Methow Nordic Team News

By Chris "Flash" Clark, Head Coach

Reflecting on this past year, my favorite day of skiing with the Team was on the rolling wheat fields outside of Wilbur, 100 miles from the nearest groomed ski trail. With a van full of high school kids, forty pairs of skis, and bright blue sky, it’s no wonder we were all excited to pull over and go skiing! I watched the kids as they glided over the perfect crust, riding a flat ski and transferring their weight, but this is not what they were thinking - they were just skiing well because they love to ski.

Crust cruising on the wheat fields near Wilbur

Another high point was watching a continuous blur of red jackets as kids of all ages glided around the new ski trails at Liberty Bell H.S., as the sun set behind Patterson Mountain.

The evening light did not slow anyone down, from those just learning to ski, to the top junior in the country, who was preparing to compete in France. While it is a diverse group, there are numerous things that all the MVNT skiers have in common. They’re all improving, they’re all surrounded by dedicated coaches, they all have a ski community in the valley that supports them, and (99% of the time) they’re all having fun. It isn’t only about gold medals or max VO2, our success comes from giving kids a chance to ski with their friends and learn to love a sport that they can do for the rest of their lives.

Thanks to everyone who has helped make it possible for MVNT skiers to love to ski! I look forward to seeing you in the mountains this summer.  - Flash

PS: Visit the MVNT blog, for a crust cruising video! MethowValleyNordicTeam.blogspot.com

By Annie Budiselich, Junior Nordic Coach

What a wonderful ski season we all had! Who would have guessed that during a minimal snow winter and such cold temperatures we could have such a great season! Fifteen families joined our ranks, bringing the total number of skiers on the team to over 120! Of these, over ninety were elementary school age and younger, and roughly thirty were Junior High and High School kids. That’s a LOT of skis on the trails every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon!

The newly expanded ski trail at Liberty Bell High School, a combined effort from MVSTA, the Nordic Club and the Nordic Team, produced 3.5 kilometers of rocking and rolling ski trails accessible right from the back door of the public schools! These trails provided ideal terrain for skill development in skiers of all ages and abilities with everything from flat loops to gentle hills to steep climbs and whizzing descents. The infield of the football stadium was completely groomed and was a hot spot for games of Sharks and Minnows, relay races and Capture the Flag. In addition, on those short days of early winter, the ability to start practice immediately after school, with no driving time to a trailhead, gave us more time on skis before dark. Skiers, parents and coaches all benefited to this new addition to the trail system.

It took 20 skilled coaches to keep all of our team skiers challenged, supported and having fun. Our coaches deserve gold medals! This year seven MVNT coaches became certified as Professional Ski Instructors in a clinic taught by our own David Lawrence at Sun Mountain Lodge. We are extremely fortunate to have David on our coaching team as he is on the PSIA National Nordic Team and a passionate instructor and clinician. Next year, we hope more of our coaches will become certified and strive for higher levels of coaching competency.

Fun Ski to Town

Off the snow, one of the greatest additions to the Team was our Blog. To really be able to picture the enthusiasm and camaraderie generated by our ski team one really needs to SEE it in action. For lots of photos of kids, coaches, and fun check out:

The MVNT Website
    mvnordic.com/team

The MVNT Blog
    MethowValleyNordicTeam.blogspot.com

By Betsy Devin-Smith, Biathlon Coach

The Methow Valley Nordic Biathlon team had a busy and successful season. This year they had twenty-three kids ages 9-18 on the team.
Highlights of the year included:

• Two biathlon camps in the Methow Valley in the summer and fall which featured guest coaches from the US Biathlon Association.
• Eight biathletes from the team competed in the Caloc Invitational events at the Whistler Olympic Park in Canada.
• Four biathletes, for the first time, competed in the US World Junior Trials in Alaska.
• Thirteen biathletes along with parents, coaches went to Vernon B.C. for a B.C race.

Betsy Devin, coach of the Biathlon team, went to Osterun, Sweden in October 2008 to attend the International Biathlon Union’s conference for junior and youth biathlon coaches. She was one of three coaches representing the US along with coaches from eleven other nations. Devin said she "learned a lot about biathlon development in the world and realized that we are so lucky here in the Methow to have the programs, trails, volunteers, coaches and parents. We are on track with the rest of the biathlon world."

The team will be holding summer and fall training events. For further information or anyone nine or older interested in joining the biathlon team, contact Betsy Devin-Smith 996-3159 or biathlon@methownet.com

Nordic skiing in the Methow Valley is usually associated with great snow, skinny skis, hard wax, corduroy grooming, and a lot of fast red and blue jackets zooming fluidly past you on the trails. So what in the world are all these crazy teenagers doing at 7:00-8:00 from May to February in Winthrop Fitness? Why, POWERCAMP of course!

Powercamp is the foundation fitness program that incorporates core strength, plyometrics, weight lifting, tire flipping, rope shaking, and a lot of fun relays. The result is the development of the necessary strength needed to excel at Nordic skiing. A key side benefit is the learning of additional ways to stay active and fit. Healthy kids make for a healthy community!

Powercamp starts off with a lot of sleepy teenage eyes, but quickly changes with a diet of strap layouts, side planks, and medicine ball throws. Summer months find these athletes leaping the Ice Rink steps 2 and 3 at a time on one leg. The end of each session wouldn’t be complete without bragging rights on the tractor tire flipping relay. Power camp is starting NOW! I can feel the skis getting faster already.

For information about Power Camp, call Winthrop Physical Therapy. 996-8234.

By Erik Bjornsen

Erik is a senior at Liberty Bell High School. He was named to represent the US at the World Junior Championships in Praz de Lys France where he finished first in the sprints and is the top ranked J1 skier on the FIS Sprint List. He is a member of the newly created Methow Olympic Development (MOD) Team.

My trip to Praz De Lys in France for the World Junior Championships opened the doors to what I hope to achieve in the near future. It was an amazing trip and I was honored to be named to the World Junior team after one cold race at senior Nationals in Anchorage, Alaska.

I traveled with four other great junior men skiers from around the US and five junior women, one of which was my sister Sadie. The experience made me excited to train hard, knowing I could compete with the best juniors from around the World. We each had the opportunity to race twice and four of us raced a third time in the relay race the last day!

My sprint race went excellently, and I learned a lot about positioning and tactics that are so important to advance in the heats. I look back and just can’t wait for the next opportunity to face the best of the best! By having a great race in the sprints, I earned the points to be the point leader for sprints in J1 men in the international circuit.

Positions like this come and go, but once you have the honor, it makes it that much more exciting to try train for the top! With many guys out there that could kick my butt, I’m excited to prove what I can do. I hope to train smart in the next few years and I’m looking forward to the next stepping stone in my ski career.

 Back to Praz, the place was unbelievably beautiful! I not only got the opportunity to see some fantastic peaks, I spent one day ski touring from resort to resort on skate skis, enjoying many fantastic trails.

Racing was the best. The venue was great, spectators all over the courses, languages I have yet to learn, and medals I have yet to win! The second race that I was in was a pursuit, which I had never done before but I really liked. I didn’t ski quite as well as in the sprint, but my other three teammates had great results.

Erik #23 making a move during the World Juniors Sprint

Unfortunately, I was placed last in a pack of around 85 skiers in a mass start which was a challenge all by itself. This was due to the fact that I had just purchased my FIS license so didn’t have any seed points. I actually managed to move myself up through all the poles and skis, only to struggle some with my wax, but it was still a great experience.

By Sam Naney, MOD Team member & MVNT alum

The Methow Valley has taken a step forward in the world of competitive Nordic skiing. Coach Scott Johnston has formed the Methow Olympic Development (MOD) Team, a program designed to provide post-graduate athletes with the means to reach a national and international level of racing success.

The Methow Olympic Development Team is an effort to fill the void of support for post-high school and post-collegiate ski racers who strive for National Team berths and Olympic-level success. There is a distinct absence of programs available for such athletes due to cross-country skiing’s lack of prominence in the United States. Programs such as MOD hope to fill that need.

For the 2009/10 season the MOD Team athletes are Sam Naney, Sadie Bjornsen and Erik Bjornsen. The Methow Valley Ski Education Foundation is sponsoring the MOD Team. In addition, the MOD Team is proud to represent many local business sponsors, including Winthrop Mountain Sports, Winthrop Fitness and Nordic Ultratune.

The three athletes are products of the Methow Valley Junior Team and each has demonstrated considerable success at national and international levels of racing.

Inukshuk rock statue at Whistler Olympic Park

The three athletes and coach of the MOD Team will live and train in the Methow. The MOD Team and program offers innumerable benefits to the Methow Valley. They represent the possibilities of competitive achievement for Methow skiers and will serve as an invaluable community resource for youth and adult skiers alike. They will regularly host formal and informal clinics and training sessions to help local skiers reach their personal skiing goals.

The present and future athletes of the MOD Team will act as role models for young athletes of the community, periodically jumping in to help with the junior ski programs and camps. In addition, masters-level skiers will find themselves with many opportunities to train with and work alongside these professional-level racers and gain useful insight into their own racing and training.
For the community at large, the MOD Team offers a great marketing vehicle for local business sponsors. The athletes will be traveling all over not only the United States but Europe as well, representing and endorsing local business supporters and raising awareness of the Methow Valley as the premier cross country skiing destination.

A strong effort will also be made to maintain the local, homegrown nature of the MOD Team. Essential to its success is the MOD Team’s ability to interact with and support the community skiing programs, which fostered the Team’s very foundations.

Look for the new MOD Team this spring and summer as they conduct their training activities on the roads and trails of the Valley. 

For more information on the MOD Team or to find out how you can support their efforts toward success, please contact coach Scott Johnston: MethowOlympicDevelopment@gmail.com

See what the MOD team is up to by visiting the MOD blog at MethowOlympicDevelopment.blogspot.com