Tour De Ski

[Jason Hettenbaugh]

Is anyone else totally bummed that the US is not starting anyone in the tour de ski? I may be missing something but I don’t understand why we have no one racing. The tour seems to be taking over as the premier event of the year, behind of course the Olympics and World Championships. It is no longer an event of attrition where up and coming skiers get to show what they have and the big guns sit out and watch; now the best skiers are racing. Even with the up coming World Cups in Canada, the Canadians are still racing in the Tour and are having excellent results, they do not seemed to concerned about resting up to represent on their turf, they are doing it across the pond. I know US nationals are coming up but from what I have read Freeman and Newell are not even taking part in Nationals. It seems like the Tour would be a perfect event for someone like Freeman. I just don’t get it!?!?!?!?! What does everyone else think?

[Joe Howdy]

I'm a little bummed to. I can see why the sprinters don't, but it seems to me that given the way Freeman trains with such high volume brutal training blocks, this thing should be his bread and butter. But I suppose I can understand wanting to focus on the world champs, especially if their opinion is that he is a better one-day racer. But I agree with your sentiments about the Canadian's, Kris has had very similar results with Kershaw over the years in the distances, and Kershaw is kickin some serious hinie at the Tour this year. And what's with those guys not racing Nats? I mean if not the Tour, why nothing?

[Harvester of Sorrow]

I agree... the Tour de Ski gets me totally psyched, but no US team bums me out. I mean, I thought the USST was "all in" (or was it "all out?"), you would think they would want to do this kind of event with this kind of prestige. And, how long will Universal Sports network stick with Nordic Skiing when no Americans race? Their coverage has been great. I, for one, have been really fired up about the TdS but I can't believe that I find myself rooting for Canadians??!!?!?!? How can the USST get folks on board with the development pipeline if they don't even try in the big events? It is a disappointment.

[Chris Rose]

Come on! Not a single American in the TDS! If international ski racing is what the US ski team does, shouldn't they have representation at one of the most important events of the year? The US ski team may be Team Today, but from what I am seeing the Canadian team is Team Tomorrow.

[David Kvam]

Just for speculation....with Newell starting to do a few more 15K events could he be planning on the TDS in his future? Seems to me the sprinting distinction isn't holding back Northug

[Cory Wubbels]

Maybe you guys should apply to be on the coaching staff, seems like you have it pretty well figured out.

[Jason Hettenbaugh]

Get me an application!!!

[Jason Hettenbaugh]

I did see that Freeman raced at Nationals today, so I feel somewhat better but he should of had a rest day after the TDS!!

[Harvester of Sorrow]

The report was that 100 million people worldwide watched the Tour de Ski. There was big time prize money and big time world cup points to be had. These guys are pro athletes, I can't believe they did not want to be a part of that. It seems like the TdS is what being a pro is all about. I just want to be a fan and root for them, but I can't root for someone who doesn't race. Maybe this is all a ploy, and the rested USST will crush everyone at the World Championships... Let's hope.

[Rich Jortberg]

Let the elite athletes in the US stick to events they think best suit their physiology. All in all, I think the current XC resurgence is fantastic given the challenges in the US. If Kris F loses +/- 10-15 places or more in 30 seconds in a typical world cup event, what do you think will happen after doing a mega series like TDS? The race series is not a training block. It will hurt the results of events that are his target, and I imagine it must be very difficult to manage insulin dosages during such a comparatively long event. Maybe he and his advisors know what is best for his schedule and his body!

It is pretty clear to me that the problem you accurately identify is due to the limited supply of elite, world cup level XC skiers in the US. The few high level athletes have to be very choosy with their schedules to get the best results possible. To ask the few elite skiers in the US to focus on events that may not suit their physiology is a bit naïve. Not every elite bike racer is a great Tour de France racer, but as bike racing in the US grew in popularity in the late 1980’s-1990’s, Lance Armstrong represented the US well. XC skiing in the US has inherent limitations which reduce the probability of the development of a Lance Armstrong. Frankly, given the logistical difficulties and limited financial support, I’m amazed at the recent results of US XC athletes. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd place skiers at Senior Nationals won $1,200, $600 and $300 respectively. Even w/ other money that they generate, they are skiing basically for the love of the sport with other sources of funding, and then they get criticized for not doing events that they probably have dismissed as not being relevant for their likelihood of success or the measurement of their year.

Even though the population of the US is over 300 million, I'd be curious to look at the total population within 50 miles of all the Nordic trails or XC centers in the US. I'd guess it is significantly less than 10 million (with Minn. probably having the highest population density in close proximity to XC trails.) Minn.-St. Paul's population is 2.4 million, and Vermont’s is 620K in total, NH’s is 1.3 million in total, Anchorage's is 260K, and Essex County (home of Lake Placid) is +/- 40,000. The population near Eldora ski area near Boulder is about 125,000. Basically, the populations in the western states are small in close proximity to many Nordic centers.

I belive this is a serious structural problem which is a huge challenge for XC skiing, and it is reflected in the number of US athletes capable of entering such high level events. BTW- the population of Norway is 4.6 million, and Sweden’s is 9 million, Finland- 5 million; Germany - 82 million, etc. The point is that the US has a relatively low population in proximity to XC skiing areas when compared to Northern European countries. I think these geographic - demographic challenges are probably more important than issues related to the number of annual training hours, race selection, etc. as far as why the US is not dominating Nordic skiing. The skiers are probably doing close to as best as they can, yet XC’s equivalent to Lance Armstrong may not have been discovered in the US since he or she does not live near a Nordic center.

Then you have problems with kids in the US playing video games, etc. and not playing other multiple sports as often to transition to more demanding sports like XC skiing. Early specialization in sports reduces transferability since many specialized young athletes do not want to start from scratch when their involvement in their primary sport ends. f they continued to do multiple sports early on, they would be more able to transition to their secondary sports. In addition, we have an obvious absence of a strong Nordic tradition in the US, and as a result there is no surprise that we have few athletes in all these events. So I'd lighten up on the lack of presence in the TDS.

Frankly, I think the resurgence in international XC presence by US athletes is impressive and due in part to the community building efforts of national and regional XC organizations. The internet has been a great way to help these community building efforts. Now we have athletes who have popular personalities who are able to market themselves either by their websites, videos, YouTube, etc. This helps younger developing skiers see US and international role models that would have been difficult before 1995 or so unless they could understand Swedish or Norwegian. Combine this with multiple USSA and high school teams now, and some of the fundamentals are in place to overcome some of the limitations, but geography is a really big hurdle in my mind.

If I were to waive a magic wand to increase the number of world cup level US skiers and increase participation in events like the TDS, I’d look at a long term effort to do the following:

1) Analyze / identify key areas in the northern US which have reliable snowfall and large nearby population centers but limited nearby Nordic trail systems. It is not a question of where the XC centers are but where they are not.

2) Establish a new paradigm of trail development so that existing public spaces in these underserved areas are groomed for XC skiing pro-bono by local Nordic organizations. These organizations would need lots of support and attention since they are probably weak since there are few areas nearby. I see this as the biggest challenge. Nordic club support would reduce the budget and political hurdles related to development and operations of large Nordic centers. For example, volunteers with Boulder Nordic Club groom trails at local parks in Boulder when we have adequate snow, and we have huge participation when conditions are good. If we had more reliable snow fall, I imagine the community would morph to rival Anchorage or Minn- St. Paul. The city of Boulder appreciates the volunteer nature of BNC’s efforts, and I imagine there are other communities with more reliable snow and existing park systems which can accommodate Nordic trails without the large capital expenditure of full-on XC trail centers. The point is that most Nordic centers are built in rural and beautiful areas, but it is generally inconvenient for many to ski at these centers. The BNC model is not hard to replicate provided the vision is laid out in key areas with strong demographics.

3) I’m sure the USSA has thought about this, but cycling began its evolution to being competitive in Europe with leased houses and more permanent living situations abroad so that multiple athletes had home bases for training and racing purposes. The idea was better European integration in order to better compete. Now there are a number of semi-permanent facilities to accommodate itinerant bike racers so that they do not have to live in hotels either to train or the week prior to a race. Basically, the cost of lodging and the inconvenience of moving around was an impediment to quality training for cyclists. I do not know if there is a comparable location to Verona, Spain for cyclists in Norway, Sweden or wherever with good training possibilities for XC skiers. It seems to me that one way to stay fit and avoid getting sick would be to head to a home base for more training after a weekend race as opposed to going to another set of hotels, etc. This is not a new idea, so it’s probable that this has been considered and dismissed for financial or other reasons.

Basically, I’d focus on development of more XC opportunities in the US through public – non-profit relationships to increase supply of skiers. I’m sure all the retailers and manufacturers would like this as well, and then you might realistically expect the US to have the depth to put skiers in the TDS.

[David Kvam]

Rich,
you make a number of very compelling arguments and I enjoyed reading your thoughts on bolstering the US nordic skiing infastructure. Long term, if the US ever wants to have a consistent challenger for the TDS title you may be on the right track. However, in the meantime, having an elite US athlete focus his or her training for participation in the TDS event would be a good thing. Since the TDS started, I would argue that it is by far the most spectator friendly cross-country event out there. (assuming you can watch it online) The limited and consistent field of athletes seen over multiple days, in different events, allows for the spectator to bond and cheer for certain athletes. Very much the same way people came to cheer for Lance in his early Tours. It is not like other world cup events that are a number of days apart, often with a different field of racers, and stretched over an extended period of time. That being said, having a US athlete (perhaps not a Kris Freeman, or specialist like Andy Newell) but someone who dedicates themselves to train for the TDS exclusively (very much the same way Lance dedicated himself to the Tour and not the European Racing scene) would help young US skiers identify a role model, and perhaps inspire participation in the sport. This model clearly worked for Lance and has inspired a whole new generation of US cyclists. Who knows, a semi-successful US skier in a spectator friendly event like the TDS might make it appealing for a network like Versus to pick it up and create even more nordic skiing exposure. When exposure is increased and businesses identify a growing market, that is when increased financial support becomes a real possibility.

[Rich Jortberg]

David:

I agree with you about the overall importance of the TDS, but I do not know who in the US could do that race competitiely at thsi point as we do not have the depth of resources in terms of skiers (or apparently budget for that matter). I'd put that as a several year plan- a good goal, but not at the expense of the current competition plan for 09 and maybe 2010. I like how the ski team has not diluted the efforts of the skiers, as the goal appears to get some seriously good results as opposed to some superficial participation.