NORWAY – WC Finals and World Championships
USTSA, Monday, March 21
Headed to Steamboat for Nationals
The racers are headed from Oslo to Steamboat today to prepare for the US Telemark National Championships which begin on Thursday.
For complete results of all World Cup events, click here>
Cory Snyder – Saturday, March 19, 2011
So long Norway
Well today was a bust…taking a squat in the wrap in the first run left me starting 39th….and a conservative second run left me 33rd…But On the bright side I am leaving Norway having made 5/6 jump lines here in Rjukan, a 10th in the GS, and some really really brilliant skiing. So tomorrow we start the trek back to steamboat for Nationals…then…I…finally…get…to….go…hooommee! 🙂
Roy McKinstry – Saturday, March 19, 2011
FIS Telemark World Championships rapped up today with the Sprint Classic. Shane Anderson concluded his racing career on the world stage with a 9th place finish which was an awesome result in what proved to be a very competitive field in todays race. Philippe Lau took the gold followed by Tobias Muller and Sven Lau. Charlie Dresen 23rd, Jeffrey Gay 27th, Tom Gogolen 28th, Drew Hauser 32nd, Cory Snyder 33rd, and Garret Long 38th.
For the women Madi McKinstry 12th, Erika Walters 17th. Zoe Taylor had an irritated knee after the 1st run and withdrew from the second run. The womens podium was Amelie Reymond, Sigrid Rykhus and Sandrine Meyer.
The overall results were:
1)Eirik Rykhus 2)Mattias Wagenius 3)Philippe Lau
1)Amelie Reymond 2)Sigrid Rykhus 3)Sandrine Meyer
Cory Snyder – March 18, 2011
OHHH Ski Racing!!!
All it took today was one little mistake yesterday and I am six or seven seconds out and in 22nd place. The classic gs hill is so so sooo flat that one little slide out on the one and only steep section at the top of the course and thats all she wrote. I missed the jump line, skated okay…but without the full speed coming of the top pitch I never really stood a chance. So not my day but thats ski racing. The field being as tight as it has been on a not so difficult course, you can’t make mistakes. Today we have a day off so I will just work on my skis and relax, maybe do a few free runs this afternoon, and watch the demo race scheduled for this afternoon, the Dual Sprint! Saturday is the final race, the sprint classic.
Charlie Dresen – March 17 2011
My goal embarking on this trip to the World Cup Finals and World Championships was to get a top 15. I really felt that such results was attainable. Sure, I get that I’m competing against racers more than half my age. And yes, the majority of these racers literally take this sport very serious and they train on-snow, 6-7 days a week for 8 months out of the year. And yes, many of these racers are funded by their national telemark organizations. But heck, I have desire too. But I’m learning that desire, and hard work albeit sporadic, just doesn’t get you to the top of your sport. So, with one race to go, it’s looking my I will fall just shy of my goal and be content with my best finish of 16th place.
Over the last 2 days we competed outside of Rjukan, Norway. It’s about a 4 hour ride northwest of Oslo. The 2 races were very technical. It was on a flat hill and any mistakes or being too aggressive in the turns really showed in the time. I was being a little hard on my turns and I placed in the mid to late 20’s. The last race is on Saturday.
Cory Snyder – March 17, 2011
10th Place Finish!!!!
Had a great race today, coming in 10th in the world championships GS!! My best result this season in the biggest races this year! It felt really good to lay down two good fast runs. 3 penalties total, but none on either jump so at least I know I can huck my meat now! The times were all super tight, and my skiing was fast enough to be top 5….I just need to drop a few penalties tomorrow and things should be pretty sweet! Tomorrows classic should be a long one so I’m prepping the lungs already!
Shane Anderson -Thursday, March 17, 2011
A difficult Classic course was set for us today. Norwegian coach Eivind Modlasi set a typical norwegian course using as much terrain as he could find to set over and around. You had to plan your transitions in key spots and stay strong through out your turns. You had to huck your meat to make it over the jump lines. The skate was fairly flat and long with an extra circle loop thrown in for the men to make them dizzy.
A few mistakes on the top section, a misguided jump direction and landing dropped me back a few places of where I hoped to be after skiing well yesterday. Thats the way it goes. Small minor lapse in concentration. It was a tough course keeping you thinking the whole way down. The skate was quite difficult but I was able to chug my way across the finish.
We have the day off tomorrow. Racing again on Saturday for the title of World Champion in the Sprint Classic. Our favorite event.
Shane Anderson 16
Cory Snyder 22
Jeffrey Gay 28
Charlie Dressen 30
Drew Hauser 39
Madi McKinstry 12
Zoe Taylor 16
Erika Walters 18
Shane Anderson – Wednesday, March 16, 2011
We woke up to beautiful blue bird skies today. A strong wind at the top of the mountain and just about as good as you could ask for at the finish line. Cold temperatures firmed up the snow making all the turns petty consistent. The somewhat flat race hill made for an exciting race down the mountain.
First run was really exciting. TV production in our faces, fans cheering wildly, and positive attitudes powered us to the start. Well actually a snowmobile tow was required to make it to the start. Limited snow in Gausablikk has challenged the organizers. They are pulling out all the stops. I skied my first clean run all year. Strong turns over the slight rolling terrain, a picture perfect jump and landing and more fast turns to the finish. I zipped up to the finish camera had a little fun and saw that to my amazement I had come down the mountain in 8th postion after starting 15. Thats pretty good for me. A few more fast folks battled their way in front of me. Bumping me to 11th after the first run in a tightly packed top 15.
Second run was more of the same. Slightly warmer temps and a little less wind put us onto a bumpier course with a few more key turns. The excitement was once again up and we were ready. I skied the top course aggressively and had a little bit of a wild ride but held it together As usuall the second run jump line was bumped down a meter and a half. Speed and a well timed push were needed. I went just a bit further then planned and did not quite get the landing in time. I powered to the finish to see that I had a decent run. After watching several races come down with problems and some with specatcular runs I was able to move up into 9th. My best World Championships result!
We race Classic tomorrow. The race starts at 11 for the ladies. I dont know the exact time for the TV but would imagine sometime in between 11 and 12. I am bib 6. With alot of other Americans crammed into the 20’s
Other results for the day.
Cory Snyder 10th!
Charlie Dressen 27
Jeffrey Gay 30
Drew Hauser 32
Tom Gogolen 44
Garret Long 51
Madi Mckinstry 15
Erika Walters 17
Zoe Taylor 19
Cory Snyder – Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Well, world junior champs was kind of a let down…4th in the GS. I was kind of bummed because the speed was there in all the races, I was just getting a few too many penalties. But I can take the good skiing away and bring it here to world championships. We did some training on the sprint hill this morning, and free skiing and jump training on the gs/classic hill this afternoon. Not much snow on the classic hill, but they have been trucking snow in so hopefully they can till it this evening and it will set up nicely for tomorrows GS. The hill is super flat and rolly, so making smooth arcing turns is going to be key to win this one!
Shane Anderson – Monday, March 14, 2011
My last World Cup Classic race went well. The challenging course had many racers befuddled by its rolling terrain and large turns set by the Suisse Michelle Bonny. A short gate section out of the start put us into a small free zone for some tucking and then into another short gate section into a tight rap and some quick skating turns. Back into the gates which were set especially difficult before the jump. Maybe a little too tough as nobody was able to reach their respcitive jump line. More gates down towards the finish put tired legs into another tight rap. From there arms, core, and what was left of the legs pushed across the zig zagging skate section to the the finish line. Times were around the 3’00” mark. Enough to leave us all shaking and exhausted.
The snow stayed a little colder and harder then previous days. Making the turns a little less powerful and slightly more erratic. I skied the course fairly well but once again saved up enough strength to skate hard. Pretty happy to end up in 7th position. The competition this year has been very tough.
We are now preparing for World Championships in Rjukan. They are very excited to host this event and it should be fun. Lots of extracurricular activities. We start racing on Wednesday.
USTSA – Sunday, March 13, 2011
Madi McKinstry takes 3rd plade in Junior World Championships Overall. This title is based on total time for the last three days of racing and Madi finished with the third fastest combined time over three days. Way to go Madi! Today’s finsh for Madi was a 17th in the women’s category and 6th in the Juniors. Zoe Taylor was 21st in the women’s category and 7th in the Juniors and Maggie Doherty finished 27th.
The men finished as follows: Shane Anderson 7th, Charlie Dresen 16th, Cory Snyder 20th (7th Junior), Jeffey Gay 24th (10th Junior), Drew Hauser, 43, Tommy Gogolen 54th, Col Schneider 62nd and Garrett Long 65th (30th Junior).
Today’s Classic race marks the end of World Cup Finals and Junior World Championships at Hafjell. The racers will be traveling to Rjukan for World Championships which begin on Wednesday, March 16th. Overall winners for the season were Amelie Reymond (SUI) in 1st, Sandrine Mayer (SUI) 2nd and Katinka Knudson (NOR) in 3rd position. Phillip Lau (FRA) was the 1st place man, Eirik Rykhus (NOR) was 2nd and Mattias Wagenius (SWE) was 3rd.
Charlie Dresen – Sunday, March 13, 2011
Feeling my age. The Classic race is a traditional telemark race that has many elements. It’s a GS race but there were 2 raps, or sharp banked turns, one large jump, a long skating section at the bottom and GS gates down the long hill. This is a one run, give it all you got race. It lasted almost 3 minutes. It’s an exhausting race but this old guy held his own. I placed 16th today out of 77 racers.
Tomorrow we leave for another area that’s about a 8 hours trip via buses and trains.
Charlie Dresen – Saturday, March 12, 2011
Things are getting better for my race results in Norway. The first race I crashed out in the first run and ended the day short. But today, under sunny skies, I placed 20th out of 77 racers. I’m pleased with that finish. I feel I can do better but after a dislocated thumb on the first day skiing and a crash on my first race run, I’m rather psyched just to finish 2 decent runs. And 20th in the world’s not bad for a full-time realtor from Steamboat Springs.
Tomorrow is a long race called a classic that will last about 3 minutes long. After that we are off to a different area via cars, busses, and trains.
Madi McKinstry – Saturday, March 12, 2011
So, Norway has been totally freaking awesome!! I got third in the GS yesterday…I was super uber dooper happy. I get a medal and everything! hehehe YAY!! And I was 11th overall..so that’s awesome! Today on the other hand…not so good. I was back in 15th, and 4th for juniors…humpf. But never fear! There’s an amazingly long Classic waiting for me tomorrow! And Classics are my favorite…I’m not kidding. Everyone seems to be happy here, there was some dancing to Ke$ha in speedsuits…and some candy eating…some dinner skipping…ohhhhoooohoooooo we are rebels!! The training day way back when was fun too. We got to hit the jump lots o’ times, and see how far we could fly. Well, that’s about it for now…
Shane Anderson – Saturday, March 12, 2011
Another great day of racing in the Haf today. Big jumps were the theme as its difficult to set a course that does not carry big time speed into it. The mens jump line was 29.5 meters and the womens 22. I struggled putting down smooth telemark style landings on the first run. But got it under control for the rest of the course. A tight Rap put us into a short skate. 10th after the first run.
Second run was set even faster into the jump. After some smooth upper section turns and flying off the jump well past the line I once again failed to land telemark. The next gatle blurred by as I got back into the line. Collecting 3 penalties in the blink of an eye. The rest of the course felt really good. All that training has paid off in some parts of my skiing. Anyways I ended up 13th. Not bad moving up. Just need to clean up my act.
Roy McKinstry – Saturday, March 12, 2011
Today was the World Cup Final and World Junior Championship Sprint. For the women Sigrid Rykhus NOR was the winner followed by Amelie Reymond SUI and Sandrine Meyer SUI. For the junior women Lisa Englund SWE took the gold followed by Johanna Holzmann GER, and Argeline Tan Bouquet FRA. Madi McKinstry USA finished 15th overall and 4th in the juniors. Zoe Taylor was 21st overall and 7th in the juniors, and Maggie Doherty 27th.
The mens overall winner was Philippe Lau FRA followed by Harald Kvaerner and Eirik Rykhus. Shane Anderson 13th, Charlie Dressen 20th, Cory Snyder 26th 9th in juniors, Garret Long 40th, Drew Hauser 44th, Jeffrey Gay 46th 21st juniors, Cole Schneider 60th, and Tom Gogolen 62nd.
The World Cup Finals and Junior World Championships conclude tomorrow with the classic.
USTSA – March 11, 2011
Complete Results
Complete race results can be found at the Hafjell website at www.wchafjell.com. Look for the “Resulter” item in the upper left of the page.
Cory Snyder – March 11, 2011
OH So Close!
Laid down a couple of great runs at Hafjell today, but it was not quite good enough. I ended up 13th after being 8th after the first run. I missed the jump line in the second run, and that ended up being the difference between 6th, and 13th. As well as the junior gs world championship. I ended up 4th in that. Kind of a bummer but at least I know I am skiing fast over here. Tomorrow is my best discipline the SPRINT!!
Charlie Dresen – March 11, 2011
First race is in the books.
Was a beautiful day with high overcast skies and a great race course. I started 31st and charged out the gate. For those who don’t know, in telemark racing we ski normal giant slalom gates but we also have to go off a jump and spring, Nordic style and clear a certain distance. Today it was around 70-80 feet. Well, I went about 90 feet and when I came down I was into the next gate and crashed out of the course.
The race was won by a Norwegian but there was an American in 13, 15, and 17th. Not a bad showings. Tomorrow is another race similar to today but there will be an added skate section to the course.
Shane Anderson – Friday, March 11, 2011
Madi McKinstry is GS Bronze medalist at Junior World Championships!
We are back racing in Hafjell, Norway. Its a great race venue that was used in the 94 Olympics for the tech events. Good rolling terrain, a big ole jump, and great snow for everyone.
Cory Snyder led the way for the boys/men. 13th place overall and 4th in Junior.
Shane Anderson 14th
Jeffrey Gay 18th
Big News is Madi McKinstry 11th overall and 3rd in the Juniors!
Zoe skied well 13th and 5 in the Junior.
FIS Newsflash – Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Hafjell hosts Telemark World Cup Finals and World Juniors
Simultaneously to the Audi FIS Ski World Cup men’s events in Kvitfjell (NOR), the nearby resort of Hafjell will be hosting the FIS Telemark World Cup season finals and the World Junior Championships in Telemark Skiing. Some 150 participants from around 15 nations are expected to compete on the Hafjell Olympia course.
Hafjell last organized Telemark World Cup competitions in 1995 when it also hosted the Telemark World Championships just a year after serving as a venue during the Lillehammer Olympic Winter Games. This year’s event serves as an important dress rehearsal for the World Championships in Rjukan from 15th-19th March, and the main season highlight for the Telemark juniors.
In the ladies’ rankings, Switzerland has a double lead with Amelie Reymond leading over teammate Sandrine Mayer by 278 points with three competitions remaining at the Finals in Hafjell. Katinka Knudsen of Norway ranks third. Reymond also leads all the event rankings.
In the men’s overall rankings Philippe Lau of France leads by 227 points ahead of Eirik Rykhus (NOR). Matthias Wagenius (SWE) trails him by just 23 points. Wagenius also leads the Classic event season rankings, whilst Philippe Lau is in the lead of the sprint rankings and his brother Sven Lau goes to the finals leading the giant slalom rankings.
Charlie Dresen – Wednesday, March 9, 2011
My Thumb
It’s getting better. It was a nasty dislocation. But little pain and with the hassles and cost of getting to a hospital, I didn’t get it x-rayed but I feel it’s ok. I ice it a lot and it’s getting better every day.
Cory Snyder – Wednesday, March 9, 2011
CRRAAZZY!
The last couple days have been wild up here at Kvitfjell! The alpine world cup is holding two downhills and a super g here starting on friday so all this week the “white circus” has been pulling into town. Needless to say we got booted from our hotel room and we are now staying in a cabin in the middle of the woods with no heat, no electricity, no running water, no beds, its quite the adventure. Not to mention the fireplace fills the room with smoke unless all the windows and doors are open, so we are heating the place with a little woodstove…But on the bright side since the alpine world cup is here, the food has been spectacular. We have been eating like kings. its pretty cool to be staying in the same hotel as all the same skiing superstars that I have been watching on TV and at races. Its nice to see them as real people without all the media and crazy fans and such, they will actually talk to you! Tomorrow morning we are going to Hafjell for our official training day, and then friday we start racing! Time to get after it!
Madi McKinstry – Monday, March 7
Norge
Well, one car, plane, train and taxi later, we made it to Norge! Our place is pretty stellar, with a good location(right next to the wax room) and a 5 minute jaunt into town. We zipped over to Kvitfjell today to go train with Shane, Cory, and Thomas. Troels set a nice course, but the hill was super rolley and gave Charlie some…issues. We got to ski bits and pieces of the women’s and men’s downhill that Bode and Lindsay will be skiing this week! We also got to see Dider Cuche’s skis(all like…25 of them?) Once we got back to Hafjell, we went down to the Coop Mega, which is rather mega if I may say so myself. Now Charlie is advising me to do homework, which…maybe I’ll do…sometime. But dinner will be ready soon, we found some tortellini, so that will be a good excuse not to do homework. The other teams all get here Wednesday, so we’re by ourselves for tomorrow, which we’ll probably just “freecarve” in Hafjell. And maybe do some skating. I’ll update again after the first race I think! Hopefully everything will be all fun until then!
Roy McKinstry – Monday, March 7Kvitfjell
Today we joined Shane and Cory for training at Kvitfjell where
preperations are under way for this weekends mens world cup downhill
and super g events. Unfortunately Charlie Drresen took a nasty crash
and may have fractured his thumb. We skied the downhill course as the
course crew was injecting it.
USTSA note – Charlie has seen a doctor, but holding off on an x-ray for now.
This photo was take at the top of Kvitfjell after Charlie left for the doctor. Frem left to right: Shane Anderson, Madi McKinstry, Cory Snyder and Jeffrey Gay
Jeffrey Gay – March 6, 2011
So we made if to Hafjall (said half-ell. I know wierd but it’s Norge aka Norway) safely and with all of our bags. With each of us carrying two backpacks, a duffle bag, and a ski bag, this was quite an accomplishment. After the three hour drive to Denver, the four of us made our way east to Newark, New Jersey(the other side of the river from New York) for three hours before the very long six hours in the air to the Oslo (auslo) international airport. Picking up our bags we hopped on a train for about two hours to Lillehammer (said as is) where we caught a taxi to take us just up the road to our destination Hafjall. We got some pizza for our first meal in our sweet condo here (it’s also ski in ski out) and going to go to bed early to beat the time zone change. We may go up to see Shane and Cory to train up the road tomorrow but we will see what happens.
USTSA – March 5, 2011
US Team on their way to Norway!
Two members of the US team have spent the winter in Europe and will not have to shake off the jet lag when it comes time to compete in World Cup Finals in Hafjell, Norway starting on March 11th. Cory Snyder and Shane Anderson have had three weeks to rest, free ski, see the sights and do some training following the last races in Spain. The Hafjell races, in addition to being the WC Finals, will also be the World Championships for the Junior racers. Madi McKinstry, Zoe Taylor, Jeffrey Gay and Cory Snyder will all be competing for medals at the Junior Championships. Jeffrey Gay was a bronze medalist in the Giant Slalom event at Junior Worlds two years ago. Joining the Juniors in Hafjell will be Maggie Doherty, Charlie Dresen, Tommy Gogolen, Drew Hauser, Garrett Long, Cole Schneider and Shane Anderson. Jack Long was scheduled to race in Norway but is still suffering the effects of a concussion and is not able to compete. He hopes to get the green light to compete at Nationals later in the month.
After Hafjell, the team will move on to Rjukan to compete in World Championships from March 16-19. Maggie Doherty and Cole Schneider will return home and not go on to Rjukan, but Erika Walters will take a break from her University studies and will join the team in Rjukan. Also traveling with the team and providing support for them are Lorin Paley, who’s knee injury and surgery have kept her off her skis since Christmas, Roy McKinstry and Ken Gay.
We will post results and reports from the racers, but additionally, several racers have their own blog pages. Following are the link to their pages:
Cory Snyder
Zoe Taylor
Charlie Dresen
Cory Snyder – March 3, 2011
New Skis!!
First day of gate training on the new planks! I feel pretty good about them! Although they are almost identical to the old skis, they do feel quite different. It going to take a few days to really start to feel great on them, good thing I have a week! Hopefully they will be ready to rock for Hafjell!
Cory Snyder – March 2, 2011
JUMPING!!
Sigrid Rhykus invited us to do some jump training with her today in her hometown of Vinstra, a few kilometers north of Kvitfjell, on a 40m ski jump. For me that was definetly the bigest jump that I have ever gone off of, in terms of ski jumps! Its pretty crazy. For people on heavy, skinny telemark skis, we were going around 30 meters, which is pretty big for a telemark jump! It was good to do some real jump training. I worked on fully extending and really pushing off, as well as getting my timing perfect so that I am not pre-jumping and getting maximum air time off the jump. Felt good! This afternoon I got to finally take a few runs on my NEW SKIS!! They are pretty much identical in shape, radius, and stiffness, the only difference being that they are much lighter, and a little softer due to the new plate I used. It is actually made for the NTN binding so it doesn’t require the mounting plate underneath, and it hollowed out underneath to save weight, pretty awesome! I feel really good on them, so we shall see how I ski on ’em tomorrow in training on the national slope!
Charlie Dresen
February 28, 2011
From his Blog at www.steamboatsmyhome.com
In one week, I will be leaving for Norway to compete in the Telemark World Cup Skiing Finals and the Telemark World Championships. Hard to believe I have the time to race at such a high level let alone train for the events. But it’s all about focus and quality over quantity. At least in my hours put into this sport. I’ve been coaching telemark racing for the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club for a few years and have been racing on and off for several years. I call myself a racer/coach and when I have my race-face on I take it very seriously. Although it’s just a passion for my family and career in real estate take first priority over my adventures as a telemark ski racer. So check back for I’ll be writing blogs during my travels.