Newsflash!

XC Oregon’s Evelyn Dong won the 2008 Birkie today in Hayward, WI!!!

Check back for more details!

photo courtesy of skinnyski.com

After 10 days alone in the Engadin I hopped on a train to France.  The train ride was extremely beautiful. We were winding through the snowy alps and as I approached Zurich, it began to feel a lot like spring.

As the train passed through Laussane, the fields were actually green and flowers were in Bloom!  I knew I was getting close to my final destination of La Cure, but there was no sign of snow except for Mont Blanc, which was towering far off in the distance.  After hopping on a different train in Nyon with all of my luggage and  hundreds of middle schoolers who were headed home from school, we began to climb rapidly into the Jura region of France.  As we climbed in elevation, snow began to show in the shaded areas, and when we arrived at the trains final stop in La Cure, it was evident that there was plenty of snow for a ski race.  I am getting better at traveling public transport with all of my bags, but it is stressful and always a struggle each time I have to switch trains.   (more…)

After a few days of altitude training in beautiful Seiser Alm (highly recommended), I headed to Cavalese to take part in the Marcialonga. This morning I woke up at 3am and couldn’t fall back to sleep. The 8 am race start presented a waxing dilemma. The temp at race start was -8c and the temp at the finish was (more…)

Josh sent me these updates to post from Europe, where he has been racing the World Loppet series.  Following is part 1:

Well, here we are in obertilliach, Austria after the dolomitenlauf sitting in the hotel room watching various world cup races. It is fun to watch the races that I normally am able to only see the results of. The view out the window of the mountains is beautiful. (more…)