WebSkis Team members represent our shop and our attitude, not only in Bend, Oregon, but throughout the United States. We have WebTeam skiers in Oregon, Washington, Utah, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Hampshire and Maine. All good people and all embracing what I call aerobic adventure. What follows is a brief look at some of the recent adventures of WebTeam skiers. The first is from Pat Lanin, Brainerd, Minnesota. Pat just returned from Swedenbr /br /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://www.webskis.com/uploaded_images/lanin.fin-798114.JPG”img style=”float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://www.webskis.com/uploaded_images/lanin.fin-797789.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” //abr /br /Hi Bert,br /br / br /br /Here’s a few pics from this year’s border to border (from Russia to Sweden)br /440 kilometer, 7 day trek across Finnish Lapland. We had some of thebr /absolute best skiing we could have dreamed of as well as some of the worst.br /The total cost of the tour was 805 Euros (a little over $1000 at currentbr /exchange rates) All in all, it’s well worth it, and worthy of addition tobr /your bucket list. The event represents a logistical nightmare, as well.br /There are a total of 4 waves starting on 4 successive days. Ours was thebr /4th and largest wave with 85 skiers from 11 countries. The average wavebr /size was about 60. By the 5th day there are over 200 skiers spread out overbr /250 kilometers across the Northern Finnish countryside. br /br / br /br /Accommodations from top notch ski lodges with excellent restaurants to 100+br /year old rural school buildings with no indoor plumbing, where we slept onbr /pads on the floor..just like the skiing. At one point a logging crew hadbr /plowed out the trail to get out a massive pile of logs, in the process theybr /exposed grass and shrubs which attract the reindeer at night. The picturebr /of me walking with my skis is because the reindeer poop made it impossiblebr /to ski. (maybe Solda can formulate a wax for reindeer poop). Each day allbr /of our gear was bussed ahead to our next overnight location.br /br / br /br /There were a total of 9 Americans in our wave. Four from Minnesota, fourbr /from Wisconsin and one from North Carolina. The guys from MN WI were allbr /experienced veteran skiers. The guy from NC was a Marine master sergeant whobr /had done a lot of Telemark skiing, but no cross country. He intended to dobr /the tour on a clunky pair of GI wood skis with cable bindings. Our tourbr /guide convinced him to rent light touring skis, boots and poles. He had abr /couple of lessons at the Kuusamo training center the day before the tour,br /and from then on it was on the job training. By the end he was doing abr /decent job..5 to 7 hours of skiing a day will do that. br /br /br /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://www.webskis.com/uploaded_images/finland-740227.JPG”img style=”float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://www.webskis.com/uploaded_images/finland-739912.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” //abr /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /WebTeam member Dave Knoop has also been in Scandinavia and his quick note follows:br /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://www.webskis.com/uploaded_images/dave-fin-784988.JPG”img style=”float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 133px;” src=”http://www.webskis.com/uploaded_images/dave-fin-784983.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” //abr /br / br /Hi Guys, br /br /Meiko and I had the most amazing adventure in Lapland last week. We were stunned bybr /the beauty and the trails as well as the racing. br / br /We were also terrified, i.e. Monday 60k, Wed. 50k, Friday 80k. Lots of climbing,br /then long descents, frozen lakes and some wicked climb at the end. br / br /The racing was all level 4 or 5, had my heart in my throat on the 50k at 100% max HRbr /the final 10k. As it worked out Monday was our toughest day.br / br /We were not sore or tired Wednesday or Friday. Friday I easily revved at 165 to 170br /beats per min. the entire race. br / br /The nine hour time zone change kicked my butt pretty good but dealt with it. br / br /Meiko was top 20 overall in a total time of 8 hours 45 min for 190k total. I wasbr /33rd overall and 3rd in age group in Nine hours thirteen minutes. There were about 500 skiers per race. br / br /I was the only non Euro skier.br /br /More later, br /Davebr /br /br /br /My adventures have been closer to home. I hosted and then raced in a whitewater Slalom here in Bend and then participated in another whitewater slalom event last weekend in Maple Valley Washington. Ski on the snow in the winter and paddle on the same water in the spring and summer. br /br /Have a good adventure.br /br /Bertdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6589659500745667109-603787819566115050?l=www.webskis.com%2Fwebskisblog.html’ alt=” //div
