alaskans rock!...entire family! kid pricing makes it affordable, family friendly cars make it fun!...
TRANSCRIPT
F e b r u a r y 2 018 , Vo l .1 9 , N o . 5
WINTER OLYMPICS, 16U.S. NATIONALS, 8&9Anchorage . . . . . . . 2Eagle River . . . . . . . 6Fairbanks . . . . . . . 14
Kachemak . . . . . . 10Mat-Su . . . . . . . . . . 7Statewide . . . . . . 11
PHOTOS BY MICHAEL DINNEEN PHOTOGRAPHY
ALASKANS ROCK!
2 February 2018
the AlAskA nordic skier
B O A R D M E M B E R S
PRESIDENTJoey Caterinichio
VICE PRESIDENTSara Miller
SECRETARYJosh Niva
TREASURERKarl GarberMEMBERSMolly Brown
Alex GrummanElizabeth Arnold
Mike MillerTim Miller
OFFICE STAFFErin Beam, Business Manager
Tamra Kornfield, Program ManagerAmber Adams, Office Manager
OPERATIONS STAFFCraig Norman
Bill BrionPeter Zug
Annette BrionMatthew Pauli
TRAILSMike Miller
C O M M I T T E E C H A I R S
ALASKA SKI FOR WOMENJenny Di Grappa
AMH ANCHORAGE CUPBranden Fontana
BACKCOUNTRY TOURSPatti Phillips, Mary Vavrik, Karlene Leeper
and Ken DePalma
BIATHLONMarti Pausback and Catherine Kilby
HIGH SCHOOL RACINGJohn Christopherson
HOPE CABINanchoragenordicski.com/cabin-rental
JUNIOR NORDICShannon Donley
MIDDLE SCHOOL RACINGDiane Moxness
RACE CHAIRMANTim Stone
SCHOLARSHIPSDan Rosenberg
SKAN 24Cassandra and Grant Stevenson
SKI 4 KIDSErin Whitney Witmer
SKI JUMPINGKaren Compton and Vivienne Murray
SKI TRAINTravis Taylor
SOLSTICE TREE TOURSara Miller
SPECIAL EVENTS AND RACINGLauri Bassett
TOUR OF ANCHORAGEMatias Saari
NSAA OFFICE HOURS10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday
BOARD MEETINGSFourth Thursday of the month, 6:15 P.M. at BP Energy Center
or NSAA office. Open to all.
Anchorage Nordic SkierNewsletter Of The Nordic Skiing Association Of Anchorage, Inc.
203 W. 15th Ave., #204 Anchorage, Alaska, 99501Phone — 276-7609 Fax — 258-7609
Hotline — [email protected]
Big start to 2018 provides momentum for remainder of the season Message from NSAA’s Staff and Board of Directors
Winter is upon us and what an awesome January. We’re still coming down from the highs of the 2018 L.L.Bean U.S. Cross Country Ski National Champions at Kincaid Park. It was truly a community event and the buzz, the large and enthusiastic crowds, the volunteers and the athletes and coaches made NSAA, Anchorage and the Nordic commu-nity around the nation proud.
NSAA’s new sound system and timing upgrades at Kincaid Park made the larger success of the event pos-sible, along with grants and donations from the Rasmuson Foundation and private donors, as well as many gener-ous sponsors and countless amazing volunteers. The new technology upgrades helped more than 88,000 online view-ers watch Nationals live, along with live timing/results, no matter where they lived. That elevated the event to a world-class level.
Soon after Nationals, NSAA was recognized by the Anchorage Assembly and Mayor Ethan Berkowitz for a job
well done; many of us were present to accept the resolu-tions. The amount of people coming together for Nationals made this honor possible. NSAA thanks the Municipality and its staff – special shout-out to the team at Kincaid Park ¬– for the support.
For those who attended Nationals, it was a perfect preview for the upcoming Olympics. Many Alaska athletes are in line to represent our state and country, making their dreams reality. Alaska’s Nordic community is proud of those skiers, as well as thankful for all who help and inspire in so many ways.
And our favorite – and busiest – stretch of the season is coming up: Ski for Women, Ski 4 Kids, Ski Train, high school/junior High and community races, epic tours, and the list goes one … There’s still a chance to compete, to volunteer, to cheer and to be part of our special Nordic community.
AROUND THE BOWL
Ski Train: Snow in Curry, tickets remain, fat bike
raffle, cool swag and
more!As snow
continues to accumulate in Curry, preparations for this year’s Ski Train are underway with volunteers and staff diligently working through the details with excited sponsors and partners like the Alaska Railroad. Plan to join the outdoor adventures and train-ride family fun on Ski Train leaving the station on Saturday, March 24.
Less than 100 tickets are left as of publication. If you haven’t gotten yours, this is a great getaway for the entire family! Kid pricing makes it affordable, family friendly cars make it fun! Plan to wear a superhero cape for the Incredibles car so you aren’t left out! There are seven train cars with seven different themes, thanks to our very cool sponsors.
Once onboard, look for the new Ski Train swag: conductor hats complete with the new Ski Train logo, guaran-teed to properly equip you for your Curry experience!
Only 50 tickets are left for a chance
to win a Trek Fat bike, being raffled in conjunction with Ski Train! The draw-ing happens on the train ride home from Curry. No need to be present to win, but why would you miss it?
Want to buy Ski Train tickets, raffle tickets, conductor hats? Want more information on Ski Train? Call the NSAA office at 276-7609 or stop by. Learn more on the Ski Train Face-book page and at anchoragenordicski.com/events/ski-train/.
A community thank you to NSAA staff and volunteers
To all the volunteers and staff of NSAA,
This is a long overdue letter of appreciation: As always, the orga-nization of NSAA has performed an amazing task of hosting the U.S. Nationals at Kincaid Park the first part of January. Nothing ever seems too daunting to those who always bring excellence and professionalism, enthusiasm and friendliness to each activity and event: high school, col-lege, and masters races, Ski for Kids, Ski for Women, Jr. Nordic, Tour of Anchorage, Anchorage Cup, Biathlon, and many more.
NSAA has hosted so many races and events, and very few have been cancelled over the years, in spite of very challenging conditions due to weather. Dedicated and tireless volunteers, as well as paid staff and coaches of all levels, continue to make Nordic skiing the popular sport it has been in Anchorage for all generations.
Our annual membership towards trail maintenance and race organiz-ing is one donation from which our family has greatly benefitted for a span of almost 50 years, including our children and grandchildren. We are proud to be supporting members of
NSSA, and we thank you.Sincerely,
Diane Crawford and family
Ready for exploration? Attend an upcoming NSAA
backcountry tourFind more information about NSAA
tours at anchoragenordicski.com/tours.htm. All tours are accompanied by members of the Anchorage Nordic Ski Patrol, who provide safety, trail sweep, and assist skiers with broken equipment or any other issues. If you have questions about tours or program or, contact one of the NSAA Touring leaders: Patti Phillips, Co-chair: NSAA contact, (907) 240-3742, [email protected]; Mary Vavrik, Co-chair: Nordic Ski Patrol contact, (907) 306-7686, [email protected]; Kar-lene Leeper, Co-chair: Denali View Chalet, (907) 440-0049, [email protected]; and Ken DePalma, Co-chair: AT and Tele-ski tours, 907-440-1562, [email protected].
UPCOMING TOURS INCLUDE:February 9 — Friday Night Fun Ski. Upper O’Malley Trailhead; Tour leader — Ken DePalma.February 11 — Portage Lake and Pass; Tour leader — Patti Phillips.February 17-19 — Two overnights at Manitoba Huts – Tele/AT and touring options; Tour leaders — Michael Henrich, Karlene Leeper and Mary Vavrik.March 2 — Friday Night Fun Ski. Glen Alps; Tour leader — Ken DePalma.March 2-4 — Denali View Chalet, two overnights, Peters Hills; Tour leader — Karlene Leeper.March 10-18 — Denali National Park, fly-in and out of Kantishna, ski to mountain passes; see article in this month’s Nordic Skier for more information; Tour leader — Bob Sutherland.March 18 — Skookum Glacier, Turnagain Arm, Kenai Peninsula; Tour leader — Patti Phillips.March 30 — Friday Night Fun Ski. Prospect Heights Trailhead; Tour leader — Ken DePalma.
See AROUND THE BOWL, Page 3
the AlAskA nordic skier
February 2018 3
EDITORJosh Niva
LAYOUTKevin Powell
AD REPRESENTATIVEAndre Lovett
[email protected]@gmail.com
LOCAL EDITORS
ANCHORAGE
Josh [email protected]
EAGLE RIVER
FAIRBANKS
Kate [email protected]
KACHEMAK
Jeannie [email protected]
JUNEAU
Frankie [email protected]
MAT-SU
SALCHA
SEWARD
Julie [email protected]
SOLDOTNA
Penny McClain262-6257
TALKEETNA
Chris Mannix733-2427
The Alaska Nordic Skier is a publication representing the nordic
ski clubs of Anchorage, Eagle River, Fairbanks, Homer, Juneau,
Mat-Su, Salcha, Seward, Soldotna, Kenai, Talkeetna and Valdez. The Alaska Nordic Skier is published
October through April by the Nordic Skiing Association
of Anchorage, Inc.
All rights reserved. © 2018 Articles, letters and advertisements
are welcome. Please ensure all names are correct and information is accurate. Submissions may be edited
for clarity, content and space limitations. Deadline is the 15th day
of the prior month. E-mail [email protected].
On the cover – Clockwise from top: Tyler Kornfield lets out a victorious yell after crossing the finish line to win the men’s
30K classic event; Caitlin Patterson swept all four women’s U.S. Nationals titles; Scott Patterson started the racing with a bang,
winning the opening-day’s men’s 15K freestyle event.
Photos by Michael Dinneen Photography
the AlAskAn o r d i c s k i e r
A N C H O R A G E
Ski 4 Kids arrives February 24Our community develops the next generation of
champions and happy recreational skiersBY CARLA BEAM
In early January, thousands of Anchorage residents watched their hometown heroes dominate at the 2018 L.L.Bean U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships at Kincaid Park. On February 24, hundreds of Anchorage kids will come out to the 21st annual Ski 4 Kids to explore the same trails and tracks where the country’s best skiers challenged themselves and one another. Thanks to the work of many committed people in our community, one or more of those kids might one day compete in a national championship, a World Cup event, or even the Olympics. Many more will develop a lifelong love of cross-country skiing.
It’s through the partnership and cooperation of many organizations and people that Anchorage has grown to be a vibrant winter city with a flourishing community of skiers, and a powerhouse in the world of Nordic skiing. Ac-cording to Margaret Timmerman, outreach skiing coordi-nator for Anchorage Parks and Recreation, these partner-ships have also created the fun and successful annual Ski 4 Kids program. In turn, Ski 4 Kids has helped provide encouragement, equipment and access to the sport for countless kids, many of whom would not otherwise be exposed to cross-country skiing.
Timmerman has been involved with the Ski 4 Kids since the beginning. It was created by Jerry Walton, her boss at Parks and Recreation, and Holly Hill, an Anchorage School District teacher. Their goal was to raise money to buy better and more ski equipment to use in the Munici-pality’s popular outreach program that got kids onto skis through their local schools.
Over the years, Timmerman has seen partners step up to ensure that Ski 4 Kids and the Ski Outreach Program remain strong. Volunteer coaches from the community, NSAA Junior Nordic, the Anchorage School District, and the University of Alaska Anchorage have stepped in to help with the outreach to schools. Healthy Futures came forward to provide media support, race bibs, medals and busing for Title I schools to the Ski 4 Kids festival and the NSAA handles various administrative and fiscal responsi-bilities for the event. REI has been a donor and provides a location for bib pick-up. While Parks and Recreation con-tinues to play an important leadership role, Timmerman acknowledges that these partnerships are critical.
Community donors – businesses, individuals and foun-dations – are also important partners and help provide funds for the event and for the equipment grants adminis-tered by Ski 4 Kids.
LaTouche Pediatrics is one donor that sees support of Ski 4 Kids as strongly connected to its business mission. According to LaTouche’s Angi Titus, “We want to encour-age kids of all ages to be happy and healthy; it’s what we are about.”
The doctors at another medical practice, Anchorage Pe-diatric Group (APG), not only support the event as donors, but as volunteers. Brice Alexander of APG says, “We have marveled at how many attendees and other supporters are always there, from Great Harvest Bread Co. to Kaladi Brothers Coffee to high school student volunteers. Ski 4 Kids promotes kids and families staying active and getting outside to enjoy this great state, even during the darkest and coldest parts of the year.”
Ski 4 Kids Coordinator Erin Whitney Witmer encour-ages businesses and individuals to consider giving back to the community and Alaska’s youth by supporting the Ski 4 Kids and its equipment grant program. Further, says Wit-mer, “We hope to see NSAA members, donors and com-munity members come out to see, firsthand, the positive affect of this great event.”
This year’s Ski 4 Kids is noon-3:30 p.m. Saturday, February 24, at Kincaid Park. Register at anchoragenordicski.com/events/ski-4-kids/. Online volunteer sign-up at goo.gl/MQafnC. If you would like to make a donation that will help fund ski equipment grants to schools and ski programs, contact the NSAA office at [email protected].
April 7 — Turnagain or Hatcher Pass – TBD; Tour leader — Mary Vavrik.
Find all tours and more information at anchoragenordicski.com/tours.htm.
NSAA calendar of eventsFEBRUARYSaturday-Sunday, February 3-4 — Besh Cup #5 and #6, Kincaid ParkSunday, February 4 — Alaska Ski For Women, Kincaid Park Wednesday, February 7 — ASD Middle School Race – Kincaid ParkFriday, February 9 — NSAA Backcountry Tour: Friday Night Fun Ski Friday-Saturday, February 9-10 — ASD High School – Region IV Championships – Kincaid ParkSunday, February 11 — Ski Jumping Competition: All Hills Sunday, February 11 — AMH Anchorage Cup – Sprint Sunday, February 11 — NSAA Backcountry Tour: Portage Lake and Pass
Wednesday, February 14 — ASD Middle School Race – Kincaid ParkWednesday, February 14 — Biathlon Race #5 Saturday, February 17 — ASD High School Classic Relay – East High Saturday-Monday, February 17-19 — NSAA Backcountry Tour: Two overnights at Manitoba Huts – Tele/AT and Touring Sunday, February 18 — AMH Anchorage Cup – Sven Johansson Tuesday-Friday, February 21-24 —Ski Jumping & Nordic Combined Junior NationalsThursday-Saturday, February 22-24 — ASD High School – State Championships – Fairbanks Saturday, February 24 —Ski 4 Kids, Kincaid Park Sunday, February 25 — Ski the Beach: Memorial race Erin K. Johnson Wednesday, February 28 — ASD Middle School Race – Kincaid Park
MARCHFriday, March 2 — NSAA Backcountry Tour: Friday Night Fun SkiFriday-Monday, March 2-4 — NSAA Backcountry Tour: Denali View Chalet two overnightsFriday-Saturday, March 2-3 — Biathlon State
ChampionshipsFriday, March 2 — Tour of Anchorage Bib Pickup – APUSaturday, March 3 — Tour of Anchorage Bib Pickup – APUSunday, March 4 — Tour of AnchorageMarch 10-18 — NSAA Backcountry Tour: Denali National Park, fly-in and out of KantishnaSaturday, March 10 — Anchorage Junior Nordic Equipment Return – BunkerSunday, March 18 — NSAA Backcountry Tour: Skookum GlacierMonday, March 19 — Anchorage Junior Nordic Equipment Return – BunkerTuesday, March 20 — Anchorage Junior Nordic Equipment Return – BunkerSaturday, March 24 — Ski TrainSaturday-Sunday, March 24-25 — SKAN 24 RaceFriday, March 30 — NSAA Backcountry Tour: Friday Night Fun Ski
APRILSaturday, April 7 — NSAA Backcountry Tour: Eddies AT/Tele-ski, Turnagain Pass
For more events and details, visit the NSAA calendar at anchoragenordicski.com/calendar.
AROUND THE BOWLContinued from Page 2
PHOTO BY TWISTED BRANCH PHOTOGRAPHY
4 February 2018
the AlAskA nordic skier
Alaska Ski for Women arrives Sunday, February 4!Another amazing Alaska Ski for
Women kicks off on Sunday, Febru-ary 4, at Kincaid Park. Skiers have the opportunity to participate in one of the following events: The Duathlon starts at 10:30 a.m.; the skate race also starts at 10:30 a.m. and the clas-sic race begins at 11 a.m.
All participants are encouraged to participate in the costume parade at 11:45 a.m. Following the costume parade and contest, around 12:15 p.m., is the “party wave,” a 4K non-timed fun ski for all.
Prizes will be awarded to the top three skiers in each of the timed events, as well as to the best dressed team and individual. Online registra-
tion is open through midnight Janu-ary 31 at www.anchoragenordicski.com/events/alaska-ski-for-women/. In-person registration and bib pick-up will take place from noon-7 p.m. Fri-day, February 2, at REI. For anyone who misses these deadlines, race-day registration takes place from 9-10 a.m. at Kincaid Park. Please note: those who register on race day can only register for the party wave.
As this race is also a fundraiser, participants are encouraged to donate a minimum of $35 for registration or $50 for registration and a SFW buff. The Alaska Ski for Women would like to thank the following sponsors for their generous support of the 2017
event: Platinum Sponsor ConocoPhil-lips; Gold Sponsors KTUU Channel 2; Silver Sponsors Anchorage Women’s Clinic, Banker Law Group, Denali OBGYN, Great Harvest Bread Co. and Premier Alaska Tours (which provides transportation!); Bronze
Sponsors REI and Bristol Bay Native Corporation. See everyone Sunday at Kincaid Park!
Learn everything you need to know about Ski for Women at anchoragenordicski.com/events/alaska-ski-for-women/.
A N C H O R A G E
Alaskan-owned, local eatery
Open at 11amSouth Anchorage
10950 O’Malley Centre Dr(907) 561-2337
Our liquor store is conveniently located within our
South Anchorage location. Grab beer, wine
or spirits on your way out!
Visit our Firetap Liquor Store!
Healthy choices, delicious indulgences.
Something for everyone!
GET YOUR
GROWLERS FILLED!
PHOTO BY JAN HAZEN
the AlAskA nordic skier
February 2018 5
Skier/Artist Rorabaugh makes 30th Tour a colorful celebration
The 2018 Tour of Anchorage arrives Sunday, March 4BY MATIAS SAARITour of Anchorage Race Director
Tasked with creating an art piece for the Tour of Anchorage, Becca Rorabaugh considered what is unique about the event that traverses town from the Hillside to the coast.
“The fact that you can race through tunnels is amazing,” said Rorabaugh, a longtime elite skier for the Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center.
So she decided to paint the silhouette of a racer skate-skiing through a tunnel near her apartment on the Chester Creek Trail. The process came with a signifi-cant challenge: she lacked an image for guidance.
“It was a fun exercise in perspective drawing,” said Rorabaugh, who started sketching the piece in West Yellowstone, Mont.
She created an outline while racing in SilverStar, British Columbia, and com-pleted the purple watercolor in December while training in Fairbanks, her hometown. “It was a spatial awareness exercise since I didn’t have a photo.”
The Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage will use the art for this year’s Tour of Anchor-age race posters, zipper pulls and merchandise. Rorabaugh also donated the original painting for NSAA to auction at a fundraiser.
Rorabaugh has designed Besh Cup T-shirts in recent years and done art for Fairbanks’ Town Race Series since she was in fifth grade. In the last two years, however, she has taken her art to another level with acrylic paintings, watercolors and other mediums. Her colorful work is printed on neck warmers, stickers, greeting cards and even backpacks that she sells.
“It helps with ski expenses for sure. … I’m always surprised when people like it and buy the things that I make,” said Rorabaugh, who has competed in 10 European countries, won the 10-kilometer classic race at U.S. Nationals in 2014 and once placed 25th at a World Cup sprint in Quebec, Canada.
Visit www.beccarorabaugh.com and it’s clear by the caption “Alaskan Olympic Hopeful, Artist, Snow Addict and Architecture Student” that Rorabaugh balances many interests.
Though Rorabaugh won a bronze medal at January’s National Championships in Anchor-age, she missed her goal of qualifying for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Instead she’ll stay in North America for races that include Wiscon-sin’s Birkebeiner, the country’s largest. She might even return for the Tour of Anchorage on March 4, an event the 28-year-old hasn’t con-tested since about seventh grade.
Each spring, Rorabaugh shifts her priorities by taking courses at Dartmouth College, where she’s a studio art major specializing in architec-ture.
“For me, I like to be pretty focused on one thing … school mostly or skiing mostly,” she said while sipping hot chocolate at a midtown Kaladi Brothers in late December. “But it’s healthy to have something else to look forward to, some art projects but not huge commitments.”
Melding her two passions is satisfying. “Being able to do (art) now and ski (at the
same time) is probably the thing I’m most proud of,” Rorabaugh said.
To register and learn more about the 2018 Tour of Anchorage, please visit anchoragenordicski.com/races/tour-of-anchorage.
A N C H O R A G E
6 February 2018
the AlAskA nordic skier
Eagle River Nordic Ski ClubEagle River, Alaska
P.O. Box 770117, Eagle River, Alaska 99577Club hotline — 689-7660
Junior nordic hotline — 689-7661cernsc .wildapricot .org
B O A R D M E M B E R S
PRESIDENTJason Dennis
SECRETARYMeg Stehn
meg.stehn@gmail .com
TRAILSJim Kazuba
kaszuba@mtaonline .net Annette Brion
babrion@hotmail .com
TREASURERBob Stehn
bob.stehn@gmail .com Steve Wilson
big.su.tka@gmail .com
VICE PRESIDENT/RACINGMike Beiersgrohslein
mbeiergrohslein@msn .com
JUNIOR NORDICWill Taygan
ski@taygan .com Steve Wilson
big .su .tka@gmail .com
NORDIC SKIER NEWSLETTERRosalyn Singleton
Rosalynsingleton2@gmail .com
MASTERSKatie Rehm
Kathleen .rehm@gmail .com Jason Gray
Jason@datasuns .com
AROUND CHUGIAK / EAGLE RIVER
Eagle River skiers, coaches and volunteers represent
at U .S . NationalsA whole crew of Eagle River skiers partici-
pated in the 2018 L.L.Bean U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships at Kincaid Park at the start of the year. Junior skiers included Max Beiergrohslein, Brian Wing, Torsten Renner, Konrad Tenner, Michael Earnhart, Michael Connelly, Roan Hall, Heidi Booher, Emma Nelson and Adrianna Proffitt. The large Alaska contingent also included UAF skier Sa-rissa Lammers and former UAF student Peter Brewer, as well as APU coach Lauren Fritz. Chugiak and Alaska Nordic Racing coaches Cody Priest, Stan and Gretchen Carrick, and Alex Loan supported local skiers. Bob Stehn helped with timing, while Mike and Alicia Bei-ergrohslein and Jim and Ros Singleton volun-teered. Thanks to everyone for helping make the event a big success!
Where are they now: Hannah Rowland (Stevens)So what I am up to after high
school skiing in Eagle River? Cur-rently I am waiting to get my one of wisdom teeth pulled, after 36 hours of traveling to get from Paris to Anchor-age! Wait, hold up, should I rewind a little bit?
Well, I graduated from Eagle River High School with the class of 2013, and I already had my college life planned. Earlier that year I had signed onto the UAF cross country running and ski team with a schol-arship. My intent was to redshirt in skiing my first year, but people got sick and they asked me to be the sixth women’s skier to make a full travel team.
I was studying Civil Engineering and it is common for it to take five years to complete, but some can do it in four if they start out with some credits from high school. Turns out I graduated in four years in May 2017. Life was certainly busy balancing crazy amounts of hard schoolwork and ski training. But on top of that I was dedicated to going to church every Sunday morning (aside from race days) and being a part of a Bible Study on a weekly basis. It doubled as my enjoyable free time and gave me strength to face each week ahead of me.
I stayed out of the party life in
college, but I had plenty of romance. Late into my first semester I met David Rowland at church, and we became friends throughout the next semester. We had an eight-month engagement. Then not even a week after the 2015 JN’s in Truckee, Calif., I married him. We now are almost to our third anniversary.
The skiing part of college was a bit difficult for me. I hadn’t started sum-mer ski training till my junior year of high school, so I was still pretty unexperienced in my technique and amount of training. My freshman year went fairly well. I had a light school load, so I could relax a little bit more and I ended the season with a fifth place for a 10K skate at the Vermont JNs in 2014. I had sprained my ankle somewhat that year, so instead of a lot of summer running, I did a bunch of double-poling.
After getting married, summer training got a bit tougher,
having to commute
from McCarthy to Anchorage often so I could get some roller-ski time. I had really wanted to focus on not overtraining, but it turned out to be hard to train without a team. For my senior year I was determined to get my fitness back up. I joined the APU college training group that year, going to Anchorage every one or two weeks for a week at a time. The training paid off pretty well. I had quite a few good races for my last season, scoring for the team quite frequently.
After college I decided to end my summer stress of moving constantly and not pursue ski competition any longer. I did keep running though, and competed in two McCarthy races: a
triathlon and a half-marathon. They were tough races, but I dug deep and placed first for women in both races. It feels so great to be done with the nervousness that I had with my col-lege races.
So what’s with the flight from Paris? Well, after college I wanted to go see Europe before we had kids. So we went to Europe this winter for four weeks. We even got to see the first day of the Tour De Ski races in Lenzerhe-ide. It’s good to have friends in the ski world.
If you’re ever in McCarthy, come by and say hi. Just look for heavy equip-ment and you should find someone who I am related to or knows me.
Ski the Beach 2018: A Memorial Race for Erin K. Johnson
ABOVE: A 12-year Christmas skiing tradition continued in December between the Carrick, Berry, Brewer, Singleton families, often joined by Lauren Fritz, Cindy Hendel and others. They had to improvise because of lack of snow and skied on Beach Lake instead of the Beach Lake trail system.
PHOTO BY STAN CARRICK
LEFT: Trail closures due to low snow conditions before the New Year didn’t slow down the Eagle River Jr. Nordics group as they still hit trails and had a great time!
PHOTO BY YORISHA HARTY
the AlAskA nordic skier
February 2018 7
AROUND THE VALLEYPresident’s Corner: We are skiing on the new trails! This past summer, the club built
almost 7 kilometers of new trails that added to the existing 7.5K of trails at Government Peak Recreation Area. These trails were designed to attract skiers outside of the Mat-Su Valley for competitive events at GPRA and to provide more challenging trails for skiers in the Valley. Although we have yet to do the final smoothing and seeding of the trails, Ullr, the Norse god of snow, has been kind to us by providing enough snow to groom the trails since mid-December.
Looking around Southcentral Alaska over the past few months, we see that Ullr has not been so generous with his snow in other venues, which has brought many skiers from An-chorage and Eagle River to the Valley. The trails at Independence Mine that we groom, usually in mid-October, are the first to be groomed and this season that timing was spot on. As the snow works its way down the moun-tains in Hatcher Pass the next trail that we groom, usually in November, is Archangel Road. If you are looking for skiable trails in the early season, you will have to arrive early, espe-cially on weekends, since Anchorage skiers, clubs, and teams make full use of our trails. We are happy to host our Anchorage friends on our trails. They appreciate our grooming efforts and many buy trails pins and join our Club.
Ullr then decides that driving up to
Hatcher Pass takes too long for most of us and sprinkles his magic powder on the trails at GPRA. The club’s main effort switches to GPRA, but we still groom the other venues.
Due to the scant snow in other Southcentral locations, we have seen many skiers on our new trails from outside the Valley. Anchorage ski-ers found the trails early on, and the Olympic trials in Anchorage in early January brought many national and international competitive skiers to the new trails. We have had superlative reports from them, with one of them saying it is one of the Top 10 Nordic trails in the world. Hyperbole aside, we are grateful for their praise.
I would like to thank our incredible
volunteers that made these trails pos-sible: Lucas Parker, Ed Strabel, Mark Strabel (who put in over 500 volunteer hours), and our club members who showed up throughout the summer. With a price tag of over $225,000, we had many donors and sponsors, including the Mat-Su Borough, the Mat-Su Trails and Parks Foundation, Mountain Streams Bed and Break-fast, MEA, and many others that you can find on our new website (thank you, Chris Gierymski!) at matsuski.org.
Let’s go ski, Dave Musgrave
MSSC Ski for Women – Sunday, February 4
Save the date for Super Bowl
Mat-Su Ski ClubWasilla, Alaska
1150 S. Colony Way, Suite 3Palmer, Alaska 99645
(907) 745-SKISwww.matsuski.org
B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S
PRESIDENTDave Musgrave
VICE PRESIDENTHans Hill
TREASURERMaritt Youngblood
SECRETARY Caitlin Buxbaum
BOARD MEMBERS Ed StrabelDave Freer
Chris TomsenLucas ParkerGene Backus
Jeff KaseMark StrabelJerry Hupp
Chris Gierymski
ADMINISTRATORTammy Hill
Sunday! Have a lot of munching and watching TV planned for the after-noon? Work out those calories in advance at the fifth annual Mat-Su Ski for Women! This fun, un-timed event begins at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 4. Costumes are encouraged and all entry fees go to Alaska Family Services. The famous golden ski pole is awarded to the skier with the best costume. Registration is now open at https://matsuskiclub.wildapricot.org/event-2776977/Registration (bit.ly/2r8lkdJ). Long-sleeve shirts and hooded sweatshirts will be available for purchase in-person and online during registration. Stay tuned to Mat-Su Ski Club’s Ski for Women Facebook page for more information.
CalendarSunday, February 4 — Ski for Women – GPRA 11 a.m.Tuesday, February 6 — MSSC Club Board Meeting – Location TBA 6:30 p.m.
Volunteer ski trail grooming in the Lower Mat-Su ValleyBY ED STRABEL
“We’ve come a long way baby,” to reuse an old phrase from the 1970’s. The Mat-Su Valley has had a long history of volunteer ski trail groomers. From Joe Irvine at Palmer High School in the early 1970’s to the late Howie Powder in the 1980’s and the Palmer-Wasilla Trails Association in the 1990’s.
With the establishment of the Mat-Su Ski Club in 2008 we have continued to evolve. Expanding the areas we groom to include Independence Mine, Archangel Rd., the Mat Valley Moose Range and the Government Peak Recreation Area. We have also expanded our grooming equipment pool from homemade drags, track setters, and lightweight snowmachines to state-of-the-art groomers pulled by super-wide track snowmachines, tracked ATVs and our “baby Pisten Bully,” the Argo Centaur.
All that said, we still have at the heart of our grooming efforts the volunteer groomers. Last season, our volunteer groomers had a season that stretched from October 20 to May 17. A total of 209 skiing days and over 700 volunteer hours. Probably
one of the longest Nordic ski seasons in the world! Our volunteer groomers have stepped up their game to meet the needs of Southcentral Alaska’s Nordic skiers. Our goal is to provide at least one good Nordic skiing venue every day during the ski season. Even with the possibility of weird weather patterns, and multiple Nordic ski trail areas, our groomers can usually meet this goal and keep skiers on the best-groomed trails and keep skiers away from deteriorating ski trails that need a rest.
Early and late ski season, we groom the Inde-pendence Mine area and most of the ski season we groom Archangel Rd., The Mat Valley Moose Range, and The Government Peak Recreation Area. This season, the volunteer grooming crew consists of Jeff Kase, Chris Jones, Zack Steer, Mark Strabel, Ashley Wise, Ed Strabel, and our newest groomer Gil Carr. Most of these dedicated individu-als put their hours in late at night to produce the best possible Nordic trails. Our groomer motto is, “For Skiers, By Skiers, 24-7.”
Volunteer groomers and the loved ones they leave behind when they make our trails amazing.
PHOTOS BY STEPHEN NOWERS
Check out the racing action from the recent GPRA Invite High School Ski Meet!
8 February 2018
the AlAskA nordic skier
Alaska athletes, volunteers, trails and supporters
put on world-class performances as
U.S. Nationals hostsAlaska represented big time at the 2018 L.L.Bean U.S.
Cross Country Skiing National Championships January 3-8 at Kincaid Park.
Skiers with Alaska roots swept all eight of the week’s national championships titles.
Kincaid Park offered a spectator-friendly, athlete-challenging venue while Alaska’s weather provided a just-in-time dump of snow, plenty of sunny bluebird skies, a few patches of dramatic ice fog and awesome displays of alpenglow.
Many Alaska businesses, as well as the Municipality of Anchorage, gave outstanding partnership and sponsor-ship support to fuel the event. And dozens of Alaska’s amazing coaches, hundreds of tireless volunteers and the super staff of the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage were welcoming hosts – from trail grooming to the event’s technical aspects, organization to hospitality and helping visitors enjoy the Anchorage experience, every aspect of Nationals was above and beyond. An Alaska-sized thank you to everyone who played a role in that success!
Hundreds of spectators attended each of the four days
See RACE, Page 9
Alaska’s Hannah Halvorsen lunges at the finish line.
ABOVE: Fairbanks’ Reese Hanneman celebrated two sprint national titles during the week of racing.
LEFT: The racing was fast and furious.
Kelsey Phinney tops a hill during a quarterfinal freestyle sprint race.
PHOTOS BY MICHAEL DINNEEN PHOTOGRAPHY
And they’re off!
the AlAskA nordic skier
February 2018 9
of racing while tens of thousands watched the online livestream of rac-ing. There was local, statewide and national media coverage, as well as loads of online and social media buzz.
The biggest buzz was created by Caitlin Patterson, who skied for South Anchorage High School before mov-ing to Vermont for college and eventu-ally settling there. She returned to Kincaid and swept all four women’s U.S. National titles – the 10K freestyle, the freestyle sprint, the 20K classic and the classic sprint. (Patterson won three of the four races, placing second in the 20K mass start classic race to University of Colorado’s Hedda Baangman of Sweden, who was ineli-gible to win a U.S. title.
“It’s hard to put into words,” said Patterson, who now skis for Crafts-bury Green Project Racing, left Anchorage a six-time National cham-pion. “Amazing. Beyond what I could have imagined.”
Reese Hanneman, originally of Fairbanks and now of Anchorage who races with APU, swept both 2018 Nationals sprint events, the most dramatic with his men’s classic sprint win as he edged APU teammate Tyler Kornfield by .2 seconds to earn his fourth Nationals sprint title – two freestyle, two classic.
Anchorage’s Kornfield had his own day at the top of the podium, winning the men’s 30K classic. Anchorage’s Scott Patterson, younger sibling of Caitlin, took the opening day win in the men’s 15K freestyle.
Read full stories of each event, check out photos and videos, and learn more about the Nationals event and its competing athletes at usna-tionals2018.com, facebook.com/xcusnats2018 and instagram.com/usnats18/. Find full race results at superiortiming.com.
RACEContinued from Page 8
Premiere Title
Platinum Level
Gold Level
Silver Level
Bronze Level
Race Sponsors
Thank you Sponsors! Friends & Supporters
Skiers dig into the trails while spectators bask in the alpenglow at Kincaid Park.
PHOTO BY JIM JAGER
ABOVE: Yeah, these volunteers rock!
LEFT: You can’t have a big race without a big finish line. And you can’t have a big finish line without a bunch of great volunteers.
PHOTO BY JOSH NIVA
10 February 2018
the AlAskA nordic skier
B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R SMike Gracz | President
Stacey Buckalew | Vice PresidentChristine Anderson | Secretary
Richard Burton | Treasurer
B O A R D M E M B E R SJan SpurklandJason Neely
Jasmine MaurerDerek BynagleGlenn Seaman
Annie Ridgely | Administrative Manager
C O M M I T T E E S A N D E V E N T SBaycrest Upper
Alan Parks
Baycrest Lower, Eveline State Recreation Site, Snowshoe Trails
Dave Brann
Lookout Mountain Mike Byerly
McNeil Canyon SchoolDerek Stonorov
Trail SignsJennifer Edwards
Snow Machine Maintenance Equipment Chairperson
Bob Glen
Junior NordicDeb Mosely
Kachemak Women’s NordicJasmine Maurer
PSIA and Adult Ski Clinics, Private Ski Lessons
Megan Corraza
Membership, WebsiteRichard Burton
School Races CoordinatorLeonard Miller
Backcountry Film FestivalDan Del Missier
Winter Gear & Ski SwapMike Illg (Homer Community Recreation)
Besh Cup RacesJan Spurkland
Kachemak Bay Ski for Women & Haven House
Kris Holdereid/Shelly Laukitis
Wine, Cheese & Wooden Ski TourKevin Walker/Marilyn Parrett
Alaska Nordic SkierJeannie Woodring
Kachemak Bay Marathon SkiDeland Anderson
Homer Epic 100Homer Cycling Club
Friday Night LightsStacey Buckalew
Sea to Ski TriathlonDerek Bynagle
Kachemak Nordic Ski ClubHomer, Alaska
P.O. Box 44, Homer, Alaska 99603kachemaknordicskiclub.org
AROUND THE BAYWe’re skiing!
Despite the dearth of snow this winter, the higher eleva-tions are still skiable – thanks to the great groomers and the solid base that has been set at most sites. And now that our winter events are on, the turnout on trails has been tremendous. Look at the record results for the Ski Your Age event (see adjacent story). And for all the other ski events, from the Besh Cup races in late January to, hopefully, the Homer Marathon in March, we’re hoping for record results!
Learn more about the spring ski events in Homer at the KNSC club website (Kachemaknordicskiclub.org) and on our Facebook page, as well as occasional emails and future newsletters. Enjoy!
ONGOINGOctober 16-April — Kachemak Women’s Nordic – Kachemak Women’s Nordic is intended for those skiers looking to improve their technique and establish a regular training program. Racing is encouraged but not required. The group focuses on skating and classical techniques. Practice is held three to six times a week. Participants must be KSNC members.Kachemak Women’s Nordic Training dates — Mon, Wed., Thurs., Fri. from noon-1:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m.-noon. For details, visit: kachemakwomensnordic.com/.Co-Ed Intermediate Skate Technique and Tour Preparation Awareness — A new program, sponsored by Kachemak Women’s Nordic, to train
co-ed intermediate skiers to improve their skate techniques and fitness levels. Five-week course with 10 sessions, running from January 27 through February 28, on Wednesdays, noon-2 p.m. and Saturdays, 10 a.m.-noon. Locations depend on snow conditions. Cost: $50. To participate, phone coordinator Jasmine Maurer at (907) 299-6975.January 27-February 24, Saturdays — Junior Nordic Program – This learn-to-ski program for youth from kindergarten through sixth grade offers five Saturdays of winter fun. The program takes the youth to the different trail heads. Rental equipment is available. First session: Saturday, January 27, at Lookout Mountain Recreation Area, 1-2:30 p.m. Other locations TBA.PSIA Coaching Clinics — Wednesdays afternoons. Contact Megan Corazza at (907) 299-0687.
FEBRUARYSaturdays, February 3, 10, 17, 24 — Junior Nordic Program – Lookout Mountain State Recreation Area, 1-2:30 pm. Other locations TBA.Sunday, February 4 — Ski/Walk/Run for Women – Lookout Mountain State Recreation AreaSunday, February 11 — Wine and Cheese and Wooden Ski Tour – Noon-4 p.m. at location TBA.Backcountry Film Festival — 7 p.m. at Homer Theatre. Dates and details TBA.
MARCHSaturday, March 10 — KNSC Nordic Ski Marathon – Lookout Mountain Ski Trails (starting line) Check the website and Facebook at Kachemak Nordic Ski Club for updates and more information.Sea to Ski — TBA, based on snow. For more details, check out the KNSC website or Facebook page closer to March.
New technology gives great views of KNSC trailsFor years, to find out the latest con-
ditions of Homer’s ski trails, you drove to a trail head and took your chances. Current KSNC president Mike Gracz even started a “Fritz Creek Skier” Facebook page a few years ago where skiers could write comments about where they had just skied.
Now, with automated trail cameras at the Lookout and McNeil trail heads and an online “grooming report” sys-tem on which groomers post the latest grooming results, anyone can get the latest pictures and news of conditions on Homer’s ski trails.
“I had skied at other Nordic centers and used these services there,” says Gracz. “And I knew of the desire of the KNSC membership for better report-ing on trail conditions.”
KNSC funded the new technology – surprisingly inexpensive – with mem-bership dues. Gracz researched the cameras online and had already used Skitrails.info at other Nordic centers. He chose a service that covered North America in hopes to draw some cross-country ski tourism to Homer.
The two new cameras at Lookout and McNeil cost $350 each and about $100 a year for displaying the data. The cameras are powered by electric-ity and three bars of AT&T or Verizon cell signals. The cameras show hourly views from a fixed point at both sites – during the daylight hours.
Gracz installed the cameras and started got the system on line. Ad-ditional support included technical support from Spartan Cameras and KNSC board member Richard Burton
to write code so that the hourly photos are removed after a few days.
The real-time grooming report system cost a bit more. But with the constantly changing weather Homer trails have, the up-to-date groom-ing system is worth it. Skitrails.info provided the instructions, and the costs ran $900 for the equipment and around $600 a year for the service. Bruce Hess of Puffin Electric vol-unteered his time to wire the new system, which includes a power outlet, a rear-facing light, a voltage meter and switches.
Gracz had previously mapped the ski trails in Homer, which made it easy to integrate trail data with the Skitrails.info system. Skitrails.info uses a widely available wiki-type of application, OpenStreetMap, which
was useful in integrating the trail system information. Groomers can add comments about trail conditions as they groom, but all they really need to do is turn on the tracker mecha-nism and groom. Skitrails.info does the rest.
“We wanted something that was close to zero maintenance, and we are
happy,” Gracz adds.And local skiers are happy, too.To use these two new technologies,
go to kachemaknordicskiclub.org and click on the “Trail Conditions” button on the homepage.
Advertise here and your business can reach skiers across the [email protected]
the AlAskA nordic skier
February 2018 11
Big numbers – in years, Ks and skiers – make KNSC
Ski Your Age a hitUnder clear skies and a smooth
track, a record number of Homer-area skiers took to the trails for the Ski Your Age event, annually held on December 26.
“We had an outstanding Ski Your Age event up at the Lookout Mountain ski trails,” said Janna Davis, who organized the event with her husband and two kids. “This may have been our largest attended event yet with 80 participants signed up and definitely a few that came out and skied but didn’t enter a category.”
The groomers contributed to a glorious day by having the trails ready by the 9 a.m. starting time.
“Corduroy (track) was available for those that got an early start on their skiing,” added Davis.
Taro Sasakura skied the most kilo-
meters – 65 – and Annie Ridgely was one kilometer behind with 64. High school ski team members and past ski team members were out in force, with two current ski team members, Jacob Davis and Caleb Rauch, skiing 42 kilometers each.
“There were a large number of families out to enjoy the sunny day,” Davis added. “Thirteen families participated in the challenge. The Schmidt family dominated the family challenge by skiing a combined 146 kilometers.”
The money donated at the event supports the high school ski team (the Mariners) as members head into two months of ski racing this spring.
“The Homer High Mariners want to thank all who came out and enjoyed skiing with them as they work to stay
in shape over the Christmas break,” Davis said.Ski Your Age or more — Katie Davis, 19 K; Jacob Davis, 42 K; Annie Ridgley, 64 K; Fred Dickerson, 41 K; Caleb Rauch, 42 K; Zoe Stonorov, 15 K; Matt Haakenson, 37 K; Fischer Corazza Spurkland, 12 K; Katie Schmidt, 31.5 K; Emily Schmidt, 33.75 K; Marie Schmidt, 31 K; Johannes Bynagle, 10 K; Etta Bynagle, 7 K; Lake Alexson, 12 K; Wylder Johnson, 10 K; Sawyer Johnson, 5 K; Claira Booz, 10 K; Taro Sasakura, 65 K; Aspen Daigle, 20 K; Autumn Daigle, 18 K; Iris O’Laire, 15 K.Family Ski Meister totals — Schmidt Family, 146 K; Alexson Family, 104 K; Dickerson Family, 103 K; Morelli Family, 89 K; Davis Family, 77 K; Rauch Family, 66 K; O’Laire Family, 60 K; Haakenson Family, 41.5 K; Corazza Family, 36 K; Poindexter Family, 31 K; Bynagle Family, 28 K; Gracz/Stenger Family, 26.4 K; Marden Family, 25 K; Andy Super, 17 K; Katie Miller, 27 K; Clyde Clemens, 13 K.Century Club (ski 100 minus your age in K) — Annie Ridgley, 64 K; Ruth Dickerson, 35 K; Cindy Sisson, 41 K; Marylou Burton, 30 K; Richard Burton, 26 K.Sundowner (ski 50 K; between sunrise and
sunset) — Annie Ridgley, 64 K; Taro Sasakura, 65 K.Other Skiers who skied someone else’s age in kilometers — Tara Schmidt, 40 K; Angelica Haakenson, 4.5 K; Ruth Dickerson, 35 K; Cindy Sisson, 41 K; Marylou Burton, 30 K; Richard Burton, 26 K; Janna Davis, 16 K; Yvonne Leutwyler, 8 K; Anna Dickerson Williams, 17 K; Elijah Dickerson Williams, 10 K; Claire Neaton, 21 K; Emma Laukitis, 21 K; Hannah Stonorov, 7 K; Catie Bursch, 13.5 K; Megan Corazza, 12 K; Rich Corazza, 6 K; Sonja Corazza, 6 K; Carlin Rauch, 24 K; Tim Schmidt, 10 K; Derek Bynagle, 11 K; Mia Alexson, 16 K; Quinn Alward, 16 K; Marie Alexson - 20 K; Pete Alexson, 40 K; Jen Booz, 10 K; Kaya Morelli, 17 K; Cynthia Morelli, 7 K; Libby Fabich, 8 K; Josh Vantrease, 14 K; Maddie O’Laire, 20 K; Michael O’Laire, 20 K; Carolyn O’Laire, 5 K; Alison O’Hara, 13 K; Alan Parks, 13 K; Mike Gracz, 11.4 K; Michele Stenger, 15 K; Nicky Szarzi, 10 K. Unknown – Jane Wiebe; Stan Purington; Kim Sweeney; Karen Northrup; Tanner Reid; Frida Renner; Lukas Renner; Heather Renner; Molly Marden; Renn Marden; Katie Marden; Brad Marden; Bob Ostrum; Tait Ostrum; Abby Ostrum; Elena Badajos; Jai Badajos; Charlie Trowbridge; Rebecca Trowbridge.
K A C H E M A K
S T A T E W I D E
Skiers of all ages had a good time at the recent Ski Your Age event.
Karl Eid Ski Jumps and Kincaid Park to host 2018 Nordic
Combined Junior NationalsNation’s top Nordic ski jumping and combined
athletes compete February 21-24The nation’s best young ski jumpers are coming
to Anchorage to compete in the 2018 Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined Junior Nationals, February 21-24. Approximately 70 of the country’s top ski jumpers and Nordic combiners will bring years of dedication and training to the 65-meter ski jump tower and to Kincaid Park’s cross-country trails as they strive to fulfill their dreams. This group of athletes will include at least four young Alaskans!
The event kicks off with official training 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Wednesday, February 21. The Individual Jumping Competition is noon-2:30 p.m. Thursday, February 22; the Individual 5K Nordic Combined cross-country ski race will be held at Kincaid Park at 4:30 p.m. Team Jumping will start at noon
Friday, February 23, followed by the Team Nordic Combined 1.4k x 2 relay at 4:30 p.m.
The event wraps up with the always exciting Elimination Jumping Competition on Saturday, February 24. This distance-only competition has jumpers going for broke in a head-to-head bracket format until there is a winner. The entire schedule is online at www.anchoragenordicski.com/jumpjr-nationals/.
Become part of an event that demonstrates the best of human character, the goal to excel, and the spirit of competition. We can always use volunteers and spectators! If you’d like to get involved, contact Karen Compton at [email protected].
Hope to see you at the hills!
PHOTO BY VIVIENNE MURRAY
From left, Gus Compton, Hugo Compton and Alex Murray are three of the four Alaskans already qualified to compete in this season’s Junior Nationals.
12 February 2018
the AlAskA nordic skier
Young skiers just strides away from representing AK on national/world stages
BY CCAKAlaskan skiers and biathletes re-
cently competed in national races that give them opportunities to pre-qualify for positions on their respective Team Alaskas at upcoming Junior Nation-als competition to be held in Soldier Hollow, Utah, in March. According to U.S. Ski and Snowboard rules, skiers who finish in the top 20 of the U.S. National Championships World Junior points list prequalify for their regional teams. Additionally, biathletes who earn positions on the U.S. World Junior Biathlon team automatically prequalify for their regional teams. This season, 15 skiers prequalified for Team Alaska, the largest field of prequalifiers since 2010-2011.
In early January, the 2018 L.L.Bean U.S. National Cross Country Ski Championships were held in Anchorage with over 300 skiers descend-ing upon Kincaid Park from around the nation. Alaska skiers took advantage of the home trail advantage and claimed the top of the podium in all eight championship races. For Team Alaska, theoretically, it could mean that instead of the base team size of 42, Team Alaska could bring 57 athletes to Utah. The base size of 42 is com-prised of 13 U18/U20 and eight U16 skiers of each gender. Actually bringing 57 skiers, however, is unlikely; as the World Championships for the biathletes (Grace Gilliland & Helen Wilson) coincide with Junior Nationals. Additionally, the prequalified collegiate athletes (UAA skiers Hailey Swirbul, Hannah Rudd and Jenna DiFolco, and UAF skier Anna Darnell) could be skiing in the NCAA Championships in Steamboat Springs, Colo-rado, which coincides with Junior Nationals. Bringing additional skiers to Junior Nationals gives a team more opportunities to garner points toward The Alaska Cup. At national (and international) events, skiers who place within the top 30 of a race are awarded World Cup points based on their results. The Alaska Cup is awarded to the regional team with the most cumulative World Cup points at the end of the series. This award has eluded Team Alas-ka for the past few seasons; nine additional skiers will give Team Alaska an increased chance to bring The Alaska Cup home. Best of luck to all
skiers!Additionally, 8 of the 12 World
Junior team skiers call Alaska home. Hannah Rudd, Hailey Swirbul, Molly Gellert*, Gus Schumacher*, Hannah Halvorsen, Hunter Wonders, Canyon Tobin and Luke Jager* qualified to attend the World Junior Champion-ships in Switzerland. Four of the 12 skiers named to the U18 Nations’ Cup team hail from Alaska. Ti Donaldson, Kendall Kramer*, Annika Hanestad and Zanden McMullen qualified to at-tend the U18 Nations’ Cup in Finland. (*These athletes qualified for both the World Junior Championships team and the U18 Nations’ Cup team.) The U23 World Ski Championships are held in Switzerland along with the
World Junior Championships and top Alaskan skiers Thomas O’Harra and Lydia Blanchet will represent the U.S. in this age group.
This is a lot of action before the second weekend of the ConocoPhillips Besh Cup race series! There are 38 positions still available on Team Alas-ka for Junior Nationals. Alaska allows skiers who place 21-30 in the U.S. National Championships World Junior points list to “auto-qualify” for a posi-tion on Team Alaska. While those who auto-qualify take up allocated quota spots, this gives them flexibility in regard to competing in the last two weekends of Besh Cup races.
CCAK skiers also have Arctic Winter Games to look forward to. This
event is open to skiers in the U14, U16 and U18 age groups and is a unique event with great international flavor giving Alaska skiers the opportunities to meet skiers from the Arctic regions of Sweden, Canada, Greenland and Russia. The Arctic Winter Games are considered the “Olympics of the Arc-tic” as the competitions also include hockey, downhill skiing, snowshoeing; as well as indoor sports enjoyed by Arctic communities such as basket-ball, futsol, volleyball, and even ping pong! The 2018 Arctic Winter Games will be held in Fort Smith and Hay River of the Great Slave Region of The Northwest Territories.
Follow Alaska’s skiers and news at crosscountryalaska.org.
S T A T E W I D E
the AlAskA nordic skier
February 2018 13
Three Alaskans named to the 2018 Youth/Junior Worlds Biathlon Championships For a second year in a row, youth
biathletes from Alaska dominated the Youth/Junior World Champion-ship Trials. Because of that success, Maxime Germaine, 16 of Anchorage, Grace Gilliland, 18 of Chugiak, and Helen Wilson, 16 of Eagle River, all qualified to attend the Youth/Jr World Championships in Otepaa, Estronia, in February.
This is the first trip to the Champi-onships for Germaine. Gilliland and Wilson earned spots on Team USA at last season’s Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia.
Germaine and Gilliland race for Alaska Pacific University and Anchor-age Biathlon Club; Germaine skis for West High School in Anchorage and Gilliland skis for South Anchorage High School. Wilson races for Eagle River High School, Alaska Nordic
Racing and Anchorage Biathlon Club. All three athletes are coached by Ma-rine Dusser, formerly of the French National Biathlon team, and assistant coach Marion Botessi, also of France.
This year, the trials were held in Coleraine, Minnesota, and with chal-
lenging temperatures as the upper Midwest plunged into a deep freeze. Due to extreme cold only two of the three trial races were conducted. More than 50 athletes from across the country competed; 12 Alaskans trav-eled to Minnesota
for the trials, representing Nome, Fairbanks, Anchorage, Eagle River and Chugiak.
Find event results at www.teamusa.org/US-Biathlon/Results/2017/December/28/US-Youth-Junior-World-Team-Trials.
F ind the Nordic Sk i ing As soc ia t ion o f Anchorage
on t w i t te r a t —
twitter.com/ nordicskiclub
S T A T E W I D E
S P O N S O R E D
OFF THE TRAIL
10 golden rules for injury prevention – From junior athletes to elite level athletesBY ZUZANA ROGERSPT, SCD, SCS, COMTAdvanced Physical Therapy
Being able to train and race on top
of your abilities without injuries
takes a very focused approach. Here
are 10 rules to keep in mind as you
progress in your ski career or in
your recreational ski endeavors:
1 Surround yourself with the right people. Proper medical
and coaching supervision for all skiers, whether high performance athletes or recreational skiers, must be done by qualified, competent and understanding professionals. Look for a medical professional that understands and/or participates in your sport.
2 Keep it simple. Be careful not to complicate or ‘over-diag-
nose’ your condition. Avoid re-peated treatment without progress. Avoid surgery as much as possible. Don’t choose plantar orthoses/arch supports as a first option – have your biomechanics and movement patterns checked first.
3 Your body WILL adapt! The human body was made to heal
if given a chance and it will adapt – as long as the applied load is not greater than the body’s capacity to adapt. Overuse injuries are caused by an overload of the body’s ana-tomical structures (bones, tendons, muscles). Every new stimulus must be integrated gradually.
4 Rhythm is the key! To mini-mize ground reaction force,
energy loss and injuries during running training (especially when cross-training during ski sea-son), keep your stride rate over 170 strides/min.
5 The surface. Flat surfaces make every stride identical,
repeating all biomechanical flaws. It’s better to use irregular surfaces or vary speed for a variety of move-ment adaptations and to distribute forces properly on the lower body.
6 Warm-up: a well-kept secret. Increase your body tempera-
ture by proper warm up (ski, jog, spin) for 15-20 minutes followed
by progressive functional ballast-ing stretching. Static stretching is a thing of the past.
7 Stretching: yes and no! Pre-workout static stretching
should be done ONLY if your move-ment biomechanics are altered by shortened muscle groups. Static stretching has been shown to de-crease performance. Use progres-sive ballistic stretching.
8 Naturally strong. Keep your feet strong during your ski
season – walk barefoot as much as you can. Don’t forget to work on your core, hips strength and bal-ance.
9 Cross-training. When injured, complete rest is rarely the best
treatment. A cross-training activity is recommended as soon as possi-ble. Any cardiovascular activity that is not painful will decrease recovery time.
10 We are what we eat – body and mind. Literally!
Quality, variety and balance are the most important words when talking about an athlete’s diet. You cannot outrun (or outski) a bad diet!
Source: TheRunningClinic.com
#ChoosePT #aptofalaska
ANCHOR AGE : ( 907) 279 -4266 | WASILL A : ( 907) 376 -8590 | FA IRBANKS : (907) 374 - 0992 | SOLDOTN A : ( 907) 420 - 0640 | SE WARD : ( 907) 224 -7848
Do you want to learn more? Come see us at Advanced Physical Therapy! Call for an appointment at any of our five locations statewide.
14 February 2018
the AlAskA nordic skier
AROUND THE INTERIORContribute to the Trail Fund
Have you noticed that Birch Hill’s trails are not being groomed as often? Donations are not keeping pace with expenses. The club has had to cut expenses, which means less groom-ing. If you want more grooming, please donate, and encourage others to do so, too. Please visit the club’s website (nscfairbanks.org) to donate. Click on Support NSCF > Birth Hill Trail Fund; recommended donation amounts will be listed there. The an-nual cost of the trail program is about $100,000 as our ski season is weeks to months longer than most places. This annual cost includes: labor, fuel, equipment maintenance and replace-ment. Grooming is paid for entirely by donations through NSCF and NOT the borough.
Fairbanks hosts ASAA State Cross-Country
Championships Feb . 22-24Alaska’s top high school athletes
will converge on Fairbanks for the
ASAA State High School Cross-Coun-try ski championship races February 22-24 at Birch Hill. The weekend will include events for boys and girls. The competition will start off with free technique interval start followed by classic technique with mass start and conclude with fun and exciting mixed technique relay races. Bring your cheering squad and cowbell to show your support for our Fairbanks athletes!
Sonot Kkaazoot registration available
The NSCF is proud to announce that registration for the 31st annual Sonot Kkaazoot is now available. Fair-banks’ annual spring skiing marathon will take place Saturday March 24, and will have 50K, 40K and 20K op-tions. The early registration deadline is 5 p.m. February 23. For more infor-mation, visit sonotkkaazoot.org.
The Alaska Nordic Skier in your inbox!
Get your Alaska Nordic Skier online and the links below are just a click away. To get only a PDF version, or both a PDF and printed version, please send an email request to
[email protected]. You can also get and share PDF versions at anchoragenordicski.com/newslet-ters.htm. Getting the newsletter only online saves our club money, too!
NSCF Calendar keeps you updated
Remember to check the NSCF Calendar for upcoming club events like races, social activities and more. Visit nscfairbanks.org for more! You
can also “like” the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks on Facebook to keep up with local events.
NSCF seeking Junior Nordics coaches
Our youth skiers are in need of your help! We have lots of excited, bud-ding Nordic skiers ready to enjoy this amazing snow and not enough volun-
S K I I N G U N D E R T H E N O R T H E R N L I G H T S
Who’s Who in the Nordic Ski Club
of FairbanksJ U N I O R N O R D I C H O T L I N E
457-4437
P R E S I D E N TSteven Hansen
V I C E P R E S I D E N TBruce Jamieson
S E C R E T A R YHelena Reuter
T R E A S U R E RAnna Sorenson
A T - L A R G E M E M B E R SEric BeutowKate Carey
Mike DonaldsonMark Winford
A D U L T L E S S O N S C O O R D I N A T O [email protected]
F A I R B A N K S J U N I O R N O R D I C SSally Endestad
F A I R B A N K S C R O S S C O U N T R YPete Leonard
Head Coach, Program [email protected]
R A C E P R O G R A M D I R E C T O RJohn Estle
B I A T H L O NHelena Reuter
T O U R I N [email protected]
Mike Schmoker | [email protected] Troyer | [email protected]
N E W S L E T T E R E D I T O RKate Carey
Nordic Ski Club of FairbanksFairbanks, Alaska
P.O. Box 80111, Fairbanks, AK 99708-0111Competition Office — 907-474-4242
Competition Fax — 907-474-2073Racing Hotline — 907-457-4434
nscfairbanks.org
NSCF Member Spotlight: Mike Hajdukovich, (Unofficial) Birch Hill Cross-Country Skiing Ambassador
My name is Mike Hajdukovich and our family has been members of NSCF for over 10 years. We have been cross-country skiing for over 40 years and my first memory of cross-country skiing was when my mom would try to get us all excited about following her on the trails and all us kids absolutely hated it. We downhill skied every week-end so XC skiing was way too much work and not enough speed. Mom is always right though. My brother got me hooked with a Birch Hill 30 degree skate session and my wife got me hooked on classic after buying me a fancy pair of classic skis for Christmas. The rest is history.
Now our family knows that there are two ways to get ex-cited for winter: classic skiing in the cold and skate skiing when it’s warm. I still tell these stories to first-time folks when they come into our store, Trax Outdoor Center in Fairbanks and soon Anchorage. My favorite place to ski is definitely Birch Hill AK :)! The groom, the variety of trails, the levels of difficulty, the chance of bumping into a friend, how close it is to our home, and the nighttime lighting that makes it look like Narnia are all the reasons why that’s home for me. I love Fairbanks. That’s where I was born and raised and it’s where I’ve had lots of great times with lots and lots of friends and family. Our family has deep roots in this area that go back to Gold Rush days so I just feel real comfortable living in the interior.
I enjoy many other sports and activities other than XC skiing, as well. Alpine skiing, basketball – which was my main sport for about 35 years – slalom waterskiing, wake surfing, paddleboarding, yoga, running and biking are some of the activities that keep me and my family active when we aren’t XC skiing. A cool new factoid about me is that I just got certified with 200 hours of yoga teacher
training! Coaches always stressed to me how important it would be to add yoga into my life to enhance flexibility, strength and my mindset into my game. Well, that really hits home the older you get and you want to still do all these activities at the levels you’re used to without getting injured!
#jusski
See AROUND THE INTERIOR, Page 15
Mike Hajdukovich works his way through the FNSB Winter Trails Challenge.
the AlAskA nordic skier
February 2018 15
teer coaches to go around. The number of Ju-nior Nordics participants is growing along with the interest in our awesome sport! You do not need experience to participate, just a positive attitude and love of skiing that you are willing to share. If you are interested, please contact Sally Endestad at [email protected]. Junior Nordics lessons take place Mondays at 6:30 p.m. at UAF West Ridge, Tuesday/Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Birch Hill and Sunday at 2 p.m. at Birch Hill. There is also a new daytime pilot pro-gram at 1 p.m. at Birch Hill Ski Center intended for home school children. See the club website at nscfairbanks.org for more information.
NSCF 50th Anniversary – Youth Ski Challenge
The 2017-2018 ski season marks the 50th year of the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks. We are encouraging kids in grades K-6 to get out on the trails to help us celebrate by skiing 50 kilometers this season! Ski with a friend, parent or coach and keep track of your distance – you will be surprised how far you ski! Registra-tion information is available at Junior Nordics, FNSB elementary schools and online – but you can start recording your Ks now! Awards for all finishers and each grade level and a “midway” prize once you get to 25K! Those that complete the challenge will be entered into a drawing for fun ski gear to be awarded in March. For more information contact Kate Carey at [email protected].
NSCF & Goldstream Sports host a beautiful night At Birch Hill
BY KATE CAREYThe seemingly constant Fairbanks darkness
took a calming, peaceful and beautiful turn at the Birch Hill Cross Country trails just after night-fall (4 p.m.) on January 4. Taking advantage of a generous donation from Goldstream Sports and the efforts of NSCF volunteers, over 700 individu-ally handcrafted ice hurricane/lanterns and votive candles lit up the warm-up loop and stadium invit-ing those both new and those experienced to the incredible Fairbanks trails.
Helena Reuter, NSCF board member, even cre-ated a YouTube video for volunteers to guide them through the ice lantern making process so the trail lights could be turned off. Both sides of the warm-up loop and the stadium were lined with glowing lanterns, including a pathway winding through the stadium.
Approximately 500 skiers – adults and children – joined the candlelight parade. Many new skiers dropped by after work with friends while others brought their entire families to participate in the event. The first 80 children received a small gift and inside the ski center happy families gathered to warm up and share coffee and hot chocolate doled out by happy kitchen helpers and munched on yummy cookies provided by Subway. The Goldstream Sports FINISH arch helped make the stadium festive.
Fairbanksan Somer Hahm brought her family
to enjoy the evening and said, “I loved the Candle-light Ski. We are big into Nordic skiing, and it was a fun family centered event. Enjoyed that it got us out at night to Birch Hill. It was so easy to follow the lights around the warm-up loop. My daughter loved it! The candles added such a beautiful atmo-sphere, it was a joyous occasion to gather with the community. I will highly recommend it to all my friends next year. What a treat!”
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AROUND THE INTERIORContinued from Page 14
F A I R B A N K S
PHOTOS BY AMY KULP
A group of skiers make their way down the warm-up loop at Birch Hill as the setting sun and lanterns light the trail, while a pair of skiers follow a lantern maze around the stadium during the Candlelight Ski.
16 February 2018
the AlAskA nordic skier
O L Y M P I C S
Perfect 10: Team USA roster packed with AlaskansRandall, Bjornsen siblings lead Alaska skiers into 2018 Olympic Winter Games
When U.S. Ski & Snowboard re-cently announced its 20-person cross-country ski team to represent the nation in the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, it also selected a team that would represent Alaska.
In one of the most exciting mile-stones in Alaska Nordic skiing’s already storied history, half of the skiers named to the 2018 U.S. Olympic Cross-Country Skiing Team were Alaskans and Alaska-based athletes. Some learned to ski in Alaska, going as far back as Jr. Nordic programs with the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage and the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks. Others took the leap from good to great by training and racing in Alaska.
The group is led by four-time Olym-pian and three-time World Champion-ship medalist Kikkan Randall, who has been Alaska’s, and America’s, skiing sweetheart for more than 20 years. She’s joined by two-time Olym-pians, and siblings, Sadie and Erik Bjornsen. The rest of the group with Alaska roots are first-time Olym-pians – siblings Reese and Logan Hanneman; siblings Caitlin and Scott Patterson; Tyler Kornfield, Rosie Brennan and Rosie Frankowski.
Shortly after the announcement, longtime Alaska skiing star Holly Brooks, who raced in the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics, summed up the magical moment in a column for the Anchorage Daily News, writing, “Thanks to the vision of our strong Nordic skiing leadership and the strength and depth of our community, a state with a tiny population will be represented in a huge way at the Win-ter Olympics.”
Alaska Governor Bill Walker tweeted, “What a team! Congratula-tions to all!” while
Nine of the 10 skiers train and race for the Anchorage-based APU Nordic Ski Team. Another APU skier who grew up in Alaska, Jessica Yeaton, will ski for Australia in the Olympics.
“I am extremely proud of our team – we committed to a big goal and worked really hard to get here,” said Erik Flora, APU program head coach, in a press release. “We are thankful for the support of our Alaskan com-munity and will be proud to represent our country at the Olympic Games.”
The U.S. has only one cross-country skiing medal in its Winter Olympics history – Bill Koch’s silver in 1976. This group, with its recent run individual and team success on the World Cup circuit, is primed to change that.
“These USA Olympians have prepared extremely well for Py-eongChang and are looking to rewrite U.S. cross-country skiing history,” Chris Grover, Team USA head coach,
said in a press release. “The U.S. Ski Team is headed to PyeongChang with one of the most talented and decorated Olympic teams of all time. Never in our history have we fielded a team with so many podium-proven World Cup and World Championship athletes. We also have incredible momentum in this Olympic season with 10 World Cup podiums secured by early January.”
The U.S. roster also includes stars like Sophie Caldwell, Jessie Diggins, Anne Hart, Kaitlynn Miller, Ida Sar-gent and Liz Stephen on the women’s team; and Patrick Caldwell, Simi Hamilton, Noah Hoffman and Andy Newell on the men’s side.
In PyeongChang, the 35-year-old
Randall will become the first, or among the first, U.S. women to com-pete at five Winter Olympics. It will also mark another notable distinction in a career that has elevated her to Alaska’s – and arguably America’s – greatest Nordic skier of all time.
“Five Olympics, wow! It’s such an incredible honor to be joining another U.S. Olympic Team,” Randall said in a press release. “I am especially excited about this team going into 2018 as the strongest cross-country contingent I’ve ever been a part of. We have the potential for some great individual performances from mul-tiple members of the team and I know we’re all really looking forward to be-ing contenders in the relay events.”
Randall was born in Utah, but spent the majority of her life and career in Anchorage, which she still calls home. The Hanneman brothers grew up in Fairbanks; Kornfield and Frankowski grew up in Anchorage.
Caitlin and Scott Patterson are
originally from Idaho, but spent their high school years skiing in Anchor-age. Both went on to college in Ver-mont – Caitlin still lives there while Scott returned to Anchorage.
2014 Olympians Erik Bjornsen and Sadie Bjornsen are originally from Washington, but have trained and competed in Anchorage for many years, as has Olympic newcomer Brennan (originally from Park City, Utah).
And Yeaton, who will ski for Austra-lia, moved to Anchorage from Perth when she was 12 and has lived there since.
Learn more about Team USA and follow the Alaska-based skiers at usskiandsnowboard.org, usskiandsnowboard.org/teams/cross-country, facebook.com/usskiandsnowboard and teamusa.org.
2018 WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING EVENTS(all times below are Alaska Standard Time)Friday, February 9 — Women’s Skiathlon, 11:15 p.m. Saturday, February 10 — Men’s Skiathlon, 10:15 p.m.Tuesday, February 13 — Men’s and Women’s Classic Sprint, qualification at 12:30 a.m., heats at 3 a.m.Wednesday, February 14 — Women’s 10K Freestyle, 10:30 p.m.Thursday, February 15 — Men’s 15K Freestyle, 10 p.m.Saturday, February 17 — Men’s 4x10k Relay, 10:15 p.m.Saturday, February 17 — Women’s 4x5k Relay, 2 a.m.Wednesday, February 21 — Men’s and Women’s Team Sprint, qualification at midnight, finals at 2 a.m.Friday, February 23 — Women’s 30K Classic, 10:15 p.m.Saturday, February 24 — Men’s 50K Classic, 8:30 p.m.
Learn more at olympic.org/pyeongchang-2018 and nbcolympics.com.
PHOTO BY U.S. SKI & SNOWBOARD
Sadie and Erik Bjornsen are ready for their second Winter Olympic Games.
PHOTO BY MICHAEL DINNEEN PHOTOGRAPHY
From left, Jessica Yeaton, Caitlin Patterson and Rosie Frankowski discuss their 20K classic race 2018 L.L.Bean U.S. National Cross Country Ski Championships at Kincaid Park.
PHOTO BY MICHAEL DINNEEN PHOTOGRAPHY
Logan Hanneman leads a quarterfinal freestyle sprint at the 2018 L.L.Bean U.S. National Cross Country Ski Championships at Kincaid Park.
PHOTO BY REESE BROWN
Sadie Bjornsen competes in the distance freestyle event at the FIS Cross Country World Cup in Davos, Switzerland on December 10, 2017.
PHOTO BY REESE BROWN
Rosie Brennan competes in the distance freestyle event at the FIS Cross Country World Cup in Davos, Switzerland on December 10, 2017.
PHOTO BY REESE BROWN
Kikkan Randall competes in a freestyle sprint heat at the FIS Cross Country World Cup in Davos, Switzerland, on December 9, 2017.
PHOTO BY JOSH NIVA
Siblings, and first-time Olympians, Scott and Caitlin Patterson.