Kongsberger Ski Club

 One week to go until the Gunnar Hagen 7.5k and 30k classic race, January 8!  Are you ready?  Are you registered?  Have you clicked on the race information page and registration link on the Kongsberger website? Here are a couple of thoughts to help you get your racing brain in the right place. First, regular registration closes at 5:59pm on Thursday, January 5.   If you just can't decide if you're in or out, or you're a habitual procrastinator, late registration FOR A $30 LATE FEE is available from 6:00pm on Thursday, January 5, to 6:00pm on Friday, January 6.  After that, the registration door slams shut, so don't be thinking you're going to show up on race day and try to sweet-talk (or bully) the timing crew into giving you a special exemption. Second, we're instituting a new bib pickup system this year , to make the process go more smoothly.  Here are the details: The plan is for people to know their bib number before they get into their designated...

  Snow is here in a big big way, along with its friend freezing rain.  So while we're trapped at home, eagerly checking the pass reports, it's a good time to check out our training contributors' December thoughts as we transition from dryland training to beautiful beautiful snow and a full race season.  This will be the last training post until next summer -- now it's time to put on a bib!  Hopefully you've found something in our range of contributors that speaks to you, that gives you new ideas , that gets you out the door, that inspires big goals.  And remember, your race reports always have a home on this blog, so send them over to me!  See you on the trails! Very front of the pack, overall and age group podium, all distances, national and international   The transition from dryland to on-snow is primarily about one overriding goal: as many km as possible on snow.  Don’t stress with heart rate or intensity, or trying to avoid intensity either; ...

Today, a guest essay from Coach Jim Felty, particularly well-timed considering the US women are once again rockin' the World Cup! **** This year I could not help but notice all of the new Seattle Mariners...in the stands, at the grocery store, on the ferry and in restaurants/bars...I did not realize that so many people in the PNW played for them...I thought that the Mariners were limited to only 26 players per team.  I have also noticed, wow, there are a lot of Seahawks as well...funny, I could have sworn they were limited to around 60 players, yet last week there were  hundreds on the ferry headed to the game.  This made me think about things...if I have a team hat, am I on the team? By now you are probably wondering what the old coach is rambling about...well, we should represent our sport the way we represent our favorite teams in the pro market.  Jessie Diggins is a professional; where is my Diggins jersey or maybe a Bjornsen jersey...oh wait, we nordic skiers do...

 If you've been keeping up with the grooming reports on the Kongsberger website, you know we've got a problem with trees ... again.  And yes, before you ask, the KSC trail crew went around the course before the snowstorms hit and cleared out what they could; per USFS regulations, we can only take the leaners and the downers, not cut down standing trees. So of course, Old Man Winter laughs at us and throws out a ton of heavy wet snow, which knocked down more trees and buried them, which damaged the grooming equipment, which led to the grooming crew spending valuable hours clearing trees and fixing equipment instead of grooming trails. So I've got a shovel and a strong back; how can I help, you ask?  Opportunities abound!  The grooming crew has supplied us with a list of problems that we are encouraged to tackle.  (And by "we," I mean everyone; this is not limited to KSC members.)  The list can be found here, on the first tab of this spreadsheet, and we'll be...