Final blog on the Northern Hemisphere winter.

So this most likely will be my last blog to be posted for the Northern Hemisphere winter.

The last week of the trip was an amazing highlight. Alaska is a breathtaking place and easily an area on Earth I could happily spend a lot of time in, exploring the mountains and valleys. There are quite a few things that draw me to that part of the World!

Checking out the Alaskan mountains with Star the dog.

Looking down along the ridge I’d just climbed and Anchorage in the distance.

Amazing views.

As always, United Airways cooked up a fair bit of fail, our flight was delayed an hour and a half in LA because of “issues with the cargo”. What had happened was United had decided to add one more cargo container after we had pushed back from the doors. Their excuse was that if they had not done it, they would have received a late fine for not delivering the cargo… Clearly all the passengers they made late didn’t matter….

I love how simple acts of kindness can go long way. On the main flight from LA to Sydney, I offered my blanket to an older lady who was travelling with her elderly mother and was clearly cold. After that she just produced chocolate and candy from her bag offering it to me. She even kept one of my meals, which I had missed because I was asleep. It was an extremely pleasant flight!

The Flight to Melbourne from Sydney was just as exciting with United. As we landed and then proceeded to taxi to the terminal, we obviously missed the mark while parking the plane and ran into the landing bridge that we were meant to use to exit. The end result was a huge hole in the wing and our exit and proceeding baggage collection being delayed around 3 hours. Not fun!

The puncture in the wing was about the size of a basketball.

Exiting the plane by stairs, you can see the damage on the opposite wing.

Anyway the last few days at home have been magical, running and hiking in the mountains around home in some pleasant 20 degree heat!

Hiking on Buffalo with the whole family.

Been a long time since the four of us were together!

Top of Snake Ridge running with Dad and Andrew.

As always you can’t spend 6 months aboard without saying some massive “thank you’s!”

Firstly and very importantly, there have been some very very special and kind families that have welcomed me into their homes to stay for many many weeks and months! They have been extremely generous and I’m very grateful to have been so lucky  to have been able to stay. I hope I can return the offer!

To my Sponsors

Birkebeiner Nordic Ski Club, Innovative Practical Marketing Solutions, Falls Creek and The University of Ballarat, without your support I could never have made it over to race, or been able to race for so long! Thank you!

To my Coach and Director, August Teague and Finn Marsland. Thanks for another amazing, successful year. I can’t wait for the next 12 months! Thanks!

Thanks to the other support members of the team, the waxers, managers and physios. It’s been great working with you!

Finally to all my friends and family who send me messages and keep me going, you’re the best and a massive thank you to you all!

Train hard. Rest easy. Live for the moment.

 

Tahoe to Alaska, a change in pace and scenery!

So as always time has slipped me by and I’m late with posting a blog, I had actually written a blog post during the Super Tour but never got around to posting it…. So hey why let good (or I hope good) writing go to waste, enjoy a small step back in time and then I can fill you in and get you up to speed on my rather crazy journeys!

The old blog musings.

I’m lying in my bed on a sunny Californian morning recovering and slightly dreading having to stand up on my legs and test if they will hold me! Yesterday marked the final race of the Spring Super Tour with a brutal 6km hill climb.

To wind the clocks back a little to prove I’m not a complete softy I’ll explain a little more. Thursday the 4^th of April started it all off with a 3.3 km Prologue. 3.3km of racing I know it doesn’t sounds that bad but the tough thing is that it’s done at a sprint speed with the fastest guys (and girls) hammering it out it in less than 8 minutes, add on to that a brutal A climb, fresh wet slow snow and elevation of over 2200m (as high as the highest point in AUS) and you have a perfect suffer fest storm! To be honest I loved it and posted a great result of 30^th over all and 8^th U23 athletes so for a while there I was thinking Spring Series could actually be really good! Clearly the race gods decided I needed to be brought back down to earth and lined up the 15km mass start the next day to be exactly that!

Prologue, coming up the start of the A climb. Photo credit Mark Nadell.

Because of a bad spring the race organisers moved the races up higher to chase quality snow. This meant we were racing on very narrow trails and when you send 90 men down a narrow trail only carnage can result. I was ranked terribly because I don’t have a USA racing license and so was out the back. The course was fairly flat and fast to start off with. The only changes were a series of almost 180 degree turns before  hitting the same brutal A climb as the prologue before descending back to the stadium and starting the loop again. A 5 km loop, 3 times round. The weather was the exact opposite of the day before, hot and sunny.

I knew that it would be crazy and so I was keen to try and avoid any crashes or broken poles. The gun went and with it the snapping of poles, not mine but everyone around me it seemed, I watched one athlete break 2 poles in the space of 20 meters. I survived the first switchback corner and started moving up the field. As the second corner approached I decided to be aggressive and try and take a group of skiers on the outside. It was all going perfectly to plan until the guy next to me got spat wide in the turn and couldn’t hang onto his line. He then basically hip and shouldered me off the track, down a 2-foot drop and I ended up hugging a tree. Not the sly “jump the pack” move I was hoping for.

I got up and check nothing was broken, I was just a little winded but remarkably injury and broken equipment free.  I got back on the course and put the foot down hoping to recover some ground, I managed to get back in sight of the pack I was originally with but didn’t quite have the energy to close the gap.  I still made solid ground picking off a bunch of skiers as a small group formed with me in it. On the last lap myself and another athlete dropped the pack on the A climb pushing hard but as we crested the hill he accidentally stood on my pole in the narrow tracks and it caused me to stumble breaking my other pole. I limped across the line with two broken poles and the frustration of having to concede an average at best race when I was actually feeling great and hoping for a whole lot more.

The next day was a 1.5km classic sprint and I just hoped my bad luck was behind me and it would be clean fast racing. It all went really smoothly and fast and I came across the line satisfied with how it went. However it seemed I didn’t really get out of 1st gear because on paper I had no speed and was a long way down the result list.

Sprinting. Photo credit Mark Nadell.

Thankfully we had a rest day the next day and a chance to relax, sleep in and recharge the batteries before the final, brutal hill climb.

The race start was pursuit style, so our collective race times created our position and start times. Because of my lackluster performances I was ranked 55 and 8:48 minutes back. I started with 4 other guys and we created a pack, moving hard at the start. For the first 3km racers did a lap of a meadow and then hit two solid hills before one last flat section and then the 3 km of climbing as we followed a series of switchbacks up a downhill run to the top of the mountain. Just to keep us on our toes there was basically gale force winds all morning. It was so strong that the downhill gates they were using to mark the course were pushed flat to the ground.

I made sure I sat at the back of the pack with as we raced through the meadow, letting them take the brunt of the wind. I was not feeling fresh and I was starting to get worried that I was going to get dropped, as we hit the first two foot hills! As we hit the hills I was hurting a lot and they started to gap me, I managed to hang on and just stay in contact. As we skied the last flat before the main climb I started to come good and as we hit the hill I was feeling in much better shape, I settled for a while sitting behind the others but as they slowed I decided to go, dropping them. For the rest of the climb I moved up behind athletes, sat behind, settled and then went again. This approach seemed to work really well and I managed to have a really decent climb for someone my size!

Gives a little perspective of the wind in the hill climb. Photo credit Mark Nadell.

We have now two days off before the 50km national distance race. It’s predicted to be extremely hot so it’s going to be a brutal slush fest by the sounds of thing.

Till then I’m going out to enjoy the Californian sun!

Enjoying Lake Tahoe with Lauren (L), Gus (C) and Callum (R).

So this is what I originally had hoped to post but realistically I got preoccupied and forgot. I’m actually now sitting in a café in Anchorage, Alaska.  So as I mentioned in the original blog we had the 50km race to come, which is the last of the season. As predicted it was BRUTAL! Five laps of a 10km loop in crazy slush! The temp hovered around 13 degrees C which I know sounds cool, however  in those temps cross-country skiers basically suffer heat stroke! Normally a 50km takes 2:10 for the fast guys, on the day the snow was so slow that it took everyone one an extra 20 odd minutes even though the course realistically wasn’t that tough. It was just one of those days when you have to push just as hard on the downhill as the up hills. I had an ok day, nothing special just happy to finish and be done with racing for a few weeks.

The 50km was also a bit of a laugh for some athletes and I though I’d add a little color and steeze to the race. Photo credit Mark Nadell.

I then spent my last day and a half enjoying Tahoe and it’s amazing surroundings before packing my bags and heading North! I had an offer to stay up in Alaska for a week that I couldn’t resist. That plus some amazing hikes in the Mountains has made this last week of my trip absolutely amazing!

Phil getting some hang time in the backyard…

I have heard back home there has already been to snow flurries up top so a winter down under is close at hand. I’m hoping I can squeeze in a week of warm surfing before the snow settles but realistically bring on winter, I can’t wait!

For more awesome photos of the races check out all of Mark Nadells photos at http://macbethgraphics.smugmug.com/NORDIC-RACING/Supertour-Tahoe-2013

Home on April the 22nd, 6 months and 2 days since I walked on Australian soil.

Train hard, rest easy, live for the moment.

Tahoe Time… The best time!

Well the final chapter of this epic six-month adventure has begun. I have been in the states for a few weeks now and have a few more to go before I arrive home on the 22^nd of April 6 months and 2 days after Callum and I left.

The first week I arrived in Tahoe was an unstructured training week, which basically meant I could do what ever I felt like. The idea behind the week is if I’m tired it’s a chance for me to recharge the batteries and relax or if I’ve been craving some random form of exercise I can get my fill! The week was awesome catching up with some friends from around the area and doing some light training. Easily the highlight of the week was a powder day of downhilling with some local guys. It’s been a while since I was really pushed downhill skiing and being with these guys I was easily the weakest skier so it was really exhilarating charging a few lines which I thought were borderline crazy!

Alpine Meadows with Gus and Drew.

Sussing out the Beaver Bowl.

Johannes, Drew and Myself loving life on top of the World!

Drew looking for the perfect place to drop

After a week of taking it easy I was really keen to start training hard again and I was hit with two solid 20+ hour weeks which was a bit of a shock to the body! However with the arrival of Callum from Scandinavia and a few other American skiers the training group has been great and session made easy!

The Spring skiing here has been amazing with glorious Californian sun and great snow. With the warmth has also brought out a few more of the locals and the first bear sightings have been made out on Royal Gorge so hopefully Callum and I get lucky and see one, we are both super keen to catch a glimpse (from a nice little distance).

I feel perhaps photos again may best describe how much fun it is over here, so for now.

Gus on top of the World

Callum with local legend Patrick McElravey.
Photo credit Lauren Fritz.

Callum earning himself a 6 pack of beer for skiing in undies for 20 minutes…
Photo credit Lauren Fritz

Lauren Fritz, Myself and Cal with Royal Gorge in the background.
Photo credit Lauren Fritz.

 

Train hard. Rest Easy. Live for the moment.

Davos and World Champs race reports.

Well, you’ve guessed it. I’ve been super lazy with the blogs and don’t really have a great excuse, apart from “I’ve been too busy having fun!”

So winding the clocks back four weeks you would have found me training in Davos, Switzerland with the whole Aus team. Davos was a great chance for me to chill out and recharge the batteries, before gearing up for the Swiss champs and selection races for the Davos World Cup.

The Davos 15km Skate was my second chance to race a World Cup, but with three men qualified and only one spot open, it was always going to be a tough challenge. Since flying to Europe, I haven’t been in amazing form. I’d say one race was decent (the 30km in Liberec). But apart from that, I’ve been as a whole, disappointed.

So with the hope of turning my European season around, I went into the 15km Skate at Swiss champs with high hopes.

Possibly with all the pressure I put on myself, I completely choked and skied a shocking race. The next day was a 15km Classic, which in the past has been my favorite event. Knowing I had no chance of starting the 15km skate in Davos, I relaxed a lot more and found my groove, skiing a respectable race, moving up in the weekend standings a lot.

Swiss Champs 15km Skate. Photo credit Finn Marsland.

Swiss Champs 15km skate. Photo credit Finn Marsland

Swiss Champs 15km classic. Not a bad back drop for a race. Photo credit Finn Marsland

Swiss Champs 15km classic. Amazing tracks Photo credit Finn Marsland.

U23 World Championships race report.

So keeping with tradition I once again find myself sitting in the very back of an over packed van heading off on another road trip, the beginnings of another adventure! One chapter of my racing career has ended as a new one begins! Leaving Liberec and the U23 world championships signals the end of major competitions for me as a junior, it’s just senior racing for me here on in. Racing the big boys now!

The “Sketchy” Republic

So I have now been in Europe for 13 days and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t missing the States! I flew in to green, green, grassy paddocks and rain. The trip over for me was very smooth. On arrival, I met my driver and was taken straight to Liberec city with the hope of more snow. This hope melted away quickly as Phil, Finn and I walked around and viewed the World Cup Sprint loop. There were rivers of water cutting through the course. Due to the lack of snow, they could only muster an 800 metre loop, which the athletes did twice.

Finn, Wolly the Wombat and I checking out the sprint course.

America done, Europe here we come!

So chapter 1 of this huge six-month trip is now over and done with. We have just finished up with US Nationals in Soldiers Hollow, Utah. To describe the last 10 days as a roller coaster would be an understatement! We arrived into Utah with a bang on New Year’s Eve and had a very fun evening setting off fireworks with the Far West ski team! There is a certain danger when you’re driving past firework factories and you know you have a great excuse to go wild for a night. Surprisingly no one suffered any burns or rockets to the face.

The next day, still buzzing from last night’s fireworks we headed to the trails and did our race prep for the classic 1.3km sprint. Warming up I was feeling great and my skis were rockets so I was really keen to throw down for the event. It’s my first proper classic sprint since pinching a disc in my back in Australia, so I was really keen to see how my form was! I have to admit I’ve been sprinting like a goat on ice lately so I knew I’d be asking a lot to have a great race, but I was still keen to go for it and see how I went.

Canmore World Cup Photo Gallery.

I have finally gotten my hands on a bunch of great quality photographs from our World Cup Photographer Robert Whitney. Also I have chucked in a few photos I took of Canmore and the team doing its thing.

Enjoy.

Race preparation. Photo credit Robert Whitney.

Photo credit Robert Whitney.

Base of the second climb. Photo credit Robert Whitney.

Coming around the corner to the second climb. Photo credit Robert Whitney.

 

Phil taking advantage of the free marshmallows in the centre of Canmore.

Canmore Stadium.

Canmore Stadium.

Canmore Stadium.

Canmore sky, during a pre breakfast jog.

Canmore Stadium. Sprint finals in progress.

One day we walked into our wax cabin and the walls were covered in posters from the local schools.

Last day in Canmore, went running with Phil.

Relaxing after the weekend of racing.

The final run in Canmore with Phil.

Pre race day. Photo credit Robert Whitney.

The Canmore World Cup!

So I was hoping to write this a few days ago but it feels like I haven’t  had much time to sit and write until now but in reality I’ve just been enjoying myself too much with the World Cup crews and our team.

So as usual I need to wind back the clocks a week. I arrived Sunday night, very late back into Canmore from Silverstar, flopping into bed at 1:00am.  I crawled out the next morning after a small sleep-in and that’s when all the preparations for Saturdays sprint World Cup began. For the rest of the week everything was really focused on those 3 minutes of racing. In the past few races I will admit I have let nerves effect me too much so I know that the coaches were a little worried that race would eat me up before I even got to the start line. However between the boys quality words of wisdom and the coaches keeping me focused on the task at hand, I found I this race was probably the least stressful of the trip so far. I just new exactly what to expect and to be honest I was just excited to be racing a World Cup!

Blowing up one day, sub 120 the next! SilverStar race report…

So again I find myself in the back seat of a car as we drive back from a race weekend. This weekend was the second set of NorAm races for the year, two 15km distance races in SilverStar, BC.

So winding back the clock a few days. Wednesday the whole team jetted off to Quebec for their first World Cup of the season (which went great so make sure you check out the blogs! two PB’s by the boys!). I stayed one more day and did intervals and then the next day was picked up by Andy Pohl a New Zealand lad that spends most of time in Canada racing and another Canmore local, Betsy. We had a somewhat slow start leaving an hour later than we had hoped and then we were slow down by Rogers pass. A section of road which is one of the worst to travel in winter due to heavy snow falls and avalanches blocking the road.

Rogers Pass on the way home, not so inviting.

After around 6 hours of driving we arrived in SilverStar and the others dropped me off at Peter and Benita Carter’s apartment, a local Mt Beauty family that trip across most winter to SilverStar for a few months. The Carters have looked after me amazing this weekend so I really can’t thank them enough for their generosity and help!!!