First Races

When you are a Nordic ski racer, you tend to ignore the 12-month 365 day Gregorian calendar, and divide your year into two distinct and slightly more simplified seasons: snowy and not snowy.

The snowy season is better for a lot of reasons, but my favorite reason, is that it brings us real on-snow (none of that rollerski garbage) racing. It brings us the chance to finally test ourselves and measure our progress in the singular arena of ski racing.

This last weekend after finally reaching the snowy season, I got the chance to start racing again. West Yellowstone is always the first SuperTour stop each year, and so that’s where my teammates and I found ourselves last week when the racing got underway.

The first race of the year was a skate sprint. Last year’s West Yellowstone debacle left people a little wary as we approached the beginning of the races, but cold temperatures and a well timed snowstorm made sure that the conditions were great. It was very cold the morning of the sprint qualifier, especially in the stadium, which was heavily shaded by the trees. My goal was to go out and ski a fast qualifier, however, I wasn’t sure exactly what that would be because I didn’t know what my competition would be like or how I would feel. I ended up 14th in the qualifier, six seconds out of first place. I was in one of the fastest quarterfinals of the day, and ended up getting 5th in my heat.

In my quarter I was caught out of position early on, and the course was so flat that passing became basically impossible between the end of the first 200 meters and the start of the last 200. It reminded me that you must always be aware of the tactical implications of a course, and that sometimes those will dictate the race even more than the competitors. It was a good lesson to be reminded of in a SuperTour instead of a US Nationals or European race, and I won’t soon forget it.

My SMS teammates all did very well in the race, as Eric and Skyler both advanced into the semifinals, and just missed out on the A-final. Annie and Erika both had career best days in the sprint with Erika making it all the way to A final!

The second race was a 15k skate individual start race. I was excited, and a little scared for this race, because I struggle with distance skating especially individual starts and I really wanted to prove to myself that I had improved on it over the summer. We did 3 laps of a brutal 5k course, and when I as done, I was definitely wiped. The course was not especially hilly, but it was technical and it transitioned between terrains so frequently that there was never really time to rest leaving you more tired than you thought you should have been. I ended up in 32nd place, just under 3 minutes back from the winner. I can’t say that I was satisfied with my race result, but my coach Gus and I have been working on having lots of process goals for each race and I can say I was happy with those. It’s little goals like having a set warm up routine, and making sure you can feel your fingers at the start line that all build towards a final result, and as long as I do a good job with those, the racing will come around.

As in the previous race, all my teammates kicked some butt in the 15k; Annie finished 8th and Erika 5th in the women’s race, and Eric finished 18th in the men’s.

All in all, I’m happy that snowy season is here. Racing is one of the biggest parts of why I love Nordic skiing as much as I do, and I love doing it. Though I wasn’t entirely satisfied with my opening races, I learned a few good lessons, and was reminded that racing well--just like everything else in our sport--takes time.

The next races are going to be Saturday and Sunday in Bozeman, MT, at Bohart Ranch. Check in later this week for a pre-race update!

About the author... Former Minnesota State and Junior National Champion Ben Saxton has begun a second PG year at Stratton Mountain School. His trip to World Juniors last year inspired him to keep chasing his dream of making the US Ski Team and achieve international success. As an athlete forgoing the traditional collegiate path he hopes to share stories and thoughts about training, racing, and the skiing lifestyle to keep up with everyone at home as he travels the Supertour circuit and hopefully the World.