Skinnyski Race Team Weekend Recap
By Bruce Adelsman
January 13, 2003
The Skinnyski.com Race Team was busy this past weekend,
participating in three different events. On Saturday, Maria
Stewart and Ben Popp were up at Giants Ridge assisting with
the giant Mesabi East high school race. For Ben, hailing from
Packer-land, it was a new experience. Maria, though, was returning
back to an event she had participated in not that long ago.
After one long day of racing action, Ben hooked up with a
buddy and headed over to Grand Marais to race in the Sawtooth
competition. With significant fresh snow on the ground, the
word "race" took on new meaning.
Kelly Rogers tagging off to Abbi May |
Nearly all of the remaining team members joined up on Saturday
morning for the epic 24 Hours of Telemark. Per Nelson decided
to get in a long workout, racing in the 6 hour solo event.
Margie Nelson, Josie Nelson, Abbi May, were joined by Kelly
Rogers to form a four person 12 hour team. Dave and Grant
Nelson, Brian May, and John Munger, recruited Chip Tabor and
Peter Hanson to make up a six man team for the full 24 hour
division. A lot of credit is due to all of the skiers, especially
Abbi May and Dave Nelson, both of whom were battling colds/flu
to one degree or another. And we were most grateful to have
such top notch skiers as Kelly, Peter and Chip helping to
fill out the teams.
Race Team Results
Jan 10-11 24 Hours of Telemark
24 Hour Big Team (6 skiers) 1st place 464km
12 Hour Open (4 skiers) 2nd place 199km (1st women)
6 Hour Solo (Per Nelson) 5th place 76.5km
Jan 11 Sawtooth
Ben Popp 4th male 0:49:54
Team Member Reports
Mesabi East Report from Maria Stewart
After a four year hiatus, I returned to the Mesabi
East Invitiational, but this time as an assistant coach
for Wayzata High School. I enjoyed seeing the race from
a different perspective, except when my feet went numb from
standing outside for six hours. I think this race was more
overwhelming as a coach than as an athlete. As a high school
racer, I only had one race to think about. All of my anxiety
was over in an hour or so. As a coach, I had twenty races
to think about, and as a result, I was occupied for the
entire day. With those differences aside, the weekend's
experiences for both my athletes and myself were enjoyable.
This year, the Mesabi East High School hosted a pre-race
spaghetti feed in Biwabik's new community pavilion on Friday
night. My team feasted on spaghetti with meatballs, garlic
bread, salad, and an enormous assortment of dessert bars.
I know if there's a spaghetti feed next year, we'll be the
first in line.
Over one thousand high school skiers competed in Saturday's
competition, some traveling as far as Michigan, others traveling
just from the Mesabi East High School. The classic skiers
raced first starting at ten o'clock. Light snow was falling
at the start of the race and continued into the early afternoon,
when the skate races started. Unlike many of my Giant's
Ridge experiences, the weather was pleasant. Temperatures
ranged from the mid-teens to the mid-twenties throughout
the day with no noticeable wind.
From my vantage point on the Gold Trail, I watched almost
every classic skier pass me. Some were looking to medal,
and some were just looking to finish. Either way, it was
amazing to see so many skiers, especially when much of the
state doesn't have skiable snow. I hoped to have a lunch
break between the classic and skate races, but it turned
out to only be a "put on more warm clothes" break.
After suiting up in some dry clothes and an extra jacket,
I headed out to the Silver Trail to support the racers.
Many of the skiers who raced in the classic race were along
the trail cheering their teammates to the finish. I overheard
them sharing stories of crashes, bad wax, and tough hills.
The most remarkable part of my afternoon was hearing spectators
encourage racers that weren't even on their team. At several
points on the skate course, I was standing near kids who
were saying "Go get the girls ahead of you!" or
"Pick up the tempo!" or "Way to go, nice
job!" to every skier that passed by. These are aspects
of Mesabi that I seldom noticed as a high school racer.
The last junior varsity skaters finished the course
around 4:00 and I headed to the chalet for a late lunch.
Several parents brought post-race snacks for the racers.
With all of my athletes warm and full, I enjoyed cold chili
and a bagel. Six hours after I set out to watch the first
race, the day was finally over. 1070 skiers crossed the
finish line on Saturday, that's more than the population
of Biwabik! The Mesabi East Invitational is a testimony
to the great skiing environment we have created in Minnesota,
whether there's snow or not. I look forward to next year's
race, and I think I'll bring some foot warmers and pack
a lunch in my backpack.
24 Hours Report from Brian May
This past weekend we headed to Telemark for another
rendition of the 24T, aka, the 24 Hours of Telemark. Returning
to battle for the Skinnyski.com team were 24T veterans Grant
and Dave Nelson, John Munger, and myself. Wanting to field
a 6-person team, we added two guests to the roster, Chip
Tabor and Peter Hanson. With goals ranging from "crushing
the world record" to "surviving", we headed
to the start line planning to "see how it goes".
This year, Skinnyski also added a women's team to the mix,
the "Skinnyski Ladies" (Josie Nelson, Margie Nelson,
Abbi May and Kelly Rogers). Obviously agreeing with the
Ely/Riverbrook team (named "Our Wives are Smarter"),
they had signed up for the 12 hour event.
Chip Tabor |
With a cheer from the crowd, the event was underway.
Max Mogren (Sugar Loaf Six Pack) blasted off the start line
and blitzed the 5.1 k course in 13:58, the only person to
crack 14 minutes during the event. Our "captain"
Dave led off at a more reasonable pace, leaving us well-positioned
amongst the top teams. With everyone awake and ready to
ski, we started out with a series of single-lappers. I skied
my first few laps hard, but kept in mind that we had 24
hours to keep things going. The course lay-out was really
nice - enough hills to keep things interesting but nothing
too tough for night-time descents. The trail was rock-solid
underneath, with some groomed powder on top. The solid base
was icy in spots (hard to get an edge on a few of the uphills),
but at least it would hold up to 24 hours of traffic!
Despite only skiing 1/6th of the time, there seemed
to be little time for relaxation in the early going. Abbi
and I traded our kids back and forth while each of us took
turns skiing our respective legs. During one "rest
break" I was out skiing with Rachel. On another more
relaxing break it was into the swimming pool and hot tub.
This is one of the major perks of racing at Telemark ...
how often do you get to soak in a hot tub during a ski race!
As night fell, we backed off a bit and started doing
double-lap pulls. The pace slowed slightly but the longer
pulls allowed for a much better opportunity to eat and rest
effectively between trips around the trail. We settled into
two condos perfectly positioned adjacent the start/finish
field. Having completed their events, our 6-hour soloists
Diana Munger and Per Nelson served up some chili and pasta
... yum! The ladies wrapped up their event with a solid
2nd place finish (competing against men's and co-ed teams
as well).
Skiing through the night is an interesting experience.
The 24T crew had placed candle-lanterns out along the course
which was a really nice touch and helped greatly to break
up the "tunnel" effect created by staring at the
circle of a head-light on the trail ahead. Mid-way through
the night, my bases were getting a bit white, so I headed
off to the wax room to give them a fresh coat of wax. I
obviously shouldn't have bothered though. On the next trip
out, I was rounding a corner a bit too tightly and hit a
dip in the trail. "Snap" and suddenly one of my
skis was a lot slower and a lot less stable than it had
been before. A broken ski - ouch!
The coming of dawn is always a really nice part of the
24T. With everyone coming back to life, we kicked into single-lap
mode, counting down the number of times we would have to
head back out onto the trail. Chip finished up just under
the 24 hour mark, leaving Dave to complete the event with
a "victory lap" - we had successfully defended
our title. However, from the cheers that erupted when each
person crossed the line, it was clear that there were many
victors, each participant having completed something remarkable!
The 24T is an event that offers something for everyone,
from the 3 hour solo category to the 24 hour team event.
Hats off to the 24-hour soloists who go non-stop the entire
time!
And finally, a big thank-you to all involved with the
event, including Kevin Eccles and Dennis Kruse of Team Sports
Inc., Telemark Resort and all the volunteers who helped
put on another great event. Happy skiing!
Sawtooth Report from Ben Popp
Winter Wonderland...
My friend Peter called on Wednesday and asked what I
was up to Friday and after a brief glance through the planner
it was confirmed … nothing was going on. He was inquiring
to see if I could help with his high school team, Minneapolis
South, at the Mesabi East Invite at Giants Ridge on Saturday
-- no problem, consider me in. It was my first time at the
Mesabi meet, and what a sight: over 1,000 high school skiers!
The first starter went out at 10:00 am, and going out in
pairs every 30 secs, the last starter didn't leave until
after 3:30 pm in the afternoon. Yup, high school racing
is alive and well in Minnesota.
Since Mother Nature isn't cooperating in the Cities,
some of the only racing is up along the North Shore. This
weekend featured the Sawtooth race held at Pincushion ski
area in Grand Marais. With Peter and I in northern Minnesota
for Saturday's high school race, we decided to make the
trek over to the North Shore for Sunday's race.
To our delight, Grand Marais had received 5 inches of
fresh snow on Saturday, and believe it or not, Sunday they
got an additional 5 inches before the start of the race
… and you guessed it, conditions slow and soft. While
this is where I'd normally complain about how slow and soft
it was, this was ski racing -- something we can't do in
St. Paul right now so I was happy as a pig in mud. The groomers
at Pincushion did a wonderful job of preparing a great race
course under tough conditions.
For the Sawtooth, they hold 4 races on the same day.
A 7.5 or 15K classic race starting at 10 am, followed by
a 7.5 or 15K freestyle race at 11:30 am. I opted to do the
skate race (tough sledding). The trails at Pincushion are
awesome, rolling, flowing, long climbs, well laid out, all
around great skiing trails. However, the trails really get
quite tough with 10 inches of fresh snow. Believe it or
not, the 15K classic times were only a few minutes slower
than the skate times -- WOW.
A few fast Canadians were down, and Adam Swank made
the trip up from Duluth so there were some fast skiers on
the start line. About 2K into the race Will Fitzgerald from
Thunder Bay attacked up one of the long gradual climbs and
shattered the field. Four of us skied away, but the writing
was on the wall…being the type to enjoy the big pushes
and big glides I was struggling. By 5K our group of 4 was
now 4 individuals skiing alone. While the racing was super
tough, it was tough not to be having a great time….30
degrees, snowing, an absolute beautiful setting.
I highly recommend a trip up, especially with the current
conditions in the Cities. It is a under 5 hour drive from
the Cities, and once there you'll find inexpensive lodging
(we stayed at the Shoreline motel-quite nice), great food
(of course we ate pizza at Sven and Ole's, and a great breakfast
at the Bluewater Café), friendly conversation, and
second to none skiing.
The Sawtooth organizers really brought their A game.
The trails were well maintained, the registration organized,
timing well done-an all around success. Well done.
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