How about that ski we did the other day...

We were treated to amazing tracks while in Silver Star from Nov. 11-15.

After a few days of on snow skiing in Silver Star, BC and a very successful hard effort in the RMR & Co. classic sprint TT, it was back to Whistler.

Cheese lovin' life (as always), striding it out at Silver Star

Our first whole day back in town we were greeted by a deluge like no other.  Luckily, said deluge came in the form of a blinding, choking snowstorm at slightly higher elevations (freezing level eventually plunged to engulf the town of Whistler at the bottom of the valley).

Needless to say, winter has come to Whistler.  There is as much snow as there was in January of last year when the World Cups were in town.

A 165cm pole propped against the snowbank.

Now, how about that ski we did the other day...  The first real legit ski in W.  And it was done skating since classic kills the tendonitis in my shin...

What made it great is how the ski brought back fond memories of skiing in Yellowknife.  Such things as:

- I was all alone on the ski and didn't see another soul the whole hour and a half.

- The trail had a few inches of fresh snow (YK is rarely groomed).

- The skis I was using were dogs, imitating the VERY slow conditions of a borderline skate ski day in Yellowknife at a temperature of -25.

- I also froze my butt off, which is a given when training in YK in the winter.  The ski started at 800m, at a temperature around freezing, and ended at 1200m and temp about -5 in a huge blizzard.  I was nearly buried alive.  And slowly became a block of ice on the 30 minute downhill back to Big Brown (team van).

And this was us today on another early season ski in the constant snow storm that is the Callaghan Valley.  Camille took a crazy bail on the bomb back down Main Line, nearly snapping his brand new hole skis.

Look who I bumped into at Creekside Physio today!  My long-time buddy and business partner from YK, Andrew Matthews, who is a full-time snowboarder who bases his training out of Whistler as well.  We are both dealing with injuries at the moment and are both under the watchful eye of legendary Physio, Andree Savoie.  Good times.

Check back soon for updates as we get ready to rock and roll.

T 

Race Schedule

WOW.  Whaaaat a boring title.

So here's the low down...

The season is VERY front heavy, with all of the main focus races (3 of 'em) being completed within 16 days of each other, completed by January 3rd.  Again, I will be focusing on the sprints even though I feel, proportionately, I have improved my distance a lot more this season.  For sprinting I am already close to the top and can challenge the top guys in the country on a good day while my distance remains my lifelong weakness and takes a back seat for the time being.

Here is my first month of racing:

- December 13th: NorAm Skate Sprint; Vernon, BC
- December 19th: Olympic Trials Classic Sprint; Canmore, AB
- December 20th: Olympic Trials Classic Sprint; Canmore, AB (yes, they are having the same race two days in a row)
- January 3rd: World U-23 Championships Trials Skate Sprint; Val Cartier, QC

And that's how the cookie crumbles.

Currently I am nursing some persistent tendonitis that I have been battling for the past month.  This is actually the 2nd bout of it - different spot, same pain.  I am juggling training activities to keep the stress away from it.  Today I treaded water for 15 minutes.  I remember I had to quit swimming back in the day cause I couldn't tread water for 5 minutes and thus couldn't pass AquaQuest 10 or whatever it was...

Snow is happening this week.  I think Whistler is getting like 4 feet this weekend.

Pic du jour:

Striding up Stonebridge road with Lee.  Initial day of tendonitis #2.

Taker easy.

T