In like a lion, and out like a....wait, it's even not March yet!

Two posts in one day....so sorry but I had lots of great pictures I wanted to get up!

While the rest of this winter has been "light" on the snowfall, February is trying to make up for it in its last week. Friday night we had a 17'' (yes, you read correctly: seventeen inches) storm followed closely by another 5'' last night. And the forecast has lots of snowflakes on each day of the next week too!

The new snowfall put a bit of a damper on the 10th Mountain Women's Day, which happened on Saturday morning. Not everyone was able to make it up for the event even after they delayed it till lunch time. I know Seth and I spent a solid two hours digging and snow blowing our way out of the driveway...and ours is a short driveway! For those who did make it out, the afternoon was a great time though and I hear that the snowshoe poker run after I left was a big success.

Sunday brought two more Aroostook Cups in Caribou. I only did the first, a mass start 5k skate race at Caribou High School. The second was a mass start 7.5k classic race at the Caribou Country Club. Both events were an awesome time. I wish I could have done the second as well but I had a biathlon time trial on Monday so I had to preserve some energy for that. I did take 1st in the women's skate race and 7th overall.

Monday was my most successful shooting effort at race pace yet this year. I did a four-stage pursuit format time trial on very soft trails, making the skiing part a bit harder than expected. Shooting however, was AWESOME! I shot 0,1,1,0 (meaning I hit 18 of 20 shots) for a 90% finish on the day. Great way to end a week of training!

Now, as always, some pictures:

 

Solid 16-17'' on the driveway....

With the wind that comes through our yard we end up with some tall drifts out back....

Line-up for the start of the Caribou 5k Skate Aroostook Cup (I'm in the white bottoms in the front row)

And they're off!

Heading into the last stretch...

Derek tries to put his skis while standing on a soft snowbank...he's standing on his right foot...about 18'' lower than his left ski! 

Start of the Henry Anderson 7.5k classic (L) and Seth (R) taking home the win and the overall pursuit victory. 

The drifts on route 161 were crazy! 

Seth and I had been trying (well not really) to kill a cactus that I brought up from home. After realizing it was probably being over-watered, sun-deprived, and frozen we put it on the dining room table. It's getting new leaves (it lost every last one) and new flower buds!

Up next: Aroostook Youth Ski Festival! Caribou High School, March 3, 8:30-12:30....BE THERE!

Middle School Racer Day 2012

Nordic Heritage played host to MWSC's 2012 edition of Middle School Racer Day last Friday.....

Lots of kids, lots of skiing, awesome weather. The result: LOTS of smiles and LOTs of fun.

(And LOTS of photos....)

Opening games....

Of course we played Alaskan Baseball!

V2 drills with Sarah

Game and agility station with Lauren and Welly....

Welly (L) and Lauren teach kids the "I'm a star" jump after making them pledge to try their best and remember to laugh if they fall down. 

Eric (L) teaches juniors about V1 uphill technique while Lauren (R) shows off her figure skating abilities on one ski...

More V1 work with Seth's group...

Sammy and Anya (L) lead the V1 charge while Amber (R) demonstrates a V2 jump technique...

V2 station coaches Sarah, Bonnie and Danni soaking up the wonderful sun (L). Danni leading in a follow-the-leader V2 drill...

V2 balance drills in the stadium with Danni (L)

Everyone jump! 

Sharks and Minnows before lunch in the stadium (L) and then the transition to classic in the afternoon: Seth explains uphill striding (R). 

Erik (L) demonstrates high hips and hands in double poling while John (R) gets his kick-double pole on. 

Double-pole relay races with Welly. 

Uphill striding technique work (L). This kid from Ashland won the "Good Sport of the Day" award. With a broken arm he couldn't use poles so his activities were more challenging but to his credit, he tried everything at least once before deciding if he could do it or not! 

 

More uphill striding before a final wrap-up chat back in the stadium. 

Kameron evades Lydia who's trying to steal his feral cat tail...

Where Can Skiing Take You?

Some inspiration from a friend of mine, Lauren Jacobs, has lead me to brainstorm all the places I've skied:

*Places I've skied this year are bold. 

NH

Gunstock Nordic Center - Gilford

White Mountain Regional High School – Whitefield

Monadnock High School – Swanzey

Great Glen Trails - Gorham

Jackson Ski Touring Center - Jackson

North Conway Recreational Trails – North Conway

Waterville Valley Nordic Center - Waterville

Blackwater Nordic Center - Andover

Bretton Woods Cross Country Ski Center– Bretton Woods

Oakhill Nordic Trails - Hanover

Lake Sunapee Golf Course – Lake Sunapee

Holderness School - Holderness

Wonalancet Wander course - Wonalancet

The Balsalms - Colebrook

Lucy Farm - Conway

Keene Country Club – Keene

Sandwich Fairgrounds – Sandwich

 

VT

Ethan Allen Firing Range – Jericho

Vermont Academy – Saxtons River

Putney School – Putney

Bolton Valley Nordic Center – Bolton

Trapp Family Lodge – Stowe

Craftsbury Outdoor Center – Craftsbury

Smuggler's Notch Road – Stowe

Stowe Nordic Center – Stowe

Sleepy Hollow Nordic Center – Huntington

Prospect Mountain – Bennington

Grafton Ponds Outdoor Center – Grafton

Ole's Nordic Center – Waitsfield

Rikert Touring Center – Middlebury

Mountain Meadows – Killington

 

ME

Black Mountain – Rumford

Gould Academy – Bethel

Sugarloaf Outdoor Center – Carrabassett

Sugarloaf USA – Carrabassett

Rangeley Lakes Nordic Center – Rangeley

Pineland Farms – New Gloucester

Deering Park – Portland

Caribou High School – Caribou

Caribou Country Club – Caribou

Nordic Heritage Center – Presque Isle

Aroostook State Park – Presque Isle

10^th Mountain Ski Club – Fort Kent

Lonesome Pines – Fort Kent

Madawaska Elementary School – Madawaska

Four Seasons Trails – Madawaska

Limestone Wildlife Refuge – Limestone

 

MA

Notchview Nordic Center – Windsor

 

USA

Lake Placid Ski Jumping Complex – Lake Placid, NY

Mount Van Hoevenberg, Lake Placid, NY

Saratoga Biathlon Trails, Saratoga, NY

Dewey Mountain Nordic Center, Saranac Lake, NY

Salmon Hills Nordic Center, Redfield, NY

Rendezvous Ski Trails, West Yellowstone, MT

Bohart Ranch, Bozeman, MT

Mt. Itasca, Coleraine, MN

Michigan Tech Ski Trails – Houghton, MI

ABR Ski Trails – Ironwood, MI

Ponderosa State Park – McCall, ID

McCall Elementary School – McCall, ID

Soldier Hollow, Midway, UT

Snow Mountain Ranch, Estes Park, CO

Rabbit Ears Pass, Routt National Forest, CO

Auburn Ski Club, Donner Summit, CA

Royal Gorge, Soda Springs, CA

 

 

Canada

Foret Montmorency – QC

ValCartier – QC

LaPatrie Biathlon Center– QC

Mont Sainte Anne – QC

Gatineau Park – ON

Charlo, NB

Canmore Nordic Center, AB

Morraine Lake Road, Lake Louise, AB

 

ABROAD

Dachstein Glacier, Ramsau, Austria

Stevio Glacier, Mals, Italy

Vuokatti Ski Tunnel, Vuokatti, Finland

Toksovo, outside Saint Petersburg, Russia

Tarvisio, Italy

A few more fun numbers: 

Number of states I've skied in: 12

Number of countries I've skied in: 7

Number of teams I've skied for: 5 (not including Eastern HS, J2, or Junior National teams)

Number of coaches I've skied for: 14

Number of pairs of race skis I bring to a biathlon race: 6

Number of pairs of skis I own right now: 13

Number of poles I've broken in races: 0 

Number of poles others have broken for me in races: 3

 

 

Staying busy in The County....

These last few weeks have been filled with wonderful skiing but also with lots of activities. I helped instruct at Aroostook Women's Ski Day in Presque Isle, have visited Madawaska Elementary School a handful of times, helped out at a few high school races in Madawaska and Presque Isle, skied with middle-schoolers in Fort Kent, done my one-and-only classic (double-pole) ski race of the season, and enjoyed some great weather. Pictures....as always:

First, a shout out to Atomic because my new Skin-Tec Waxless Classic skis are AMAZING! They are truly a biathlete's dream come true. We can't step on our shooting mats with sticky kick wax on our skis and fish scale skis are un-fun. But these are awesome. Everyone should have some. 

 

Not to mention that they just look plain awesome. 

BethAnn and I went for a tour at Aroostook State Park a little while back...the trails are in great shape and we got to witness some igloo building at the campsites. Cool stuff! 

 Visiting with the Madawaska Elementary School PE classes...outside on SKIS! 

Visiting Madawaska Elementary again....this time for After School Ski Club! 

 

 

 

We had a great time....always helps when it's not frigid out! The kids enjoyed some games (Feral Cats and Sharks and Minnows) and then we toured the trails and took on the downhills!

Aroostook Women's Day this year was a HUGE hit...I think we had around 100 women out on skis if you count volunteers and instructors. We also got really lucky with the weather....while it was chilly, the SUN came out! 

(photo credit: Tom Shay)

I couldn't resist the urge to break out my tutu. I only get to wear it so often these days....

(photo credit: Tom Shay)

Setting course for a skating agility and cornering course...

(photo credit: Tom Shay)

We began Women's Ski Day with the best Zumba session I've been a part of...jumping around in the snow with great music blasting can get me warm even on a cold day! 

What's next? 

Aroostook County has a whole slew of events coming up: 

Check out the Aroostook Outdoors site for a full line-up but here's what looks like fun to me: 

2/24 is Middle School Racer Day at Nordic Heritage in Presque Isle....lots of fun for middle school racers...I'll be there so come join me for some fun! 

2/25 is 10th Mountain's Women's Ski Day in Fort Kent and Aroostook Family Fun Day at Aroostook State Park. 

2/26 is Aroostook Cup #5 at Caribou High School at 11 am and Aroostook Cup #6 at Caribou Country Club at 1:30 pm. 

3/3 is Aroostook Youth Ski Festival at Caribou High School Trails....this is definitely the most fun kids event of the winter! Don't miss it!