I’m typing this from Seder-Skier.com headquarters on a chilly October morning, gazing out at a Frosted Shredded Wheat-version of Mount Massive. Split by a snow-capped north face and brown south side, Colorado’s second-tallest peak presents a microcosm of the moment we’re in:

Winter is coming.

I know, I know. There isn’t a more tired cross-country ski-related fall phrase, but I needed something extra fresh to clean out the cobwebs draping across every corner of this poorly managed website.

Well….

Now that we’ve completed that re-introduction after (checks calendar) three months of awkward silence, I feel as close to you as I do after shaking my second cousin’s hand at a mid-summer family reunion at Lake Whatchyamacalit (right past the Live Deer Sign and the big bait shop on Highway 13). Anyway, let’s get down to business.

First, I want to say thanks for all the support from members of GripWax Nation.

Last fall, we made a kinda serious push (well, as serious as I could, given my limitations) to cover the sport — at the high school, college, SuperTour and World Cup level. It wasn’t amazing, but given my other full-time duties as a sports writer for the Vail Daily — and outside responsibilities as a father of 2 (and pretty soon, 3) …. and passionate pursuits of Nordic and trail running excellence — it was the best I could do.

You guys deserved even more. The sport definitely needs a lot more. I mean, heck, rumors are presently swirling around a Jessie Diggins retirement, a second Minneapolis World Cup, and a Russian-less Olympics, and all we’ve managed to do is put our Neumann BCM 705 mics right next to the chirping crickets who keep the lights on in our office.

Your pledging of monetary support over the last 12 months demonstrated to me that you are also starving for more. I’m really appreciative and I’m guessing some of you were hungry for me to take the hint and up the ante — which I’d love to do. The problem is this: I just don’t have the bandwidth at the moment. That’s why I wanted to make this post.

Moving forward, I’m not really sure what I’ll do with Seder-Skier.com. (Wait, have I already made a post like this? I genuinely can’t remember….I’m so sorry if this a re-run of some previous ‘State of the SederSkier Union’ address….). Seeing that it has my name embedded into its title, it probably doesn’t really make sense to make Seder-Skier.com the New York Times of ski journalism. Rather, I think blending blog posts with op-eds, podcast links, Weekly Waxes (that come into your mailbox weekly only when it’s convenient) filled with fascinating historic newspaper articles about skiing and the occasional 3,000-word essay is probably the path forward, even if it’s the worst way to leverage Google’s algorithms (or satisfy hardcore Nordie news junkies).

That being said, I’ll do my best to interview as many prominent skiers, coaches and industry leaders as I can this winter. I’ll try and be brave and go on controversial long rants to keep Col. Pitchfork happy (and all the wiser, older and more experienced coaches around the country upset)….and of course, I’ll insert way more personal stories and training goals than you care to know about at the beginning of every podcast.

It’s probably not going to inform you all that much. But maybe…just maybe…it will edify you in some way. I’m starting to realize that sometimes, my most individualistic and personal stories end up having the most universal applications for listeners. So, I’ll lean into the funny parenting anecdotes and risky race-day strategies and unconventional training methods of a part-time hack. To put it another way: I’ll stick to my brand. Come to think of it, maybe there won’t be too many changes to the site at all this year.

Now, if you don’t mind, I probably need to start scraping off some storage wax. That shaded stretch of Turquoise Lake Road will be blanketed with snow soon enough.

_____Keep on striving. Keep on skiing. _____

-SederSkier