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Is it possible to go for over a week without internet?  Yes.  And it’s good to know the world keeps on spinning without it.

garrottkuzzy.com is back, signing in from Anchorage, Alaska.  For now, though, let’s take a look back at several highlights from the past week.

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, Kuz, Ahvo Taipale - Finn Sisu

I’m not really into politics, but one politician I respect is Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak.  He’s a huge silent sports advocate and since becoming Mayor, he’s basically turned my favorite city park (a.k.a. my backyard), Wirth, into the best cross country skiing in Minneapolis (with the hard work of a lot of other individuals as well).  Wirth will be hosting the 2011 Junior National Championships for cross country skiing.  While I was picking up my newly ground skis from Finn Sisu, I had the opportunity to meet Rybak who was also picking up skis.  Rybak announced recently his intent to run for Governor of Minnesota, so that’s a name you’ll surely see more of in the future.

Speaking of Wirth Park. . .we had a great group for the Hopkins Holiday Ski Clinic.  My high school ski coach (and high school photography teacher), Rob Fuhr, was on hand to take photos.  Great to see such a big Hopkins team (over 100 skiers this year!).  The team definitely caught the contagious enthusiasm of their new assistant coach, Missy Hoffman Ayers.  Here are a few shots from the morning. . .

Coach Fuhr

gotta play a little ultimate!

how far can you make it on one ski?

Of course, spending time with my whole family was a treat.  Speaking of treats, one of my favorite Christmas gifts was a couple boxes of Sun Valley Bars from my sister Laura.  Laura’s coach at UNH, Sarah Walker, started the energy bar company a couple of years ago.  They were a great snack on the six hour flight up to Anchorage.

However, I did get some grief from my teammates about eating a bar with the name of our rival club, Sun Valley.  It reminded me of the time, shortly after signing the embargo against Cuba, that John Kennedy was caught smoking a Cuban cigar.  When questioned about this, Kennedy responded, “I’m not supporting their economy, I’m burning their crops.”

With that, I’ll sign off.  Now that you’re up to speed on the break, my next post will get into life in Anchorage, where I can see Russia from my hotel. . .

Just finished the last weekend of racing on the fall tour.  The week in Canmore has been solid and relatively uneventful.  The organizers built a new classic sprint course to deter double-poling on skate skis.  They added two solid climbs which improved it significantly.  Speaking of improved, the Canadians skied strong this weekend on their home course.  We skied two classic sprints on the same course, mostly as prep for the February World Cup here as well.  The double-weekend felt a bit like Groundhog Day, with Sunday being virtually identical to Saturday.  In fact, in addition to wake-up and departure times, my race times were almost identical.  I finished the qualifier in 7th place, 7 seconds out of first both days.

We planned long ago for me to ski one qualifier here and one full day with heats.  I sat out yesterdays heats, but jumped in them today.  Sprint days are always long and can be very challenging.  Today, I was on skis from 9am – 3:00pm with a one hour break after the qualifier in the morning.  However, that’s nothing compared to the coaches who were up at 4:45 this morning to get out on the trail and test wax.  Thanks to Abi and Pete for their hard work and fast skis this weekend.  A Chinook (not to be confused with a Canuck) blew through Canmore Friday and we enjoyed moderate temperatures in the 30’s all weekend.

My camera’s had too many days outside in the cold weather and, unfortunately, stopped working this week.  Canmore’s probably the worst place to have your camera stop working because it’s such a beautiful place.  I’ll sign off with a couple shots from the Canmore World Cup in 2008:

Canmore 2008

Gregg and Kuzzy - Canmore '08

Signing off for the next week or so.  No internet at home (seriously).  Check back in after December 28 for updates from the National Championships in Anchorage, Alaska.  Thanks for following along this fall!  See ya, Kuz.

Holiday Ski Clinic with Garrott Kuzzy

Wednesday, December 23,  9:00am -10:30am

Wirth Park Chalet

photo: zack simons

Join Garrott Kuzzy (USST/CXC) and the Hopkins High School ski team for a Holiday Ski Clinic at the Wirth Park Chalet in Minneapolis from 9:00 – 10:30am on Wednesday, December 23.  The skate clinic will be geared towards high school skiers, but everyone is welcome.  We will work on a variety of fun drills, play ski games, and spend time ripping around the snow.

Cost of the clinic is a $10 donation going directly to the Chris Ringsven Memorial Junior Grant Fund to benefit local junior skiers.  We will also be accepting used ski equipment donations for the Hopkins High School ski program.  Show up early so we can start skiing at 9:00.

Questions?  Contact Rob Fuhr:

rob_fuhr@hopkins.k12.mn.us

See you there!

Kuzzy working with Duluth East skiers in West Yellowstone 2009

Canmore is awesome.  The CXC Team left Silver Star on Monday and I moved in with the national team – a small group including Morgan Smyth, Lindsay Williams, and coach Abi Holt. Monday was a relaxing day off, doing almost nothing, after a full weekend of racing at Sovereign.  We spent Tuesday on the road, driving through Rogers Pass between Silver Star and Canmore.

Needless to say, that’s some pretty cool country, passing through several Provincial and National Parks.  It was a bit overcast, but conditions were safe and we made good time.  Abi’s iPod provided almost endless entertainment over the journey and her iPhone got us from Point A to Point B without hassle.

Columbia River outside Revelstoke

After a long day on the road, a good wood fired pizza from Rocky Mountain Flatbread in Canmore hit the spot.  Between the Dryer’s new brick oven pizza and the Rivers Eatery in Cable, I feel like I’m becoming a connoisseur of wood fired pizza.

Morgan Smyth enjoying her pizza

Of the three pizza’s we ordered, my favourite (we are in Canada, eh?) included chicken, cherry tomatoes, and apple.  I’ve never had apple on a pizza and was admittedly skeptical, but it tasted great.  Apple slices would be an excellent addition to my personal favorite: the Eau Claire, with barbecue sauce, chicken, and dried cranberries.  I’ll have to order that next time I’m in Cable.

Of course, the skiing in Canmore this morning was awesome.  Great to be back.

skifaster.net

Bring in the chains.  Canadian sprinter Phil Widmer got me at the line to take the NorAm Skate Sprint at Sovereign Lake yesterday.  Sprint racing is just plain fun and there was some exciting, close racing yesterday.  Congrats to Phil on a great race.  Kicking back in Silver Star today and getting ready to move on to Canmore tomorrow.

Close finish. Photo: Julie Melanson - Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre

Great day for the men – and women – in black.  Four CXC in the Top-6 on the mens side, two in the Top-5 for the women.  Kelly took the top spot in the womens open race at ABR, along with our juniors posting some solid results.  Podium shots: Bryan Fish images (man, that guy knows how to work!).

Taz, Compton, Dasha, Holly, and Rebecca

Cook, Gregg, James, Kuz, Chuck

In the words of Dennis Hopper, “Like a freight train.  Choo-choo, baby, choo-choo.”

We’ll be racing a Skate Sprint during the Packer game tomorrow.

I’ve heard the term “ski-in, ski-out,” but never actually knew what it meant.  I just assumed it referred to the hill side condos at alpine ski areas.  It  turns out, that all of Silver Star Resort is ski-in, ski-out.  To make this possible, there is an extensive network of ski trails that connect all the condos to the village and alpine hill.

skisilverstar.com

We’ve done most of our training at the Sovereign Lakes Trails, a 10 minute drive around the mountain, as that’s where we’ll be racing this weekend.  Skiing right out the back door has been pretty cool too, though.  It’s actually faster to walk the trails than it is to take the roads to get to many places in town.  Why is the mountain called Silver Star?  It’s named after the Silver Star Mining Company that owned the mountain back in 1894.  You can learn all about the history of Silver Star on their website.

On the race side of things, the temperatures are finally warming up and the sun was even out this morning.  We should have some excellent conditions for the races.  We spent this morning testing skis while Bryan, Igor, and Brandon – our stellar wax crew – tested wax.  Thanks to Toko for their shout out on this week’s Toko eBlast.  You can sign up for the weekly eBlasts here.  They’ve got some excellent resources for wax tips and race stories.

Maria Stuber shows off her ski quiver.

The whole crew is relaxed and ready to get after it tomorrow.  You can check out start lists, results, etc for this weekend’s races here.

Skiing, like life, is all about keeping it simple and making the right decisions.  What do I eat for breakfast?  What do I do for my warm-up?  What skis do I race on?  These decisions are easy.  Sometimes they get harder.

On Monday, I earned the opportunity to compete in the January World Cup races in Russia and Estonia, as the men’s SuperTour leader.  The  International Ski Federation (FIS) treats the Continental Cup leader from each “continent” (SuperTour, NorAm, Europa Cup, Scando Cup, etc) as a “Red Group” athlete (Top-30 World Ranking list), paying the fees, travel, and living expenses for the races.  What does this mean?  It means I’ve got the opportunity to compete in the Russian and Estonian World Cups on FIS’s dime.  Two years ago, I raced World Cups in the Czech Republic, Sweden, Finland, and Norway, as part of the same program.  It’s definitely the best deal out there.

Traveling to Russia is something I’ve dreamed of since I took Russian my freshman year in college (although I only pretend to know the language).  Getting travel visas, etc, make getting to Russia relatively challenging, but as a World Cup athlete, all of those details are taken care of.  Racing there would be awesome, especially since there is a Skate Sprint, one of my favorite events, in Rybinsk.

Despite this awesome opportunity, I’m going to stay state-side this January as part of an altitude training block that I’ve been planning with my coaches since last spring.  I’ve always heard you’ve got to make sacrifices to be a professional skier.  This is the first sacrifice I feel like I’ve really ever had to make for skiing.  I’m confident it’s the right decision.

Dialing classic technique, Russian Style (lots of repetition), at a clinic in Lake Placid last October.

We’re back in Silver Star.  It’s so cold here that the battery on my camera hasn’t allowed me to take any photos outside.  The men’s and women’s teams are staying at different condos here at the Star.  This cold weather has really increased our appetites.

CXC Mens team: Brian, Matt, Bryan, and Karl

Silver Star is set up for training.  Cook and I got into the weight room in the afternoon–a welcome opportunity to train in shorts and t-shirt after being totally bundled out on the trail.

Cook: stacking it.

Nothing extraordinary, just getting it done.

I took Sunday off of racing, part of the plan that my coach Bryan Fish and I made earlier this fall.  Instead, I spent the morning exploring the vast network of trails at Bohart Ranch.  My favorite loop was the Loggers Trail, which goes high into the Gallatin National Forest, and supposedly offers some spectacular views of the valley, but the overcast skies made visibility more limited.  The dusting of new snow on the ground provided a great opportunity to see a variety of fresh tracks.

Loggers Trail - Bohard Ranch

After a couple of weeks skiing in West Yellowstone with hundreds of other skiers and the City Sprints in Bozeman, skiing on the empty Loggers Trail was exactly what I needed to relax and let my mind wander.  I’m reading the book “Why We Run” by UVM biology professor Bernd Heinrich.  So far, the book is more about nature and biology than it is about running, but his insights have opened my eyes to the environment on the trail around me.

At one point during my ski, at least an hour from the lodge without a soul in sight, I stopped next to some particularly big tracks crossing the trail.  My first thought was that the tracks were from a bear, but realizing it was the middle of winter, I reconsidered.  Taking a drink of water, I got an eerie feeling that I wasn’t the only one out in the woods.  I began to sweat a bit, even though I’d stopped and was cooling down.  Looking into the trees, I soon realized that, sure enough; I wasn’t alone.  There was a moose staring right at me.

Continuing along the trail, I almost ran into a fawn standing right in the middle of the classic tracks on a downhill eating buds off a small pine.  Glad that wasn’t the moose!

Finally, toward the end of the ski, I spotted a grouse, also eating buds off a tree.  I’ve got no idea why I never see grouse just sitting around when I’m actually hunting them.  At any rate, it was pretty cool to see it just hopping around and eating.

Grouse sitting on a tree branch in the middle of the photo

The 3+ hour ski turned out to be a great little adventure on the (posted) Bohart Ranch trails. . .