Nick Kline and I made the trip Minneapolis last Wednesday.  Our travel story for the trip was having to pull a u-turn in mid-flight to return to JFK because of a landing gear issue.  It was a bumpy set-down.  Apparently the steering mechanisms were also shot because to turn the plane the pilot had to slam on the brakes and ‘skip’ (his own words) the plane in the right direction.  It was a bumpy ride to the terminal.

I was happy to be in Mt. Itasca, mostly because my in-laws live there and I like the skiing there.  The cold weather issues continued with a few delays on the first day of racing, but by early afternoon it was just above legal.  I had a great race that day, edging Bryan Cook by one second at the line for the win.  My skis were perfect and I felt great too.  The next day was about the same temperature and even with a fully taped and dermatoned face I managed to get frost bit on my nose for the fifth time this year.  It is a bummer because my nose is still peeling from the last go around with the cold.  If anyone out there has a good remedy for a cold sensitive nose, please get in touch with me.  I am fresh out of ideas at the moment.  

We left Itasca for Telemark yesterday just in time to preview the course for the sprint today.  I am going to have to get some pictures up of the second uphill on this course, it is a monster. 

The wax I used on Saturday.  I didn’t miss one kick and my skis were plenty fast.  This little tin is worth every penny. 

It is a deep freeze up here in Anchorage and the forecast is for some serious cold over the next few days.  After getting in some good training up in Maine over Christmas I made the long trip to Anchorage on Tuesday.  After missing a flight in Newark, the trip ended up being a little longer than usual.  But I made it to Alaska in good enough shape, with bags and skis, ready to ski on Wednesday morning.  Aside from the cold, the skiing is good.  Plenty of snow and some nice courses.  Also some wildlife.  This morning I had a moose come charging toward me with pinned back ears.  Living in Maine I am used to moose, but this one was huge and scared the pants off of me.  Luckily all he wanted were a few branches from a nearby tree so as soon as he was thoroughly distracted I was able to sneak by.  Things in Alaska are a little bigger than everywhere else, a few kilometers up the trail from the moose I saw a fox that was about as big as a german shepard.  Crazy.  

Anyway, the racing should be pretty good this week.  Everything starts on Saturday with the classic sprint.  Pictures below of the stadium.