Utah Ski Team

NCAA Men's Classic Race

2011-03-11T11:24:00.000-07:00

Didrik Smith & Miles Havlick take 5th & 6th places!

NCAA Championships

2011-03-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

Maria Graefnings & Zoe Roy go 2nd & 4th!

NCAAs Women's 5km Skate

2011-03-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

National Champion-- Maria Graefnings! Zoe Roy 11th place. Maerta Larsen 27th.

NCAA Men's 10km Skate

2011-03-09T11:15:00.000-07:00

Miles Havlick in 3rd Place! Didrik Smith 6th place. Tom Smith 20th.

Maria also grabs the overall Owl Creek Race title today!!

2011-02-13T13:41:00.001-07:00

Miles takes the collegiate win today!

2011-02-13T13:12:00.000-07:00

Maria takes the collegiate win today!

2011-02-13T13:10:00.000-07:00

The Nordies Storm Snowbird

2011-01-26T15:18:00.000-07:00

The Tunnel

2011-01-26T14:39:00.001-07:00

Team Dinner- Family Style!

2011-01-21T18:35:00.001-07:00

First Race of the Year

2010-11-27T19:21:00.000-07:00

Maria Grafnings takes third!

I don't even know what to put here. Apparently the Jersey Shore has nothing on the shore of the Great Salt Lake.

2010-10-25T12:51:00.005-06:00

Team Adventure Day- great fun!

2010-10-09T11:15:00.002-06:00

Left to right-- Tom Smith, Rose Kemp, Miles Havlick, Sarah MacCarthy, Zoe Roy, Maddie Talkington. Featuring: Rolf Figi as the airplane and Ian Havlick as the, um, pilot?

Photo by Abi Holt

Sunday Run with the Girls.

2010-10-03T10:52:00.002-06:00

Rose Kemp, Maddie Talkington, Zoe Roy and Marta Larsen run the Crest Trail.

Photo by Abi Holt

Tour de Suds Mtn. Bike Race in Park City, UT

2010-09-19T13:42:00.001-06:00

Photo by Abi Holt

Van Safety Class

2010-09-15T14:27:00.002-06:00

Tom, Smack and the other guy demonstrate how to avoid crashing the team van. Four hour class. Everyone passed.

FanFest Photos- With Web Link to the Full Photo Album!

2010-08-29T09:46:00.006-06:00

Click on the link below to see the rest of the photos we snapped at FanFest!

FanFest Photo Album Link

FanFest 2010!

2010-08-29T09:31:00.007-06:00

A few summer photos...

2010-08-29T09:15:00.004-06:00

Nordic skier Mali Noyes conquers Mt. Heyburn in Idaho.

A ring of bushes around the Rosie (Rose Kemp, Nordic Athlete).

Nordic athlete Parker Tyler, with a few broken spokes.

Graduating Seniors!

2010-04-22T18:01:00.002-06:00

This year's seniors, all dressed up and ready for the real world.

Yeeeeaaaahhhhh, Anna Kocken on the podium in NCAA Slalom...good job Utes!

2010-03-16T12:11:00.000-06:00

Torjus Krogdahl, 2nd place at NCAA Slalom...what a great night...

2010-03-16T12:08:00.001-06:00

Sean and Scotty, thank you for your hard work...

2010-03-16T11:52:00.000-06:00

NCAA Champ Eva Huckova and all American Sofia Smith...good job girls!!!

2010-03-16T11:50:00.000-06:00

2010-03-13T14:09:00.001-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

Anna and Torjus make the Podium!!!!

2010-03-13T00:04:00.000-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

2010-03-13T00:03:00.000-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

Some Thoughts from Senior Kyle Kung

2010-03-12T05:37:00.002-07:00

Well this is it. The season is coming to an end and for me, it will be my last two races for the U. Over my five years here the team has been through ups and downs. I have seen people come and go, but regardless of this fact, we have always had a strong cohesive group and in my opinion the best people to race with. I am positive this will continue in the future. As for this season it has been eventful on the alpine side. In a matter of a month there were three blown out knees, and two dislocated shoulders. It has been an injury filled season and the team still managed to qualify more people than we actually needed for the NCAA's, which shows our great depth. Going into these championships no one is looking at our team to do well, except for ourselves. This year there has been outstanding individual performances, but as a team we have not had an outstanding day. Hopefully it will be this weekend. You can toss out what has happened up until this point in the season and just count what happens this week. With all of our talent we hope to have four solid days of racing and climb onto the podium.
As for me I am going to enjoy myself and take in one of the last races of my career. So, for everyone reading send good vibes in our direction and cheer for the Utes this week.

National Champion!

2010-03-10T15:40:00.000-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

2010-03-10T15:00:00.000-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

2010-03-10T14:46:00.000-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

Girls XC

2010-03-10T09:22:00.001-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

4am Wakeup Call

2010-03-10T05:32:00.000-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

Spring Time by Didrik Smith

2010-03-02T05:41:00.000-07:00

The regular season is over, and the spring is on the way. Springtime is probably the best time here in Utah, with sick skiing in the mountains and t-shirt weather downtown. But before I/we can enjoy this, we have the 2010 NCAA Championships coming up. This year it will be held in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, the same place Western Regional’s were last weekend.
The team is looking good right now, and I know we are able to get some good results next weekend. Since Regional’s were at the same place, the whole team was able to race in NCAA have been able to race on the same courses that will be used during the championships. Last weekend we showed that we are able to perform well there. Zoe had a sick classic race and ended fourth, while Miles stepped it up from Nevada invitational and finished sixth. In the skate race on Saturday we had three boys finishing top ten, Miles, Martin and me. On the girls side Zoe had the best finish again with an eight place. Our alpine team also did well, and the best result was Anna’s victory in the women’s slalom. So again the team is looking strong and I am sure we will have a strong NCAA championship.

After NCAA’s the season is totally over, and time to do something else. I am looking forward to do a lot of other things that we are not able to do during the season, I am specially looking forward to go backcountry skiing. In the spring it is nice to take totally off, and don’t think about Nordic skiing at all. With backcountry skiing you have fun at the same time you getting in some serious training too.

Video Update from Rosalicious

2010-02-19T16:19:00.002-07:00

Utes on three...

2010-02-18T23:52:00.001-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

Midseason Update by Miles Havlick

2010-02-15T21:54:00.005-07:00

Hey Everyone,

Since Tom covered Halloween last week, maybe I should update you guys on Christmas…??? Anyway, these last couple weeks have been really fun. Last weekend the alpine team and most of our Nordic team went down to New Mexico for some college races and really represented well, managing the flats of Taos and high altitude of Red River. I was lucky enough to be part of a small group who made the trip up to Sun Valley, ID to race the 32k Boulder Mountain Tour. It was a great day for the Utes with Didrik Smith taking 2^nd in the Men’s race and Zoe Roy also finishing 2^nd in the women’s race. As it is most of the time up there, flawless blue bird conditions provided a couple of perfect days for some quality training.

This week we will all be heading out to Reno for the UNR Invite. Everyone on the team is very excited for the next couple weeks, as the Olympics rage on and spring skiing is just around the corner. Look for some top notch results from both the Nordic and Alpine sides as we head into the 2^nd half of our season.

GO UTES!!

What it Means to Be a Ute by Tom Smith

2010-02-01T19:27:00.009-07:00

I don’t want to write about our results, or a simple team update, so I am showing the real meaning of what it is to be a Ute.

It is more than just the results. It’s Spice Girls, male groupies, Michael Jackson, and Amy Winehouse.

It’s about summiting the peak with your closest friends. One Team, One Spirit.

It’s all about being part of something bigger than yourself.

And sometimes…you just gotta go for it!

update from Anna Kocken

2010-01-24T20:46:00.002-07:00

Last weekend both teams headed up to Montana for more college races. The second weekend of races for the alpiners and season premiere for the nordics!
The highlights of the weekend was for the alpiners Max third place in GS, TK´s second place in slalom and Eva finishing first in slalom and fourth in the GS. On the nordic side freshmen Miles showed really good shape finishing fifth in the skate.
The top Utah girls in the classic were Sarah in 9th and Zoe in 16th. Zoe finished first for the Utah girls in the skate race with an 8th place finish and Rose was the second Utah girl in 18th.
Utah was forth overall in the meet.

This week the alpiners had a recovery week after a hectic schedule, the nordics on the other hand got prepared for their home meet this weekend. A weekend that started out great, in the 15k classic all 7 guys finishing top 20. With Miles on a third place followed by rolf on a sixth.
In the girls 10k classic race Zoe was the best girl with a 6th place.
The second day of the Utah Invite concluded with Zoe skiing to a 10th place finish and Marta coming in 15th. The boys were led by Didrik in 11th and Martin in 12th.

Here are some pictures. Enjoy!

Team Update by Ian Havlick

2010-01-24T18:59:00.007-07:00

Oh Boy…So I guess I’ll fill in the gaps from our last post by Zoe. The disaster zone in my room (a lot of our rooms) pretty much tells the story.Empty duffel bag. Pile of books. Huge pile of dirty laundry. Cough drops.Gnarly wadded up tissues. Four different jackets. A humidifier. An empty coffee cup. Ski boots. Stinky race suits. Empty refrigerator. A long to-do list…lacking any tick marks or crossed off chores. But we’ve all been working hard getting things done.

It’s been a pretty busy couple weeks including a scenic drive to Bozeman, Montana and back. the start of the spring 2010 semester, classes, training, sleeping, and stressing out about a certain lab…due tomorrow…etc. But so far, so good, no one is complaining and we’ve been putting up some sick results.

Prior to the trip to Bozeman, the alpine team was hungry and ate up some buffaloes, lobos, pioneers, seawolves (?), and whatever animal UNR is, at the Utah Invite held at Park City Mountain Resort. TK and Eva led the way in the Alpine portion of the Utah Invite and absolutely threw down…along with great performances by everyone else.

Then it was off to Big Sky country. It was filled with ups and downs. More great races from TK, and Eva, and seemed like the week of freshman stepping up as well. Crested Butte native and freshman, ‘Miracle’ Max Lamb had some great results up at Big Sky. On the Nordic side of things over at Bohart Ranch, Didrik, Martin, Rolf , and little Miles showed up with game faces both days the on a steep and technical course. The girls also skied very well with highlights from Zoe and Smac. Despite these positives, the alpine men’s team lost a key player to a season ending ACL tear, and the Nordic team fought widespread illness. But as I type, my crippled roommate is icing, and elevating, and fired up. Ready to make the fastest ACL recovery ever.

Next, was a few days to rest, recover, get in a good interval session, and prepare for two tough days at Soldier Hollow, UT near Midway, as a potent Pacific storm charged eastward bringing the promise of warmer, snowier conditions to overcome. Eli was out testing early and often to try and get us the best skis possible. As race morning dawned the wet snow tapered off, but was replaced by an equally dreaded condition…. WIND. Strong, sustained winds plagued both the men’s and women’s races, shutting down any hope of skiing in the trademark bomber tracks the “SoHo” crew manicures meticulously. The high winds buffeted the racers with stinging snow, massive headwinds, and at times zero visibility. It felt more like a backcountry outing than a tame Nordic race. The kicker of it all was that it was still relatively warm, around 30-34ºF, the most tricky temperature range get kick wax to work well. Would it be hard wax? Klister? Klister covered with hard wax? Hairies? Zeros? …..CROWNS?!! Racers and coaches were scrambling to find anything that would kick but still glide fast in the ever-changing conditions. In the end, Utah had better skis than most, led by Miles, eager to prove Montana was no fluke, and skied to an impressive 3^rd place…on CROWNS (fish scale skis)!!! The sun came out for the girl’s race and made it a total suffer-fest as the entire field’s wax quickly offered little grip. It was a up to those toughest to persevere and Utah’s ladies definitely rose to the occasion, cheered on by some insane alpiners who missed class and made a HUGE difference with their rowdiness.

The second day came with a fresh coat of snow, a tough drive on snow packed roads to the venue and 3-4 laps of the Olympic 5km course to overcome, mass start style format. Light snow subsided and the sun broke through the clouds. The girls were first and we led by Zoe and Marta. For some, it was their first 15km skate ever and they handled it really well with good pacing and race smarts. The boys were up next in the warming conditions and started conservatively, as they had 4 (FOUR!) laps to take before crossing the finish. Martin and Didrik skied great races and skied in the lead collegiate pack for the whole race. Tom Smith really came in clutch for us with a $20 bill for gas money to get us there…and as the third scorer in such a tough race. The ‘piner’s showed their support as well, making it a huge team success with Nick ‘voice for ESPN’ Cohee on the loudspeaker, Thomas, Jaka, Wendy, alum Fabian Figi, and others-I-saw-double-vision-of-but-cant-remember-who-they-were giving feeds out on the course, and everyone else yelling their brains out. We wouldn’t have finished without you!

Special thanks to Barbara Yamada for the support, organization, and donuts in the timing building!

The momentum is rolling and we are on the rise!! Thanks for reading! (Didn’t mean to write such a long entry...ughhhh!)

here is a clip of Miles finishing at MSU Invite...

Salt Lake to Bend and back..

2010-01-18T10:43:00.002-07:00

With finals finished everybody split up for the holidays. A few of the Nordic girls geared up for nationals in Anchorage, Alaska, some of the alpiners traveled to races in Steamboat Springs, CO, some stayed in Salt Lake City, others traveled to their respective homes all over the world and some, like former Utah skier and now a graduate student, Ingvild Flatland from Norway, were adopted by families like mine for the holidays.

The two of us made the ten-hour drive to Bend, Oregon on Ingvild’s birthday and made it home in time for a birthday dinner and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, her favorite. I’ve made the Salt Lake-Bend drive enough times to have made friends at different gas stations and rest stops along the way which makes the trip entertaining. We also stopped and ate lunch with Utah skier Rose Kemp in Boise, her hometown. My three weeks at home were like an Avatar whirlwind that consisted of everything from several lunches at the Taco Stand, to showing Ingvild what Bend is all about, to making dry ice bombs big enough to rip sturdy plastic buckets apart and create shock waves! Luckily, the weather was ideal for training and doing fun stuff for most of the break. Ingvild could not believe that in December it could be sunny and nice like Easter every day!

One of the highlights was the annual New Years Relay in which having a good costume and actually making it to the starting line after perhaps not enough sleep the night before, might be more important than going the fastest. Ingvild and I killed it as a two-person team (I raced two legs) with awesome outfits for having whipped them together the morning of the race.

My break came to an end with the Pursuit Race at Mt. Bachelor after which I jumped in the car and drove back to Utah the same day.

Now the whole team, including a few newcomers to the group, is back in Salt Lake ready to get after it in the upcoming season!

Utah Invite Alpine

2010-01-12T06:54:00.001-07:00

Please join us monday Jan 11th and/or tues Jan 12 at Park City Mountain Resort for the University of Utah Invitational!

We could still use volunteers. If you are interested, please contact our head alpine coach Jaka at;

jkorencan@huntsman.utah.edu

(801)558-8776

Happy Holidays and Go Utes!

Go Time by Kyle Kung

2010-01-11T05:17:00.004-07:00

Finally the season is upon us. Over the past couple of weeks the alpine team has been training and racing in Park City. Everyone has been training extremely well and on the eve of the first collegiate race we are all excited to get the season started.

On a more serious front the ski team women had the highest overall GPA in the athletics department, followed by gymnastics, and then the ski team men!

Photos are better than words.

New suits!

2010-01-02T19:39:00.001-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

Cold and dark in Alaska

2010-01-02T19:31:00.001-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

Mali & Marta @ the Christmas Classic in Sun Valley, ID

2009-12-27T11:56:00.000-07:00

Semester Over! by Devon Spika

2009-12-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

Finals week is finally over. That is simply incredible. Even with some busy study schedules, we have managed to get some good training in during the weeks since West. Snow finally came to Salt Lake and the ski areas got groomed. We skied up Millcreek, at Mt. Dell, and at White Pine. Eli drove people up in mornings and afternoons most days during finals weeks, which was nice because we all had different exam schedules.

I was super excited for my trip home on Saturday, but ended up getting stuck in Chicago for a while. I think my bags may still be there. Don’t really know actually and don’t think anyone does. I guess that’s what happens when you travel during the holidays. And there’s a storm in D.C.. Super brutal. Today I dressed in some way-to-baggy ski clothes, an old broken jacket and strapped on the very first pair of skate skis I ever owned… the only usable ski equipment I could dig up. The ski was good. My skis were way too soft and slid around quite a bit … but at least I got a good balance workout in, I guess.

I’m pretty excited to train here for the next few weeks. It’s nice to be at sea level and shred the trails I grew up on. Looking forward to some delectable home-cooked meals too. That’s probably the best thing about being home.

Can’t wait to get some solid training under my belt, as I’m sure everyone is. Our first college race is in under a month and some people are heading up to U.S. Nationals in Alaska before then.

So, yeah. Happy Holidays! Happy New Year! And, good luck to the team in Alaska!

A great powder day in Deer Valley with Utah Alumni Dana Evan...nice to see a Californian woman shreding deep powder...

2009-12-19T10:37:00.001-07:00

Some Christmas Cheer from Karina Smith

2009-12-11T21:31:00.004-07:00

Christmas Magic

Are we too grownup to feel a thrill

As we light the Christmas tree?

Are we immune to cookies,

Christmas cards and Christmas glee?

Are we too adult to "Ooh" and "Aah"

At the Christmas candle's glow?

Are we blasé about our gifts;

Do we shun the mistletoe?

Are we too mature for carols,

For merry or for jolly?

Do the decorations leave us cold,

The ornaments and holly?

Fat chance! We'll never grow too old

To love the Christmas magic.

A year without a Christmas

Would be boring, even tragic.

So bring it on! The candy canes,

The feasting and good cheer;

O Christmas, lovely Christmas,

You're the highlight of the year!

I hope every one got in Christmas mood after reading this lovely poem by Joanna Fuchs!!! Is Christmas time and the ski team is looking forward to the Christmas break. This week, we have had a recover week after the ski camp in West Yellowstone. We are so happy to finally have snow now! But before we can have a well-deserved vacation, we have to take ours final exams. J

AND our lovely Parker had birthday on Thursday, so again; HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Hipp hurra..

KEEP WORKING AND GO UTES!!!!!!!!!

Hoodies?

2009-12-09T08:15:00.000-07:00

If you want to order a Utah Ski Team Hoodie, call Olivia in the Crimson Club to order by this Friday at 3pm.

Olivia is;

Office 801-581-4521

Cell 801-979-6830

ohall@huntsman.utah.edu

Thanks and Go Utes!

Eli

Great Skiing up Mill Creek!

2009-12-05T07:18:00.000-07:00

The team looooves floor hockey

2009-12-05T05:37:00.001-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

Back on Snow by Ryan Wilson

2009-12-03T17:33:00.001-07:00

This past week has been a great one, everyone on the team FINALLY got back to what we all love... SKIING! The alpine team packed up last friday and headed off to Vail for some excellent training, while the nordic team headed up to West Yellowstone. We could not have asked for better conditions, Vail is in the best shape I have ever seen it this early in the season. We were lucky enough to have weather similar to what one would expect in late March, cold temps at night and 30-40 degree highs each afternoon with bluebird skies. The first 3 days we headed over to Copper Mountain for some free skiing to get back to some basics. On Tuesday we enjoyed a much needed day of rest which included a pretty intense Walleyball session at the Cascade Resort gym. Wednesday to Friday we all hopped right into full length GS in the race arena at Vail. The GS sessions were the best training I have had in the past 4 or 5 years, the set-up at Vail is truly world class, we were very lucky to have our training camp there. With a world class training arena comes world class skiers, we were blessed with the oppurtunity to train alongside some of the fastest skiers in the world, beacuse many world cup teams have been skiing Vail in preperation for the upcoming world cups in Aspen and Beaver Creek. It is really good to see the preperation and skill that the world's best put on display last week, I think we were all motivated to train the same way. We all are skiing pretty fast too, I think its safe to say this season is shaping up to be a good one! On thanksgiving Max's parents made the trip over from Crested Butte to prepare a feast which will not soon be forgotten, i'll go out on a limb here and say Joyce Lamb's apple salad ranks among the best foods of which I have ever consumed! The camp was a great experience but there were also a few lows to the week. The first was a crash Sofia took on the first day of skiing which led to a seperated shoulder, she's a tough girl so after one day in the condo she was back on snow. I'm sure she will be back to regular training in no time. Then came the food poisening incident! Freshman phenom, Max Lamb, may need to practice some hand washing techniques. We had taco night and Max chose to play with some raw ground beef then followed that by eating a burrito with his hands, without washing his hands prior to consumption. This rookie mistake led to massive amounts of fluid discharge at the Copper Mountain base area the next morning. I trust you all have heard about the rule of three? Well if you haven't, it states that bad things come in groups of three. The third came during a basketball game on Saturday, Nick suffered a pretty bad rolled ankle. It swelled up immediately, he is going get an x-ray this week, lets all hope it is just a sprain. As far as I have heard the nordies had great training in West Yellowstone and are looking strong heading into the competition season. Max and I are currently still in Colorado, we will be racing the opening Nor-Ams in Loveland and Aspen this week. We are both totally stoked on the oppurtunity to put our hard training to work and see if we can slay some good runs in these races!!!

WE ARE LOOKING STRONG AND READY TO GET 12!!!

I'll leave you with a couple of the alpine teams favorite motivational words:

NO NOTHING BABY, NNNFFFFFFFFF!!!

West Yellowstone by Mali Noyes

2009-12-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

Our trip to West Yellowstone began with a rap off, using walkie-talkies, between the three vehicles. These raps focused mainly on team characters, such as Benny Benny Benny or Parker Tyler’s Yoga experiences. Once at West Yellowstone the team quickly got out on the trails. The trails are all well covered, well groomed, and filled with well trained nordic skiers. Growing up as a nordic skier, the West Yellowstone camp is always an exciting time. It is in this week that you test your new skis, see your old friends, get in lots of km's on snow, and put on your first bib of the season. This year there are three different races. Most of the Utah skiers have chosen one of three races to compete in. The first race is a classic sprint prelim, the second race is a 10/15k skate race, and the third race is a 5/10k classic race. After the races, the team will have one more day in West before we pack up and drive home.

The food here has been great, all cooked by Tom’s mom, Monica Smith. Last night we had a wonderful thanksgiving dinner introduced by Tom singing “Amazing Grace” and Leland Brown kissing all the little girls (and Abi).

Cold and icy...dangerous for coaches on hill...

2009-12-03T09:27:00.001-07:00

What a day of racing again, lucky Utes on the way to the race...

2009-12-03T09:25:00.001-07:00

Bloody cold early morning at NorAms in Aspen, Max Lamp getting ready...

2009-12-03T09:23:00.001-07:00

Ryan Wilson on inspaction, Aspen CO...

2009-12-03T08:56:00.001-07:00

early cold morning at Solitude

2009-12-01T07:16:00.000-07:00

West Yellowstone Race Action- Didrik Smith

2009-11-28T12:25:00.000-07:00

Ben Fick, 10km Classic Race

2009-11-28T12:22:00.000-07:00

Thomas Zumbrunn slicing the ice....

2009-11-28T09:56:00.000-07:00

Nick Cohee practicing a new drill...

2009-11-28T09:27:00.001-07:00

The Utes representin'....7am ready to role...Vail, CO

2009-11-28T07:34:00.001-07:00

Vail in November...Alumni, come join us for training next November...

2009-11-27T23:19:00.000-07:00

Anna Kocken, first day in the gates as a Ute...

2009-11-27T23:15:00.001-07:00

Ryan Wilson and Nick Cohee...what a day...good skiing, perfect snow conditions, sun is out...what else can we ask for...

2009-11-27T23:11:00.001-07:00

Utah alumni, Per Johansson, joins us for training...it was good to see you still got it Per...see you soon...

2009-11-27T23:03:00.000-07:00

Utes in action in Vail...first day in the corse in top notch conditions in Vail...

2009-11-27T23:00:00.001-07:00

Thank you Vail Ski Team for an amazing training conditions...

2009-11-27T22:56:00.001-07:00

Utes finally on snow in Vail, Colorado...

2009-11-27T22:50:00.001-07:00

Max getting ready for the action before Vail training camp...

2009-11-27T22:45:00.001-07:00

Ski Testing

2009-11-22T07:09:00.000-07:00

Winter Getting Close by Torjus Krogdahl

2009-11-16T19:27:00.001-07:00

After a lot of hard work, sweat, and tears, the alpine team finally finished up the last week of dry-land training. The whole team is in great shape and ready to hit the slopes. Ryan and Nick went to Colorado over the weekend and had some great training. The rest of the team took the weekend off to get some rest and prepare for the strength test on Tuesday and Agony Hill on Wednesday.
The Nordic team is still going strong, working out harder than ever and definitely getting ready for thanksgiving, when they are going to test out the snow for the first time this season.
This week the winter finally arrived in Salt Lake City. The last couple of weeks have had temperatures in the 60s, but on Wednesday it dropped into the low 30s and we even got some snow. Some of the ski resorts in Utah are already open and hopefully they will start blowing snow in Park City and Snowbird so we can start ski training after we return from our annual thanksgiving camp in Colorado.
After a great fall of training and lots of fun, I think the ski team is in better shape than ever and ready for a successful winter.

Go Utes!!

First tracks!

2009-11-14T12:32:00.001-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

Easy Run Near Campus

2009-11-11T10:07:00.001-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

Update by Max Lamb

2009-11-10T11:22:00.001-07:00

The whole team is getting antsy for the snow and skiing. Last weekend 5 of us on the team made the seven hour drive to summit county Colorado to ski at Loveland. The snow was good and all was well except on the last run on Saturday Nick took a chunk of edge out on his new slalom skies. It was just another reminder that it’s still early and the season is a little ways away. We have reached what I believe to be one of the most exciting parts of the season. Workouts are about to die down, and I think I speak for everyone when I say thank god the long Monday Friday workouts end this week. Skiing is about to ramp up. We leave for our training camp in Vail in less than two weeks. Everyone is really excited to get on snow and start doing what they love.
As far as the Nordic side of the team, I’m not sure what they have been up to but I’m sure they are working as hard as ever getting ready to get off the roller skies and on to snow.
As a new freshman the year so far has been awesome. The team is great, everyone gets along and I can’t wait for the on snow training. I have already been pushed in the gym and in dry land. I’m probably in the best shape of my life right now. Everyone is fit and motivated and ready to get 12. GO UTES!

Alpine Team getting some slalom on.

2009-11-05T15:30:00.001-07:00

Halloween by Eva Huckova

2009-11-03T08:16:00.002-07:00

Last week was a little busy. The week started with the University Athletics Halloween Party and ended with the Utah Ute’s football blackout game on Saturday. The alpine dry-land program changed on Monday and the workouts got much longer; strength lasted about 2 hours and we didn’t even finish the program. To get people ready for skiing we have been doing a lot of quickness drills, explosive strength work and balance exercises. I am not sure what is going on with the Nordic training but I have no doubt they are getting ready for snow as well.

Halloween was a chance for people to let loose and be whatever they wanted to be. It was a good chance for the entire team to get together and bond. Because the football game was a blackout most people wither covered their costumes or didn’t wear them to the game. I have to say the two biggest surprises were Tom in his cape and the 4 boys who were the Jamaican Bobsled team, they had the sled to prove it. We are all looking forward to getting on snow and being done with dry-land, so think snow. And don’t forget about the Utah Ski Team Tuning and Waxing Fundraiser from November 6 to the 8- that is this weekend so be ready.

Soldier Hollow

2009-10-31T07:13:00.001-06:00

DSC00123

October Break by Parker Tyler

2009-10-29T12:29:00.003-06:00

October was one sick month. The Utah Ski team put in some solid training with a couple intensity weeks, a volume week, and fall break. The team split up this year for fall break. Some of us left to refresh our minds and have some fun other than ski training, while others stayed in SLC and had a mini-training camp. Some of the girls went on a trip up to Monarch, Montana. A small town in the middle of nowhere. We got some time skiing on snow, ate a lot of good food, and spent a lot of time chilling out doing little as possible trying to recover from a heavy fall training load and school.

When you go from having no free time to having all the time in the world your imagination and creativity can kinda go crazy, so the girls and I spent our time in Montana thinking of the most outrageous stuff we could think of, consisting of getting pulled by a huge truck across snowy roads on our skis going 30 miles per hour, pretending the be cowboys, teaching Scandinavians how to play American football, shooting guns, playing pool at the bar with the smoke jumpers, lassoing each other, trying to imitate the lift from dirty dancing, building jumps, jumping on and rolling hay marshmallows, just usual Montana stuff.

After fall break the team came together to bust out another solid cycle of training before our fall camp in West Yellowstone. Unfortunately after one week of training I got the swine flu. Typical since I manage to get really sick every fall at least once. But now that is mostly over with and I am feeling a ton better and getting really antsy to put on my roller skis again to get as strong as I can before season starts. But for now I have to rest, which is all good. All in all it seems that the team is looking really fit after the Steinbock Invitational that was held last weekend. I think we are all really fired up this year to grab number 12 and so far we are on the right track.

Peace Out~

Alpine Getting Ready!

2009-10-28T07:05:00.001-06:00

Up

2009-10-22T14:52:00.001-06:00

Down

2009-10-22T14:44:00.001-06:00

LCC Intervals

2009-10-22T12:19:00.009-06:00

Fall Break by Tague Thorson

2009-10-19T10:19:00.003-06:00

Last week was October break for all of us at the U, so people were spread out all over the place. I know that Kung and Mas went to their respective homes, Ryan and a few others went to Moab, and some of the Nordies went to Montana. As school starts up again I am sure they all made the most of their time off.

Skiers with guns....watch out Cougars!

It was a much deserved break for all the athletes, and I am sure coaches, after working hard for the last few weeks. Looking ahead, Halloween is coming and that means the ski team should have a good shot at winning the U of U athletic costume champions again. Farther in the future, or not depending on the weather, snow should be coming and everyone is excited to start skiing. So we can get out of the gym and onto the snow please feel free to think snow. Thanks for reading, have fun.

Tague

lazy Nordies!

Last Week Before Fall Break by Rolf Figi

2009-10-12T12:06:00.004-06:00

After the hard weekend with the time trial and the soccer game versus the former athletes, which we lost unfortunately, we were looking forward to the last week of school before fall break. It was a busy week for all the Utah skiers because we had a lot of midterms and training. This week was also the first week with the new ski shed! It looks nice and almost everyone put some stickers on their locker, or someone else put them on. The only thing where a couple of us are struggling was to open there lockers. But after a week of trying it every day, everyone knows how to open the lock.

The training was nice this week because we could enjoy the fall weather and saw the fresh snow up in the mountain every day which tells us that were getting closer and closer to the start of the season. But first we have week off and all the athletes are working out by them self and wherever there are right now. A couple of us went home to visit family, and others left to Moab or Montana for an adventure. So right now there is just a small training group in Salt Lake City with a few Nordics and Alpiners.

Picture: Rollerski workout from the shed up to Mill Creek. And after we got lost first we finally made it and enjoined the beautiful colors of the forest.

Long pole bounding intervals

2009-10-06T18:24:00.002-06:00

Sent from my iPhone

Open House by Thomas Zumbrunn

2009-10-05T10:23:00.000-06:00

Fall break is coming up and we have another busy week in school with various exams and papers coming up! We have been training hard the last couple weeks with high intensity lifting as well as jumps and sprints in the stadium. So everybody is looking forward to fall break to refuel the batteries for the second part of the preparation. This Saturday we had a mountain time trail together with the nordic team – they were on roller skis and we climbed up the “steepest road in Utah” with our bikes. This was a nice opportunity for a mutual training despite the different needs of the two teams regarding the preparation for the season.

This Saturday we were also able to “break in” our new ski room/shed. We invited our alumni and challenged them in a soccer game – or I should probably say we tried to – because who would have thought that the alumni selection actually won the soccer game! The big effort and even playing with twelve people on the field was not enough to crack the experienced defense of the alumni. Former Ute coach Pat Miller, who coached the alumni soccer team, formulated his strategy pretty simple: “just scoring one goal more than the active team”. And since he was successful, we should probably have this as our strategy for nationals next spring; if we score one point more than all the other teams, it will be all we need…

Open House October 3

2009-10-03T15:17:00.000-06:00

JOIN US! Bring your family to meet the 2009-2010 Ute Ski Team and join other Ski Team Alums on Saturday, October 3, 2009 at an Open House 3:30 - 5:30 PM in the new Ski Team Building. Located behind the Smith Football Center on Guardsman Way. It is a free event. However, any any donations to the Ski Team would be greatly appreciated. Join in or stand on the sidelines and cheer your favorite team- the current skiers or the former team members in a Soccer Match at 4:00 PM. There will be ski team clothing items to purchase and information on joining the Varsity and/or Crimson Clubs. Please RSVP to Eli Brown at ebrown@huntsman.utah.edu.

Homecoming Week by Sofia Smith

2009-09-28T12:48:00.003-06:00

Have you ever heard the saying, ‘time flies when you’re having fun?’ I think the more appropriate manifestation for our team is, ‘time flies when you’re working hard and having fun’. Team training is already a month in and its going great. With the 2 of the hardest testing sessions completed, we are all excited and ready for the next stage in dryland training.

Gametime

Here is the recap from the previous week. It was Homecoming Week and the ski team was invited to the pep rally with other athletics programs. The goal was to raise awareness and bridge the gap between the student body as a whole and athletics. The Utah Ski Team was honored for our previous accomplishments and addressed the students at the pep rally. It was a great experience; we had lots of fun contributing to the success of the event, and hope to do more events like this in the future.

Tom without his UTA

After a long week of school, training, and activities, we enjoyed our first weekend off of the fall. Some travelled to see family and friends, while others stayed home to relax with great weather. Shopping and cheering on the football team were also on the agenda. All in all, it was great to have 2 days to have time to do rest and recharge for the next stage. Bring it on!

AGONY by Nick Cohee

2009-09-22T05:57:00.003-06:00

The beginning of this past week gave our ski team a hint of winter with a bit colder temperatures and rain. It was nice to sort through my wardrobe and glance at warmer clothes to wear, reminding me of something drawing near—hopes of a successful season with the Utes! School is going well and our squad continues to prepare for the upcoming season whether in the gym, on rollerskis, or other activities outdoors.

Agony (noun)—extreme mental or physical suffering. Agony Hill—ski team training Saturday, September 19, 2009. After a restful sleep, us Utes began the hike/run up a single track ascending and overlooking Salt Lake City. This being my first time up Agony Hill I was unsure of what to expect. I pointed to a ridgeline high above the starting point, asking if that was the top and was simply laughed at by veterans of the trail. “That isn’t close to halfway!” Replied a fellow teammate. I wish he were wrong. The run took me around 18 agonizing minutes and our team as a whole did exceptionally well, setting personal records and improving previous times.

Miles Havlick set a personal record by 45 seconds and had the fastest team time since 2005.

Marta Larsen set the best time since 2005 and beat all but five men.

Rolf Figi set a personal record by 45 seconds and is third in the oveall standings.

Thomas Zumbrunn ran the second fastest men’s alpine time (second to his own record) and finished eighth overall for the day.

Torjus Krogdahl set a personal record by over a minute and 20 seconds.

Parker Tyler set a personal record by 14 seconds.

Karina Smith made the top-ten list as the seventh fastest XC girl since 2005.

Didrik Smith set a personal record.

I made it into the top-ten alpine list in seventh.

Mali Noyes made the top-ten list since 2005 in tenth.

Anna Kocken is third overall in the women’s alpine list.

Sophia Smith set a personal record by over 2 minutes and is now fourth place overall for women’s alpine.

These results show that the Utes have been training hard and are hungry for a championship ring. On Sunday the Utah Nordic Team participated in a bike race in Park City while the Utah Alpine Team enjoyed a much needed rest day.

Running Technique by Sarah MacCarthy

2009-09-14T09:50:00.003-06:00

Although I ran cross-country for two years in high school, I have never considered myself a “runner”.

I feel as though my legs do not move as quickly as everyone else when we run the 3000 meter test or 5 kilometer running race. When Wendy and I were climbing this summer, she told me about her family friend Tom Miller. She told me that Tom was a professor at the University of Utah, has studied running for many years and every Tuesday morning he ran at a location around Salt Lake to help people with their running technique.

So last Tuesday morning was the day that Wendy, Rose and I went to run with Tom. Rose and I rode our bikes to the Avenues to meet Wendy. From there we went down the hill, to City Creek Canyon to meet the rest of the group. As we pulled up we knew that there were runners of all ages and they all looked fit. As we gathered Tom sent everyone on their way but asked the three of us to stay around so he could give us some ideas to think about. In the one hour run I learned so much but I am going to share what I think helped me the most.

Running uphill:
• Does not have to be hard all the time, especially when you are trying to go easy
• Arms: keep your forearms parallel with the ground and move them quickly in a planar fashion
• You do not have to have a big arm swing, the farther you move your arms the longer your stride, keep it short
• Keep it light, try to run so lightly that the person in front of you cannot hear you coming
• Stick out your chest to get gravity on your side, fall forward onto your foot (just like classic skiing)

Running downhill:
• Is fun and fast
• Gravity is doing the work here, just move your feet quickly
• Get the forward lean going again
• Run with loose ankles
• Run in what Tom called the “trash”, the loose rocks because if you are off your feet quick enough it does not matter where or how you land
• You want to be in the air longer than you are on the ground

Every time I have ran in the last week I have thought about my running technique. These tips can only make me a better runner, which is exciting. Our goal is that if I learn to be quicker off my feet in running that I could carry that over to having a quicker kick when I am classic skiing. The clinic was helpful and I learned a lot about running technique. Tom often referenced many famous runners and told us to look at how they run. Below are some pictures of those runners.

Frank Shorter, Olympic Gold Medalist 1972 Olympic Marathon

Tarahumara Indians from Northern Mexico are renowned for their long distance running ability and technique.

Homemade race awards for Utah Invite

2009-09-14T09:29:00.001-06:00

Sent from my iPhone

UteSkiGirls on the rocks

2009-09-13T11:08:00.002-06:00

Lone Peak. Sunday morning adventure.

Old alumni with his skis

2009-09-12T18:59:00.002-06:00

James Grice came by for a visit. Former Ute Skier from the 50's.
Always cool to meet these guys!

Bike to PC

2009-09-12T10:15:00.000-06:00

Saturday morning the alpine and nordic squads mounted their bikes and rode to Park City. Enjoy the pictures!

Alpine Strength

2009-09-09T07:17:00.006-06:00

Nick and Torjus in Action

Watch out for Eva this year!

Sofia getting ready for NCAA!

Small steps to perfection

Freshman Ryan...not bad!

Utes and Coach Joe in action....

Torjus working on his Pectoralis

Anna becoming an Iron Ute!

Torjus trains like a champ!!!

Running Race by Ben Fick

2009-09-05T09:04:00.007-06:00

So, on Saturday September 5 the Utah Nordic Ski Team participated in a small cross- country running race in Logan, Utah.

Weber State, Utah State and the U of U girls team were the teams in attendance. We arrived right when the girls started warming up for their race, which started at 9 am. The girls all warmed up and got to the start. Zoey lead the team beating the majority of the U of U cross-country team for a strong performance. Marta, Parker, Sarah, Rose, Devon, Karina and Maddie followed in good form. The girls were generally in good spirits and there was little complaining.

The men's race began at 9:45. Tom and I had been warming up and nearly missed the start. We threw on our new lime green singlets and got over to the start. Both Tom and I felt awful. We had just gotten through a rigorous lifting workout only a few days prior and were terribly sore and battered. Running felt awkward and was not enjoyable. The race began as soon as we got to the starting line. Tom blasted out of the start area in an effort to get pictured ahead of all the runners. Unfortunately, this effort was in vain as Eli later told him. Captain Ian opted out of the running race to rollerski down the valley into Logan and watch us after he was done. I started in the back and stayed there until Tommy Boy wore down in the last few k's where I passed him. Rolf ran well and turned in first for the team. SMiles was next, then myself and finally Tom. The race was hard, not because of distance or course environment, but lack of necessary high volume running and lactate threshold pace running.

Nordic Girls at the Start. First bib of the 2009-2010 Season!

Tom winning the start...not a recommended race strategy!

Fall Meeting Time- Eli telling Zoe some very important stuff

2009-09-04T11:46:00.000-06:00