City lands US nordic championships (6/10/08)

The next two national championships -- including those in 2010, which will help determine the members of the 2010 U.S. Olympic team -- will be held in Anchorage, officials with the Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage said Monday.

The championships will bring about 300 out-of-state skiers to town and could pump close to $1 million into the Anchorage economy each of the two years.

But for Alaska skiers, the real value of the events -- especially the 2010 championships, which will happen the month before the Winter Olympics in Vancouver -- is the opportunity to ski on familiar trails for a series of races that can make or break a career.

"I've always looked at 2010 as my Olympics, the one to win a medal in, so to be able to be here at home to prepare for that is just a dream come true," said Anchorage's Kikkan Randall, a two-time Olympian who is the only American woman in history to win a World Cup cross-country race.

The championships are getting a big boost from Conoco Phillips, which is paying $60,000 to be the title sponsor of both events.

Joey Caterinichio of the NSAA said it costs about $150,000 to stage the championships. Besides the Conoco Phillips donation, the events will be funded by entry fees and donations from other sponsors.

Among other donors already lined up is the Westmark Hotel, which will provide rooms for members of the U.S. Ski Team. The ski team requires that event organizers provide free accommodations for its 20 or so team members.

Ordinarily Randall would be among those getting free housing, but she'll skip the Westmark in favor of staying in her south Anchorage home. The biggest aspect of a home-snow advantage, she said, "is getting to sleep in our own beds."

That may sound like a small thing, but sleeping in a familiar place during a big competition is truly a perk for America's elite skiers, who spend months at a time traveling the globe. Last season, Randall left Anchorage at Thanksgiving and didn't see her own bed again until March.

Next year's championships will mark the first time since 1994 the national championships for cross-country skiing have come to Anchorage. The 1994 championships also served as the Olympic trials for that year's Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.

The 1994 championship came at a time when Kincaid frequently hosted big racing series, like the 1992 Olympic biathlon trials and the 1997 World Masters Championships. But in recent years, other places, like Utah's Soldier Hollow, aggressively pursued the big events and Anchorage went several years without a major national race series.

The Junior Olympic championships returned to Anchorage this year, bringing about 400 teenage skiers with it and re-establishing Kincaid Park as a place worthy of big events. Prior to the junior championships, significant trail work was done -- Elliott's Climb was widened, the stadium area was improved and a sprint course was built -- that made the park more suitable than ever for premier racing.

"Just having the infrastructure for more elite racing has put Anchorage back on the map," Caterinichio said. "And the success of the Junior Olympics was the icing on the cake. A lot of coaches were worried about the JOs being in Anchorage, but they left wanting to come back."

John Farra, the Nordic program director for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association in Utah, said Kincaid's trails and the Nordic ski club's volunteers made Anchorage a popular choice for the next two national championships.

"The coaches are psyched about it," he said. "Anchorage is one of those venues that is absolutely world-class."

For a while, Anchorage's hopes of hosting back-to-back championships hinged on the USSA's insurance requirements, which make host organizations liable for any injuries. Tim Stone, a NSAA member and a lawyer, worked with the USSA to come up with a plan both sides could live with, Caterinichio said.

Calum Clark, the event director for the USSA, said a few small details remain to be worked out, but he expects things to be finalized this week. So does Jeff Scott, the NSAA president.

"I have a contract in front of me to sign and send off," he said.

Clark said there's a chance Anchorage could wind up with two national ski championships next season. The USSA is in negotiations with Alyeska regarding next year's U.S. Alpine Championships, which have been held in Girdwood twice in the last five years.

Find Beth Bragg online at adn.com/contact/bbragg or call 257-4309.