100K Rollerski Camp Journals

by Jenni Mead
August 2, 2005

The inaugural 100K Camp was a blast. What can get better than camping, skiing, beautiful weather, and hanging out with skiers?! With six athletes and three coaches, we were able to get to know each other well and have campfire discussions with the whole group involved. We had super fun and motivated skiers on our trip.

Coaches: Jenni Mead, Fritz Spiegel, Amy Wyman
Skiers: Danielle Berndt, Derek Berndt, Cullen Geppert, Jessica Wagner, Elise Gale, Hans Nygren

Tuesday, July 26

We met at Nerstrand State Park group camp at 6pm, set up our tents, and played a quick game of ultimate frisbee before our first evening technique session. V1 was the focus, and Fritz did an awesome job of leading everyone through the progressions. S'mores and a long campfire filled up the remainder of the evening. Elise cooked me some extra crispy marshmallows and we all had a long conversation about whether boys or girls have it easier in life. Later on I was lulled to sleep by mice, raccoons, and owls outside my tent.

Wednesday, July 27

We packed up surprisingly fast and were on the road skiing by 8:15. Everyone skied about 20 miles to Camp Faribo. I dropped off the van at the campground and biked backwards to meet up with the group. The ski went well, and everyone seemed to have plenty of energy left in the afternoon for beach volleyball, "500" in the pool, and ultimate frisbee. I managed to hike the group into a wasp's nest which led to Cullen getting stung 4 times, myself getting stung 6 times, and a group of 9 people scrambling very fast out of some brush. I also managed to get into some poison oak at the same time! After our second technique session (V2 focus), we enjoyed a delicious dinner of hotdogs, macaroni and cheese, and grilled corn. Danielle and Elise then adopted a pet goldfish named Chester from the local WalMart. He was used for a joke (put in someone's Nalgene), and then kept alive in an ice cream bucket for the next two days. He is alive and well in an aquarium at this time. After delivering an ice cream sundae to the camp office lady (it was her birthday), we sat around the fire for a couple of hours before calling it a night.

Thursday, July 28

Camp Faribo to Sakatah State Park. Our group campsite was right off of the Sakatah State Trail, and we enjoyed a beautiful afternoon in which we played stationary frisbee (frisbee from a sitting position), took naps, swam in algae, and read Harry Potter. We had our third and final technique session followed by a 90 minute hike. We feasted on spaghetti, bread, salad, and fried apples. Hans, Danielle, Cullen, and myself slept outside under the stars. There was no dew, no wind, no mosquitos, and clear skies. It was perfect! I saw three shooting stars.

Friday, July 29

We left the doors open too long in the van so it had to be jumpstarted by a ranger. Amy drove it to the trailhead near Mankato and skied backwards to meet us. We had a nice three hour ski. Several of us managed to draw some blood, with the grand prize going to Fritz who reminded us all why we wear helmets and then skidded to a stop on his knuckles. We were out of water at the end, so we cut into the giant watermelon in the van and slurped it up rather quickly. After a stop at the local Dairy Queen, we said our goodbyes and headed separate ways. Thanks everyone for a fun camp!

Elise Gale

There was so much cool stuff on this trip it is hard to put all of it into words. There were definitely some highlights. These are my top three favorite things from the trip.

1. The Campfires - This was probably my favorite part because it didn't involve breathing hard unless you were laughing. Jenni's book of questions helped me get to know the other people a lot better, even if the question was "For $10,000 would you shave your head not being able to tell anyone why?". It was really relaxing and a fun way to end the day.

2. Technique Sessions - In the afternoons we would work with the coaches on technique, focusing on one skill per day. This was so cool because if you didn't understand something it was really easy to ask and fix it up. I'm a lot more confident on my V2 because of all the tips I got. The technique also paid off on the long ski trips because you could take what you learned and use it to be faster.

3. Swimming and Games - If you still had any energy in the afternoon after a long morning of rollerskiing, there was still a ton of stuff to do. Swimming at Camp Faribo was great for cooling off. Volleyball was probably my favorite game to play because of all the funny plays like huge spikes and dives. Ultimate was great too, but my accuracy with a Frisbee still needs some work! All the games were great because everyone was out to have fun first and win second.

Although I'm not a seasoned camper or skier, everyone made this trip a lot of fun. I know I'm a much better skier now and I can actually set up a tent! I had a great time and can't wait for next year.

Danielle Berndt

100k camp was really cool. Not only did I learn a few awesome tips that will help me ski faster next season, but I got to hang out with really fun people, go on adventures, and sleep in a tent.

Here is one of my favorite adventures:

While at camp Fairibo, we decided to do a technique session on a trail that was supposedly on the other side of the highway, so we went in search of the culvert that leads under the road. Our search began with us walking through a hornets nest where we immediately sprinted (in our ski boots) back to camp. We started off again and found our selves hiking through chest deep grass where the conversation inevitably turned to the scene in Jurassic park II where the raptors attacked everyone in the long grass. Upon entering a cornfield after only about ten minutes of hiking, my brother started talking about the Donner Party and suggested we decide on who we would eat first if we became that desperate. When we finally found the culvert after about twenty more minutes of long grass and cornfields, we went through and ended up in some older lady's driveway. I imagine we looked fairly intimidating; the nine of us hiking in helmets and strange boots and carrying poles and weird club like things and coming out of her backyard, but the lady told us where the trail was anyways. It was really far away from where we were, so we settled for a street that wasn't busy. Midway through our technique session three little kids came out of their house and watched us ski back and forth. They decided they would throw rocks at us, offer us four whole dollars to fall down, and ask stupid questions like "Is this some kind of sport or something?"

Overall, I would say this camp was definitely worth the entry fee. I can't remember a time on this trip when I wasn't having fun. I would like to thank Jenni, Fritz and Amy for all the helpful hints and the good mac 'n cheese. See ya!

Photoset from Jenni Mead: 100K Camp photos - 48 photos