Feb 24, Classic

Slyfield's inspirational words greeted us when we arrived: "Embrace the suck!" You really had to love skiing to head up to the pass this week, what with the temps in the upper 30's, heavy heavy rain, and areas of standing water on the freeway. But sure enough, there was a handful of cars in the parking lot, a smattering of headlamps on the trails, and the cabin, warm and glowing in the trees, drawing us in after our race for dry clothes and Olympics talk, along with some spicy German beer Jon discovered in Munich and gooey brownies someone left for us.

Robert, glass half full, summed it up: "The snow is surprisingly not that bad!" Most of the course had been groomed for skating, leaving a firm wet platform, so we set our own tracks, and it was a fine exercise in balance and technique. Jon and Brian declared it perfect conditions for zeros and fluoros, while Chris's colorful mix of klisters gave him neither kick nor glide. A great time was had by all; thanks, guys, for a fun evening!

Bonus points for the drive up: in between downpours, a symphony, Variations on a Rainbow. Bonus points for the drive home: the moon, peeking out and turning the billowy clouds silver.

Next week: skating -- ski it while we have it! Good luck to everyone headed to the American Birkebeiner!

Masters, 5k
Jon Fewster, 16:44
Brian Dumais, 17:20
Chris Fast, 21:22
Dale Bohm, 23:14
Jim Slyfield, 27:52
Debbie Kolp, 29:00

Just Skiin'
Frank Harris
Gunnar Unneland
Jim Lindsey
Robert Hardwick
Kevin Wood
Sharon Chen
Dan Gilchrist
Eric Kamila

Feb 24, Conditions Preview

Finally! Snow overnight, mixed rain and snow right now. Ozzie is in Falun and not able to give me any news, so here is last night's report from Robert, the groomer:

I am currently grooming at cabin creek, it is snowing lightly, but the trails are very icy and difficult to groom, expect bad conditions tomorrow unless we get some accumulation for which I will be back out there tomorrow afternoon. A classic track is virtually impossible to set right now, because of how hard the snow is. The skate lane is satisfactory on the road. Around the viking skating would be very difficult because of the ice balls, brought up from my groomer. Sorry for this and I will have them ready for the weekend.

Sounds a little bleak, but hey, tough conditions create strong skiers!

PS. I will be delivering hot new Seattle Nordic ski suits for those of you who ordered them -- they look awesome!

Feb 17, Skate

Thanks to Tim, Maria and Ann for updating me on race conditions. It sounds like it was a great night for skiing: a little slushy earlier in the afternoon, but firm and fast after Robert groomed and the temperature dropped, and millions of stars! There were fewer people than normal, due to midwinter break for kids, but those that were there enjoyed the evening. Only four more weeks of headlamp skiing left, so TiVo the Olympics, grab your friends, and come on up!

Masters, 5k
Brent Turner, 55, 13:44
Chris Fast, 43, 14:13
Jeremy Littell, 36, 14:15
Kyle Nagle, 36, 14:25
Tim Melbourne, 41, 14:29
Rob Lehtinen, 29, 15:46
Dale Bohm, 51, 16:27
Mona Deprey, 43, 16:38
Jim Wood, 27, 16:44
Eric Kamila, 36, 17:18
Ann Grodnik, 34, 18:16
Maria Balsamo, 45, 20:44
Elizabeth Bailey, 49, 21:13

Tiny Juniors, 1.5k
Nils Melbourne, 8, 6:10
Magnus Melbourne, 10, 6:19

Just Skiin'
Brian Palm
Jeff Hashimoto
Carey Gazis
13 Ellensburg kids

Feb 10, Classic

Snow, beautiful snow, falling falling from the deep dark sky, cuddling the tree branches and tickling our eyelashes and raising everyone's spirits. Winter isn't over yet; perhaps the east coast's Snow-mageddon is sending its extra snowflakes our way.

It seems like almost every week there is a real disparity in conditions between the early starters and the later ones: sometimes the early skiers get the fast conditions, sometimes they get the slow ones, but never has it been more true than this week. Ozzie reported icy fast conditions in the early afternoon, before the snowstorm hit, while Peter, one of the last skiers, in the midst of the snowstorm, had to stride down the hills, his klister icing in the heavy wet snow. That's what makes Wednesday night headlamp skiing so interesting, and comparing times with your arch-rival so challenging!

Next week: skating. Good luck to everyone going to the Jente Loppet and the Spokane Langlauf ... and the Olympics! Go, Roberto! Go, Holly!

Masters, 5k
Rune Harkestad, 45, 14:11
Jeremy Littell, 36, 16:27
Tim Melbourne, 41, 16:48
Brent Turner, 55, 16:54
Brian Dumais, 52, 17:04
Brian Palm, 50, 17:55
Robert Hardwick, 51, 18:19
Kyle Nagle, 36, 18:45
Jason Paur, 39, 18:57
Jim Slyfield, 52, 19:03
Dale Bohm, 51, 19:45
Peter Boveng, 51, 19:47
Rolf Sunnerup, 44, 20:55
Steve Eastwood, 52, 21:21
Rob Lehtinen, 29, 21:30
Jim Cahill, 49, 21:41
Eric Kamila, 36, 22:22
Jim Wood, 27, 25:48
Debbie Kolp, 56, 26:40
Ann Grodnik, 34, 27:02
Will Scales, 33, 27:44
Elizabeth Bailey, 49, 28:53
Jakub Koška, ??, 28:00
Jo Smith, ??, 33:12
Tomáš Koška, ??, 38:00

Tiny Juniors, 2k
Nils Melbourne, 8, 8:37

Just Skiin'
Ozzie Nordheim
Maria Balsamo
Joy Cordell
Per Johnsen
Frank Harris
Bert Larsson
Paul Kaald
Kare Gjolmesli
Inge Scheve
Zac Altencey
Brad Bauer
Keith Ritland
Jeff Hashimoto
Carey Gazis
15 Ellensburg kids
Ingemar Sunnerup
Finn Sunnerup
13 Bush kids
Greg Jacobson
Peter Turcan
Chris Moore

Feb 10, Conditions Preview

Okay, headlamp skiers, Ozzie just checked in with a report on conditions at Cabin Creek. As of 12:15, he reports that the tracks are in excellent shape and very fast (first he used the word "icy"), and the skiing is fantastic. He recommends a very thin layer of purple or blue klister. He said there were a couple of snowflakes drifting down, but he didn't think they'd amount to much.

See you up there!

Feb 3, Skate

What delicious skiing we had this week! A misty little rain sparkled in our headlamps, mild temps hovered in the mid-30's, and the snow was friendly and forgiving and freshly groomed. It was gorgeous spring skiing, except, of course, that it was dark ... and February. Early February. Never mind; I could have skied all night, but hunger and the reminder that tomorrow is a work day drove me back into the cabin. Even so, when we left at 9:30, there was one more skier still out on the course, the glow from the headlamp flitting through the dark branches. O mystery skier, tell me your name and I'll add it to the list!

Several people expressed interest in seeing weather and condition reports before the races, so I'll ask Ozzie to check in when he's up there early on Wednesdays. Of course, anyone who knows Ozzie knows that every day of skiing is FANTASTIC!

Next week: classic. Good luck to everyone heading to the Boulder Mountain Tour and the JOQs in Bend!

Masters, 5k
Rune Harkestad, 45, 14:08
Jon Fewster, 39, 14:17
Brian Dumais, 52, 14:18
Jeff Hashimoto, 39 (happy birthday!), 14:53
Brent Turner, 55, 15:08
Peter Boveng, 51, 15:23
Max Limb, 64, 15:42
Chris Fast, 43, 16:05
Jeremy Littell, 36, 16:10
Robert Hardwick, 51, 16:23
Brian Palm, 50, 16:23
Tim Melbourne, 41, 16:28
Jason Paur, 39, 16:42
Jim Cahill, 47, 16:49
Rolf Sunnerup, 44, 17:10
Rob Lehtinen, 29, 17:24
Steve Eastwood, 51, 17:29
Dale Bohm, 51, 17:59
Jeff Compton, 38, 18:20
Jim Wood, 27, 18:44
Greg Jacobson, ??, 19:15
Sven Koehler, 39, 19:48
Eric Kamila, 36, 20:15
Jim Slyfield, 52, 20:25
Ann Grodnik, 34, 20:30
Max Sevareid, 36, 20:50
Maria Balsamo, 45, 21:18
Clark Youmans, 41, 21:36
Ann Eastwood, 52, 22:41
Peter Turcan, 52, 22:45
Ian White, 47, 23:09
Elizabeth Bailey, 49, 23:44
Debbie Kolp, 56, 26:05 (classic)
Jeff Posakany, 42, 26:20

Juniors, 2.5k
Jordan Guzak, 15, 8:22
Ryan Davis, 15, 8:35
Nick Manning, 16, 10:12
Ritvik Miskin, 15, 10:13

Tiny Juniors, 2k
Magnus Melbourne, 10, 6:23
Nils Melbourne, 8, 6:26

Just Skiin'
Brad Bauer
Kyle Nagle
Ozzie Nordheim
Kare Gjolmesli
Paul Kaald
Roberto Carcelen (check out the Seattle Times article on Feb 4!)
Kent Murdoch
Bert Larsson

Jan 27, Relay

Thanks to JeffnJoy for picking up the results for me while I was freezing nearly to death at Craftsbury!

Results shown are skating first, classic second.

Masters, each person 3x2.5k
Brad/Kyle, 44:32
Chris/Linnea, 47:46
Jeff/Max, 55:28
Elizabeth/Brian, 57:20
Jakob/Eric, 59:49
Jim/Rob, 1:01:09
Ann/Mona, 1:00:50
Sven/Ryan, 1:14:00