Pictures of a Successful Day!!

The "warm up" race we chose to attend was a wild card until the snow began to fall four days ago. This morning we drove south more than a hundred kilometers to the Svea District Championships (with freshly changed snow tires!) in a blanket of new fallen snow. The idea of the race was to give the kids a chance to race before we get to Folldal this weekend and get rid of the feeling that, "we're going to get passed by a million Norwegians."
I chose the picture above to lead the post because Scott's cool mannerism showed the whole teams approach to the day. Scott was our first male out of the gate and my zero for race splits. I can't tell you how cool it felt to tell Scott, "geez buddy, you're having a great one AND you're seven seconds UP on the winner of yesterdays race!" The rest of the guys chased Scott's times and all finished within a minute of eachother, placing very respectively in the field.
The women skied great too, and got to blow out some carbon and jitters in this new arena. The results have the potential to shift just a little bit, stay posted. Regardless, the coaches were all impressed how each of the girls skied and the fact, which I have noticed before in Italy, that at this age, our kids are not behind. Technically our kids are skiing as well or better than their peers and we even seem to have an above par level of quickness. Before blowing to much sunshine, it is also important to note that this team is representative of our 'best' kids and this is a local Norwegian race.
I am proud, as are Dan and Brenna, to be a part of this trip and these points warrant the importance and value of competing against our foreign competition at this age. A great start indeed--it's going to fun to watch and be a part of this next crop of American skiers taking on the international stage.
A special awards for Team America! Note the kid in the window.
Confidence.
Starts were done by chip. The course had sweet skiing, transitions and soft, but skiable snow.
Ms. Pastore and a Durango smile.
Lacy coming through to lap. Three laps for boys, two for girls.
Kristin Halvorsen working on knee angles and charging.
Mr. Kornfield.
Watching the other boys climb while awaiting start.
Durtschi showing good form.
In the start.
Brenna took these pictures. Here she is with a former Bend Nordic Team member, Allie Phillips, who is on a yearlong exchange in Oslo. She hopped a train and walked to the venue from the station. Kristin's uncle also visited us today, via a 55km ski from Oslo. He was only there for a brief while because he had to ski back!! Impressive.
Good work is getting done here. Stay tuned as we continue...