Great Results in Rossland!
ON THE PODIUM! That's me on the far right after a 5th place finish in the 15km Classic Ind. Start in Rossland, BC.
After a slightly slow start to the season in Sovereign Lakes, things took a turn for the better at the second weekend of NorAm racing in Rossland, BC. Rossland is a small town in southern British Columbia with a number of great places to ski. We showed up there early in the week to have a few days at Black Jack (the race site) to prepare for the weekend of racing, but also to have a chance to ski at Paulson. Paulson is a nifty spot with tonnes of groomed single track classic trails on old logging roads high in the Kootenays. It's one of my favourite places to ski and the workout we did there will go down as one of the best of the year!
After skiing at Paulson, a slick intensity session, and a rest day, I felt well prepared to race on the weekend. Most of the top ski teams from the States were there as well as all the top teams from Canada. The competition was going to be fierce! Saturday's race was a skate sprint. This was my third time racing at Black Jack so I knew the twisty fast course quite well. I had a great qualifier qualifying 3rd in Open Men and was the fastest Canadian! In the heats my luck ran dry when another skier encroached on my personal space and ended up taking us both down on a fast downhill corner. I broke a pole in the crash so my day ended with that quarter-final. I didn't get hurt physically in the crash, but it hurt to end up in 25th overall on a day where I was feeling so good all because of another skier's mistake. Sunday was a brand new day and a brand new race - the 15km classic individual start! A new distance course had been built since I was last in Rossland and it was brutally hilly. By the time the mens' race started, the snow conditions were extremely variable across the course. Some parts were powdery and others were glazy (almost icy), so getting grip was too easy in certain sections or very tricky in others. I felt alright, the wax on my skis was great, and I had enough focus to hold the technique together for the last third of the race so I ended up in 5th overall! I was also the 3rd Canadian, and 1st Canadian U23. A great race and a great way to end my pre-christmas racing. Unfortunately, I didn't pre-qualify for World U23's but my shape is looking good for Trials at the start of January.
Sprint Qualifier Results: http://zone4.ca/results.asp?ID=6153&cat=262
Sprint Results: http://zone4.ca/results.asp?ID=6157&cat=378
15km Classic Results: http://zone4.ca/results.asp?ID=6163&cat=128
I'm back in Thunder Bay with the family for the Christmas Holidays. Great snow here so the training will be amazing. Our next race trip will be to World Junior and U23 Trials in Canmore, AB from Jan. 8th to 12th.
Merry Christmas and an Happy New Year!
