Stefan Kuhn News

From Oslo to my last National Canadian Championships

2011-03-17T11:16:00.009-06:00

From Oslo to my last Nationals Canadian Championships

First few days training in Oslo

After coming home from a very exciting and overwhelming World Champs in Oslo,Norway.
I had some time to think about my ski career and what to do with the season coming to a end. I came home exhausted from such a crazy cross country experience that i will never forget. To make the Oslo world champs was a big goal this year and to ski well in the those championships and on the world cups of course. We all know that Oslo was going to host a shocking amount of people camping,cheering, waiting 5-6 hours on the course to have a great view of there favourite nation and ski heroes.

Every day i was amazed how many people would come out and watch. I remember the first event the skate sprint. I was in the starting pen getting ready for my start listening to my music to pump me up. Normally i have no problem hearing the music. When petter Northug started which was about 5 min before i did all i could hear is the roar of the crowed. If i was not nervous by then after that i sure was.

5hrs before the start of a race.

Being able to race in 3 races at the world champs was awesome and to be cheered on by the crowds roughly 150 thousand Strong was impressive to say the least. Obviously a big moment came the morning of the team sprint. We all new it could be special day. We all made sure to train before and then be down in the stadium and cheered on our teams. I lost my voice before alex crossed the line in the first and what a feeling for our Canadian ski team to be top of the world in skiing in Norway!

The Boys WORLD CHAMPS!

We are now down to one race left here in Canmore in my home town. I was excited to come home to race what would be my last nationals and to be able to race at home. I love these tracks here and have always raced well on them. I came home tired and got a little sick before the races started. That was not going to stop me from entering in all the races. I have a had some good to ok results so far. I was hoping for a better result in the sprint, because well sprint classic is my favourite. To get beat by our new sprint star lenny V. i am going to except that and i know we will be seeing him on the international podium soon.

All we have left is the 50km skate. This race is not my specialty but i will give it my best as it will be my last race here in Canada as a national team athlete. I will be heading down to sun valley to take part in the super tour finals with some of my team mates. These are always exciting races and i look forward to some good battles on Saturday and down in Sun Valley.

Preparing for Oslo World Champs

2011-01-29T20:06:00.009-07:00

Preparing for Oslo World Champs

Putting in some hours after the race. Great trails in Orford

After having a great Christmas i traveled to Thunder Bay Ontario for some Noram races and to find out who would get the last spot for the World Champs team. I was feeling good heading into thunder bay and skied a great Classic part of the first race which was a Pursuit 30km. The winner of that race punched his ticket to world champs. It was tough battle and it came down to a lunge which George grey won Congrats buddy.

the view up a sunshine, ykes

Then was a classic sprint which i was looking forward to. It was tough to get going due to the cold weather, by the time the final rolled around i was more excited to race but was in tough to make it to the top of the podium Brent M. ski very well and took the win. After arriving back home we had the team announced and we where starting to plan out training camps. We started with a sunshine camp which was fun but was not going to work out for some reasons that where out of our control.

The boys have a good time up at sunshine

For me the next plan was to get as many races in as i could before we leave and get some good training in as well. So the last two weeks have been volume weeks and this week had a little less volume and mini tour in Quebec. Next week is finally a rest week which my body needs i will take part in the mini tour in BC.

Interesting accom's at Mnt.Orford.

I will be just doing the the two short races to make sure i am rested heading over to Norway on the 9th of Feb. I am super excited to for this opportunity to race a world champs in Norway the experience will be pretty crazy. We get a great warm up world cup race in Drammen which is not that far away from Oslo and it will have all the top contenders and more.

Coach/Wax tech Chris feeling the toll from the mini tour as well. classic mid day nap

Dussledorf to Davos to Mini tour Rossland

2010-12-21T09:04:00.008-07:00

Dussledorf to Davos to Mini tour Rossland

There was allot of exciting moments the last few weeks and some ups and downs skiing related and others not skiing related. We traveled to Dusseldorf anticipating a fairly short travel form Finland.

(Plenty of snow in Davos)

Arriving a day later and with no bags was not ideal. The weather was a bit of a shock as well. -10 and every other time i have raced here it has been no cold then +5. The racing went well i was 0.4 sec form qualifying so close. The team sprint was exciting as normal and it looked as Lenny and i would make it threw till a collision on my last lap cost us the positioning we needed. We slowly start to pick up or bags one at a time traveling from Dusseldorf to Davos.

I was so happy to get to davos amazing skiing/food/accom and sunshine to boot. I was all set for a good classic race and a new sprint course that suited me well. The body thought other Wise still not sure what happened. I ended the week a very upset skier. After skiing well for three weeks it was a hard one to swallow. So i had to re-group quickly and focus a a huge task at hand.

Since or two sprint boys made a quali standard in davos it was down to one last spot the win in rossland BC sprint on Friday. So a solid travel home and a quick turn over in canmore before i knew it we where skiing amongst good friends that i have not seen in a while on the Canadian circuit. I was staying with George and his family which was perfect to catch up on some sleep and relax just get back to normal life. The racing for me was perfect i had amazing skis and a the body was able to push. I won the skate sprint which gets me to Oslo World champs.

Big goal achieved wow that was intense day. Then next part of the mini tour was for me racing to get my self in better shape for Oslo. I skied really well in the skate race, and i had an awesome day in the classic part to catch the leaders and have a classic battle with my friend George Grey right to the line.

With me out sprinting him that was fun and exciting. I am home now and excited to enjoy the holidays. Merry xmas to all have fun and enjoy some egg nog!!

Rovaniemi/Kuusamo

2010-12-02T07:09:00.006-07:00

Rovaniemi to Kuusamo

The travel to europe was pretty exciting this year as the team was a full quota team. We Started off in Ostersund for a few days of easy training. Then we moved to our favourite early season spot Bruks. The snow was average this year but it still means brighter days and we could ski 3 hours no problem.

( George and Ivan and I training at Sunshine , fun little photo )

I took part in both races on out first weekend there. Saturday was a skate sprint and sunday was a 15km skate ( which i was going to use as a training work out)The Skate sprint i felt a bit slugish but started to feel better after the first quarter but i didnt get to go through as it got pretty tight and i got tangled up with another swede.

Then team then split into distance and Sprinters. The Distance dudes went up to the start of the World cup in gallivare and we sprinters went to rovaniemi for a Classic sprint and 10km classic. Perfect i thought. Rovaniemi was a lot of fun, we celebrated two birthdays and had a awesome house to chill at and the skiing was not bad. We enjoyed a few self cooked meals, as the finish buffet is not allways up to par.

( lenny and Crawfords Bday )

The team got back together in Kuusamo for out first mini tour starting with one of my favoutire races the classic sprint. Followed by a 10km classic and a 15km skate ( which i did not do) The sprint went fairly well 4 seconds back of the winner in the prologue. I Had a good heat going, but i strugled with the fresh snow up the last hill. Coming in last30th was ok, I came out of that day with good confidence that the shape is right where it needs to be. The 10km classic went allright. We are now heading to Dusseldorf for a mutch awaited skate sprint and team sprint.

(The Brightest part of the day)

PC Life

2010-10-15T15:44:00.007-06:00

PC life

We have been in Park City now for just around three weeks. For most of us this has been a first visit to PC for a training camp. I must say this is an awesome place to live or visit.

Training here has been amazing and over the last 3 weeks we have almost never done the same trail run or roller ski twice. We have hit Soldier Hollow a few times to get in some hard intensity sessions. Doing intensity at Soldier hollow is extremely hard because we have a great group here to push each other and because it also has an elevation of 1700 meters.

The camp has gone fantastic for me and really enjoyed this new venue for altitude training. The team has also had some good times goofing around playing some doubles tennis under the lights. Our team seems to also enjoy growing out the moustaches when we are at these long camps.

(notice Kershaw went with growing his hair out over growing a moustache)

One of out last intensity session we did a Team sprint relay. That was great way to end the camp with a competitive sprint like that. I was teamed up with Kikkan and we battled it out against George and Dasha. It was a close finish but we got the win. Before we started the sprint event i spat out that the winner had to buy the beer that night. So that evening there was Kokanee on ice for the whole team as we enjoyed one of our last nights before heading back to canmore.

The Team after a solid 2hr uphill ski.

New Zealand at it's best

2010-08-14T11:25:00.006-06:00

New Zealand at it's best

Well another long travel day back home and i am a little shocked how fast this trip down under went. I really enjoy the NZ camp because of the skiing and small possibility to going surfing. Although this time the surf was not happening with only just over two week camp was just not going to happen :(

We had some amazing weather, for any body that has been at the farm knows how quickly things can go sour. We had a few days where we headed down for a run or had to change plans. For those other days we had some amazing weather and some interesting monopoly games to pass the time.

We also participated in the local NZ races where the stakes where high for some of us, from one of my team mates Devon Kershaw i won a tasty 6 pack for his stellar win in the 15km classic.

I tryed to do the same in the sprint the next day but just had enough jam to take third. The American team was down there at the same time which was awesome to train and hang with them as well. Now it's back to summer i hope in Canmore and some recovery to enjoy as well.

First Training camp of the year Bend,Oregon USA

2010-06-07T15:01:00.001-06:00

First Training camp of the year Bend,Oregon USA

The first training camp of the year is behind us. It was great to go to a new place with our team ready to really get the ball rollin. We didn't have the greatest weather but we made sure we had a lot of fun.

Bend is a super cool place you can do so much from your door. Amazing skiing,climbing at smith rocks,Biking,running, The ocean is only 3 hours away, Fishing is fantastic too.

We did some workouts with the USA team which was allot of fun some serious work outs on ski's or roller ski's and some fun work out to which included a USA vs Canada soccer match, we lost unfortunately. There will be revenge i hope this summer. We are back in canmore now chilling out for the most part.

We have our next camp coming around very quickly which is the very tough yo-yo camp where we run in and out of the glacier over a 3 1/2 week period.

Post Olympics, Drammen and now Oslo Bound

2010-03-11T09:55:00.003-07:00

Post Olympics, Drammen and now Oslo Bound

Well I still cant believe that the Olympics have gone by so fast, it was so exciting to watch Canada do so well at home, and of course to see x-country rock it!!! I came home for a short stay in Canmore, I got some much needed sleep and enjoyed some very important relaxing time too. Then 4 days later I was off to Norway for the last couple world cup sprints 1-drammen classic 2-Oslo Skate.

I was really excited for Drammen it's super hard sprint to qualify in because Norway can enter roughly 20-22 skiers. which makes the top 30 pretty hard. I was confident after qualifying 7th in canmore, 10th at the Olympics. But it was not the case. I am not to sure what happend here, but i struggle again to find any sort of groove and didnt make the top thirty. I have to shake this one off after qualifying for all my world cup races this year. It doesnt always go your way over here and it's time to focus on the next sprint. I have a couple days to get ready for the Oslo skate sprint on the new course at Holmenkollen park. I am super pumped for this new course and to giver on some skating ski's. Some of the boys will be racing the 50km on Saturday and i will put my focus on the skate sprint.

After all that i will head straight to whitehorse to take part in our National Championships. I hope to be able to make the first race it will be tight with connections and ski's arriving on time.

Olympic's OH YA

2010-02-21T15:24:00.005-07:00

Olympics OH YA

Well we are almost half way through the Olympics and it has been absolutely amazing.
I Came to Vancouver/Whistler on the 13th fully focused on the sprint which was happening on 17th. I had a few good days of training with beautiful sunshine which is Little unusual, but i definitely am enjoying it. I was Testing ski's a few days before and i must admit i was a little more nervous then any other race i have been in. Seeing the green Olympics rings hanging over the stadium and all the Canadian flags and fans it is pretty amazing.

On the 17th i got my focus on and ran the day as usual, in the qualifier the talk was about the down hill how fast and icy it was. All i could think is great another place i can make up some time. I qualified in 10th which was unreal and i was so pumped. Now my goal is to move through the quarters to the semi's and then hopefully the A final. I was matched up with the fast qualifier which i was pumped about. Game plan follow him to the line and be in top two at the finish.

I was skiing great in third place for the most part of the race. I skied the down hill at the half way point really well and i was moving into second when the Russian skied right into me bumping me to the next lane.( that was a little rougher then expected but it's sprinting) Then we really gaver over the last hill and into the finish. I was in 4th going into the finishing stretch and then we began the frantic double finish, this time i felt super strong. I ended up making some ground up and past one skier moving me into 3rd spot just coming short of 1-2 place. I was lucky loser for a while, till one of the last heats came in with a blistering time too, which ended up knocking me out by 1 second. OH so close to moving on. But for me i skied just like i wanted and that is all i can ask for.

I was 15th for the day which is the best ever result for a Canadian Man in a sprint at the Olympics. So i was really pumped about that. And that i was able to add a good result for our team to keep the ball rolling as Ivan started all of us off on the right foot the first day. I was able to enjoy the evening with my Family and friends and fans in the Whistler village enjoying the atmoshpere which was awesomeness!!!!!

Pre-Olympic world Cups at home!!!!

2010-02-09T12:56:00.006-07:00

Pre-Olympic world Cups at home!!!!

How much better does it get then racing against the best in the world at home as a tune up for the Big event. I was super pumped to see canmore full of skiers and ski fans. And this new idea with putting down a ski track down main street what i great idea.

I was excited to have the world cup at home. My final race before the Olympics and everything for me went super well. The weather was unbelievable, skiing with my friends from other nations could only keep saying how amazing of a place canmore is and how lucky we are to live and train here. How right they are.

Friday was the first event a 15km skate which is not even close to an event that i can compete at on the world cup level. I decided to sit that one out and concentrate on my event the Classic sprint. The boys did well and gave us a great start to the weekend.

Saturday cam rolling around fast and i was pumped up for a real classic course and i knew that my shape has come up to a the level i need to be competitive. The prologue was perfectly skied and i crossed the line in 7th for the day. I was amazed but also told my self Finely this is where you belong amongst the top 10 in sprints. In the heat i took it out my normal pace, getting the whole shot was nothing new to me so i kept cruising like i was skiing the prologue again. Coming up the last hill i could feel two guys pull up beside me, which was perfect if i could sneak behind one or two of them in the downhill and get the draft would really give me a good shot a moving through this heat. It all went so well down the hill getting my sling shot coming to the last 100meter mark in first. But these guys just kicked it up a small notch more then me and i lost out in moving on by 0.2 seconds. OUCH. Well at the end of the day i was super excited about my prologue, and i know what i need to work on a few small tweaks will be done for my race on the 17th of Feb. I cant wait i am ready!!!!

Great article by Calgary Herald

2010-02-05T20:13:00.002-07:00

Great article by the Calgary Herald

Cut and past this into your address bar

http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/2010wintergames/Kuhn+Olympic+dream+really+cooking+following+comeback/2525782/story.html

CTV up date

2010-02-01T16:59:00.002-07:00

CTV up date

Check out this article
Thanks to CTV

Just copy and paste into your address bar.

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/cross-country-skiing/news/newsid=28443.html#from+chef+olympian+kuhns+comeback

Final Prep

2010-01-25T17:23:00.005-07:00

Final Prep

I have Been home for almost a full week. The travel home went well and i received all my bags and was super excited to see my wife and sleep in my own bed again. The trip to Estonia was very good. I had a great race in the classic sprint with a super strong field. I qualified 28th and then ended the day in 29th. I had a few tactical errors through the race but felt strong in the heat. That is sprinting for you i may have felt strong but with some pore decisions and a small tangle up near the finish i went from finishing in the top 20 to 29th really quickly.

Now It's time to relax get over jet leg. After that it's volume time. Which will be fun we have a couple small camps planned in Kananaskis which is an amazing ski park and doing this with the Olympic team is going to be great bonding and allot of fun.

A couple days ago we named the Canadian Team officially. It was really exciting for me and it was the first time i felt that the Games where around the corner and i had goose bumps as i was introduced and put the Official Hudson Bay Olympic jacket on.

I am super pumped for the world cups in Feb5-6th in Canmore to happen. I love the new sprint course which really flows great with my strengths so will see what we can achieve. Hope to see ya on the trails there.

Otepaa

2010-01-12T11:08:00.006-07:00

Otepaa

I have finally arrived in Otepaa and i was so pumped to see my ski bag and duffel bag come out on the carousel.

Sun is coming up super low through the day

I started my travels from Calgary going to Quebec for some Nor-am racing. The racing was awesome with some good weather always changing in Quebec you never now what to expect. The racing went well for me i was 2nd in the skate sprint, and i won the classic 15km. We went out for a drink later that night to watch and cheer on the world junior team with some tasty cold beer but unfortunately they lost to the USA.

View from the house to the ski stadium

I was quite happy with how the weekend went. I then flew my way across the pond to Frankfurt and drove up to Oberwiesenthal for some OPA racing. The roads where not good and i also didn't get my duffel till 5hrs later and no sign of ski bag, so i had to head to the races with no ski's which was not a good start.

Checking out some estonia'n jumpers

I borrowed some ski's on the skate sprint day from Andy Newell, but my body was no where near the shape i was last weekend due to some days off and stressful times with the airlines. The second day was a classic race where i went on a 2nd pair from the Aussie team , but again the body was not quite there. So it was back to Frankfurt hoping to see my ski bag. Getting to the counter of air Canada and then seeing them look like it was tuff to find on the computer made me nervous, but in the end they had it and i got on my flight to Tallin Estonia with a big smile and an overwhelming feeling of wanting to ski.

Skiing Otepaa

I was pumped to go training this morning. I went for amazing 3hr ski and it has not felt so good to put my own ski's and poles on. i can only think this will be a good sign for some good racing on the World Cup this weekend here.

Olympics

2009-12-26T13:51:00.007-07:00

The Olympics Have been my dream for a long time now!!!

On my way to wining the Qualifier

We had our races in December. You had to win one of the 4 races’s that where held in either Canmore or Silver Star. I won one of the classic sprints. I was extremely happy and relieved at the end of the day. Because for the last few months there has been a lot of planning and talking of the Olympics and not knowing if you where going or not made it extremely stressful at times.

Celebration as i cross the finish line!!

Now I can concentrate on the next few steps and then the big show starts in February. I hope to be racing one or two other events then the Classic sprint. But I will definitely be focusing on that one. I had a relaxing Christmas in Canmore and Calgary. And now it’s of to Quebec for some nor-ams and then I will head over seas for some high level racing. I will return at the end of January where the team will then head to a training camp and start getting ready for the Olympics.

Hope you had a great Christmas!!

West yellowstone USA

2009-12-04T16:54:00.006-07:00

West Yellowstone USA

Our team headed down to west Yellowstone for our first official start to the season in north America. I was excited to finally start racing and the travel down was pretty easy a 10hr drive. Watching Nitros circus with my neighbor/wax tech/friend joel jaques made the time fly by. Arriving in west i was surprised how quiet it was and later i found out that West Yellowstone gets all there visitors in the summer averaging about 1.3million.

Taking a cruize on the streets of West

Skidoos where taken to the streets and obeying most of the rules to the road which was interesting to see. First up was the classic sprint qualifier no heats just the prologue. I was excited, unfortunately we skied the course the day before and most skiers where not to stoked on the flat terrain. I did my best as a small dude and not so much a double poler.

Classic sprint, sweet bibs eh

My next focus came in the classic 10km which also was run on a flat course. I was happy with the result even though my room mate/team mate beat me by 1.1 seconds. It makes it allot of fun when it is that tight. We headed home the day after, Hoping to see snow in canmore but that was not the case.

Classic 10km trying to stride what ever i could

We are now prepping for our first race in canmore a small Alberta cup starting with a classic sprint on Saturday and a 10km skate in Sunday. I don't know if Sunday will go because canmore will be entering it's first deep freeze of the year ( highs of -22). And to our surprise it has been snowing all day in canmore which is awesome and hopefully we will be skiing some more of canmore great trail system soon.

See ya on the trails

Lake Louise bound

2009-11-03T13:59:00.005-07:00

Lake Louise for an on snow camp

The Boys at the top of Half Dome

We have had a nice two weeks to recover since mammoth lakes training, which for me was a great camp and I came out of that camp confident and plenty fatigued in a good way.

Enjoying the afternoon sun in Mammoth

In that time I took on a challenge of renovating a storage room to a bathroom. Which is almost done and I am quite proud of the work that I have done. I never thought of my self a much of a carpenter. The project at this point is usable and looks quite good.

Myself in front of Half Dome what a crazy cool climbing wall

Now it’s off to Lake Louise to get on snow and thankfully put the roller ski’s away I hope.

I was planning on heading to Europe this week to race some continental cups in Scandinavia and maybe some world cups but the powers to be where not having any of that which is sad but you can only argue for so long till you feel like it really won’t change anything. So I have to focus on what I have control. And I have decided to stay in North America and concentrate and a good 3-4 weeks of training so that when Dec 19-20-22 come which are the Olympic trials dates I will have great speed and great confidents in my ability to qualify for 2010. We plan on being around the bow valley for the most part of November. The team and I will head down to the states for a quick super tour opener in last weekend of November. This will be held in West Yellow Stone National Park.

Mammoth Lakes Training Camp Video

2009-10-09T21:18:00.001-06:00

MAMMOTH LAKES CALIFORNIA

2009-10-02T09:07:00.002-06:00

MAMMOTH LAKES CALIFORNIA

We are back in Mammoth for our annual high altitude camp. This is a quick video to show you what we have ben up to the last 5 dyas. Enjoy

10 Days in at that snow farm and 10 Days left.

2009-08-24T02:20:00.008-06:00

10 Days in at the snow farm, and 10 Days left.

Crooks , George, and myself enjoying the sun in the afternoon.

We have been training at the snow farm and we have had some really fanatastic weather and great training day's. The team had one day down in wanaka when we hit the weight room and filled up on chocolate and some cold beverages, also a coffee in a local shop.

Me in the classic 15km it took me two laps to get into race mode, i ended up 5th ( 4th canadian) 1:15sec off the lead. photo-Devon Kershaw

This weekend we took part in the New Zealand winter games. First was a 15km classic followed by a skate sprint, then a 10km skate.

The skate sprint i won the prologue, the in the semi-final i tangled with brent and ended in the B-final wich i won. photo-David Greer

I will be skipping the 10km skate beacuase i will have done the first two races and have done about 23hours in the last week of training so that will be plenty.

Great View from the Snow Farm-photo David Greer

The next week will be some more volume and some intensity session's. The high lite will be a day of where some off us will be heading to the coast to hit the Dunedin city and try to get our surf on. Should be really exciting and some great stories and photos. I will post as soon as i get back.

New Zealand a winter wonderland

2009-08-16T18:02:00.007-06:00

New Zealand a winter wonderland

Arriving at In Queenstown pretty excitied about the next three weeks of skiing!!!! looks pretty nice!!!

Some of the boys goofing around waiting for our vans to arrive. Goofing around

Driving up to the snow farm about 1 1/2 hours from Queenstown with these speed wagons.

My room mates and I just heading out for out work out, spirites are up!!

2 hour ski day nothing but blue sky's a head of us. Makes the work out go by so fast when the scenery is so stunning.

New Zealand mountains peaking through the carpet of clouds right below us.

We have had some cloudy and really warm weather the last couple of days of training witch didn't give us mouch to look at or see. This morning every body was excited to getting skiing with a blue bird day a head of us. This afternoon we head down to wanaka for some weights. This will be out first day off the mountain, we are all excitied to walk around town and see some different sites and enjoy a coffee or two.

Till next time

Three week block is coming to an end !!! Ya Baby

2009-07-16T17:05:00.007-06:00

Three week block is coming to an end!!!! Ya Baby

It has been a long three weeks and we have had some awesome sunshine at the start on the haig glacier, then in 2nd week i dont think we trained once with out getting wet. This week we started off slow but the sun has come out and look`s like it will be out for a while, which is great news. Our rest week is around the corner so most of us will be soaking in some rays for sure. Here are some photos through the week of the crew doing what we do best.

Water break while crust skiing

Nap time By The NIsh and MCCC MMMUURRRR

The Three amigos bike session in the pm.

The crew on top of a mountain (chinaman`s)

Me looking down at the quarry from chinamans think this triathlon will be fun but pain full on Saturday.

All good, even the golf game

2009-06-22T16:43:00.004-06:00

All good , even the golf game

So far i am still waiting for summer to arrive. We have been training in Canmore for about 4 weeks now and i still have not been able to get the usual heart rate monitor tan. The training has been going really well, we had testing last week and so far all signs show the shape is exactly where i need to be at this point. We did most of the testing on the treadmill which is not my favourite, but it sure makes you suffer.

I now enter a fairly easy week before we go up to the Haig glacier. I am excitied to head up there because the skiing will be great and of course there will be frisbee golf and maybe some poker too. Last week a bunch of us skiers joined the Right To Play golf tournament held a the amazing golf course of Silver Tip. Groups consisted of 2 athletes of different sports and 3 sponsor's, rounding the group off at 5. My group was a great mix and some great golf was played as well. Between Mark,Tyler, Russ, Kelly and myself we managed to hit a great -11 under for 3rd place.

Kelly VanderBeek was the other athlete on my team a talented downhill skier with some great golf skill's too. During this easy week i will be doing some swims as well. It is not a usual training discipline for me, but in a months time i will be competing in a triathlon. My swimming is pretty bad so i am putting some practice in so i don't drowned when the good swimmers cruize right over top of me. The triathlon will be allot of fun and most of the team will be competing as well. I hope to stay a float. July 18th is the date if you want to come and cheers us on in Canmore.

Training is in full swing

2009-06-02T12:42:00.006-06:00

Training is in full swing

After a great vacation in April, i knew it was time to get the body back into shape. I started training a little at the end of April to get ready for the early may camp. Moving into our first camp it was planed for 2nd week of may on snow in silver star. We had the luxury of staying down in town on the lake that is. It was a killer place with plenty of room and when you are pool side and lake side and the weather in the mid 20's , no better way to relax.

The skiing at silver star was amazing and the team had some great works out from a mini sprint to and uphill climb ( big props to Mcmur number one baby) We also had some good team bonding on the beach playing volley ball and some paddling as well. I was able to put in some good amount of hours and work on some solid technique as well as haven some fun on the beach.

I have been home for a couple weeks and the roller ski's have made it out of the closet ykes. But it is June 2nd so it's time. Training has been pretty steady with some weight work outs a few runs and bikes. Our new coach Inge brings a great new enthusiasm and he is exciting to have around. The training volume is being ramped up for the next two weeks and today was just an amazing day skiing up at sunshine meadows. The snow pack froze over night which meaning that the crust skiing was perfect and the weather could not be ordered any nicer.

We skied along loop on crust up and down some valley's for about 2 hours. Then we moved onto the groomed track which was a perfect rolling terrain. I was home by noon just in time to enjoy some lunch with my wife. What a day!!!!!

Living the beach life in Thailand

2009-05-05T11:00:00.009-06:00

Living the beach life in Thailand

After finishing off the ski season i was really looking forward to meeting up with my wife in Thailand. Between me going to Canadian Nationals in Duntroon, then back home for 5 days, then off to USA Nationals in Alaska and Erin going to India, it was 1month since we had seen each other so needless to say i was excited to get on a plane so that i could meet up and see each other. It took an arduous 20+ hours of flying but i finally arrived in Bangkok. We quickly made our way down to the south of Thailand to a climbers paradise called Ton Sai beach. What a great place to relax and enjoy the intense heat and sunshine. The food tasted amazing and we loved the kick that it had, and paired with the freshest seafood caught that day made for an unforgettable feast. In order to get to the mainland of Au Nong and back, we took these cool boats called long tails, very interesting ride.

We took part as unaware participants, in the Thai New Years festivities, while making our way from the mainland to Ton Sai, we were enrolled in the start of their three day long water fight, from super soakers to barrels of water in a back of a truck and 5 dudes with buckets soaking everyone, it was a sight to be seen. The point of Songkran festival is to cleanse your soul/body of it sins so that you go into the new year fresh. We also enjoyed some climbing with our own private guide, the most challenging part of climbing there is trying not to overheat, although the climbs were a challenge of their own. The holds are great and views are spectacular.

Then after lounging around on the beach, enjoying some great food and drinks for a week or so, we headed out to Phuket to meet up with two good friends George and Leslie Grey. We met them at their uncle's house, it was great to enjoy some A/C, and really-- how can you not enjoy a salt water pool? The following day we went sailing on George's uncles 71ft swan yacht for two days. It was really cool, we saw some amazing sunsets and cool little islands with white sandy beaches, our favorite part was actually sailing a boat ourselves- watch out for the jib, and the ropes-- they pack a wicked whip when we tacked!

We carried out the rest of our trip with some shopping, suit fitting and relaxing on the beach throw in some Thai massages and any trip is almost complete. Unfortunately the day came when it was time to board the plane to depart for home, Erin and i both had frowns on our faces as we highly enjoying the beach life and it is always too short lived for two mountain dwellers. After a long travel home, we where a little surprised that Canmore was still stuck in winter mode.

I ended up going touring in the back country getting some mid winter turns in before the spring thaw (still waiting). It was pretty weird coming from beach life to skinning up a mountain. Now Erin is back at work and in 5 days i am off to our first camp in Silver Star. I look forward to the camp, as it is a great way to bring the team together and do some skiing and fun activities in the afternoon. I can't wait to get this magical year started!!!!

Season has come to an end with a great battle

2009-04-01T11:36:00.003-06:00

Season has come to an end with a great battle

I decided to sit out the 30km pursuit and was helping my Canadian team mates with some ski testing and with feeds. My legs where a bit tired the day before so I thought it would be smarter to save some energy to try for the win in the 50km classic which is a much better event for me then the 30km pursuit. We where all excited it was the last race of the season and that we got to start on Sunday morning at a normal time , compared to the last 3 races which all started roughly around 5:30-6:30pm which is pretty strange racing that late. The weather was suppose to warm up a lot during the 2 1/2 hour race time so we had some nervous energy to make sure to hit the wax right because 50km with out kick is long way to go. We had done a good job with the skis and at about 25km the race started had thinned out to only 3 racers in the lead group Ivan Babikov and Noah Hoffman and me. Noah being a junior was very impressive and held his on and some more but his lack of 50km came into play at around 35-40km it was just Ivan and I.

The battle for me was to hang to Ivan because he is one of the strongest distance skiers in the world all I had to do is hang on to his attacks which I successfully did. I knew if we came into the last 100meters together I would win because Ivan not known for his sprint and me known for my sprint I would be able to hold him off for the win. In the end it did come down to the last 100meters Ivan tried to attack on the last hill but I had just enough juice to fend him off and barely glide across the line for the win.

It was one of the toughest races for me, I had started cramping in the last 5km and could feel the where and tear of the course. I was extremely happy with the result and it’s a great way to end the season with a win. So now it is time to enjoy a few last ski’s in Canmore and then I am off to Thailand with my wife to enjoy the sunshine and beach life.

Going from Canadian to US national Championships.

2009-03-26T12:54:00.003-06:00

Going from Canadian to US national Championships.

After a fairly successful week in duntroon at the Canadian nationals and earning my first overall aggregate award I was happy to come home and relax after a very hard week of racing. We had great snow in Canmore and the skiing was really good. I kept the hours fairly low a few days of volume and a day on the treadmill doing some exit testing for the team as per usual. That shape I thought was still good and was excited to go race in Alaska Fairbanks. I left on Sunday and was held up in Seattle for 10.5 hours enjoying a few coffees from starbucks. I did finally make it and so did my gear which was surprising and I was very happy about. The next day I was able to get on ski’s and see what Fairbanks had for trails, I was impressed with what they had to offer and great classic terrain as well. The 10km /team sprint ( Nish and I) / 30km pursuit will start at 7pm because of the volunteers are at work all day great dedication from them to work then head out to the cold to help run this event. In the 10km it took me a while to find my grove , I finally found it in the 2nd half and was able to move from 4th to 2nd which I was happy about.

The following day brought in some warmer weather which was nice and Nish and I where feeling pretty good about our chances. We both skied reasonably well. I missed an attack on the final lap where I lost 10meter and was unable to make that up. Nish did his best and pretty much closed it but as soon as he did the attacks started off the front. Nish came into the finish line lounging for 3rd just lost ending in 4th.

After those two races I believe I will sit out and support our Canadians with some feeds for (Nish,Dan,Pate,Ivan) in the 30km pursuit.

Unless I feel really good today skiing will see how the body is. My main concentration will go to the 50km on Sunday which will start at a normal time and it will be an extremely hard course. I look forward to that race because of the difficulty of the course and it being the last race of the season too.

Wish me Luck!!!!

Canadian National Championships Duntroon Ontario

2009-03-13T14:05:00.003-06:00

Canadian National Championships Duntroon Ontario

We have done 4 races at nationals and one more the big 50km skate. I was home for a week after having a successful OPA trip. I chilled out for a while and then it was back into training mode getting ready for the Canadian championships. Starting the week off with a team sprint my partner Phil widmer and myself where ready to defend our title from last year. Unfortunately we both had bodies that where disagreeing with us. We fought hard but ended a disappointing 4th.

The next day came fast with some rain coming down and warm weather rollin in. I had to get ready for one of my hardest events the 10km skate. I started well and felt really good compared to the day before. I ended the day in a surprise 3rd place only 5 seconds of first wow!!!! I was pumped and felt I skied really well. We then had a day off to let the body recover. Next on the list was one of my favourite races where around the corner 15km Classic. Duntroon holds a pretty good classic course my goal was set a hard pace right off the start. At the end of the day everything fell into place and I won by 50 seconds. I was very pumped and excited it was a good win.

The body was pretty tired and I was happy to have a day off. My specialty was next the classic sprint, I picked the course a part to figure out where I could gain time and ski it smooth. In the prologue I skied pretty much as planned. The last hill was a little crazy but I was still able to keep the speed up. I won the prologue by just over 2 seconds which was a good start to the day. In the heats I felt strong and confident moving through quite easily. In the A final it was going to be hard but I felt strong and ready to take the win. Going into the last corner with some good speed from the downhill I was 2nd about 5 meters behind crooks. Widmer right on my heals ( literally) I took the turn and the next thing I know I am down and 3rd and 4th pass me and now I am sitting in fourth. Oh no what just happened, I got up quickly and started the close my 15 meter gap on the last hill on 2nd and 3rd. In the end I lost the lunge to Widmer who was 3rd. So I had a dissatisfying 4th place finish. It is something us sprinters have to deal with sometimes the ice or what ever it might be take’s us down, just part of sprint racing. So I am not to happy with the end result today but after having won the prologue and being in the mix for the win not that bad of a day. Right now I am leading the Canadian championships for the overall win. We have a day off tomorrow and I will enjoy a sleep in and see what the 50km skate has planned for us Sunday. Wish me luck!

Success on the OPA circuit

2009-02-26T09:56:00.009-07:00

Success on the OPA circuit

I am back on track, all cylinders are firing again!!!!! I was happy to have rehabbed my arm as fast as I did and then put it to the test. After getting my first two races in 6 weeks under me in Germany it was time to move to Italy. We packed up and drove down which was a real interesting drive. Once we woke up the next morning I was happy to see the sunshine and great trails as per usual in northern Italy.

It was time to ski easy and let my body recover I know that I had done a lot of training last 5 weeks so I just need to chill to get ready for the three day mini tour event from Friday to Sunday. Classic sprint -10km classic-15km skate. I was excited about the classic sprint. I could feel my body come around starting to feel snappier every day I was ready to race again. The classic prologue was almost perfect qualifying in 2nd 0.24 off the leader.

(photo credit Kevin Sandau)
Through the heats and right to the final I had control and could really finish strong, winning that day meant a lot to me. After being left off the world champs team (still don’t know why) and having my fractured arm made standing on the top step feel so good. Finally I am back and fighting to win again I was super pumped.

The following day was exciting as well being the leader and heading out with everyone chasing you really get’s the nerves going. I skied with two other Italians we where racing for the podium. They had a strong day and where really pushing the pace every lap to drop me. I skied strong but the last hill got me and they managed to put a small gap on me and I could not close it before the finish. Placing 3rd was satisfying, sweet two podiums I was a happy camper. The next day 15km skate not exactly my strong suite. I fought hard staying in the top ten finishing 7th. For me the skate was the best of the year.

Coming home with those results under my belt felt good and now I can have two weeks of solid training to get ready for nationals in duntroon Ontario. It is not where I wanted to be at this time of year. But these are the cards I was dealt with, I do look forward to these races and can’t wait to race for the win.

OPA races in Germany

2009-02-15T08:28:00.005-07:00

OPA races in Germany

After flying over and arriving in Germany ready to finally race again. We drove up and I was happy to see a lot of snow and great temps for skiing. I have never raced a day and half after arriving in Europe so It was going to be interesting to see how the body would react. Plus I have taken 5 weeks off of racing due to my injury. Waking up on Saturday morning I was excited to race (classic 15km) and was ready to get some good distance results.

I started the race fairly good I was 4th for a while then moved to 6th-8th after 8km and then my body felt the none racing and I started to loose my speed. In the end I was 13th. I was one minute off the lead which I was not excited about, but I know if I was in my normal shape the top of the podium would be possible. Sunday came rolling along quite fast. The jet lag has been pretty good; Saturday’s sleep was a little disrupted and broken up.

(photo credit Kevin Sandau)

The Skate sprint was up next and I was really pumped ready to rock it out. My body was not quite where my mind was, i seem to be missing some snap. I believe not racing for a long time and doing a lot of volume has taken the snap down a few notches. The qualifier was not what I was capable of, so I went into the heats ready to turn the day around. I had a good start and was positioned well. After a large large climb I was sitting in third getting ready to go back down and use the sling shot effect. As planned 2nd and my self blew by 1st and we started heading up a small hill then to the finish. I had one of the guys to my right not sure what he was going to do but all off a sudden my skis slide sideways and I end up scrubbing some speed . He tried to pass on the right but there was no room for him, not sure what his plan was but him hitting my skis cost me a lot of speed. I was still in second trying to build the speed back and then a fellow Canadian cruised by me, I tried to get back in the game but it was too late. The day ended up quicker then expected. Looking back it was a medium weekend; the racing will definitely help me for the following weekend in Italy. Where I plan on stepping it!
Wish me luck, till next time.

Back on track to the European racing scene

2009-02-11T11:15:00.008-07:00

Back on track to the European racing scene

I was not expecting to head to Europe this way. I am crossing the pond once more this season, I thought I would be heading to Europe to race at the World Championships but the powers above thought other wise. My plan has since change and now I am heading overseas to race OPA’s (B-world cups). I have had a crazy month with injury and not being able to race my own Canadian world cups, and then not being selected to the World champ team, WHAT THE!!!!!

But on the bright side I have recovered from my shoulder injury faster then most people thought I could. Now that I am not going to world champs I have had to make my own race plan and that is to race some very competitive OPA races. It will consist of two weekends of racing 5 races to be exact. One weekend in Germany and one weekend in Italy. My goal is to try hitting the top step of the podium during the weeks of racing. I have bin putting in a lot of hours since my injury, I believe that I am in good shape and I can’t wait to show how strong the Canadian contingent is. The weather here in Canmore has been pretty weird and the snow just does not want to cover the bow valley it’s a bizarre year for that. Across the pound is a different story there is no shortage of snow so the skiing will be wonderful where ever I go.

I really look forward to racing since it has been so long since I put a race bib on.

Look forward to the positives!!!!

2009-01-09T14:40:00.006-07:00

Look forward to the positives!!!!

Last Weekend was full of racing and cold weather. We started the week with what was supposed to be a 30km pursuit on Friday which ended up being moved to Monday due to arctic temps. On Saturday we had a skate sprint which was bitter cold, you could here the snow squeak every time you poled and barely glided forward. For me those are extremely hard conditions to ski, because the snow is so slow in makes the racing even more muscular which doesn’t favour me at all. I skipped the next race on Sunday because it was a skating 15km and if anyone knows me they know that race is not for me. On Monday was the 30km pursuit which I was looking forward to because the pursuit is a fun race and it is the qualification race for the pursuit in whistler in two weeks. I had a tuff night sleep and I did not feel well at all in the morning or through out the day. I tried my best to hang in as long as I could but I could not stay with the leaders past the classic part of the race. Unfortunately that means I will be watching the 30km pursuit in whistler. Then came Tuesday the final race of the weekend and my favourite, the classic sprint. When I am on form I feel pretty confident that I can one day climb the podium on the world cup, so I used this race as my warm up to whistler and to really try dominate the qualifier. Which I managed to do quite well. In the heats I was moving through quite easily till the A final where I tried something new and it back fired, I ended up coming in 4th. But I know where I stand and I was happy to try something new because you never know if it might make the difference on that special day.

That Tuesday night was a dreadful night for me I grabbed my hockey skates to join the rest of the ski gang on the rink to play a some good old Canadian pond hockey. In the end I wish I never found my skates but that is in the past and I have to look forward. Once I lased up I was on the ice skating and passing the puck waiting for the rest of the guys to show up. I took a pass and went to make a turn, my skate hits a rut and I go down. I landed funny on my left arm and herd a weird sound. Boom I knew something was not right. I hope through the night it nothing major but only get 1 hour of sleep proved that I was in pain. After some physio and x-ray’s thing where not looking to good. Talking to our team doctor and shoulder specialist it looks like I have a tiny fracture where my tendon meets the bone in the my shoulder. It was extremely hard to take the news because this means no whistler world cups… I thought to myself this cant be happing, I have been looking forward to showing the world what I can do on our home course in whistler. My goal was to make the A final and challenge for the podium.

Now I will be staying at home and working with our medical team extremely hard to get me back in the game in time to join the team to head over to Europe and prep for the world championships in February.

Good thing i have Postive family / friends / and team behind me

I have to move forward positively and not think of what I could have done to prevent this. I have just around one month and 11 days to get myself back into race shape. Luckily I can still ski and keep my self in shape that way, I will be skiing with only one pole as the other one mends it self quickly I hope. Wish me a speedy recovery so we can rock the world champs as Canada has had the most amazing start to a season and I am sure the men and woman will prove to rock more result at the Callaghan.

Stefan

Home for the Holidays!!!!!

2008-12-29T13:31:00.006-07:00

Home for the Holidays!!!!!

The team before we all go our own ways (davos sertig valley)

As much as i was disappointed about not being able to start the Tour De Ski due to not being healthy, i am really happy to come home and recharge the batteries and Enjoy some much needed family time. It was a good travel home other then not getting my luggage till 3 days later. We all know the airports in Canada where pretty overloaded with either snow, people or both. I was just happy to touch down in Calgary and make my way On highway 1 west to Canmore.

After taking 5 days off of training because of being sick made it impossible to ski well in the Davos which was a real downer, but as soon as the weekend is over the next weekend of racing was insight and that gives you something to smile about. I took an extra day off on Monday just to make sure the body had enough time, and energy to get rid of my head cold. Then the training started slowly, i only had time to do one hard session which was very difficult and i sure did not feel snappy like it did in Grenoble France skate sprint. So i was a Little nervous traveling to Dusseldorf on Friday. On the world cup if your not 100% healthy your going to get your but kicked. I had a good start number ( 8 ) I was still ranked in the top 30 for sprinting. I skied pretty good considering where i had come from being sick and missing a good chunk of training but it was not enough. So I packed my bags and hoped on the plan off to Canmore with a smile.

I took the Christmas time pretty chill with training and just enjoyed the festivities. and then saw off my wife at the airport she is going to go travel Costa Rica/ Belize / Nicaragua which is going to be allot of fun for here, but it was sad to see her go.

Now i am starting my ramp up of hours to get some volume for approximately 2 weeks and then taper it down for the Whistler world cups. The Canadians are going to rock house!!!!! We have some qualification races in Canmore on Jan 2-6th but i will just train through those and use them as good hard works outs, so that i am lighting fast in whistler.

see ya on the trails all bundled up!

Stefan

Davos Home away from Home.

2008-12-13T05:37:00.005-07:00

Davos Home away from Home.

I love coming to Davos, the Kulm hotel does wonders for us, great food, beds, duvets, sauna, easy to get to the ski trails. Always great weather and lots of snow… Enough to make you want to go shred the alpine hill sometimes!!!! After arriving from Scandinavia we had a short stop here in Davos, then off to Grenoble for a city sprint.

Which is exciting it was a great prologue for me in skating. The heat’s where tight with everyone trying to position them selves for the final straight. I got in a tangle up with two other skier’s which ended not so well. I lost the group and finished 4th in heat and 17th overall. After that it was off to La Cluza which is a beautiful place and my first time there.

It was planned to raced the relay. In the end we had a team mate toss his cookies the night before so we had only 3 out of the 4 skier’s racing so we did not finish, but it was a good work out anyways.

We drove the next day back to Davos, ya ya ya. I got back into my normal routine for training. I was excited for the weekend to come along, classic 15km, and skate sprint perfect races for me to continue my great start on the world cup. I think with all the travel, my body had no stopping power against a head cold. I woke up on Wednesday morning, moved out of my room into a single room to insure not to get any of the other team mates sick. Since Wednesday I have been patient and sleeping and drinking lots of water. I made the call this morning before the race not to race. Very hard to not start a race with perfect tracks, and atmosphere. I hope to be in a better health for tomorrow the skate sprint, cross you fingers for me. It’s hard to chill and be patient but when the body says chill out you need to listen. So I hope to be back to normal health soon……

2008-12-01T12:27:00.006-07:00

WOW what a weekend!!!!!!!

I am so happy to start the year off right with an amazing classic sprint on Sunday. I was very confident coming into the sprint race. The ski's where amazing and so was the body. In the qualifier I followed my plan perfectly leaving a little juice for the last steep hill into the finish. With a big lounge across the line I looked at the score board and was stoked to see 21 beside my bib, YES I qualified. Now onto the heats which were really exciting with a fast down hill right off the start you really had to position your self well. I had all cylinders firing and moving up slowly from 5th to 2nd on the last hill. Then around the corner to the finishing stretch to 4th, this is where I made a small error with trying to be too quick and slipping back once or twice. But in the end I was just a hair to slow to move to the next round. I was very excited to start the sprint world cup now ranked 15th.

Sunday was a new day, but instead of me concentrating on that new opportunity, I was still thinking about the last day; Whops. I learned a lesson there and will remember to move on even after a good day of racing or bad day. It’s important to start fresh every each morning. My sleep was not the greatest either I was pretty excited all night. I know I have a lot better result in me for the next 15km classic in davos. Trust me on that.
Hope the racing is going well.

Stefan

World Cups in Scandinavia

2008-11-27T11:13:00.003-07:00

World Cups in Scandinavia

Training and racing in the darkness of northern Scandinavia really makes you appreciate the sunshine Canmore has to offer and how much a beautiful night time sunset can take your breath away.

My first World Cup race of the year took place in Gallivare, Sweden where the sun comes up at eight in the morning and sets at two in the afternoon. It was an exciting start to the season being in here in Europe. Although the race ranking was less than optimal, my first skate race of the season was a success with respect to the fact that this was a very aggressive race, numerous in competitors and my time off race pace was one of my closer gaps in a skate race. I really enjoyed kicking off the season over in Gallivare as the atmosphere was buzzing with excitement of racing and it was great to see my friends and competitors back on the World Cup circuit, with their race faces on.

Being on snow is really exciting and I know it’s where I belong. I am now getting ready for the Kuusamo, Finland World Cups, both races are classic, starting out with a sprint then finishing with a 15km. I am ready for this weekend as classic sprints are my strength; it’s great to have a classic sprint so close of the beginning of the season. The trails here are amazingly steep and extremely challenging, even harder then the Canmore trails; which I wasn’t sure even existed. I am ecstatic about these conditions as they favour the skier that can glide and shuffle up a steep pitch. The weather is currently -5 which is average for this time of year and there is always a little fresh snow which creates a challenge as it makes the track difficult to run up.

After a hard day of training Devon Kershaw and I are spoiled as we are enjoying the amenities which include our own personal en-suite sauna room; this is one luxury we are not taking for granted.

This weekend is the Nordic Opener which means that ski jumpers, Nordic combined, and cross country ski athletes are all here to compete in this little town of Kuusamo, Finland. It is interesting seeing the diverse athletes training for their respective sports, I watched a ski jumper testing glide and soaring 120 meters in the air. While training today, I did some hard intensity on the race trails to get a good feel for the track, it was an intense sensation being on the race course and I can hardly wait for the upcoming races. Hope all is well and I am sending snow to Canmore ;)

Stefan

WOW my own website

2008-11-07T14:11:00.005-07:00

WOW my own website!!
My first web site and my first posting.
I am very excited about this winter and I have had a wicked summer of training under my belt. On Wednesday the 12th Nov. I will be heading to scando to meet up with one of my team mates in Sweden to get ready for the world cup season. The rest of the team heads to Silver Star to get on the white stuff since it seems it doesn’t want to fall here in Canmore quite yet. I have had some amazing training camps this year. They all had me come back to Canmore in better shape every time. Starting with Silver Star early may which was allot of fun and great skiing at that time of year.

With a new camp on the plan we where all excited about the nipika camp which truly was beautiful.

Then off to the glacier which is always a blast, training and living so high teaches you to really chill out in your skiing not to over due it.

After that I hoped on a plane to Germany to join my friend Jens Filbrich and the German men's team on a training camp in Switzerland that was an eye opener.

For my last camp off we went to Mammoth and Truckee which is always a delight.

And now I am ready to head over seas and put some kilometres down on the snow.
Till next time wish me luck

Shuff's