The Season Finale

The 2009/2010 racing season concluded with 3 back-to-back races in the Supertour Finals in one of the most northern areas of Maine. Since I had been living and racing on the road for the past 4+ months I knew I would be best prepared to race well if I went into the final races mentally and physically fresh. So, in my time between the European circuit and heading to the racing venue, I got a chance to step out of the normal on-snow training routine and soak up the scene in southern Maine. Here's Sylvan Ellofsen (an OPA teammate and friend) on our run around the Wolfneck trails near Freeport, ME. Sylvan, a Bates College grad, was the perfect travel buddy because in addition to being one of the most easy going guys out there, he introduced me to the greatest places to explore, dine, and fascinating people to meet.

Once I made my way up to "the county" (thanks, Martin, for the ride!) I met up with my Alaskan teammates and we were greeted with clear cold nights and sunny days, making the perfect recipe for "crust cruising". This type of skiing gives you the freedom to skate effortlessly without a groomed track anywhere you choose. We accompanied some local junior girls for their first crust skiing experience. Crust skiing happens to be one of my all time favorite activities, but it was my first cruising on potato fields and my first time riding a tractor mid-ski! This photo is posted for my relatives in Kansas so you know I haven't lost my farming roots... The snow was so solid that we even did a little "crust running"....if that sport even exists. Becca Rorabaugh showing our confusion over this mailbox with no signs of a mailperson's tracks or an accompanying home.

Another one of my favorite things about being up in the county was seeing the enthusiasm the locals had for cross country skiing, especially the young kids. And these girls are talented! I joined up with a bunch of other elite racers who were there to compete and be an instructor/mentor for another very successful "Fast and Female" event. Here we are practicing a proper arrow dynamic tuck before going down a hill and through some tunnels (thanks to MWSC for the pictures). There were some very creative stations-- the homemade tails for the tail tag game and the speed guns for measuring our downhill speed were used in activities that I hope to try with the AK juniors next winter. A huge thanks to everyone who donated their time and money to make this event so successful-- especially Eileen Carey and crew for organizing the event, and to Becky and Reno Dupree-- APU masters and former county residents-- for their financial donation to make it possible for over 120 young girls to have a memorable day skiing. One girl told me that it was her "favorite day in the whole world!" On the competition side of things the racing went well. I was mentally excited to push myself in the racing and finished in the top-15 in each event that was stacked with the top skiers and biathletes, including the athletes who were fresh off the Olympics. For the mass start classic race we raced on relatively icy conditions on a narrow, curvy and fast course, so expectedly there was plenty of carnaige and tangle-ups in the pack. It was important to be very agile on skis to avoid crashing. I think that spending time on snow through the summer months, having experience in road racing (on bikes), and the balance and agility practice I have done with unicycling, slack lining, and agility ladders has helped my ski skills significantly because I almost always fare well in mass start races. In the sprint I made it past the quarter and semi finals and finished 5th place overall in the women's A-final. The skate hill climb race up the alpine hill was the last race of the season, and was a pursuit style start. Despite feeling sluggish in the warm-up my body was comfortable with race pace and I felt strong during the majority of the climb. Here's Lars Flora (APU teammate) hanging onto Ivan Babikov (CAN National team) who is the best in the world at this event (as Tour de Ski World Cup winner). These guys are impressive and it was exciting to watch them climb and pick up a few technical tips before we went out on course.

If you've raced before, you probably are familiar with the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction after you've pushed yourself to the best of your ability. This feeling was amplified after the final race because it also signified the last race of the past 11 months focused training for this particular 4.5 month season and it was the end of 2 months since my last time home! Before actually getting home I did have 23 hours of airport time to get home to AK, which was preceded by a drive from the county and night in a Quebec City hostel.
Here's Brooke Gosling of the Alberta World Cup Academy in front of "the wall" in the old part of Quebec City. Quebec was magnifique-- I loved checking out the chateaus, eating in the creperies, and taking in the French-Canadian culture.

Travelling and racing around the North American and European continents has been a challenging and rewarding journey. I could not have done it without the support of my sponsors, community, coaches, wax techs, teammates, and friends. Thank you for making my dreams become a reality.

The Land of Oz

Jumping between hay bales, catching fireflies with cousins, and going on hay-rack-rides fill my childhood memories in the great state of Kansas. My mom, dad, brother and I used to road trip in a VW van from Alaska to Kansas in the summer to spend time with my extended family. Visits back have become less frequent in recent years but FINALLY this spring I got the chance to spend time to make it out-- it was super nice to be back and see most everyone.

OK, I have to brag about my Grandma Doris. If you get a chance you should really read this article below from the front page of the paper (click on image to enlarge).
She's a truly an inspiration. She has found something she loves to do (namely canning and cooking), works hard it to the point of mastery, joyfully shares her passion, and is constantly giving. I only hope I can be as generous, healthy, and young at heart when I'm 89 going on 90 years old!
Anything that could possibly go into a can and is edible, she's canned. Above is part of her supply of fruits, vegetables, salsas, jams which she has picked locally from gardens/trees, prepared, canned. The supply is considered to be "low" because it is spring and harvest season is ahead and she freely gives these canned treasures to everyone who visits. And the taste of her canned goods, picked and shelled walnuts, jams/jellies, etc are out of this world... especially knowing how much care and work went into the production.
We got to help in the yard a bit. Luckily, Grandma has my Aunt Monica and family as one neighbor, and my Aunt Donna and her family as the other neighbor-- so even though she doesn't often ask for help, two of her daughters and family is a hop, skip, and a jump away.

Here we are visiting the farm where my Mom grew up. My Mom and Dad enjoyed the farm and originally planed to return to buy it after teaching school in the Yup'ik villages of AK... but they fell in love with Alaska and never moved back. Fortunately, the farm is still in the family with my cousin, Daniel, and his wife, Rachelle, taking fantastic care of the place.

Mom still loves farm animals and is working on convincing my Dad that they need chickens in their back yard in Alaska.

Jus and G'ma

Here's Jus and I at my parents' first house they bought together after they got married. My mom was happy to leave this fix-er up-er house as it was struck by lightening numerous times.  And that part is another story....

Anyway, thanks for reading and for sharing in my family story!

Katrina Foster Ronsse

Slovenia Europa Cup Finals Report...Finally!

The final weekend of the European "OPA" Cup tour brought us to Rogla, Slovenia. We were greeted by a massive blizzard and strong winds in the first several days so we spent got to spend spend some time trudging through the snow. Here's the Spanish team coaches shoveling a path to get to the door of their wax trailer.
We stayed in cabins near a mall-like hotel that had everything from polka techno music and belly dancing in the main lobby to a roller coaster outside. The feel of the place was unique and random-- and I loved it!

We had a full weekend of back-to-back pursuit style racing with a 2.5/3k prologue, a 5/10k classic and then finished off with a handicap start 10/15k skate race. The level of racing was high and you had to have your A-game together to compete at the front of the pack.
Here's Mikey Sinnott (USA) gettin er done by leading the front pack up one of the climbs on the second day of racing.
Slovenians apparently take a lot of pride in their nordic skiing champions. Petra Majdic's face covered waterbottles and billboards in Rogla.
The woman herself with Becca Rorabaugh. Petra is still recovering from her crash at the Olympics, where I got to witness her race to a bronze medal after breaking her ribs and puncturing a lung. This woman is tough!
In addition to getting to see new parts of the world and having a lot of fun, the European tour was very valuable and exposed us to a high level of competition, helped improve our points, and get us fired up to train in the coming year. It was also a great opportunity to team up, work together on getting faster and bounce around ideas on how, as a country we can take skiing to the next level. Sylvan Ellofsen, Nicole Deyoung, Mikey Sinnott, and I doing a little sight seeing in Munich after the races were over. We also got to hang out with cast members from the "Mama Mia" musical which was a total trip!

The past week I have been spending time in various homes in around Maine, thanks to OPA teammate, Sylvan's connections. A huge thanks to the Cushmans, Woods, and the Benoit-Samuelson families for taking me in and being such generous hosts. I recently made the trek up to Fort Kent where we had an beautiful morning of crust skiing. I am looking forward to the last races of the season. More to come!

Katie

The OPA Cup in France

I joined up with additional American skiers and coaches after the Swiss Cup races and made our way over to the Savoie Grand Revard region in southeastern part of France.
Here is part of our racing squad after training. Many of us hail from different club teams from around the country but we are combining forces to represent the USA as one team while abroad.
Caitlin Compton and Becca Rorabaugh at the racing venue in La Feclaz, France.
Wrecka, Ronski, Noah "the Hoff" Hoffman, and Mikey Sinnott out crust cuisin' after the races were over. Mt Blanc is in the distance.
Those of us who are the same age have grown up racing together, whether its on the same Junior National teams, J1 Scandinavian Cup trips, and previous World Junior Championship teams, etc... Whether it was getting to know each other better or just reconnecting after spending the early part of the season in different team vans and hotels representing the US together provides a good opportunity share ideas, learn from each other, and have fun together which helps strengthen and unify our ski nation. A huge thanks to the US Ski Team and NCCSEF for making this trip happen.
Kudos to whomever can name the 5 American skiers in red suits in this snapshot from the mass start distance race.

Friday night featured a 2x3x1k classic team sprint event under the stars and lights of down town La Feclaz. I paired up with Sadie Bjornsen and we raced to a 6th place finish. The pair of Caitlin Compton and Nicole DeYoung were just getting started when they posted an 8th place finish in the team sprint. These two lead the American women's team in the distance race by both finishing in the top 10th and 11th respectively and scoring sub-62 points. The mass distance skate race reminded me of pack racing in collegiate cycling races because the pack stayed together for most of the race and there was plenty of drafting, rubbing elbows, crashing, maneuvering around piles of tangled racers and/or carnage of equipment for almost everyone involved. Pure fun in my book. I didn't feel like I was in my absolute top form but it was a confidence boost getting to rub elbows with some top ranked skiers in the pack and afterwards realize what "could be" if I could race just a little bit faster. There is potential to score incredibly good points here. I finished 22nd and it was still my best points races of the season. Points are important in team selections and helpful in gaining favorable start positions. Peter Kling finishing things up near the end of his skate race in downtown La Feclaz.

For those of you who dont know much about the European or "OPA" Cup racing-- they are similar to our "Supertour" races although it is known to be more stacked with elite full-time racers. Each European nation takes a limited number of athletes so there aren't a large number of racers, but those present are fierce and fit and the time gaps are typically small. The field includes many skiers who are familiar to the World Cup scene but are still gaining experience before stepping up to race on the World Cup circuit full-time. Several of the top skiers in our races last weekend have medaled in international championship events and a few were just racing at the Olympics.

Compton was one of the Olympians who came over right after the games.
In addition to racing, I enjoyed getting to check out the old churches, statues, cemeteries, and historic castles (!) in the region. I was amazed by how old the buildings looked, but yet so many of them were cozy and livable inside. Sometimes it was difficult to tell the difference.
Here's the school house of St. Francois, which is the tiny town were we stayed for the week. We thought the school was no longer in use but after taking this photo and checking out the building a teacher came out and asked if she could help us. It was a good thing that Pete can speak French.
Our accomadations in France were great. The hotel staff was very friendly and we had all the fresh bread, wine, and stinky cheese that we could eat.
Here's the wine and cheese cellar in the basement of our hotel. I'm into trying the ethnic food in each place we go. I try to do this prior to the race weekend or long van rides just incase there is any sort of disagreement with my stomach....
Don't worry Wrecka, I wont tell! "Fart" is the French word for wax (see the sign).

We spent a day driving across Italy en route to our next racing venue. I was in search of the best castles, the guys were picking out sports cars, and we all stopped at a restaurant to eat some incredible pizza. Now we are in Rogla, Slovenia preparing for the OPA Cup finals. More to come soon!

Best of luck to those of you racing at AWG, Junior Nationals, NCAA Championships, or the World Cup this weekend!
Katie

More Snippets from Swizerland

I am a fan of using skiing to provide opportunities, especially when it involves checking out new places, networking, and expanding my understanding of how the world operates. Last week was memorable in all of these ways so I am going to share more photos and experiences.Erik Bjornsen in Feutersoey with a block of Rene's homemade cheese (see my last post for more). Feutersoey is near an expensive and touristy area in Swizerland. Even if I had the funds, going to a foreign place to staying in a fancy hotel and use the lift service doesn't appeal to me as much as traveling in a lower budget fashion if it is more likely to include getting to meet the locals and learn about their way of life. It was neat to see the pride Rene had in his milk, cheese, and sausage products and see how much he cared for his animals. He knew the name and history for each one. Sam Naney making friends with one of the cows after the race. Is that a ...Swiss kiss? Another major highlight from the past week-- which will be something I will never forget-- was getting a complimentary helicopter ride from Reto, the owner of Heli-Linth! Our Swiss Cup coach, Scott, and Reto became friends while climbing in Alaska many years ago. Reto was crucial in helping Scott find housing, rent an affordable van, and figure out the logistical details of the trip. In the heli ride we sped through the Linth Valley, toured over the mountain tops and veered through a sinuous canyon in a way that should've been out of the movie Avatar. The Linth Valley is the most dramatic in Swizerland and there are places where the vertical relief is 10,000 ft. The pilots at Heli-linth are very experienced and Reto said that on a good work day they will make that same trip (minus the sight seeing part) about 200 times. From what I can recall, about 80% of their work is contracted-- either developing a hydroelectric dam to store energy (which there's a great capacity for due to 2 lakes in the nearby mountains that are at varying altitudes), eco-friendly logging, building skyscrapers in Zurich, or transporting sling loads of cheese or honey from remote mountain passes. The other 20% of their business is for avalanche and mountain rescue missions. They keep busy and work hard to say the least.
Avalanches and rock slides are common in this area and now there is a tunnels system that helps avalanches to pass over the cars and roads safely. Apparently back in the 80’s an avalanche wiped out and killed the entire British World Junior Biathlon team when they were driving toward the venue. There have not been any international competitions in the region since then-- although I couldn't find any written evidence of this tragedy to verify the details of this story. Here's Sam and Sadie standing next to our bomb shelter that was below our landlord's house in Urnerboden. My understanding is that there was a period during the Cold War every home was required to have one of these fall out shelters, along with a 2 year supply of food that would protect and feed people after a nuclear attack. Swizerland still has the world highest ratio of shelter space to population size.
I know I haven't done much reporting on the ski training and racing aspect of my travels lately-- but that does not mean it has been any less interesting than normal! Here's Sam at one of the many road crossings along the distance skate race. The Euro version of a "Chinook" wind and rain came through and transformed the snow from firm crust to slush very quickly. The volunteers did a lot of work to lay down snow and make the course skiable but we still raced over crossings that I would have dismounted for in any non-racing scenario.

Right now I am in La Feclaz, France and preparing for the OPA Cup this weekend. I'm signing off for now but there are plenty more stories to share soon.

From one of the luckiest kids out there,
Katie

Swizerland

Hallo from Swizerland! I met up with the Methow Olympic Development Team and a few other American skiers and I have been having the time of my life seeing new sights, learning about Swiss culture, and using skiing as my mission in mind. Marshall Greene, Erik Bjornsen, Sam Naney, Sadie Bjornsen, Katie Ronsse, and Noah Hoffman outside our home base in Urnerboden. Scott Johnson has been our coach who has organized the logistics and made this trip happen. Urnerboden is a tiny town of 27 permenant residents that is at the end of the road toward Klausen Pass, which is a mountain pass only open in the summer time. The valley has groomed trails we can walk to from our doorstep and a gondola you can take up the mountain for extreme sledding adventures. Sadie getting in some balance practice after the gondola dropped us off. On our way down with the sleds. I gained a new appreciation of Olympic sledding events because steering down a steep and slippery slope is not easy. American cowboys: Marshall and Sam.
Katie Ronsse on top of the world in a "Kwigillingok Ski Team" shirt.
Here is Rene, a very generous Swiss man who is letting us sample the difference between 2 and 3 year old cheese. Rene let us use a vacant part of his barn to wax our skis before the races when we were in Feutersoey for the Swiss Cup races. The Swiss people have been tremendously friendly. Rene also gave us a tour of his barn full of cattle, cheese factory and sent us home with home made Swiss cheese and sausage.
Sadie (left), a Swiss skier, and I (right) racing in the final heat of the "Atomic Swiss Cup" classic sprint last weekend. Notice a pair of skis directly on top of Sadie's skis. It seems to be accepted in the European racing circuit to ski over other competitors skis and shove others out of the way in order to gain a tactical advantage. Sadie and I will be team sprint partners this weekend in France and we are ready to fight back!