It has been a while since my last post in late November. I suppose being jostled around the country for four weeks has left me beat. It sure has been quite the month, packed full of racing and adventure. As always I will try to bring forward a summary of what I've been up to.
The CVTC team started their races off in Canmore, Alberta nearing the end of November. It was great to get a week in on some excellent snow conditions, because back in Whistler the snow has been hard pressed in accumulating. It also gave us a chance to acclimatize to the higher altitude Canmore is situated at. We started off the race weekend with freestyle sprints and ended with an 11km classic. Both courses were very flat, due to the lack of skiable trails, although the ones that were open were excellent. I had a moderate day sprinting (I was disappointed not to move on into the open heats) and I had an excellent classic race finishing 22nd in open men and 4th in junior men. I also exceeded the distance standard and it was my best race to date points wise. The lack of hills and technicalities definitely worked to my advantage, as double poling is one of my strengths.
The CVTC team started their races off in Canmore, Alberta nearing the end of November. It was great to get a week in on some excellent snow conditions, because back in Whistler the snow has been hard pressed in accumulating. It also gave us a chance to acclimatize to the higher altitude Canmore is situated at. We started off the race weekend with freestyle sprints and ended with an 11km classic. Both courses were very flat, due to the lack of skiable trails, although the ones that were open were excellent. I had a moderate day sprinting (I was disappointed not to move on into the open heats) and I had an excellent classic race finishing 22nd in open men and 4th in junior men. I also exceeded the distance standard and it was my best race to date points wise. The lack of hills and technicalities definitely worked to my advantage, as double poling is one of my strengths.
The Rocky Mountain Ski Lodge in Canmore.
Finishing off the weekend on a positive note, we headed out to Silverstar the Monday after the Alberta Cup. We were ecstatic to see how much snow Silverstar had, and we had a beautiful week training before our first NORAM. The only downside was it was quite the cold front that had greeted us. The temperature didn't seem to want to rise above -20 for most of the week, which jeopardized the races. Both races were a go, however it was a very close call and both races had a delayed start time. For the younger age categories of races, the Saturday race was actually cancelled, which is rare to see. We had a 15km skate race on the Saturday and a classic sprint on the Sunday. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with both races. However, we ended the week with some tobogganing and hockey. It's hard not to have a smile on your face ending the difficult week in a fun way! It was also great seeing the Ontario gang out on the trails!
My new painting of Silverstar done in a Fauvist style.
On Tuesday we piled in the van and headed off to Rossland for the next NORAM. On the way we stopped in Kelowna to shop at their big mall. It was nice to break the trip up, and be able to walk around in between our drive. We set up in a house at Red Mountain for our stay in Rossland. We were able to fit in a few days of training before the races. This was good as it provided us the opportunity to check out the newly cut trails. The new course was pretty wild with big up hills and technical downhills.
The Saturday was skate sprints and Sunday was a 15km classic. Again I was quite disappointed with how the races went for myself. However, Sunday's classic race was a challenging one for everyone as the conditions were quite difficult to wax for and it was a difficult course.
We left to go back to Whistler right after Sunday's race. It was a long trip home, about nine hours in the van. I had a couple of days in Whistler to get reorganized and then I made the long trek back to Ontario for Christmas break. The whole trip takes around twelve hours including the connections. It was great to be back home and to be able to ski on my home trails (Whistler had no snow when I left). I ate lots of tasty food which was a huge treat after three weeks on the road! I was also able to see all of my pets! I hung out with my lizard Klister and my dog Sophie, basically whenever I wasn't skiing. My last day at home was Boxing Day, which I spent hiking. I hiked in the morning with my family and then in the afternoon with my best friend Jack.
The Saturday was skate sprints and Sunday was a 15km classic. Again I was quite disappointed with how the races went for myself. However, Sunday's classic race was a challenging one for everyone as the conditions were quite difficult to wax for and it was a difficult course.
We left to go back to Whistler right after Sunday's race. It was a long trip home, about nine hours in the van. I had a couple of days in Whistler to get reorganized and then I made the long trek back to Ontario for Christmas break. The whole trip takes around twelve hours including the connections. It was great to be back home and to be able to ski on my home trails (Whistler had no snow when I left). I ate lots of tasty food which was a huge treat after three weeks on the road! I was also able to see all of my pets! I hung out with my lizard Klister and my dog Sophie, basically whenever I wasn't skiing. My last day at home was Boxing Day, which I spent hiking. I hiked in the morning with my family and then in the afternoon with my best friend Jack.
Whistler with no snow on December 17th.
My lizard Klister.
Hiking to the lookout above High Lake in North Bay with Jack.
I had to awaken at 4am EST on the 27th to catch my 6am flight out of North Bay. By 3:30pm PST I was back in Whistler. We've been training the past couple of days here in Whistler gearing up for our next big NORAM/ World Junior Trials in Canmore. We are planning to leave January 3rd to either Revelstoke or Golden for some better on snow training or we will go straight to Canmore. That basically sums up the past month.
Liam
RSS Feed