World Championships

Today in Hinterzarten, Germany, Methow Valley native Sadie Bjornson finished 13th in the 1Km freestyle sprint at the U23 World Championships. Yesterday her brother Erik finished 23rd in the same event at the World Junior Championships, also in Hinterzarten. Congratulations to Sadie and Erik! In more race news, local Brian Gregg won both races at this weekends USSA Super Tour event in Minnesota. Way to go Brian!

Super Tour Race Recap

Saturday's sprint races were an absolute gem. Beautiful sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. North Central Washington racers were dominate. Torin Koos (Leavenworth) and Laura Valaas (Wenatchee) were the winners. On Sunday up at Loop Loop, they again took home the top honors on a very difficult waxing day. Brian Gregg of Winthrop had a great race and finished 2nd. If you ever get a chance to attend a Super Tour race, do it. These skiers are awesome!

It's Twuu, It's Twuu

I know that if you look at the webcam you will say to yourself, yuck. But the skiing is really excellent. Don Portman, Laura McCabe, Annie B, and my wife were all out skating yesterday and said that it was really fast and really fun. So pay no attention to the weather report, come out and ski.

Looks Gross, Skis Good

Fog, light rain, dark, gloomy. The weather is not the most beautiful in the world. But, yesterday I classic skied on no-wax skis up Thompson Ridge. The glide was good, the grip was good. It was very quiet and peaceful. I didn't see a soul in an hour of skiing. And, even better, it was a very pleasant temperature. I didn't even wear a coat. So, looks can be deceiving, get out and go for a ski.

More Ski Racing

This weekend is the USSA Super Tour races in Winthrop. Two members of the US Olympic team will be on hand: Torin Koos from Leavenworth and Laura Valaas from Wenatchee. In addition, two members of the Canadian National Team, Shayla Swanson and Drew Goldsack, will be racing. Philip Boit, the sole member of the Kenyan National Cross Country Ski Team (who trained in the Methow last winter) will also be in attendance. And last but not least, our own Brian Gregg, off an outstanding showing at US Senior Nationals last week in Anchorage, will be here defending his home turf. So come on out and watch some of the best skiers that we have ever had the opportunity to see.

More Senior Nationals

Yesterday Brian Gregg placed 5th in the 30K classic mass start race at the U.S. Senior National Cross Country Ski Championships in Anchorage, AK. Way to go Brian, that is awesome! A little known fact: Brian is an accomplished artist. You can view his work entitled "A Person Having Big Feet" in the restroom foyer of Sun Mountain Lodge. It was painted during his days at the Little Star Montessori School in Winthrop. Don't miss it!

More new snow and now: SUN

We received about seven inches of new snow on Monday. All the trails have been groomed and the skiing and snowshoeing are great. Now the sun is out and all is well in the world. Speaking of the world, four of our Methow Valley nordic skiers are at the U.S. Senior National Cross Country Ski Championships in Anchorage, AK as we speak. Sadie Bjornsen, Eric Bjornsen, Sam Naney and Brian Gregg all were members of the Methow Valley Junior Nordic Team and honed their skills on all the trails in the Valley. All four of them qualified for the heats in the freestyle sprint on Saturday, with Brian finishing 8th and Eric 10th. Monday was the freestyle race, 10K for women, 15K for men. Sadie finished 19th, Brian 9th, Eric 37th and Sam 55th. Congratulations to this great group of young skiers.