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The ski trails in West are Packed.  I’m curious how many skiers are in West Yellowstone for the Ski Festival.  Not sure how many there actually are, but I’m pretty sure they were all at the trail head at 9:00 this morning.

Tomorrow, the CXC Team Vertical Limit and Salomon will be hosting a ski clinic for anyone interested.  Meet at the Biathlon Range at 1:30pm to get out for a ski with your favorite CXC skier!

Dave Chamberlain and the crowd at the trail head

One of the highlights of West is Bullwinkle’s Bar, which happens to be a Packer bar.  They’ve got a variety of memorabilia on the walls and it’s the spot to watch Packer games in town.  Of course, we had a solid contingent of CXC skiers at the bar cheering on America’s Team.

Every winter a few of the Packers players travel to Yellowstone to snowmobile into the park.  After the Pack won the 1997 Super Bowl, they came to West and, when they discovered Bullwinkle’s was a Packer bar, they gave the owner their Super Bowl rings, so they wouldn’t get lost while they were snowmobiling in the park.  Ever since, the players have brought memorabilia for the bar whenever they come to West.  Bullwinkle’s has built a pretty extensive collection.

Autographed Game Day's from the 2007 season

West Yellowstone is Packer Country

Photos from Maria Stuber and Bryan Cook’s website: xcskialliance.com.  Happy Birthday, Maria!

I can’t remember ever traveling with a team this big.  Our junior team rolled into West Yellowstone last night and the masters team members have been trickling in over the past two days.  In total, we’ve got 12 CXC Team Vertical Limit athletes, 15 CXC Junior Team athletes, 20 CXC masters team athletes, and 7 CXC coaches.  By the end of the week, this number will total 60 people staying with CXC at the West Yellowstone Ski Festival.

The two most important people in the whole group are Pete and his daughter from Sublime Subs in Hayward.  They arrived with the Junior Team at 6:30 last night after the 18 hour drive from Hayward.  By 7:30, they’d fixed us an awesome meal of honey-cured ham, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, fresh salad, and bars for dessert.  It can’t be easy cooking for 60 people in a hotel kitchenette, but man they do a good job!

Nicole and Olivia serving up

Gus showing off his skillz while the rest of the team feasts

We had another great day of skiing.  It snowed intermittently all day and the dustings are starting to add up.  One of my goals this week is to narrow my fleet of skis.  Ideally, I’d travel with six pairs of skis: three skate and three classic–one cold, one universal, and one warm ski for each discipline.  Pat Casey, my National Team coach, and I spent the morning testing classic skis.  Pat is my same height and weight and he’s a lot better and feeling skis than I am.  By the time we race on Wednesday, I will have picked out my favorite pair in the bunch.

I caught up to several Masters Team skiers (it wasn’t too hard) and the end of my workout.  Yuriy took this picture of Don Becker, Irina, and I.  Don owns Becker Law in Madison and is a big supporter of CXC, especially the Adaptive Program, as well as a variety of other organizations.  Irina is the mastermind behind all of the CXC video and graphic design, including the banner on this site.  Thanks to both of them for their support!

Don, Irina, and Garrott

Today is the only day that it is illegal to shoot a firearm in the state of Wisconsin.  That can only mean one thing: tomorrow is the first day of deer season.  Students in the Hayward School District will have the entire week of Thanksgiving off of school, just to deer hunt.

Enjoy a little deer season humor with Gary Larson and Da Yoopers. . .

The Far Side - Gary Larson

I’ve been on my own or with other teammates for the past few weeks.  As of this morning, the whole CXC crew was back together and ripping around the Rendezvous Trails.  It was a surprisingly typical day in West, getting woken up at 4:30am by the elk hunters next door (they came home this afternoon with a small cow), then waking up again at 7am for isometric strength.  The trail was in good shape, although a little soft around the edges for pole plants.  Tested some new skis and I’m into the new boards.  Fish was out on the trail with his video camera and lactate analyzer, keeping us honest in our training.

Brian Gregg

There are surprisingly few skiers out on the trails.  I saw a couple biathletes and some tourists, but for the most part, it was a typical CXC domination of the trails.

Caitlin Compton and Audrey Weber

Kristina Owen showing off her new Vertical Limit jacket and Rudy Exowinds

Don’t forget to check the West Yellowstone Ride Board.  There is a ride coming up from Salt Lake on Saturday morning and Alye Bohn is looking for a ride from Bozeman on Sunday.

Silver Star is a 14 hour drive from West Yellowstone.  By Tuesday morning, it was time to leave my home away from home for the first half of November.  We got out for a short ski in the morning then packed up the  car for a road trip.    The weather could not have been better and we made great time on our journey.

We spent the night at my Grandparents half-way through the drive.  It was great to catch up with everyone in Idaho.  After a big breakfast on Wednesday, more than enough to get me through the day, we continued on to Bozeman.  Leif and Kristina stayed in Bozeman and I hopped in the van with Fish for the remained of the drive to West Yellowstone.  As Donovan says, it’s one of the best drives in the country.  On the route, we came across some big horn sheep getting their daily dose of road salt.

Big Horn Sheep in Big Sky Country

We pulled into West Yellowstone in time for a big pasta feed with the Team.  Great to be back in West!

Not sure if this is legit.  If there already is one or this is illegal, let me know. . .

There are hundreds of skiers heading to West Yellowstone in the next week, but no way to coordinate rides.  If you’re looking for a ride or have an extra seat to or from West, feel free to use the comments section on this post to organize.  Save some money, save the environment, make some new friends.

Bozeman Airport to West Yellowstone

Great weekend in Silver Star.

Kuzz and Zimm post workout

Photo: Roberto Carcelean

This trail is called Paradise. I wonder why?

Finished up the week watching an awesome Packer game this afternoon, followed by an evening ski.

If you’re looking for more reading, you can check out this interview I did for fasterskier.com last week.

Leif Nordgren is a biathlete on the US National team from Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota.  He flew in yesterday and will be staying with us in Silver Star for the rest of the week.  I caught up with him while watching the French Masters Tennis Tournament on TV this afternoon.

1. Leif is a pretty unique name.  Have you ever had a teammate named Leif?  We have three skiers named Bryan on the CXC Team.  We call them by their last names: Gregg, Cook, and Fish.  Nordgren and Zimmermann are a little too long for that to work here.  What should we call you so we don’t confuse Leif and Leif?

Leif Nordgren:  No, I’ve never had a teammate named Leif.  In fact, Zimmermann is the only other Leif I’ve met face-to-face.  That’s a tough one.  Deno Johnson calls me “Leafy Greens” or “Leifers.”  I don’t have many nicknames, because it’s such an uncommon name.

Leif Nordgren

2. You’re a biathlete.  So, are you a faster runner or biker?  I always thought winter was your off-season.  Why did you come all the way out to Silver Star?

LN: I’m a faster biker.  I’m a pretty bad runner.  Believe it or not, biathlon is actually cross country skiing and rifle marksmanship.  I came out here to get some extra on-snow training before my first races next week in Canmore.

3. For me, traveling with a ski bag and duffel is a pain.  What is the most challenging thing about traveling internationally with a gun?

LN: I’m limited to two bags when I travel on the airlines.  Usually my ski bag and my rifle case are my two checked bags.  That means that I have to travel with all my clothes in my ski bag, which can get pretty heavy.  Traveling within the US and Canada is not too difficult with a rifle, just an extra form to fill out at customs.  Traveling within Europe can be more difficult.  Driving from Czech into Germany two years ago we got pulled over crossing the border and they found 10,000 rounds of .22 ammo on our way to World Juniors.  Our coach was in a different vehicle, so we had to wait for him to come back and clear things up.  We almost lost our rifles, but managed to make it though okay in the end, about 3 hours later.

"There's only one pair of skis in my bag. I swear."

4.  You finished 3rd in the Korteloppet and your teammate Wynn Roberts was 7^th in the Birkie last winter.  Is there a reason why biathletes don’t compete in more Cross Country events?  Is it because you don’t want to make us look bad?

LN:  No, that’s not it at all.  I’d love to do more cross country events, classic races too.  Our main focus is on biathlon, so that’s what we need to race.  When we get an open weekend its always fun to jump in a cross country race.  I’m just trying to ski my fastest, but beating the cross country specialists doesn’t hurt either.

5.  No offense, but you’re pretty skinny, even for a junior biathlete.  How do you stack up against the Jacked Up Old Man?  Will you ever start your own website, skinnyfastyoungkid.com?

The Jacked Up Old Man just doesn’t compare to me.  I was fortunate enough to do some roller ski races against him in Soldier Hollow just last month.  I was a little disappointed by his fitness level.  I love Duncan, he’s a great guy.  Hopefully he was just having an off week.  It’s always fun to get out and train with him.  I don’t have my own website yet, but now I’ve got a good name for one!

Leif kicking back in Silver Star

GK: Cool, thanks Leafy Greens!

LN: Yep, no problem.

and they want their corduroy back. . .

They’re going to send it to West Yellowstone.

I was caught on camera this morning by Sovereign Lake photographer Jim Miles in the middle of my morning classic ski.  Beautiful day, perfect tracks.  Thanks for the photos, Jim!