Startin' it up!

Hey all!

Only a couple more days until the season officially begins! Today was our first practice with most of the non-regionals cross country kids, and the conditions couldn't have been more kick-ass. South Colton is well on its way to becoming a winter-wonderland.

The practice was a relatively low level workout on River Road (the Dam[n] Road!!) It was good to have so many of us rearin' to go, as well as one of the newbies: Ryan. He's only been on roller skis a couple times, and he braved conditions that were as close to skiing as you can get without the skis. Kudos.

We didn't go all the way to the end of the road; some hadn't been on skis yet. Overall, I'd say it was a very good kick-off to the Nordic season, and only a couple more weeks before the whole crew is assembled. Can't wait!

Go Pats,

Zach Russo

two words

WOODEN ROLLERSKIS

http://www.woodrollerski.com/

Yes We Are

In the middle of finals week, one test today, one paper due today and another final on Thursday. It's wrapping up quick. This will most likely be my last post as a current student at Clarkson University. However the Clarkson blogosphere will go on with the new addition of Zach Russo to the blog staff, and potentially other secret guest bloggers on occasion. For now check out Petter Northug winning a car http://www.hallingdolen.no/hdspelar/video/article162065.ece

We are good bloggers.

... no we're not!!!

We were weak sauce on blog... blogging... blogoogling this year. That's okay though. I don't have to do any more posts because I'm retired from Clarkson Nordic. Maybe I'll make some of the fresh(wo)men get accounts. They have cameras, and can put up pictures.

-LaMonster

Season Underway

The Time trial is behind us and we are now recovering from the SLU Carnival this past weekend. The time trial was a good start to get everyone in racing mood and see where we all ended up. Justin, e-mail me and I will send you the results. Everyone did great and Justin's predictions were sort of close haha.


For the SLU Carnival, the first day was full of tough waxing conditions. With icy snow, rain, sleet and snow coming down, changing every ten minutes, waxing was difficult. We still pushed out a gutsy race, however not the performance we were hoping for. Two loops of the Ladies 5k is not ideal for these conditions. People were running up and down hills, or they had no kick!

The picture below shows us lined up for the 20k mass start. Clarkson did better in this race with some top finishes from Alex Benway and Matt Delaney. We fared off well and were able to compete with some of the D-I schools. It was a great way to really kick off the season and get us going.

We are now all ready to hit the road and go after USCSA. Next weekend we are off to Ethan Allen in Jericho, VT. We all are looking forward to these races and hope for continued success.

I will update the blog soon!

D Day

Back at school

Matt and I have already arrived at campus to start our grad classes and boy did we find snow! To start with, I had to wait to pull out of my driveway at home because people were skiing by! Once I safely made it up here, the snow was amazing. Hopefully the weather holds and we will have great skiing all season.

Matt and I have a lighter work load this week so we have been able to get skiing everyday. Higley is a little soft, but it is coming around for sure. Below is a picture that is a blast from the past. My sophomore year at the Higley Hustle.

I am looking forward to everyone getting back to campus. While we are here with snow, one thing we expressed at camp was the forward lean. Delaney found that most people struggled with this a bit. below is a picture to show what he meant and what we are looking for!

D Day

Ski Camp and Break

Well we did it again. We just got back from ski camp for my fifth time. Mont Sainte Anne was good to use even though they did not have their normal snow. The two feet they did have though was enough to have half the trails open and allow us to enjoy being on snow. We were able to have some great worksout and just enjoy the eat, sleep, ski schedule.

The trip as a whole was a success. Delaney and I agree that it is one of the best years we have had at ski camp. We had a great groups of people and really were able to hang out and enjoy eachothers company.

Once we all made it home, I hope we all found snow. I know in the rochester area, Harriet was pretty nice most of break and even Mendon Ponds was skiable for a few days. I know I took advantage of finally not having work to do 24/7. I saw Brian McPherson out there skiing. He was asking a lot of questions about our team, so we will have to back up what I told him come race season.

I hope everyone is enjoying good snow and was able to continue the great training we had at camp. I was able to do one race were the biggest highlight was seeing Coach and Alumni Justin Tetlow. This does not speak as highly to them, as it does poorly to my race haha. Waiting comment from Justin on that one!

Looking forward to seeing everyone back at school

D Day