XC Event

Entering the venue. Powder blue jackets and skies.



The flags and final corner before the double-pole finish.



Crowds line the course one and a half meters from the closet track.



Kikkan Randall flies by during the sprint qualification.



... and passing by with picture-perfect technique. Arriving in plenty of time; the skiers are testing wax, warming up.
Last minute tickets from Correy.

I’m so excited for this event.
To reconnect with my skiing self, the cross-country scene and everything it entails. Nordic gods. The excitement of sprints, qualifications, the drama of finishing.

There isn’t much time to capture the experience with words, nor a desire. This is something I just want to live through – plus, the skiers pass so quickly at the spot I’ve wedged into (between a group of Frenchmen and Americans from Vermont and Alaska) that only a few pictures are managed each time.

Before the woman’s race starts, one of the Alaskans I recognized from a past life was Rob Whitney of the Subaru Factory Team. Being colloquially called “Rob” by the Alaskan-flag wearing friend clicked something in my mind; so I asked him if I’d seen him from somewhere; West Yellowstone maybe? And then my mind kept working as I was talking with him and realized he had been with the team.

At Whistler Olympic Park he was handing out “Go Holly!” stickers in support of his wife, Holly Brooks, attempting to qualify for the Quarterfinals of the women’s sprint (classic technique). We talk a little Alaskan politics.



Holly skiing past us -- Rob wedged in for a picture (he's cropped out).

The view allows us to see the finish, the skiers going down the hill coming up from the start in the stadium, and the up-close shots of them passing by before re-entry through the last big turn into the stadium.

The men's turn to ski.



Andy Newell (#2) -- who failed to qualify, unfortunately.



Torin Koos (#28) transitioning from double pole to diagonal stride.



Simi Hamilton #(42) double-poling through the slight uphill section below.



(#48) Kuzzy!!!



The Official Kikkan Randall fan club. Rob is in the top right, back row.



The Norway section!



Looking out at the final downhill curve before entering the stadium.



Patrick Bateman makes an appearance.



Norwegian Marit Bjorgen in a qualifying heat.



Petter Northug (#6). (For J. Marcos).