. Thomsen D'Hont: Through stone passageways to battle

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Through stone passageways to battle

The mood between the men milling around is quiet but anxious. Your number is called and the man ushers you forward through the stone tunnel. On the threshold of the wall you step on a platform and a squad of officials prop you up and brush the crud off of your boots before you step on the brilliant white surface. The crowd chants and cheers and you gain a sense of the sheer magnitude of human presence on this side of the wall. You shift in your armour and feel the weight of your weapons as you swing them through the air. You have done this hundreds of times before, but today is different. There is energy in the air.

But in place of chain mail and morning stars there are carbonlites and spandex. The course is a tunnel of waving flags and appendages and strained vocal chords.

The Québec City sprint World Cup was one of the best experiences of my life to date.

photo credit: Motion360

On the start line getting ready to break the wand.

One thing that made the week in Québec amazing, is the lodging provided to Ian Murray and I by my girlfriend's cousins. They live right in Vieux Québec about a 5 minute walk from the race's start line. Pictured here is Ian Murray fiddling a ditty with Louisa on guitar. Louisa is but one of the cousins and lives across the backyard from where we were staying with another cousin. The house that we stayed in is one of the oldest houses in Québec City, built in 1793. Never has there been such a joyous and convenient lodging at a race. The weekly 20-person family dinners/jam sessions are something out of a movie.

The morning commute through the streets of old town Québec.

The start line beneath ancient stonework and crenellations.

Taking it all in on a training day.

Team Sprint

Warming up for the skate sprint.

Navigating the sloppy and soft conditions of the 2-lap 750 meter man-made snow course. On my first lap I was a little startled by the 30,000 hollering spectators on course. I was able to snap out of it a bit on my second lap and skied strong in to the line.

photo cred: Motion360.

Rounding the corner into the finishing straight. On the day I was pretty stoked on my qualifier. I have never had that much fun cross country skiing! Next time I will know what to expect with the blaring racket of thousands of people.

For some more pictures that really capture the essence of Québec City this past weekend, check out Reese Hanneman's blog.

Thanks to all my sponsors and supporters who made this all possible!

Thomsen

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Bio

I was born and raised in the North in the city of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. Yellowknife is a bustling mining town that is in a dark winter deep freeze for much of the year. It is in these dark, cold months that I learned to ski out on meandering snowmobile trails. In Yellowknife there is a sort of ski season trade-off; we have 8 months where skiing is possible, but with the harsh temperatures we have mid-winter, skiing is nearly unbearable for half this time. These conditions have reinforced values such as perseverance, drive, focus etc… and it is these values that have helped me get to where I am today.

When I was a youngster up in the ‘Knife, I was always outdoors, living the childhood that skiing greats like Bjorn Daehlie have attributed their success to. I would hunt, trap, camp, fish, and explore the land around where I lived year-round. I was skiing at a very young age and eventually hopped on the Jackrabbit bandwagon at the age of 7. I flew through the different colour levels and before I knew it I was on the High Performance team. This was a big step – lots of famous skiers were part of this group back then (famous in Yellowknife, anyways). I raced some big international competitions as a Midget through to Junior. I would throw the best I had at Alaskans, Greenlanders, Scandinavians, Russians, and Northern Canadians at the Arctic Winter Games. I was always a pretty small guy so it was a while before I could compete. My results consistently got better and at my final Arctics’ I demonstrated my improved skills and brought home the coveted Golden Ulu for my home contingent of the NWT. It remains to this day one of my greatest accomplishments.

AWGs aren't the only races I did - I would be at all the big Canadian ones too. As a midget (12-13) through to juvenile category (14-15), I would hit up Alberta Cups once or twice a year, along with Western Canadian Championships being an important annual event. As a juvenile I started to make it out to Nationals and by that time I was really hooked on skiing and every year of racing motivated me more and more.

The past few years have been an adventure. Out of High School in summer '07 I became part of the National Team Development Centre based out of Thunder Bay, Ontario. This was my first real time on a high calibre team with other highly motivated individuals working towards the same goal of national and international skiing success. Needless to say, this year was a great stepping stone for me. After my year with the NTDC, I moved out to Whistler, BC to be part of the Callaghan Valley Training Centre (CVTC). Being based out of the 2010 Olympic venue offers an amazing environment for a developing cross country skier and the facilities are second to none.

Intro

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Through stone passageways to battle

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