Olympics

The Olympics Have been my dream for a long time now!!!

On my way to wining the Qualifier

We had our races in December. You had to win one of the 4 races’s that where held in either Canmore or Silver Star. I won one of the classic sprints. I was extremely happy and relieved at the end of the day. Because for the last few months there has been a lot of planning and talking of the Olympics and not knowing if you where going or not made it extremely stressful at times.

Celebration as i cross the finish line!!

Now I can concentrate on the next few steps and then the big show starts in February. I hope to be racing one or two other events then the Classic sprint. But I will definitely be focusing on that one. I had a relaxing Christmas in Canmore and Calgary. And now it’s of to Quebec for some nor-ams and then I will head over seas for some high level racing. I will return at the end of January where the team will then head to a training camp and start getting ready for the Olympics.

Hope you had a great Christmas!!

West yellowstone USA

West Yellowstone USA

Our team headed down to west Yellowstone for our first official start to the season in north America. I was excited to finally start racing and the travel down was pretty easy a 10hr drive. Watching Nitros circus with my neighbor/wax tech/friend joel jaques made the time fly by. Arriving in west i was surprised how quiet it was and later i found out that West Yellowstone gets all there visitors in the summer averaging about 1.3million.

Taking a cruize on the streets of West

Skidoos where taken to the streets and obeying most of the rules to the road which was interesting to see. First up was the classic sprint qualifier no heats just the prologue. I was excited, unfortunately we skied the course the day before and most skiers where not to stoked on the flat terrain. I did my best as a small dude and not so much a double poler.

Classic sprint, sweet bibs eh

My next focus came in the classic 10km which also was run on a flat course. I was happy with the result even though my room mate/team mate beat me by 1.1 seconds. It makes it allot of fun when it is that tight. We headed home the day after, Hoping to see snow in canmore but that was not the case.

Classic 10km trying to stride what ever i could

We are now prepping for our first race in canmore a small Alberta cup starting with a classic sprint on Saturday and a 10km skate in Sunday. I don't know if Sunday will go because canmore will be entering it's first deep freeze of the year ( highs of -22). And to our surprise it has been snowing all day in canmore which is awesome and hopefully we will be skiing some more of canmore great trail system soon.

See ya on the trails

Lake Louise bound

Lake Louise for an on snow camp

The Boys at the top of Half Dome

We have had a nice two weeks to recover since mammoth lakes training, which for me was a great camp and I came out of that camp confident and plenty fatigued in a good way.

Enjoying the afternoon sun in Mammoth

In that time I took on a challenge of renovating a storage room to a bathroom. Which is almost done and I am quite proud of the work that I have done. I never thought of my self a much of a carpenter. The project at this point is usable and looks quite good.

Myself in front of Half Dome what a crazy cool climbing wall

Now it’s off to Lake Louise to get on snow and thankfully put the roller ski’s away I hope.

I was planning on heading to Europe this week to race some continental cups in Scandinavia and maybe some world cups but the powers to be where not having any of that which is sad but you can only argue for so long till you feel like it really won’t change anything. So I have to focus on what I have control. And I have decided to stay in North America and concentrate and a good 3-4 weeks of training so that when Dec 19-20-22 come which are the Olympic trials dates I will have great speed and great confidents in my ability to qualify for 2010. We plan on being around the bow valley for the most part of November. The team and I will head down to the states for a quick super tour opener in last weekend of November. This will be held in West Yellow Stone National Park.

Mammoth Lakes Training Camp Video

MAMMOTH LAKES CALIFORNIA

MAMMOTH LAKES CALIFORNIA

We are back in Mammoth for our annual high altitude camp. This is a quick video to show you what we have ben up to the last 5 dyas. Enjoy

10 Days in at that snow farm and 10 Days left.

10 Days in at the snow farm, and 10 Days left.

Crooks , George, and myself enjoying the sun in the afternoon.

We have been training at the snow farm and we have had some really fanatastic weather and great training day's. The team had one day down in wanaka when we hit the weight room and filled up on chocolate and some cold beverages, also a coffee in a local shop.

Me in the classic 15km it took me two laps to get into race mode, i ended up 5th ( 4th canadian) 1:15sec off the lead. photo-Devon Kershaw

This weekend we took part in the New Zealand winter games. First was a 15km classic followed by a skate sprint, then a 10km skate.

The skate sprint i won the prologue, the in the semi-final i tangled with brent and ended in the B-final wich i won. photo-David Greer

I will be skipping the 10km skate beacuase i will have done the first two races and have done about 23hours in the last week of training so that will be plenty.

Great View from the Snow Farm-photo David Greer

The next week will be some more volume and some intensity session's. The high lite will be a day of where some off us will be heading to the coast to hit the Dunedin city and try to get our surf on. Should be really exciting and some great stories and photos. I will post as soon as i get back.

New Zealand a winter wonderland

New Zealand a winter wonderland

Arriving at In Queenstown pretty excitied about the next three weeks of skiing!!!! looks pretty nice!!!

Some of the boys goofing around waiting for our vans to arrive. Goofing around

Driving up to the snow farm about 1 1/2 hours from Queenstown with these speed wagons.

My room mates and I just heading out for out work out, spirites are up!!

2 hour ski day nothing but blue sky's a head of us. Makes the work out go by so fast when the scenery is so stunning.

New Zealand mountains peaking through the carpet of clouds right below us.

We have had some cloudy and really warm weather the last couple of days of training witch didn't give us mouch to look at or see. This morning every body was excited to getting skiing with a blue bird day a head of us. This afternoon we head down to wanaka for some weights. This will be out first day off the mountain, we are all excitied to walk around town and see some different sites and enjoy a coffee or two.

Till next time

Three week block is coming to an end !!! Ya Baby

Three week block is coming to an end!!!! Ya Baby

It has been a long three weeks and we have had some awesome sunshine at the start on the haig glacier, then in 2nd week i dont think we trained once with out getting wet. This week we started off slow but the sun has come out and look`s like it will be out for a while, which is great news. Our rest week is around the corner so most of us will be soaking in some rays for sure. Here are some photos through the week of the crew doing what we do best.

Water break while crust skiing

Nap time By The NIsh and MCCC MMMUURRRR

The Three amigos bike session in the pm.

The crew on top of a mountain (chinaman`s)

Me looking down at the quarry from chinamans think this triathlon will be fun but pain full on Saturday.

All good, even the golf game

All good , even the golf game

So far i am still waiting for summer to arrive. We have been training in Canmore for about 4 weeks now and i still have not been able to get the usual heart rate monitor tan. The training has been going really well, we had testing last week and so far all signs show the shape is exactly where i need to be at this point. We did most of the testing on the treadmill which is not my favourite, but it sure makes you suffer.

I now enter a fairly easy week before we go up to the Haig glacier. I am excitied to head up there because the skiing will be great and of course there will be frisbee golf and maybe some poker too. Last week a bunch of us skiers joined the Right To Play golf tournament held a the amazing golf course of Silver Tip. Groups consisted of 2 athletes of different sports and 3 sponsor's, rounding the group off at 5. My group was a great mix and some great golf was played as well. Between Mark,Tyler, Russ, Kelly and myself we managed to hit a great -11 under for 3rd place.

Kelly VanderBeek was the other athlete on my team a talented downhill skier with some great golf skill's too. During this easy week i will be doing some swims as well. It is not a usual training discipline for me, but in a months time i will be competing in a triathlon. My swimming is pretty bad so i am putting some practice in so i don't drowned when the good swimmers cruize right over top of me. The triathlon will be allot of fun and most of the team will be competing as well. I hope to stay a float. July 18th is the date if you want to come and cheers us on in Canmore.

Training is in full swing

Training is in full swing

After a great vacation in April, i knew it was time to get the body back into shape. I started training a little at the end of April to get ready for the early may camp. Moving into our first camp it was planed for 2nd week of may on snow in silver star. We had the luxury of staying down in town on the lake that is. It was a killer place with plenty of room and when you are pool side and lake side and the weather in the mid 20's , no better way to relax.

The skiing at silver star was amazing and the team had some great works out from a mini sprint to and uphill climb ( big props to Mcmur number one baby) We also had some good team bonding on the beach playing volley ball and some paddling as well. I was able to put in some good amount of hours and work on some solid technique as well as haven some fun on the beach.

I have been home for a couple weeks and the roller ski's have made it out of the closet ykes. But it is June 2nd so it's time. Training has been pretty steady with some weight work outs a few runs and bikes. Our new coach Inge brings a great new enthusiasm and he is exciting to have around. The training volume is being ramped up for the next two weeks and today was just an amazing day skiing up at sunshine meadows. The snow pack froze over night which meaning that the crust skiing was perfect and the weather could not be ordered any nicer.

We skied along loop on crust up and down some valley's for about 2 hours. Then we moved onto the groomed track which was a perfect rolling terrain. I was home by noon just in time to enjoy some lunch with my wife. What a day!!!!!

Living the beach life in Thailand

Living the beach life in Thailand

After finishing off the ski season i was really looking forward to meeting up with my wife in Thailand. Between me going to Canadian Nationals in Duntroon, then back home for 5 days, then off to USA Nationals in Alaska and Erin going to India, it was 1month since we had seen each other so needless to say i was excited to get on a plane so that i could meet up and see each other. It took an arduous 20+ hours of flying but i finally arrived in Bangkok. We quickly made our way down to the south of Thailand to a climbers paradise called Ton Sai beach. What a great place to relax and enjoy the intense heat and sunshine. The food tasted amazing and we loved the kick that it had, and paired with the freshest seafood caught that day made for an unforgettable feast. In order to get to the mainland of Au Nong and back, we took these cool boats called long tails, very interesting ride.

We took part as unaware participants, in the Thai New Years festivities, while making our way from the mainland to Ton Sai, we were enrolled in the start of their three day long water fight, from super soakers to barrels of water in a back of a truck and 5 dudes with buckets soaking everyone, it was a sight to be seen. The point of Songkran festival is to cleanse your soul/body of it sins so that you go into the new year fresh. We also enjoyed some climbing with our own private guide, the most challenging part of climbing there is trying not to overheat, although the climbs were a challenge of their own. The holds are great and views are spectacular.

Then after lounging around on the beach, enjoying some great food and drinks for a week or so, we headed out to Phuket to meet up with two good friends George and Leslie Grey. We met them at their uncle's house, it was great to enjoy some A/C, and really-- how can you not enjoy a salt water pool? The following day we went sailing on George's uncles 71ft swan yacht for two days. It was really cool, we saw some amazing sunsets and cool little islands with white sandy beaches, our favorite part was actually sailing a boat ourselves- watch out for the jib, and the ropes-- they pack a wicked whip when we tacked!

We carried out the rest of our trip with some shopping, suit fitting and relaxing on the beach throw in some Thai massages and any trip is almost complete. Unfortunately the day came when it was time to board the plane to depart for home, Erin and i both had frowns on our faces as we highly enjoying the beach life and it is always too short lived for two mountain dwellers. After a long travel home, we where a little surprised that Canmore was still stuck in winter mode.

I ended up going touring in the back country getting some mid winter turns in before the spring thaw (still waiting). It was pretty weird coming from beach life to skinning up a mountain. Now Erin is back at work and in 5 days i am off to our first camp in Silver Star. I look forward to the camp, as it is a great way to bring the team together and do some skiing and fun activities in the afternoon. I can't wait to get this magical year started!!!!

Season has come to an end with a great battle

Season has come to an end with a great battle

I decided to sit out the 30km pursuit and was helping my Canadian team mates with some ski testing and with feeds. My legs where a bit tired the day before so I thought it would be smarter to save some energy to try for the win in the 50km classic which is a much better event for me then the 30km pursuit. We where all excited it was the last race of the season and that we got to start on Sunday morning at a normal time , compared to the last 3 races which all started roughly around 5:30-6:30pm which is pretty strange racing that late. The weather was suppose to warm up a lot during the 2 1/2 hour race time so we had some nervous energy to make sure to hit the wax right because 50km with out kick is long way to go. We had done a good job with the skis and at about 25km the race started had thinned out to only 3 racers in the lead group Ivan Babikov and Noah Hoffman and me. Noah being a junior was very impressive and held his on and some more but his lack of 50km came into play at around 35-40km it was just Ivan and I.

The battle for me was to hang to Ivan because he is one of the strongest distance skiers in the world all I had to do is hang on to his attacks which I successfully did. I knew if we came into the last 100meters together I would win because Ivan not known for his sprint and me known for my sprint I would be able to hold him off for the win. In the end it did come down to the last 100meters Ivan tried to attack on the last hill but I had just enough juice to fend him off and barely glide across the line for the win.

It was one of the toughest races for me, I had started cramping in the last 5km and could feel the where and tear of the course. I was extremely happy with the result and it’s a great way to end the season with a win. So now it is time to enjoy a few last ski’s in Canmore and then I am off to Thailand with my wife to enjoy the sunshine and beach life.

Going from Canadian to US national Championships.

Going from Canadian to US national Championships.


After a fairly successful week in duntroon at the Canadian nationals and earning my first overall aggregate award I was happy to come home and relax after a very hard week of racing. We had great snow in Canmore and the skiing was really good. I kept the hours fairly low a few days of volume and a day on the treadmill doing some exit testing for the team as per usual. That shape I thought was still good and was excited to go race in Alaska Fairbanks. I left on Sunday and was held up in Seattle for 10.5 hours enjoying a few coffees from starbucks. I did finally make it and so did my gear which was surprising and I was very happy about. The next day I was able to get on ski’s and see what Fairbanks had for trails, I was impressed with what they had to offer and great classic terrain as well. The 10km /team sprint ( Nish and I) / 30km pursuit will start at 7pm because of the volunteers are at work all day great dedication from them to work then head out to the cold to help run this event. In the 10km it took me a while to find my grove , I finally found it in the 2nd half and was able to move from 4th to 2nd which I was happy about.

The following day brought in some warmer weather which was nice and Nish and I where feeling pretty good about our chances. We both skied reasonably well. I missed an attack on the final lap where I lost 10meter and was unable to make that up. Nish did his best and pretty much closed it but as soon as he did the attacks started off the front. Nish came into the finish line lounging for 3rd just lost ending in 4th.

After those two races I believe I will sit out and support our Canadians with some feeds for (Nish,Dan,Pate,Ivan) in the 30km pursuit.

Unless I feel really good today skiing will see how the body is. My main concentration will go to the 50km on Sunday which will start at a normal time and it will be an extremely hard course. I look forward to that race because of the difficulty of the course and it being the last race of the season too.

Wish me Luck!!!!

Canadian National Championships Duntroon Ontario

Canadian National Championships Duntroon Ontario


We have done 4 races at nationals and one more the big 50km skate. I was home for a week after having a successful OPA trip. I chilled out for a while and then it was back into training mode getting ready for the Canadian championships. Starting the week off with a team sprint my partner Phil widmer and myself where ready to defend our title from last year. Unfortunately we both had bodies that where disagreeing with us. We fought hard but ended a disappointing 4th.

The next day came fast with some rain coming down and warm weather rollin in. I had to get ready for one of my hardest events the 10km skate. I started well and felt really good compared to the day before. I ended the day in a surprise 3rd place only 5 seconds of first wow!!!! I was pumped and felt I skied really well. We then had a day off to let the body recover. Next on the list was one of my favourite races where around the corner 15km Classic. Duntroon holds a pretty good classic course my goal was set a hard pace right off the start. At the end of the day everything fell into place and I won by 50 seconds. I was very pumped and excited it was a good win.

The body was pretty tired and I was happy to have a day off. My specialty was next the classic sprint, I picked the course a part to figure out where I could gain time and ski it smooth. In the prologue I skied pretty much as planned. The last hill was a little crazy but I was still able to keep the speed up. I won the prologue by just over 2 seconds which was a good start to the day. In the heats I felt strong and confident moving through quite easily. In the A final it was going to be hard but I felt strong and ready to take the win. Going into the last corner with some good speed from the downhill I was 2nd about 5 meters behind crooks. Widmer right on my heals ( literally) I took the turn and the next thing I know I am down and 3rd and 4th pass me and now I am sitting in fourth. Oh no what just happened, I got up quickly and started the close my 15 meter gap on the last hill on 2nd and 3rd. In the end I lost the lunge to Widmer who was 3rd. So I had a dissatisfying 4th place finish. It is something us sprinters have to deal with sometimes the ice or what ever it might be take’s us down, just part of sprint racing. So I am not to happy with the end result today but after having won the prologue and being in the mix for the win not that bad of a day. Right now I am leading the Canadian championships for the overall win. We have a day off tomorrow and I will enjoy a sleep in and see what the 50km skate has planned for us Sunday. Wish me luck!

Success on the OPA circuit

Success on the OPA circuit

I am back on track, all cylinders are firing again!!!!! I was happy to have rehabbed my arm as fast as I did and then put it to the test. After getting my first two races in 6 weeks under me in Germany it was time to move to Italy. We packed up and drove down which was a real interesting drive. Once we woke up the next morning I was happy to see the sunshine and great trails as per usual in northern Italy.


It was time to ski easy and let my body recover I know that I had done a lot of training last 5 weeks so I just need to chill to get ready for the three day mini tour event from Friday to Sunday. Classic sprint -10km classic-15km skate. I was excited about the classic sprint. I could feel my body come around starting to feel snappier every day I was ready to race again. The classic prologue was almost perfect qualifying in 2nd 0.24 off the leader.

(photo credit Kevin Sandau)
Through the heats and right to the final I had control and could really finish strong, winning that day meant a lot to me. After being left off the world champs team (still don’t know why) and having my fractured arm made standing on the top step feel so good. Finally I am back and fighting to win again I was super pumped.


The following day was exciting as well being the leader and heading out with everyone chasing you really get’s the nerves going. I skied with two other Italians we where racing for the podium. They had a strong day and where really pushing the pace every lap to drop me. I skied strong but the last hill got me and they managed to put a small gap on me and I could not close it before the finish. Placing 3rd was satisfying, sweet two podiums I was a happy camper. The next day 15km skate not exactly my strong suite. I fought hard staying in the top ten finishing 7th. For me the skate was the best of the year.



Coming home with those results under my belt felt good and now I can have two weeks of solid training to get ready for nationals in duntroon Ontario. It is not where I wanted to be at this time of year. But these are the cards I was dealt with, I do look forward to these races and can’t wait to race for the win.

OPA races in Germany

OPA races in Germany

After flying over and arriving in Germany ready to finally race again. We drove up and I was happy to see a lot of snow and great temps for skiing. I have never raced a day and half after arriving in Europe so It was going to be interesting to see how the body would react. Plus I have taken 5 weeks off of racing due to my injury. Waking up on Saturday morning I was excited to race (classic 15km) and was ready to get some good distance results.

I started the race fairly good I was 4th for a while then moved to 6th-8th after 8km and then my body felt the none racing and I started to loose my speed. In the end I was 13th. I was one minute off the lead which I was not excited about, but I know if I was in my normal shape the top of the podium would be possible. Sunday came rolling along quite fast. The jet lag has been pretty good; Saturday’s sleep was a little disrupted and broken up.

(photo credit Kevin Sandau)

The Skate sprint was up next and I was really pumped ready to rock it out. My body was not quite where my mind was, i seem to be missing some snap. I believe not racing for a long time and doing a lot of volume has taken the snap down a few notches. The qualifier was not what I was capable of, so I went into the heats ready to turn the day around. I had a good start and was positioned well. After a large large climb I was sitting in third getting ready to go back down and use the sling shot effect. As planned 2nd and my self blew by 1st and we started heading up a small hill then to the finish. I had one of the guys to my right not sure what he was going to do but all off a sudden my skis slide sideways and I end up scrubbing some speed . He tried to pass on the right but there was no room for him, not sure what his plan was but him hitting my skis cost me a lot of speed. I was still in second trying to build the speed back and then a fellow Canadian cruised by me, I tried to get back in the game but it was too late. The day ended up quicker then expected. Looking back it was a medium weekend; the racing will definitely help me for the following weekend in Italy. Where I plan on stepping it!
Wish me luck, till next time.

Back on track to the European racing scene

Back on track to the European racing scene




I was not expecting to head to Europe this way. I am crossing the pond once more this season, I thought I would be heading to Europe to race at the World Championships but the powers above thought other wise. My plan has since change and now I am heading overseas to race OPA’s (B-world cups). I have had a crazy month with injury and not being able to race my own Canadian world cups, and then not being selected to the World champ team, WHAT THE!!!!!

But on the bright side I have recovered from my shoulder injury faster then most people thought I could. Now that I am not going to world champs I have had to make my own race plan and that is to race some very competitive OPA races. It will consist of two weekends of racing 5 races to be exact. One weekend in Germany and one weekend in Italy. My goal is to try hitting the top step of the podium during the weeks of racing. I have bin putting in a lot of hours since my injury, I believe that I am in good shape and I can’t wait to show how strong the Canadian contingent is. The weather here in Canmore has been pretty weird and the snow just does not want to cover the bow valley it’s a bizarre year for that. Across the pound is a different story there is no shortage of snow so the skiing will be wonderful where ever I go.




I really look forward to racing since it has been so long since I put a race bib on.