Racing in Silver Star

Well, the racing season has begun! It seems every Canadian cross-country skier has raced in Silver Star and now I have finally joined the bandwagon.

My results were as follows:
15km Skate Individual Start: 32nd Open Men, 10th Junior Men (8th Canadian Junior Men)
Classic Sprint Qualifier: 48th Open Men, 12th Junior Men (10th Canadian Junior Men)
Classic Sprint Heats: 7th Junior Men (6th Canadian Junior Men)

The skate race course covered very challenging terrain with a total vertical elevation change of 950m. I attempted to control my pace during the first 7.5km lap, but the unrelenting hills still managed to break me during my second lap. Luckily, I met up with Chris Hamilton during the last 2.5km and we pushed each other to the finish line.

My classic sprint qualifier was quite sloppy due to my inexperience with sprinting. Fortunately, our team video taped the qualifier and we were able to review it before the heats. I brought my newly acquired knowledge to the table in the heats and managed to win the B-Final sprint. I skied the heats with much more composure and confidence and gained invaluable sprinting experience which I will be able to use in the future. All in all, it was a great learning experience and some of the best sprinting I have ever done in a race situation. I can't wait to test out my sprinting capabilities again.

It was a solid start to the season for me and I look forward to improving my results in the upcoming Canmore NorAm and Val Cartier NorAm races.