Europe's loss because of unseasonably warm weather is Sun Valley's gain this week.
U.S. Nordic Ski Team World Cup racers are coming to Lake Creek and Galena Lodge to compete in three races of the 26-race, $130,000 SuperTour series this week. About 125 competitors are expected.
Sprint racing will be held today, Wednesday at the Lake Creek trail system three miles north of Ketchum, with distance events Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 9-10 at Galena Lodge 23 miles north of town.
SuperTour local race organizer Rick Kapala said the U.S. Nordic Ski Team decided Saturday to bring home its racers from Europe so they can have better skiing, training and racing opportunities in the U.S. including the Sun Valley area.
In a Website announcement, U.S. head coach Pete Vordenberg said long-term goals favor racing in the U.S. instead of rollerskiing and running around in Europe—where the ski conditions are very poor. So the Americans were pulled back from their Europe plans.
The American sprint racers will have a hard time making it to Lake Creek for today's races because of time and international travel constraints, but Kapala said distance skiers like Kris Freeman and Andrew Johnson are expected to race this weekend at Galena Lodge.
In addition, the Canadian national team is due to send a delegation of competitors.
Two-time Olympian Freeman, 26, from Andover, N.H. has posted the best U.S. cross-country distance results since the Bill Koch era of the early 1980s. He placed 18th in the season-opening World Cup men's 15-kilometer freestyle race Nov. 18 in Sweden, and 33rd in the World Cup men's 15k classic event Nov. 26 in Finland.
Vermont's Johnson, 28, also a two-time Olympian and member of the U.S. "A" Team, was the second-fastest American in Sweden and Finland during November with 33rd and 68th place finishes in 15k freestyle and 15k classic races.
Kapala said, "Their presence here and their good USSA points will really raise the standards and provide the other racers with a good chance to improve their points. Overall, it's an excellent opportunity for us to host the highest caliber race in North America prior to nationals in January.
Among the top SuperTour racers expected are Sun Valley Olympic Development Team racers Zack Simons and Colin Rodgers. They placed second overall in the SuperTour classical team sprint finals Sunday at Bozeman, Mt.
In that event, Rodgers had the fastest splits for three laps of the six-lap race and double-poled from wire-to-wire on skate skis to lift his team.
Rodgers, 25, is a former Middlebury College racer and Simons, 25, was on the University of Utah ski team.
Sun Valley doesn't have much snow, but it's a lot compared to Europe and Kapala is determined to make the most of it for this week's races. Most of the natural snow came from an overnight snowstorm Nov. 27.
"It's thin at Lake Creek, not enough snow for distance races, but we'll make it work for the sprint races on the 1.5-kilometer course," said Kapala. "And we'll have the distance races up at Galena Lodge."
Today's men's and women's individual classic sprints at Lake Creek begin at 10 a.m. with qualifying rounds. Quarterfinals take place at 1 p.m. The men's and women's finals are scheduled for 2:50 p.m. and they'll finish in rapid succession about 3:15 p.m. The public is invited to watch the racing.
Saturday's interval start racing begins at 10 a.m. with the men's 10k classic event and continues with the women going 5k classic at high noon.
On Sunday, the more spectator-friendly mass start format will send the women off on their 15k freestyle course at 10 a.m. and the men at 12 noon for 30 kilometers of racing—starting in Senate Meadows.
The Junior Women's 5k freestyle race at 8:30 a.m. Sunday and the Junior Men's 10k skate race at 9 a.m. will precede the individual women's and men's finals at Galena Lodge.
Kate Underwood, 25, a native of Eugene, Ore. who comes from Woodstock, Vt., skied for St. Lawrence University and the University of New Hampshire, where she graduated in 2004. A Subaru Factory Team racer who shows amazing range in short and long distances, Underwood pauses after winning Sunday?s women?s 5-kilometer Winterstart race near Galena Lodge.
