March, 2011

Crust cruising is one of my favorite kinds of skiing.  Crisp, early morning temperatures allow you to cruise on top of the crust.  Then the rising sun creates warmer temps and t-shirt skiing.  Yesterday, we celebrated what would be Wayne Fish‘s 62nd birthday with a quintessential spring ski into the Porcupine State Park in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  Bryan Fish organized the ski at Wayne’s request to keep the 15+ year tradition alive after Wayne passed away only a month ago.  There was a great turnout for the 60km crust cruise into the park on a combination of ski trail, snowmobile trail, beaver dams, and stairs to the top of the lookout over Lake Superior.  Everyone came prepared and the ski went off without a hitch, except for the fact that Bryan forgot his Dad’s remains, meant to be spread during the ski.  “Oh well,” Bryan said, “guess we’ll have to come back again next year!”

Bryan, Bill, and I left Hayward early in the morning while the full moon was still illuminating the sky.  We arrived in the Porkies a little early and had a chance to check out the ice flows on Lake Superior.

The crew came from all corners of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota.  Here, Bill, Bryan, Tom, Dan, Phil, Paul, Mark, and Jon get ready for the 60km adventure ahead of them to ski to the high point of Porcupine State Park.

Although some sections were a little bare, we the sun was shining and the trail was faster than anyone anticipated.

According to the map, the trail was all uphill on the way to the summit.  Somehow, it felt like it was all uphill on the way back, too, when the slow snow forced us to use a lot of V1.

photo: jon rulseh

The crust skiing over the beaver dams was awesome and we used each dip in the snow to milk as much speed as possible out of the terrain.

Bryan Fish, leading the charge.

At the summit, we enjoyed a spectacular view of Lake Superior and a moment of silence in memory of Wayne.

Things slowed down a bit on the way back and the trail played a real optical illusion.  Somehow, the trail ahead looked like it went uphill.  When you looked behind you, the trail looked like it went uphill as well!  Guess that’s what happens 60km into a 5 hour ski.

We ended the ski at Lake Superior and played out on the ice drifts.  What  a day.

Of course, after skiing all day, we had to refuel at Henry’s Inn in Rockland, Michigan for their Allll-You-Can-Eat Saturday evening buffet.  This was my second trip to Henry’s.  This time, I was a little smarter than the first and paced myself through the buffet to avoid what our waitress dubbed: “The Henry’s Hurt.”

Like any good buffet, Henry’s places a much greater emphasis on their dessert selection than their entrées.

I opted for a banana split, with a cherry on top, to cap off a memorable day of skiing.  Thanks to Bryan for organizing and to Wayne for starting the Porkies ski tradition and some great memories.

Wayne Fish - Fairbanks, Alaska 2009

Back home in Minneapolis after a stellar week in St Moritz.  Surprisingly, the 40 degree and sunny weather here doesn’t feel much different than in Switzerland.

Check out this Swiss video from the Engadin last Sunday, specifically from 1:15 to 1:35.  Check out that tall, lanky American sitting in the draft of eventual race winner, Remo Fischer, at about 20km into the race.

I’m off to Wisconsin for a fish fry tonight, then to the Porkies for the Wayne Fish memorial ski tomorrow morning.  Looks like a great weekend ahead!

The 2011 Engadin Ski Marathon is in the books.  I’ll post a full race recap once I return home, detailing my breakaway with eventual race winner Remo Fischer, as well as some other stories.  For now, I’ll share some photos and brief commentary of the race day festivities.

Skis were prepped and powdered the morning before the race.  Surprisingly, there was much less stress about waxing for this race than there seems to be for the Birkie.  By 7pm when I walked past the wax room, everyone was done waxing and in the restaurant enjoying dinner and the company of their companions.

Race day itself, I felt like everyone was being herded like cattle: onto the bus, to the bag drop, into the start pen, and off on course.  None-the-less, being around 11,000 other skiers from around the world is pretty cool.  I also ran into a number of friends, both American and Swiss, and even made a few out on course.

Post-race is all about refueling and re-hydrating.  Also, you don’t want to forget to get your Passport stamped.  Here, Worldloppet Master Scott Ackatz gets his Passport stamped for his second tour of the Worldloppet circuit.

These were two of the friendliest “customs agents” I’ve ever met.  Pretty standard here in Switzerland.

After the race, we avoided the crowds and walked to the Scaletta (the Engadin equivalent of the Moccasin) in S-chanf for some drinks and pizza.

Don’s old friend and owner of the Scaletta made sure we were taken care of on all fronts.

While it ain’t no Ideal Market we enjoyed some post-race brick-oven pizza.  Mamma mia, pizza pie-a!

From here, the crew is off on a variety of adventures.  Don’s off to Bormio and Aga’s off to Lugano; both are meeting up with friends for a few days before meeting with CXC Masters Oyvind Solvang and Dennis Kruse in Lillehammer for the Norwegian Birkebeiner.  Jim and I are off to Zurich tomorrow, then have to bid adiu to Switzerland and head home to Wisconsin.

It’s been an eventful and successful, albeit much too brief, week in St Moritz.  Thanks for following our adventures and, to anyone we’ve met this week, don’t hesitate to send an email and say hi: garrottkuzzy @ yahoo.com.  Onward!

We spent our pre-race rest day expanding our recreational horizons, testing wax, and setting the World Land Speed record on the sledding hill in St Moritz.  No time for words, so I leave you with a story in photos. . .

My secret to a fast sled!

Don’s four-wheel drift.

Kuz, Jim, Aga, and Don.  CXC Varsity Sled Team.  Interested?  Sign up here.

Every Worldloppet has some sort of sprint event with big crowds and big prize money.  Last night, the village of Sils Maria hosted the Engadin Night Sprints: knock-out rounds of racers on an icy, fast sprint course under the lights.  This year’s event featured the likes of Olympic Gold Medalists Bjorn Lind and Christian Zorzi, World Champion Martin Koukal, and Birkie Champion Fabio Santus.

St Moitz by night or by day, both are pretty darn cool!

The Hotel Sonne has been our home away from home this week.  A big thanks to Gus for finding a booking us the best hotel in town.  There’s no Rolls Royce to pick us up from the airport like some other hotels in town, but we can walk anywhere we want, including 200m to the ski trail.

One of the highlights of the night sprints was seeing so many familiar faces.  Here, Don catches up with former US SuperTour Champions Martina Strusova from Czech and Karin Caminsich from Switzerland.

The food and drinks at the Night Sprints can’t be beat.  Gluhwein from an ice bar is obligatory to wash down a classic Swiss rindkabob.  Here, Beat pours hot oil onto the kabob before lighting it on fire!

Oh yeah, there were some ski races too.  Torin Koos ended up getting taken out on a corner in the Semi’s, but put in a valiant effort none-the-less.

Here, the Midwest crew of Jim Michler, Adam Swank, Tyler Kjorstad, Kuz, Paul Belknap, Aga Bednarz, and Don Becker get together for a group shot to cap off an exciting evening of racing and food.

Engadin Marathon starts at 8:20 tomorrow morning!  Stay tuned for the full race report. . .

Another ideal day in St Moritz.  Course inspection is complete having skied each half of the race course the past two days.

The course is groomed impeccably, start to finish and we still haven’t seen a single cloud.  Unfortunately, the forecast is calling for 2 to 5 inches of fresh snow the night before the race which could make waxing a little tricky.  We’ve run into quite a few of the 84 total Americans competing in the Engadin this year.

four of the 84 americans in the engadin this year

So far, everyone has asked what the best wax will be.  Given the snow in the forecast and the temps hovering around 32 degrees F, I’ll be waxing with a Toko HF yellow/red 50/50 mix and Jetstream on top of that for a little extra speed.  For kick, I’d recommend a thin Toko green binder (not sure how long you’ll be on the course), followed by a 4 – 5 thin layers of Toko red kick wax.  If you think you’ll be on course for a while, toss a yellow and silver into your bag to re-wax as the temperature warms throughout the day.

The corduroy and tracks are perfect.  There’s room to ski at least 10 skiers wide across the lakes during the first 15km of the course!  My favorite part of the course, hands-down, is Mattress Hill.  It’s a long, glade style descent through the trees dropping from St Moritz to Pontresina at the 20km mark.  The trees are covered with mattresses, but there will surely be some epic collisions during the race!  Here’s a little preview. . .

When we’re not skiing, we’re enjoying some great food and company.  Last night, we joined a group of Don’s friends from Hecklingen, a small town in Germany’s Black Forest.  We ate at the Scaletta, a classic Swiss restaurant in the village of S-chanf, located right next door to one of the many homes of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.  The Scaletta’s owner, Mario, remembered Don from the last time he stayed there over 5 years ago and was a great host for our dinner.

the crew from wisconsin and hecklingen

While the whole group spoke great English, I occasionally played the role of translator.  I realized how tough translating can be when, at one point, I turned to ask Don and Jim a simple question.  They looked back at me blankly and couldn’t answer the question.  After a moment of waiting for their response, I realized I’d been speaking to them in German!  They haven’t let me forget that one anytime I try to tell a story or ask a question.

Aga Bednarz, the fourth (any by far the best looking) member of our crew, arrived last night.  Now we’ve got the whole team in St Moritz and ready for the Engadin on Sunday.  We’re taking a rest morning today, getting caught up on the internet and sights.  This afternoon, we’re off to Muottas Muragl for some sledding.  Don’s already trash-talking his ability to set the new land-speed record on the descent!

My transition to European time has never been easier than on this trip.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I haven’t trained in a week and there’s no racing pressure (my gut is still on the mend).  Don and Jim think it’s because of the relaxed company.  Whatever the case, it was an ideal first day of the trip spent exploring the Engadin valley.

Sonne means “Sun” in German and the view this morning from Hotel Sonne was just that.  Does it get any better to waking up to a view like this?

Yeah, actually, walking downstairs and finding a breakfast like this!

It wasn’t hard to eat a big breakfast for the day ahead.  Some bikers are known to measure their training in “chamois time;” that is, how much time they have spent in their bike shorts.  “Boot time” would be a little more appropriate for us today.  We skied a full 25km from St Moritz to the finish of the Engadin in S-chanf.  That’s not bad, but the fact that it took us over 6 hours?  Just logging some boot time.

“It’s all downhill from here!”  — Don show’s us the course profile for the Engadin.

Don Becker is a disability lawyer from Madison and a big enthusiast of cross country skiing.  He supports a variety of causes and events from the food bank in Madison, to the Badger Women’s Hockey Team to the Birkie and the CXC Team.  His current project is adaptive skiing, more specifically: getting sit-skis into the hands of as many people as possible.  To date, he has helped design, manufacture, and distribute over 250 sit-skis—making cross country skiing more accessible to everyone.  Don’s sit-skis are fully adjustable and can be found for rental free-of-charge at most Nordic ski areas in North America.  Today, Don met Martin, a sit-skier from here in Switzerland, out on the trail.  Expect to see a batch of sit-skis coming to Europe soon. . .

Of course, the tracks were fast and bomb-proof.  By the time we hit Zuos, we’d worked up quite the appetite and were ready for lunch.  The sun terrace at the restaurant in Zuos was exactly what we needed.  Scnitzel mit Pommefrites and a Rivella helped us recharge for the final 5km to the finish.  We were joined by Rose, a Worldloppet skier from England we’d met on the trail earlier.

In case anyone forgot, Don reminded us once again today, who is number one.  He made the final pass coming into the stadium and used some aggressive rugby tactics to fend off a hard charging Michler.

We were entertained by a couple of Swiss skaters while we waited for the train to take us back to our hotel in St Moritz.  Did I mention it was t-shirt weather?  Hopp Schweiz!

Gruesech Miteinan!  The jet lag is setting in quickly as I write this, but the St Moritz sun is keeping me awake as it shines through my window surrounded by blue skies and snowy mountains.

Today is Day One of the CXC Masters Team Engadin trip.  I am joined on the adventure by two of our Masters Team members, Don Becker and Jim Michler.  Perhaps, in fact, I am the one joining them.  I am slowly nursing myself back to health after a recent appendectomy and have been trying to keep up with Jim and Don ever since we got on the plane to Zurich yesterday afternoon.  So far, everything has gone according to plan, and in fact, exceeded expectations: skis and luggage are with us, the weather could not be better, and our hotel, Hotel Sonne, is sandwiched right between St Moritz and the Engadin ski trail.  Thanks Gus for finding us the sweetest digs in town!

Don, Jim, and gear

Enjoy the photos from Day 1 of our adventure and stay tuned for daily updates of our exploits.

This was the scene promised to us by the propaganda in the Zurich train station. . .

Fortunately, the trip to St Moritz didn’t disappoint!

We weren’t the only ones infatuated by the breathtaking scenery.  Even the locals could appreciate the beauty of their own country.

Usually, when we travel though Europe for ski racing, we travel by van along the Autobahn.  The Rhaetische Bahn from Chur to St Moritz was a welcome change of scenery.

Just in case anyone forgot who was Number 1 on this trip, Don reminded us when we checked into our rooms.  Room number: 1.  Our hostess Samantha made sure everything was dialed.  Ski room: check.  Wax room: check.  Boot drying room, wax benches, iron: check, check, check.  Hot tub and sauna. . .we’re still waiting on those.

Today’s been a great start to the adventure.  The sun has set and it’s time for dinner!  Stay tuned for more. . .