Alta Gas - Olympic edition

2010 WINTER OLYMPIC EDITIONin association with

canada’s snowsports journal

Cross Country teamready for Olympic action

32010 WINTER OLYMPIC EDITION

In this Olympic year, we have the chanceto admire the sporting talent that existsin our country. We have the chance to

recognize gifted athletes who have commit-ted to the consistent achievement of excel-lence and who are fulfilling dreams andinspiring national pride. Whether you’rewatching the Games live in Vancouver-Whistler or watching on television, we areall bound to witness a truly remarkablemoment in Canadian history.

The competition is about to unfold inBritish Columbia, where AltaGas has beenestablishing a growing presence. Last yearwe completed the province’s first wind park— Bear Mountain Wind Park — and we re-main focused on continuing to develop ourBC assets. At AltaGas, we understand thatsuccess doesn’t come easily — it takes hardwork, dedication, and a commitment to ex-cellence. That’s why we’re one of Canada’slargest and fastest growing energy infra-structure organizations. And that’s why wehave proudly sponsored Cross CountryCanada since 2007.

Cross country skiing is a sport whereathletes, who train for a long time, are re-warded and see results from their hardwork and their dedication to the pursuitof excellence. This special section sharessome of these athletes’ stories — ath-letes who amaze and inspire all of us withtheir talent and their commitment to hardwork and sacrifice in their pursuit ofOlympic glory.

We are proud to sponsor Cross CountryCanada and to be a part of fueling the driveto medal success for the nation’s elitecross-country skiers. AltaGas wishes allthe athletes and coaches success in the2010 Winter Olympics.

2010 Winter Olympic Edition

TABLE OF

CONTENTS

SECRET WEAPONHaig glacier provides spectacular training for national ski team

OLYMPIC PREVIEWThe contenders, predictions and dark horses

AN OLYMPIC FAMILYThe unfinished story of Pierre and Alex Harvey

OLYMPIC VENUEWhistler Olympic Park, home of cross country.

THE GEARYou need to win races

AT A GLANCEEye of the tiger: George Grey

FAST & FEMALE Chandra Crawford offers some health tips

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7

8

11

12

14

15

COVER Devon Kershaw will lead

the men’s Canadianteam into the 2010

Winter Olympic Gamesat Whistler Olympic Park

Photo: Nordic Focus

Haig glacier provides spectaculartraining for national ski team

2010 WINTER OLYMPIC EDITION4

It’s late Monday morning June 30th and the newCanadian nordic head coach Inge Bratten and Ihave it easy today. We are hopping aboard a

supply flight with a gaggle of gear, headed to thehigh altitude cross country skiing camp on theHaig Glacier — recently renamed the Beckie ScottHigh-Performance Training Centre — while thenational team skiers will drive for an hour and thentrail run 18 kilometres up to the camp.

These athletes are the real deal. It’s doubtfulthat any athletes train harder than this team. Afterchanging from trail running clothing to summer ski wear, lunching massively and washing theirdishes at the rudimentary camp, the skiers scrambleup another 1,000 meters through steep rock andsun-glazed summer snow to the machined settracks on the Haig Glacier, where they will ski,confer with coaches and test lactate levels for thenext three hours.

SECRETWEAPON

PHOTO STORY BY JOHN EVELY

Alex Harvey works on his heart rate monitor tan line.

5

After their last lap on the track, the skierspark their skis and ingest a few chalky texturedchocolate protein recovery drinks beforedescending steeply again to an evening ofliving large at the “Yo-Yo High Country Club”.

Team Canada’s current Yo-Yo trainingrecipe, cooked up by coaches Bratten andDave Wood, calls for spending three days ofskiing at 2,700 meters followed by three daysof trail running and roller skiing at somewhatlower altitudes between Lake Louise and BowSummit. Three up, three down. Six hours oftraining per day, six days a week.

“It’s a constant state of change,” chimesnational team skier and Yo-Yo master DevonKershaw. With the athletes either going up orgoing down, “packing and unpacking, training,eating, sleeping, and driving.”

On the seventh day of the camp, whilst hisfellow nordic mates were resting, Kershaw wascompelled to hit the dictionary and researchother definitions of “Yo-Yo” and was amusedto identify with both “a thing that repeatedlyrises and falls again” and a less formal notation“insane or unpredictable person”.

“Yo-Yoer’s unite!” declares Kershaw.“Regardless of sun or hail, up or down, we’relaughing, yelling and having a demented greattime. We’ll be Yo-Yo’ing well past this year’smain objective in Vancouver!”, Kershaw claims.“Ask any one of us and we’d answer in unison;that there’s nowhere else we would rather be —or anything else we’d rather be doing!

“Insane and unpredictable?” Works for me.”What is apparent on this national ski team

is the continual cooperative and upbeat vibethat exudes from this group. Despite spendingsix days a week together, they still chose tohang out on their one day off.

2006 Olympic Gold medalist Chandra Crawford isstarting to wind up her incredible engine again

after a season lost to injury.



Staying together at the Haig Glacier wherethe athletes assist staff on an extensivecommunal work list (for example dinnertimedishes on this evening for gold medallistChandra Crawford). “It is a team buildingopportunity where athletes need each otherand learn from one another,” tones Bratten.

Bratten communicates very effectively at thecamp with his new team. He was the headcoach of Norwegian and Swedish teams duringtheir respective glory days in the 1990’s beforemoving on to broadcasting and mediamarketing projects, and was only recently luredback into coaching by his long time friendWood. Subsequently, Bratten has almost rockstar like credibility in the nordic realm. But hewalks softly and quickly, speaks wisely withindividuals, rarely addresses the entire throng,and there is no big stick in sight.

Coach Wood also enjoys afamiliar, consistent rapport withthe athletes and comedians on theteam who know they can rely onhis calm demeanor at crucial times.He also knows from years ofexperience what works forCanadian skiers and isn’t trying toemulate their Europeancounterparts. Indeed a backcountrytraining camp situation like this

Winsport-owned facility might not be possiblewith European superstar skiers, who might bemore inclined to ride a gondola down from theglacier and check into five star hotel room bythemselves after a team meal.

After dinner, I asked coach Bratten to comparethis Canadian team with the great Norwegianand Swedish team’s that he coached to incredibleOlympic success. “This is more of a team thanother teams,” Bratten suggests. “They are closer(and) it’s especially noticeable at a camp like thiswhere everyone is together all the time.”

Obviously Olympic medals are not awardedfor compatibility in sport, but these athletesand coaches are hopeful that this Canadianclimate of cooperation, gleaned on the HaigGlacier — could very well Yo-Yo them tosuccess at the Games of 2010 WinterOlympiad, right here at home. SRC

The cross country team enjoy a few hundred calories at suppertime after burning a few thousandduring the day.

Coaches Dave Wood (left) and Inge Bratten evaluate Ivan Babikov’s blood

lactate levels on the Haig Glacier.

Yo-Yo master Devon Kershaw enjoysa chalky chocolate recovery drink atthe end of another day at the office.

7

A number of unlikely countries have producedat least one skier on the women’s circuit who canchallenge on any given day. On the distance side,the resurgent Marit Bjoergen, a big star for theNorwegians, will be looking for some Olympicglory after flaming out in Torino. CharlotteKalla, a young Swede, has earned her stripes inthe last few years and will be hunting for amedal. Perhaps the strongest skier on thewomen’s side since the last Olympics has beenFinland’s Virpi Kuitunen, a classic specialist.Look for her to dominate the 30-kilometer clas-sic, the last race on the women’s schedule. Twoall-rounders, Petra Majdic, who is a nationalhero in Slovenia, and Justyna Kowalczyk ofPoland, last year’s overall World Cup and dis-tance World Cup champion, will threaten in vir-tually any race. Majdic, in particular, is adominant classic sprinter.

The Russians and Italians will look to chal-lenge in the sprint, a specialized event, withAlena Sidko for Russia and Marianna Longa onItaly’s side. The Swedish women, though, havea terrific sprint squad, led by Lina Anderssonand Anna Haag. They captured two of the threemedals at the last World Championships.

The traditional four-person relay, with twoclassic legs and two skate legs, will pitch theNorwegians against the Finns and Russians, allof whom have consistent teams. The teamsprint, in only its second year on the Olympic

2010 OLYMPIC PREVIEW: NORDIC

SRC PODIUM PIXWOMEN’S CROSS-COUNTRY30 KM, MASS-START CLASSICGold: Virpi Kuitunen, Finland

15 KM PURSUIT (7.5 CLASSIC+7.5 FREE)Gold: Justyna Kowalczyk, Poland

WOMEN’S INDIVIDUAL SPRINT CLASSICGold: Petra Majdic, Slovenia

TEAM SPRINT FREEGold: Italy*Best Canadian chance: Chandra Crawfordand Sara Renner

4X5 KM RELAY CLASSIC/FREEGold: Norway

10 KM INDIVIDUAL FREEGold: Charlotte Kalla*Best Canadian chance: Sara Renner

ross-country skiing was contested atthe inaugural Olympic Winter Gamesin 1924 and has been a part of every

Winter Games since. But though it is one of sixsports that have been contested at every WinterGames, it’s not your grandma’s sport anymore. Itis powerful and exciting, with lots of sprint action,fast corners and aggressive tactics — definitelyworth checking out. Cross-country events havebeen dominated by the Nordic countries andother European powers. While that is likely tocontinue in Whistler, there are reasons for opti-mism in North America. Every cycle of OlympicGames rotates the technique used for the variousevents, except the pursuit and relays. Half theevents are classic and half are skating, and theyswitch back and forth every Olympics.

DYNAMIC DUO:Devon Kershaw(above) and ChandraCrawford (left) are both medal con-tenders in the teamsprint free event.Photo: John Evely

By Tom McCarthy

CROSS-COUNTRY

WOMEN

agenda, will feature the Italians, Swedes and Rus-sians. Canada’s best medal chance is in the teamsprint, which is skating technique this timearound, and so will showcase Chandra Craw-ford’s strong technique along with team veteranSara Renner, competing in her fourth Olympicsafter taking a break to become a mom. TheCanadians have to be considered a longshot inthis event and would have to be very lucky in anyother event. But hey, Crawford was a longshotin the sprint in 2006 and ended up playing airguitar to “O Canada” on the podium. Don’t evercount her out. SRC

C


THE UNFINISHED STORYOF PIERRE AND ALEX HARVEY


ANOLYMPIC

FAMILY BY TOM McCARTHY

9

Ashort history of Canadian cross-countryskiing goes like this: Before this decade,there were very few Canadian skiers who

made a blip on the international radar, and reallyonly one worth mentioning — Pierre Harvey.

The huge talent from Rimouski, Quebec,put the spotlight on Canadian cross-countryskiing in the 1980s. Then darkness descendedon the Canadian nordic ski world with lacklusterresults until Salt Lake City in 2002, whenever-smiling Beckie Scott came along,grabbed Canadian skiing by its spandexcollar, and pulled it back into thespotlight.

The Canadian women promptlyfollowed Scott’s lead, with Sara Rennerand Chandra Crawford winning Olympicand World Championships medals in 2006and 2007. Then the men started movingquickly, and in the last two years haveworked together to build a team that willchallenge for medals in 2010. There’sDevon Kershaw, the leader of the team,Ivan Babikov, the gutsy new Canadian, andGeorge Grey, the seasoned veteran. Andthen, at 21, the youngest athlete on themen’s team — and arguably the most talented — Pierre’sown son Alex.

The genetics are on Alex’s side, without question. TheHarvey family story provides unique insight on intriguingquestions in sports: What determines talent, and how canyou predict success? Is it about who your parents were, oris it about the environment you grew up in?

Pierre started his career in road biking, racing to 24thplace in the road race in his first Olympics in Montreal in1976. He was part of the team that boycotted the 1980Moscow Olympics and became the first Canadian tocompete in both summer and Winter Olympic Games inthe same year, in Sarajevo in 1984. He won three WorldCup races in the 1980s, including one of the world’slegendary ski races, the 50-kilometre Holmenkollenmarathon in Oslo, Norway.

Pierre finished his Olympic career in Calgary with abest placing of 14th. But the Olympics were never where

Pierre shined. Those were the days when doping was atits peak, and other athletes — outclassed regularly byHarvey in the weeks before the Olympics — mademassive improvements at the Games and leapfroggedhim on the results sheet.

There’s a famous poster of Pierre at the 1988 Olympicswhere he’s flying around a corner at the Canmore NordicCentre, both skis airborne, eyes wide, gunning it towardthe finish. This poster defined who Pierre was, anddefined Canadian nordic skiing for a generation.

Alex shows a similar genetic aptitude. Born in 1988,the year Pierre closed his Olympic career at the CalgaryGames, Alex attended two World Junior Championshipsin mountain biking, with a top result of 23rd in 2006. Buthis cross-country skiing always held a slight edge. “Until I was (17), it was pretty equal in my mind,” Alex said.“Then I got my first medal at World JuniorChampionships in 2007 and it was a natural choice forme. I’m a perfectionist and I want to win. I was close tobeing world junior champion in skiing, so it was easy toquit biking.”

Alex Harvey celebrating a third-place finish in themen’s pursuit at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games testevent at Whistler Olympic Park in February 2009.Photo: Paul Morrison.



But the question of nature versus nurture hasno simple answers. While his father may have aHemi-sized athletic engine, Alex grew up in anenvironment perfect for skiing, the picturesqueand aptly named village of Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges, east of Quebec City. It sits at the baseof Mont Ste-Anne and boasts some of thehighest snowbanks and nicest ski trails you’llfind in Canada. Pierre introduced him toskiing, Alex said, but never forced him into thesport and didn’t put any pressure on him tocompete. “At first,” Alex said in an interviewthis summer with Fasterskier, “he brought meto the sport. Where I live, everyone is a skier,either downhill or cross-country. When I wasyoung, I’d downhill ski on Saturdays and cross-country on Sundays. The competitor wasalways in me — I always wanted to win formyself.”

Alex also might possess a technicaladvantage, having sat behind his father in thebaby-glider then having skied behind him as akid, absorbing technique tips the whole time.But not so, said Alex. “I skied with him onweekends, but I don’t think he was a greattechnician as an athlete. Everybody said that he

had a huge engine, but he’s not a technicalskier,” Alex said.

So if genetics don’t account for Alex’s long,relaxed classic stride, the endless skating glideand the effortless-looking power, what does?“One of the reasons I ski well today is all thehours I spent looking at World Cup races onthe computer, and at video of myself. Iremember all the technique sessions we had inthe sport program at high school. I guess itpaid off!”

Surprisingly, Pierre never coached Alex. Theyounger Harvey’s local club has a strongtradition of coaches, and he worked veryclosely with Les Parsons and now LouisBouchard, the coach for the appropriatelynamed Centre national d’entrainement Pierre-Harvey. Before races or throughout the year,Pierre would give him small tips, or help himwith mental preparation. Alex said he still doesthat, with a quiet word of encouragementleading up to a big race.

Perhaps the biggest races of Alex’s youngcareer were the test events at the WhistlerOlympic Park last January. Everyone in thestadium heard the tension, the breathless

excitement, and then the sheer joy inPierre’s voice as Alex sprinted up the finishstraight in the team sprint to lunge in for asurprise third place, his first World Cupmedal and a guaranteed spot on the start linein the 2010 Olympics. Pierre was trying outas the stadium colour announcer. Pierremight not do stadium commentary for the2010 Games — he will likely stick toFrench-language television coverage — buthe’ll certainly be there on the sidelines towatch Alex step up to the start line andcontinue an Olympic legacy.

Pierre had some very good Canadianteammates in the 1980s, but he was the onlyone who broke through to the top ranks. WhenAlex toes the line in Vancouver, he’ll bealongside the strongest Canadian men’s teamever. Canada’s top guns boast recent WorldCup medals and can challenge in all the events.The relay team has a great medal shot.

Perhaps the best lesson Pierre has given hisson is also one of the simplest. “He’s alwayssaid,” remembered Alex, “that the day youdon’t have fun is the day you’ll no longer begreat.” SRC

Alex Harvey has benefittedfrom the Canadian team leadership of veterans such as Devon Kershaw, right. Photo: John Evely


The cross-country venue includes a 6,000 square-foot technical building, 10 kilometres of competi-tion trails in two distinct five-kilometre loops anda 150-metre-long stadium area. Athletes will ski atan average speed of 25 kilometres per hour duringcross-country ski races, reaching maximum speedsof nearly 60 kilometres per hour. Over the men’s

50-kilometre race, the athletes will climbapproximately 2,000 vertical metres (morethan twice the vertical of the men’s down-hill course at Whistler Creekside). Thewinning time for this race is expected to bearound two hours.

One of the five-kilometre loops is in-tended for the skating technique, and oneis intended for the classic technique. It is not thehardest course on the World Cup circuit, thoughit flows extremely well and has a lot of fast down-hill corners. The classic course has a long gradualuphill that could separate people and the skatingcourse has a number of shorter, steeper climbs,which will be challenging. The sprint courseloops above the stadium, and features two verysharp corners that will provide lots of racing ex-citement.

WHERE THERACES WILL BE WON:The cross-country courses do not feature anylong, steep hills where an athlete could break

away early. The long, gradual classic course onthe uphill could separate the contenders from thepack, but is unlikely to determine a winner. Mostof the races will likely be won on two short, steepuphills 500 metres from the finish, within fullview of the crowd in the stands.

BEST SEAT IN THEHOUSE: The best place to be is in the standing-room areaopposite the stadium seating. From there, you cangrab an up-close look at the athletes as they climbthe final hill, see them come directly at you asthey whip around the first tight sprint corner, andthen watch them come barrelling down the sta-dium straight-away. Plus, tickets are only a thirdthe price as the stadium seating. SRC

ross-country skiers will compete at the Whistler Olympic Park, located in the Callaghan Valley about 18kilometres south of Whistler. A temporary stadium holds 12,000 spectators at the $119-milllion venue,which will also host biathlon, ski jumping and nordic combined. The venue consists of 14 km of cross-

country skiing and biathlon trails as well as two ski jumps (90m and 120m) that will be immediately visible upon en-tering the venue. The two square-kilometre venue also includes three separate temporary stadiums (for cross-country, biathlon and ski jumping respectively)located about 500m apart. An additional 20 to 25 kilometres of recreational nordic trails will cover cross-country ski terrain next to the Olympic Gamescore area. A 10,500 square-foot day lodge will be part of the athletes’ compound.

After the 2010 Games the Whistler Olympic Park will be owned and operated by the Whistler Legacies Society, which will also operate the WhistlerSliding Centre and part of the Whistler Athletes’ Village. VANOC has set aside $110 million for venue legacies as part of their venue budget.

VENUE GUIDE: WHISTLER OLYMPIC PARK

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CROSS-COUNTRY

he mere title of this article is mis-leading. Gear is never going to winyou a race — winning is up to you.

But it sure can lose you a race. Every skier has countless stories about ter-

rible wax, slow skis, or a busted pole that costthem a medal, a championship, or club glory.In my last race as a junior, I was on track for amedal in the national championships 30km —there were three of us out in front. Then, withone hill left to climb, I stumbled slightly andmy boot separated from its sole. Fourth place,just like that, and a new pair of boots from thecompany (who shall remain nameless) after Itold them my story.

When the gear works right you hardly no-tice it. Skiing feels natural, the kick feels solid,and everything is where it’s supposed to be.

Here are some different things that high-per-formance nordic skiers look for in their gear:

POLESUnder normal conditions, the key criteria forpoles are control and swing-weight. A poleshould feel like it is an extension of the arm,so the strap is very important. The strapshould eliminate the need to hold the pole di-rectly with the hand — most skiers I knowonly use the hand to loosely grip the pole,which allows for a more relaxed upper body.

Swing-weight relates to the shaft and thebasket. The goal of every shaft is to reduceweight as much as possible while maintain-ing stiffness so that power applied down thepole transfers to the snow, rather than bend-ing the pole. The lighter a pole is nearer thebottom of the pole, the lighter it’ll feel whenit swings.

Poles get tricky for sprinting, or when it’s asoft-snow day. Sprinting involves a lot morecontact, so many companies now make asprint-specific pole that sacrifices someweight for more strength, particularly in thebottom third of the shaft, where a pole snapseasily if kicked. On a snowy day, the verysmall baskets that reduce weight will go rightthrough the surface, so high-level racers usu-ally cart around a pair of big baskets to slam

on if it’s a soft, messy day. There is nothingmore frustrating than having your pole-plantcollapse into soggy snow.

BOOTS AND BINDINGSBoots and bindings are lumped together herebecause they usually act as one system. Clas-sic boots are pretty standard across compa-nies — a simple, low-cut boot that flexesthrough the forefoot. Skating boots are a bitmore sophisticated — the challenge is to pro-vide optimal control and underfoot powertransfer while also providing for maximumforward ankle flexion. Most skating bootshave a cuff that supports above the ankle, butsome elite skiers now prefer very good lowerfoot control, so there are some skating bootsout there without an ankle cuff.

The key in boot/binding technology recentlyhas been the bindings. There are two main

systems. SNS Pilot, the proprietary Salomonsystem, uses two pins (at the front of the bootand at the ball of the foot) as the contactpoints from ski to boot. NNN3’s technologyrelies on two plugs — one in front and one be-hind the pin as well as, in the last three years,a binding plate (NIS) that adjusts up or downthe ski depending on the skier or the condi-tions. A recent addition to most elite racers’stables has been the skiathlon boot, which isbuilt for both classic and skate — but not per-fect for either, lacking stiffness for skatingand being a bit restrictive for classic.

The two competing technologies are bothgreat, but they have different strengths. My pref-erence is for the NNN3 system, which I think of-fers better control due to the wider binding plateand slightly retracted front pin. The NIS platesystem is a very secure system, and the ability tooptimize the balance point is a nice touch.

By Tom McCarthy

CROSS-COUNTRY

COMMENTARYSara Renner knows that value of goodequipment. Photo: John Evely

you need to win racesTHE GEAR

T

12 2010 WINTER OLYMPIC EDITION

SKISSkis. They’re important. Each ski brand hasa different personality — Madshus aresmooth and forgiving, Rossignols arebouncy and lively, Fischers are stable andsmooth, and the list goes on. To answer apopular question, though — no, the skis youbuy off the rack are not the same skis theWorld Cup athletes are using. They are,however, very close, and occasionally anathlete will use an off-the-shelf ski if it hasthe right characteristics. Everything abouta store ski is the same as an elite ski, usu-ally, except for the base — each companytakes special care with World Cup skis.They pick the best skis off the factory lineand give them different base types for spe-cific conditions. You’ll only ever see two ofthose base types in a store — a cold baseand a ‘zero’ or wet-snow base — but theelite guys are on lots of different types.

Key advances in recent years have been anew double-camber construction for classicskiing — which results in a higher grip zonewhile gliding, but keeps the grip easy to putdown when force is applied – and, more gen-erally, swing-weight reduction through theuse of carbon at the tips and tails. Anotherspecific advance is in classic grip zones, withthe introduction of better structured basesor chemical bases.

A word on ski gimmicks: they usually fallshort of a good, stable, well-built ski. Manyof the gimmicks come from the downhillworld. Fischer brought a ‘side-cut’ skateski out in the late 90’s to great fanfare, butall the pros hated it so they built normallyshaped skis and put the side-cut graphicon it for them to race on. Atomic’s signa-

ture ski is a Beta Cap construction — thecurrent one worked. The old one was slow.This year, Fischer has a ‘hole ski’. I’ll reserve comment.

WAX AND SKI PREPOf the three key determinants of ski speedon any given day, most people don’t realizethat only one of those — the ski’s camber —is integral to the ski. The other two are thebase structure of a ski, created throughgrinding, rilling, or brushing; and of coursethe wax. The grind is the most often neg-lected by citizen racers, but many World Cupteams bring their own grinder to the biggestraces, to grind for specific snow conditions.Some teams have had testers developinggrinds and waxes specific to WhistlerOlympic Park for over two years. If you’re notat the World Cup level, there are a few pro-fessional grinding gurus around NorthAmerica, including the aforementionedBoulder Nordic Sport.

Ski waxing for elite –level racing is one ofthe most complex, magical and mysterioustechnical aspects in any sport. The numberof waxes is overwhelming , and the numberof factors to consider in choosing the rightwax – and the right wax process, for often itis HOW the wax is applied that makes thedifference — is mind-boggling. The besttechnicians are worth a tremendous amount— it is an all-consuming, highly committedcareer. The best advice for any elite racer issimply this – find a good team with a goodtechnician. If not, you’ll be looking at a lot ofspandex skiing away from you. Good luckwith your gear! There will be days whenyou’ll need it… SRC

By Tom McCarthy

CROSS-COUNTRY

COMMENTARY

McCarthy’s Tips

1. Ensure you’re on skis that fit your style ofskiing. Are you a powerful skier with ashort stride, or long and smooth? That willhave an impact.

2. Get skis with good bases. Some companiesare more consistent with factory qualitythan others – Fischer is second to none inthat respect. Ideally, you’ll have a ski techat the factory picking skis out for you – thisis possible with some operations in NorthAmerica, such as Boulder Nordic Sport(www.bouldernordicsport.com ).

3. Know your skis better than any other ath-lete knows theirs. Everyone says this, butthere’s nothing more important. Owning 4pairs of race skis is better than owning 20pairs of race skis, if you trust those 4 pairsand know exactly which ones will work inwhat conditions. The best way to do this isto number or label your skis and keep anotebook of how they perform each timeyou ski – or race– on them. Don’t dismissyour old skis. As skis get older and arewaxed and scraped more and more, theylose all their base substructures – which isgreat in soft, cold-snow conditions. Oldclassic skis are comfortable, and a pair thatis slightly too soft for you will be fast to skion for years, particularly in long raceswhere your kick gets tired. My favouritesare a 1997-vintage Fischer RCS classic ski.

Tom McCarthy is a former national-level crosscountry ski racer and the lead XC writer for SRC.Retired from serious racing, he remains fullyplugged in to the scene as a race organizer, wax tech, and former board member of CrossCountry Canada.


EYE OF THE TIGER: George Grey makes amove at the 2009 World Cup race in Canmore, Alberta.Photo: John Evely.


AT A

GLANCE

or many young winter sport athletesFall not only represents the excite-ment of the pre-season, but a return

to the fine balancing act required to accommo-date school while maximizing training.

“Balancing school and training for me wasabout managing my energy, prioritizing, andchoosing the things I most wanted to do,”said Chandra Crawford, cross-country skierand 2006 Olympic Gold medalist.

How to fit it all in? Not always an easytask, but in order to play hard, one must

work hard and it is important to establish abalance as early as possible to ensure the at-tainment of your goals.

Setting certain expectations for yourself inacademics and sport and tracking yourprogress in both will keep you in check andensure that you are not falling behind. Asport can be a great motivational tool duringthe school year, but only after you’ve estab-lished clear priorities.

It is also important to communicate openlywith parents, coaches, and teachers, as

these will serve as your support system. In-volve all of these people in your goal setting,which will not only engage your mind to theupcoming season but provide inspiration forworking your body.

And just like going back to school requiresattention to homework, sport also demands abit of homework with regards to equipment.One of the most important things you can dothis pre-season: waxing.

“Hopefully your skis had travel wax on themall summer. If not, give them some serious TLCand a few coats of hot wax. That is so key tokeep the bases from drying out,” said Crawford.“When I was younger I took responsibility formy sport, from my body, mind, and all the wayto my equipment. Waxing my skis diligentlygave me the extra edge to perform.” SRC

These tips are offered by Fast and Female pre-sented by Best Buy, which is a not-for-profitorganization started in 2005 by Olympic GoldMedal cross-country skier Chandra Crawford.The organization’s mission of “EmpowermentThrough Sport,” is achieved by hosting sport-ing events where girls and young women, ages9-19, focus on building confidence and leader-ship skills.

15

By Marie-Hélène Thibeault

FAST &

FEMALE

Work your mind, body and skisCRAWFORD:

Chandra Crawford (right) with her Fast andFemale crew during the Fit and Fun series.


F

OFFICIAL SPONSOR OFCROSS COUNTRY CANADA

At AltaGas we understand that success doesn’t

come easily it takes hard work, dedication, and a

commitment to excellence. That’s why we’re one of

Canada’s largest and fastest growing energy

infrastructure organizations. And that’s why

we proudly sponsor Cross Country Canada.

www.altagas.ca

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