2009 April

Tomorrow marks the first day of the new year--for xc ski racers. The coming week includes May 1st, which is traditionally the time when skiers start doing a little more intensity after having the opportunity to take a mental and physical break from training and racing. By this time of year, we've also had the chance to analyze the previous season, write down new goals, and map out what needs to

img src="http://12.media.tumblr.com/COiZNt422mrzeqkjTLE6zvu8o1_500.jpg"/br/br/

pWhile many racers were suffering through wicked cold temps, super long races, ash (WTF??) and general Alaska-ness in late March, a few racers held it down in Park City for Super-Short Distance Nationals./p pWe had quite a field, including but not limited to Andy Newell, Carl Swenson,  Simeoni, CWubb, the best female jumpers in the world, and others….All-in-all, we had over 25 national titles represented at this 2supnd/sup annual and highly successful event.  And somewhere in the neighborhood of 13 Vermont high school state championships.  Booyah!!/p pimg src="http://mail.google.com/mail/?name=ccf32a38c42f1f28.jpgattid=0.1disp=vahiview=attth=120e348c33944546" alt="Your browser may not support display of this image." height="1" width="1"//p pimg src="http://mail.google.com/mail/?name=ccf32a38c42f1f28.jpgattid=0.1disp=vahiview=attth=120e348c33944546" alt="Your browser may not support display of this image." height="1" width="1"//p pCourse profile:/p pAltitude gain:  -17 meters./p pCourse length:  204 meters./p pTD: Eli Brown (remote Total Douchebaggery)/p pChief of Course:  CWubbs/p pChief of Comp:  The Gayj/p pResults:/p pZack Simons   16.34/p pAndy Newell 17.11/p pCory Wubbels 18.01/p pGayj  18.37/p pSwenson 19.00/p pSome girls raced to but went unrecognized./p pimg src="http://mail.google.com/mail/?name=ccf32a38c42f1f28.jpgattid=0.1disp=vahiview=attth=120e348c33944546" alt="Your browser may not support display of this image." height="1" width="1"//p pTrial rounds were filled with crashes and hydration.  Part of the course was on a paved drive-way so it was no surprise that the Street-fighter resurfaced to dominate this event.  He successfully defended his 2008 World Championships of the World of Super-Short Distance racing./p pimg src="http://mail.google.com/mail/?name=ccf32a38c42f1f28.jpgattid=0.1disp=vahiview=attth=120e348c33944546" alt="Your browser may not support display of this image." height="1" width="1"//p pimg src="http://mail.google.com/mail/?name=ccf32a38c42f1f28.jpgattid=0.1disp=vahiview=attth=120e348c33944546" alt="Your browser may not support display of this image." height="1" width="1"//p pRacing was intense…but the post race freestyle sesh was off the hizzle…/p pimg src="http://mail.google.com/mail/?name=ccf32a38c42f1f28.jpgattid=0.1disp=vahiview=attth=120e348c33944546" alt="Your browser may not support display of this image." height="1" width="1"//p p-AJ/p

img src="http://12.media.tumblr.com/COiZNt422mrzfshuxChfDyDEo1_500.jpg"/br/br/The course was downhill, about 16-22 seconds in length, featured a set of rollers, a chicaine, some banked turns, a table top, and a “quarter-pipe” finish.  Equipment was organizer provided and included Rossignol tempos, Fischer revolutions, Rossi evos, and a few other short, poorly tuned set-ups.

img src="http://7.media.tumblr.com/COiZNt422mrzge005xZDr5XDo1_500.jpg"/br/br/Swenson.  Valiant effort in the M2 class….

img src="http://16.media.tumblr.com/COiZNt422mrzhsp9X3dANclCo1_500.jpg"/br/br/Post race banquet… Swenson was 5supth/sup at World Champs once.  Now he drinks Clamato.

a href="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/15D10D47-FD1C-420F-BD55-7246606F7910_files/IMG_2409.jpg"img src="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/Images/IMG_2409.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:130px; height:130px;"//aI just spent a week in Boston, MA, working on resistance stretching with Bob Cooley. Resistance stretching is a pretty interesting concept, and while I can’t even begin to do it justice in a short bl

img src="http://1.media.tumblr.com/COiZNt422mrzkyzlU9hIkWiyo1_500.jpg"/br/br/Course profile.

With nights below freezing and clear days the crust has been immaculate in the early mornings at Placer Valley. Crust skiing in the mountains is one of my favorite activities of all time. Just about every time I go, I am constantly reminded why I LOVE to ski. For those of you who have never been crust skiing and can't grasp my enthusiasm toward this blissful sport, imagine this: it's like

ESPN.com, that noted outlet for all news related to Nordic skiing, reports that Norwegian sprinter Tor Arne Hetland has retired from competitive skiing. Plagued last year by asthma and a nagging knee injury, Hetland still managed to finish third in the sprint World Cup standings. This finish caps a pretty damn good career: Hetland finished third in the sprint standings in 2001 and 2006, second in

I just watched X-country and was pretty impressed with it.  Not your typical ski film, with only a little race footage.  Instead lots of ‘behind the scenes’ footage of World class athletes living the training camp life: training, eating and relaxing.  Probably the best thing is the interviews - some great candid insights from athletes, [...]