Durango Nordic Preforms in Ski Town USA

Over January 13th and 14^th the Durango Nordic Ski Club travelling to Steamboat Springs, CO to race at the CU Invite and Steamboat Junior National Qualifier.  The Freestyle race on Friday was held on a grueling 2.5km loop of man-made snow, as was the Classic race on Saturday.  “Racing on the cold man-made snow turned out to create very fast conditions” said head coach Josh Dalley  “After a large blocks of distance training mixed with intensity over Christmas break, the DNSC athletes were prepared to race last weekend in Steamboat.”

On Friday the J1 boys raced 4 laps for a total of 10km.  Leading Durango and the whole J1 field was Haakon Sigurslid.  He was followed by Sepp Kuss in 7^th place.  The J1 girls raced 2 laps for total of 5km.  Rachel Hampton lead DNSC with a 3^rd place finish.  Hampton was followed by Amy Katz in 11^th, Kaylee Blevins in 13^th, and Lily Oswald in 14^th.  Also skiing 2 laps, Cully Brown lead the J2 boys field followed by Durango teammates Charlie Greenberg in 7^th, and Abe Ott in 18^th.  Skiing the same course, Hannah Peterson of DNSC was 3^rd in the J2 girls field.  Racing 1 lap of the 2.5km course, Stanton Ott placed 21^st in the J3 boys category.  On the same course, Quinn Luthy lead DNSC in 20^th place in the J4 boys race, closely followed by teammate Corbin Reiter.  Racing in the J4 girls race, Carter Reiter skied to a 21^st place finish.  Skiing a 1km loop Claudia Luthy placed 8^th in the J5 girls race.

Waking up to warmer temperatures on Saturday, DNSC prepared for the Mass start Classic race.  “Mass start racing is the most exciting to watch and coach.” said Dalley “The racers always know where they stand in terms of place, but have to plan their strategy to best suit their styles.  It’s not a straight forward as an individual start race.”  Again racing 10km, Haakon Sigurslid lead DNSC with a 6^th place J1 boys finish.  He was closely followed by Sepp Kuss in 7^th.  In the J1 girls race, Rachel Hampton again lead DNSC, having another 3^rd place finish.  She was followed by Amy Katz in 7^th, Kaylee Blevins in 12^th, and Lily Oswald in 13^th.  Again leading the J2 boys, Cully Brown skied away from the field to capture the win.  He was followed by Charlie Greenberg in 9^th and Abe Ott in 15^th.  In the J2 girls race, Hannah Peterson placed 10^th.  Again racing the 2.5km loop, Stanton Ott of Durango placed 17^th.  Corbin Reiter and Quinn Luthy battled it out for DNSC, placing 10^th and 11^th respectively in the J4 boys category.  Carter Reiter skied strong, placing 15^th within the J4 girls.  Claudia Luthy raced hard to a 6^th place finish among J5 girls.

“I am proud of how all our athletes raced, as well as how they represented our community this past weekend.”  Said Dalley  “We had very strong results as a team and we continue to pick up momentum as we head into our larger races later this winter.”  On January 27^th and 28^th, the Durango Nordic Ski Club will travel to Soldier Hollow, UT to race in the Western Region Super Qualifier.  Teams west of the Mississippi all travel to Soldier Hollow on that weekend for the largest junior race in the Nataion.

Tad Elliott and USST Funding

Tad Elliott 30km National Championships Rumford, ME 2011 1^st Place

Tad Elliott aspires to be in Sochi, Russia as a member of the United States Cross Country Ski Team for the 2014 Winter Olympics.  Elliott obtained one of his goals this past winter when he was named to the United States Ski Team (USST) as a B Team member.

Tad Elliott 30km National Championships Rumford, ME 2011 1^st Place

Elliott is mid-way through what the USST calls its “pipeline” and on the road to a top ten result in the Winter Olympic Games.  Unfortunately, this year, that road contains significant potholes and financial barriers.  The three men and three women of the USST B team are not receiving any financial help with their travels to World Cup ski races in Europe and are responsible to pay entirely for all their travel expenses.  These expenses will amount to $20,000 to $25,000 per skier.  It is projected that the financial situation will not change next year, which will be the year prior to the 2014 Winter Olympics.  The three men on the USST B Team are all from Colorado.  They are Simi Hamilton, 24, from Aspen, Tad Elliott, 23, from Durango, and Noah Hoffman, 22, from Aspen.  For a comparison, the Norwegian Nordic Cross Country team receives a $9 million annual budget and the Canadians receive a $3.5 million annual budget.  The USST, on the other hand, receives a $750,000 annual budget.  The two men and two women of the USST A Team are fully funded.

Even though the USST support is making it possible for Elliott to pursue his Olympic dreams, budget cuts have made it increasingly more common for USST B teamers to turn to domestic club programs for the assistance they need in order to make it to the next level on the USST.  Elliott recently joined Team HomeGrown, a Colorado team based out of Vail and directed by Dan Weiland.

"I am happy to be a part of Team HomeGrown and a part of Ski and Snowboard Club Vail,” said Elliott. “The team is based on homegrown Colorado skiers that have grown up racing in Colorado and are now professional skiers seeking their Olympic dream.  It was a dream come true to be named to the US Ski Team, but due to recent budget cuts the B Team now has to fund 100 percent of their travel in Europe.  My goal is to make the A Team, where there is 100 percent funding at the world cup level, and represent the US at the Olympics in Sochi, Russia.  I have received incredible support from Durango and the Durango community.  I grew up skiing for the Durango Nordic Ski Club. One of the highlights of my career to date was the year 2008 when I coached the J5 skiers who are 8 & 9 years old for Durango Nordic Ski Club.  I learned a lot and it proved to be a motivation for me to improve my racing.  The Durango Winter Sports Foundation was not formed until after I graduated from high school, but I have still received support from DWSF to chase my Olympic dream. I fully realize how lucky I am to live in such a special place as Durango, Colorado.”

The ski communities from the three towns of Aspen, Durango, and Vail have recently created the Rocky Mountain Nordic Division Angel to raise money to support these Colorado athletes.  The RMN Angel has raised 3/4 of their goal, but still needs another $18,000 to meet their financial obligations to four Colorado skiers racing in European competitions.

The fourth skier is Sylvan Ellefson from Vail.  Ellefson also has recorded excellent results so far this winter and has a legitimate opportunity to make the 2014 US Cross Country Olympic Team.  Therefore, Colorado could potentially have four members on the USA Olympic Cross Country Ski Team: Elliott, Hamilton, Hoffman, and Ellefson.  Elliott, Hamilton, and Hoffman have been training year round under the USST.  They were in Park City, Utah and Oregon at a May snow camp and then spent three weeks in New Zealand in July where they were racing and training on snow with Canadian, Russian, and Japanese skiers.

                                         

Any fundraising for these Colorado skiers can be earmarked for a specific athlete and will go directly to that athlete through the RMN Nordic Angel.  One hundred percent of the funds go directly to the athletes.  RMN makes certain that any money disbursed is spent directly on reasonable travel expenses for World Cup skiing.  There are no administrative expenses associated with the Nordic Angel.  The Nordic Angel division of Rocky Mountain Nordic wants to keep expanding their fundraising so that they can eventually help support future RMN skiers who qualify for a Scando Cup Championships or World Junior Championships.

To help Tad Elliott or one of these other three Colorado skiers make it to Sochi, Russia, please make checks payable to Rocky Mountain Nordic Angel and mail to Rocky Mountain Nordic, 2613 Arroyo Drive, Durango, Colorado 81301. If you want to donate using your credit card, visit www.rmnordic.org, Nordic Angel Program, http://www.rmnnordic.causevox.com/.  RMN Angel is a nonprofit 501 C 3 company and can send a receipt to the donors upon request.  Rocky Mountain Nordic Angel Federal Tax Identification # 74-3145034.

 

Tad Elliott’s Results: 

·         Three time National Champion: 50km March 2010, Grand National Champion March 2010, and 30km January 2011. 

·         Second at the 2010 American Birkenbeiner

·         Member of the 2011 US Ski Team World Championship Team that competed in Oslo, Norway

·          U23 National Mountain Bike championships 2008 and 2010. 

USST results for the men during the first period of World Cup races this winter in Sjusjoen, Norway; Kuusamo, Finland; Seefeld, Austria; and Davos, Switzerland have been encouraging.  Elliott scored his first world cup points by placing 27^th in a 30km race in Davos, Switzerland.  He also had a strong skate relay leg in the Sjusjoen, Norway World Cup where he recorded some of the fastest times for his leg.