2012 NordiX Competition

The 2012 NordiX competition took place in Oslo Norway on March 27. Some big cross country skiers showed up at the event. The NordiX competition is pretty much a Skier Cross course that X-C skiers compete in on nordic skis.  Some big names were Petter Northug, Eirik Brandsdal, Robin Bryntesson, Marcus Hellner, Oystein Pettersen,  Andrew Musgrave, Andy Newell, Van der Graaff, and Kikkan Rhandall. The race course consisted of big jumps, sharp corners, and some short but steep uphills in between. It was tricky to pass on the course so athletes had to make their move at the start of the race, and hope not to fall. Two skiers who were favorites coming into the competition failed to advance to the finals. So during heats Petter Northug, and Andy Newell showed off for the crowd performing tricks, and big airs. In the finals  Ånund Lid Byggland won the men’s event and Ludmila Horká pulled of the win for the women.

NordiX course

I think the NordiX competition is an awesome idea! My friends and I love to jump on cross country skis. I think all nordic ski racers should jump on their X-C skis it helps your racing, and you can make some cool videos. Andy Newell, local X-C skier, and Olympian also thinks jumping is helpful with training. He says “Haven’t caught some air in a while? Go have some fun with the kids for an afternoon. Remember to start small and work your way up. In no time you’ll be hooting and hollering and remembering why you started skiing in the first place. To have fun!”

Works Cited

---

http://easybib.com/key/d61b1e

The 2012 Bill Koch Festival Relay

The 2012 Bill Koch Festival relay was held Saturday March third. The relay teams were decided by how well you did in your local races all season. You would be paired up with someone from the same part of New England. The first and second graders raced first. Since there were not a lot of first and second graders the girls and boys raced together. Their course was 1km long. The third and fourth grade girls race was next, followed by the third and fourth grade boys. Their course was also 1km long. Finally it was the race before ours: the fifth and sixth grade girls. I was really nervous before our race. Our race was 2km long (a short course) with not very many hills. It was a mass start race which means that everybody starts at the same time. Once the girls race finished the fifth and sixth grade boys started lining up for our race. When we were told to go we all took of. I stayed out at the front of the pack the whole race and when I came in to tag my partner, Ben, I had a three or four second lead. I tagged Ben and he was off. I waited in anticipation by the finish for Ben to come in. When a skier was seen outside of the stadium I prayed it was Ben. And when the skier got closer I realized it was! When Ben came across the finish line I practically jumped on him. We had won the Gold Medal! The rest of the afternoon was spent skiing, playing, and cheering on our seventh and eight grade friends. Results

Me starting in red suit

Ben finishing in green tights

Me and Ben on the podium

Thanks to Kate Koch for the photos.

The 2012 Midget Norams

The 2012 Midget Norams took place over February 25, 2012, and February 26, 2012. I was traveling with lots of people in a big van to get to Quebec. There were 8 kids traveling in the van, and 7 kids riding in cars. Once everybody reached Quebec we stopped at Boston Pizza for dinner. After dinner everybody drove to the high school we were sleeping at and set up our beds. The boys got one room to there self, and the girls got another. The next morning we woke up 7:00 and got breakfast, after that everybody drove to the race sight. When we got there John Ogden and Jim Levins were waxing and scraping our race skis, and we started getting ready to ski our course. The 10, 11, 12, and 13 year olds all had to race 4 KM courses for there race but the 12 and 13 year olds had to ski a course that was harder (not longer) than the younger kids course. The 10 and 11 year olds skied the course with coach Barney Hodges. We talked about what to do while skiing the race. The 13 and 12 year old boys started first, followed by the 12 and 13 year old girls, the 11 year old boys and girls, and the 10 year old boys and girls. Our race started out in a stadium where we had to double pole at the start and then  skate out of the stadium. We also would lap and finish in the stadium. Our age group had to do two loops of a 2 KM course. My race course and skis were really fast and I thought the conditions were perfect. Results

Day 2

The next day started similarly to the first. Except with the 11 year old boys and girls starting first followed by the 10 year old boys and girls, the 13 year old boys and girls, and the 12 year old boys and girls. The 10,and 11 year olds had a 3KM loop, while the 12 and 13 year olds had to do two 3KM loops. The race was a mass start chevron race, the chevron was decided by the results from the day before. When I started I was in second and stayed in second for the whole race. The race course had a lot of hard hill climbs that were crucial to your performance, and where you really had to make your kick wax work. Results.

According to the NENSA site: “Of the 12 races we entered” (NENSA, my team)  “we won 5 gold medals, 3 silver, 3 bronze, and had 13 top ten finishes. Wow! That’s impressive! And we had a great time too!” Thank you to NENSA who provided us with awesome headbands.

NENSA team with headbands

http://easybib.com/key/71f957

2012 Youth Olympics Continued

Two big things happened for the USA in Cross Country skiing on Thursday January 19, 2012 and Saturday January 21, 2012 at the Youth Olympics. For one thing on the day of the sprint race (January 19) Paddy Caldwell (see last post for more info) got fifth place overall in the sprint. With Andreas MOLDEN  from Norway taking the Gold and beating Paddy by 2.9 seconds. The other big thing that happened for the US is that on January 19 the US took the bronze in the Cross Country Biathlon relay. Only getting beaten by Germany and Russia. The team was 59.6 seconds behind the Gold medalist. The relay team consisted of two Biathletes: Sean Doherty and Anna Kubek, and two Cross Country skiers: Heather Mooney and Paddy Caldwell. Innsbruck seems to be a lucky place for Vermont Cross Country skiers this is also were Bill Koch won his Silver medal.

USA with the Bronze

Here is the Men’s sprint race.

For more information on the relay go to http://fasterskier.com/2012/01/yog-us-mixed-relay-team-powers-its-way-onto-the-podium-and-into-the-history-books/

Here is the relay

Work Cited

http://easybib.com/key/27fc28

The 2012 Winter Youth Olympics

The 2012 Winter Youth Olympics are being held in Innsbruck, Austria. The Cross Country Men’s 10 km classic was held Tuesday January 17, 2012 at 11:45 am (not in our time zone), and the Women’s 5 km classic starting at 10:00 am. The U.S male contender was Paddy Caldwell. Paddy an SMS skier went to the games with coach Sverre Caldwell, and SMS alum and Middlebury skier Heather Mooney. Heather and Paddy are both locals, and in fact Heather’s brother Scott goes to Flood Brook. Paddy and Heather were interviewed before there trip to the Youth Olympics, and when asked what they were looking forward to the most about the Youth Olympics they both said that they were really excited about meeting new people and experiencing the first Youth Olympics ever. The results for the Men’s race were Alexander

Alexander Selyaninov

Selyaninov from Russia with Gold, Kentaro ISHIKAWA from Japan with Silver, Sergey MALYSHEV from Kazakhstan with Bronze, and Paddy Caldwell in 16th. The results for the Women’s were,

Anastasia Sedova

Anastasia Sedova from Russia with Gold, Anamarija LAMPIC from Slovenia with Silver, Lea EINFALT from Slovenia with Bronze, and Heather Mooney in 13th.

Here is the Men’s race highlights.

Here are the Women’s race highlights.

If you look closely in the videos you can see both Heather and Paddy, they are both in USA race suits.

The next Cross country race is on Thursday January 19, 2012

Work Cited

http://easybib.com/key/0fbdab

What is your favorite ski company?

The Skate Techniques

There are three techniques in skate skiing. They are V1, V2, and V2 alternate. V1 is used when you are going up a hill. V1 is made by planting one pole in front of the other as they come down at the same time preferably with the pole in front on the side the hill is slanting.

V2 is used when on flat, going up a slight uphill,or slight downhill. V2 is made by planting your  two poles as each ski comes down. The poles should come down at about the same place next to the ski.

V2 alternate is used when going downhill. V2 alternate is made by planting both poles at the same place next to the ski but only plant when one ski comes down not both.

Work Cited

http://easybib.com/key/fa2fb6

Petter Northug

Petter Northug was born January 6, 1986 in Levanger Norway. He races for the  Strindeim Ski ski team. Petter is a Norweigan Cross country ski racer. He is considered the best cross-country skier in the world. Northug has won 9 world championships and 9 Olympic gold medals. Northug is a sprinter but also does well in distance races.

Petter helped his team win the relay in the Vancouver 2010 winter Olympics He also won the 50 km  race. Northug is known for his crazy finishes. Here is one of them.

 

Northug races on Fischer Hole skis, the nicest skis on the market, the Alpina Elite skate boot,the Swix Triac poles, and the Fischer Xcelerator binding.

The Fischer Xcelerator binding

The Swix Triac poles

Alpina Elite skate boot

Fischer Hole Skis

                                                                                                  Work Cited

                                                                              http://easybib.com/key/8a8d89