Kongsberger Ski Club

How do you medal in three races and the relay at World Masters during a major slush fest?  Like this.  Suzanne's awesome and inspiring report is below, along with Rob's excellent pictures of all the action (except this first one, sent to Rainey by Alison Arians, F05 from Anchorage, the second fastest woman at the event.). Trina Hosmer, Suzanne, Sharon Crawfod, and Carolyn Tiernan Suzanne's World Masters Cup 2023 report More than 50 years ago as a student in Munich, I hiked and skied in the Bavarian Alps and Austrian Tyrol. I loved those big alpine peaks and pastoral valleys, especially when they were covered in snow. Unfortunately, for the 12 days Rob and I were in Seefeld, they were not covered in snow. There was snow, but the little there was barely covered the valley bottom and the lower slopes of the mountains, revealing ugly brown spots that grew larger every day. Where I expected alpine grandeur, I found terrain that more closely resembled Snoqualmie Pass in late spri...

Here is a picture of Seefeld, home of this year's World Masters competition! Just kidding; this photo from the MWC2023 website is but a dream.  The reality was, as we know now, a slushfest, with skimpy wet snow and bare patches and even crocuses blooming, for crying out loud.  Never mind, there was racing to be done and David Evans gave it his all.  Here is his report: Musings on the past week’s Masters World Cup   Seefeld, Austria, site of the recent Masters World Cup for cross-country skiing, attended by a number of Kongsberger faithfuls, holds a special place in the Evans Family heart. For it was to dear Seefeld, a few higher train stops than nearby Innsbruck, that the Evans family kept returning for amazing ski vacations each of the five years we taught overseas, 2009 - 2014.  Indeed, our cozy apartment each of those winters proved our Kongsberger Cabin for a half decade, our away from home.  Seefeld is where our boys became bona-fide skiers, ...

 Jeff Hashimoto does it all: organizes a full weekend of racing at Cabin Creek, coaches his junior team, and oh yes, races the 50k.  Somehow he found time to put together this awesome race report, too -- thank you, Jeff, for making it all look so easy! ***** It was a fantastic weekend of racing, and I've finally had a chance to catch my breath to reflect a little bit. Judging by the number of people who left items at the cabin, I wasn't the only one who wasn't firing on all cylinders after the 50k! Saturday: The Washington Nordic Cup Finals on Saturday were the culmination of a season-long series.  The Washington Nordic Cup broke all records this year, with 330 individuals participating in the series through the year, up from a previous high of 270 in 2020.  The goal of the Washington Nordic Cup is to make racing accessible to youth by making races that are low or no cost, low stress and high fun. The Washington Nordic Cup Finals featured a King's Court Format c...

 Many thanks to Rob Corkran for this fun report on all the goings-on this weekend at Cabin Creek! •••• Terrific, might be one of many superlatives to sum it up!  Ski racing at Cabin Creek could hardly have been better this weekend.  Conditions were favorable on Saturday, with hard wax for the Washington Nordic Cup Finals, a classic King’s Court sprint. About a hundred juniors were present.  The junior sprint course as it has evolved is great.  Down the road, up Amabalis, right onto the Berg into the cabin compound and THROUGH the snowmobile shed, down around the PK backwards and up to the finish. The Ozbaldy 50k today was on a course in superb condition and the leaders were able to ski the Ozbaldy downhill with the aplomb of the great Asbjorn Nordheim who inspired the name through the fecund imagination of the late Dick Arkley.  Even the few who skied classic found ideal conditions and were able to ski on Swix 45 and 50. About 150 racers entered one or othe...