Stepin' It Up at States- Frisco

Wednesday afternoon members of the CRMS campus sent our Nordic and Alpine Teams on their way to Frisco where they'll spend Thursday and Friday racing against many of the top high school skiers in the state. Coaches Nick Brown and Max Stevens did a special report on the event for the local Post Independent, during which they expressed the great amount of pride and excitement that the whole school has for these skiers. The link can be found at:

The 2010 nordic state team consists of Gug, Sam, Maggie, Florentina, and Maria. While Gus, Sam and Maggie have skied past seasons, competing in States is quite an accomplishment for Maria and Florentina who both just started competitively sking this season.

The classic race was held at 2pm today which undoubtably made for an interesting adventure in ski waxing for our beloved coaches Nick and Elliot.

The Women's Team earned 7th place for the classic race with Jacqueline in 19th, Maria in 33 and Maggie in 41st.

The Men's Team earned 12th place partially as a result of having only two skiers to earn points. Gus had an excellent race, coming in 5th for classic, and Sam finished 37th.

Hoping to have some photos to upload soon and results for the skate race tomorrow afternoon!

Final CHSSA Race of the Season

We finished off an excellent season of CHSSA racing on Saturday in Aspen. The team was especially excited to see some of the professional skiers competing in the Super Tour and Owl Creek Chase cheering them on. For many, Nordic Skiing climbed the "cool scale" a couple notches at least. It was exhilarating to Sam and Emily come in oh so hot- with their best races of the season. Emily EVEN HAD FUN! We were happy to introduce the visiting Dr. Bonyo Bonyo, originally from Kenya, and his children to the sport. A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to the Kaufmans who had us over to their beautiful house after the race. Panninis, tomato soup, pez candy, and a blizzard. All in a day up at Aspen.

Kate Whitcomb, all-star nordic skier from Sun Valley came to ski with the team on Tuesday. Despite having walking pneumonia Kate challenged our guys and girls to take those turns fast, give up their fear of falling, and push V2 technique through our mid-week pickups. She keeps a blog at: http://sunvalleyonline.com/links/2010/02/15/watching-the-owl

It was a pleasure to have Kate ski with us. We took these photos expressly to send to our greatly-missed Hannes in SV.

Nordic in the News, Dress- up, Fundraisers

There have been a lot of Nordic happenings during the past week that require acknowledgment.

• CRMS alum Robel Teklemarian plans to compete in the Winter Olympics next week for the Ethopian Nordic Team! Here's a great article about his training time at Spring Gulch, past olympic experience, and goals for the future. Also notable, the excellent interview with CRMS coach Mark Clark. http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/139142

• Our CRMS team raced last Thursday in Steamboat. The 5k skate course was challenging yet rewarding for many of our skiers. The complete list of results can be found in the important links below.

• An especially motivated group of CRMS nordies decided to follow the Steamboat race with a 10k tour in Crested Butte on Saturday. As clearly depicted by the accompanying photos (graciously contributed by Sandy Deveny) the Ally Loop was filled with silliness and adventure. What fun to ski down Mainstreet! Faculty spouse Shannon Myer also skiied the Ally Loop and upped the annie with the 30k course. Rumor has it that she did quite well!

• CRMS Coaches participated, along with about 80 others, in the Ski for Sisu fundraiser at Spring Gulch on Sunday. Heavy snows failed to deter those eager to crank out some laps and the dedicated SGNC volunteers kept serving up brownies and warm drinks throughout the day. Especially impressive was Lina's 25 k ski (2 laps) with her father Tripp. Nice work Lina!
  

• This Tuesday we set out for an afternoon practice with an extra special mission. Ski from the snowmobile trails of Sunlight Mtn. in Glenwood, past Williams Peak, down through Marion Gulch and across the Perry's Fields. All in all- 4 hrs 30 minutes of great wipeouts, powder skiing, beautiful views of the Elk Mountains, and warm winter sun. At dinner- a huge sense of accomplishment and a large appetite.

• Aaaannnddd finally, this Saturday we have our last CHSSA race for the season at Aspen Highschool. This event is sandwhiched between the Super Tour and Owl Creek Chase on Saturday and Sunday. Our skiers will head out around 1:20 pm on Saturday so come be part of the cheer squad! If you make it to the OCC, also make sure to cheer for Tommy as he races the 10k.
  

Taking on Devil's Thumb

Devil's Thumb will never be the same after the CRMS team's visit to the area last weekend. We rolled in hot and left them begging for more!

The skies were blue, the snow fast, and the cookies aplenty. We enjoyed a great night planning Risk and Connect Four in Granby at the Stein Cabin.

Although the trip had many highlights, we were especially excited about Sam Kaufman's 17th place finish in the Boy's 5k and our own CRMS coach Nick Brown finishing 2nd for the Men's 15k
in the annual Governor's Cup. Additionally,
we would like to extend a special congrats
to CRMS grad, Mia Gaw '03, who
finished 5th in the Women's 30k.
See the "important links" side bar to
the right to view the official results.

Our team continues to steam roll through February with a Thursday race in Steamboat, a special appearance at the Crested Butte Ally Loop, and some long distance skiing at Ski for Sisu on Sunday.