By Chad Giese

The Mora Vasaloppet could not have a better role model than its older and prestigious relative, the Swedish Vasaloppet.  The race is considered the granddaddy of them all.  It is the longest of all courses and still manages to attract 15000 participants and over 45000 participants in all of the races during Vasaloppet week; it is truly the biggest ski event in Sweden.  I think that all young skiers growing up in Sweden have the dream of winning the Vasaloppet some day.  Fortunately for them, the Swedes do very well in this event.  It is in their blood and always in the front of their minds. 

Despite all of this, the size of the Swedish Vasaloppet organization has not gotten in the way of the home town feel that makes this race truly great.  I had the opportunity to talk with Rolf Hammar, President of the Vasaloppet Organization, during the week before the race.  He has been at the helm of the largest race in the world for 20 years and will be retiring after next year's event.  I asked him what he feels his biggest accomplishment has been during his tenure and his answer surprised me, but shouldn’t have.  I expected him to talk about growing the race to 15000 racers and 45000 racers over the Vasaloppet week or spreading the Vasaloppet Organization to four countries.  Rolf felt his biggest accomplishments were getting the Salen and Mora Ski Clubs to come together and cooperate to prepare the course during Vasaloppet week and Staffan Larsson, the hometown hero of Mora, Sweden, finally winning the race in 1999.  Numbers aren’t everything, it is the event that is important.

This year, I went over for my second try at the 90km Classic race and was not disappointed.  Beautiful snow conditions were interrupted by one quarter of an inch of fresh snow that fell one hour before the start.  The snow stopped before the race began, but the damage was done.  The leaders would end up plowing trail for 90km, which meant that no one wanted to be in front.  This created the largest lead pack I have ever skied in, nearly 350 people.  My ski tips pushed the boots of the skier in front of me and my boots were pushed by the ski tips of the skier behind me, and five tracks wide of this mayhem.   Passing was difficult since stepping out of the track that had been skied in meant you went backwards and skiers switching lanes into other skiers meant broken poles everywhere.  The downhills were crazy; imagine 350 skiers bunching up, five lanes wide, just trying not to go down.  

Worse than all of this was the fact that I had absolutely no kick.  The snow that fell before the start changed the course from what we tested earlier in the morning.  I didn’t see anyone kick the entire race, so double poling up all uphills was the only way to move forward. 

For 65km this was the scene, too many people to really ski.  At 65km, the course sped up a bit and the race really began.  I decided I would try to race to the finish, only 25km, that shouldn’t be too bad.  I was moving pretty well until 80km and my arms gave out.  It was then that 80km of double poling had caught up with me.  I didn’t bonk, but I lost all power from my arms.  A lot of people passed me in the last 10km but I finished.  It took me 4:51:47 in 174th place.  Oskar Svard, from Sweden, won for the third time in 4:43:40. 

If you are a real ski enthusiast, I recommend you fly to Stockholm and get on a train to Mora the first week in March.  You will see a side of the sport that will keep you skiing for many more years.  And don’t forget to try the blueberry soup!

Boulder Nordic Sport and Caldwell Sport Specialties offer discount for early grinds

It’s time to start thinking about putting the skis away for the summer.  Getting them cleaned and waxed so they can absorb wax all summer is a great start.  It is also a great time of year to go one step further and get skis stone ground.  Stone grinding is a process where a ski is passed through a machine that peels a very thin layer of base material off and carves micro-structure into the ski.  It improves ski performance by flattening the base, removing scratches and burned, dried base material while etching appropriate structure into the base.

Factory Team signature stone grinder Engineered Tuning was a key part of the Factory Team’s success.  Carl Swenson, Lars Flora, Patrick Weaver, Justin Freeman, Kristina Strandberg and Jana Rehemaa raced on Engineered Tuning’s grinds this year, winning many races all over North America on skis prepared at Boulder Nordic Sport (ET West) and Caldwell Sport Specialties (ET East).  Engineered Tuning has two of the most advanced cross-country specific stone grinding machines in North America and a passion for making skis fast right out of the grinder.  At the West Yellowstone Supertour races, Engineered Tuning finished grinding Lars’s and Kristina’s skis at 2:30AM.  The skis were placed in ET’s hot box until 7:00AM when the Factory Team wax crew took them and waxed them with the day’s race wax.  Both Kristina and Lars won their respective races against the most competitive fields of the year on skis that had been in the stone grinder only hours earlier.

Engineered Tuning wants to show everyone why Kristina, Lars, Carl, Jana, Patrick, Justin, college teams, NCAA champions, Junior National Champions and many of the top athletes in the US grind their skis at Engineered Tuning.  Mention Ski Post on your stone grinding order and receive 15% off grinds and post-grind wax treatments through May 15.

Information about Engineered Tuning, its products and services is available by contacting Boulder Nordic Sport and Caldwell Sport Specialties directly:

Boulder Nordic Sport
Engineered Tuning West
Colorado
www.bouldernordicsport.com
800.380.5048

Caldwell Sport Specialties
Engineered Tuning East
Vermont
www.engineeredtuning.net
802.874.4800

The Subaru Factory Team encourages everyone to sign up for the EnjoyWinter.com Sweepstakes. All you have to do is sign up at www.enjoywinter.com and you could win a Yakima Sky Box full of Subaru Factory Team sponsors' gear.

Good luck!

Meet Alaska’s Olympic Athletes at an all-age all abilities ski clinic
1:00—4:00 pm Sunday, April 15
Hilltop Chalet—Abbott Road
Anchorage, AK
The fun includes ski lessons, games, and poster signings by the athletes!
Athletes include Rosey Fletcher, Lars Flora, Kikkan Randall, James Southam, and Rachel Steer

Limited youth skis, boots and poles will be provided. Available on a first come, first served basis.

Contact information:
Phone: 435-659-1918 Email: Larsflora@yahoo.com
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CNSC & SNOC Global Warming Action
Step it Up and XC Ski On Snow this Saturday, April 14!
Stowe Mountain Resort Touring Center

We will meet at 10AM at the Stowe Mountain Resort Touring Center parking lot. The Touring Center is not officially open so there is no fee. The trails were last groomed on Wednesday, April 11th. The Trapp cabin will be open and serving food. Trapps is open until Sunday and are currently grooming the majority of their terrain. Our goal will be to take our photo at the Trapp’s Slayton Pasture cabin at the stroke of noon. Waxless classic skis are recommended.

Call 888-7474 for more information
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Wake up! It's time to train!
New CXC training DVD released for sale!

Central Cross Country Ski Association is pleased to announce the release of a brand new training DVD "Wake up! It's time to train!"

70 minutes of exclusive interviews with US Ski Team coaches, XC drills and
technique, fitness testing, sports physiology, core strength, training volume,
intensity levels, race footage, and much more. Featuring CXC Ski Team and US Ski Team athletes.

"This video contains invaluable first hand information from the top coaches in the
US and can be helpful to all, coaches, athletes, parents and master skiers. This is
also a first step study guide for the CXC Coach's Education and Certification
Program which will be launched in the spring of 2007" commented Yuriy Gusev, Central Cross Country Ski Association's CEO

This exciting DVD can be purchased on line at www.cxcskiing.org or at the CXC booth during American Birkebeiner Expo. All proceeds from the DVD sales will directly support youth, junior, senior and master's programs in the Central Region.

also

Central Cross Country Ski Association is pleased to announce the new USST
technique CD-ROM Cross-Country Technique Fundamentals is available for
sale at http://www.cxcskiing.org/

Developed by US Ski Team coaches, this revolutionary teaching tool features
Olympic and National Team members Andy Newell, Kikkan Randall, Chris Cook, Andrew Johnson, Kris Freeman and more. This CD lays the foundation for both Classic and Freestyle techniques on which we can build a consistent
technique program that will continue to develop great cross-country skiers
for years to come. For use by coaches and skiers of all ages and abilities,
this highly interactive CD-ROM features:

- How mastering these skills will improve your athletes skiing
- Detailed explanations and videos of 20 new cutting-edge drills
demonstrated by members of the USST and top junior racers
- World Cup footage of these skills used in races.
- Templates for designing customized lesson plans
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NOTE: If you have an event you would like to have in SkiPost please send emails to weanswer@skipost.com

For more information on Subaru's technically advanced all-wheel drive vehicles check out www.subaru.com

"It's What Makes A Subaru, A Subaru."