Nordic Storm at Snow Mountain Ranch

The Junior National Qualifiers continued this past weekend as the Durango Nordic Ski Club travelled to Granby, CO to compete in the second weekend of four Junior National Qualifier’s.  These races where hosted by Boulder Nordic Junior Race Team at Snow Mountain Ranch.  “As a team, this was our strongest showing so far this year.” said head coach Josh Dalley.  “We had 20 skiers racing at the event, with ages ranging from 11 to 18.  This weekend also solidified some Durango athletes spots on the Junior National Team, putting 13 DNSC athletes within striking distance of making the team.”

On Saturday Boulder hosted a five kilometer freestyle technique race.  The J1 and OJ classes all raced together (ages 16-19).  Leading the way  for DNSC was Gino Pastore in 7^th place, followed by Sepp Kuss in 10^th, Gunter Ott in 16^th, Haakon Samuelson in 18^th, and Ben Capelin in 23^rd.  The Junior Women’s race was lead by DNSC skier Rachel Hampton in 4^th and Hannah Madden in 9^th.  Haakon Sigurslid lead the J2 Men age group (14-15) for Durango with a 3^rd place finish.  Following Sigurslid were John Rhoades in 18^th and Abe Ott in 20^th.  In the girls J2 age group, Durango was lead by Amy Katz in 2^nd place, Hannah Peterson in 6^th, Lily Oswald in 9^th, Kaylee Blevins in 11^th, and Emma Greenberg in 18^th.  DNSC had two J3 boys (12-13) compete.  Charlie Greenberg skied to a eight second victory and Jared Webster placed 12^th.  In the J3 Girls race, Durango’s Avra Saslow placed 11^th.  Dylan Williamson placed 5^th and Stan Ott placed 9^th in the J4 Male age class.  In the J4 Female class, DNSC skier Marit May rounded out the podium with a 3^rd place finish.

The racers went head to head on Sunday in a mass start classic race.  The J1 and OJ Girls skied 10 kilometers with Rachel Hampton again leading the way for Durango in 7^th, followed by Hannah Madden in 13^th.  The J1 and OJ Boys raced 3 laps for a total of 15 kilometers.  Gino Pastore moved up a spot to 6^th place, followed by Sepp Kuss in 10^th, Gunter Ott in 14^th, Haakon Samuelson in 16^th, and Ben Capelin in 23^rd.  The J2 Girls stuck to 5 kilometers, with a close race between the top 3.  Amy Katz from Durango was in the final sprint for the finish line and captured 3^rd place.  In that age group she was followed by Hannah Peterson in 8^th, Kaylee Blevins in 10^th, Lily Oswald in 11^th, and Emma Greenberg in 20^th.  In the J2 Boys, Haakon Sigurslid lead the race from the beginning, finishing 1^st with a 15 second gap over the rest of the field.  He was followed by John Rhoades in 18^th and Abe Ott in 19^th.  In the J4 Female class, Avra Saslow placed 8^th.  Charlie Greenberg held on to a podium for the second day in a row, placing 3^rd in the J3 Boys group.  He was followed by Jared Webster in 19^th.  Marit May also held on to two days on the podium, moving up to 2^nd place in the J4 Girls race.  In the J4 Boys race, Dylan Williamson proved himself to be a force, placing 3^rd on the second day.  He was followed by Stan Ott in 7^th.  Full results can be found on www.fourcornerstiming.com or www.durangonordic.org.

Next, the Durango Nordic Ski Club athletes will be racing this coming weekend in the Tour de Ski, hosted at Durango Mountain Resort.  The race courses wind their way around the Hermosa Valley, with challenging climbs and epic views. 

Going the Distance

Distance Races start tomorrow!  Yes, it’s finally going to happen and we are ready for it.  With another good day of training at Great Glen, they kids are ready to go out and rock tomorrow in the distance classic race.  Everyone is felling good, upbeat, and…ready.  This is US Nationals and we brought our A game.  And us coaches are ready as well.  We did a lot of klister testing today and even race a lap of the race course to check it out.  We did our homework and we’ve determined that tomorrow is going to be a good day for Rocky (esp DNSC).

Conditions update.  The gun show has been happening.  Not the muscle “gun show” or the actual Gun Show that we had at JNs last year.  I mean the snow guns.  They have been out in force and cranking out enough snow to cover a 2.5k loop that will be used for the races tomorrow and most likely the rest of the week.  I took some pics today on my phone:

It starts with making snow

Then push it around the course

And end up with a ski trail.

Also, here are some great shots my mom took during the sprint races.  Our kids showed up well and had solid performances in tough conditions.

More to come after tomorrow’s race.

Nordic Success in Vail

This past weekend the Durango Nordic Ski Club, and youth cross country ski club, travelled to Minturn, CO to compete in the first Junior National Qualifier of the winter season.  “Our Team showed our true colors this weekend, racing with the heart they show every day at practice” said head coach Josh Dalley.

On Saturday Ski and Snowboard Club Vail hosted a kilometer classic technique race.  The Men’s race was won by DNSC alumni Tad Elliott followed by another alumni Lars Ellefson in 6^th place.  Leading the way  for DNSC in the Junior Men’s race (ages 16-19) was Gino Pastore in 4^th place, followed by Sepp Kuss in 10^th, Haakon Samuelson in 13^th, Gunter Ott in 15^th, and Ben Capelin in 22^nd.  The Junior Women’s race was lead by DNSC skier Alicia Pastore in 2^nd place, followed by Elena Breed (DNSC Alumni) in 6^th, Rachel Hampton in 10^th, and Hannah Madden in 15^th.  In the J2 Men age group (14-15), the race was won by DNSC member Cully Brown.  Following Brown were Haakon Sigurslid in 3^rd, Levi Kurlander in 19^th, John Rhoades in 23^rd, Gordon Gianniny in 24^th, and Abe Ott in 26^th.  In the girls J2 age group, Durango was lead by Amy Katz in 5^th place, Lily Oswald in 8^th, Kaylee Blevins in 9^th, Hannah Peterson in 14^th, and Emma Greenberg in 20^th.  DNSC had two J3 boys, Charlie Greenberg skied to a 2^nd place finish and Jared Webster placed 17^th.  Stan Ott placed 8^th in the J4 Male age class.

The excitement continued on Sunday, as the racers went head to head around a 1km loop in an elimination sprint race.  The top 3 skiers in each heat moved on to the next round, until the finals.  In the J4 Boys, Stan Ott placed 9^th.  Charlie Greenberg sprinted to the line to claim 2^nd place in the J3 Boys, followed by Jared Webster in 14^th.  Amy Katz skied to 6^th place finish in the final of J2 girls, followed by Kaylee Blevins in 7^th, Hannah Peterson in 10^th, Lily Oswald in 13^th, and Emma Greenberg in 19^th.  In the J2 boys, DNSC skiers Cully Brown and Haakon Sigurslid sprinted to the line in the final, respectively placing 1^st and 2^nd.  They were followed by Levi Kurlander in 22^nd, John Rhoades in 24^th, Abe Ott in 27^th, and Gordon Gianniny in 30^th.  In the women’s race, ages 16 and up, Alicia Pastore lead DNSC in 5^th place, followed by Rachel Hampton in 6^th, Hannah Madden in 12^th, and DNSC Alumni Elena Breed in 13^th.  In the Men’s race, ages 16 and older, DNSC Alumni Tad Elliott lead the way in 4^th, followed closely by Haakon Sameulson in 6^th.  Lars Ellefson, a DNSC Alumni placed 8^th, Gino Pastore was 13^th, Sepp Kuss was 15^th, Ben Capelin placed 26^th, and Gunter Ott placed 27^th.

Full results can be found on www.fourcornerstiming.com or www.durangonordic.org.

Durango Nordic Skiers Shine

After subzero temperatures and whipping snow blizzards, the Durango Nordic Ski Team returned home from training and racing in West Yellowstone during Thanksgiving vacation.  They appreciated more snow with warmer temperatures for the first week of on snow training at the Durango Nordic Center.  Just five days later, the team repacked and traveled to Frisco, for the season’s first NRL (National Ranking List) race.   

The Gold Run Nordic Center welcomed a large field of club, collegiate and citizen Nordic racers to marginal snow and 40 degrees. Five and ten kilometer skate technique events began Saturday morning with J2 and older women (ages 14 to 30 ).  J1 skiers AliciaRose Pastore placed 4^th and Hannah Madden followed in 11^th place.  Amy Katz placed 3^rd in the J2 women’s class, with Hannah Peterson 9^th, Kaylee Blevins 10^th, Lily Oswald 13^th and Emma Greenberg finishing in 17^th place.

J1 and older men skied the same course but twice for a 10 kilometer race.  J1 skiers Gino Pastore crossed the finish line in 2^nd place, and Sepp Kuss in 6^th place.  Haakon Samuleson placed 4^th in the men’s OJ field.  Durango Nordic Ski Club alumni Tad Elliott and Lars Ellefson finished 2^nd and 21^st, respectively, among senior men.  Cully Brown lead DNSC in 2^nd place followed by teammate Haakon Sigurslid in 4th.  J3 skier Charlie Greenberg earned gold for the team winning his 3k skate race.

Sunday’s 10K classic technique events started with J1 men.  Gino Pastore placed 3^rd and Sepp Kuss 8^th.   Haakon Samuleson finished 3^rd in the men’s OJ class.  Tad Elliott and Lars Ellefson crossed the finished 11^th and 12^th, respectively.  AliciaRose Pastore placed 6^th in the J1 women’s field and Hannah Madden 14^th.  J2 boys Cully Brown and Haakon Sigurslid swept the 5k course with Brown 1^st and Sigurslid 2^nd.  J2 girls Amy Katz finished 6^th, followed closely by Kaylee Blevins 7^th.  Teammates Hannah Peterson placed 12, Lily Oswald 13th and Emma Greenberg 17^th.  Charlie Greenberg skied the 3K course placing 3^rd in the J3 boy’s class.

The team’s next race will be this Saturday, December 11^th at 9:00am at the Durango Nordic Center.  The classic technique races will offer 1k, 3k, 5k and 10k distances for all interested skiers.  Race entries can be paid at the Nordic Center between 8am and 9am on Saturday.  They hope to see lots of locals come race and join the fun.