Greetings.
I’d contemplated giving up The Weekly Wax the last couple weeks.
I’ve felt lately like these posts are not edifying. I’ve asked myself: Am I bringing any value to the table?
Sometimes I post a cute picture of my kids. Sometimes I find an old newspaper article about a now-defunct ski race. Sometimes I present a take that most people in the tightly-knit Nordic bubble don’t understand. But this isn’t real journalism most of the time. If it were a food item, The Weekly Wax would be, at best, stove top stuffing. People in the Nordic community are desperate for real reporting right now….and like, what is this?
At best, I present a controversial take or two (that impacts absolutely no one at the end of the day) and open myself up for criticism. If I’ve realized anything in my Weekly Wax sabbatical, it’s this: the last thing I need attached to my love of skiing is keyboard warrior battles.
So, I stopped. I actually didn’t think anyone would notice. Then, while I was at the Alley Loop in Crested Butte a couple weeks ago, an individual approached me out of the blue and said they appreciated my columns.
Alright.
Fine.
I’ll write something. 🙂
But I’m warning you: I’m just basically going to talk about myself. In fact, that might be the future of the Weekly Wax. A little more bloggy, a little less Steven A. Smith….with a few Colorado Historical Newspaper links and photos of City Market treasures thrown in for good measure.
Anyway, the last couple of weeks have been busy with racing, writing, podcasting and broadcasting.
On Jan. 26, I went up to Devils Thumb Resort for my first-ever StageCoach Classic. The 30k classic race is one of the staple loppet events in Colorado. The forecast all week was for very cold temps and fresh snow…potentially a lot of it.
The polar vortex ruled most of January in the state, to the point where 6 degrees F felt kind of balmy. In the six winters I’ve spent in Leadville, we’ve always had a stretch (1-3 weeks) where we receive a lot of fresh, slow snow and freezing temps. Sometimes it’s late December, sometimes it’s mid-February. I’ve found that skiing daily during this annual stretch is vital to success down the road. It makes me mentally and physically tough and it makes all other skiing sensations seem, well, fast. Plus, you never know: you might end up racing on sandpaper with Arctic winds blasting through bibs and invading your spandex.
I kept the training volume very high that week and even threw in a fast 30k skate the night before the race. In the morning, I did my usual pre-race routine: 5 a.m. alarm, some coffee and my devotional, scrape/brush skis, pack up, kiss my wife and leave. I was on the road by about 6, which ended up getting me into the Devils Thumb parking lot at 8:35. I had just enough time to change, sprint into the lobby, pin my bib on, go to the bathroom and sprint to the start line.
While I don’t recommend this as a standard warm-up protocol, I’ve definitely learned to embrace it. I actually find that the pre-race poop stress-induced worrying gets you to the start line with about as elevated heart rate as a more intelligent, Andy Newell-inspired speed progression on skis.
Speaking of Andy Newell — I had him on our show prior to the Cogne broadcasts! Check out the link at the bottom of this message.
Fortunately, the weather was fantastic — maybe 19-22 degrees F, with just a light, maybe 2-inches of fresh snow on the ground. I went with my cold-grind DP skis and Start blue glide wax (no topcoats of any kind – just one layer of ironed on glide wax)
I went out relaxed but firm in my pacing, moving into the lead after about 1k. I was alone and pulling away for a bit, but by 3k had been reeled in by two skiers, including Josh Smullin, the king of Colorado loppet racing. The Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club coach doesn’t race as often as he used to, but when he’s there, he almost always wins. My friend texted me the night before and said he thought if I could beat him, that would be more impressive than winning the Birkie classic!
The only other time I’ve competed in a race with Josh was in 2018, my first year of Nordic skiing. It was the Rabbit Ear’s Pass 34k. I remember three things about that race:
- My wife and I got stuck in the parking lot trying to leave because there was so much falling, wet, sloppy snow.
- The first 1k was amazing grooming. The next 33k was 4+ inches of windblown disaster. Totally miserable. Which was memorable because, living in Alamosa, the main reason I signed up for races was for the opportunity to ski on actual groomed snow. Anyway, after the first 17k lap, I came by my wife, who was smiling and cheering, and I actually stopped. I thought about dropping out…I might have said some surly things about how miserable I was…and then I moped on.
- It took me so long to finish the race that when I came in, I’m pretty sure Josh had already driven back to Steamboat, eaten lunch, showered, and driven back for the awards ceremony. I won a Fischer ski bag as part of the raffle. And I got to take home leftover burritos from the race organizers. What a thrill!
Anyway (see, this is why I shouldn’t write this column), this race ended up being a little different. Eventually, Josh and I dropped Logan. Around 10k, we let a him and Dan Weinberger back into the fold. My strategy shifted: I knew I could hammer the second lap as hard as I wanted and I wouldn’t be breaking trail.
We came through the lap together and then I took off. Josh was with me until about 9k to go, at which point I was able to separate for good for a 2 minute, 8 second victory. My first lap split was 54:47.5. The second was 49:54.7.
I was really, really stoked with everything about the day. First off, I’m really enjoy the peaceful commute from Leadville through Kremmling and into Grandby. As far as racing goes, it was another day where the outside of the tracks weren’t incredibly firm, which always makes double-poling a bit more of a chore. So, I was happy with how I persisted. Finally, I think it was a positive step for me to be in a race where I pulled away early, was reeled back in, didn’t panic, and then had the composure to execute a better plan — and push a bit into the pain cave to do it — that ended up with a win. I don’t have too many tools in my toolbox as a skier, but this race probably made me look like I did.
Afterwards, I did a fun cool down and some other trails, chatted with friends, enjoyed the award ceremony, picked up some chocolate milk and discounted stovetop stuffing and then drove home.
Since I spoke at length about the Alley Loop on a recent podcast, I won’t go into too many details on that race. I will say, this was the first time in 3-4 years where I felt like the snow was very firm and fast throughout. Lately, Crested Butte has given us some fresh, slow stuff (still always sunny and happy, though!), so it was nice to complete the race in about 2 hrs and 15 minutes. This was the sixth-straight year I’ve won the 42k classic, and definitely the most effortless. Perhaps that was due to the aforementioned fast snow. I felt very strong on the double-pole — even on the steepest hills — and came away with some more confidence.
Four wins in four races so far this season: I’m feeling blessed.
After the race, I slammed into a nearby coffee shop and did broadcast prep for three hours. Then I attended the award ceremony, hopped in the car and drove 3 hours back to Leadville. My second Cogne broadcast was at 2 a.m. the next morning, which meant I had to be up at 1 for a sound check! I was running a bit on fumes, but it all was fun.
Christie supported me immensely throughout the week, letting me get in my workouts, finish stories, take interviews, produce podcasts and prepare for the broadcasts whenever it was convenient for me. On top of that, she had to deal with a couple of under-the weather kiddos. She’s been the steady reason for my success this season.
I had planned to race in the Frisco Gold Rush on Feb. 8, but, my older brother came through for a surprise 2-day visit and I wanted to maximize time spent with him. It ended up being a good call from a ski perspective, too. Frisco got a bunch of fresh powder and I ended up driving to Aspen and not skiing at all — which, after all the training and racing and living with sick kids, was probably just what the doctor ordered.
This week, I’ve had several great ski sessions and am feeling primed for a great championship season/family visit to Wisconsin and Minnesota:)
As Lindsey Vonn said earlier this year: “I’m not coming here to participate.”
I’ll leave it at that.
Watching WJC/U23
Some random thoughts:
- Anyone tracking the chat replay on Youtube? Iver Tildheim Andersen, Nicola Wigger, ‘Russia,’ Odvar Braa, Marten Skinstad, Ustiugov, Nikolai Holmboe and others checking in….
- I was about to say that it’s great broadcast quality, and then something funky happened with the audio…nice that it’s free though!!!
- This Gina del Rio might be the real deal… Seder-Skier Podcast guest Jaume Pueyo: “Gina del Rio wins” in the chat!!
- Should we eliminate U23s? ….oh gosh..here comes the hate mail….what have I done?
The World Famous Seder-Skier Podcast
We’ve been pumping out pods!!
- Andy Newell Cogne preview
- Kendall Kramer returns
- Rants and Rants
- Podiatric sports medicine specialist discusses Diggins’ plantar fasciitis injury
- DU INVITE Seder-Skier Soundbytes: Erica Laven, Jana Weinberger, Adam St. Pierre, Selma Nevin, Will Bentley and more!
- Buildup 2 Da Birkie Series:
- Dan Mitchell – Feb. 14
- Barb Zellmer
- Willson Moore
- Peter Gebhardt
- Jill Sonnesyn – Feb. 16
Seder-Skier.com 
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