The past couple weeks "on the road" have included racing, pig noses, deck jumping, and landing in nordic ski heaven. On the racing front, I want to start off by bragging about my talented teammates. On each of the race days I had something to be excited about, regardless of my own results, because it was inspiring to see the friends I've trained with all year kill it!
Here's Kate Fitz, coach Flora (standing in for his brother), and Holly Brooks with the leader bibs for the weekend. Bart, Iverson, and Sadie also made impressive podium performances. It's pretty awesome to be apart of the most stacked nordic ski team in the country.
The racers with the best points get to start first in the sprint race. Above is Sadie, Holly, and myself (R-L) as the first female sprint starters in the festival which fell on Thanksgiving Day (Reese Hanneman photo). We had 4 individual races in 3 days. Here are a few pictures of me in the individual distance races, courtesy of Swix Sport.
Ronsse in 5k Classic (Andy Canniff photo).
At the top of the course in the 5k Classic race (Andy Canniff photo)
10k Skate Race (Andy Canniff photo).
Each evening after racing we go for an easy 30min post-race walk-the-dog paced jog to promote recovery. Here's Kasandra, myself, and Kate (above) in our "pig nose" masks that are used to help protect our lungs in cold weather. Prior to the cold weather, West Yellowstone got a gigantic dump of snow. One morning, when the roads weren't plowed and we couldn't get the van out of the driveway we had snow fights and jumped off the deck instead.
As soon as the racing wrapped up in West, we packed up our skis, gear, and boxes of non-parishable food and hopped in the team vans for a 2-day drive up to Canada. We are currently doing a little training camp in Silver Star, BC, which is one of my favorite places to ski in North America. Whenever Im here I feel like I'm living in one of those shakable Christmas snow globes.
Here's Greta Anderson walking the doorstep of our pink house to the ski trails this morning. I'm told that at one time there was a law that each house must be painted with at least 5 different colors, so there are some very creative color combinations and designs.
A bunch of blue smurfs ready to hit the ski trails.
HBrooks, Sadie, Ronsse, and GA.
It doesn't get much better than this. Silver Star is an easy place to get in a solid amount of volume in an "off" race weekend, and we're all looking forward to racing on the World Cup quality race courses next weekend.
Ronsse, Fitz, Tazmannix, Sadsarue, Morgo, Hbrooks, and GA. Life is good!
4 comments:
Hey Ronsdale! I was looking at all the pictures on your FB. I remember looking at these when I first met you almost 2 years ago! It was these pics that I thought " I need to get her number and find out what she's all about." As the Canadians say, "Scott."
Jus
hey Skatie,
I have a couple gear-related questions: Where do pros like you shop for your equipment? Are there some key websites or stores that a budding X-country skate skiing enthusiast should know?
On a more personal note, I just busted a pole and need another set (or two). I'm rather tall and want a set that's 180cm or so. Do you know anyone (fellow team-members for example) who may have some very tall used or new poles that they want to unload? If so, then perhaps I could meet them up in Maine at Nationals (I live in coastal New Hampshire). I notice that the schedule places your team there in January. Are skiing tournaments a good place to find gear for sale?
Thanks in advance for your help, and perhaps also for answering these gear-related questions.
Your blog rocks; good luck this season,
Michael
Jus, Thanks for being my "fan". I loved having you cheer out in Rossland too!
Michael,
Thanks for your interest in xc skiing! Great questions. The best way to get ski equipment and lots of advice is usually through your local nordic ski shop. You can usually get most products there and if not, you can order them online. My favorite go-to brands are Atomic (for skis, boots, and bindings), Swix (for POLES, wax, and clothing).
It is difficult to find gear from racers when they are traveling to large events, since we want to pack as light as possible, but you can get World Class used gear from racers if they are at a time/place when they can sell their equipment. Fall ski swaps and Craigslist can also be modes of finding equipment!
I hope this helps! Best of luck and hope to see you out on the trails! We'd love to have you up to cheer at US Nationals, even if you dont find any gear!
Best, Katie
Very helpful. Thanks for the tips!
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