Canmore Norams

December first marked the start of the race calendar this year but I was heading out a week early. Changes in environment, particularly altitude can take a while to adjust to. I hopped on Air North, bags tipping the scales at just overweight enough not to get charged. I arrived in Calgary with my four teammates and some thirty or forty skis between us. Renting a car when you’re under twenty-five isn’t simple. It usually involves a hefty under age fee. Other times it involves cool Dave sweet-talking the rental agent. Just like we smoothed things over with that friendly lady at the Air North counter. After the rental van was stuffed with five dudes, five ski bags, five duffel bags, and four hundred dollars of Costco groceries, we hit the road to Canmore, Alberta.

The trails in Canmore were designed for the 88 Olympics and are extremely hard. The races last weekend (Dec. 1, 2) were also used to qualify athletes for the Canadian World Cups this December.

The first race was a skate sprint. A short course and fast conditions made for fast times. The race ended up being just over two and a half minutes. I had an OK qualifier and finished as fifteenth open man. My quarterfinal was very close. Everyone finished the two and a half minute race within one second. I finished fifth. I was a little disappointed because with everyone finishing so close, it could have been anyone’s race. Because a few athletes decided not to take their spot in the World Cup I actually got offered a spot in Quebec. This was a nice surprise but I decided that spending two grand to fly to Quebec to do a three-minute race and get my ass kicked is not worth it. I’ll focus on World U23s.

start of my quarterfinal

finish of my quarterfinal

Sunday was the 15km Classic. I almost always do well in this discipline, but this time the Canmore hills got the best of me. I started out at a good pace, maybe a little too good. But in order to glide up the hills and not run you’ve got to go pretty hard. I was getting sixth place splits and caught the guy who started thirty seconds ahead of me. I lasted to about kilometer twelve of the fifteen-kilometer race. Then I hit the wall and I hit it hard. All of a sudden I couldn’t kick my skis, my muscles were chalked full of lactic acid, and I was gasping for air. I knew if I could just hang on for another couple minutes I would have a start on the World Cup. I flopped down on the finish line and had to be dragged into the first aid room. My throbbing headache finally went away and after sipping on apple juice I could finally stand up. I don’t think I’ve ever been that out of it after a race.

I ended up losing nearly a minute in those last couple kilometers and went from sixth to thirteenth, missing out on a world cup spot by fifteen seconds. I know I’m faster than how I raced that day but I was feeling great for most of the race and I even when I was “hitting the wall” I gave it all I had so I’m happy. I’m also happy for my teammate David Greer who will be representing our team in the Canmore World Cup.

This past week I’ve been enjoying perfect skiing conditions in Silver Star. The next races won’t qualify me for a world cup but I’ll be racing against the guys that are qualified and this time I’ll be sure to avoid hitting the wall.

Rabbiting

The first races are only a week away and it feels like I should be half way through the season. I guess we have been skiing for 5 weeks… still I'm feeling fresh and can't wait to start racing. Most of the big hours and hard strength workouts are already over and now its the easy part.

On Yukon Elite Squad we really help each other out and bring as much to the training as possible because our strength is in our team. We don't have a coach at every interval session so its upon ourselves to encourage each other to push harder. It feels like a real team rather than a bunch of dudes skiing under the same name. I have 3 sisters but no brothers, so these guys kind of fill in the gaps.

Team spirit is at an all time high right now. Could be to do with our new custom race suits or it could be that we're all stoked that we made it through the training season and now we get to prove ourselves. I'm not sure if any photos got leaked of our new suit but for now I'll keep it a surprise. Here's JP looking sharp in our new warm ups, courtesy of Swix. You'll be happy to know he no longer has that moustache.

photo by David Greer

I'll be flying down to Calgary on Sunday to have a week to acclimatize before the first races. But don't expect to see me lounging around the Rocky Mountain Ski Lodge anymore. I'll be shooting pool or maybe having a hot tub in the Yukon Elite Squad mansion. Ok, it actually belongs to Colin's uncle but its ours for the week! I sure hope Canmore isn't 7 degrees on Tuesday as forecasted. I was going to complain a little bit of having to race on man made snow but for now i'll just pretend I'm one of those Quebecers thats all giddy to just put on their skis for the first time this year. 

There is lots to be done before leaving to Canmore but Colin and I managed to squeak in a day of what i like to call "rabbiting". We set out some snares to catch a few snowshoe hare and exceeded our expectations.

photo by Malkolm Boothroyd

Ten snowshoe hare in one day! Just think what we could do if we weren't skiing all the time. We kept all the meat and plan to make rabbit sausage. Once I learn how to tan the rabbit hides we will be making, hats, mittens, or perhaps a quilt. I've also heard the First Nation cut it into strips and weave it to make clothing. Fur of a snowshoe hare is softer than the softest kitten imaginable and i can't wait to find creative ways to use it. 

Time trial tomorrow and then off to Canmore Sunday morning! First races are on December first and second. Look for a Knute Johnsgaard publication in upcoming issues of Whats Up Yukon!

ON SNOW!

Skiing is underway in Yukon. Take a look at the ski chalet and you wouldn’t believe it, but drive 15 minutes up the Descent trail (Mt McIntyre) and you’re in the North Pole. Temperatures hover around minus 15 degrees Celsius with close to a foot of cold dry snow.

October 11^th was the day this year. 2 days before Canmore laid out their seventy thousand dollar sheet of ice. Kidding! Not about the 2 days before, but I’m sure the groomers do a good job… on their 1.8 km loop. To be fair I did hear they have some real snow now. But there must be some reason this guy drove all the way up to the Yukon.

Enough about Canmore… did you hear Yukon is the 4^th best place to visit in the ENTIRE WORLD? According to Lonely Planet anyway. Maybe Its because I was born here; I mean everyone loves their hometown. I do believe it’s something more than that. 14 sq km of wilderness per person and a 2-1 ratio of moose to human, what more could you ask for? Saying that it seems impossible that I would be unable to find a bull moose this year. I’ll have to go looking for bison now. Or ask @davidgreer99 to share some of his. There’s no recovery drink like a moose steak.

Training wise, we’re still meeting at least seven times a week, in the gym trying to build those explosive sprinting muscles, and on the trails working our heart and lungs. Its great to be home, but I’m getting antsy to start hopping from hotel to hotel. Or motel to couch, all the same. 

Heres a little video of John doing his warm up routine in the gym. Don't let his size fool you. 

September in Yukon

September in Yukon: people have to get up an extra five minutes earlier to scrape off their car windshield. Come October they’ll be shoving a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator. I would be too... if I had a car. Instead I’m wearing a buff under my Rudy helmet.

The days are getting shorter. If you sleep in you can practically miss one. Everything gets jammed into that small window of daylight. I find myself eating dinner an hour after lunch and being ready for bed until I see its only 8pm.

A couple weeks and we’ll be back on snow I hope. There’s a new ski trail cut from the Fish Lake road to the Frazer loop on Mt Mac. Having helped cut that trail myself, It will be that much more satisfying to ski. The trails close to the chalet have decent skiing from early November. Fish Lake however, only fifteen minutes away, has snow 2-3 weeks earlier because of its higher altitude. We’re looking forward to showing off our new trail and early snow to CVTC who will be coming up for a training camp in early November.

For now we’re still pounding out intervals on pavement. The more you make it hurt the better it feels to stop. A feeling I’m starting to get addicted too.

Outside of skiing, I just got back from an awesome (although unsuccessful) moose hunt with Colin and Fabian. I still hope to find a moose yet as my freezer has a lot more rhubarb in it than it does meat right now. 

Canoeing, fishing, and just being out in the wilderness is very relaxing. Not physically, because portaging your canoe around rapids and countless beaver dams is no walk in the park; but mentally, because you’re not thinking about everything else you should be doing like finding sponsors and filling out your training log. Doing more outside of skiing, makes me all that more motivated during training, so I seem to be able to push myself harder. 

Glacier to Glacier

The Denver

The Denver Glacier had a lot of miles put on it this past July. We’d wake up from our damp wall tent, take two steps out the door and snap on the zeros. For five days we skied through a mix of foggy, snowing, and bluebird conditions. Typical Glacier weather I guess: never knowing what to expect. Training was phenomenal. 

Higher intensity training and speed work was difficult because our baskets punched though the snow’s crust, especially later in the afternoon. There are no trails on the glacier and we had a loop specially groomed only the day before we arrived (making punchy conditions inevitable). I could only imagine what it would be like to have a pisten bully up there. Still the skiing was amazing; the last day especially. Not a cloud in the sky and a smooth crust to explore the whole glacier.

 It was hard to stop skiing that day, but we had to make the hike down to Skagway and drive home. Only a three hour hike and two hour drive later, I was back in Whitehorse for a much needed shower. First glacier camp in the bag.

                                                             The whole glacier crew

Now we’re In Anchorage about to hop up on the Eagle Glacier. I don’t know where the rest of July went. A lot of it was spent fishing. Caught my biggest lake trout ever. A little over 15 pounds. 

Hit’n the Training Camps

Summer has not moved north yet. July 3^rd with daytime high of 14 degrees, I reminisce about the weather at nationals this past March. But cold weather hasn’t stopped us from putting in big hours on training camps.

Our first Yukon Elite Squad camp took place right here in Whitehorse. Believe it or not, it felt good to get some hours in on roller skis after spending so much time on snow this spring. I forgot how nice the roller skiing could be in Whitehorse. A paved footpath following the Yukon River goes the length of the town and we are able to complete a loop, an hour or so long. We’ve also been enjoying the odd “urban roller ski” and if the weather permits, cooling off in the lake after intervals. RIGHT after intervals…

We pulled off a lot of quality workouts including a couple long road bike rides to prepare ourselves for the Kluane International Bike Relay the following weekend. The Yukon Elite Squad smashed the field in the 4-person category.

Having an at-home camp seems very beneficial to me. That is as long as you can stay focused and remember its still a training camp. Why waste energy and money on travel when there is the making for a great training camp at home?

Our latest camp was a hiking camp in Atlin, BC with the Yukon Ski Team. A 3-hour drive down a dusty road brings you to the beautiful town of Atlin. Population: 400. The town is located on Atlin Lake, which is home to the highest fresh water island in the world (Theresa Island). Staying in tents, like every other Yukon Ski Team camp, we cooked bison roast over an open fire and made atlatls on our off-time. We did 3 hikes, one a day, along some beautiful mountain ridges. On the last day we did a  30 minute running race up a steep-ass mountain.

Navigating the ridge through the fog

boot skiing like a pro

up-hill running technique: using arms to drive legs up the mountain

(Photos by David Greer)

Getting back to at-home training camps and how silly it is to create unnecessary travel/fatigue… we could fly to Austria to ski on a glacier but there is literally a glacier 130km from my house. That is why this Friday we will leave to here, the Denver Glacier.

These shabby wall tents will be our home for 5 days. “Sleeping on glacier, no good.” You say? Well the best thing about this glacier is it’s at 1400m. The same elevation as Canmore! The Denver Glacier is a short but treacherous hike from Skagway, Alaska. There are dogsled tours offered on the Denver Glacier all summer long but as far as we know, nobody has ever skied on this glacier. So for the time being we will call it an experimental camp. If it works out, we could be back here several times a year.

Total cost for Glacier camp: about 300 bucks!

Stay tuned to here about the Denver Glacier camp in the following weeks!

Mountain Sliding

CRAZY carpet

Colin and I taking crazy carpeting to a whole new level

catching burbot

yesterdays catch: 15 burbot and one lake trout

Hiking Yukon Style

Climb a thousand vertical metres with dry feet and slide all the way down? Next time we're bringing a wooden toboggan.

The Rumours are True

Word got out. For a while now there has been a rumour going around that the Yukon boys (David, Colin, and myself) were leaving their training centres to return to their one true home. Yukon! We will be joining Yukon ski team members John Parry, Ray Sabo, and Fabian Brook to create our own “elite” branch off of the Yukon Ski Team. Team name and details are yet to be finalized (I’m open to suggestions), but the blueprints are laid out.

First thing I would like to make clear is that neither me, Colin or Dave despise training centres. We simply see the Yukon as better suited to fulfill our needs or desire to become a better athlete. 

There is the obvious benefit of extended on-snow training (late and early season), as well as the psychological benefit that I will call the “happy benefit”. As you know, the most important thing is for the athlete to be happy with what he or she is doing. Plain and simple, I am happier in the Yukon.

The structure of our team lies in our own hands, which is both a good and a bad thing. There is a sense of freedom to be running on a program you’ve created yourself, but also there’s the added stress of having to organize these things that would normally be taken care of for you on a training centre.

It will be somewhat of an experimental year to see how things turn out. That being said, we would not just throw our training centre positions out the window for something we believed wouldn’t work. After all, our goal is all the same: to become the best athlete possible.

I am flattered by the interest in our “team” from outside athletes but because of the low-key, unofficial (but highly professional), stand point we cannot support outside athletes. Sorry, maybe next year!

Our team has got off to a great start; spring skiing being at its best! The snow is going fast though!

Less time training has given me more time to build some willow furniture.

And practice my tomahawk and slack line.

The lakes are getting a bit soft for skiing…

  

But the ice fishing is still good!

epic spring ski videos to come!

Nationals- a good ending to a great season

After Turkey I was in rough shape. I needed to recover fast but sometimes taking it easy can be the hardest part. With the most beautiful spring skiing conditions, all I could do was watch from the living room window sipping on tea and eating soup. With only a few days left to nationals I was finally starting to feel like myself again. I did my first intensity workout on Wednesday, three days before the first race. Here is a look at how the weather changed during the week.

 the week before nationals….

….during nationals

Just as expected the first race, the team sprint, came with the warmest temperatures of the year. 15 degrees and as you could imagine the skiing conditions were marginal. Skiing in ankle deep slush, I teamed up with John Parry to finish fourth on the day. Also from Yukon, Dave and Graham finished second and Colin and Ray finished sixth. Next year we’ll fill the podium.

hammering up the hill in the team sprint.

The classic race came with similar conditions; warm and wet. I felt great and pushed hard up all the hills in the sloppy tracks. My skis were not great but I think most other peoples were not great either. I crossed the line satisfied with my race but not ecstatic. I was surprised later on when I found out I had the fastest time! Also winning Gold medals for Yukon was Dahria and Fabian.

 here i am finishing off my classic race

The warm weather continued on to the 15km skate. I was having a great race, feeling light on my feet and hop-skating the up-hills. It was the downhill’s that really slowed me down. My skis were really bad this day. They almost seemed to stick like a suction cup to the wet snow. Not an issue of waxing, some skis are just slow in different conditions and these ones sucked today. What could have been a great race was still a good one as I finished in 4^th place, 3^rd Canadian.

in the skate race with my way-too-small leader bib

With a day to rest I was all prepped for the sprint race. Expecting the same sloppy snow conditions, I was surprised to be warming up on a rock solid track. The trail crew did a great job of salting the track overnight to firm things up. It was hard to stay on your feet in the icy conditions so I felt unbalanced and uncoordinated in my qualifier. The heats were better. I cruised through my quarterfinal in second place. In the semi I was holding on to second spot when I lost a pole on the last uphill. Someone had stepped on my basket just at the wrong time and my hand just slipped out. I thought of turning around to pick it up but with four more people charging up from behind I just free skated like mad with one pole all the way to the finish to squeak in to a “lucky loser” position. I would also like to thank my teammate Raph for snatching up my pole and trying to get it back to me in the race, in a way sacrificing his own position. By the final I was toasted and had to settle for 6^th place. I was happy to still be holding on to the leader bib at this point.

lunging in my semi final with only one pole

Finally the weather had taken a turn for the better and the course froze overnight. The conditions were fast and icy. For the mass start 30km the pace let out really slow. Sometimes when no one wants to be at the front the pack can stay together skiing easy until the finish where there’s a sprint, much like cycling. Nearing the end of the first lap we hit the icy downhill. Going about 60km an hour I got tangled up and skidded off the trail into some spectators. I scrambled to my feet amazed to find all my equipment intact. From 60 to zero in 2 seconds and I found myself at the very back of the pack. Soon after I fell the two Norwegians made a break off the front of the pack. This was what I was waiting for. Unfortunately there was a wall of 30 skiers between the Norwegians and myself. In no longer than five minutes I was back at the front of the pack but by that time the Norwegians were long gone. Nobody even tried to follow them. Much to my demise the pace slowed down again and we continued like this for almost the entire race. I felt so strong but I had to keep myself from making stupid decisions. Trying to make time on the Norwegians by myself on the second lap would not have been smart. I waited until the last kilometer or two before I started actually “racing”. The only one who could match me was Stefan Sander-Green with his unreal tempo in double pole. I was lucky to get him in the finishing stretch.

leading out a slow pace in the 30km

It was an interesting race. I was happy to win and become Junior Canadian Champion but also embarrassed that the Norwegians were so far ahead. I felt like letting them know we’re not always this slow in Canada.

It was great to rebound after a disappointing time in Europe. It has been a great season for me and although ski season may be over here in Quebec, Skiing is at its prime right now in the Yukon.

Once Dave and I can find the vehicle registration and insurance papers we will be departing on an epic journey back to the Yukon in the Kia Sedona. 6 thousand K past the Great Lakes, Prairies, and Rocky Mountains; the mother of all road trips. You can expect twitter updates along the way. We will also be looking for generous people to offer us their hospitality. The Sedona is great at cruising the highways but offers little comfort for sleeping and has limited food-making capabilities.

Quebec Update

I was relieved to finally be back in Canada after Turkey. However, unlike most athletes I was not home. David Greer and I are staying in Quebec for the two plus weeks between Turkey and the National Championships here in Quebec. This gives us a good opportunity to adjust to the conditions here and not to mention we saved some extra travel costs.

David and I are both staying at Mireille Belzile’s (Alex Harvey’s mom) house. For a skier in Quebec it couldn’t be in a better location. We can literally ski from right outside our front door. It’s a five-minute drive from MSA and a five-minute drive from the ski chalet.

Living here is very comfortable and easy. The fridge magically refills its self and for the most part dinner is waiting for us at 6:30 pm. Life is a breeze, but life is also boring, or at least right now it is. The past week has gone by very slowly. With nothing to do, not even cook dinner, I am ashamed to say that Dave and I have past the time by playing Age of Empires (currently level 18).

I don’t know what it is about flying over seas, but it seems for me, more often than not I get sick. When I was young I could chew a piece of gum off the sidewalk and I’d be healthy as ever, now I can’t even walk into an airport without getting sick. Long story short, I’m still sick. It has just been one sickness after another. Right now I’m on round two of sore throat.

On top of being sick for real, I can pretty much say for certain I’m home sick. Not home sick like most people for their mom’s cooking (although my mom is a good cook). And not home sick for my bed. I hear people say all the time “I miss my bed”. 90 percent of hotel beds are better than the one I sleep on at home, I can tell you that. I miss the mountains and fresh air. Nothing compares to Yukon. Turkey has mountains, but no trees and the air is toxic. Quebec is close with trees, and fresh air but there is only one mountain that you might as well call “Hill-Saint-Anne”.

I shouldn’t talk down Quebec right now though because the skiing lately has been amazing up until now (It rained all last night). But don’t worry National athletes; it would have to rain for a week straight to melt all the snow here. The last week has been spring skiing at its best. Beautiful. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to take full advantage of it, being sick and all.

I have been resting and resting. I am just desperate to get healthy by Nationals. As Excited as I am for Nationals, I am almost more excited to get the season over with and go home to the Yukon. It’s been way to long since I’ve been on a Yukon camping trip but plans are already in order!

Sickness and Sorrow: Italy to Turkey

After Easterns my flight itinerary went as follows, Ottawa-Toronto-Munich-Istanbul-Erzurum-Istanbul-Geneva-Montreal-Quebec. My overnight flight to Munich went quite smoothly. It was an empty plane so it was comfortable to sleep and watch movies. From Munich we drove to Livigno, Italy, often getting lost on windy mountain roads looking for our hotel. We were looking in the city when actually our hotel was at 2200 meters on top of a mountain pass.

Livigno was beautiful. As you would most places in Italy, we dined on fine Italian pasta, veal, and croissants. I took it easy for most of the training as I picked up a cold on the way over seas. The hotel’s scented steam room helped clear my sinuses and by the time we were leaving to Turkey I was confident I was on the mend. After some intervals in the neighboring city Bormio, we headed back to Munich. I guess we were wrong to think we would be better off on our way back. The road out of livigno through Switzerland was closed. The would-be 4 hour drive just turned into an 8 hour detour. Here we are in our steam room.

                                 In the van

After 8 hours crammed into a van with 40 plus pairs of skis we finally found the Movenpick hotel. After sleeping at altitude for the past week I slept like a baby. The next morning I woke to this amazing breakfast, which I later discovered, gave me food poisoning. 

We waited 5 hours in the sweltering Istanbul airport before we made it to Erzurum. Our hotel there was even at higher altitude; 2400 meters. Just as I was recovering from my cold, I woke up with a stomachache. I choose wisely to not ski that day as later on I started puking all day… and four the next four days until finally I went to the hospital. I spent the night there sucking up IV fluid. After almost having my appendix removed for no reason I was finally diagnosed with Gastroenteritis. If spending a night in a sketchy Turkish hospital wasn’t enough, my taxi broke down on the way home and I walked home from the hospital (and the hotel is on top of a mountain). Here is the view, looking down at smoggy Erzurum from our hotel.

 I was finally getting better but there was only a couple days left until the racing started and I hadn’t skied for 6 days. Anyone would know it is less than ideal to be sick leading up to a race but I still came into the races with high expectations. Those expectations were shattered in the sprint qualifier were I was an entire 17 seconds off the lead. There was bad luck with the rest of the team too. Alexis and Graeme were just outside of qualifying in 33 and 31 position and Heidi, one of only 2 Canadians to qualify, had her ski pop off in the quarterfinal.

Just when I thought my racing couldn’t get any worse I got completely annihilated in the 10km classic. My skis were great, I did a good warm up, but my body was just not recovered after being sick.

The pursuit went better but I still felt helpless after about 10km. I finished the race in 49^th position. Geoffrey had a great race finishing 20^th and the junior girls did well too.

I had a much better race in the relay having the 7^th fastest time on my leg. It seems I am getting my strength back now so I think with another 2 weeks I will be set for nationals.

 After a disappointing week of races we had a day in Istanbul to snoop around. We visited such significant religious buildings as the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace. It looked just like the movie Aladin. We saw priceless jewels: more gold, diamonds, rubys, and emeralds than I’ve ever seen in one place. They were so significant you were not even allowed to photograph them. We also visited the Grand Bazaar and Spice Market: an enormous and almost overwhelming market full of crazy salesman who will do anything to lure you into their shop. We had a great meal at a Kebab restaurant and that was the last of Turkey. Here is the Blue Mosque.

It is great to be back in North America. It was unfortunate that I was sick for my first and only World Junior Championships but I came away with a good experience and I am looking forward to redeeming myself at Nationals. Here I am in the relay.

Easterns

photo credit: musicianonskis.ca

After Westerns I flew "home" to Quebec. I actually don't have a home in Quebec but luckily our team doctor and mother of Alex Harvey, Mireille Belzile was nice enough to invite me into her home for a week. The first day I was in Quebec it rained. I wasn't impressed. Then I got a taste of the real Quebec winter. 50cm of snow came out of nowhere. I couldn't help but build a huge snow fort. Surely it will still be standing in march when i return to Quebec. All that powder snow made for so gnarly conditions for intervals. 

Driving to Ottawa: I had the pleasure of riding shotgun in the Tercel through freezing rain all the way to Gatineau. Etienne and I stopped at every Subway along the way #5dollarfootlong. We rolled up to the Motel Chevalier where David Greer was already waiting. 

Easterns was another mini-tour (3 races are combined for an overall result). The first race was a skate sprint. It was an interesting course, almost completely flat with one steep-as-hell hill right in the middle. My qualifier was good, my skis felt fast and I was ready for the heats. In My quarter-final I took it out nice and easy, deciding to let the others lead. It worked well as I skied only as fast as I had to to move on. It was risky though. there were people falling everywhere. In my semi-final I wanted to stay out of the trouble that I barely avoided in my quarter. I started fast and finished safely in third place to advance to the final. The final was just nuts. we all came into the steep hill together. skis and poles were everywhere. I took the safe route along the outside. One skier went down. I was sitting in about fourth place when the pace seemed to slow down a lot. I wanted to speed up but there was no place to pass and the skier who fell was able to catch up. as soon as he had caught up, he was tangled up again but this time he took out 2 other people. I jumped over some skis and dodged some bodies to find myself in second place which I kept to the finish. 

The next day was a 15km individual start skate. Another interesting course; 3 laps, the first half of the loop is very flat and the second half, full of hills. I had a very mediocre race finishing third junior but well off the winning time of Graeme Killick. 

Once again I had some major time to make up in the final stage of a mini-tour. The last race was a 30km classic, the first of my career. I started fast to catch Alexis, Lee, and Colin. Once together we started catching people one by one. I should also mention that although we skied as a group, most of the "work" was done by long time friend and teammate Colin Abbott. The pace seemed very steady for the first 5 of six laps. A 30km is long but I think it hurts less than a 15. On the last lap things started to pick up. Colin made a move starting the sixth lap. I waited another 2km before I dropped Lee and Alexis. I pushed hard on the uphills because my skis were quite slow but had decent grip. I caught Colin just before the finish and was able to get him a the line. I moved up 8 places in the over mini-tour standing. A good day!

After the race i watched the Super Bowl. Not a big fan of football but it was exciting game, even though i didn't have money on the line like so many others. The next day I would leave to Europe and as luck would have it I woke up with a sore throat. After checking out of our hotel at noon we really had no choice but to chill outside the motel with our ski and duffel bags for 2 hours until our ride came. I didn't get to see GWS at Winterlude! If one good thing came out of this day its that I had a row to myself in the airplane. 

Updates from Livigno, Italy to come!

The Typical Week

“It’s T-G-I-F day”, someone declared. “Thank God its Friday”. I thought about for a second and grinned. Fridays are great and all, but I would just assume thank God its Monday, or even Wednesday. If you’ve watched “Office Space”, or have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, you might also have had the misfortune of hearing the phrase "sounds like someone’s got a case of the Mondays." What does that even mean? For a skier like me: not much. For the most part, weekends are race days, and weekdays are training days. Switch Mondays with Fridays and I’m almost back in high school, minus the academics.

Since Mondays mark the end of a race weekend, they’re just about the best day there is (exception: birthdays, Christmas ect.).

Tuesdays are great because you’re a little more recovered from racing. Monday you are relieved, but also fatigued. Tuesday you have the whole week ahead of yourself and you’re feeling stupendous.

Wednesday you’ve got intervals to do. You work hard but you know it’s for a good reason. When it’s done, it’s done. Wednesday is satisfying because you’ve accomplished those killer workouts. Unlike Tuesday you can now look forward to not doing intervals tomorrow.

Thursday is chill. There’s no stress because you’ve still got another day before the next race. You’re on holidays. Build a snow fort.

Friday is the last of the “training days”. You’re nervous but you’re in a great mood because you’re excited to race and you’ve just built a snow fort.

Saturday you’ve got to bust your ass. You waited all week for this now you get to turn on the after-burners and hit the NOS. If you win your drag race it’s a bonus, if you lose you have another race tomorrow!

Sunday you’ve got to double down: all or nothing. If you win your drag race you get to pop champagne (yesterday you couldn’t because you had a race the next day), if you lose you have the whole next week to look forward too.

Westerns

Westerns: I was in Canmore once again. It was a relief to have the trials over with and now it is time to prepare myself for World Junior's in Turkey this February. Raph and I decided to race senior as to have better competition and experience.

The first couple days in Canmore were cold. 10 to 15 degrees warmer than home but still a good minus 30. The forecast had Friday pegged at just above minus 20 (the cut-off for races). I put on my warmest long underwear; 260 merino wool Icebreaker. The first race was a 10km classic, individual start. I went out nice and easy because I know what those hills in Canmore can do to a man. Right off the start I felt my skis were hard to kick. In testing the day before I decided to go with Brent's second pair because they were faster than my first... rookie mistake. I should have known that Brent not only out-weighs me, but is also able to kick just about any ski out there. The wax was great, but the skis were too stiff. I had to work a lot harder than I should have to stride up the hills. "Steeper than a cows face" they would say in Alberta. To make thing worse, there was a drastic change in the weather, where it warmed up 10 degrees in a little over an hour. There I was in my wool shirt and long johns, desperately trying to climb the hills as I gasped for air. When it was all over, I was two and a half minutes off Brent's winning time. My first not good race of the season.

The next day was the Sprints. It was my first sprint in the senior devision. It was another hard sprint course, with gradual uphill leading up to a steep pitch before you go back down into the stadium. My qualifier was good. I was 14th. In the quarter final I was paired up with Jesse Cockney, Colin Abbott, Steffan Lloyd, Patrick Stewart-Jones, and Etienne Richard. We were all evenly matched throughout the whole race, skiing side by side and cutting each other off the whole time. It was a mad sprint to the finish where I ended up third behind Jesse and Steffan. There was five of us within one second of each other. Unfortunately I just missed out for the "lucky loser" and finished the day in 14th, same as the qualifier. A satisfying race.

Now it was the 15km skate. It was a pursuit start where we start in accordance to where we finished in the previous two races. I had some ground to make up from the classic race. I bolted out of the start to catch Etienne, Andy, and Patrick who started just ahead of me. Before long we were skiing as a pack and reeling people in. On the last lap we had lost Etienne and Patrick and picked up Steffan and Harry. We all had Raph and John in our sites leading up to the finish. with about 500m to go I found my self with a pole between my legs and flat on my face. I got up quickly as I could but I was clearly out of the sprint by that time. It was a disappointing way to finish the race but I was happy with how I skied leading up to the fall so it was a good race all the same.

Back in rainy Quebec now. Next on my list is Easterns but right now I'm focusing on the snow fort Etienne and I are building in Camille Pepin's front yard.

World Junior Trails

It was a great weekend for almost all Yukon skiers at the races in Whistler this past weekend. The conditions were mild and sunny with the exception of Saturdays race when it dumped snow. Leading up to the races I knew I was more than capable of qualifying as long as I continued racing how I had been earlier in December.

The first race was the 20km skiathlon. Racers ski a 2.5km course 4 times in classic, switch skies, and ski another 4 laps of a different 2.5km course in skate. Raphael and I took turns leading a group of 4 other skiers in the classic portion of the race. The last lap I made a push on the big hill out of the stadium to drop some of the scragglers. It was now just me, Raph, and one other skier who managed to hang on to us. I had a really fast exchange from classic to skate and came out of the exchange zone just ahead of Raph. On the second lap of the skate portion, Raph was pulling away from Alex and I. I continued leading Alex for the rest of the 3rd lap of the skate while Raph slowly put seconds on us. Its a shame Alex and I couldn't work together more to try and close the gap. Finally, Alex tried to make a move on the last lap of skate which I was able to follow. My plan was to stay behind him going into the stadium and to out sprint him in the finish. Alex unfortunately, turned into the inside lap lane when we were finishing. When you enter on the wrong side of a v-board you have to turn back and go around the right way. Knowing this, I expected Alex to turn around in which case I could easily coast in to the finish. Instead he cut through the lap lane, to the finish lane, and we continued sprinting to the finish, where he nipped me to the line. I was mad at myself for not pushing over the last uphill and for losing the sprint but i also knew cutting the corner into the finish was not allowed and that Alex would be disqualified. Its really too bad for him because it was a great race for him and even if he had turned around, he would have place comfortably in 3rd place.

After a day of rest and skiing the sprint course, It was now the sprint day. I had a great sprint in Rossland so I was excited to sprint in Whistler. Thursday through Saturday had been sunny, hard pack conditions, but we woke up sunday to 6 inches of fresh snow. The makes skiing a lot slower. The qualifier was brutal for me. Hills I could usually one skate I was off-setting. Instead of gliding on your skis you were lifting them over deep ruts of fresh snow. In my quarter final I was once again matched up with Alex Mahoney. This Time I got the best of him in the finish shute, even though I had the outside track in the powder. Some luck for Alex this time though, he was lucky loser anyway. (The top 2 athletes in each heat qualify automatically and there are 2 "lucky losers" who post the next fastest times). My Semi final went a lot smoother where I won over Geoff Richards. Raphael had won the qualifier but told me he wouldn't challenge in the final to save himself for the following race. (otherwise I think he could have won). I started fast but blew up hard on the first up-hill. My legs were at their maximum lactate threshold. The deep powder snow never made me feel more helpless as i dragged my legs along using my upper-body. Geoff Richards who favours these conditions, was the clear leader on this day, which was more or less "last man standing". I "bonked" so hard I was sure I would be caught and finish last. It was by far the slowest final I had ever skied. some how I manage to hold on to second place. Turns out everyone was as tired as I was. Here I am lunging Ezekiel Williams By 12ms to take 2nd place.

I was completely spent after the sprint race and two 2nd place finishes still did not guarantee me a spot on the world junior team. I did everything I could to recover. I napped, drank lots of water, stretched. To my surprise, I felt not half bad in the morning. I started out nice and smooth on the 15km classic course. The hills are massive but I had great wax on my skis and was able to stride them easily. I felt like I skied really smooth right into the finish. A great race especially considering how exhausted I was just the night before. The only thing that could have made it better was if I had someone to ski with. I ended up 10th overall and 2nd junior behind Raph who got a ride off David who also had an amazing race placing 3rd overall and first U23.

The World Junior team is yet to be announced but it looks like it will be a great team. I will be joining my CNEPH teammates David Greer and Raphael Couturier as well as my yukon teammates Dahria Beatty, Janelle Greer, and Emily Nishikawa. Read about Whitehorse dominating the trials at http://www.cccski.com/Media/Haywood-Race-Report/Haywood-RACE-Report--NorAm-Live-Timing.aspx 

I leave to Canmore for Westerns tomorrow. More updates to follow