Check out the APU Nordic Ski Center in the news...

I realize that a thorough update is well overdue (and I promise that one is in the works), but until I get around to posting, check out the latest article on the APU Nordic Ski Team (my team of many years). We trained on snow on the Eagle Glacier at the Thomas Training Center for the first time this summer at the beginning of June, and the Anchorage Daily News did a great story on our first camp. On Monday we head up to the glacier again for camp #2, and I'm excited for some totally undistracted training AND lots of skiing on SNOW!

Back soon with a more lengthy update...

The finale, a new beginning, and a big thank you!

It's May. Up in the mountains the crust skiing is still amazing, but the remnants of winter are soon to be gone. The telltale signs are in town... The trees are beginning to bud, and the vibrant fresh green of spring is beginning to burst out over the formerly dull brown landscape. The new training year began two weeks ago, so nearly every morning I've been making my way up from springtime into the mountains in search of hard, crusty, fast snow to ski on. Crust skiing is something Nordic skiers looks forward to in the spring. At a time when the days are warm and sunny and the nights are clear and below freezing, the snow goes through a magical freeze-thaw cycle, turning any terrain that is still snow-covered into a firm surface perfect for gliding on.

My APU teammates and I are back into the swing of training for the race season still many months away, and we're doing our best to take advantage of every on-snow opportunity, since it's a matter of days before the last skiing will melt away, and we'll be on the roads rollerskiing. But before I get ahead of myself, I suppose I should make sure to properly wrap-up the 2009-2010 season and the short period of down time in between then and now...

After a great time in Europe, I traveled back to the US, stopping in Vermont for a few days to see my grandmother, skiing at nearby Bolton Mountain Nordic Ski Area for training. After a little rest from the travel, some great time visiting, and a little (or more than a little!) laundry washing, I was back on the road heading up to northern Maine- Fort Kent and Madawaska, to be exact. There I finished off the season with the 30km freestyle National Championship, followed by three more races. In the end it was four races in five days, a good, solid finale to the season.

30km skate National Championship in Fort Kent, Maine

On the day between the 30km and the last three races, I was an instructor for Fast and Female, a program designed to empower young girls through participation in sport. Chandra Crawford, a Canadian cross-country skier and 2006 Olympic gold medalist founded Fast and Female, which now organizes events throughout North America. This was the first US events outside Alaska, as the only other Fast and Female ski days have been in Anchorage and Fairbanks. Kikkan Randall, APU's own 3-time Olympian, has spearheaded the US Fast and Female events over the last two years. Once again, she (with the help of the Maine Winter Sports Center and NENSA) pulled together all the elite women racing in northern Maine and encouraged us to be ambassadors for our sport.

Well over 100 elementary-aged girls from Madawaska, Maine participated in Fast and Female.

The girls were divided into groups based on age and assigned to a few elite athlete ambassadors/instructors. Once we'd met each other, we made headbands (with the colored paper assigned to our group) to display our names, and we made up a team name and cheer- which we performed for all the other girls.

Fast and Female, along with the last four races in Fort Kent and Madawaska, marked the conclusion of my season, and after a fun, but tiring time, I was headed home to Alaska.

Once at home, it was time to get out and play... but before I had a chance for that a nasty stomach flu knocked me out for a few days. With that behind me, I set out making the most of my spring. I got out back country skiing a couple of times...

Practicing my tele skiing in Hatcher Pass, Alaska

Not long after I'd settled into the pace of life at home, I was back on the road, visiting Crested Butte, Colorado and spending some time in Moab and Lake Powell, Utah.

I crust skied in Crested Butte, despite the red dirt that had blown in from the desert and covered the snow. The conditions were surprisingly good, dirt and all, and the terrain for crust skiing was spectacular. For some variety, I did a little tele skiing and skinning (summiting Mount Crested Butte), as well as a little snowshoeing.

After a few days in Colorado, it was time to get warm, so off to the desert we went. We stopped in Moab for a night and went mountain biking the next day before jumping in the car for Lake Powell.

The four days in Lake Powell were hot and sunny, and I added more variety to my "off" season training with some swimming and hiking. The lake was largely vacant, as it's considered to be early in the season, which meant we had lots of space to ourselves. We camped on a beach across the lake from Bullfrog, a small establishment and marina, and during the day we hiked, boated, and swam. At night we roasted marshmallows over the campfire, grilled sausages, and told fireside stories. For this Alaskan, the cool nights were a nice change after hot days in the sun and sand so warm it hurt your feet. Despite my low tolerance for heat and having to put on endless amounts of sunscreen, I had a wonderful time in the desert.

Hiking around Lake Powell

Checking out the Defiance House Native American ruins in Lake Powell.

After a break jam-packed with fun and different activities, I am now back home. Two weeks ago we shocked our bodies back into routine with the 3rd annual APU team start-up camp. There was no easing back into training. Nope, it was a jump-right-in kind of week, complete with testing, hard intervals, lots of distance training and LOTS of skiing on snow in Anchorage. It felt a little brutal at first, but my body soon adapted, remembering that life's usually this way!

After the start-up week, the team buckled down and made last minute preparations for our 1st annual APU team fundraiser. Since the beginning of April, we'd been planning a huge end of the season celebration and fundraiser to help cover our racing expenses from the past year. We'd gone out into the community to ask for donations for our live and silent auction, sent hundreds of invitations, planned floral arrangements and decorations and slide shows, and on May 4th we had an incredibly successful event. Thanks to many generous donations, we were able to raise more than enough money to cover our travel and racing expenses from the season, with the remaining money going into our competition fund to help with our bills for next year.

This fundraiser was an incredibly eye-opening experience. It helped me realize just how amazingly supportive the Alaskan community and my own individual community is. After a long season and at the beginning of a new one, I'd like to take the chance to thank my family, friends, and supporters for everything they've done for me. I'd like to thank my hometown- Talkeetna, Alaska- for believing in and supporting me. I'd like to thank the people who attended the APU fundraiser, as well as those who made donations. I also want to recognize my sponsors, who have made it possible for me to be a ski racer. All of you are part of my community. You are part of my dreams and goals, and I can't thank you enough!

So now it's onward towards another season. It's time for more hard work and more training, and I'm psyched and ready to begin. Thanks for following and stay tuned!

Oh, the adventures I've had...

What a spring of skiing, racing, and traveling it has been! I started with the Birkie in Wisconsin, flew to Europe, and traveled (and ski raced my way) through Germany, Italy, France, Slovenia, and Austria. Unfortunately, the OPA Cup racing did not go as I had hoped, but I've had an incredible time nonetheless.

An Austrian cow, spotted on an adventure through the old city center of Salzburg.

Coming off some good ski "marathons" I was excited to tear it up in Europe, but things did not quite go my way. I had no way to anticipate how much a couple of long races, a lot of travel, and a little food poisoning would take out of me. And while I'm familiar with a lot of travel, I didn't really know much about my body relative to marathon distance ski racing. I know I can race fast, and I've done so in Europe. Unfortunately, this time around I wasn't in good racing form.

All I can say is that I really love traveling and skiing. I love Europe and miss it already. I've learned a ton, and I can't wait for more opportunities to ski race! So now I'm on to more racing (tomorrow I head up to northern Maine for the season finale). But first, a few of the highlights from Europe...

• Everywhere we traveled, we seemed to be in a blizzard. Ramsau, Austria, for example- it was a winter wonderland in mid-March...just the way I like it!

• I couldn't help but be in awe of the ski culture in Europe (I am every time). This beautiful little wax room, complete with boot dryers, was just outside the entrance to our hotel. Ski trails were everywhere. People skied to the grocery store...

• The "Sporthotel" where we stayed was 400 meters from Ramsau's World Championship XC Ski stadium.

Now onto a little non-ski related European fun...

• Castles were everywhere, as they tend to be in Europe. They never cease to amaze me, so on a day off, we took a little detour and visited the Hohensalzburg Castle (one of the largest medieval castles in Europe).

So once again my European travels have come to an end. I was honestly sad to leave the great snow and ski trails, the good racing, spectacular scenery, great food, and the camaraderie and fun! My travels were inspirational and make me want to train more and work harder so that I am able to continue this incredible life as a ski racer.

A roller coaster ride through the snow in Rogla, Slovenia.

The boys went five times each!

It was some serious FUN!

Thanks to everyone who has helped, supported, and encouraged me this season. Thanks to those of you who have housed me, sponsored or funded me, and cheered me on. I could not travel and race without you! Stay tuned for an update from northern Maine and the last races of the season...

Life is good in Ramsau, Austria!

The Ramsau, Austria 1999 World Championship stadium.

Training in Ramsau. Heading to Munich tomorrow to fly back home.

It's been a great trip. Stay tuned for a better update to come...

Rogla, Slovenia

We’re in Rogla, Slovenia- the land of huge snow banks, blowing wind and snow, and the site of a World Cup just a few months ago. My second weekend of racing on OPA Cup tour is nearly here, and it’s the OPA finals. We start with a 2.2km classic prologue on Friday, followed by a 5km classic mass start on Saturday, and then a 10km skate handicap start on Sunday.

After a good week of training and racing in France, yesterday we headed out east, covering nearly one thousand kilometers through three countries. The drive was long, but spectacular. Castles, tunnels, fantastic Italian food, beautiful mountains, good chocolate, and great company made for an enjoyable day of travel. We arrive in Rogla tired, but happy to see snow (as much of our drive passed through areas devoid of any sign of winter). We settled into our accommodations- little “bungalows” located behind a massive hotel and adjacent to the alpine and Nordic areas. Blustery conditions greeted us, continued through the night and have yet to let up. Snowdrifts cover the roads, walkways, and ski trails. Parked cars, trees and streetlights are plastered with snow, and the snow banks are twice my height.

Today we trained at the Nordic venue, just a ten-minute walk from the hotel. The wind was howling, so we dressed warmly and made our way to the trails. Although most of the other teams have yet to arrive, the area is still beginning to feel like a race venue. People were putting up fencing in the stadium, the piston bully was out grooming, the courses were marked, and Slovenian team was also out training. The wind was a force to be reckoned with, having scouring the tree-less areas of the course, dumped snow on the newly groomed trails, and would quickly chill any exposed skin. At times I felt like I was standing still on my skis, despite my efforts to move forward, while other times the trees provided welcome shelter and a fortunate tailwind gave me a little extra push.

This storm is expected to pass by Friday, in time for the races to begin. I hope it does, but mostly because I want to see where I am. Just as in France last weekend, I know I’m in a spectacular mountainous place, I just can’t see more than a few hundred meters ahead of me. No matter what the weather does, I think we’re in for some good racing though. The field of racers is solid and the courses are world-class. Stay tuned for more updates from this weekend and the rest of the season!

Two Views

The view from my balcony in Saint Francois de Sales, France as the sun sets.

Not bad at all!

The view from the ski trail yesterday, taken during my distance session around 11am.

The trails were packed with people out skiing, including tons of children. Rumor has it that it's "winter break" for the schoolchildren of Paris, which makes sense judging by the number of kids who were out there cruising around today. How cool!

*On another note, one of my fellow "OPA cuppers" posted a great account, with photos and the inside details I neglected to include, of our "little" trip 25km to Chambery, France on Thursday afternoon. Brayton Osgood was among the five of us on that particular adventure. Check out his post here.

Anchorage to Wisconsin to France...

The end of the season is still over a month away, and I've jumped back into the thick of it with a big schedule of races. After a little down time following US Nationals and a short, but intensive training block, I set my sights on the second half of the season. It was good to take some time to reflect on my racing, goals, and the ups and downs of life as a ski racer. Ultimately, I realized my true love of ski racing, through the good times and the challenging. One of my friends insightfully reminded me that the difficult times are so hard because of the passion I have for skiing and racing. So I suppose it makes sense that this path I have chosen to follow is the one for me. The frustration of not meeting my own expectations this season is a bump in the road, motivation to be better, to train harder and persevere.

With that in mind, I rebooted and planned a 5 1/2 week multi-stop trip with races in Cable/Hayward, Wisconsin; La Feclaz, France; Rogla, Slovenia; and Fort Kent and Madawaska, Maine. The whirlwind began three days before I left Anchorage with the local 30km freestyle Sven Johanson race at Kincaid- one of my favorite local races. It was a great race and the perfect tune up for my next race, the American Birkiebeiner. The Birkie, as it's nicknamed, is the largest race in North America, with around 7,500 participants. This year the Birkie was in it's 37th year, and it was the largest field of racers to date (registration actually had to close early because the limits had been reached for each wave). It was also a notable year for a few other reasons... Wisconsin put on quite a show with a glorious blue-sky day, perfect temperatures, a fast course, and the loudest crowd of ski fans I have ever heard cheering each and every person as they skied down Main Street to the finish.

The Birkie was a great race for me. 50km long- a point to point race from Cable to Hayward, Wisconsin- it suits my strength as a distance skier quite well! This year it was also part of the Worldloppet race series, a calendar of the best (and biggest) marathon-distance ski races taking place all around the world. Having had a great experience in the Engadin Ski Marathon in Switzerland in 2005- the only other Worldloppet race I've entered- I was excited to check another Worldloppet off my list! This year the Birkie featured a solid field of elite North American skiers, and I knew it would be a perfect start to my trip.

I am happy to say, it did not disappoint. I was warmly welcomed to the Cable/Hayward area by the president of the Birkie Foundation, Dennis Kruse. He helped me register for the elite wave and then generously offered me a place to stay at his beautiful home, conveniently located near the race start in Cable, Wisconsin. It was a fun-filled four days, with good training and previewing of the Birkie trail, ski testing, race waxing, racing, and celebrating! I had great waxing and race support and put down one of my best performances of the year, skiing to 2nd place in the women's field in a time of 2 hours 16 minutes and 49 seconds. I skied 44km of the 50km with a pack of women, which gradually decreased in size as we went. In the end, it was down to three of us with 6km to go. I skied hard, finishing exhausted and totally pumped with my podium finish.

5km into the 2010 American Birkie (L to R: Taz Mannix, Jojo Winters, Maria Stuber, Rebecca Dussault)

Photo Credit: Kelly Randolph

Two days-post Birkie I was on the road again. This time travel consisted of a 3 hour drive to Minneapolis, 13+ hours of flying (to Atlanta and then Munich), 2 hours of waiting in the Munich airport, followed by ~12 hours of driving through several countries. After being in transit for well over a day, and through numerous times zones, I arrived in the tiny town of St. Francois de Sales, France. By 10pm we had unloaded the vans, settled into our rooms, and were devouring a dinner of potato gratin. Shortly thereafter I was fast asleep, jet lagged, exhausted, and so happy to be sleeping horizontally once again.

Entering the tiny town of St. Francois de Sales- home for a week.

Since I’ve been here I’ve enjoyed fantastic skiing, beautiful scenery, exciting car rides on narrow roads, great camaraderie with awesome people (American, French...), and great food. While I've traveled around Europe quite a bit as a ski racer, this is my first time to France, and I've been really excited to experience a new European culture. Even though I basically can't communicate beyond gesture and mime, I've taken in so much.

One of the few houses in our small little town

Some of my favorite things about France so far include: the architecture- the blend of old and new; castles and fortified towns (I just can't get enough of that!); the incredible mountains and beautiful scenery; and, last, but not least, the food! The time I passed in the Munich airport was no big deal... because there was an amazing bakery right at the exit of terminal 2. There were bread, pastries, and gourmet sandwiches galore. I was definitely caught going back a second time!

Yesterday I got out for an afternoon to check out a city 25km from our tiny village, and again included food in my adventure. After checking out the amazing church in the town center and meandering through the cobblestone streets, we couldn't resist stopping at the patisserie.

Checking out the incredible architecture of the church in Chambery.

Standing outside one of the patisseries we found.

The afternoon wouldn't have been complete without an exploration of the local cuisine. The local pastry shops did not let us down with bakery cases full of croissants, macaroons, nut and fruit tarts, pound cakes, butter cakes, tiramisu, eclairs, linzer sables, dozens of varieties of cookies, bars, and more! As an aspiring baker, this was definitely the highlight of the afternoon and a good sweet snack for the ride home.

Yesterday we snuck in a little non-ski related adventure, but today we're back in ski mode with racing this evening and Sunday. In typical central European "OPA Cup" fashion, the team sprint races tonight don't start until 7pm (for men) and 8:50pm for women, with the last heats going after 10pm. It's not what we're used to in the US- racing at 1opm- but it's bound to be fun and competitive. I'm sitting this one out, having just carried a pretty high racing load over the last couple weeks of marathon racing. That, coupled with tons of travel, is hard on the body. When I decided to come on this trip, I knew that this would be a good race to sit out in preparation for the distance skate race on Sunday.

So that, in a nutshell, sums up my life since US Nationals. I put in a little training block after Nationals, and now I'm on the road being a ski racer. It's a pretty fun life!

Thanks for tuning in... Pending internet availability, I'll be posting from my next stop in Rogla, Slovenia next week.