Update from ALICE in BOZEMAN

Hello from Bozeman!!!!

Winter is finally over and I am really enjoying living the life out here in Montana. My first two weeks were a lot of fun but also very cold, snowy, rainy, and again cold. Now that it is mid June the big sky is finally blue and sunny and snow capped mountains are the perfect backdrop for training and going on adventures.

My job is a ton of fun and I am learning a lot. I basically get paid to go on adventures and wade in streams. If anyone wants to know anything about fish passage through culverts just give me a holler and I will tell you all about it! Long hours of sunlight and a pretty chill job give me plenty of time to hit the streets on my rollerskis and explore the miles of trails that are just out my door. I hope everyone else is having as much fun training as I am!!!!

-Alice


Having fun on the weekend (top) and hard at work during the week! (bottom)

Williams Purchases Sweet New Groomer

"Here is some exciting new grooming news. The college will be purchasing the Piston Bully Paana seen above. The machine we are buying has only 58 hours on it. It is the larger 2500 machine with the "competition track setting" options. These include, among other things, a secondary tiller in the right track pan. Prospect will be one of two centers in the US with this technology." - Coach Bud Fisher

Hello from NY!

Some pictures from the spring ski team BBQ I just found on my camera...

I'm heading out to continue exploring the world on Saturday, spreading knowledge of the English language to Bulgarian foster children and Williams Ski team love to all corners of the globe.  Life in NY has been good- going on kayaks on the Erie Canal and one of the Finger Lakes, bike rides, and runs with the crazy dog.  I spent the last weekend in May visiting Ali in Burlington, and fell in love with the place, it is beautiful there! Ali and I went for a nice hike up Mt. Mansfield, so now I've been to the highest place in 3 states (only 47 to go!), and of course we had to hit up the Ben and Jerry's factory on the ride back making up for all those lost calories.  

I discovered evidence of Ali's secret crush at her house- Willy Shakespeare.

The next weekend I was in NYC for my future sister-in-law's bridal shower and to visit my sister, and happened to run into Liz in Central Park! Unbeknownst to either of us, we had both signed up to do a Ladies 10k race in the park.  I had a fun time running with my sister, and the three of us all survived the blistering heat (the 90+ degree weather made me want to cut my dreads off though!)

Much love,

Emily

Greetings from Lake Wobegon!

I returned home to the beautiful state of Minnesota after a stellar WOOLF training trip with Sam and Robby only to discover that the Midwest is a whole lot flatter than I remembered. And there are a lot of mosquitos. But it's still an awesome state that you should all come visit.

The CXC elite team was here in the St. Croix Valley doing a two-week regional training camp so I spent the past fourteen days having a lot of fun, training with, and getting my butt kicked by the CXC athletes including (not to be name-dropping or anything...) Garrott Kuzzy, Caitlin Compton, Brian Cook, Gus Kaeding and the #1 skier in Scotland, Alastair Duncan. Garrott was staying with my best friend from home, Andrew Poffenberger, so Poff and I got to join in on some nice OD skis and some not-so-nice (read: killer) specific strength and interval sessions with the team. Pretty sweet.


Aside from that I've been overworking myself as usual, going to swim club, lifting, running, biking to and from work, and attending various ski practices. Plus, I've been enjoying the comforts of home, including way way way too much food and a well-tuned piano. Poff and I also got to go in to the city and see Barack Obama's victory speech at the Xcel center in St. Paul. We stood in line for about 5 hours, which is where I was able to observe the awesome bus advertisement pictured at top and the t-shirt vendor's ever-so-appropriate slogan at right. My summer job, which I thought was going to be really great, turned out to be kind of boring and pointless and full of old women who make me move tables and chairs and water coolers all over the place because none of them can lift more than 5 pounds at a time. I did manage to make friends with a guy from Minneapolis who does our yard work twice a month because he got a DWI and was sentenced to community service. His name is Tarell. He's pretty cool.

Right now, I am super excited to get Robby's and my WOOLFies next week and am dreading the rollerski time trial that I have tonight. And to Evan: I accept your challenge. Bring on the crunches.

Peace!!
Maddy

I just had the most amazing week here in Alaska!

The lake by our cabin a few weekends ago.
Denali was obscured by clouds, but I like this view better.

Last Friday, I went to the Oceans Festival, a celebration of all things Oceans in Alaska. There were lots of little booths for all of the local environmental groups and crunchy businesses. I was playing dress up, which put me in a good mood. Old friends and friendly strangers continually materialized from the crowd, which made me glad that I had come alone. There was live music, lots of little kids and lots of good energy.
Among many competetions (including a shrimp-peeling speed contest) there was a skate rollerski sprint relay. I did it with Esther Kennedy, a rising senior at Service High School who some of you might remember visited Williams last fall, and we got third.
Then Aubrey finally showed up after being held hostage at Hatcher Pass by Patrick Stinson, and the party really began. We were the first to start dancing to visiting band Sun Volt, but as the rain started and the kids went home, we were joined by hundreds of others. Here's some pictures:

Aubrey and I starting the party

My sister Roz, Me and Aubrey.

The next morning, I went on a hike with my dogs in the Chugach Mountains. I was literally breathing clouds the whole time, and it was hard to see more than 100 meters in any direction. It was sometimes very spooky, as the snow blended in with the sky, and you couldn't tell where the cliff edge was. However, as it wasn't rainy or windy, there were a lot of people out that morning, all of them friendly (if a little wierd). I even ran into some folks I knew. The whole experience was quite eiree, but oddly comforting.


My dad and I headed out out to the Kenai Peninsula later that day to stay with a friend and fish for King Salmon on the Kasilof River. Sunday morning, we got up at 3:30 am and were out on the river by 4:10 ( a little late by our host, Bill Cambell's, standard!). We sat, talked, and replaced our salmon-egg bait as smaller fish ate it. It was in the 30s and misty, and we got to watch the very early sunrise. There were dozens of other boats out, almost all guided with tourists in them, jockeying for position. There are no motors allowed on the river, so all of the boats were outfitted with oars and an anchor. I got the first bite, and was able to pull it in. As it was a hatchery fish and not a native fish (you can tell because a fin is missing) we were able to keep it- talk about guilt-free fishing! As the tide came in, the bumpy river surface became flat. We got more bites as the salmon came upstream with the tide. Our second catch of the day, however, - by our host, Bill Campbell- was not until just before noon, right as we were getting off the river. This second fish put up quite the fight!

The Kasilof River before Sunrise

Me holding a beautiful, tasty, creature
(an hour after this photo, our lunch)

This week, training was fun, though the forces that be seem to sabatoging my interval sessions. An example: on Tuesday, I was doing long bounding interval repeats up a stretch of narrow trail. There were three male moose on one side of the trail, and one in the trail. I tossed (not threw!) rocks and made noise and successfully moved him, but on my way down, they had all moved into the trail. I found myself crawling through the woods in my requisite polka-dot interval skirt that Maddy got me. Then I came up with an idea- I made some crazy noises to try and sound like a bear and shook all of the little trees I was stuck between. It worked! Another example: yesterday, I had ducked into some trees for a bathroom break, and, to avoid a tow truck, a guy in another truck drove slightly off the road, running over one of my classic poles. Luckily, I was in what could be called "the rollerskiing district" of Anchorage, so within 20 minutes I found Holly Brooks (my coach senior year of high school) and her APU juniors and she lent me her skate poles for my intervals.

Last night, Holly, Aubrey, and Aubrey's mom, Kay, came over for dinner at my Dad's. We had some of the king salmon, a rice/garlic/spinach/feta/parmesan recipe my dad found, a fruit and nut salad and a watermelon Holly brought for dessert. The food was good but the company could not be beat!

I head off to Seattle on Wednesday to visit family before heading East on the 22nd to my six-week job in Pennsylvania at Lafayette College teaching psychology to 12 to 16-year-olds with high test scores (nerd camp!). I will be staying at Caleb's a couple of days, so maybe I will get to see a couple of you in the Mount Washinghton Valley!

Williamstown Summer

Williamstown is bumpin'!  It's sunny and warm every day, which makes for great training and great swimming.  We've had some great days in the past few weeks... Liz, Katie, and I did an epic rollerski on Rte. 43 on a perfect summer evening, and we ran on the Taconic Crest once, which was wicked nice too.  I unfortunately ran into a rough patch this Sunday.  We were scaling a cliff in a riverbed on Mt. Greylock, and I cut my knee on the rock.  I thought it was just going to be a scratch, but I looked down and could see my kneecap, which was thrilling.  I still had to finish climbing up the cliff, then Katie demonstrated the strength of her first aid kit by whipping out not one, not two, but three bandaids.  They were the perfect size for a small paper cut on a pinky, and did a great job of stemming the flow of blood from my cut.  I eventually tied my bandana around my knee and we climbed down.  To her credit, Katie was very supportive and helpful.  

Long story (somewhat) short, I ended up with ten stitches and a doctor's order not to bend my leg for ten days.  No swimming, either, which is nice.  I am psyched to train as soon as I can, and am doing some great core and upper body work.  I've decided to challenge Maddy to a crunch test when we return.

After a few day's healing, the cut has become noticeably better and doesn't hurt any more, so I'm optimistic about my recovery.

I included a picture of when Keith and I also met up in the MWV for Memorial Day and hiked up Adams and Madison with my dad.  It was cold at the top!

Evan

Greetings from Williamstown!

Hey Everyone!

I'm in Williamstown working at the Admissions Office giving tours and info sessions and doing some stuff on the side for WOOLF until June 20th. I've met a few prospective skiers (alpine + nordic) that have come through the office and it's been fun to chat with them and get them excited about Williams. I've definitely had my share of ridiculous questions from intense parents ("What were your SAT scores?!") so it's been amusing to say the least. All the incoming freshman register for WOOLF by June 13th so on that front it's been pretty low key, but I'm excited to put all the kids on trips and give the leaders their WOOLFie rosters! Graduation was last Sunday and I got to see Natty, Scotty, Morgan, and the alpine skiers (and after 14 years Chip Knight too!) get their diplomas.

It's been lots of fun to catch up with Katie, Amy, and Evan for workouts and enjoy the last two weeks of beautiful weather! (I think today was the first subpar weather day since the rainy WOOLF training trips a few weeks ago.) This picture of Katie, Evan, and I was taken last week on the Shepard's Well trail after our run up the Birch Brook Trail and across the Taconic Crest Trail. As pretty much everyone knows, the view is awesome and makes Petersburg Pass looks super intense. A few of Evan and Katie's friends from high school joined us too. Amy, Katie, and I have done some rollerski workouts together too, primarily in Pownal on the loop that the team uses in the fall. Today, after perfecting what it means to go Level 1, we made an amazing discovery: the art gallery at the top of big hill before the elementary school sells unbelievable homemade ice cream so we, of course, made a quick stop on the way home!

The alums are rolling into town this weekend for the Alumni Reunion so things are picking up here and the Williamstown Theater Festival is starting soon, but I'm excited to get home on the 20th and then head to the coast of Maine for a few days afterwards with Keith and the parents.

Can't wait to hear from everyone else about their fun summer plans!

Cheers,
Liz

Norwegian Biathlon Championships: Mojo's last race

Here is the latest update from Mark Johnson, who stayed in Norway to compete in the Norwegian Biathlon Championships in Stryn:

Friday's race at the biathlon championships was a great way to end the biathlon season. The whole Norwegian crew was there; Ole Einer Bjøorndalen, Emil Svendsen, Lars Berger just to name a few. The weather was a bit tricky for a biathlon race with swirling gusty winds. The women's race again was simply amazing to watch, sooo many good competitors for such a small country.

The men's race had over a hundred entrants... crazy huh? For the 20km individual I only had CH on my skis, but this time for the 10km Sprint my friend Arild hooked me up with a Swix wax technition who is responsible for the entire national team... I honestly was a bit baffeled that this worked out ;-). Needless to say my skis were fanominal. Before the race I didn't know what to expect from myself physically, but I started out hard the first loop and just hoped to hold on. I was the fifteenth starter and had the fastest ski time in the first loop by 30sec! (Of course the 'big guns' took care of that later, but they started late in the order.) It was fun to have the attention of the crowed, which was very large today, for that first loop. They all cheered as I shot prone, but booed/gasped when I missed one of my five shots.

The second loop went well, but I could tell that my legs were still tired from the 20km two days earlier. I took it easy the last 100m into the range before my standing shoot. I shot slowely and deliberately, but still missed one target, so two penalties for the day... definitely respectible. I skied as hard as I could that last loop, but still felt a bit sluggish... thank goodness for fast skis! I crossed the finish line and I could only wait to see how I did as there were so many people left to finish.

While I waited, I got some sweet photos and watched some crazy skiing. After everything came to a close, I ended up 34th and about 3:49 back from the winner Emil Svendsen who missed one target. Ole Einer missed 4 targets today and placed 5th... I'm sure he is a bit grumpy. But it is fun to only be 2:40 behind him on the result list. (To be honest I think this is my best international Sprint race. At junior worlds I was over 5min back from the winner...)

see you soon!
-Mark

Day 13: Final Day in Paradise: Stairway to Heaven

Out for a final ski, we were a real "Tour de Force"

Need I say anything??

Up the last of three "peaks": Snorvillen

Katie, Atay: On top of the world!

David

Robbie does a flip off the ledge

Sam gives Maddy a little help off the cliff, then does the jump himself

Evan, along with Dave, Keith, and Kirstin decide to "ski it"

Katie, diggin' (in)the powder!

Snorvillen, and our tracks down it!

Keith: he always knows where to find the party (especially if they are serving cake)

Crosby takes a well-earned sandwich break on a pine-bough cushioned snow couch in the sun

Team Photo

Day 12: the 100km Tour

7:50am: a gorgeous morning to start our epic trek

Tracks: who needs 'em?? The start of our journey begins with (unexpected) ungroomed trails.

.
We broke trail all the way to the Birkebeinerloypet, only to find that the most famous trail in all of Norway had not yet been groomed . . . . so we turned west, in search of groomed tracks and a new "epic tour" route . . .

We find groomed tracks that lead us to the very top of our map, Hornsjo . . . .

And boy, are these tracks GORGEOUS!!! There is also very little wind, and the sun is bright, the snow sparkling diamonds.

At the top of the tour, on our way to Pallastova: Sam, Robby, Atay

Sam Kapala, Robby Cuthbert, Alex Taylor, and I had been planning a real adventure, the furthest any of us had ever skiied in our lives: 106km. We planned to start at 7:30am and ski all the way to Rena, the start of the Birkebeiner, 50km away. Then we planned to ski the whole Birkebeiner race trail, another 56 km, from Rena to Lillehammer, and catch a bus back to Natrudstilen. But after breaking trail in shin-deep powder for the first 20km we reached the Birkebeiner trail only to be disappointed in finding an ungroomed track!! So, instead, we planned a different epic tour on Robby's suggestion: to hit all the outer edges of our trail maps: From Natrudstilen, all the way east to Ljosheim and north-east to Kvarsted-Saetra, North to Hornsjo, north-west to Pallastova, and home. Only, when I left the three boys at a cafe in Nordsetter where they stopped for a Waffle break I made it home only to find later that they continued their journey west to Lillehammer, the Birkebeiner stadium, before ending their journey with a 20km uphill climb all the way home to South-central Natrudstilen: a HUGE 100km ski tour!!! Congratulations Sam, Robby, Atay!