Life After SVSEF: Loni Unser
Read about SVSEF cross country alum Loni Unser's foray into car racing in the latest issue of SVPN.
Cross Country Gold and PG Teams Make Strides at Frozen Thunder Camp
Hundreds of truckloads of snow later, Canmore opened their “Frozen Thunder” trail to cross country skiers on October 22. The Alberta Parks Canmore Nordic Centre saves man-made snow over the summer and spreads it over 2km of trail each year. Among those who made the trek to Alberta were the SVSEF Cross Country Gold and PG Teams. Set against the striking backdrop of the Canadian Rockies, SVSEF skiers spent the week fitting in a high-volume block of training that was both technique and tactic intensive. The group made significant progress in their final preparation heading into the race season, with the advantage of early season skiing and a couple race efforts to cap it all off.
The first race of the camp took place on October 28, with a 7.5 km freestyle for women and 12 km for men. SVSEF Gold Team skier Mary Rose took sixth in the women’s event, and teammate Matt Gelso skied into second place, just 4.6 seconds out of first. Sarah Goble, a PG skier for SVSEF, had a strong showing with a second place finish in the junior women category.
The second event of the week was a classic sprint, which consisted of a morning qualifier followed by three heats in a “King’s Court” format. This unique style involves heats in which competitors are seeded based on their qualifier. In the heat races, the top two move up a bracket, while the bottom two move back. On Tuesday, heats went off every minute, which lent plenty of action and excitement to the day. Variable conditions, with two inches of fresh snow from the night before on top of the old man-made tracks, made for interesting waxing that went from hardwax to klister, with constant changes in between. By the end of it all, some competitors were opting to double pole in the final heats. Top SVSEF results came from Gold Team skier Kelsey Phinney, who took first overall in the women’s race. Teammate Mary Rose finished fourth, and Jack Hegman claimed third in the men’s event.
The teams head back to Sun Valley today to continue training before they head to West Yellowstone at the end of November. Following a tune-up race there on November 25, the first Super Tour races of the season will be in Bozeman, Montana, December 3-4.
(For a recap of the Frozen Thunder distance races, read the FasterSkier article here.)
FIS Skiers Bring the Heat Down Under
As a part of their New Zealand training trip, the FIS crew raced in the Cardrona FIS series August 1 and 2. The athletes competed in giant slalom and slalom, and competed against skiers from around the world; Germany, Canada, South Korea, Great Britain and Italy were some of the countries represented at the races. A total of 14 SVSEF FIS skiers and two alumni competed; John Blackburn, Duncan Fuller, Yuri McClure, Noah Leininger, Ian Hanna, Carter Jendrezak, Jake Blackburn, Matt O’Connor, Max Noddings, Filippo Collini, Stockton Troyer (SVSEF Alum), Will Snyder (SVSEF Alum), Ruby Marden, Ella Pepin, Skylar Cooley and Grace Pepin represented the organization.
In the ladies’ giant slalom, Skylar Cooley and Ella Pepin had strong results in a field of 45 skiers, finishing 12th and 19th, respectively. Standout performances in the men’s race came from Yuri McClure, who posted his second best point result ever and placed sixth out of 91 racers. Filippo Collini made huge strides, rising to 20th place from start number 83. Will Snyder, a SVSEF alum, finished 16th.
In the slalom races the next day, Ella Pepin broke the top 10 with a ninth place finish in a field of 40 racers. Skylar Cooley was right behind her in 10th, and Grace Pepin had a strong race, landing in 12th. A number of SVSEF men had notable results in the slalom. John Blackburn finished 17th out of 84 competitors, which was his career best FIS point result in slalom. Filippo Collini was 21st, again moving up significantly in the start list, this time from 70th. Matt O’Connor finished 24th, also making big gains from his start number of 79. Yuri McClure was 26th, Carter Jendrezak was 30th, Max Noddings was 35th and Jake Blackburn was 37th.
The FIS athletes will continue training at Roundhill Ski Area until they travel to Coronet Peak for two giant slalom and two slalom events, August 8 through 11.
For full results:
Ladies’ Giant Slalom
Men’s Giant Slalom
Ladies’ Slalom
Men’s Slalom