Monday, January 25, 2010
Surviving January
The third week in January is always a check-in point for me.
We've had cold temperatures for couple months now, my Sorrells are permanently damp, the icicles are starting to take over our house, and I realize that we're only half way through the winter season in Colorado. Each year around this time I ask myself : "Can I make it?" "Where did that giant jar of hot chocolate go?" "What's Costa Rica like this time of year?"
For me, being part of the Nordic community and skiing with a competitive team ensures a 97% winter survival rate. (I figure the only way I won't make it to April this year is if one of the icicles threatening my house eventually breaks through the window and shoots straight into my heart. You should see them- definitely a 3% chance of happening).
Skiing with the CRMS nordic team gives us a chance to sweat, laugh, travel, and sometimes most importantly-work hard! This winter ritual, and the special moments along the way, are what keep me skiing until the last snow melts away. Here's a list of some treasures from the past couple weeks.
1) Nordic Team Superhero Friday (or in my case Saturday- see the photo below)
2) Skiing on Thompson Creek last Tuesday with Will and Judy Perry
3) Lina Sutro's second place finish in the Middle School 3k classic race at Vail on Saturday
4) Feeling the winter sun on my face while skiing up to Finlandia
5) Lady GaGa's "Poker Face"
6) The determination of Tamsin and Emily to finish the races at Vail despite injuries and taking a hit to their pride
7) The group of 5 skiers and Nick who represented CRMS at the RMD race in Durango on Jan 14.
8) Watching former CRMS ski coach Rob Stein ski with the team once again during last weekend's Saturday practice and time trial.
9) The Reese's candy hearts that Elliot always surprises us with after a long ski.
10) Watching wipe-outs on the steep downhills and wiping-out myself on steep downhills
The Vail race results can be found through a link on the right. A big thank you to Sandy Deveny for the great photos included with this post. We're headed off this Friday to Devil's Thumb (Winter Park area) for our next CHSSA race. More details to follow.
We've had cold temperatures for couple months now, my Sorrells are permanently damp, the icicles are starting to take over our house, and I realize that we're only half way through the winter season in Colorado. Each year around this time I ask myself : "Can I make it?" "Where did that giant jar of hot chocolate go?" "What's Costa Rica like this time of year?"
For me, being part of the Nordic community and skiing with a competitive team ensures a 97% winter survival rate. (I figure the only way I won't make it to April this year is if one of the icicles threatening my house eventually breaks through the window and shoots straight into my heart. You should see them- definitely a 3% chance of happening).
Skiing with the CRMS nordic team gives us a chance to sweat, laugh, travel, and sometimes most importantly-work hard! This winter ritual, and the special moments along the way, are what keep me skiing until the last snow melts away. Here's a list of some treasures from the past couple weeks.
1) Nordic Team Superhero Friday (or in my case Saturday- see the photo below)
2) Skiing on Thompson Creek last Tuesday with Will and Judy Perry
3) Lina Sutro's second place finish in the Middle School 3k classic race at Vail on Saturday
4) Feeling the winter sun on my face while skiing up to Finlandia
5) Lady GaGa's "Poker Face"
6) The determination of Tamsin and Emily to finish the races at Vail despite injuries and taking a hit to their pride
7) The group of 5 skiers and Nick who represented CRMS at the RMD race in Durango on Jan 14.
8) Watching former CRMS ski coach Rob Stein ski with the team once again during last weekend's Saturday practice and time trial.
9) The Reese's candy hearts that Elliot always surprises us with after a long ski.
10) Watching wipe-outs on the steep downhills and wiping-out myself on steep downhills
The Vail race results can be found through a link on the right. A big thank you to Sandy Deveny for the great photos included with this post. We're headed off this Friday to Devil's Thumb (Winter Park area) for our next CHSSA race. More details to follow.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
CRMS Hosts at Spring Gulch
A BIG Thank You to everyone who came out to cheer on the racers this past Saturday. Despite the very chilly days leading up to the race, Saturday brought blue bird skies, 40* conditions, and lots of smiles to the Alpine Bank Classic at Spring Gulch.We are also very appreciative of all the hard work put in by the SGNC, SG groomers, and other volunteers. At the end of it all, we sent about 300 middle school and high school skiers out on course. It was also a special treat to have two CRMS alumni return to forerun the race, Julia Hedman and Elissa Rodman, pictured in the photograph above.
Our CRMS skiers took advantage of racing on their home course; finishing with some great times. Of special note are Gus Griffin who finished 1st for the boys, in 11th, and Jacqueline Larouche who finshed first for the girls in 23rd. As a team the boys finished in 10th place and the girls finished in 8th place. After a little clean up and some play time on the megafone we headed to the Deveny's house in Carbondale for a well deserved Chili lunch! Mmmmm...
This weekend some of our skiers head to Durango for a RMD race, while others will stay to do a time trial at Spring Gulch and work on some downhill technique. Who knows... a trip to Snowmass may be in order.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
CRMS Race at Spring Gulch 11:00 AM SAT JAN 9
Preparing for our home race at Spring Gulch has been an exciting way to begin the second semester. It's been a couple seasons since CRMS last hosted a CHSSA race but race coordinator Elliot Norquist has pulled everything together very nicely. We are very appreciative of all the effort that he, Mehgan Larson, and the Spring Gulch Nordic Council have put into this race. I skied the course this morning as some big, wet snowflakes began to fall. Spring Gulch is at it's best right now!
As I mentioned to the team yesterday, for some reason many nordic races have a hard time drawing large crowds of spectators. Maybe its the spandex that scares them away; or perhaps the possibility of frostbite and the overzealous coaches running around with klister and torches. I haven't figured it out. But, I do know that races are one of the few opportunities that our highschool racers have a chance to show-off all the hard work that they have put into their training. And if you are worried that there won't be enough excitement for you I have a couple ideas:
1) Stand at the top of a long uphill and try to get a racer to smile. (This may require ridiculous costumes, offers of free hugs, etc.)
2) Stand at the bottom of a steep downhill and make bets on the biggest pile-up to occur.
3) Bring a grill, music, and lots of extra food. You will make lots of nordi friends very quickly.
Whatever it takes, get out there and cheer on the nordies!
SUPPORT OUR TEAM AND OTHERS THIS SATURDAY, JAN 9th. The highschool races begin at 11am and should finish up around 12:45pm. Treat yourself to a ski around the course once they've finished.
As I mentioned to the team yesterday, for some reason many nordic races have a hard time drawing large crowds of spectators. Maybe its the spandex that scares them away; or perhaps the possibility of frostbite and the overzealous coaches running around with klister and torches. I haven't figured it out. But, I do know that races are one of the few opportunities that our highschool racers have a chance to show-off all the hard work that they have put into their training. And if you are worried that there won't be enough excitement for you I have a couple ideas:
1) Stand at the top of a long uphill and try to get a racer to smile. (This may require ridiculous costumes, offers of free hugs, etc.)
2) Stand at the bottom of a steep downhill and make bets on the biggest pile-up to occur.
3) Bring a grill, music, and lots of extra food. You will make lots of nordi friends very quickly.
Whatever it takes, get out there and cheer on the nordies!
SUPPORT OUR TEAM AND OTHERS THIS SATURDAY, JAN 9th. The highschool races begin at 11am and should finish up around 12:45pm. Treat yourself to a ski around the course once they've finished.
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