Winter greetings from snowy Falls Creek, Australia—home of the Kangaroo Hoppet Worldloppet Ski Marathon. Less than a week into my first trip to the Southern Hemisphere, I am beginning to settle into life Down Under at Australia’s highest ski resort.

To say that things in Australia are “backwards” may be a little harsh; perhaps “upside-down” might be a better description. Why, for example, is the resort town atop the mountain where I am staying called Falls Creek, while the village in the valley below is called Mount Beauty? I knew that water drains counter-clockwise Down Under, but I had no idea that light switches get flipped down to turn on. Always. My favorite example though, is that Australia gets snow in the middle of our summer—and that’s the real reason why I am here.

Australian National Team Skier Ewan Watson

My adventure started a month ago with an invitation from Australian National Team coach, Finn Marsland, to join the Aussie Team for their National Championships and help improve the FIS points at the races. I get the impression that he was looking for skiers with better points than me, but fortunately for me, I was one of the few international athletes to take him up on the invitation! Other internationals here for the races include Olympic Gold Medal biathlete Anastasia Kuznetsova, Swiss National Team skier Valerio Leccardi, and the entire Korean Junior National Team.

En Route to Falls Creek

Travel to Australia was much easier than expected. During the 15 hour flight, I caught up on all the latest new releases, including a disappointing Avatar. Upon arrival, the bus ride from Mt Beauty up to Falls Creek was spectacular. The bus climbed on the left side of the road through an exotic forest of gum trees—second tallest trees in the world, only to the California Redwoods. Beyond the gum tree forest, the view extended to the Kiewa Valley, one of Australia’s famous wine regions.

The surroundings were so surreal, I almost expected to see blue people to come flying out of the clouds. Instead, we were the ones who drove into the clouds and into a big snowstorm. It’s been a week since I arrived and the snow is still falling. The only time the sun peaked through the clouds was during the Australian National Championship last Sunday, August 22.

Australian Nationals 15km Skate

The course for the 15km Skate National Championship was challenging—reminiscent of Soldier Hollow in Utah. The trails included plenty of climbing, open views with few trees, and more altitude than I was expecting. Fortunately, I used Toko Jetstream to prep some fast skis, helping to compensate for my lack of off-season fitness. Australian Olympian Ben Sim caught me from 30 seconds back and we worked together for much of the race before I made a few seconds back close to the finish. In the end, I came in second at the championships, giving Salomon skis a 1-2 podium.

Podium at the Birkebeiner Ski Club

Be careful what you wish for. I came to Australia looking for snow. It’s fallen everyday so far and the forecast is for more snow this week—40cm in the next two days! That should make great conditions for the Hoppet this Saturday, August 28. Stay tuned!

Getting ready for my first race Down Under -10km Classic tomorrow morning.  Fortunately, I found the best wax tech in Australia and I’m very confident that I’ll have some fast boards. . .

If I took a picture of Falls Creek right now, you wouldn’t be able to see anything.  Snowy, foggy, and windy, but there’s plenty of snow on the ground and I’m going skiing momentarily.  Internet is pretty shady, but I’m going to try to get some posts from the trip up as soon as possible.

I’ve only almost died about eight times running the wrong way into oncoming traffic.  Gotta get used to this left hand side business. . .

For real this time!

This may be the only website where a post about the benefits of barefoot running is followed by a post about the excitement of stock car racing. . .

Our July Camp wrapped up last weekend and Brian, Karl, Eric and I decided to take a 24 hour adventure up to the Chequamegon Peninsula on Lake Superior.  The trip included a run (and several detours getting lost) on the Ojibwe CAMBA trail in Cable, followed by pizza at the Ideal Market.

Ominous skies loomed overhead, but we disregarded our instincts and the weather forecast and decided to head north to Ashland for the Saturday night Stock Car races at ABC Raceway.  Stock car racing on the 1/8 mile Red Clay oval offers the 8-cylinder, muffler-less, 80 mph thrill that just can’t be matched by a 10km course.  Each of us picked our driver to win.  I didn’t have a choice, but to cheer for the number 1x  uzzy car whose first letter had been rubbed off by someone else’s bumper, but sure looked like the #1 Kuzzy car to me.

Racing was cut short by the late night thunder storm, but we still caught some Super Mod racing, which is always a highlight at a night of racing.

The next morning, we woke to cool weather and clearing skies.  Perfect for a little breakfast on Lake Superior, largest freshwater lake in the World.

Our roller ski up County Road C included dirt, a 45 minute climb (yes, even in Wisconsin!), and fresh blueberries on the side of the road.  What a treat.  The best part was cooling off in the big lake afterwards.

On the way home, we refueled at the Delta Diner in Delta, Wisconsin.

Eric’s got a great recap of our experience at the Diner here.  Needless to say, everything on the menu looked great after a 3 hour roller ski.  I made the resolution to try everything on the menu at some point, so I will definitely be back soon.

I’ve been wanting to do a post about running barefoot for a long time, ever since reading “Born to Run” last fall, in fact. Yesterday, NPR played an interesting segment on All Things Considered that addresses barefoot running and even includes a video on their website showing various running techniques.  The book “Born to Run” is a pretty interesting story about the Tarahumara tribe in Mexico and their connections to endurance running.  Much of the book reads more like a combination of this National Geographic article about the Tarahumara and UVM Professor Bernd Heinrich’s book “Why We Run” (did you know that hummingbirds have the highest VOmax of all animals, somewhere above 40o?).  At any rate, if you’re interested in barefoot running, these are some solid resources to start with.

Personally, I’ve been barefoot running since my high school running coach Ed Bauman had our team doing barefoot speeds everyday after practice.  I think it’s a good tool to help improve running technique, not to mention it feels pretty good to run barefoot over a field a thick grass or along a sandy beach.

If you’re not into running barefoot, but want a shoe that simulates barefoot running, I’m a big fan of the Salomon Speedcross.  They’ve got way better traction than my barefeet, but feel just as light and maneuverable.

At any rate, next time you’re out for a run, try kicking off your shoes and ripping around barefoot for a change.

Ahh yes, the annual Regional Elite Group Camp.  The first two days of this camp can be brutal, kicking things off with a 3000m running time-trial on the track, followed early the next morning by strength testing.  A new component was added to this year’s tests: the ski erg.

I’m pretty sure my sister Martha spends more time on an Erg in one day than I have in my life, but still, this ski erg is brutal.  It’s just like a rowing erg, except vertical and you’ve got to double-pole as fast as possible, without the satisfaction of actually going anywhere.  Ouch.

Santi and Eric go head-to-head on the ski erg

Other components of the CXC Strength Testing protocol are pull-ups, sit-ups, push-ups, dips, and box jumps.  Check out CXC Skiing on Facebook to see some of the top CXC strength testing results.  While you’re at it, become friends with CXC Skiing to get regular updates on the latest team news.

Karl Nygren, light on his feet, busting out over 90 box jumps in 90 seconds.

Here’s the full 2010 Men’s CXC Summer Training Team: Gregg, Eric, Santi, Karl, Dougie D, and Kuz.

Ski racing might be fine and dandy in the winter, but when there’s no snow to be found on this hemisphere, it can only mean that bike season is upon us.  The Tour de France started last weekend, along with the Tour of Austria, as the King himself reminds us.  Here in Wisconsin, it was the Subaru Cup–the first National Series mountain bike race to hit the Midwest in over 10 years.

National Series races mean there will be a Cross Country and Short Track, and Short Track means that I will be doing my best to get out and race.  For this edition, of course, all the top Pros from around the country show up.  It was cool to catch up with some friends on the Pro tour that I haven’t seen in a while.

After fellow Middlebury rider Spencer Paxson made the trip to cheer on Simi & me in Vancouver, I got to return the favor and cheer on Spence at the Subaru Cup.  He works 60 hour weeks at a desk job in Seattle and still manages to pull off top results at Pro mountain bike races.  Nice work!

Jack Hinkens is a recent Hopkins High School grad and Pro mountain biker.  Jack finished 20th in both the Cross Country and Short Track at the Subaru Cup as a first year U23 rider.  Jack’s so fast he was just invited to race a couple of Mountain Bike World Cup’s later this summer with the big dogs in Europe.

Of course, I forgot to put the memory card in my camera (rookie mistake, I know) before the weekend.  The action shots are courtesy of Paul Belknap.

Tad Elliott is on the CXC Team and throws down on dirt and snow.  Tad is legit and awesome to have around to hang out with training and at races.

I even got to get out and do some racing, albeit in the Expert Category (not Pro, like the really fast dudes above).  I picked up one of the new CXC Team Vertical Limit cycling jerseys to rock this weekend.  You too can dress like the pros – check out the CXC Store for some cool swag.

Maplelag’s Lars Ellefson and Jake Richards were hammering all weekend and getting ready for National Championships in a couple weeks.  A big thanks to Jay Richards for providing race support and getting me some cold bottle hand-ups to stay hydrated on a hot weekend.  Carla Hinkens, Jack’s mom, is awesome.  Thanks for the lodging and being team photographer for the weekend!

Nothing like standing atop the Podium after a successful weekend of racing.  Man, I love this sport!