Norway World Cup 2009

Shane Anderson, Drew Hauser and Erika Walters are in Norway for the last two World Cup Race events of the 2009 season.  Racing takes place March 5-7 in Rjukan and then World Cup Finals will be held in Bjorli Norway on March 11, 12 and 13th.  Check back here for reports from the racers and results as they become available.  We will post the racers reports with the most recent first:

March 13, 2009
Well its over.  We all have survived so far, now the hard part begins.  The trip home.

Todays race had great snow and visibility making for some perfect conditions.  The course was fairly long but not quite as long as everyone had anticipated.  The start was just a short hike above the top of the chairlift.  A few turns on some rolling terrain took you across a flat section and then back to the top of the GS.  Steeper terrain with some difficult turns spit you out onto a long rolling flat for 30 seconds.  Next you dove into a left footed Repljyke and pushed back into the race course for several important turns before the jump.  The jump was weak not a whole lotta bang for the buck.  Very difficult to make the jump lines that were probalby the shortest classic jump lines ever.  After the jump you sped down the final gate section into another left footed repljyke and into our favorite part the skate section.  A small climb out of the 360 across a short traverse and into some woop de doos and then into a big uphill turn into the steep climb to the last gate just above the finish.  Phew we made it.

Erika Walters skied great.  She attacked the course the whole way down and skied to her best classic finish 11th place.  Mr. Drew “PB” Hauser had a tough day.  After finding a mysterious substance on the tails of his skis after prepping them he may have been thrown off his game.  The course was tough and you had to be on it from the get go.  Drew cruised down the mountain into 27th position.  Shane had a great run today 8th fastest raw time, unfortunately aqquiring 6 penalties through out the course.  Pulling him down to 14th position.  It was a fun race today a long challenging course Mens times were in the 2:40 range and the women were around 3:00.  To see complete women’s results click here>> and to see complete men’s results click here>>.

So we start heading home early tomorrow morning.  We will travel with the crazy Slovenian team to watch a ski flying competion in Vikersund tomorrow.  So if you don’t ever hear from us again we are somewhere between Northern Norway and Slovenia.  I hear the fishing is good in SLO.

Its been fun.  So you all soon when we return.  Peace out.

Shane Anderson

USA Telemark News Reporter/Athlete

March 12, 2009

Hey Ya.   Well maybe it was the flat light.  Or the breakfast, did we miss the wax?  But we got chicked by 5 seconds by the amazing Suisse Miss Amelie.  She would have finished top 10 in the mens race today. So she beat alot of everyone today.   It was a very nice long course.  The times were around 1 minute and 30 seconds.  The conditions were near perfect except for some gusty winds.  We probably had the most fun and are looking forward to tomorrow’s classic race which will start even higher up the mountain.  The course looks to be about the most demanding classic that I will have ever skied the only thing weak about it is the jump.  Maybe the smallest jump ever and lines that are somewhat attainable depending on speed into the jump.  That seems to be the difference maker.   Anyways we have had a great time so far.  One more big race for us and then we are coming home.  I hope to give you a great report tomorrow.  Until then eat your vegetables and send us all your energy cause we got a 3 minute and 30 second classic coming our way.   Shane    PS the results go something like this.  Erika 17th Drew 16th Shane 15th.

 

 

March 11, 2009
Today we raced a Sprint Classic on good race in in Bjorli, Norway.  Several small pitches and rolling flats provided a good slope with good snow that held up through the race.  Our first run was not until noon today so we had plenty of time to relax and enjoy the morning.

The first run was set by local Kjetil Sovik longtime coach of Norway’s telemark team.  He set a challenging course with lots of demanding turns onto the flats.  Erika had a decent first run picking up some penalties and continued learning alot about telemark racing.  Drew just missed the bib draw and turning in at 16th position bumped back by a late running Per Bylund.  I came in at 9th positions with a solid conservative run with no penalites.  I tried mantaining a high line in order to keep speed through the flats.

The light was extremely flat for the first run.  Luckily the sun shone through for second run making us all that much happier to be in the sun.  Erika had a good run going into the jump when the speed and tough turns after the jump caught up to her.  She still finished and skated strong coming in at 16th.  Drew smoked the top of the course and got caught up in the gates just after the jump losing a little bit of valuable momentum but holding on to 16th position.  I had another solid run clearing the jump line by just enough and held onto 9th postition for the day.  Borge Sovik was the men’s winner today shredding his home hill.  Amelie Reymond once again dominated trying to take down as many men as she could as well.

Tomorrow we race the GS.  We are looking forward to it and will report again tomorrow.  

Shane
March 10, 2009
Aloha ,

Its been a pretty crazy couple of days filled with a lot of Norway. The fun race in Morgedal was indeed a lot of fun. The invitation was correct in the lack of a lift to get us to the top, but the hike was a lot fun. We got to go into Sondre Norheims cabin on the way up a course with three raps, two huge unjudged sections and a much bigger skate then anyone had anticipated as no one inspected the skate. After the race we had dinner at the ski museum followed by a guided tour.

Then yesterday we found ourselves on a nine and a half hour bus ride from Morgedal to Bjorli. It was just as exciting as it sounds. Today we got to free ski and train some gates, but the race hill was closed. Our hotel is super nice equipt with a pool and only a two mintue walk to the lift.

I’m just ready to race!
Drew

March 10, 2009

We woke up to a beautiful day in Bjorli finally.  Blue skies and a beautiful warm day for training and free skiing the mountain.  Tomorrow we have a Sprint Classic. Here are some photos of the trip so far.  

 

Having fun it was good to get some good weather for a day.  We believe that its going to start snowing tomorrow.  I mean come on we are telemark racing we can’t have nice weather.

 

Shane

March 8, 2009 Well we made it to the beginning of skiing as we know it?  As the story goes people have been skiing for thousands of years.  But in this valley in the 1850’s a man came along and made skiing fun.  So evidently skiing wasn’t fun until circa 1850’s.  So the next time you go skiing and have fun make sure you remember Sondre.   As well as making skiing fun he hand crafted his own skis with sidecut and created the telemark binding which purpose was to hold the foot onto the ski.  The smooth turns they made were later named the telemark turn after the region in Norway where we are at.    So we climbed on to the bus in the middle of yet another blizzard in Rjukan this morning drove the short distance to Morgedal.  We arrived late in the day and were dropped off in the hotel parking lot with what do you know more Steamboat people.  The Nordic Combined B squad was just wrapping up an event as we were arriving.  Its a small world I guess.  As they prepared for a 25 hour drive to Northern Finland we started hiking up our race course getting ready for the fun.   We hiked up through the farm and fields of Kliev inspecting the course and taking in all the amazing views as yet again the clouds broke for the afternoon.  The sun was out and the classic course looked like fun.  Two jumps by Sondres house and barn with gates and free sections all the way down the mountain with one terrific skate at the bottom.  The French team decided to make it extra fun and see how big a snowball they could throw at the people out of the start. The theme of the day was not speed but fun and style.  But they still gave out prizes and recognized the fast skiers.  All we know is that Erika Walters tore down the hill and cruised into a second place finish for the Junior women. Thats all we know for now.  No results other then the podiums were given.  We did make it into the Ski museum where we were fed a delicious meal and taken on a tour of ski history as told from Morgedal.    Tomorrow we take off for the final World Cup race of the season in Bjorli.  Time for some rest.  The youngsters seem to be hitting their stride.  I pulled some muscles in my back loading other people stuff onto the bus.  So I am taking it day by day. PS I did sign the Guestbook in Sondre’s cabin as a man from Cody, Wyoming for those of you have been concerened with my status!  Shane

March 7, 2009

After a causual morning of watching it snow very hard and a few great powder runs today we moved on to an afternoon race.  Two more runs down the Pukkelen Sprint Classic hill in Rjukan, Norway.  Luckily for us as soon as inspection opened the clouds parted the snow stopped and even the sun shone for a few hours.  Providing an amazing view of the Gaustablikk mountain in the Toppen of the Telemark Region of Norway.

A wild and crazy course was set up for our first run.  Speed was the name of the game and surviving the Raplejke was the hard part.  The majority of the women struggled with the speed and fell halfway through the 360.  Unfortunately it claimed Erika after skiing the top of the course perfectly and clearing the jump lines beautifully.  After being warned by all the people at the start the men tried to defy their wisdom and challenge the course.  Several more wipeouts happened including a horrific crash for Maitas Wagenius. Our best wishes are with Matias as he had to be taken to the hospital for an evaluation.  He smacked his head pretty hard but its hard to say as I sat in the start gate waiting for my turn down the slope.  I skied well but did not clear the jump as I was focused on the rap.  Two seconds of penalties and I wound up in 14th place right in front of Mr Drew Hauser who skied good getting one penalty for a lousy landing off the jump., but the lines seem to be no problem for our National Champoin

Second run was a much better course.  Big turns over the humps of the race run with speed a concern for the lower section of the course.  The snow was pushed as far as it could be plowed from the race hill and we were off.  Erika pushed hard out of the start attacking as she goes but was caught a little late and in the soft snow after the jump.  She skied to 15th place finish.  Drew and I kept each other loose in the start and got to race one two for the second run.  Drews run was good.  He skied clean and smooth racing to the finish and waiting see the other races come down after him.  All I had to do was improve my lackluster jump perfomances and I would be in great position.  I skied the top great speeding toward the last few gates of the jump before I wrapped a panel around my body and lost my nerve landing on top of the jump line just short of a clean run.   As we watched the rest of the racers come down.  The penalties added up and we both moved up to a respectable 11th for Drew and 12th for Shane final finishing place. (Administrator’s note, based on the results that were posted, it looks like Shane was 11th and Drew was 10th)  For complete women’s results, click here>> and for men’s results, click here>>.

Rjukan has been a great place.  Getting to see the amazing view for a few moments was great.  Tomorrow we go to a fun classic in the land of Morgedal.  We will race through the land where Sondre Norheim and his pals created the sport of skiing for fun.  There are no lifts and we will be hiking for our race run.  It should be interesting to say the least.  We hope to jump off the famous barn of Sondres.  Erika goes first.  Hopefully there will be internet there otherwise I will report from our next stop after that in Bjorli NorthWest Norway.  We are not quite sure how to get there other then hop on the bus and go.

as the say in the Telemark region of  Norway YEEE HAWWWW.

Shane

March 6, 2009

The fog and snow rolled in and out today as we competed on the infamous Pukkelen run in Rjukan, Norway.  Some snow fell over night but the course was slipped well and in pretty good condition for all racers.  Hundreds of schoolkids and spectators lined the bottom quarter of the hill as skiers leaped off a jump through 2 gates into a giant 360 and into the skate section.

 Erika, Drew, and Shane all had one good run today and are slowly working on getting it together.  Drew Hauser had a safe first run not attacking as much as he would have liked and finishing in 16th after the first run.  Shane skied well with a clean run and sat in 9th position.  Erika Walters also skied clean and wound up sitting in the top ten.

 We all decided to ski a little more aggressively for the second run, but then the dreaded fog rolled in making all our direction marks obsolete.  Erika skied a good second run slightly moving back one place for the second run winding up in 11  place making both jump lines each run.  I felt good through the gates making small mistakes tried to launch off the jump but missed the line and then got some gate penalties after the jump  sliding back to 14th place.  Drew skied one of the only clean second runs nailing the delay after the jump and redeeming himself through the pesky banannas his nemisis of the last couple of runs.  12th place for Drew Hauser today. 

 So we all made it down.  We are hoping for two great runs out of each of us tomorrow.  Today we each had one solid run.  Tomorrow we have an afternoon race for some reason.  we are not sure why.  Drew our dearly beloved captain and champion is getting the details.  Well until tomorrow Thats the news.    Shane

March 5 – Rjukan GS Well it was a rough day for the american squad.   But not to worry as we are happy with our adjustment to the time and things should be coming around nicely in the coming days.  Here is the full report on todays action. We were all pepped up this morning as the weather was good and the race hill looked well.  The course started out on long flat section, rolling over into steeper rolling terrain.  A good course set into a perfect norsk jump.   Then the action started into a steep fall away right footed turn into the the last gates to the finish.  A challenging course all in all with several turns that you had to nail to go fast. My first run was okay as I nailed the first part through the jump and then got a little wild through the gates after the jump.  A lot of speed and a tightening course made it very difficult.  I thought I had a clean run but picked up one penalty somewhere along the way.  Erika skied well but picked up a costly jump penalty.  Our boy Drew went a little wide after the jump and ended up hiking. The second run course was much like the first as the burms of snow were piling up from all the slipping.  Michelle of course set a little bit turny course the snow help up great for both runs as we got down to that good hard layer somewhere under all the new snow that has fallen.  My second run a little bit mysterious.  Almost like I was not there.  But I made it down making a few changes in line to accomodate the rolling terrain.  I skied a better line but did not make the jump line as I think they moved it down again landing just short.  Finishing in 15th position.  Erika skied the upper section beautifully made the jump line and then crashed and hiked to ensure a finish in 16th.  I was pretty happy that she made the jump line.  A very important part of the race.  Drew dog was laying it down again, launching a beauty jump clearing the line by plenty and then just as the first run got a little wild and loose spraying the crowd and staying in the course by a hair.  Drew rounded out the day in 20th position. Well we enjoyed the nice weather today.  The powder skiing was good.  Eika and I went out for a few laps after the race each acquiring nice face plants.  The weather is supposed to be worse tomorrow for the Sprint Classic.  Snow and Blowing snow in the forecast.  We will make the best of it and report back tomorrow. Shane

 

March 4, 2009
Erika got her ski bag!

 484 kr.  for the taxi to bring them up here.  90 Us dollars

 Shane

March 4, 2009
Snow and blowing snow.  We found where it has been snowing.  Europe has been buried  as of late.  Record snow in Oslo,  they don’t know what to do with all of it.  It kind of looks like Steamboat here.  Big piles of snow all over.  Pretty happy that we are taking public transport everywhere and not having to deal with driving ourselves.

The skiing was good here today.  I thick snow from all the wind but still fun.  We skied the morning away.  Then rested the tired bodies and took a nice long nap.  The jumps as usual look great here.  Very big but great landing hills.  The snow is firm somewhere under the new snow.  But they say it hasn’t really stopped snowing here for awhile.

Tomorrow we race the GS.  We hope that the conditions improve some but there isn’t much that we do about that.  It affects us all the same.  But I think that is suits us Coloradans the best.  Here we go, back into the action.  I will send in a full report tomorrow.

Shane

March 3, 2009

Hey ya’ll we made it.  some 30 hours later planes and buses.  We are only missing one bag as most connections were very tight with all the delays everywhere.  Pray for Erika’s ski bag to arrive soon.

 

Very tired I better go rest up.  More big days coming up.  Thanks for everyones hard work at Tele Nationals I had a great time. 

 

I will try and write more later.  The mountains have lots of snow in them here. 

 

C ya bye

SA