the utah nordic alliance volume xxv no.6 april 2015 news 2015-4.pdf · 2015-11-03 · the utah...

April 2015The Utah Nordic Alliance Volume XXV No.6

continued on page 4

The season ending White Pine Farm race was moved to a 4.2 K loop at Soldier Hollow (thanks

again to Richard Hodges) for the final event of a very weird Nordic racing season. The incredibly warm February weather decimated our local track options and forced the Wasatch Citizen’s Series to reschedule or relocate 3 of the 5 races this season. Even Soldier Hollow had to move a bunch of their manmade snow to cover a few bare spots that had opened up the previous week.

A few clouds and light snow gave way to sunny skies and a very good ski track for the 4 loop race totaling 16.6K. The 171 participants had to get up early to make the earlier 9AM start time, which was an effort to save as much of the remaining

Wasatch Citizen’s Weirdest Ski Season Ends on a Good DayMakarewicz, Garrard Win Open Class

by Kurt Dudley

Phot

os b

y G

ary

Flad

moe

ski track as possible. Barry Makarewicz won easily in 45:35 over Matt Rossman, in spite of having to dance around the pack of old, slow guys climbing out the stadium on their 2nd lap. Emma Garrard beat WCS Centurion Roxanne Toly in the women’s open in 51:54

Three generations of Hanscoms skied and enjoyed the day before Dave’s son Greg and granddaughter Chloe had to board a plane back to Seattle. TUNA Centurion and Mountain Dell Groomer, Steve Swanson also had three generations, as usual, on the track that day. Son Eric and granddaughter Grace (1st place F10-11) both did well. Steve and legendary climber and long time ski racer, Jock Glidden, duked it out the M75 class.

Montana Leonard, Mara Cruickshank, Geneva Humbert, Addison McCarthy, and Sierra Enos were the age group win-ners for the junior girls. Boy age group winners include Lucas Fassio, Phillip Radu, Joseph Bonacci, Daniel Villani, Aksel Anderson, Braysen Goodwin, and Kenen Goodwin. There is a lot of good genetics among that list of young skiers.

Advanced male sit skier Adrian Castro handled 4 km while MSS class sit skiers Pedro Diaz and Roberto Cardenas slid 3 km for the day, as did female sit skier Brittany Fisher. Male Special

Smartwool /Wasatch Citizen’s Series Race #5Soldier Hollow February 21, 2015

Another victory for Emma GarrardBarry Makarewicz leads all the way

April 2015

T U N A N E W S

Editor’s NoteWell this is the last issue of TUNA News for the 2014-15 season. I am not sure whether to feel happy or sad for the passing of one more ski season. This was one of the strangest in my lifetime, with a February and March more reminiscent of May and early June. I am guessing most of you are like me; confused about whether to be glad to start hiking and biking, or sad because the ski season was short, and not particularly good. Don’t get me wrong, there were some great days and some great events but it was hard to get psyched when the valleys were brown. And without Mountain Dell, I fear most

skiers lost a lot of the motivation provided by having such a great venue close at hand. All I can say is that I hope this is not going to be the new normal for the years ahead.

This issue wraps up the Wasatch Citizens Series with results from the last race and a great article by Kurt Dudley. Season points totals are also included. Eric Swanson and Mark Keeney tell us how things went at the West Yellowstone Rendezvous, and Kirk and Lucy Nichols report on the Solitude Spring Fling. We have recaps from our Junior coaches, and it is pretty impressive the level of Nordic talent that resides along the Wasatch Front and Back. Tom Kelly has been gracious enough to allow TUNA News to reprint another one of his outstanding articles about the kind of motivation it takes to succeed as a Nordic skier. I thought his article on Liz Stephen’s success was a fitting way to launch into summer and thank Tom again for allowing us to use his material. You will also find your favorites from Barry Makarewicz and David Susong, and I sprinkled a few miscellaneous articles to keep this issue, hope-fully, lively.

I also want to thank everyone who contributed to TUNA News this season. I know it is a lot of work to write up articles, and I know that writing doesn’t come easy. So when you see the people that have contributed over the year, and in many cases many years, be sure to tell them thanks. I personally want to thank each and every one of them because they put up with my deadlines and dunning emails to get articles in on time.

I leave you with one of my favorite quotes from T.S. Eliot which I hope will frame your activities for the summer. “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”

Happy Trails Bill

2014-2015 OffiCErS

PresidentTom Bonacci . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-583-3449

secretaryDonna Wahoff-Stice . . . . . . . dwstice@gmail .com

treasurerLori Gates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-944-8016

tuna news editorBill Stenquist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435-657-9546bstenquist4@gmail .com

Junior Parent LiasonLucy Jacob-Nichols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-596-2702

otHer directorsGreg Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501-536-1515Lisa Bruns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-363-8970Cassie Dippo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-277-8631Richard Hodges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-583-0220Mark Keeney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-597-3973Chris Magerl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-595-8293Stephanie Strohl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-860-3136Eric Swanson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-550-8641Isaac Wilson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435-503-6068

advisor & wcs directorDave Hanscom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-550-1777

advisor & JoQ directorDavid Susong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435-615-2726

advisor Tim Metos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-533-8671

Head coacH & Junior Program directorSteve Cook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801 647-0677

tuna news dePartmentsBack of the Pack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David SusongMembership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lisa BrunsMountain Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris MagerlNordic Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dave HanscomRace Photographer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gary FladmoeSocial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Donna Wahoff-SticeYurt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Greg Adams

design & advertisingSuzi Elmore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-989-7360suzi@suzielmore .comGo to www .utahnordic .com and click on ADVERTISING for rates and deadlines .Articles, race listings, photographs and artwork are welcome, but TUNA News assumes no responsibility for loss or damage. www . utahnordic .com twitter:@Utah NordicTUNA News, PO Box 9008Salt Lake City, UT 84109-0008

The Utah Nordic Alliance (TUNA) is a nonprofit organi-zation which supports Nordic skiing in all its forms in the state of Utah . The club offers its members discounts on equipment and ski passes at participating local merchants, as well as discounts on races and social events . Members also receive TUNA News which is published six times a year . Annual membership runs July 1 thru June 30 .

APRIL 2015 ContEntSWasatch Citizen’s Weirdest Ski Season Ends on a Good Day . . . . . . . . by Kurt Dudley . . . . . . . . . . . . 1nordic news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Dave Hanscom . . . . . . . . . 3the 2015 American Birkebeiner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Jerry Richardson . . . . . . . 8Liz Stephen Makes History at tour de Ski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by tom Kelly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Wasatch Citizens Series Final Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Solitude’s Spring Fling and Junior Program Wrap-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Kirk and Lucy nichols . .12Intermountain Youth Ski Festival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Bill Stenquist . . . . . . . . . .14tUnA’s Year in Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by tom Bonacci . . . . . . . . . .17Evaluate Your Ski Season and Plan For next Winter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Barry Makarewicz . . . . .18Soldier Hollow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Utah Skiing Finishes third at nCAA Championships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Brooke Frederickson . . .20Southern Utah nordic Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Dave Uherka . . . . . . . . . .21Yellowstone Rendezvous 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Eric Swanson . . . . . . . . . .22Learning How to Row A Shell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Jock Glidden . . . . . . . . . .24thrills on the olympic Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Dave Bregenzer . . . . . . .25tUnA Juniors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Steve Cook . . . . . . . . . . . .26team Soldier Hollow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Morgan Smyth . . . . . . . .27Park City nordic Ski Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Gordon Lange . . . . . . . . .28Wasatch nordic Ski Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Bill Hokanson . . . . . . . . .29Busted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Bill Stenquist . . . . . . . . . .30Back of the Pack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by David Susong . . . . . . . . .31Salmon Bake Reminder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Donna Wahoff-Stice . .32

April 2015 page 3

THE UTAH NORD IC AL L IANCE

April 2015

As I sit down to write this final column, spring has finally arrived — on the calendar, that is. According to the thermom-eter it’s been here most of the winter. Until last week I was alternating between biking and driving to Kamas to ski the Mirror Lake Highway, but even that’s gone now. And to make matters worse, I’ve had to take time off from biking due to a dog attack on the Park City Rail Trail that required 23 stitches in my leg. Fortunately there was no permanent damage, so I’ll be back at it by the time you read this.

On the good news side of things, congratulations are due to the Utah skiers who participated in the Junior Nationals in Truckee, California, in early March. Several had results in the top ten. The best showing was turned in by Sydney Palmer-Leger. Despite skiing up in an older (U-16) age group, she placed fifth in both the sprint and free distance races, then improved to third in the classic distance event, and topped it all off with a victory in the relay.

Karsten Hokanson was the other Utah gold medal winner, taking the U-20 sprint race, then teaming up with Henry Gorman for a silver in the relay. Leah Lange got off to a slow start, but placed fourth in the classic, then ended the week on a team with Riley Douglas that got a fifth in the relay.

Sophie McDonald and Olivia Ekblad placed sixth in the free and classic, respectively, then won the bronze in the relay. The other top five finisher was Xander Burkemo, whose team came in fourth in the relay. Brenna Egan’s best result was a tenth in the sprint.

Truckee did an incredible job of pulling off the event. Two weeks beforehand there was little snow on the courses. They had to haul some in from parking lots and a nearby alpine area. A couple of last minute storms saved the day and made the venue look much more like winter, although they only had 1K and 2.5K loops to race on. Not as good as Soldier Hollow, but we have the advantage of snow making.

Congratulations also to Kevin Sweeney, Abi Holt, and the University of Utah Ski Team for an excellent showing in the NCAA championships at Lake Placid, NY. Down by only 7 points before the last event (slalom), they weren’t able to catch Colorado. Sadly, the Denver team had an amazing final day of racing, and picked up enough points to push the Utes into a close third. Stars of the weekend for Utah were the women cross country skiers, who won both races by large mar-gins. Veronica Mayerhofer ended up with a gold and silver, and Sloan Storey had two fifth place finishes.

Smartwool Wasatch Citizens SeriesIt’s been another “interesting” year for the Wasatch Citizens Series. With only a month of skiing at Mountain Dell, warm early season weather that prevented Soldier Hollow from making much snow until January, plus scheduling overlaps

with a couple of junior events, overall participation was lower than it’s been for several years. But it could have been MUCH worse. The third and fifth races would have been cancelled if the SoHo crew hadn’t been able to accommodate us at the last minute. And the first wouldn’t have happened either if they hadn’t agreed to groom the 1K trail between stadium and lodge for us to use for a sprint.

But fewer racers means a better chance for those who show up to win something really nice in our amazing prize draw-ings. We are most grateful to our many generous sponsors who donated prizes, cash, food and drink, and Smartwool hats, and to the TUNA Board for donating their 25th Anniversary T-shirts.

Skis, poles, and boots went to the end-of-series drawing for season pass holders. Nephi Tyler took home the Atomic skis, and Salomon skis went to Jim Weigel. Mike Berry and Kenyon Bethke got Fischer poles, and Scott Nielson won a pair of Swix poles. Mason Heimburger ended up with Madshus classic boots.

And, of course, we couldn’t do any of this without our amazing race crew, who come back year after year to provide the best possible race experience for everyone.

Happy SummerSorry to say, but the crust just ain’t going to happen this year, so it looks like the only skiing alternatives at this point are Solitude and Daniels Summit, which hopefully will still be available by the time you read this. I wish you all a great spring and summer, and hope to see you at the Salmon Bake!

n o r d i c n e w s

by Dave Hanscom

Some of the adult season winners for the Wasatch Citizens Series

April 2015

T U N A N E W S

continued from page 1

Olympians, Brad Judy and Matt Szorik did a great job and skied 8.3 km for the day.

Wasatch Touring (Charlie Butler) and Intermountain Bobcat (Jeff Scott) were the local sponsors once again for this year end race. Jeff Scott provided our year end fabu-lous luncheon for I think the millionth time.

Well, for such a weird year, this day turned out great. I didn’t win any drawings or year-end boots, poles or skis. I got my longest ski of the year the week after the local race season ended by skiing on Daniel’s summit snowmobile roads with old pal and TUNA news editor Bill Stenquist. Have a fabulous spring and summer. Leave the wax iron on for me. e

Phot

os b

y G

ary

Flad

moe

Derek Hoff chases Greg Hanscom Cyndi Schwandt keeps the focus Mara Cruikshank wins the under-10 class

Maurissa Weight glides up the first hillAdrian Castro pushes it in

Roberto Cardenas looks relaxed tUnA President tom Bonacci pushes hard Grace Humbert nips Ellie Anderson

Brittany Fischer heads out for another lap Caroline Keeney and Jen Santoro grab a drink

April 2015 page 5


healthcare.utah.edu

healthcare.utah.edu

WITH YOUALL THE WAY.PROUD SPONSOR OF THE UTAH NORDICALLIANCE.

Eric Swanson leads Mark Keeney

Mike Weglarz races Bill MacDonald Grace Swanson leads out of the startWhite Pine manager Patrick Coffey

three generations of SwansonsEden Keeney has a smooth finish

Martin Radu hangs in with Isaac Sullivan

April 2015

T U N A N E W S

Smartwool Wasatch Citzens Series — Soldier Hollow Wasatch Citizens Race #5 Free Midway, Utah February 21, 2015

Class: MO - Male Open 16.6 km1 312 MAKAREWICZ, Barry ......45:35.72 345 ROSSMAN, Matt ............47:57.53 307 HAJIYAN, Aram ............48:24.44 311 HAGEMAN, Todd ...........49:57.95 342 ANDERSON, Todd ..........51:14.96 362 COFFEY, Patrick .............58:02.4

Class: M18 - Male 18-24 16.6 km1 378 CREVELING, Christopher .56:42.62 371 TAYLER, Evan ...............57:37.2

Class: M25 - Male 25-29 16.6 km1 379 SCHUMAKER, Adam .......55:39.4Class: M30 - Male 30-34 16.6 km1 344 LAYEC, Gwenael ............52:08.22 142 STEWART, Matthew ........52:23.13 375 TYLER, Nephi ............ 1:08:14.5

Class: M40 - Male 40-44 16.6 km1 359 SANTORO, Jonathan ......52:38.82 358 HOFF, Derek .................59:04.83 376 HANSCOM, Greg ......... 1:01:00.34 325 WEIGEL, Jim ............. 1:07:42.7

Class: M45 - Male 45-49 16.6 km1 319 KEENEY, Mark ...............51:46.82 313 SWANSON, Eric .............52:06.43 373 HUMBERT, Chris ............53:06.14 372 TAYLER, Greg ................54:01.55 364 WHITLOCK, Dru .............54:56.76 353 MACDONALD, Tom .........56:22.47 361 NIELSON, Scott ............58:33.78 352 WOOD, Peter ............. 1:00:43.89 323 MOYER, Tom .............. 1:07:32.110 337 SLAWSON, Matt ......... 1:08:06.3

Class: M50 - Male 50-54 16.6 km1 320 WEGLARZ, Michael ........53:02.72 355 MACDONALD, William .....53:05.03 329 LANG, Rob ...................53:55.04 328 MINNEMA, Jeff .............55:06.85 335 O `CONNOR, Dan ...........55:14.26 339 JANERICH, Dwight ........55:48.97 346 REYNOLDS, Kurt ............56:25.78 310 DEBLIEUX, Don.............56:28.49 357 JANSEN, Espen .............56:29.910 326 COLGAN, Gary ...............57:32.011 370 JOHANSSON, Hanz ........58:58.512 367 CHRISTENSEN, Jon ..... 1:05:56.513 340 SCHNEIDER, Richard ... 1:12:02.8 324 MOORE, Kevin ................... DNF

Class: M55 - Male 55-59 16.6 km1 322 ALLEN, Bruce ...............51:20.42 315 SMITH, Paul .................51:39.53 363 BONACCI, Tom ..............59:12.64 309 WOLFE, Sam .............. 1:00:08.35 317 KIRBY, Richard .......... 1:00:47.46 330 BERRY, Mike .............. 1:04:08.97 356 PALMACCI, Jed .......... 1:05:00.38 327 ROGALSKI, Rob .......... 1:06:13.19 491 PALOMAKI, Ted .......... 1:17:14.0 316 SCHUSLER, Steve ............... DNF

Class: M60 - Male 60-64 16.6 km1 321 MCEWEN, Patrick ...........58:48.32 306 STICE, David ............. 1:02:45.03 347 WILLIAMS, Craig ........ 1:05:37.94 300 DUDLEY, Kurt ............ 1:06:00.35 380 HUBER, Dean ............ 1:17:49.6

Class: M65 - Male 65-69 12.5 km1 334 GROTH, Ray .................50:59.92 351 ENGLISH, Patrick ..........53:29.23 314 SOUTHWICK, Jim ..........54:39.7

Class: M70 - Male 70-74 4.2 km1 332 OLSEN, Noel .................16:23.32 493 WAGNER, David.............17:44.73 377 HANSCOM, Dave ...........17:50.34 350 RITTER, Oleg ................18:52.55 333 GROTH, Richard ............30:18.7

Class: M75 - Male 75+ 4.2 km1 308 SWANSON, Steve ...........19:54.02 348 GLIDDEN, Jock .............22:38.5

Class: MN - Male Novice 4.2 km1 336 KREITZER, Eric..............15:42.02 341 ANDERSON, Scott ..........16:39.03 492 OBERG, Eric .................17:05.54 331 BARRICK, John .............17:55.35 374 GULDNER, John ............20:35.66 369 GOODWIN, Bret ............21:22.67 490 NICHOLS, Kirk ..............21:27.88 302 ALM, Brian ..................22:08.59 349 WEIGHT, Gary ...............22:52.710 338 YIH, Benny ..................29:47.411 343 HEE, Edgar ..................34:09.412 301 ALM, Brent ..................38:32.9

Class: MU18 - Male 16-17 8.3 km1 368 GOODWIN, Kenen ..........29:19.2

Class: MU16 - Male 14-15 4.2 km1 366 GOODWIN, Braysen........20:06.12 318 BROADHEAD, Mix ..........24:15.6

Class: MU14 - Male 12-13 2.8 km1 129 ANDERSON, Aksel ..........10:34.32 22 MARTIN, Ian ................12:38.93 128 OWEN, William .............13:07.1

Class: MU14A - Male 12-13 Adaptive 2 km1 34 VILLANI, Daniel ............14:28.2

Class: MU12 - Male 10-11 2 km1 16 BONACCI, Joseph ............7:33.22 3 KOCH, Janne ..................7:38.83 19 CAMPBELL, Wes ..............7:57.94 28 SULLIVAN, Drew .............8:24.75 15 RADU, Daniel .................8:38.66 32 BETHKE, Kenyon .............9:21.47 31 OLER, Steve .................10:31.08 7 BROADHEAD, John ........15:32.0

Class: MU10 - Male 8-9 1 km1 13 RADU, Phillip .................3:26.22 42 SARFATI, Jack ................4:13.43 27 SULLIVAN, Isaac .............4:16.24 43 BOYER, Easton ...............4:23.45 36 LEONARD, Maddux...........4:25.26 33 VILLANI, David ...............5:25.8

Class: MU08 - Male 5-7 1 km1 37 FASSIO, Lucas ................3:58.02 12 RADU, Martin .................4:17.43 44 JEWKES, Jasper ..............5:31.64 26 SULLIVAN, Eli .................5:40.95 38 HEIMBURGER, Hayden .....6:18.46 24 CRUICKSHANK, Liam ........8:01.3

Class: MSSA - Male Sit Skier Advanced 4 km1 305 CASTRO, Adrian ............17:07.3

Class: MSS - Male Sit Skier 3 km1 303 DIAZ, Pedro .................12:25.02 304 CARDENAS, Roberto ......12:57.1

Class: FSS - Female Sit Skier 3 km1 101 FISCHER, Brittany .........12:06.0

Class: MSO - Male Special Olympics 8.3 km1 135 JUDY, Brad ..................54:42.42 134 SZORIK, Matt ...............55:48.6

Class: FO - Female Open 16.6 km1 115 GARRARD, Emma...........51:54.72 140 TOLY, Roxanne ..............55:17.83 123 COOKLER, Sarah ............56:38.14 136 MERBACH, Anita ...........57:41.6

Class: F18 - Female 18-24 16.6 km1 120 WEIGHT, Maurissa ...... 1:01:41.3 102 FOSTER, Sierra ................... DNF

Class: F30 - Female 30-34 16.6 km1 116 CARR, Kat ................. 1:09:33.12 104 SPENCER, Abbie ......... 1:12:04.6

Class: F35 - Female 35-39 16.6 km1 125 GIBSON, Kathryn ....... 1:05:06.0

Class: F40 - Female 40-44 16.6 km1 107 KEENEY, Caroline ....... 1:03:19.12 360 SANTORO, Jennifer ..... 1:03:32.6

Class: F45 - Female 45-49 16.6 km1 108 BARROS, Lauren ........ 1:01:20.22 121 CRUICKSHANK, Bernadette 1:02:41.03 111 WILSON, Dodi ........... 1:10:06.94 114 SLAWSON, Kira .......... 1:12:15.4

Class: F50 - Female 50-54 16.6 km1 122 MACDONALD, Amy .........57:24.42 110 LYNCH, Bev ..................59:45.03 132 BEST, Krissy .............. 1:04:11.94 131 JAMES, Cathy ............ 1:05:08.45 138 STROHL, Stephanie .... 1:08:35.3

Class: F55 - Female 55-59 16.6 km1 105 HOWAT, Laura ............ 1:01:18.12 139 ZIMMERMAN, Deborah 1:08:36.93 124 BURNS, Giggi ............ 1:09:59.84 137 WHETSTONE, Kirsten ... 1:15:33.5

Class: F60 - Female 60-64 16.6 km1 141 SCHWANDT, Cyndi....... 1:16:45.42 127 WAGNER, Deborah ...... 1:33:19.9

Class: FN - Female Novice 4.2 km1 126 MARCHL, Zsuzsanna ......18:07.82 113 BLACKHAM, Rachel........18:10.13 103 LIVINGSTONE, Tricia ......18:13.14 112 RICH, Trish ..................18:40.75 143 JEWKES, Dagmar ...........19:38.86 119 HUBBARD, Mary............22:31.87 118 O `HARA, Lori ..............23:36.28 133 SMITH-BARNES, Connie ..24:51.49 106 SOUTHWICK, Angela ......25:08.010 365 BURNETT, Diana ............25:26.1

Class: FU18 - Female 16-17 8.3 km1 100 ENOS, Sierra .................36:18.4

Class: FU16 - Female 714-15 4.2 km1 130 MCCARTHY, Addison ......16:01.4

Class: FU14 - Female 12-13 2.8 km1 40 HUMBERT, Geneva ...........9:36.22 2 KOCH, Stine .................10:07.43 109 YOUNG, Kate ................10:15.14 10 VINDING, Mia ...............11:30.35 18 PETERS, Tory ................11:37.66 5 MILLEN, Annabella ........12:07.0

Class: FU12 - Female 10-11 2 km1 14 SWANSON, Grace .............7:12.72 29 BURKEMO, Sophia ...........7:31.53 11 NIXON, Amelia ...............7:33.44 4 LIVINGSTONE, Sara ..........7:37.85 6 BEST, Catherine ..............8:17.86 39 HUMBERT, Grace .............8:57.37 17 ANDERSON, Ellie .............8:59.18 8 KEENEY, Quinn ...............9:31.99 46 JEWKES, Sofia ..............10:17.410 30 OLER, Allison ...............10:49.9 45 JEWKES, Lilian .................. DNF

Class: FU10 - Female 8-9 1 km1 25 CRUICKSHANK, Mara ........3:46.02 9 KEENEY, Eden .................3:53.03 23 MACFARLANE, Claire ........4:24.94 21 CAMPBELL, Emily ............5:49.1

Class: FU08 - Female 5-7 1 km1 35 LEONARD, Montana .........7:04.92 41 HANSCOM, Chloe.............7:40.4

Place Bib Name Time Place Bib Name Time Place Bib Name Time Place Bib Name Time

April 2015 page 7


702 Third AvenueSalt Lake City801/533-8671wildrosesports.com

30th ANNUAL

G.O.T.S.Outdoor Equipment Swap

Saturday May 2

9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.

Clean Out Your ClosetTrade Your Toys For Cash

*Bicycling *Ski Gear

*Climbing *Watersports

*Clothing

REGISTRATION(Sell Your Gear)

Friday, May 1 - 4 PM to 6:30 PM

Saturday, May 2 - 8 AM to 10 AM

SWAP(Buy Things)

Saturday, May 2 - 9 AM to 5 PM

PICKUPSaturday, May 2 - 4 PM to 6 PM

Items Not Picked up by 6:00 P.M. on Saturday will be

donated to charity.

Joseph Bonacci gives his all Lucas Fassio wins again

Chloe Hanscom has her eye on the finish Liam Cruikshank is happy to be done

Adam Schumaker crosses the line

Brad Judy is encouraged by sponsor Jeff Scott

April 2015

T U N A N E W S

As we prepared to leave balmy Salt Lake City for Wisconsin on Thursday to go to the Birkie with our group of 8 TUNA skiers (Jerry and Angie Richardson, Ron Sawdey, Steve Evans, Kanda Hazelwood, Preston Wilbourne, Cissy Wolff and Cary Martin), the 5 am morning Hayward Wisconsin temperature was 29 below zero!

Oh boy….this is going to be a change to our adjusted body temperature and our use of klister skis the last few weeks in Utah.

With lots of warm coats packed, we arrived to zero tempera-tures, rented our 2 vans and headed for Birchwood WI (the blue gill capital of the world!) and our condo complex. Dinner was at the local Bear Den bar and grill, decorated with antique trolling motors and mounted fish, we carbo-loaded and discussed how the weather was going to play out. The National Weather service was predicting an overnight low of 10 degrees and a high of about 16 degrees for Saturday.

7am Friday morning Hayward Wisconsin temp 13 below zero!

After waiting for temperatures to climb slightly to 10 degrees, we decided to drive to Double O to test skis, which is the half way point in the 55 km race.

The temperature was approximately the same as race start, so we tested skis for about 45 minutes with good success for kick wax, but not so hot for me in the glide department. Out of the 8 skiers, 6 were signed up for the classic events and 2 were signed up for the 51 km Birkie skate.

After picking up our packets in Hayward and checking out the expo we returned to wax the skis. Most of us waxed with the Toko recommendation in SLC a few days prior. I was sticking with the recommended glide wax of LF Blue covered by HF Blue and covered by Blue Jet Stream. Toko recommend to cover this with Helix Blue, I did not have any, but my buddy Preston did and was willing to share. It’s always nice to go with friends on these big events for moral support, commiserating and for wax tips. We all shared our waxing equipment, which helped cut down on weight for the plane ride.

This was my 11th Birkie and I felt pretty good about training this year considering the year we had in Utah. For kick wax I put on Toko Green for binder and covered it with 2 coats Rode Super Blue, covered by 2 coats of Rode Multigrade Blue and 1 super thin layer of Rode Green.

A large group of Preston and Kanda’s friends from Wisconsin who traveled up to stay with us at the condo, treated us like VIP’s by serving us hors d’oeuvres while we waxed skis, and providing us a carbo-loading dinner at the condo. It really took a lot of pressure off us so we could think about the job at hand. After dinner Preston called me to put the Helix Blue on my skis, I was a little hesitant because my past experiments with the stuff was just OK, but Toko changed the formula saying it was faster and longer lasting, so I went for it.

4:50 am Saturday morning race day Hayward Wisconsin temp 10 degrees above Zero!!!

We started loading the vans at 5:50 am and our Wisconsin friends shuttled us to the bus pick up. My wave was first up leav-ing at 8:10 am right after the Elite classic skiers which gave me just enough time to test my skis. They seemed super fast and had grip that if I skied well, would give me bomber grip.

Steve’s skis were the same and as he always says, we could go with a chicken layer over the top, which means much better grip, but slower glide. We both opted to keep what we had on, besides this race was going to be long and thinking about your technique in the race is always a good thing.

8:10 am 1st wave at the Birkie temp 12 degrees… Perfect!

The 2015 American Birkebeiner

The gun went off and away we went I felt good, training at 8000 plus feet for the past month at Solitude helped since the race is at 1400 feet. At the first aid station I grabbed my water bottle and it was froze… “Crap” or I said something like that.

Not to worry, since this race has been around for 42 years they will have enough food, water and energy drinks at the station… and they did!

I started skiing this race back in 1979 on a dare from a friend and at that time they always said there are 244 hills on this course. They don’t say that anymore. I think they think that would scare away too many skiers. This year there were 8,238 skiers in all of the main events, the Birkie skate, Bikie classic, Korte skate and the Korte classic, so they must be keeping mum on the number of hills.

The classic course is separate from the skate course for 28Km and then joins back up to skate ski course to the finish. When I hit the halfway point my skis were faster on the downhill than the skaters were and a lot of them noticed this and jumped into the classic track. I normally start cramping at 40 Km, but this year it was 30Km. Not to worry; shoot some GU, drink some energy drink and ski through it.

By the time I hit the lake 3Km from the end I was cramping in my arms and hamstrings. I was passed by several people but I passed several people in worse shape than me. After the lake, there is one more man-made hill, which is a bridge over Highway 63 that descends onto the main street of Hayward. I climbed up the beast, flew down the other side and finished 3 more small city blocks to the end, before I could say “ya betcha” I was done!

That night at a Midwest style “Supper Club” with our friends, over a walleye dinner, I said this could be my last Birkie, but writing this I may have another one in me! e

by Jerry Richardson

Bridge over Highway 63

Angie Richardson on Main Street in Hayward

the finish

April 2015 page 9


was too far back to think podium. But she had four-time champion Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland 36 seconds ahead. Then, Norway’s Ragnhild Haga was another 14 for fourth. That was a realistic goal.

“With the climb itself my strategy was to try and catch Ragnhild,” said Stephen.

“I really wanted a fourth place today.”

Stage seven covers nine kilometers. The first five and change are a relatively flat track through the valley. But that changes dramatically at the base of Alpe Cermis. By the climb, Stephen had already passed Kowalczyk. Then, in the first kilometer of the 3.6k climb, she had Haga in her sights.

As they approached the first of several ‘walls’ — a 26 percent grade that would sap every ounce of energy — Stephen made her move, passing the Norwegian and pulling away with each skate-step-turned-herringbone stride, settling into fourth. A kilometer later, she would pay the price on a 28 percent grade. Haga took an inside line on the wall, gaining position on a corner and taking back fourth. That’s when the courage kicked in.

Stephen hung on for fifth — the best finish ever by an American in the Tour, and the

first non-Norwegian. For that, she got a high five from race winner Marit Bjoergen as they collapsed in the finish.

If you were to meet the tiny Stephen in a coffee shop in Park City, you wouldn’t think about her as an endurance athlete. Her friendly smile and engaging personality belies her real power underneath. And what she’s learned at the Center of Excellence is more than physical strength.

“So much of racing and competing is the immense, unshak-able belief in yourself as well as a strong desire to win,” she said after the race. “Until this year, I have not been able to feel these sensations in a real way, nor in a strong enough way to be able to fight back when Ragnhild passed me back today.

“In the past, I would have exploded mentally, which would have made me take a colossal slide physically as well.

“But I have worked hard, with a lot of help from fellow com-petitors, teammates, my sport psychologist, my coach, and my friends and family on really believing in myself and knowing I can be one of the Best in the World.

“Before this year, I didn’t understand how I could be both a person dead set on winning a race, as well as be a caring, light-hearted, fun, supporting teammate and person.

“But I now understand how to balance both.”

Liz Stephen didn’t win the Tour de Ski. Not yet. But her medals are about to come. e

tom Kelly is a veteran of eight olympics and serves as vice president, Communications, for the Park City-based U .S . Ski and Snowboard Association . A Wisconsin native, he and his wife Carole Duh have lived in Park City since 1988 when he’s not traveling the world with the team .

It’s fall in Park City. Liz Stephen pulls the laces tight on her running shoes at the USSA Center of Excellence, heading out onto the mountain trails for a 20-25 mile afternoon run. As she strides over rocks and logs up to the ridgeline, she doesn’t see the brilliant colors of fall. All she sees is an alpine slope, covered in snow, in the heart of the Italian Dolomites. And she feels the pain.

Since its inception in 2006, the Tour de Ski has re-defined cross-country ski racing. Gone are the days of heading into the woods, emerg-ing an hour later. Today’s cross-country ski racing is head-to-head, high speed, on-the-edge plus calculated suffering.

Stephen pushes her body further — gaining elevation, legs burning, heart racing. She has the engine for endurance. To keep her mind off the pain she focuses intently on one day in January — the day she’ll climb Alpe Cermis — Sunday, Jan. 11.

This year’s Tour de Ski included seven stages spanning 10 days. It’s not for specialists. It’s freestyle and classic, mass starts and pursuits, sprints and distance. You need to be versatile. For Stephen, it was a case of staying close in sprints and gaining ground in distance. She needed to come into the hill climb finale within striking distance.

After stage four in Toblach, Stephen stood 16th. She knew, though, that the next stages would play into her hand. She moved up to 13th in stage five, getting a day off as the Tour entourage drove the twisty mountain road over Passo Pordoi and on to the Val di Fiemme.

And in stage six, a 10k classic mass start, Stephen put herself into contention for the best American finish ever in the Tour moving up seven spots to sixth.

Standing at the start line for the finale, Stephen knew she

Liz Stephen Makes History at Tour de SkiBehind the Gold

by tom KellyPark Record Columnist

Reprinted with permission

Liz Stephen is held up by alpine athletes Paula Moltzan, left, and Resi Stiegler, right,

after her fifth place finish at the tour de Ski . (Photo by U .S . Ski team)

April 2015

T U N A N E W S

Wasatch Citzens Series Final PointsFEMALE OPEN1 TOLY, ROXANNE 28 24 28 28 28 1122 MERBACH, ANITA 30 20 26 20 24 1003 CARSON, JULIE 26 30 26 824 COOKLER, SARAH 22 24 26 725 GARRARD, EMMA 30 305 EKBLAD, OLIVIA 30 305 MULLER, NATALIE 30 308 HULTIN, LINA 28 289 ANDERSON, LAUREL 26 2610 EGAN, BRENNA 22 2211 LIPFERT, ROSALIE 18 1812 GNUECHTEL, JESSICA 16 1613 TAMBET, HELEENE 14 1414 CARR, KAT 12 12

FEMALE 18-24 1 WEIGHT, MAURISSA 28 30 28 30 1162 FOSTER, SIERRA 30 30 0 60

FEMALE 25-29 1 FJERSTAD, BRYGN 30 301 WEBB, JANELLE 30 30

FEMALE 30-34 1 SPENCER, ABBIE 30 28 28 862 CARR, KAT 30 30 603 SHEEFER, MELODY 30 30

FEMALE 35-39 1 GIBSON, KATHRYN 26 30 28 30 1142 MOUNDAY, AMBER 30 302 PING, MEGAN 30 304 LEWIS, BETHANY 28 28

FEMALE 40-44 1 SANTORO, JENNIFER 30 30 30 28 1182 KEENEY, CAROLINE 28 28 28 30 114 JAMES, MIA 0 0

FEMALE 45-49 1 SLAWSON, KIRA 28 26 24 24 1022 WILSON, DODI 30 28 26 843 BARROS, LAUREN 30 30 604 MOORE, MARGARET 28 26 545 STEWART, SUKY 30 306 CRUICKSHANK, BERNADETTE 28 287 HANNEY, SUSAN 26 26

FEMALE 50-54 1 LYNCH, BEV 26 30 22 28 1062 STROHL, STEPHANIE 28 22 26 18 22 983 MACDONALD, AMY 30 30 30 904 FRYE, ALLISON 28 26 544 WITTE, SONIA 30 0 24 0 546 DAY, STEFANI 24 28 527 BEST, KRISSY 20 26 468 STERRET, CAROLYN 28 289 JAMES, CATHY 24 249 WARE-PEEK, LYNN 24 24 HUMKE, GRETCHEN 0 0

FEMALE 55-59 1 HOWAT, LAURA 28 30 30 30 1182 WHETSTONE, KIRSTEN 18 28 26 24 963 BURNS, GIGGI 30 20 26 764 HAZELWOOD, KANDA 24 28 525 MEYER, KATIE 30 306 ZIMMERMAN, DEBORAH 28 286 STERNER-HOWE, SUSAN 28 288 GREENWOOD, LINDA 26 269 SMYTH, DONNA 22 22

FEMALE 60-64 1 WAGNER, DEBORAH 30 30 30 26 28 1182 SCHWANDT, CYNDI 28 24 28 30 30 1163 PAGE, ANN 28 28 564 ALLEN, MARCY 26 26

FEMALE 65-69 1 FICHTER, NANCY 30 30 30 30 120

FEMALE 70+ 1 GLENNE, MARIT 30 301 MCCOY, BETTY ANNE 30 30

FEMALE NOVICE 1 LIVINGSTONE, TRICIA 30 28 30 30 26 1182 RICHARDSON, ANGIE 28 22 28 16 943 BURROWS, CYNTHIA 26 20 26 14 864 O’HARA, LORI 24 16 24 9 18 825 BURNETT, DIANA 22 14 20 8 12 686 MINER-FARRA, TESS 30 26 567 BLACKHAM, RACHEL 24 28 528 JEWKES, DAGMAR 28 22 50

9 SMITH-BARNES, CONNIE 18 12 16 4610 SOUTHWICK, ANGELA 22 7 14 4311 BURKEMO, LISA 20 12 5 3712 MARCHL, ZSUZSANNA 30 3013 COCUSSE, EMMANUELLE 26 2614 RICH, TRISH 24 2414 HOGGAN, KAREN 24 2416 MCGINN, ROBIN 22 2217 HUBBARD, MARY 20 2017 RADU, IVANA 20 2019 GATES, LORI 18 1819 SULLIVAN, HEATHER 18 1820 WILDE, CHERYL 16 1621 SOUTHWICK, MEGAN 14 1422 SPRINGFIELD, NATALIE 10 1023 CHAMBERLAIN, BRENDA 6 6

FEMALE SIT SKI ADVANCED 1 MCFADDEN, TATYANA 30 30

FEMALE SIT SKI 1 FISCHER, BRITTANY 30 30 30 90

FEMALE 16-17 1 ENOS, SIERRA 24 20 10 30 842 NORTON, INGRID 28 28 18 743 RICHARDS, LINDSAY 26 24 16 664 MORGAN, MADISON 30 28 585 BONACCI, KATY 30 20 506 LAZZARONI, JULIA 26 22 487 ADAMS, LINDSEY 22 12 348 LANGE, LEAH 30 309 DOUGLAS, RILEY 26 2610 BATTEN, HALEY 24 2411 ANDERSON, LAURA 14 14 STROHL, MARY 0 0

FEMALE 14-15 1 RASMUSSEN, JENAE 30 30 28 882 FASSIO, SAVANNA 28 28 26 823 MCCARTHY, ADDISON 18 22 30 704 OBERG, CLAIRE 24 24 16 645 RICHARDS, GRACE 26 20 0 466 KUCHERAK, TRACY 22 20 427 PALMER-LEGER, SYDNEY 30 308 LEGER-REDEL, SIENNA 26 269 MORGAN, SARAH 24 2410 MISCHO, MORGAN 18 18

FEMALE 12-13 1 FARRA, LINA 28 26 30 30 1142 HUMBERT, GENEVA 24 24 30 783 PETERS, TORY 18 14 22 22 764 KOCH, STINE 20 24 28 725 SWANSON, ABBY 22 18 26 666 MORGAN, SARAH 30 30 607 LEGER-REDEL, MILA 26 28 548 FRANCIS, ELISE 20 28 489 YOUNG, KATE 16 26 429 VINDING, MIA 18 24 4211 MILLEN, ANNABELLA 14 20 3412 HERMAN, SAMANTHA 12 20 3213 FLITTON, LUCY 10 16 2614 HARVEY, PEARL 22 22

FEMALE 10-11 1 SWANSON, GRACE 26 26 30 30 1122 BURKEMO, SOPHIA 30 20 28 22 28 1083 LIVINGSTONE, SARA 24 24 26 24 24 984 WILSON, SABINE 28 28 30 865 NIXON, AMELIA 24 28 26 786 ANDERSEN, ELLIE 20 10 20 16 18 747 BEST, CATHERINE 14 18 14 22 688 HIBL, MCKINLEY 18 22 26 669 KEENEY, QUINN 12 22 10 16 6010 JEWKES, SOFIA 22 14 7 14 5711 HUMBERT, GRACE 18 20 3812 JEWKES, LILIAN 16 12 8 0 3613 MEDINA, VALERIE 14 9 10 3314 PING, GRACE 30 3015 SOUTHWICK, KATE 16 9 2516 EGGERT, VICTORIA 20 2017 SZWAIKUN, ANYA 18 1818 FARRA, HANNA 16 1619 OLER, ALLISON 12 1219 CURTIS, ASPEN 12 1221 MORGAN, GEORGIA 9 9

FEMALE 8-9 1 KEENEY, EDEN 28 26 30 28 1122 CRUICKSHANK, MARA 24 28 28 30 1103 MACFARLANE, CLAIRE 26 30 26 26 1084 CAMPBELL, EMILY 30 22 22 24 985 SOUTHWICK, RUBY 24 22 466 BERG, ANNECLAIRE 18 20 387 PING, LAUREN 30 30

8 PETERSON, ZOE 24 249 HERSH, CLAIRE 20 2010 HAGEMAN, HAYDENNE 16 16

FEMALE 5-7 1 LEONARD, MONTANA 30 30 30 30 30 1202 HANSCOM, CHLOE 28 282 MORNINGSTAR, SASHA 28 283 MORNINGSTAR, WAN YING 26 26

MALE OPEN 1 MAKAREWICZ, BARRY 22 20 26 22 30 1002 SEIDEL, THOMAS 20 18 28 26 923 ANDERSON, TODD 18 9 18 12 22 704 HAGEMAN, TODD 12 7 20 10 24 665 HOKANSON, KARSTEN 30 30 606 ROSSMAN, MATT 14 14 28 566 GORMAN, HENRY 28 28 568 KOOS, TORIN 30 24 549 HAJIYAN, ARAM 12 9 26 4710 CLARK, PAUL 22 20 4211 TRAVIS, JASON 16 18 3412 DRESSEN, RICH 8 24 3213 MOLLIET, CLEMENT 30 3014 DEMONG, BILLY 28 2815 IVARS, OSCAR 26 2615 SMITH, TYLER 26 2617 BELLET, NOE 24 2417 GRODNER, BEN 24 2419 PHILLIPS, AARON 6 16 2219 WARD, MICHAEL 22 2221 COFFEY, PATRICK 20 2021 ANDERSON, ZACHARY 16 4 2023 MATTHEWS, CONOR 14 1424 NOYES, ISAAC 10 1025 ANDERSON, RANDY 5 526 ADAMS, LUKE 3 327 BLOUIN, NATE 2 2

MALE 18-24 1 CREVELING, CHRISTOPHER 28 30 30 882 MACFARLANE, CADEN 30 30 603 TAYLER, EVAN 28 28

MALE 25-29 1 SCHUMAKER, ADAM 28 30 581 MITCHELL, JOSH 30 28 583 BROWN, CORY RYAN 30 303 DAVENPORT, MARK 0 30 305 JODA, MAX 26 26

MALE 30-34 1 STEWART, MATTHEW 30 28 30 28 1162 LAYEC, GWENAEL 30 28 30 883 TYLER, NEPHI 22 26 26 744 SAWYER, IAN 26 265 DOBIAS, BRIAN 24 24

MALE 35-39 1 FILIPOVIC, DRAGAN 22 28 22 722 CROUCH, ANDRE 28 30 582 CUMMISFORD, KEVIN 30 28 584 DROZD, NATHAN 30 304 PING, RYAN 30 306 MEDLOCK, ANDREW 28 287 RYAN, KELLY 26 267 SARNOFF, PHILLIP 26 269 BONORA, GUILLAUME 24 249 MILLER, MATT 24 24

MALE 40-44 1 SANTORO, JONATHAN 24 30 30 30 1142 WILSON, ISAAC 30 28 26 843 HOFF, DEREK 12 28 14 28 824 WEIGEL, JIM 9 26 12 24 715 FIRTH, BRANDON 20 28 486 SMITH, JEREMY 26 18 446 TRACHTENBERG, JOEL 22 22 448 DAVIDSON, CHRIS 18 24 429 PARDYJAK, ERIC 16 20 3610 JARRETT, DAVE 30 3011 HANSCOM, GREG 26 2612 EKDAHL, NICK 10 10 2013 MACFARLANE, TOM 16 1614 KOHLER, ANDRE 14 1415 BOWN, ANDY 9 9

MALE 45-49 1 LAZZARONI, ROBERT 30 28 28 28 1142 KEENEY, MARK 20 30 24 30 1043 SWANSON, ERIC 26 22 26 22 28 1024 NIELSON, SCOTT 28 14 22 12 18 825 HUMBERT, CHRIS 26 30 26 826 BRILEY, TIM 24 24 20 687 WHITLOCK, DRU 24 12 9 22 678 TAYLER, GREG 18 18 24 60

Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Total Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Total Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Total

April 2015 page 11


9 SLAWSON, MATT 22 5 12 3910 WOOD, PETER 10 10 16 3611 COOKE, THOMAS 30 3011 PATTEN, SCOTT 16 14 3013 COOK, STEVE 26 2614 BARRICK, JOHN 20 4 2415 MACDONALD, TOM 20 2015 MOYER, TOM 6 14 2017 GONTRUM, DAVID 16 1618 HOEFLER, KURT 7 7 1419 NEU, TROY 9 920 EGGERT, DON 8 820 MCBRIDE, RUSS 8 822 COCUSSE, DOMINIQUE 6 623 BUENDIA, ED 5 5

MALE 50-54 1 WEGLARZ, MICHAEL 24 30 26 30 30 1162 LANG, ROB 28 28 24 26 1063 MINNEMA, JEFF 26 24 26 24 1004 COLGAN, GARY 28 20 22 22 12 925 MACDONALD, WILLIAM 22 28 28 786 MAGERL, CHRIS 30 8 30 9 777 DEBLIEUX, DON 26 9 20 8 16 718 O’CONNOR, DAN 14 18 22 549 JANERICH, DWIGHT 16 14 20 5010 ZGODA, JULIAN 24 20 4411 JOHANSSON, HANZ 22 3 6 10 4112 BURNETT, RICK 18 1 18 3713 FASSIO, JOHN 20 6 10 3614 BRILEY, STEVE 12 16 2815 ADAMS, GREG 26N 1 2715 BERARD, WAYNE 26N 1 2717 SCHNEIDER, RICHARD 14 1 8 2318 MOORE, KEVIN 2 16 3 0 2119 REYNOLDS, KURT 18 1819 PEARSON, GENE 18 1821 JANSEN, ESPEN 14 1422 WILLIAMS, FRANKLIN 12 1223 DAVIS, DARRELL 10 1024 CHRISTENSEN, JON 9 924 MURRAY, CHRIS 5 4 926 KELM, BRIAN 7 726 NORDENSWAN, KRISTIAN 7 728 DEAR, JESS 5 529 GILLETTE, KORY 4 430 VALIMAKI, MIKKO 2 231 BERNEIKE, JOHN 1 131 BROOKS, PAUL 1 131 HUMKE, MARK 1 1

MALE 55-59 1 SMITH, PAUL 30 30 28 28 1162 BONACCI, TOM 26 24 26 26 1023 ALLEN, BRUCE 28 30 30 884 WOLFE, SAM 24 14 22 10 24 845 KIRBY, RICHARD 22 10 20 18 22 826 EVANS, STEVE 0 30 28 587 KARLSEN, TORBJORN 28 26 0 548 ROGALSKI, ROB 18 3 16 16 539 BERRY, MIKE 16 6 9 6 20 5110 GRODNER, MIKE 20 4 18 9 5111 HENNEMAN, TODD 26 24 5012 SWENSON, JORDAN 22 22 4413 RICHARDSON, JERRY 16 24 4014 BOWLING, STEVEN 18 20 3815 PALMACCI, JED 1 10 8 18 3716 PALOMAKI, TED 1 14 5 14 3417 HENNEY, TIM 12 16 2818 WILBOURNE, PRESTON 9 14 2319 PEDERSON, BILLY 2 12 7 2120 MEYER, JOHN 20 2020 VIK, GEIR 8 12 2022 YOUNG, STEVE 7 723 FRYE, NORMAN 5 524 ADAMS, LYNN 4 4 SCHUSLER, STEVE 0 0

MALE 60-64 1 MCEWEN, PATRICK 30 28 30 30 1182 STICE, DAVID 28 22 26 30 28 1123 DUDLEY, KURT 26 24 24 28 24 1024 WILLIAMS, CRAIG 20 28 26 26 1005 HUBER, DEAN 24 18 22 22 22 906 CESSNA, NORM 30 307 WEBSTER, WEB 26 268 LEAKE, BOB 24 249 HOWE, STEVE 22 2210 SCHROEDER, BRUCE 20 2011 NELSON, COURTLAND 18 18

MALE 65-69 1 GROTH, RAY 28 24 28 28 30 1142 TIETZE, CHRIS 26 30 26 26 1083 FICHTER, GARY 24 26 24 22 964 NOAKER, TOM 30 20 30 805 ENGLISH, PATRICK 30 28 586 SOUTHWICK, JIM 24 26 507 ALLEN, RON 28 288 SLOVISKY, DAVID 22 22 STEPHENS, TOM 0 0

MALE 70-74 1 OLSEN, NOEL 30 30 30 30 1202 HANSCOM, DAVE 28 30 28 26 1123 WAGNER, DAVID 28 26 28 26 28 1104 GROTH, RICHARD 26 24 26 24 22 1005 RITTER, OLEG 24 24

MALE 75+ 1 SWANSON, STEVE 30 30 30 28 30 1202 GLIDDEN, JOCK 28 28 563 KJELDSBERG, CARL 30 30

MALE NOVICE 1 ANDERSON, SCOTT 30 28 28 28 1142 GULDNER, JOHN 30 24 30 22 22 1063 NICHOLS, KIRK 28 18 24 0 18 884 ALM, BRIAN 24 20 20 16 16 805 WEIGHT, GARY 18 22 16 18 14 746 OBERG, ERIC 22 0 24 26 727 DALEBOUT, MICHAEL 14 28 22 648 YIH, BENNY 20 16 14 12 12 629 KREITZER, ERIC 26 30 5610 BURKEMO, TOM 16 0 18 0 3411 BLEYL, JASON 30 3012 ADAMS, GREG 26 2612 BERARD, WAYNE 26 2612 SPEAKE, ALEX 26 2615 BARRICK, JOHN 24 2416 GOODWIN, BRET 20 2016 PROCTOR, ISAAC 20 2018 ALM, BRENT 0 9 9 1819 GATES, STEVE 14 1420 HERWIT, SEAN 12 1221 HEE, EDGAR 10 1021 SPRINGFIELD, JAMES 10 10

MALE SPECIAL OLYMPICS 1 JUDY, BRAD 30 302 SZORIK, MATT 28 28

MALE SIT SKI 1 DIAZ, PEDRO 28 28 30 30 1161 CARDENAS, ROBERTO 30 30 28 28 116

MALE SIT SKI ADVANCED 1 CASTRO, ADRIAN 28 24 30 30 1122 LEE, WALLY 30 26 563 SOULE, ANDY 30 304 PIKE, AARON 28 28

MALE 16-17 1 NICHOLS, WILLIAM 28 30 30 882 GOODWIN, KEENEN 30 26 30 863 HEIMBURGER, FISCHER 30 28 0 584 BROWN, ADAM 26 24 505 JACKSON, ALEX 28 286 PATTEN, CONNOR 26 26 REID, JESSE 0 0

MALE 14-15 1 BROADHEAD, MIX 16 10 28 6 28 822 BURKEMO, XANDER 30 28 24 823 PETERS, KEENAN 24 26 22 724 GOODWIN, BRAYSEN 30 7 30 675 BROSNAHAN, SPENCER 28 22 16 666 PATTEN, SKYLAR 30 28 587 JACKSON, JOSEPH 22 18 12 528 BONACCI, VINCENT 18 20 8 469 HOEFLER, TATE 24 20 4410 SLAWSON, BEN 26 14 4011 BURNETT, COLE 20 12 3212 PALMER-LEGER, DREW 30 3013 PATTEN, CONNOR 26 2614 EGGERT, JAKOB 16 9 2515 BELING, KARSTEN 14 10 2416 FIRTH, FELIX 18 18

MALE 12-13 1 CHAMBERLAIN, LOGAN 24 26 30 24 1041 HEIMBURGER, MASON 26 24 28 26 1043 LIVINGSTONE, JOSHUA 22 20 26 22 903 RASMUSSEN, AIDEN 30 30 30 905 MYSHRALL, LANE 28 28 28 846 ZIERENBERG, ISAAC 20 18 18 16 727 MARTIN, IAN 20 12 28 608 ANDERSON, AKSEL 24 30 549 SHUKRA, JACK 22 20 4210 GREGRICH, HAYDEN 16 14 3011 OWEN, WILLIAM 0 26 2612 JARRETT, JACK 22 2213 BARNHART, JONATHAN 18 18

MALE 12-13 ADAPTIVE 1 VILLANI, DANIEL 30 30 60

MALE 10-11 1 BONACCI, JOSEPH 24 28 26 30 1081 CHAMBERLAIN, REED 30 26 30 22 1083 SULLIVAN, DREW 20 24 26 20 24 944 CAMPBELL, WES 18 20 24 24 26 945 BETHKE, KENYON 22 22 28 18 20 926 KOCH, JANNE 30 28 28 867 RADU, DANIEL 14 20 14 22 707 SELZMAN, ZACH 16 16 22 16 709 WALLIS, LIAM 26 30 5610 BROADHEAD, JOHN 12 10 14 5 16 5211 MCDONALD, OWEN 28 18 4612 ALM, KARTER 10 9 10 2913 PARDYJAK, NOLAN 14 12 2614 BOWEN, BREKEN 16 6 2215 HAGEMAN, DEKKER 12 9 2116 KATZ, ZEV 12 8 2017 OLER, STEVE 18 1817 SHUKRA, BEN 18 1819 CALL, MAC 10 1020 MILLER, MAX 7 7

MALE 8-9 1 RADU, PHILLIP 30 30 30 30 1202 BOYER, EASTON 26 28 24 28 24 1063 LEONARD, MADDUX 28 30 26 22 1064 SULLIVAN, ISAAC 24 20 18 26 26 965 SARFATI, JACK 22 28 506 THOMAS, NOAH 20 22 427 VILLANI, DAVID 20 20 407 BERG, CARSTEN 22 18 409 WHITBECK, DUNCAN 12 24 3610 DALEBOUT, CODY 0 18 16 3411 SCHAFFER, KALEB 28 2812 MCDONALD, COOPER 26 2613 STEWART, TORIN 24 2414 CURTIS, BRADEN 16 1615 BERARD, SAM 14 1416 LINDLEY, MORTY 10 10

MALE 5-7 1 FASSIO, LUCAS 30 28 30 30 1182 RADU, MARTIN 22 28 28 28 1063 JEWKES, JASPER 24 24 26 26 1004 SULLIVAN, ELI 26 22 20 20 24 925 CHAMBERLAIN, JACOB 28 24 24 766 HEIMBURGER, HAYDEN 22 22 22 667 MCGINN, JOHN 26 18 448 TRACHTENBERG, MAX 18 16 349 PING, JAMISON 30 309 SCHAFFER, FINNIAN 30 309 TRACHTENBERG, BEN 16 14 3012 RAIDER, CARSON 26 2613 CRUICKSHANK, LIAM 20 2013 DALEBOUT, MADDOX 20 2013 HERSH, DYLAN 20 2016 RANES, HENRY 18 1817 ZIERENBERG, ZEKE 16 16

MALE JUNIOR NOVICE CRUICKSHANK, LIAM * * 2* BERG, GARRETT * 1* DALEBOUT, MADDOX * 1*

Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Total Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Total Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Total

April 2015

T U N A N E W S

Spring lasted all winter and what a spring wrap-up day of racing, eating, dancing, and celebrating took place at Solitude’s Spring Fling! Hard corduroy set the stage for a 7 km morning race. All the big boys lined up in front where, as the gun went off, Torin Koos gave them a front and center display of a memorable sprint start around the inner loop and out onto the course. Barry Makarewicz also gapped the pack and may have kept Torin in sight, occasionally in sight (?), maybe in sight (?). Behind Barry, the pack racing was tight for the first of three laps with the lead trades indicating who blew-up too soon, who can climb hard in a V2, and who had the fastest glide on the flats. The second two laps had the multiple packs mostly sorted out within each pack and lots of just hanging on ‘til the finish. The course ran a quick inner loop in front of the Nordic Center, then around the north side of Silver Lake before it dove a tight turn into the aspen and Engelmann Spruce forest. The one big climb was through the aspen from the bottom of the Evergreen loop up to the top of Bypass. This was the hill that sorted out the climbers with big lungs as the course is at 8700 feet. Then back around the lake and Nordic Center to be repeated two more times.

Now a seven km race is not such a great distance for the master skiers, but this distance was skied by all. Eight, nine, ten year olds raced the three laps as well. Three times farther than any race they had ever skied in. They not only raced the morning 7 km race, but many also joined in the 1 km obsta-cle course race designed for the Recreation skiers. But they were not finished yet, many of these young Rec. and Jr Comp skiers then competed in the afternoon sprint races where each sprint lap was another 2.2 km loop of the morning’s distance race! That is a total of ten kilometers of racing for these Junior Comp and Rec. skiers! Outstanding!

A lunch break between races provided time for the Recreation and Junior Comp. coaches, Lucy, Suky, Annaka, Phil, Reid, Ian, and Don to pass out individual, end-of-season awards and medals. The crowd voting for costumes required several rounds of applause to sort out the final winner of “Grandma” who not only dressed as grandma, but stayed in character all day. Lunch came off the grill to the delight and “hangrys” of many of the tired young racers. Pat McEwen’s

by Kirk and Lucy nichols

Solitude’s Spring fling and Junior Program Wrap-up

band, Riverside, provided outdoor back-up to the award announcements and continued their musical mix throughout the break in racing. It was an absolutely perfect spring day in the mountains for racing and for mingling among racers.

Every year, an inner conflict of willpower at this race is deciding how much burger or bratwurst to indulge in after a fast morning distance race knowing that a 2.2 km sprint race follows in the afternoon. No one mentioned losing that lunch so, although their speed may have suffered, the racers must have sorted out their menu well enough. For the afternoon, the sprinters formed into teams of three and then repeated the morning’s familiar course. Chuck announced to his consterna-tion that his bronze medal team was beaten twice by Torin in the same race. Torin led for one team and raced clean-up for a second. It was a great show of power, skill, and a life-time of training.

As Mount Millicent and Evergreen Peak looked down on Silver Lake and the Solitude Nordic Center, a very appreciative crowd of tired and happy skiers from 5 years old to 70 looked back on a year of chaotic weather, salvaged racing, and new skills learned or reinforced. The Recreation skiers moved their training to Solitude as Mountain Dell melted out and the Junior Comp and Comp teams tried a variety of venues, but they too found the last of the snow hanging on at Solitude. Many thanks to Aram and the Solitude crew for the grooming, racing, lunch, and music. e

Stella Gillespie

Men’s Pack climbing Evergreen hill tory Peters leading onto Bypass

Kate Southwick, Bernadette & Mara Cruickshanks

Phot

os b

y Ki

rk n

icho

ls

April 2015 page 13


702 East 100 South, SLC, UT 801-359-9361 www.wasatchtouring.com Year Round Outdoors since 1972

FOLLOW US ON

u FREE Wednesday Bike Clinics begin April 29th

In five consecutive weekly clinics we will cover all the basics of Mountain and Road bike maintenance, repair and fit to ensure everyone is getting the most fun and best performance from their bikes.

u Ladies “Wrench Night” Wednesday, May 27th

APRIL SERVICE SPECIALS

20% OFF on all Bike Tunes and

Overhauls when you mention this ad

Kate & Ruby Southwick Zoe Adams in charge of the lake flats Claire Hursch torin Koos powering the climb

Caroline Keeney leading through the aspensRec coaches Suky Stewart, Anna EganLucas Fassio

April 2015

T U N A N E W S

Soldier Hollow wrapped up the 2014-15 racing season with the Intermountain

Youth Ski Festival, held on February 27th, 28th and 29th. This is the IMD’s event for racers under 16, and while there is some serious racing going on, it is also designed to make racing fun and allow kids to get to know each other. Teams from all IMD states participated, and from the smiles and enthusiasm everyone showed, it was a huge success.

The first races on Saturday were the mass start 1 km, 2 km and 3km freestyle events. Soldier Hollow was the perfect place for these races because the 1 km skiers went around the stadium loop, the 2 km skiers went out of the stadium around the sprint loop, and the 3 km skiers went a short distance up the Hollow and came around Going Home. It was perfect to see the entire race from the stadium and the fans were cheer-ing wildly!

But the real racing on Saturday was in the afternoon on the hot, new obstacle course. Scott Peterson—aka Diabolical Petie—had sculpted a set of rollers down the Hollow, inter-spersed with v-boards, buckets, hula hoops, and slalom poles. When I first saw all these contraptions I thought I was staring down at the PCMR terrain park! What a hoot—the kids loved it and by the time all the racers had been down the course once, they were lining up to do it again.

The final race on Saturday was the hotly contested coaches’ race. This is where the serious racing took place with each team’s coaches taking a turn at the obstacle course. Costumes were optional, but the folks who did show up properly dressed were, hopefully, rewarded with time bonus points. Johnny Springer (Jackson Hole SSC) claimed the top honor, followed by Travis Jones (Sun Valley SEF), and SOHO’s own Morgan Smyth took the third spot. Out of the top ten places in the coaches’ race, five spots went to local Utah ski clubs: Robert Lazzaroni Park City Nordic Ski Club (4th), Wesly Greer TUNA (6th), Keenan Peters TUNA (7th), Kristen Stray-Gunderson Park City (8th) and Torin McDonald Park City (10th).

Sunday’s competition continued with individual start classi-cal races. All the Utah teams performed very well with podium finishes in almost all categories. See the complete results for all the IMD Youth Festival races at http://summittiming.com/race_results

For the overall Team Award, the top 20 skiers in each cate-gory score points. Team SOHO finished third behind second place Park City Nordic Ski Club and winner, Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation. The Sportsmanship Award, which rewards teamwork, fairness, courage, respect and gratitude went to Wasatch Nordic Ski Academy (1st place) followed by Team Soldier Hollow (2nd place) and Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (3rd).

The IMD Youth Festival is a great way to end the racing sea-son for the younger kids, and we hope to see it stop by Soldier Hollow again. e

by Bill Stenquist

intermountain Youth Ski festival

Freestyle mass start of F U12

FU12 freestyle race

Mason HeimburgerAbby Swanson on the home stretch

Jack Shukra

Watching in amazement

April 2015 page 15


The source for all your climbing, skiing and mountain gear needs.

KEI

TH L

AD

ZIN

SKI

YOUR LOCAL SOURCE FOR:• Rock and ice climbing gear• Backcountry skiing gear• Climbing, approach and trail footwear• Clothing, sunglasses and accessories• Backpacking gear and more

BlackDiamondEquipment.com/store Hours: Mon-Fri 10-7, Sat 9-7, Sun 11-5

2092 East 3900 SouthSalt Lake CityUT 84124801-278-0233

Don DeBlieux Keenan Peters Duncan Whitbeck Isaac Sullivan

Hayden GregrichSara LivingstoneElile AndersonEden Keeney in the obstacle course

April 2015

T U N A N E W S

tory Peters in a crowd Emma Garrard

Geneva Humbert near the finishElise FrancisJoseph BonacciQuinn Keeney

Zachary Selzman Wes Campbell Wesley & Keenan Peters getting coaches race awards

April 2015 page 17


The 2014-15 season for The Utah Nordic Alliance was one of transi-tions and challenges. TUNA’s long-time and hardworking president, Richard Hodges, stepped down

to assume the responsibilities of being Executive Director of the 2002 Olympic venue, Soldier Hollow. Matt Johnson, the well-regarded Head Coach and Program Director for TUNA’s junior skiing program also left to return home to Anchorage, Alaska, and coach for Alaska Winter Stars, the club he skied with while growing up. Upon Johnson’s departure, Steve Cook, multiple World Cup and Para-Olympic gold medalist and long-time coach, took over as Head Coach and Program Director for TUNA’s junior skiing programs. The biggest challenge for the season, unsurprisingly, was the abysmally poor winter snowfall.

To the great benefit of the local skiing community, TUNA is blessed with hundreds of family and individual members and friends who cooperate to coach, mentor, and support hundreds of junior and adult skiers, and maintain facilities to provide opportunities for skiing, camping, and socializing. Everything that TUNA is able to provide is supported by an army of very much appreciated, hard-working volunteers, doing countless necessary but often thankless jobs. It would be impossible, unfortunately, to name everyone who generously and selflessly contributes their considerable time, money, and effort in support of the local Nordic skiing scene. I would be remiss, however, if I did not at least try to scratch the surface and recognize a few of the many who contribute so much.

mountain dell & sr-65 ski trails — Unseen in the late evening and early morning hours but very much appreciated were members of the grooming crew. Although the winter snow was much less than anyone had hoped, Chris Magerl and his group of groomers kept the Mountain Dell skiing tracks in surprisingly good skiable condition long after the meager snowfall had ended and unseasonably warm weather arrived. Before commencing the daily task of grooming the trails for skiing, the crew spent countless hours shoveling what little snow we had from the golf course onto the trails thus shoring up the limited snowpack. By such dedication and hard work, the tracks at Mountain Dell were kept in good shape and skiers had convenient access to skiing for many weeks longer than the meager snowfall and warm temperatures would have naturally accommodated. Maintaining the Mtn Dell trails – in addition to the effort of the volunteer crew – still remains an expensive proposition. Volunteer greeters, mostly the par-ents of skiers in the junior programs, would often provide a friendly face to great, educate, and remind skiers that trail fees are still necessary to keep the operation in business. Volunteers also regularly groomed State Road 65, from the gate at Little Dell Reservoir to the top of Big Mountain, providing another excellent venue for skiing.

wasatch citizens series — Dave Hanscom continued to provide yeoman service to Utah’s Nordic skiing community by organizing, promoting, and directing the long-running Wasatch Citizens Series. Hundreds of skiers participate in the WCS every year and it has provided an early training ground for many world class and Olympic skiers as well as a casual and friendly outlet for the many recreational and frequently com-petitive local junior and adult skiers. Dave cajoles sponsors, directs the race and timing crew, arranges for suitable venues and otherwise does whatever needs to be done. As Dave puts it, “I enjoyed skiing and many people helped me when I was younger – I’m just giving a little back.” Actually, he’s giving a lot back.

skiing Programs — Head Coach Steve Cook was helped by Eric Swanson who assisted with the organization of the junior skiing programs. Lucy Jacobs-Nichols coordinated the growing recreational skier program (Youth League) and spent many hours coordinating coaches, finding and arranging for suitable skiing venues in a challenging year, and cheerfully answering any and all questions from both skiers and parents. Andre Crouch planned and directed TUNA’s Learn To Ski program for the youngest skiers and, by all accounts, successfully kept all the groms happy and hoping for more.

social events — Donna Wahoff-Stice and her husband David came through in organizing the annual and popular Thanksgiving dinner in West Yellowstone, Montana, and the spring end-of-season Salmon Bake at Sugarhouse Park. Donna starts long before each event and makes sure that all the right food in all the right amounts miraculously appears and that the right number of tables and chairs (picked up, arranged, and returned by David (who also grooms at Mountain Dell)) are available for everyone to enjoy. (Donna can also be found at most of the race events as a member of the timing crew.)

uinta mountains yurt — Many skiers (and a few intrepid hikers during the warmer times) enjoy overnight trips to the yurt TUNA maintains in the Uinta Mountains. Greg Adams stocks supplies, arranges for and performs repairs, evicts the occasional uninvited pack rat or two, and maintains the reser-vation system for the popular amenity.

the tuna news — Notice and reports of all the various Nordic goings on are brought to you by the efforts of TUNA News editor Bill Stenquist and designer Suzi Elmore. Bill prods authors (including this one), compiles the content, and ensures timely printing and distribution to all members and local establishments. Suzi coordinates with advertisers and puts all the pieces together in an organized and artistic man-ner. It is Bill who keeps us all entertained and aware of just how healthy and vibrant the Nordic skiing scene is in Utah. e

TUNA’s Year in review

by tom Bonacci, President the Utah nordic Alliance

April 2015

T U N A N E W S

The winter of 2014-15 is now a wrap. Did we really have a winter? I guess that is a debatable question, but there is no doubt it’s certainly over and we may

be looking at the longest summer in memory. So what do we skiers do now that the snow is gone, the grass is green and the days are getting long? Now is the time to evaluate how our ski season went and figure out what went right and what was not completely satisfactory. Along with evaluation is the need to set new goals for the summer, next ski season and beyond. Do this as soon as possible before motivation wanes and memory fades.

It is important to evaluate your just completed competitive season honestly and objectively. Important questions to ask yourself might be: Did I perform to the level that I had hoped to achieve? What kept me from doing my best? Was my endurance holding me back? Did I lack strength and power? Was my technique falling apart and did I flail at times? Does my equipment fit me correctly and does it need to be updated? Was my ski preparation and waxing insufficient? Did I reach my goals?

Once you have identified a sub-par performance, the next step is to identify what caused the problem and form a plan to make improvements. If the problem was a lack of fitness, then more hours of consistent training during the summer and fall dryland periods need to be added. If you felt weak and tired quickly, especially during double poling, then develop a strength-building program that concentrates on ski specific exercises.

Cross country skiing is a dynamic sport that requires excellent strength, balance and coordination. We can all improve our technical skills. Consider taking lessons or getting technique tips from a competent coach or instructor. Major performance gains can be made without improving your fitness just by skiing more efficiently. Eliminate bad habits and ski technically better with some focused technique coaching and practice. There are many good videos available on the Internet that can provide excellent and simple tips for more efficient skiing.

If your ski equipment is old or does not fit you well, consider investing in some new and improved gear. The quality of new skis, boots and poles has dramatically improved over the last several years and new equipment that fits you well could make your skiing experiences significantly better. Who does not enjoy a little “retail therapy” once in a while anyway? It can do wonders for your enthusiasm.

Becoming a better and more confident ski waxer can really enhance your ski experiences. Ski waxes, tools and waxing

techniques have all dramatically improved in recent years. Attending waxing clinics, learning from experienced waxing technicians and reading up on the latest methods can pay big dividends with improved ski speed. Having faster skis is another way to improve skiing performance without actually being in better shape. Who would not want that?

If you have the desire to improve your athletic performance or at least retaining the abilities you have now then focus your off season routines on strength and intensity training. Studies have shown that practicing regular intense and above-thresh-old training will build or at least preserve physical capacities much better than long, slow distance training. Legendary cyclist Ned Overend, who turns 60 later this year and still competes and wins races at a truly elite level, attributes his long-term athletic success to regular and consistent intense training efforts. He credits interval training, Strava, and frequent group training sessions for his incredible longevity as an elite athlete.

Take the time now to evaluate your just completed compet-itive ski season, identify areas of weakness, make new goals for the future and formulate a plan on how to achieve those goals. Make plans to train with friends, incorporate a good strength training routine and keep up the intensity workouts for a better ski season next winter. Keep the memory of that perfect white, corduroy ski track and smooth glide on your skis in your minds eye to help motivate you during the long, hot summer months ahead. e

by Barry Makarewicz

Evaluate Your Ski Season and Plan for Next Winter

April 2015 page 19


13 olympic Winter Games, two world championships, three

olympics — at least

SoHo March Biathlon

Skiing and Tubing are over, but there are many events coming to Soldier Hollow. Come as a spectator or participant.

The winter ski trails are great running, hiking and biking summer trails.

Soldier Hollow is available for events, meetings and parties. (435) 654-2002 soldierhollow.com

Intermountain Cup Mountain Bike Race May 2

Dirty Dash June 6

Heber Valley Pow Wow June 13

Ragnar Wasatch Back June 20

Spartan Race June 27

Tour of Utah August 6

Utah High School MTB August 29

Sheepdog Classic September 4-7

Dirty Dash Septembe 19

Wasatch Invitation XC September

National Team Training Sept 26 thru mid-October

USATF XC Series October and November

2015 Summer

Schedule

April 2015

T U N A N E W S

The Utes wrapped up the NCAA ski season finishing in third place behind Colorado and Denver. The Utes finished the NCAA Championships with eight athletes combining for 13 All-America honors, which included Veronika Mayerhofer winning the NCAA Championship in the women’s 5-km freestyle race.

In addition to Mayerhofer, Sloan Storey, Anna Lena Heynen and Niklas Persson all earned Nordic All-America honors in both the classical and freestyle races for the Utes.

Going into the final day of alpine racing the Utes trailed Colorado by only seven points. CU increased its margin over the Utes to 10 points following the men’s slalom race, and took the win during the women’s slalom with a pair of Buff skiers finishing in the top 10. Denver had a very strong alpine showing to move into second place overall.

“This is a tremendous team and I’m very proud,” Utah Director of Skiing Kevin Sweeney said. “To be on the podium is a cool accomplishment. We have a good mix of young and experienced veterans, and I think we did a good job. We couldn’t have done much else differently. Everyone charged. It is the championships and interesting stuff goes on. The alpine team was in a very difficult situation today. They were skiing for the team finish, and I have to give them a lot of credit to be able to do that.

“To have that many All-Americans is really cool. It is a good indicator that we are in the hunt. I really think this is a cham-pionship caliber team. The athleticism is there, we have good energy and everyone is humble. They were really psyched to go for it and ski as a team. It is so competitive right now – this championship was a slugfest. It was cool to be in a position that we had a chance to win it, and I think it will take some time for that sting to go away. It wasn’t all about today either,

although that is how the meet is portrayed. There were several places we missed some points, and I think there are some skiers who aren’t super happy with their performances.”

Utah had one of the strongest Nordic women’s teams at the NCAA Championships. After winning the 5-km freestyle race, Mayerhofer finished second in a photo-finish race in the15-km classic. Storey finished fifth in both races, while Heynen fin-ished ninth in the freestyle and 10th in the classical race.

For the men, Persson started NCAA’s with a 10th-place finish in the 10-km freestyle and followed with a fifth-place finish in the 20-km classic. Noé Bellet finished 17th in the freestyle and 22nd in the classic race while Kevin Bolger was 16th in the classic and 26th in the freestyle.

Over the past five years, Utah has three second-place finishes and one third-place finish in the final NCAA standings.

“Hats off to all the All-American skiers!” Utah head Nordic coach Abi Holt said. “The Nordic team saw four skiers finish in the top-10 positions of both races. These are the results we shoot for within the RMISA circuit, so to achieve this same goal at the NCAA Championships is really outstanding. It’s been quite a ride at the NCAA Skiing Championships this year.”

For the season, Mayerhofer had four total wins with 10 podium finishes. She was selected as the RMISA Women’s Nordic MVP. Storey, a first-team All-RMISA selection, had eight top-five finishes this year and Heynen had nine top-10 finishes during the season. Persson had six top-five finishes for the men and earned first-team All-RMISA honors. Bellet was a

Utah Skiing finishes Third at NCAA Championships

by Brooke Frederickson

Men 15K CL 10K FS 20K CL 10K FS 10K CL 10K FS 7.5K CL 10K FS 20K CL 10K FS 20K CL 10K FSNoe Bellet 9 9 6 12 13 4 5 23 14 19 22 17Kevin Bolger 10 7 7 9 19 19 13 6 10 12 16 26Nick Hendrickson 19 4 19 6 21 5 21 13 27 16 DNC DNCOscar Ivars 24 16 17 18 10 12 20 18 21 25 DNC DNCTucker McCrerey 15 17 18 17 14 16 23 19 23 23 DNC DNCNiklas Persson 14 8 3 5 9 15 3 3 4 13 5 10Women 10K CL 5K FS 15K CL 5K FS 10K CL 5K FS 5K CL 5K FS 15K CL 5K FS 15K CL 5K FSAnna-Lena Heynen 18 10 9 13 13 6 6 6 9 8 10 9Veronika Mayerhofer 2 4 1 3 1 1 2 2 2 4 2 1Natalia Muller 21 9 11 11 6 7 11 9 13 15 DNC DNCJosefin Nilsson 19 22 10 14 5 17 8 10 5 13 DNC DNCSloan Storey 3 6 5 6 4 4 3 5 7 6 5 5

RMISA Championship NCAA Championship Utah Invitational Alaska InviteColorado Invite New Mexico Invite

2015 nordic Results

April 2015 page 21


second-team All-RMISA selection. He had five top-10 finishes during the season.

Utah Skiing Getting it Done in the ClassroomThe Utah ski team had 15 student-athletes named to the 2015 National Collegiate All-Academic Ski Team, awarded by the United States Collegiate Ski Coaches Association.

On the Nordic side, Veronika Mayerhofer, Natalia Muller, Nick Hendrickson, Anna-Lena Heynen and Sloan Storey were all honored. Alpine skiers named to the team were Endre Bjertness, Joergen Brath, Dominic Demschar, Nora Eide, Chloe Fausa, Tim Hribar, Ana Kobal, Kristiina Rove, Lauren Samuels and Andy Trow.

To make the team student-athletes must maintain a cumula-tive 3.5 grade point average in the classroom and have com-peted in one of three NCAA Regional competitions.

The Utah women’s team led all Utah athletic teams with a 3.702 grade point average for the 2014 fall semester. Nordic skiers named to the Dean’s List were Mayerhofer, Storey and Hendrickson. Nordic skiers named to the Athletics Academic Honor Roll include Anna-Lena Heynen, Josefin Nilsson, Noé Bellet and Oscar Ivars. e

Women’s Freestyle Podium , Veronika Mayerhofer center

Southern Utah Nordic report

by Dave Uherka

Since my report last month, the mountains in Southwestern Utah east and north of Cedar City have received several nice snow storms, including one three foot storm in late February. Even though we

have been in a spring like freeze-thaw cycle most of the winter, we still managed to have many successful Nordic ski outings, about two per week, on excellent snow (most of the time), both on groomed and ungroomed routes. Now, in mid-March, most of our ski venues still have 2 to 4 feet of snow, but they are thawing fast.

The Deer Valley site on SR14 is now being groomed once per week, weather allow-ing, by two grooming machines: a small Ginzu groomer owned by Dixie Forest, and a large State Parks groomer contracted by Dixie Forest. This large groomer is also used to groom snow-mobile trails (but we don’t hold that against them), resulting in some mighty fine corduroyed trails for skating or classic skiing. We do have to be care-ful though to start our events in late morning just as the snow softens a bit, resulting in great kick and glide—for those of us of “classical persuasion.”

Some of our skiers, especially the grouchy older ones (including myself, though I am still a few years short of 80), get bored with smooth groomed trails and lead us through deep snow in newly found backcountry areas. Two of such areas are shown in the attached photos: a route to the top of a knoll east of Navajo Lake, and another route, on Valentine’s Day, up on the wide mesas west of Deer Valley. e

navajo Lake Knoll Route

State Parks Groomer at Deer Valley

2015 Valentine’s Day on the Mesa

April 2015

T U N A N E W S

50 K races are hard! This year it seemed like an even more daunt-ing task to race in the Yellowstone Rendezvous 50 km race given that it has been a tough season for local TUNA skiers. Lack of skiing at our usual training venues and several shortened or cancelled distance races leading up to the event left many feeling less prepared than usual.

Fortunately, this year’s course was firm and fast and the weather was good so psychologically it made for an easier race than those years with squeaky, cold, slow snow or skiing in blizzard conditions. As usual the race organizers did a great job with everything; the course was in great shape, the aid stations were staffed with enthusiastic volunteers, the post race lunch was tasty and there was plenty of seating for the awards ceremony and raffle at the conference center. There were many TUNA skiers in West Yellowstone and we were well represented in all age groups and distances. In all, 168 skiers finished the 50 km freestyle race, 94 completed the 25 km classic, 137 did the 25 km freestyle, 82 finished the 10 km and there were 59 kids in the 5 km and 22 in the 2 km race.

This year’s race also featured something new--a ski exchange. Racers in the 50 km were allowed to switch skis after their first 25 km lap. With rapidly warming temperatures and the large number of racers who had skied the course by the time the second lap started for the 50 km skiers, it definitely seemed like something to consider. I decided to leave a pair of skis in the exchange with warmer wax and more structure. My first lap went well and I felt like I had fast skis. As the group of 25 km skiers I had been skiing with headed for the finish line, I took the lap lane and started my second lap. I saw my skis sitting in the exchange and thought even though my skis had been fast, the snow did seem to be warming and was breaking down some. So I went for it and switched skis. After I changed my skis and got back on the course, I was caught by a skier from Boise in my age group. We skied together for the second lap and I felt like my skis were running fast. Towards the end of the race, he put a gap on me that I just couldn’t close (although I was able to shake off the 1st place skier from

a younger age group who had been drafting me for the last 5 K) and ultimately the skier from Boise was 2nd and I was 3rd. So after my first ski exchange in a race I am not sure what to think. Would I have been able to stay ahead of the skier from Boise had I not spent the time to switch skis? If I hadn’t switched skis, would I have been even slower and lost more time than it would have taken to switch skis? What I do know is that the ski exchange option added another element to the race to think about and it was fun to experience something that I have only seen done on the World Cup.

The day after the race was a gorgeous blue bird day with great skiing and there were many Utah skiers out enjoying the trails before driving home to Utah’s summer like weather. All in all it was another fantastic weekend in West Yellowstone and it seems like we had more Utah skiers on the podium than I can remember in past years. e

Yellowstone rendezvous 2015by Eric Swanson

Phot

o cr

edit:

Eric

Sw

anso

n

the infamous cannon

And the’re off

André Woichik Scott nielson

April 2015 page 23


Utah Podium finishers50 km

Thomas Seidel 1st Men’s 30 – 34 2:09:02 (3rd overall)Matthew Rossman 3rd Men’s 30 – 34 2:11:41Aram Hajiyan 3rd Men’s 35 – 39 2:20:36Eric Pardyjak 2nd Men’s 40 – 44 2:36:47Jason Travis 1st Men’s 45 – 49 2:15:41Eric Swanson 3rd Men’s 45 – 49 2:31:38Barry Makarewicz 1st Men’s 50 – 54 2:12:43Steve Swanson 1st Men’s 75 – 79 4:35:17

Abbie Spencer 2nd Women’s 30 - 34 3:25:34Amber Mounday 2nd Women’s 35 – 39 2:54:59Suky Stewart 1st Women’s 45 - 49 2:57:37Roxanne Toly 1st Women’s 50 – 54 2:27:53

25 km Classic

Torin Koos 1st Men’s 30 – 34 1:08:25 (1st overall)Mark Keeney 2nd Men’s 45 – 49 1:27:07Alan Wadge 3rd Men’s 45 – 49 2:09:35Jeffrey Keyser 1st Men’s 50 – 54 1:20:22

Kathryn Gibson 2nd Women’s 35 – 39 1:54:15Kristen Bell 3rd Women’s 50 – 54 1:45:46Laura Howat 3rd Women’s 55 – 59 1:38:51

25 km

Spencer Brosnahan 2nd Men’s 13 – 17 1:14:10Gwenael Layec 1st Men’s 30 – 34 1:16:18Luke Zeleznick 2nd Men’s 30 – 34 1:17:32Jonathan Santoro 2nd Men’s 40 – 44 1:11:38Chris Humbert 1st Men’s 45 – 49 1:07:10 (2nd overall)Dru Whitlock 2nd Men’s 45 – 49 1:16:38Gary Colgan 1st Men’s 50 – 54 1:15:41Paul Smith 1st Men’s 55 – 59 1:09:41

Addison McCarthy 3rd Women’s 13 – 17 1:26:20Sierra Foster 2nd Women’s 18 – 24 1:17:43Maurissa Weight 3rd Women’s 18 – 24 1:20:22Lindsey Wolff 3rd Women’s 25 – 29 2:01:54Kat Carr 1st Women’s 30 – 34 1:23:57Bernadette Cruickshank 1st Women’s 45 – 49 1:26:49Kris Best 1st Women’s 50 – 54 1:28:18

10 km

Joshua Livingstone 3rd Men’s 11 – 13 34:04Gary Weight 1st Men’s 55 – 59 55:07Brent Parcell 1st Men’s 60 – 64 40:32

Sarah Morgan 1st Women’s 11 – 13 33:55Kayla Wilson 1st Women’s 18 – 24 1:19:39Tricia Livingstone 1st Women’s 40 – 44 43:45Heather Woichik 2nd Women’s 40 – 44 1:14:30Tamara Goetz-Humbert 2nd Women’s 45 – 49 1:06:52

5 km

Grace Swanson 1st Women’s 9 – 11 17:39Geneva Humbert 2nd Women’s 11 – 13 16:51 (3rd overall)

2 km

Eden Keeney 2nd Women’s 1 – 9 8:22Mara Cruickshank 3rd Women’s 1 – 9 8:24

Aram Hajiyan Chris Davidson (Feeding)

Barry Makarewicz Laura Howat (warming Up)

Rendezvous Awards Ceremony

Jason travisJeff Minnema

April 2015

T U N A N E W S

by Jock Glidden

Most of us have seen Olympic rowing on TV, maybe even some Harvard guy actually rowing a single on the Charles river. I have, but I never saw one close up, much less tried it. All this changed for me this last summer when my friend, Dan Hindert, made an extended loan of a single and a double shell to our family cottage in New Brunswick, Canada.

Dan stayed only two days but long enough to get me started on this exotic water sport. First we began on the lawn by the house. There he showed how to coordinate the three basics: pulling the 10’ carbon fiber oars, pushing on the fixed, foot platform and rolling the seat back and forth. It’s not like the common row boat where you mostly use just the arms. In this system, the legs do part of the rowing as well.

That evening the estuary turned glassy calm, perfect for my beginner baptism. Dan went first.He cruised around the tidal lagoon not far from shore so I could see and hear him bellow out what he was doing. Smoothly he would roll the seat forward, stretch his arms forward, set the oar blades in the water and then push on the foot platform as he pulled the oars through the rowing phase. It all looked easy enough so I was anxious to take my turn. As I strapped my feet into the platform, Dan warned me that it’s something like learning to classic x-c ski. There are several movements to integrate: the kick, glide, arms, legs and weight distribution. As he turned it over to me he asked with a knowing smile, “Got all that, Jock?” Hesitantly I replied, “I think so.”

Then Dan launched me off the beach. About 20 feet off shore I layed into both oars with enthusiasm. Immediately, the left oar dove deep into the water while the other flailed uselessly in the air nearly tipping me over. Then there were the evening mosquitos, their favorite time of the day. Before I set out I planned on going so fast that they couldn’t catch me. But so far, my progress was circular, not linear. Meanwhile they were feeding on every bit of exposed flesh available. Worse still, if I let go of an oar to swat at one, the blade end would float away until the handle was out of reach.

Eventually I managed to link a few strokes until an oar caught another crab or the oar handle snagged on a pant or coat pocket throwing things into confusion again. I considered rowing naked next time however the mosquitos would really like that. At the handle end, the oars must overlap each other when perpendicular to the hull otherwise they’ll jam together. To prevent this, you have to raise the left oar handle slightly above the right one on the back stroke. Until I finally learned to do this, I had several teeth gritting incidences of butt bumping.

The hardest part was twisting the oar so both blades would neatly exit the water allowing me to roll both the seat and oars forward ready for the next stroke. At that point you must twist the oar perpendicular to the water as you drop the blades for the next stroke.

Now, while you are doing all this, you have to think about what muscles to use. Beginners tend to pull mostly on the oars, but this defeats the purpose of the rolling seat. The correct stroke is really 80% pushing with your legs on the fixed platform and only 20% pulling with the arms. This makes sense because your legs are three times stronger than you arms. You can’t see this going on with a proper stroke, you just have to think to do it until it becomes automatic.

Talk about chewing gum and walking at the same time; add to this, scratch your head, talk on the cell phone and cross a busy street all in one “fluid motion.” Crimmany, it was fluid all right and there was plenty of motion but even by trial three, hardly in

synch. By then, Dan had gone home leaving me to learn by trial and error. Nature is a cruel instructor in this business; if you don’t put all the parts together correctly, you don’t go anywhere.

Frankie, my nearest neighbor about ¼ mile up the beach, has a Wi Fi connection so I asked him to Google, “How to row a shell.” We finally found a two minute video of a girl with an ecstatic look on her face rowing a shell like mine. It was almost as if she were having an aquatic orgasm. She didn’t say anything but you could hear the water splashing on the hull and oars. I did notice that she would float/skim the paddle end of the oars over the water, waves and all, until the next oomph. Also, she didn’t row particularly hard; she seemed to take her easy time of it and look behind her often. Maybe, that’s why she looked so pleased.

Thus inspired, on my next outing I was happy to see that my oars would float over the waves also. This maneuver saves on arm strength, prevents your oars from flailing in the wind and creates a double outrigger effect giving stability to an intrinsically tippy shell. And what’s more, by taking it easy, all the bits and pieces of what I’m supposed to do started coming together. Damned if I didn’t start smiling like the girl in the video.

As for the looking-behind-you part, she seemed to have the head of an owl; a 180˚ swivel. My old neck would lock up at 90°. There’s plenty of room in the estuary and very little boat traffic so at first I didn’t worry about where I was going. So consumed with my technique I more than once almost ran into a cluster of float-ing boxes for growing oysters the locals anchor right at water level. Run up on one of those things and you are in big trouble with a delicate shell.

What about aches and pains? I thought my arms and back would hurt from all this but not so. It was my inner thighs that ached for awhile. That’s normal since it’s your legs that do most of the work. It’s a sport that would afford good off season training for x-c skiing. The trouble is, such single shells run around $3,000. And in Utah, where would you do it, Pineview reservoir? In the summer, it’s like a bloody war zone among the roaring stink pots up there.The Great Salt Lake? It’s now almost dried up and high density salt water is very corrosive on moving parts.

By about the eighth venture I had it reasonably under control. That’s when my son, Jesse, showed up. He mastered it in about half the time it took me. Alas, we never had time to try the double together. Coordinating our rowing in a double is another level for another summer. e

Learning How to row A Shell

Jock in rowing shell

April 2015 page 25


performance on a technically difficult course, and their ability to ski hard for 8 km. An experience like this race changes people’s perceptions of these athletes’ abilities, and has a very positive effect on the athletes’ self-esteem and confidence.

When all was said and done, Matt and Bradley had gone beyond any of their previous accomplishments in competi-tion. They skied the longest and most technically difficult race they have ever attempted, 8 km vs. 5 km, they navigated the course without any guidance, and most important to them, they skied where other great skiers had skied. As Matt remarked afterwards, “That was the experience of a lifetime.”

Matt and Bradley’s coach and their parents would like to thank Dave Hanscom of TUNA for providing this opportunity and encouraging the athletes to return for future races. e

Matt Szork, 24, and Bradley Judy, 32, raced in the TUNA-sponsored Citizens Race Series, finishing an 8 km course while competing for the first time in a race outside of Special Olympics competition. Both athletes agreed it was a great thrill, and a huge challenge, to ski on the 2002 Olympic Games course. And both agreed that this accomplishment would not have been possible without the opportunities afforded to them by their participation in Special Olympics Utah, where they have both trained and competed for the last nine years.

The mission of Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for people with intellectual disabilities. Each training season culminates in a state-level competition (in this case, Winter Games) that draws competitors from across Utah. Matt and Bradley have both excelled in Winter Games over the years, with Bradley consistently winning the long-distance races of 3 km and 5 km, and Matt has competed in Special Olympics at an international level as a member of the XC Ski Team for TEAM USA at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in 2009 at Sun Valley, Idaho.

Matt and Bradley are both committed to the sport of xc skiing. Their parents have commented that they are grateful for the opportunities that Special Olympics has provided. They have related how Matt and Bradley are excited for every train-ing session and every race; how much they love being out-doors in the mountains; and the importance of the friendship that has formed between the two of them. Bobbi Jo Kanter, Director of Program Services for Special Olympics Utah, spoke about the importance of Special Olympics athletes having opportunities to participate in mainstream sports activities. She felt that events such as the Citizens Race at Soldier Hollow allows these athletes to demonstrate to everyone that an intellectual disability is no barrier to them learning technical athletic skills like cross country skiing, training to achieve high fitness levels, and performing in a mainstream competitive environment without modifications. Many people at the event remarked that they were “impressed” by Matt and Bradley’s

For two special olympics Xc skiers from the Logan area, saturday February 21 at soldier Hollow was a great, and truly memorable, day.

by Dave Bregenzer

Thrills on the Olympic CourseBradley skiing and finishing 8kmMatt finishing 8km

Bradley Judy and Matt Szorik —pre-race

Bradley and Matt—post-race reflection

April 2015

T U N A N E W S

An old wise Montana football coach once said, “The Season is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer to the end you get, the faster it goes.” So here I write this on the eve of our last race series of the season. The Comp team is trav-eling to Sun Valley to race in the

Super Tour Finals/ Western States Club Championships. These races are stress free and a chance to end the season with some fun racing. Plus, we will get to race along side the U. S. World Cup Team, including new World Champions Jessica Diggins and Caitlin Gregg, and all of the other top U. S. skiers.

The Comp team travelled to McCall, Idaho for the last Junior National Qualifier over the weekend of February 19th to March 2nd. McCall is known for having plentiful snow but even they could not escape this dry winter. Despite the low snow, the crew at Ponderosa State Park did a great job of putting together and maintaining the race courses. The first day was a classic sprint. The course started hard and fast but as the sun rose, it became soft and slow. Fritz and I were able to stay ahead of the changing conditions and the kids had good skis all day. Will and Ben both finished 32nd, 4 seconds from qualifying. Mary and Keenan qualified in 24th and made the quarterfinals. Vincent and Jakob finished 36th and 40th respectively. In the FU14 classic race, Elise finished 7th and Abby close behind in 8th. The next day started colder and the ski course was rock hard. It was a mass start skate race, and with a number of kids on the bubble, it was guaranteed to be an aggressive race. The reports from our kids confirmed our assumption. There were stories of crashes, broken poles and lots of pushing and shoving. In his last JNQ race of his long and storied junior career, Wil skied to an 18th place. Keenan was 15th, Ben 26th, Jakob 31st, and Vincent 34th in the MU16 race. Mary had an unfortunate fall at the start but fought hard during her race and ended up 29th. Elise had a great race and finished 3rd and Abby moved up one spot to 7th. Although TUNA did not send anyone to Junior Nationals, I believe that drought will not last long!

Congrats to all the Utah Junior Skiers who made the IMD Junior National Team. And from what I saw of the races in Truckee, the IMD team skied great in difficult conditions. No drive to McCall would be complete without a couple stops along the North Fork of the Payette to look at the impressive rapids and throw a few rocks.

After the McCall races, the Comp Team maintained it’s ski training focus despite the summer time temperatures and lack of snow. We traveled to Solitude for on-snow skiing, roller skied at Sugarhouse Park and SR65, and did hill bounding intervals at Red Butte and Sugarhouse Park. One Sunday, the Comp Team headed to the Mirror Lake highway for an over distance workout and recovery BBQ in the parking lot. It was a perfect day, sunny and warm; we all skied in T-shirts and tights. The snow was a littered with snowmobile made ice chunks, which made the skiing balance a little difficult, but everyone skied about 30km. Those turkey burgers sure did taste good after that ski. It was a quiet ride back to Salt Lake as

by Steve Cook

TUNA Juniors

everyone fell asleep as soon as they got in the van.

The IMD Youth Festival is a race weekend for any junior racer under the age of 14. TUNA Ski Team brought a bunch of eager skiers for the weekend of racing. Again, Soldier Hollow did an awesome job with the race courses and snow condi-tions. All the TUNA racers had a great time with a lot of good results. The most popular race of the weekend was the obstacle course. Petie made a fun and challenging course that started way up the Hollow and finished in the stadium. I believe TUNA had the most athletes in the top ten of the Coaches race. Yours truly might have been in contention if I could have gotten my skis through the hula hoop faster. Next year I am racing on shorter skis.

The Junior Comp continued to train, splitting their time between Sugarhouse Park and Solitude Nordic Center. The Rec Program and XC Team continued to drive to Solitude Nordic to be on-snow. All teams ended their ski season on March 21st, with games on the lake trails of Solitude. A big Thanks to all the coaches who dealt with this difficult snow year to keep the kids excited to train and ski. An especially big thanks to Lucy for taking on the role of Rec Coordinator, I don’t think anyone imagined Rec would grow to that size and require so much work. TUNA had over 210 kids participate in the Junior Programs, quite a number considering the poor snow year we had.

Up next is the Salmon Bake and Silent Auction held on May 1st at the Rose Garden in Sugarhouse Park. The Silent Auction is a major fund raiser for the Junior Programs so come on down, eat some tasty fish and bid on the donations. I think there will be some good ones this year. e

Relaxing after a great day

Elise, McCall podium

Wil racing in McCall

Vincent and Ben Mirror Lake

McCall mass start

April 2015 page 27


Team Soldier Hollow Wrap Up

by Morgan Smyth

Team Soldier Hollow kept busy through the end of the season. After the McCall we jumped right into “Championship Season” with the Intermountain Youth Festival, Yellowstone Rendezvous, and Junior Nationals all in a row.

youth Fest — The IMD Youth Fest was first up starting with the

mass start freestyle races. Team Soldier Hollow had a strong showing with 31 racers across 9 different categories. In the U8 Girls, Margot Peterson and Montana Leonard scored the first podiums of the day in 2nd and 3rd. Lina Farra skied a strong race to finish 2nd just 6.5 seconds out of first in the U14 Girls 3km competition.

The afternoon featured the obstacle course race. Team Soldier Hollow shined on the home course with seven podium finishes! Sara Livingstone scored the only win of the weekend in the U12 girls. She was accompanied on the podium by teammate Sophia Burkemo in 3rd. In the U8 Girls, Margot Peterson and Raina Hammon finished 2nd and 3rd. On the boys side, U14 racer Mason Heimburger finished 3rd while finding time to throw some big tricks off the rollers. In the U12 Boys, Reed Chamberlain just missed the top step of the podium by less than 1 second finishing 2nd. Maddux Leonard rounded out the Team Soldier Hollow podiums finishing 3rd in the U10 Boys.

Sunday, the competition continued with the individual start classic races. Lina Farra demonstrated consistency by once again finishing 2nd in the U14 Girls. In the U8 Girls Montana Leonard stood on the 2nd place step with Margot Peterson in 3rd.

Cross-country skiing is often thought of as an individual sport but at the Intermountain Youth Ski Festival the most coveted awards are the Sportsmanship Award and the overall Team Award.

Team Soldier Hollow scored their first podium ever at the Youth Festival finishing 3rd! Powerhouse teams Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation and Park City Nordic Ski Club finished 1st and 2nd.

The Sportsmanship Award is given to the team who best exemplifies the elements of good sportsmanship such as team-work, fairness, courage, respect, and gratitude. Wasatch Nordic

Ski Academy won the 1st place trophy with Team Soldier Hollow in 2nd and Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation in 3rd.

rendezvous — Up next was the Yellowstone Rendezvous! Every year we do this event as an endurance challenge. While the skiers attending Junior Nationals work on top end speed the Rendezvous crew jump back into some distance and threshold training to prepare.

The Comp Team skiers completed the 25km freestyle. Spencer Brosnahan led the way finishing 13th overall and 2nd in the U18 category. Addison McCarthy finished 17th female and 3rd in the U18 category. Ingrid Norton wasn’t far behind finishing 26th female and 4th in the U18 category.

Joshua Livingstone a U14 skier completed the 10km race finishing 3rd in his age group and 15th overall. Coach Tricia also completed the 10km race winning her age group!

Sara Livingstone a U12 skier completed the 5km race finish-ing 2nd in the U12 age group and 5th female overall.

Jns — Meanwhile, Team SoHo skiers Xander Burkemo and Felix Frith loaded into the Sprinter with the Wasatch Academy skiers en route to Truckee, CA for Junior Nationals. Despite an unseasonably warm and dry winter, Truckee was able to put together a 2.5km loop of fantastic skiing!

The warm and sunny week’s events included a Freestyle Sprint, Individual Start 5km Freestyle, Mass Start 5km Classic, and a 3 person x 2.5km Classic Relay.

Xander, a second year U16, led the way for Team Soldier Hollow finishing 42nd in the sprint, 26th in the freestyle and 21st in the classic. Despite being the 9th and final qual-ifier for the JN team Xander was the top IMD boy in both the 5km races. These results landed him a spot on the top Intermountain Relay Team that ended up finishing 4th!

Felix, a first year U16 racer, battled a head cold most the week but still managed to race 3 of the 4 races. He finished 47th in the Sprint and 47th in the Freestyle and 17th in the relay.

The 2014-15 season was a year of growth for Team SoHo. We saw improved results and increases in participation that leave us eager to train for next season!

To follow us throughout the summer programs and camps go to www.teamsoldierhollow.com

Rendezvous Podium Felix, Alexander

April 2015

T U N A N E W S

Junior Nationals is always an amazing trip for me, as it proba-bly is for everybody that is fortunate enough to attend. It’s so inspiring to see America’s Nordic community come together and compete in their respective divisions. Although it’s an individual sport, points are awarded for individual places but there is also a team score to see who will win the coveted Alaska Cup. From a coach’s point of view the Alaska Cup is very prestigious as it accurately reflects the strength of all the skiers in your division.

The Intermountain division finished third this year. After a solid start on day one in the sprints, where historically we don’t do all that well, we stumbled on the second day racing in wet, sloppy conditions, and had to fight to recover the next two days. It’s fair to say if you qualify for the IMD team you will be racing for one of the top divisions in the country. If you didn’t qualify, be proud knowing that you have to be better than good to make this team. Figure out where you can make improvements and dedicate yourself to a good training plan to get a spot next year.

Also inspiring to me is the hard work and dedication all the volunteers and organizers expend to host the event. People in all the communities across the country treat the Junior National Championships the same. They immerse themselves into the event 100%. Basically all they get out of it is some gratification and heartfelt thanks from the competitors and coaches. There is also the satisfaction knowing that they have worked hard for a common goal. I think these people work so hard because they too love the sport and recognize they are doing it for athletes who have embraced one of the most

Park City Nordic Ski Club

by Gordon Lange

difficult sports around and there is a real admiration to what the kids are doing.

One more thing I love about the sport is the people I work with. We come together collectively at the end of the qualify-ing period after battling every weekend. The people we have in the Division work tirelessly to make sure the kids have the best skis and the best opportunity to throw down their best race. I am honored to work with smart, dedicated, healthy people who have a zest for being outdoors in the harshest conditions and although they may grumble a bit, they truly love it.

I’m up in Sun Valley as I write this article. We have had a couple races and I couldn’t be happier with the way the kids are skiing. These are very important races because it is basically the only chance the domestic kids get to compete against the people who have been skiing in Europe all year. What a thrill it is to be lining up with someone like Liz Stephen and realizing she is human and just the same as you. I will add that the kids on the National Team could not be better ambassadors. I am really impressed with the professionalism and tolerance of the younger athletes. They may not realize it, as I did not realize it for a long time, but their behavior and a couple kind words can change a young person’s life. Sometimes it is the little things that are said that can make the biggest difference.

It’s been a long season. We’ve been across the country a cou-ple times and spent many days on the road, but it has been a great season for PCNSC. You can check out our results from the past couple weeks by going to http://xcjuniornationals2015 .com/ or for the Spring Series http://data .fis-ski .com/dynamic/event-de-tails .html?event_id=35487 e

Kristin EganPark City Realty Group

[email protected]

Leah getting a hug from Liz Stephen

April 2015 page 29


2015 USSA Junior National ChampionshipsIt has been a wonderful and memorable ski season for members of the Wasatch Nordic Ski Academy. After an excellent summer and fall of training – on-snow training camps, strength training, rollerskiing, running, biking, and hik-

ing, etc. – the competition season began in November with our West Yellowstone race camp and SuperTour opener. Over the course of the season, team members competed in the local Wasatch Citizen Series, USSA SuperTour races, and US Senior National Championships. These events are fun, exciting, challenging, and offer a host of development opportunities for young skiers. However, one additional target was on the minds of most Wasatch Nordic team members.

Junior cross country skiers across the country dream of competing at the Junior National Championships (JNs), this year hosted by the Auburn Ski Club in Truckee, California from March 8-14. Successful participation in this event represents a significant goal for many Wasatch Nordic team members. After three weekends and six Junior National Qualifier races in the Intermountain Division (IMD), six members of the Wasatch Nordic race team — Karsten Hokanson, Henry Gorman, Olivia Ekblad, Maddie Morgan, Jenae Rasmussen, and Savanna Fassio — were invited to join the IMD JN team for the trip to Truckee.

We arrived in the Tahoe area on March 6th to find the region virtually snow free. However race organizers had worked tirelessly to sequester, truck, farm and make enough snow to cover a short, 2.5 km race course loop. It was on this limited terrain that all four Junior National races would be run.

After several days of training and course inspection, junior skiers from across the country lined up on the morning of March 9th for the first event: the freestyle sprint. The day began optimistically, with all six Wasatch Nordic team members qualifying for the knock-out sprint heats by skiing the preliminary round in the top 30 in their age group. Top Wasatch Nordic qualifying results included Karsten Hokanson, 3rd place in the MU20 (male under 20 years old) field, FU20 team member Olivia Ekblad finishing in 7th position even while suffering from every skier’s nightmare – a cold virus contracted prior to a championship event. First year FU18 skier Maddie Morgan, who has become some-thing of a sprint specialist, completed the 1.2 km time trial qualifica-tion round in 3:04:04, good for 5th place.

Following the prelims, the qualifying athletes raced quarterfinal, semifinal and final heats to determine the Junior National Sprint Champion. Karsten won each of his heats to finish the day on the top of the MU20 podium, his second national title! His Wasatch Nordic teammate Henry Gorman, who qualified 18th, was leading his quarterfinal round when another skier interfered with him, taking him out of contention. Henry ended up in 27th place, an admirable result, but not what he was hoping to achieve. Olivia, despite the virus that would take her out of the next day’s skate distance race, managed to race to 13th place. Maddie skied into the U18 consolation “B Final”, ultimately finishing in 12th place. U16 skier Jenae Rasmussen, who qualified in 28th place, raced successfully through the heats, finishing 2nd in the B Final for 8th place overall. Remarkably, Jenae achieved “All American” status in her first trip to Junior Nationals. U16 athlete Savanna Fassio also made the quarterfinal rounds, skiing her way to a strong 17th place finish.

While the skate sprint competition was very successful for Wasatch Nordic Ski Academy skiers, difficult waxing conditions and relatively slow skis hampered results for much of the remainder of the week.

Despite the challenges, team members continued to ski with skill and athleticism, achieving many excellent finishes.

The day after the opening sprint race, the 5/10 km skate distance junior national championship race was held. Warm temperatures and fresh, wet snow contributed to slow skis for Intermountain Division competitors. Karsten’s 9th place in the MU20 field was the top result among Wasatch Nordic Ski Academy skiers.

After a much needed rest day, the 10/15km mass-start classic technique races next on the agenda. Warm temperatures and granular snow resulted in klister waxing conditions. In the highly competi-tive MU20 field, Wasatch Nordic athlete Henry Gorman found the conditions to his liking as he skied his way to a strong 6th place finish. Karsten was close behind in 10th place. Olivia, having largely recov-ered from her cold, successfully returned to racing with a powerful 6th place effort in the women’s 10 km race.

The final day of competition was reserved for relay racing. Henry and Karsten teamed up with Sam Wood (SVSEF). This strong MU20 Intermountain boys’ team traded the lead with teams from New England, Alaska, and the Midwest Division, and finally finished in the silver medal position.

Olivia teamed with IMD skiers Aja Starkey (BSF) and Sophie McDonald (PCNSC), also raced to a podium position, finishing in 3rd place behind teams from the Midwest and Alaska.

After the four days of racing at JNs, the six Wasatch Nordic Ski Academy members had amassed one national title, three podiums, and six individual All American awards (top 10 finishes). Each team mem-ber had multiple top 30 finishes. By any measure, it was a successful championship series for the Wasatch Nordic Ski Academy race team.

Visit the Wasatch Nordic Ski Academy on Facebook for one final 2015 race season update, including results from USSA SuperTour Finals and Long Distance National Championships taking place on Galena Pass near Ketchum, ID. Also visit our website (Wasatchnordic.org), Facebook, or contact Coach Bill Hokanson ([email protected]) for junior race team, post-graduate, or summer collegiate training program information and applications. e

Wasatch Nordic Ski Academy

by Bill Hokanson

Jenae Rasmussen, waiting for Savanna in the relay exchange zone

Henry Gorman 15k Classic Jn’s

olivia —Classic Sprint Karsten Hokanson 1st Place Finish Jn Sprints

April 2015

T U N A N E W S

At the end of March last year three old TUNA men decided to go ski touring. Since one of the old gents lived in Ogden, the other two agreed that a trip to Powder Mountain, with its inviting touring terrain, would be ideal. They would do the tour and then stop at Eats of Eden for the blue plate special before proceeding home. It sounded perfect.

It was one of those bluebird Utah days, clear skis, warm since it was late March, and since it was a Friday, minimal crowds. They drove up to Powder Mountain and got ready to set off. Everyone had done this tour before, although for at least one of the seniors, before meant 40 years ago. The senior of the seniors led off and cruised down the Powder Mountain access road heading for a beautiful plateau that defines the southwest corner of the massif on which Powder Mountain sits.

It was a magnificent day and the touring was perfect. Kicking and gliding along, through the aspens, then through the coni-fers as the trail moved higher onto the northerly slopes. James Peak loomed majestically above us to the north beckoning us to come back for some turns in the open bowls. It couldn’t have been much better as we made a long circumnavigation of the plateau enjoying the views of North Fork Park below us and the spires of Ben Lomond and Francis Peak to the west. Heading back, the youngest of the seniors had gotten out in front, as he was prone to do, and as he approached the large and rather prominent “No Trespassing” sign that had been conveniently ignored, a loud, obnoxious snowmobile came speeding towards him.

The youngest of the seniors was dismayed because the tour had been so perfect and now it was going to be spoiled by snowmobilers, who we all know are the lowest form of human existence. But this snowmobiler was headed directly towards the younger of the seniors, the other two dawdling looking at birds and probably talking about the blue plate special and other nonsense. A careful look at the snowmobile driver showed a bright red parka with a big white cross on the back—damn this was the ski patrol and right above, in very plain sight, was the no trespassing sign!

“What you doing?” the patrolman asked in a rather per-turbed voice. “What do you mean what are we doing?” sniped the youngest of the seniors, “We are ski touring.” “Powder Mountain has a no exit policy so you can’t leave the resort boundaries,” chided the patrolman. “But we didn’t buy a lift pass so we weren’t ever at the resort,” retorted the youngest

senior. The patrolman realizing he was dealing with a grumpy old man asked if there were plans on skiing the steep chutes that drop off the plateau on the northwest side. The youngest senior replied incredulously, “On these skinny skis and flimsy boots?”

It dawned on the youngest senior that nobody goes ski touring at Powder Mountain anymore and that this poor patrolman had drawn the short straw to come and tell the seniors that what they were doing was illegal. Of course, he wasn’t expecting to be dealing with Old Grumpy, who by then had been joined by his two troll mates, Grumpy One and Grumpy Two. He realized it really wasn’t his day dealing with three grumpy old trolls. In as polite a manner as possible he told the seniors that Powder Mountain was all private property now, having been purchased by a group of one percenters who basically decided to restrict public access. So the seniors were trespassing big time, and yes the sign above them now was flashing!

Everyone withdrew their hackles and the seniors assured the patrolman that they were unaware that ski touring was restricted at Powder Mountain since they had all ski toured here over the years, and often with large groups. The patrol-man said that yes, he realized that had been the case, but the new owners didn’t want the general public on their property without first checking in with ski patrol. Aside from the private property issue there were also safety con-cerns about people skiing the steep chutes that could avalanche and trap not only the skier(s) but also cover the road endangering motorists.

It was a bit of a downer to realize that yet another magical place had a new set of rules and restrictions to follow. Here, on a beautiful day, in one of northern Utah’s most spectacular places with James Peak, Francis Peak, and Ben Lomond defining your views, you realize this could be the last time you will ever see them from this spot. It was a sad and sober-ing moment for the seniors as they skied back to the car. But there was a silver lining, the blue plate special was delicious and they got the senior discount.

PS. You can tour at Powder Mountain but you do need to check in with the Ski Patrol before setting off. Apparently they have had problems with people poaching the chutes that would easily cover the road if they were to slide. The patrol-man was very nice and professional so just check in and then enjoy. And in the snowless 2014-15 winter, Powder Mountain packed a track around the plateau and charged a modest trail fee for its use. Hope is not lost! e

Busted

Middlebury Man

Jock heads back to the car

overlooking the ogden Valley

April 2015 page 31


Our family has rituals for marking the beginning and ending of the ski season. In the fall, we head to West Yellowstone to officially kick off the season. In the spring, generally after all the snow has melted from around our house in Summit Park, I spend part of a Saturday putting summer wax on our skis bringing the season to a close. This usually occurs in April. It is the middle of March as I write this and I have already gone through the ritual of waxing our skis for the summer. It is a month earlier the usual.

A month earlier than usual has been the story of the weather this winter. I had the privilege of having dinner with Brian McInernery, who works for the National Weather Service in Salt Lake, and keeps track of weather in Utah. This was a year of records and all kinds of records we don’t particularly like to see. Brian noted Utah experienced many days of above normal maximum temperature including a number of days with record maximum daily temperatures. In January and February there were 48 days in a row of above normal tem-peratures. In January we experienced daily-high temperatures that we normally experience in February and in February we had March temperatures and now March we are seeing April temperatures. Everything is shifted forward a month. Flowers are up, trees are blooming and those with allergies are suffering a month earlier.

It has also been very dry. A giant high-pressure system has been centered over the Western United States for much of the winter. Vermont has had more snow than Alta as storms were pushed high into Canada over the high-pressure ridge before descending down the back side of the ridge and moving on to clobber the Northeast with snow and cold temperatures. The West has had unusual warmth and has been rain and snow starved while the Northeast was buried. We complain about not enough snow and they complain about too much.

If you remember last winter, we had a very similar dry and warm January, February and March as the same weather pattern was parked over the West. Brian showed me some

comparisons of the weather systems for the past two years and these are the reason the West is in severe drought, especially California. In early March, Utah had received 60-70 percent of the normal precipitation for the water year. Much of central California has only received about 10 percent of normal precipitation for the year and there was very little snow in the Sierras. California is going to be struggling with water supplies for another year. It might be a good time to stock up on wine and vegetables.

When I asked Brian about what the outlook might be for next year he didn’t want to speculate for that is all that it would be. We can’t predict weather that far in the future. However, as we move into next winter I will be on the lookout for large-high pressure ridges sitting over the West and hoping that they don’t stay too long. In the meantime I am preparing myself for a much longer season of running and biking and I may even to get in the pool to cool off. Have a wonderful summer and we can only hope that winter weather will start a month earlier in the fall. e

A Month Earlierb a c k o f t h e p a c k

by David Susong

The Utah Nordic AlliancePo Box 9008Salt Lake City, Ut 84109-008

Non-Profit Org .U S Postage

PA I DSalt Lake City, UTPermit No . 6348

when — Friday may 1stwhere — sugarHouse ParK rose gariden the festivities begin at 5 pm with the salmon coming off the grill at 7 pm

This is our annual fund-raiser for the TUNA Junior program, and word has it that there are going

to be some really sweet things this year, things that you cannot do without! So bring your checkbooks, appetite, and get ready to see all your TUNA friends without their Lycra. I know, a scary thought.

Music will be provided by Gene Pool which plays “Diverse Acoustic Music,” including blues, folk, Celtic, old jazz standards, originals, etc.

Donna could also use help with baking potatoes and cookies. Contract her at [email protected].

Salmon Bake reminderby Donna Wahoff-Stice

Tickets in Advance at Wild Rose, Wasatch Touring

and White Pineor BUY ONLINE

www. utahnordic.com$20 Adult, $10 Children

Tickets at the Door$25 Adult, $15 Children

Interested in volunteering? Contact Donna at [email protected]

E x C E L L E N T F O O DL I v E B A N D

S I L E N T A U C T I O N

Friday, May 1, 2015The Rose Garden in Sugarhouse Park

Use Notheast Entrance, 1500 East 2100 SouthSilent Auction starts at 5 pm, Dinner at 7 pm

the utah nordic alliance volume xxv no.6 april 2015 news 2015-4.pdf · 2015-11-03 · the utah...

Documents