Sierra Skogsloppet

January 17, 2011

Sierra Skogsloppet, Tahoe Donner XC

Laura Stern

For this year's edition of the Skogsloppet, a 15 km (or shorter for juniors) freestyle race hosted by Tahoe Donner XC as a fundraiser for local middle and high school nordic teams, over 200 skiers were treated to blissfully sunny and warm conditions for a great day of racing. Our Rossignol XIUM skate skis were movin' fast with Toko Dibloc HF red and yellow mixed 1:1, and extra fast after Roger worked his usual magic prior to race-start by buffing in a top coat of Jetstream yellow and dialing in the perfect structure. The course was beautifully groomed and both fun and challenging to ski with plenty of twists and turns and a couple of short "power" climbs, and the initially icy corduroy softened just perfectly in the brilliant sunshine for the 10 am race start. Definitely one of those days when we wouldn't have wanted to be without our Rudy Project sunglasses! Top honors for the 15K went to Austin Meng in the men's division and Kari Rust in the women's. Truckee XC's Danny Buchanan finished an impressive 10th overall in the mens race, taking 2nd in the M1 age group. Val Licon finished 55th, placing 13th in a deep field of M3's. In the women's race, Susan Reynolds put in a very strong effort to place 5th in the overall women's and WIN her age group. Laura Stern and Debbie Hakansson followed in 6th, and 7th, placing 4th and 2nd in their respective age groups. Thank you Tahoe Donner XC for putting on this terrific race, and to all our sponsors for our great gear! Also to Mark Nadell for compiling yet another awesome set of race photographs of all the competitors throughout the day.

Race photos by Mark Nadell.
http://macbethgraphics.smugmug.com/NORDIC-RACING/NORDIC-RACES2011/sierra-skogsloppet-2011/15491960_7nrMb#1160097795_W7VPp