Home for the Holidays!!!!!

Home for the Holidays!!!!!

The team before we all go our own ways (davos sertig valley)

As much as i was disappointed about not being able to start the Tour De Ski due to not being healthy, i am really happy to come home and recharge the batteries and Enjoy some much needed family time. It was a good travel home other then not getting my luggage till 3 days later. We all know the airports in Canada where pretty overloaded with either snow, people or both. I was just happy to touch down in Calgary and make my way On highway 1 west to Canmore.

After taking 5 days off of training because of being sick made it impossible to ski well in the Davos which was a real downer, but as soon as the weekend is over the next weekend of racing was insight and that gives you something to smile about. I took an extra day off on Monday just to make sure the body had enough time, and energy to get rid of my head cold. Then the training started slowly, i only had time to do one hard session which was very difficult and i sure did not feel snappy like it did in Grenoble France skate sprint. So i was a Little nervous traveling to Dusseldorf on Friday. On the world cup if your not 100% healthy your going to get your but kicked. I had a good start number ( 8 ) I was still ranked in the top 30 for sprinting. I skied pretty good considering where i had come from being sick and missing a good chunk of training but it was not enough. So I packed my bags and hoped on the plan off to Canmore with a smile.

I took the Christmas time pretty chill with training and just enjoyed the festivities. and then saw off my wife at the airport she is going to go travel Costa Rica/ Belize / Nicaragua which is going to be allot of fun for here, but it was sad to see her go.

Now i am starting my ramp up of hours to get some volume for approximately 2 weeks and then taper it down for the Whistler world cups. The Canadians are going to rock house!!!!! We have some qualification races in Canmore on Jan 2-6th but i will just train through those and use them as good hard works outs, so that i am lighting fast in whistler.

see ya on the trails all bundled up!

Stefan

Davos Home away from Home.

Davos Home away from Home.


I love coming to Davos, the Kulm hotel does wonders for us, great food, beds, duvets, sauna, easy to get to the ski trails. Always great weather and lots of snow… Enough to make you want to go shred the alpine hill sometimes!!!! After arriving from Scandinavia we had a short stop here in Davos, then off to Grenoble for a city sprint.

Which is exciting it was a great prologue for me in skating. The heat’s where tight with everyone trying to position them selves for the final straight. I got in a tangle up with two other skier’s which ended not so well. I lost the group and finished 4th in heat and 17th overall. After that it was off to La Cluza which is a beautiful place and my first time there.

It was planned to raced the relay. In the end we had a team mate toss his cookies the night before so we had only 3 out of the 4 skier’s racing so we did not finish, but it was a good work out anyways.

We drove the next day back to Davos, ya ya ya. I got back into my normal routine for training. I was excited for the weekend to come along, classic 15km, and skate sprint perfect races for me to continue my great start on the world cup. I think with all the travel, my body had no stopping power against a head cold. I woke up on Wednesday morning, moved out of my room into a single room to insure not to get any of the other team mates sick. Since Wednesday I have been patient and sleeping and drinking lots of water. I made the call this morning before the race not to race. Very hard to not start a race with perfect tracks, and atmosphere. I hope to be in a better health for tomorrow the skate sprint, cross you fingers for me. It’s hard to chill and be patient but when the body says chill out you need to listen. So I hope to be back to normal health soon……

WOW what a weekend!!!!!!!


I am so happy to start the year off right with an amazing classic sprint on Sunday. I was very confident coming into the sprint race. The ski's where amazing and so was the body. In the qualifier I followed my plan perfectly leaving a little juice for the last steep hill into the finish. With a big lounge across the line I looked at the score board and was stoked to see 21 beside my bib, YES I qualified. Now onto the heats which were really exciting with a fast down hill right off the start you really had to position your self well. I had all cylinders firing and moving up slowly from 5th to 2nd on the last hill. Then around the corner to the finishing stretch to 4th, this is where I made a small error with trying to be too quick and slipping back once or twice. But in the end I was just a hair to slow to move to the next round. I was very excited to start the sprint world cup now ranked 15th.

Sunday was a new day, but instead of me concentrating on that new opportunity, I was still thinking about the last day; Whops. I learned a lesson there and will remember to move on even after a good day of racing or bad day. It’s important to start fresh every each morning. My sleep was not the greatest either I was pretty excited all night. I know I have a lot better result in me for the next 15km classic in davos. Trust me on that.
Hope the racing is going well.

Stefan

World Cups in Scandinavia

World Cups in Scandinavia

Training and racing in the darkness of northern Scandinavia really makes you appreciate the sunshine Canmore has to offer and how much a beautiful night time sunset can take your breath away.

My first World Cup race of the year took place in Gallivare, Sweden where the sun comes up at eight in the morning and sets at two in the afternoon. It was an exciting start to the season being in here in Europe. Although the race ranking was less than optimal, my first skate race of the season was a success with respect to the fact that this was a very aggressive race, numerous in competitors and my time off race pace was one of my closer gaps in a skate race. I really enjoyed kicking off the season over in Gallivare as the atmosphere was buzzing with excitement of racing and it was great to see my friends and competitors back on the World Cup circuit, with their race faces on.

Being on snow is really exciting and I know it’s where I belong. I am now getting ready for the Kuusamo, Finland World Cups, both races are classic, starting out with a sprint then finishing with a 15km. I am ready for this weekend as classic sprints are my strength; it’s great to have a classic sprint so close of the beginning of the season. The trails here are amazingly steep and extremely challenging, even harder then the Canmore trails; which I wasn’t sure even existed. I am ecstatic about these conditions as they favour the skier that can glide and shuffle up a steep pitch. The weather is currently -5 which is average for this time of year and there is always a little fresh snow which creates a challenge as it makes the track difficult to run up.

After a hard day of training Devon Kershaw and I are spoiled as we are enjoying the amenities which include our own personal en-suite sauna room; this is one luxury we are not taking for granted.

This weekend is the Nordic Opener which means that ski jumpers, Nordic combined, and cross country ski athletes are all here to compete in this little town of Kuusamo, Finland. It is interesting seeing the diverse athletes training for their respective sports, I watched a ski jumper testing glide and soaring 120 meters in the air. While training today, I did some hard intensity on the race trails to get a good feel for the track, it was an intense sensation being on the race course and I can hardly wait for the upcoming races. Hope all is well and I am sending snow to Canmore ;)


Stefan

WOW my own website

WOW my own website!!
My first web site and my first posting.
I am very excited about this winter and I have had a wicked summer of training under my belt. On Wednesday the 12th Nov. I will be heading to scando to meet up with one of my team mates in Sweden to get ready for the world cup season. The rest of the team heads to Silver Star to get on the white stuff since it seems it doesn’t want to fall here in Canmore quite yet. I have had some amazing training camps this year. They all had me come back to Canmore in better shape every time. Starting with Silver Star early may which was allot of fun and great skiing at that time of year.



With a new camp on the plan we where all excited about the nipika camp which truly was beautiful.


Then off to the glacier which is always a blast, training and living so high teaches you to really chill out in your skiing not to over due it.




After that I hoped on a plane to Germany to join my friend Jens Filbrich and the German men's team on a training camp in Switzerland that was an eye opener.




For my last camp off we went to Mammoth and Truckee which is always a delight.








And now I am ready to head over seas and put some kilometres down on the snow.
Till next time wish me luck




Shuff's