Snow in Cambridge

The burden of a 10-day exam period was eased today by more than half a foot of beautiful new snow. This morning we got to ski the full "Tour de Weston" free from grass and rocks, the snowflakes persistently pelting us in the face the entire time. A few snowsuit-clad toddlers and their dads were doing an OD sledding marathon while we attempted an OD ski. They were definitely out there longer, and though the kids were briefly impressed by Dave and Trevor's tele turns, they yelled at us when we took too long in their sledding lane. We learned that Dave cheats at sharks and minnows, that asking the guy in the Pisten Bully to groom us a jump run does not work, and that Coach Cushman has absolutely no qualms about taking face-first diggers in the powder.

We're wrapping up some studying now and the snow is still falling. With the Bates carnival only days away and the arrival of real winter in Cambridge, it feels pretty good to be a skier.

(My bike).

- Anna

New Mascot!

"The Crimson" is kind of lame and far from fearless, so Harvard Nordic has found a new, ferocious mascot:

(Her name is Lily).

This post is about racing, not breakfast pizza

Saturday marked our third race of the season, the VO2Max Bogburn held at Bob Haydock's cabin in Pomfret, VT. 7k classic for the ladies, 14 for the men. Some pics from Bob:




Contrary to the stories told by the pictures, the female pterodactyls threw down the hammer as well.

M

Hobo Nordic

Too much snow to drive? Maybe. Enough for an excursion into ski vagabond-ry? Definitely. On this blustery post-snowstorm morning, an intrepid Audrey Mangan (alias Senator Cletus Scoffpossum)


and Meri Burruss (alias Joey Stinkeye Smiles)


took to the streets on the most beater rock skis in our possession and decked in hobo gear for all seasons (special thanks to Naj Burruss for supplying the hats, a key accessory). Undeterred by patches of asphalt, brown city snow, chain-link fences, and Do Not Enter signs, the pair embraced their seemingly magical ability to kick on skate skis and plowed along the Charles in search of hidden lakes of moonshine and hobo symbols amongst graffiti, considering hijacking construction vehicles and scavenging for treasures along the way:


While we didn't track down that elusive moonshine-and-chicken-bone empire, we did find a nice view of the Boston skyline.


That is all.

\ | /
--H--
/ | \

Loitzl Dominates Prestigious 4-Hills Tournee

So, few readers of this online rag know what ski jumping is, let alone the significance of the 4-Hills Tournee. For reference, the 4-Hills is to the fans of ski jumping what a monster-truck rally is to the fans of, well, monster-truck-rallying, whenever the Gravedigger jumps over like 68 cars. Okay, if you don't know what the Gravedigger is, that's just downright embarrassing. But you probably guessed it, it's a hearse/MonsterTruck combo that just decimates any competition. Now, and only now, can you truly appreciate the merit of a 4-Hills Win.

Yep, Wolfgang Loitzl of Austria just destroyed it. This dude had never won a WorldCup in his 11 years on the circuit, despite having 4 Gold World Championship medals (all in the team event). He'd been runner up in a WC six times, then rolls into the most prestigious four days of competition of the year, and dethrones World Cup leader Simon Ammann to win 3/4 of the comps, taking the overall title.

Why is this so ridiculous, you ask? In this day in age when Ricardo Ricco and and Bernhard Kohl can just pop a few pills to steal their 4 days of glory in the Tour de Lance?

It's simple. Because in 2003, this guy just sucked. I mean, we're talking beat-tastic. [Think, Michael Jordan's esteemed professional golf career] Need youtube evidence? You got it. See him here in this classic video simply entitiled, "Ski Jumper Fucks Up":

That's young Wolfgang in 2003, and as you can tell, he can't make it off the takeoff on his feet. Then, miraculously, he goes on to seal his 4-Hills win in Bischofshofen, AUT, with a 142.5 meter ride, to which the judges awarded five- 20 point style marks. That's a feat that's only been accomplished by two other jumpers in the history of the sport. One of those jumpers happened to be Audun Lutnaes, proud graduate of the National Sports Academy.

Without further ado, one of the three prettiest jumps, and probably biggest doping shams, in the history of ski jumping:

Yeah, he's good. But he didn't jump over 57 cars in a hearse outfitted with 6' tires. Yawn.

Side note, a hearty congratulations to Anna Schulz, for posting her first win in the even more prestigious WESTON TUESDAY NIGHTER. Somebody had to [wo]man up and slay. We're more thankful, however, that nobdy ended up in the Mass General ICU with head trauma.

'Til next time.

Dave

Nordic Confused...

An apt decription of the athletes who decideto juggle their time between the Nordic tracks and the jump hill. But what a season those US Noco boys are having, huh? Results from yesterday in Oberhof GER, Lodwick 2nd in an epic sprint finish after jumping himself into 5th following a 2 season hiatus from the WC scene. The rest of the US breakdown: Demong in 5th, 41 seconds back, and Johnny with a strong finsih in 7th, but sadly DQ'd for failing to ski with a transponder. Eric Camerota in 39th.

So, unofficially that's 3 Americans in the top 7. Taking a look at the Continental Cup results, the latest event at Whistler's Olympic Park landed 4 Americans in the top 10. Overall standings for the CC tour put Lodwick in 1st, Brett in 2nd, Fletcher in 5th, Alex Miller in 17th, and Willy G in 21st.

That's a pretty freakin' solid start to the season, especially considering the size of the American Nordic Combined talent pool, which currently hovers around 17 on a sunny, injury-free day. Also keep in mind that all of these skiers come from one of three clubs: LPSC, SSWSC or NSF. Statisticaly, that's just mind boggling. Given, combined enjoys a much smaller talent pool world-wide, but we're still talking about World Cup wins, and spot on that podium is coveted nonetheless.

Now take a look at the special XC side of things: our lone distance skier in the points with a season high of 16th in sunny Kuusamo. And our sprint guru Newell with a pre- Xmas top WC finish in 11th, twice in Kuusamo & Dusseldorf. Plus, team relay in 4th.

Don't get me wrong, these are solid results in the points, but why is it so tough to see American skiing get an athlete into that coveted top 10? Sure, global talent pool is huge, but then again, so is ours. Ski clubs all across the country are pumping out fit skiers faster than the Fed is slashing interest rates and pumping out the green and a competitive high school and Eastern Cup circuit are providing juniors the chance to ski against top domestic racers, former Olympians and World Championship vets. From there, skiers can pop into the ranks of a team on the college circuit, where talented junior skiers simply go to die. College skiing is really the graveyard of young national talent. Instead of being urged to pursue athletic careers with a degree in hand, a scant future of poorly funded domestic teams and a severly under-devloped national team program are all that await the recently enlightened.

United States Nordic Combined: "Long name, amazing results"

So, some food for thought as you grind out the k's and tick away at Lars Flora's tasty 12 days of Xmas workout. What's to blame for the endless drought of US cross country success on the world scene? All in, all out, who cares if the top season distance result is 16th anyway?

My suggestion, take a lesson from your combined buddies, throw a little Tool into the mp3 and just start dropping the hammer.

No excuses.

D

Pre Xmas ski of the Big One

Woods: "Badman, how are you wasting your life away tomorrow?"
Badman: "Skiing Marcy with Robbie".
Woods: "You know, I've never skied Marcy before Christmas."
Badman: "Would it be safe to assume that none of the Big Fellas have either? Would this be an ascent of epic proportions?"
Woods: "Probably."

4+ feet of the pow.

Merry Christmas indeed.






Happy Holidays from your friends at Crimson Nordic, Worldwide.