I got back home from the second glacier camp of four this summer. My team at the APU Nordic Ski Center (nordic.alaskapacific.edu) has a training center on Eagle Glacier which is 40 miles south of Anchorage just above Girdwood, Alaska. When the weather is nice we be on the glacier in under an hour after a 40 minute drive and a short helicopter ride up. This summer has not been nice. Gray and cloudy with the occasion 25-50 mph gust of winds in the mountains, so we hiked. We were coming in when the junior part of our team was hiking out and two our our staff guys who shepherded them out got to turn right around and lead us back up the ~5000 ft climb to the edge of the glacier. After a 10 minute ride behind a snow machine we were greeted by a surprise hot meal that the two juniors who were staying up to train with us a few extra days had made so we could just eat and crash since it was 10 pm once we finally go up there.
Aside from the rest of the great reasons like the mild weather, fired up ski community, great trails and mountains to train on, and the sea level skiing in the winter, the skiing on Eagle Glacier is one of the things that makes Anchorage such a great place to call home for a xc skier. No where else on the continent and only a few places in Europe can you have such easy access to summer snow.
This camp was a little shorter than most, four days instead of seven. Which meant we just get up there and train hard every day without the need for a recovery day which can be a little boring when you have all afternoon to kill with nowhere to go, no internet, and 15 year old VHS movies. The days up there were filled two hard training sessions, afternoon naps, and nightly video sessions. One of the most valuable things of training up there is the technique gains that can be made over the summer so when we get on snow in the fall we focus on quality training rather than getting the feel for snow after a 6 month break like most have to do.
The glacier was also the end of a block of training but I am happy to say I went out on a high note. I just felt great handling good loads and higher speeds than in the past. This is the second year working with my current coach, Erik Flora. Last season we were learning how to work with each other after being friends and competitors for years but now we are figuring it out and looking towards the next two years and the Vancouver Olympics in 2010. Until next time,
James
James races for the Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center
And is sponsored by
Skinny Raven Sports
Atomic skis and boots
Swix poles
Toko gloves