Considering the 2024-2025 loppet racing season is officially underway after last weekend’s Skadi’s Chase in Maple Grove, MN, it’s appropriate that Andy Gerlach joins the Seder-Skier Podcast later this week. EnjoyWinter’s main man hopped on the show for about an hour to talk about the new Factory Team — and reminisce on the good ol’ Subaru Team Days — as well as discuss the state of loppet racing in general.
You won’t want to miss that show….
Speaking of can’t miss podcast episodes, check out the bottom of this edition for links to our most recent episodes. We spoke with The Diggins Collapse Index on Sunday and Thomas Maloney Westgard before the Lillehammer World Cups.
Ski news
- Speaking of EnjoyWinter, I enjoyed the recent SkiPost story on Peltonen skis. While I remember bushwacking through the Bagley, Minnesota northwoods on hand-me-down fishscales as a 7-year-old with my cousins every Thanksgiving and Christmas, the first ‘real’ skis I used were my mom’s old grey Peltonens. She probably raced on them in the early 80s. We still have those skis, actually, and I recently picked up another pair (210 cm) from Breck Nordic. The Dayton’s had a bunch of old race skis they were giving away for free and I took all of them. I have plans to do something with them…just haven’t gotten around to it. Actually, I did screw on some crappy old classic bindings to the 210 cm Olympics and have been known to bust them out for random Mining District DP sessions. Anyway, I — like many readers, I assume — have a close affinity to the brand, even though I am now a sponsored Atomic athlete. I’m glad to see Peltonen is still trucking along, staying relevant — especially for the loppet community specifically — and even adding DP skis to the mix.
- EnjoyWinter is going to have profiles on the other brands they sell in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.
- How are the snow conditions, people? Skinnyski.com is showing some really fantastic skiing for late November/early December, especially considering how last year started. ….still need to make a trip up to the Central Gunflint Trail System….Even though grooming hasn’t started in Leadville, I’ve heard great things out of Frisco and enjoyed a wonderful day in classic tracks in Vail. In the mean time, I’ll keep double-poling and skating on the snowmobile groomed trails at Camp Hale and Turquoise Lake.
- Not that bringing this idea to the Weekly Wax will make a difference, but my above bullet point reminded me that I think the next great endurance series in my neck of the woods could be the Camp Hale Hundo (100k). Picture this: 100k bike in July, 100k run in September, 100k ski in March….The gravel biking would be fast and furious and fun, the running would be ….fast, at least for 10,000 feet (and I think I could get creative to make the route climb to places not as accessible as the bike) and the ski would be Visma-like — and historic (considering Camp Hale is one of the birthplaces of Alpine/backcountry skiing in the country). The other thought would be to do just a ski race: The Camp Hale Classic (clearly, getting the name right is 97% of the deal for me). I would picture this one utilizing the snowmobile/gravel roads in Camp Hale, which are predominantly 0-1% grade, with 1-2 extended climbs (3-4 miles….) at 4% grade to create approximately a 15-20k loop, which could be repeated 1-3 times (i.e., have three different race differences for people to choose from). Finally, the Tour de Turq — a 28-mile skiathlon (one lap of the lake in classic, one in skate) — could be set up for April 5 (plenty of snow) and would make for a nice birthday. Enough rambling…
Loppet racing kicks off!
With all due respect to the Thanksgiving camp rust-buster races in Crested Butte, West Yellowstone and elsewhere — and Alaska, where people are putting on bibs and racing around on skinny skis presumably 12 months out of the year — the loppet season is in full swing after last weekend.
Former Seder-Skier Podcast guest Matt Liebsch is looking to be the best loppet racer in the Midwest for the 76th-straight year. In all seriousness, the 41-year-old showed he’s still fit, defeating Sam Hold by four seconds to win the 8k Skadi’s Chase on Dec. 7 in Maple Grove, MN. Here’s the top-10:
Men
| 1 | Matt Liebsch | 51 | 41 | M | 20:35 | +0:00 |
| 2 | Sam Holt | 111 | 24 | M | 20:39 | +0:04 |
| 3 | David Joda | 125 | 32 | M | 21:24 | +0:49 |
| 4 | Chris Queitzsch | 66 | 35 | M | 21:27 | +0:52 |
| 5 | Anders Sonnesyn | 86 | 24 | M | 21:53 | +1:18 |
| 6 | Alexander Reich | 124 | 35 | M | 21:54 | +1:19 |
| 7 | Joe Thuente | 95 | 22 | M | 22:11 | +1:36 |
| 8 | Nick Ross | 126 | 36 | M | 22:15 | +1:40 |
| 9 | Ryan Rogers | 68 | 25 | M | 22:17 | +1:42 |
| 10 | Spencer Davis | 21 | 32 | M | 22:35 | +2:00 |
Women:
| 1 | Gabby Vandendries | 100 | 25 | F | 24:24 | +0:00 |
| 2 | Cheresa Bouley | 8 | 24 | F | 24:37 | +0:13 |
| 3 | Nicole Eliasson | 118 | 27 | F | 25:54 | +1:30 |
| 4 | Laura Cattaneo | 16 | 29 | F | 26:03 | +1:39 |
| 5 | Allie Rykken | 73 | 36 | F | 26:59 | +2:35 |
| 6 | Alissa Johnson | 39 | 30 | F | 27:02 | +2:38 |
| 7 | Julia Lavanger | 48 | 31 | F | 27:04 | +2:40 |
| 8 | Vivian Johnson | 129 | 28 | F | 27:19 | +2:55 |
| 9 | Kathryn Pintar | 114 | 30 | F | 27:37 | +3:13 |
| 10 | Emily Fjorden | 137 | 31 | F | 27:44 | +3:20 |
The University of Alaska Fairbanks hosted a pair of Alaska Nordic Cup races on their new course on Dec. 6 and 7.
Race write-ups for the dual meet between UAF and the University of Alaska Anchorage can be found here, here and here.
If you’re an NCAA ski fan, check out some of our pre-season previews. If you’re a UAF fan specifically, you should take a listen to our podcast with head coach Eliska Albrigtsen, recorded after the Ruka World Cup.
Dec. 10k FS
Dec. 7 – classic sprint results
Seder-Skier stats
Thank you to everyone who joined GripWax Nation in November! Last month was big.
We had an 86% visitor increase, 133% view increase and added 8 paid subscribers (and my own mother hasn’t even signed up yet!!!!). We’ve added seven more already in December, too. Amazing! The dream of being the THIRD-largest and fastest growing Nordic-ski specific website in all of Lake County by the 2034 home Olympics is still alive!!
Letters, we get your letters, we get your letters EVERYDAY!
SUBJECT: Your podcast with Eliska Albrigtsen was your best by far
Good questions, good answers, smart answers, different answers from the normal xc answer bag, opinionated answers. Yes, bring her back later in the season!
Cheers,
Karl
Wasn’t it great?! Glad you enjoyed it!
SUBJECT: Index
Best podcast of all time
-Taco Bell Guy
Taco Bell Guy –
Yeah, can’t say I disagree. I was IN the podcast and I’ve listened to it twice myself. Although, my wife does think I have a disturbing tendency to laugh at my own jokes….Anyway, glad you enjoyed it.
SUBJECT: Words of encouragement and venting random thoughts
Hope you are surviving your chaotic week! Just so you know when your podcasts drop I run through the office celebrating and shouting like Iivo Niskanen after winning a race giving everyone massive fistbumps.
Well, that was a bit of a rough day for the US. Norway definitely had the home field advantage and seemed to have the wax dialed for both the men and the women. The US wax techs looked like they closed the gap a little tighter for the women’s race later in the day.
Super bummed for Mika just off the podium in 4th again. So close!
The lack of spectators at these events is crazy. If they hadn’t let the kids out of school Friday in Lillehammer I don’t know if anyone would have been there. More N. America World Cups!!
Someone needs to take Johaug’s phone away after the races in the finish pen. She might be 36 but she’s acting like a 16 year old teenager. Put your phone down and enjoy the moment Therese.
Everyone announcing the world cup is good but you are the best. Hope you get in there soon.
-Andrew
Andrew – It means so much to read this! I’m glad you are enjoying the somewhat steady stream of content haha!
Yeah, a little bit of a rough day for the U.S., but they did turn it around to close the weekend. Ski performance is based off of four things: fitness, technique, tactics, and ski speed. When we have off days immediately followed by incredible ‘on’ days (i.e. in Ruka where we whiffed the sprint and then Diggins, Zanden and Gus all dropped incredible 20k mass start performances), it convinces me more that we are not behind so much in the first three elements — and that Norway really has a stranglehold on everyone in the fourth. I know there are coaches out there who disagree with me on that, but I just don’t know how you can explain the wide variation in performance from U.S. athletes — especially veterans.
Finally, as far as the fans and phones go, you’re spot on. I was recently at a high school state-qualifying volleyball match and when the home team finally punched their tickets to the big dance, they did so with a completely empty student section. It was full (kind of) at the start of the game, but I guess kids would rather go home, sit by themselves in a room and scroll through reels than watch their friends play a game.
Sad, really.
BTW – I got a new gift card to city on a hill for Christmas. My pistachio latte addiction lives to see another week!
SUBJECT: Gutsiest Move I Ever Saw, Man
Your take on Laukli’s performance in the mass start skate at Ruka was spot on. 100%
It made me think of this quote from Top Gun. Ha! Of course, if you just have a policy of countertrading Nat Herz, you’re going to be right most of the time. LMAO
By the way, you’re killing it this season. Don’t stop. It might take time but it will pay off. Going after interviews with foreign skiers is the best idea. You’re creating your own momentum. I know it’s going to pay dividends.
I see Faster Skier posting those Fast Tracks audio clips. So lazy and so boring.
-The Col.
Col. –
Yeah I think if Laukli can stay healthy, she could be a force this season. Either way, I thought her move was totally playing to her strengths. Even if it wasn’t, though, she still needs to keep putting herself out there in order to take the next step. Remember Ogden’s epic move on Klaebo in the TDS a couple years back? There was a little bit of that in this move, too.
Seder-Skier.com 
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