Nordic Nuts-Home

3/29/06
Even more to add. I skied again in town, and things have gotten worse, but I would still rate it skiable, check the snow report for more. This weekend there will be plenty of good skiing to be had at Valhalla, Ironwood and elsewhere. ABR is shutting down after this weekend. Weak sauce. There should be reasonably good skiing in Ironwood for at least another week. I'm torn about where to ski since there are plenty of options. We'll see. I was thinking of a rock ski race at Valhalla this weekend, but I'm not sure there will be rock ski conditions there yet.

3/28/06
I'm back already. I skied in town today and thus the Snow Report has an update. The skiing is actually not bad for the end of March. Read there for details. Czech you later.

3/27/06
Racing didn't quite happen last weekend. It turns out the race was on Sunday, not Saturday when I showed up. I still got in a great ski at Snowflake. The trails there flow beautifully and the snow was nice and fast. It turned out to be kind of a nice thing because it got me off the snow earlier and on to car shopping. Ski Hut hooked me up with a pair of ice skis, which I tested out early Sunday morning at Valhalla. They're a pair of pretty stiff, high camber RS-11s from this year. I didn't beat the groomer up there, so it wasn't rock hard ice, but it was still pretty hard. The skis feel great, but I think with all the expenses of buying a car, I might have to hold off on the skis. I figure there's at least a week or two of skiing left, and since I missed the race at Snowflake, there's a possibility of a crazy-fun time trial event at Valhalla depending on how it holds up. I think I'll make a 5 month ski season no problem. I've been getting some great positive comments on the website lately. Thanks a bunch for those. Given the positive feedback, I'm planning on some cool changes sometime before next winter. I'm also planning on doing a bit better job of updating this summer with some biking related stuff. Keep and eye on the site, we aren't going into hibernation. Shout out of the day goes to Sally Pufall. Ms. Pufall was my 7th and 8th grade Advanced English teacher and I would not be most of the places I am today withoutthe things I learned from her. She passed away last week, and would definitiely be turning some barrel rolls in her grave if she saw the lack of grammatical correctness on this site. Obviously, there's a lot of writing on this site, and I'm not sure I ever would have ever started to enjoy writing without her. She was pretty tough (I actually got a negative grade on an assignment for her) but mostly because she cared. If I thought I could teach that well, I would probably teach. That's all for now. I'll try to check in a little sooner this week. Ciao.

3/21/06
A couple of things today. The trail report has been updated. I'm still giddy about Newell taking the podium. This country is heading for big things in skiing, believe it, get into it, and do your part. Fasterskier has published an awesome interview by Torin Koos with outgoing cross country coach Trond Nystad. Its three parts and worth a read, and read the whole thing, because you could get some info out of context if you only read one part. I feel the need to vent my own thoughts on it, and what better place than here? First off, I have to say that I agree with most of what he has to say, and I know that he has forgotten more about coaching skiing than I will ever know. That said, we're all entitled to our opinions right? I think my biggest problem lies not necessarily with what trond said, but with some of the comments that follow. These people have no freaking clue and I start to understand why so many people my age call fasterskier "norwegian skier for master blasters". Those folks are getting on collegiate skiing hard. "Kids party too much, damn kids" Now I can't claim to be an expert in collegiate skiing since I didn't ski for an NCAA program, but I have friends that do, and I've been around the scene some, mostly central colleges. Yeah, college skiers party more often than 40 year old guys with families. Are you surprised? College skiers party way less than the general college population, probably less than most of the student athlete population. And the skiers that really want it and seriously think they're going to get to the next level aren't stupid. They put in the hours and they're focused. They balance well. I was staying with the Tech team a couple of years ago for the Great Bear chase. After taking a top 10 in the race, Karl Walczak and one of the other guys went out for an easy 2 or 3 hour classic ski, because they were supposed to do a 3 classic ski that day. Those guys were not slackin, and that was March. Yeah, there are some skiers who take things less seriously, but I doubt they are dreaming about making the Olympic team either, and I think there needs to be room for them in college sking. The other point that in my opinion needs some clarification is for the hours for young skiers. 500 hour is about right for senior in high school who's got big dreams. A freshman should start out at 300-350 and build from there. But at all ages there should be cross training, and by cross training I mean just about anything outside. Going for pole hikes, riding a bike, playing soccer, etc. From what I've read, some guy named Koch was pretty much the king of cross training. In the end there is no blanket answer of what will work for each athlete, that's where the need for personal attention comes in. Oh, and for all the people talking trash about Newell training enough, I'm pretty sure I recall reading somewhere he does about 700 hours a year. The boy just podiumed in a World Cup, he's doing something right. Do you really think you know more about training than he does? That's all for now, but maybe I'll get excited and write some more. Go Zags!

3/19/06
Good times this weekend at the ABR Spring Race. A nice field and great conditions. Czech it. I had a nice time and even managed to bring some goodies home. I skied more this week than the last couple of weeks, which was nice. I did make it out on the Ashland trails once, and they're actually not too shabby other than the fact that they've only been groomed at half width most of the way. Skating is a bit dicey. They look to have snow for reasonable skiing for at least a week with only a couple of trouble spots. Valhalla and Ironwood should be good for at least a couple of weeks if not a month. I'm planning on probably hitting up the race in Duluth next weekend if things go as planned. Newell got a WC podium (3rd) in China! That's our boy. He qualified first. Sick. Seriously, I went nuts when I found out. There's more where that came from. Lots more. Go Zags!

3/13/06
The Bear Chase rocked this weekend and you can read all about it here. I had a good race and it was tight to see Adam and hang with some college kids. Thanks to the whole crew at the Tech ski house for their hospitality. Today, Ashland picked up a good 8 inches of rock solid snow, which should serve to extend skiing around here for a while given the reasonably cool forecast for the next week or so. I'm feeling good for another good race next weekend at the ABR Spring Race. If all goes well, I think I'll probably be putting in some pretty good volume of skiing this week. How can I not with this kind of snow? Ciao.

3/9/06
A quick pre-weekend update. I'm headed up to the Great Bear Chase. It promises to be a wet sloppy one, which I can handle. Throw the fluoros and rill on the skis and have a good day. I'm planning on having my skis ready to rock before I leave. People have been racing fast all over the place. Kikkan Randall threw in a nice 5th place in a sprint World Cup in Europe and Newell had another "OK" result with 8th. Do you remember the days when we would get all giddy over that? Oh and the midwest is representing hardcore at collegiate nationals with third place finishes for Lindsey Weier and Bryan Cook (by .6 seconds). With the announcement of the CXC Team, its time to reveal the mystery of Nordic Nuts. Part of the original idea behind Nordic Nuts was to create a multi-media face for a senior level development team based in the midwest, much like what has been done with Team Today, Fullthrottlexc or FSX. They made one before I did, and I'm sure they'll do a better job than I would have. I'm really excited because I feel like there was a big gap that is finally being filled. I'm 100% behind the program and hoping to do a lot to make it successful. I have a feeling this can make some crazy big things happen. Are you ready?

3/5/06
Good day to ya. I had a blast at the River View Loppet yesterday, and got in a nice skate skiing in falling snow today on the trails here in Ashland. There's updates all over. We've got a trail report, a race report, and a photoset up from the race. Next stop will be the Great Bear Chase next weekend up in Calumet. If I get in a couple of good skis this week, I think I should be in a good spot for a nice race up there. Shout outs from this weekend include Catie Cogger for the W in the women's 12k freestyle in Brule. Scott Johanik also turned in a nice performance against some older competition. The Riverbrook boys threw down big time in the 24k freestyle sweeping the podium and getting a bunch of other top finishes. Oh, and of course Mark Howard gets a shout out for kicking my butt by over two and a half minutes in the classic race. That's all I got right now. Ciao.


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3/29/06 Even more to add. I skied again in town, and things have gotten worse, but I would still rate it skiable, check the snow report for more. This weekend there will be plenty of good skiing to be had at Valhalla, Ironwood and elsewhere. ABR is shutting down after this weekend. Weak sauce. There should be reasonably good skiing in Ironwood for at least another week. I'm torn about where to ski since there are plenty of options. We'll see. I was thinking of a rock ski race at Valhalla this weekend, but I'm not sure there will be rock ski conditions there yet.
3/28/06 I'm back already. I skied in town today and thus the Snow Report has an update. The skiing is actually not bad for the end of March. Read there for details. Czech you later.
3/27/06 Racing didn't quite happen last weekend. It turns out the race was on Sunday, not Saturday when I showed up. I still got in a great ski at Snowflake. The trails there flow beautifully and the snow was nice and fast. It turned out to be kind of a nice thing because it got me off the snow earlier and on to car shopping. Ski Hut hooked me up with a pair of ice skis, which I tested out early Sunday morning at Valhalla. They're a pair of pretty stiff, high camber RS-11s from this year. I didn't beat the groomer up there, so it wasn't rock hard ice, but it was still pretty hard. The skis feel great, but I think with all the expenses of buying a car, I might have to hold off on the skis. I figure there's at least a week or two of skiing left, and since I missed the race at Snowflake, there's a possibility of a crazy-fun time trial event at Valhalla depending on how it holds up. I think I'll make a 5 month ski season no problem. I've been getting some great positive comments on the website lately. Thanks a bunch for those. Given the positive feedback, I'm planning on some cool changes sometime before next winter. I'm also planning on doing a bit better job of updating this summer with some biking related stuff. Keep and eye on the site, we aren't going into hibernation. Shout out of the day goes to Sally Pufall. Ms. Pufall was my 7th and 8th grade Advanced English teacher and I would not be most of the places I am today withoutthe things I learned from her. She passed away last week, and would definitiely be turning some barrel rolls in her grave if she saw the lack of grammatical correctness on this site. Obviously, there's a lot of writing on this site, and I'm not sure I ever would have ever started to enjoy writing without her. She was pretty tough (I actually got a negative grade on an assignment for her) but mostly because she cared. If I thought I could teach that well, I would probably teach. That's all for now. I'll try to check in a little sooner this week. Ciao.
3/21/06 A couple of things today. The trail report has been updated. I'm still giddy about Newell taking the podium. This country is heading for big things in skiing, believe it, get into it, and do your part. Fasterskier has published an awesome interview by Torin Koos with outgoing cross country coach Trond Nystad. Its three parts and worth a read, and read the whole thing, because you could get some info out of context if you only read one part. I feel the need to vent my own thoughts on it, and what better place than here? First off, I have to say that I agree with most of what he has to say, and I know that he has forgotten more about coaching skiing than I will ever know. That said, we're all entitled to our opinions right? I think my biggest problem lies not necessarily with what trond said, but with some of the comments that follow. These people have no freaking clue and I start to understand why so many people my age call fasterskier "norwegian skier for master blasters". Those folks are getting on collegiate skiing hard. "Kids party too much, damn kids" Now I can't claim to be an expert in collegiate skiing since I didn't ski for an NCAA program, but I have friends that do, and I've been around the scene some, mostly central colleges. Yeah, college skiers party more often than 40 year old guys with families. Are you surprised? College skiers party way less than the general college population, probably less than most of the student athlete population. And the skiers that really want it and seriously think they're going to get to the next level aren't stupid. They put in the hours and they're focused. They balance well. I was staying with the Tech team a couple of years ago for the Great Bear chase. After taking a top 10 in the race, Karl Walczak and one of the other guys went out for an easy 2 or 3 hour classic ski, because they were supposed to do a 3 classic ski that day. Those guys were not slackin, and that was March. Yeah, there are some skiers who take things less seriously, but I doubt they are dreaming about making the Olympic team either, and I think there needs to be room for them in college sking. The other point that in my opinion needs some clarification is for the hours for young skiers. 500 hour is about right for senior in high school who's got big dreams. A freshman should start out at 300-350 and build from there. But at all ages there should be cross training, and by cross training I mean just about anything outside. Going for pole hikes, riding a bike, playing soccer, etc. From what I've read, some guy named Koch was pretty much the king of cross training. In the end there is no blanket answer of what will work for each athlete, that's where the need for personal attention comes in. Oh, and for all the people talking trash about Newell training enough, I'm pretty sure I recall reading somewhere he does about 700 hours a year. The boy just podiumed in a World Cup, he's doing something right. Do you really think you know more about training than he does? That's all for now, but maybe I'll get excited and write some more. Go Zags!
3/19/06 Good times this weekend at the ABR Spring Race. A nice field and great conditions. Czech it. I had a nice time and even managed to bring some goodies home. I skied more this week than the last couple of weeks, which was nice. I did make it out on the Ashland trails once, and they're actually not too shabby other than the fact that they've only been groomed at half width most of the way. Skating is a bit dicey. They look to have snow for reasonable skiing for at least a week with only a couple of trouble spots. Valhalla and Ironwood should be good for at least a couple of weeks if not a month. I'm planning on probably hitting up the race in Duluth next weekend if things go as planned. Newell got a WC podium (3rd) in China! That's our boy. He qualified first. Sick. Seriously, I went nuts when I found out. There's more where that came from. Lots more. Go Zags!
3/13/06 The Bear Chase rocked this weekend and you can read all about it here. I had a good race and it was tight to see Adam and hang with some college kids. Thanks to the whole crew at the Tech ski house for their hospitality. Today, Ashland picked up a good 8 inches of rock solid snow, which should serve to extend skiing around here for a while given the reasonably cool forecast for the next week or so. I'm feeling good for another good race next weekend at the ABR Spring Race. If all goes well, I think I'll probably be putting in some pretty good volume of skiing this week. How can I not with this kind of snow? Ciao.
3/9/06 A quick pre-weekend update. I'm headed up to the Great Bear Chase. It promises to be a wet sloppy one, which I can handle. Throw the fluoros and rill on the skis and have a good day. I'm planning on having my skis ready to rock before I leave. People have been racing fast all over the place. Kikkan Randall threw in a nice 5th place in a sprint World Cup in Europe and Newell had another "OK" result with 8th. Do you remember the days when we would get all giddy over that? Oh and the midwest is representing hardcore at collegiate nationals with third place finishes for Lindsey Weier and Bryan Cook (by .6 seconds). With the announcement of the CXC Team, its time to reveal the mystery of Nordic Nuts. Part of the original idea behind Nordic Nuts was to create a multi-media face for a senior level development team based in the midwest, much like what has been done with Team Today, Fullthrottlexc or FSX. They made one before I did, and I'm sure they'll do a better job than I would have. I'm really excited because I feel like there was a big gap that is finally being filled. I'm 100% behind the program and hoping to do a lot to make it successful. I have a feeling this can make some crazy big things happen. Are you ready?
3/5/06 Good day to ya. I had a blast at the River View Loppet yesterday, and got in a nice skate skiing in falling snow today on the trails here in Ashland. There's updates all over. We've got a trail report, a race report, and a photoset up from the race. Next stop will be the Great Bear Chase next weekend up in Calumet. If I get in a couple of good skis this week, I think I should be in a good spot for a nice race up there. Shout outs from this weekend include Catie Cogger for the W in the women's 12k freestyle in Brule. Scott Johanik also turned in a nice performance against some older competition. The Riverbrook boys threw down big time in the 24k freestyle sweeping the podium and getting a bunch of other top finishes. Oh, and of course Mark Howard gets a shout out for kicking my butt by over two and a half minutes in the classic race. That's all I got right now. Ciao.
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©2005 Paul Belknap All rights reserved. Why do I do this? Check out About Contact Me My disclaimer: The opinions expressed on this website are mine and mine alone and they do not reflect the position of Gonzaga University, if they did, you would be hearing as much about their nordic ski team as their men's basketball team. :)