This is a bi-weekly column (well, most of the time) highlighting our ski coaches from around the country…. including elite coaches, college coaches, high school coaches, volunteer coaches, and learn-to-ski coaches, and ambassadors to our sport. This is an effort to sample a diverse group of coaches/volunteers and recognize the people who are the backbone of today’s nordic community. If you would like to nominate a coach for an interview, please email rob@fasterskier.com. Please give coach’s name, email, phone, and a several paragraph describing the nominee, their attributes, something unique about the person, and any other pertinent information.
Pete is head nordic coach for Burke Mountain Academy in East Burke, Vermont.
 klister. I joined the Kongsberger Ski Club and at the time was the only member who didn’t speak Norwegian, or whose parents didn’t. I had to learn it out of self-defense.</p><p><I>2. How did you get into coaching?</I></p><p>Coaching itself started with being an assistant rowing coach for my old school in Seattle. I had the privilege of working with Frank Cunningham, an amazing man who was wise, funny, tough and had a wonderful eye for technique. He was a major inspiration in sparking an interest in coaching. Serious ski coaching began after I had moved to Idaho. I started working with the program in Sun Valley as an assistant even before Rick Kapala started there. Ski season balanced out well with the commercial salmon season in Alaska, so it was a good fit. I can’t thank Rick enough for the chance to work with him and to be part of the growing years of a great program. He was also very good at providing opportunities to bite ones tongue, to count to ten, and to beat ones head against a wall.</p><p><I>3. How has Burke changed since you took over for Matt?</I></p><p>A lot in some ways…Matt could run with the dogs, and I have to head ‘em off hobbling along the various “coaches’cut-offs†that all trail systems seem to have. Kids have had to get used to a different style of being coached…more video, more theory maybe…more wind? Matt and I coached together in one of the most fun times in my coaching years and our styles of relating with athletes, and our coaching philosophies are not that different. I had visited Burke a lot and had had Burke kids on a couple of trips to Scandinavia so I was familiar with the basics here. One change or evolution to the program is the addition of a Burke alumna, Carina Hamel, as the assistant coach. She is adding the spark of youth and some one still competing and is doing a great job. In Sun Valley we were always pleased when an athlete came back and wanted to help with the program. It really means something is going well.</p></div><div class=)
4. You’ve had a few coaching jobs over the years. What have been highlights of a few of them?
Too many to count, and probably a lot that are best left for the wax room! True standouts are the building of the “Taj McCall†for the ’98 JO’s with Sun Valley, being one of the road crew for three or more Idaho Spring Series…sunburn, late nights, great racing in great spots all over the Mountain West…getting to watch future greats from across the pond getting their starts in fun competitions here at home; Anna Dahlberg, Britta Nordgren, Jorgen Brink, Lukas Bauer…a whole bunch that stayed with the game and have done well.
Glacier Nordic in Whitefish was a ball, and was where Matt and I worked together first. NYSEF in Lake Placid was a pleasure from start to finish, and expanded another connection with my assistant coach, Pete Leonard, who is now the man in Fairbanks. The cross country and cross ocean connections are one of the coolest things about the whole experience…being able to share those, to put athletes in touch with another program or another coach in a different part of country or the world is a pleasure and I guess gives me the feeling of being able to help out in building a broader base for our kids.
Oh yeah…another highlight…moose hunting with Bengt Stattin.
5. Burke takes a lot of trips to Europe/Scandinavia. What do you see the overseas folks doing that we could incorporate into our US philosophy of skiing?
I confess to having had an interest in Scandinavia since that first ski in the Northwest Coastal cement. I learned passable Norwegian and spent time there after college…teaching Alpine skiing, tending bar, sardine seining and pretending I knew how to weld to get a job in a shipyard…I didn’t know how, it didn’t take long for that ruse to be uncovered and I ended up digging ditches for a steam line. Back to the point: I like it over there, and I would have to say that over the years it turns out that the Scandinavians have proved to be consistently among the best skiers in the world. That doesn’t mean that we should or can copy what they do….but I certainly think it reasonable to pay attention to it! I know people who have an almost xenophobic refusal to learn from the Euros…an insistence on the “American wayâ€. I think that’s dumb. Not everything can be adapted or fits our culture or the size of our country, but there are some ideas that we can and should look at. The concept of clubs or regional teams meeting for a camp once every 4 or 5 weeks and then returning to the home turf for the intervening training is productive, and I see that beginning to happen. The commitment to skiing as year round sport is also starting to reach farther down into regional programs and that could be really good for skiing. Among the regular trips I’ve taken to Sweden and Norway the Summer Ski School in Solleftea in Sweden gives our kids a good picture of how the year round idea works, and how effective and how much fun it can be.
6. Who do you think is going to win big at the US Nationals in Houghton?…no pressure…
Everybody who puts on a number! We should get everybody we can to come. The conditions should be awesome this year and the crew out there does a great job. Maybe one year we’ll get to have nationals at a better time of year…it has been explained to me a thousand times as to why it has to be in January, but I still think Nationals should be the big show at the twilight of the season. In the words of Mac in Sweet Thursday, a real “Hoop-de-doodle!â€
Back to the question…I ain’t a betting man, but I think you’ll see some faces from Super Tours…young faces…in the top ranks.
7. You always seem like the friendliest guy on the trails. Do you ever get mad?
I’m always mad. What was it that I saw on a bumper sticker…â€If you’re not outraged you’re not paying attentionâ€? Maybe it was, “I hate everything!†Anyway, that could have been me.
I guess when I’m on the trails I’m not as mad. I’m outside, often in the sun, its usually beautiful, the kids (I hate kids) are busy, I get to see old friends, and it is too late to change the wax. I just sort of drift away and it seems like about the best job a guy could have.
8. JO’s are in Anchorage this coming March. With that said, Alaska will probably beat New England (duh). Care to comment? 🙂
I think I’m learning enough to be able to answer that in Vermont…
“Care to comment?†Yup.
“Alaska will probably beat New England.†Nope.
