Harvard junior Tony Ryerson jumped in a pair of FIS races in Seefeld, Austria, near where he has been training for the last semester while studying abroad. While taking classes at the Universitat Innsbruck, Ryerson has also been training at altitude, most notably with the Swedish Team Exspirit for a weekend of altitude training. To read the full story, click here.
Last weekend, the Vail, Colo., native joined a few fellow Americans in Seefeld for Sunday’s 10 k freestyle race, in which he was 88th. On Saturday, Ryerson was the lone U.S. racer in Seefeld and placed 65th in the 10 k classic.
In an email to FasterSkier, he elaborated on the weekend:
“The local team here in Innsbruck/ Seefeld called the Tiroler Schi Verband (Tyrolean Ski Team) took me under their wing and helped me we skis, lodging, everything, so that was awesome. Since November 18th, I’ve been travelling to Seefeld nearly everyday with friends to ski, so I knew our glorious 2.5km loop pretty well.
The races were definitely early season ones for me. I didn’t know where my fitness was at and what to expect, but wanted to take them seriously like I would a carnival weekend. The classic race I felt really strong: technique was good, felt fast ect, but the times said otherwise. I think I more felt good because I didn’t dig into that race gear and was just cruising along instead of racing.
Sunday for the skate I was stoked to be out there with the US team- especially my Team Homgrown/ Rocky Mountain homies Tad and Noah. I definitely pushed it harder in the skate race, but I’m just not as good of a skater and the conditions really deteriorated by the time I went, over 30 minutes after the top guys, so conditions were painfully slow out there and I got stomped, but I was fine with it because it was still great training and a really fun weekend to hang out with the Austrians, and the US guys for a little too!
I think my fitness should be coming around here in the next month or so, and hopefully I’ll be ready to rock for carnival season!”
Alex Kochon
Alex Kochon (alexkochon@gmail.com) is a former FasterSkier editor and roving reporter who never really lost touch with the nordic scene. A freelance writer, editor, and outdoor-loving mom of two, she lives in northeastern New York and enjoys adventuring in the Adirondacks. She shares her passion for sports and recreation as the co-founder of "Ride On! Mountain Bike Trail Guide" and a sales and content contributor at Curated.com. When she's not skiing or chasing her kids around, Alex assists authors as a production and marketing coordinator for iPub Global Connection.
