Dear SkiPost,

Always enjoy reading skipost. There is so much we can ask about to help get our XC skiing to higher standards. I would like to ask the following:

1. Freezing water bottles on Gold Rush race. First time its happen and it really affected me and my time slowed to over 3hrs for 42km. I cannot wear camelbacks.So, If I use heating packs inside of the bottle holders, will that heat up enough to keep from freezing? Does this work? what solution?

The Factory Team has, for years, used the Nathan Hydration line. Two years ago the Team and the lead designer worked together to come up with a few prototype designs that are now in production. One of the units is called the Storm, found at: http://www.nathansports.com/our_products/hydration_nutrition/storm.html
This has to be removed from the waist to drink from, but it will not freeze on you. The other answer is the Flurry, found at http://www.nathansports.com/our_products/hydration_nutrition/flurry.html
This is a bottle holder with a zip-over cover that will keep your bottle in an insulated case for the whole race. If you poke around on this site, you should be able to find something that will work for you.

2. Races providing poor watered down HEED or other junk that doesn't work or gives me nausea on race course. I dont have the luxury of coaches on the course giving me feeds but races this year have been horrible with feed stations and food.So, its best to carry your own but what is rule of thumb on how much I need so that I don't overweight myself?

I wish there was a standard answer to this question. The trouble is, people all use different amounts of fuel during a race. Carrying a bottle of something you like will help you add to just water that you might take at feed stations. I use to pin several gel packets to the inside of my waist-belt and tuck them in my suit bottom. This kept them warm, and made them easy to get to. Two was usually enough to get me through a race, but some people liked far more than that.

Experiment on your over-distance days.

3. Still cannot seem to find the best hydration+electrolyte drink for me. It seems on harder (more uphill) courses I need a stronger drink than on lighter courses, But I never know what the course will be like as I am a citizen racer and cannot train on course days before race. What's the solution?

Over the last couple of years the Factory Team has used Gleukos as their energy drink - this is a very tasty mixture that will also give you plenty of energy through your race. You should work on finding the right mixture on your harder training days. Work to find a solution that is going to give you good energy on either course without making you feel sick. The other thing to keep in mind is that at nearly every marathon race you will find a course profile posted online. If a race does not have one, you should write to someone in the race director's office to see if they can at least give you a description of vertical gain/loss during the race.

This is an article written by Kristin Johansen who won the
Participation Award last year sponsored by SILENT SPORTS FOUNDATION, a
free trip to compete in China Vasaloppet Dec. 28-Jan. 5, 2008.

It all began with the 2007 Mora Vasaloppet classic race in Mora, Minnesota where I joined my fellow University of Minnesota Nordic teammates to compete in what I thought would be just another race to add to my first year of ski racing.  As I gobbled down blueberry soup and double-poled my way in quest of the elusive Swedish horse, little did I know that months later I would hear of my selection by the Silent Sports Foundation to join the 2008 Tour de Ski and Vasaloppet China as a good-will classical skiing ambassador. 

Stage 1 of the Tour began in Shangri-la near Tibet.  After a warm greeting at the airport including singing and a presentation of silk scarves and wine by the locals, our first day of skiing began with a trip into the mountains.  We passed crystal clear lakes and road-wandering yaks as we approached the “ski area” for the opening ceremony of the Tour.  For fifteen minutes we warmed-up on a man-made, 800 meter track designed specifically for our use, only to head back down to the town stadium to begin the first sprint skate race of the Tour.  Being a classic “specialist”, I found myself racing my first sprint race, in my first international competition against skiers including World Cup champions and Olympic medalists, on my first day on skate skis, at over 12,000 feet, in front of 1.5 million Chinese television viewers.  After recovering from the shock to appreciate the unique experience, I can also say that I learned my first lesson from the Tour, humility.

Stage 2 of the Tour took us to Changchun which is a city north of Beijing and the home of over 7 million people.  The man-power of Changchun is undeniable from the 150,000 workers at the Volkswagen factory to the force of over 200 workers it took to break the World Record for the longest snow sculpture located at the race course.  Our first race in Changchun was a sprint classic race and another first for me.  The technical course taught me to release my inhibitions towards sprinting and even towards the unforgiving hills.  I also had the opportunity to practice my Chinese language which I have studied at the University of Minnesota for 3 years.  I learned about the ski schools Chinese children as young as six attend in preparation for the day when they too can represent their country on the world scene and about how to cheer on athletes with “jia you, jia you!”.  I even took notes on waxing from the Swedish waxing team and technique from fellow skiers.  The next day, I joined Amy Xu of Minnesota’s Pioneer Midwest Nordic Team, the only person to complete all 6 China Vasaloppet races, in the 50K China Vasaloppet.  After a frantic mass start, I was lucky to survive my first 50K race with only a broken pole! 

Stage 3 in Xi Wu Qi, Inner Mongolia, began in a one-room airport.  After a 2 hour drive through grasslands we arrived in Xi Wu Qi, the location of the final sprint skate race.  This small town marked by hardship came to embody the spirit of the Tour de Ski China.  On race day, we arrived at the course to find not only towering and inexplicably detailed snow sculptures including ruler and warrior Genghis Khan, but also the majority of the town, dressed in traditional attire, bracing the cold with friends and family to watch the first ski race ever in Inner Mongolia.  Many citizens wanted to touch my skis and have me take pictures with their children and grandchildren.  Here, I found myself grateful for the opportunity to have had cross country skiing in my life and fortunate to experience and share the values of competition, a healthy lifestyle, and friendship that are synonymous with sports. 

Fabio Pasini of Italy for the men’s competition and Solfrid Braaten of Norway for the women’s competition won the Tour de Ski China.  But even more importantly, it was the Swiss skier Philip Sebastian Furrer who skied each stage in a different local traditional hat, the Chinese citizens who arrived in mass to participate in Changchun, workers in Inner Mongolia who joined in an unprecedented dance party, the Chinese whose compassion and sense of national pride can not be understated, and the dedication of those who created and sponsored the competitions that defined the Tour de Ski China who continue to render me speechless.

By Tazlina Mannix
US Ski Team and Salomon Athlete Force

The 2008 Haywood Canadian Nationals are here in British Columbia, and nearly 600 cross-country skiers have converged at the 2010 Olympic venue for this event.  It is the inaugural championship to be held on the newly built Olympic courses, and one of the few big “trial runs” ahead of the World Cups to be held here in January 2009. This being my first look at the trails, I was full of anticipation upon arrival in Canada. 

The site of the Olympic Nordic events is nearly three hours north of Vancouver by car, but advertised as the host city of a winter Olympics, I was certainly caught off guard by the lush green grass and drizzly warm weather that greeted us as we exited the airport.  I suspect I was likely not the only Canadian Nationals-bound skier to be surprised, as there was no indication of winter to be seen.  What’s more, two hours later and roughly a hundred kilometers north of the city, there was still little reassurance that skiing was anywhere near.  Aside from the distant snowy mountaintops, winter seemed to have given way to spring. 

At 5pm light rain falls on the green lawns outside my hotel room.  As the cross-country trails are situated in a relatively remote area, we’re staying to south of the venue in Squamish, B.C., while others have chosen to lodge in Whistler.  On a recent run, tulips peek through the dirt, and it appears as though cold weather has long since departed the area.  However, if you look up to the forested mountains and magnificent rock faces that distinguish this Canadian province, a very decided snow line is evident, hinting that winter (and skiing) is not far.

Another forty minutes away, between Squamish and Whistler, is the 2010 Nordic venue, and believe it or not, snow!  In the Callahan Valley the snow pack is deep and the network of trails extends like a spider web through the surrounding wilderness.  This pocket of winter is a skiing paradise.  The trails vary in difficulty from challenging to “recreational” and cover a wide spectrum of terrain. 

The Olympic courses are the most challenging, with substantial climbs and technical descents.  There are two distinct classic and skate trails, each composed of 2.5km, 3.3km, 3.75km, and 5km loops from which to construct courses of differing lengths for both techniques.  The skate course features abrupt hills, quick changes in pitch, and severe corners and is of a rolling nature.  In contrast, the classic course is more smooth and gradual.  The ascents are of a mellower grade, while appearing more sustained, and the curves are gentler.  Both were the result of obvious planning and a good understanding of course construction.

These trails are just a small portion of this venue, however, as biathlon courses, and numerous recreational and moderate loops abound.  On the first day of training, after skiing the race courses and coming to the quick conclusion that it was hard to keep my heart rate down, I discovered the easy and intermediate loops near the entrance road- perfect L1 distance skiing.  There, past the ski jump on “Cross Train,” “Lower Line Road,” and finally “Around the World,” I found myself completely alone on virgin corduroy.  In training today I came upon more new trails.  In an effort to avoid the chaos of the sprint competition, I purposely got lost on the vacant rolling biathlon trails to the north of the cross-country stadium. 

With more trails yet to be discovered, it is evident that British Columbia and the Callahan Valley pleasantly surprised me.  While their winter is hidden in a relatively remote, secluded area, it’s certainly there, and they’re making the most of it through the construction of some tremendous trails.  This preview will serve as a first glance and will have me excited to come back for more racing in the 2007-2008 season and beyond. 

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