Continental Cup crew; they seem to be getting work done and generally seem like good people. Except maybe Matt Gelso; he’s fast, but maybe the “good people†tag doesn’t fit for him.
What do you think is the biggest hurdle in developing skiers?
This is one of my biggest beefs, and I’ll start out by challenging the axiom that you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. I think that there are a lot of programs in this country that are coached by volunteers (or, essentially volunteers — poorly paid, seasonally-employed coaches). While some of them are getting work done, there are too many places in this country where coaches aren’t. It’s tough to make a commitment to running eight to 12 practices a week when you aren’t fairly compensated, and all too often it seems training programs are done half-assed as a result. It’s cool that you like skiing and like to train, and it’s great you’re doing something with the kids, but if you can’t go all in and do it right … maybe you should look for someone who is willing and able to.
I’ll pick on Midwest because I used to live in Minnesota: It would seem to me that a region where they have races with like 1000 junior racers should dominate at Junior Nationals, but it’s not happening. With all those kids, I don’t think Minnesota and Wisconsin lack talent, so what’s going wrong? My impression is that the majority of those kids get coaching for three months and then just freestyle the rest of the year. That’s ridiculous. Some kids find good coaching year-round — Dino, wassup! — but they’re the exception. It seems like Rocky Mountain, Alaska, New England, Far West, Intermountain and Pacific Northwest are a lot more proactive in making sure that the majority of their skiers get good training year-round. Flame on.
If you weren’t a ski coach, what kind of job would you like to have?
This is an excellent question. Kudos to the interviewer.
I’d like a job that pays extremely well but requires basically no work — maybe like Svengali to someone or reality TV show host. I’m guessing that whoever got The Spice Girls together made fat bank, and Simon Cowell? I’m into finances like that, big time. If those aren’t an option, I’d be a fine roadie, since it’s essentially the same job as coaching — drive vans a lot, stay up late and wrangle semi-mature people around. I’d also be interested in marrying into money.
Thanks Jason!
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