Race results:
http://www.farwestnordic.org/raceresults/results20092010/rg_freestyle09.html
What a day at Royal Gorge today. I’d been looking forward to this 10k skate race in Van Norden since about June or July, imagining crusing along at 20mph on fast firm snow all along those endless Van Norden flats where I kind of learned how to ski flats more quickly and efficiently when I was a junior in high school.
Instead, as it always seems to go, when it came down to it it was a much different scene than I’d imagined…5 feet of brand new unpacked snow lightly (slightly) “packed” by the valiant but overwhelmed groomer. I think even the ultra-lightweights today were challenged somewhat with the punchy conditions, with everyone’s poles and skis going right through the snow on every stride, giving nothing to push off of whatsoever.
Soft conditions have always been a MAJOR weakness for me, as I tend to get by on power rather than tempo and “light”ness or whatever it is that some people seem to be able to do to ski fast and efficiently in deep powder (I don’t mean the downhill kind.) I remember beating Louis Van Blarigan in a 15k race by 3 and a half minutes the week before states (in fast firm conditions), and then losing to him by 24 seconds at states the following week (in a horrendous blizzard with snow up to our shins.) And I haven’t been able to make much progress at skiing better in soft conditions in the past 7 or 8 years.
This year however, with the help of Ben Grasseschi and Jeff Schloss, I’ve been working constantly on developing additional “gears” or ways of adjusting the power vs. tempo ratio to adapt to different terrain, different speeds of snow, different lengths of races and effort levels, etc. I’ve been working a lot on skiing with a higher tempo especially in V2, and not stomping/slamming so hard on the poles/skis (which works great in firmer conditions, but is quite a waste of energy on days like today.) Interestingly I think it has also helped a lot in firm conditions, to have those different gears to choose from, or more like a continuously variable gear.
Anyway I knew today would be a huge, huge challenge for me nonetheless, and wasn’t feeling very good all morning. I knew that there were several great skiers who were a lot smaller and lighter than me who would be super tough to keep up with let alone beat, and kind of wasn’t sure if I’d be 10th or what.
Right out of the start I found it pretty challenging to keep up with the two UNR guys who were in 1st and 2nd, Trygve and Elias. I did my best to hang on, and then the pace seemed to slow a bit and I was able to move up 1 spot and ski right behind Elias for another km or so, before he decided he was tired of leading and pulled over. I took the lead, hoping I wasn’t skiing way slower than Elias had been, and when we got to the big herringbone hill I kind of went for it, pretty much jump skated the whole thing and tried to keep my weight as forward as possible, sometimes almost tripping on my skis because of the soft conditions and steepness of the grade, but I was always tripping in the right direction, up the hill! I pushed hard over the top and tuck skated fairly hard down the backside, sneaked a glance back and saw no one within 10 or 15 seconds or so! Which was a surprise.
I kept pushing through the little rollers along the power lines, as much as one can push on something the consistency of 5-foot-deep-pond-water-with-a-millimeter-of-ice-on-top. I tried to hug the edges of the trail as much as possible where the snow was a little “firmer” (or not quite as soft and punchy), sometimes getting one good pole plant while the other pole went through, etc.
Half way down the powerlines my coach Jeff Schloss was yelling enthusiastically that I was 20 seconds ahead of everyone and to stay “smooth and light”. I felt like I was flailing like a bad high school racer due to the wacky conditions but did my best to ski as smoothly and quickly as I could. Every time I tucked down a hill I was picturing the guys behind me easily tucking in my ski tracks and gaining 12 seconds on me on every downhill! Not sure whether this was the case or not, but I kept pushing as hard as I could the whole way in.
Ironically the V1 sections (steeper hills) were the only sections I felt like I could actually go for it on. Traditionally I’ve been way worse at V1 climbs than I am on the flats and gradual stuff, and this is another thing I’ve worked on a lot over the summer and fall, and the end of last winter, with the help of my coaches, so that was another personal victory for me today.
However there were NO opportunities to V1 for the last several km (other than once briefly when I got totally blasted by a gnarly headwind out in the open meadow with about 2k to go). I went by Andrew Cobourn who gave me a good cheering boost (“No one in sight!! … …Still no one in sight!! … …ok now there’s one guy…but you’re way ahead!”) and August Teague (UNR coach) who said I had a 30 second gap on everyone and that there was 1k to go. By that point I felt about ready to slow way down…the long flat over the past 2 or 3k was actually really tough in the slow, soft conditions, since you had to really be working it hard the whole way and couldn’t even get the split-second of rest on each glide like you normally could in firmer conditions…
…so I was pretty beat and not sure I could keep it going, and actually still kind of afraid I would totally lose it and get caught before the finish…so I kept pushing as hard as I could muster, and did everything I could to try and get some “traction” so to speak…V2 alt with a fast tempo and not too much power on the poles…V2-ing as narrow as I possibly could right on the edge of the trail where it was slightly firmer…trying to ski a little more bent over than usual in order to not get blown backwards by the headwind. I think by “1k to go” August meant “go hard” because it sure seemed like a solid 2k or more before I could see the finish line in sight (or rather the hardy souls that were standing near it in the “stadium” by the warming hut).
I tried to give it my best all the way to the finish, though I have to say I was pretty beat!!! And relieved that I hadn’t been passed by the UNR guys or Beth Reid! It was fun to be able to watch everyone come in. I miss just being a spectator and watching races, which I never seem to get to do at SuperTour races because there is so much to worry about / take care of as a racer. There were some impressive finishes by a lot of skiers…Beth Reid being 4th and less than a minute and a half behind me was pretty crazy I thought! Wow. The UNR guys were pretty impressed too.
And some of the Sugarbowl juniors had great races I thought, Austin Meng and Adam Wright…probably not a coincidence that their coach happens to be one of the best soft-snow-condition skaters in Far West! (Jeff Schloss…out with a broken arm for the time being but getting some pretty strong legs with all the no-poles skiing he’s doing!)
All in all it was quite a challenging but fun day and it was awesome to see so many people turn out for the first Far West race of the year (along with the one in Mammoth today) and the first race that Royal Gorge has put on (other than the Gold Rush which I think is put on more by Far West than Royal Gorge) in a long long time, from what I gather!! Really fun to see everyone out there and share that experience of giving it our best on that day on that course, whatever the conditions were. I look forward to the next time I get to race at Royal Gorge! And the next time I get to see all the Far West ski community members at the next race.
For me personally it was a major victory today…being able to hold my own in the absolute worst possible conditions for me, with some really good college skiers some of whom were way lighter/smaller than me, on a day when I felt pretty tired and stiff all morning…can’t really imagine it going any better than it did today. Thanks to everyone that came out to the event, and the sponsors for the awesome prizes, and Royal Gorge for putting the thing on, and the timers and volunteers…today was a day to remember and I think anyone who even made it to the venue and was out there in the storm, deserves a medal!
Long live Far West racing…
