Feb 6, Skate

You know how the snow gets when it's cold but it's been rained on all day, all fresh and wintry smelling?  Yeah, that's how it was last night.  Temps in the mid-30s, hard wintry mix falling at the pass, but damp and cool at Cabin Creek, plenty of snow on the nicely groomed trail, and the skiing was slickety fast, both in the tracks and in the skate lane.  It was another gorgeous night of skiing in the dark, with bright little fireflies of headlamps twinkling in the woods.

Speaking of bright little fireflies, I tried the Petzl Nau headlamp again last night, and I am even more enamored than I was last week.  This time I tried tilting the angle of the light, rather than the angle of my head, and it was as if the light could read my mind: it just automatically flicked from low to high and back to low the instant I needed it, without my having to even think about it.  Technology is a wonderful thing, and to be able to wear a beautifully-designed little piece of technology on your head, and to have it open up the whole dark trail to brightness, is a pretty cool thing.  If you've tried one and want one, they're available at Second Ascent in Ballard and Marmot in Bellevue (these two shops generously sponsor the Kongsberger races), as well as REI in downtown Seattle.  If you haven't tried one and you're interested, find me next Wednesday night; Peter will be out of town, but I have his stash of demo lamps.

Next week: something special!  As a warmup to the Feb 17 skiathlon at Cabin Creek, and to give you a chance to practice your transitions, the headlamp race will be a one-lap classic followed immediately by a one-lap skate.  Measure your total time, including the transition.  Sounds like fun!  Good luck to everyone heading to Spokane for the Langlauf or to Winthrop for the Derby!

Two Laps
Brad Bauer	39	12.35
Peter Boveng	54	13.47
John Outterson	42	14.40
Christopher Fast	46	14.44
Egor Klivak	28	15.55
Jeff McGrew	53	16.46
Max Limb	67	17.52
Jeff Clark	59	17.58
James West	44	18.01
Ian Whyte	50	20.15
Peter Turcan	55	20.17
Dale Bohm	54	20.24
Don Brooks	62	20.34	(classic)
Joy Cordell	58	20.43
Debbie Kolp	59	27.49	(classic)
One Lap
Jonathan Loeffler	27	6.55
Garrett Stout	17	7.14
Oliver Isik	17	7.59
Finley Terlin	16	8.03
Camille Moore	14	8.47
Benjamin Cape	15	8.58
Just Skiin'
Brian Palm
Jason Paur and 7 more Bush School kids (besides the ones who timed in the one-lap above)