Anchorage Daily News

When the team sprint finals concluded the 2008 U.S. Cross Country Championships in Houghton, Mich., last January, skiers raced in 39-degree temperatures.

For racers coming to Kincaid Park for this year’s championships, Houghton will seem like Honolulu.

As more than 400 of the country’s best cross-country skiers begin skating, kicking and double-poling Saturday at the ConocoPhillips U.S. Cross Country Championships, the question looming is whether it will be too cold to lace up ski boots.

National championships adhere to international racing rules, which say races can’t start when it’s colder than minus 4. Races start at 10 a.m., and at about 10 a.m. Wednesday, the official National Weather Service temperature — taken at Ted Stevens International Airport — was minus 13.

Saturday’s forecast calls for highs ranging from minus 5 to 5 above.

“The only chance we have of improving is if some clouds come through,” said Andy Brown, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Anchorage. “The air mass is not going to get any warmer. In fact, it’s going to get colder.”

Chief-of-course Matt Pauli said he plans to have the course ready by 9 a.m. — an hour before the race. Volunteers will take temperature readings using competition thermometers at several spots on the course and submit them to a five-member technical jury that will decide whether to proceed.

“The process takes into account the coldest point of the course,” Pauli said. “The FIS (Federation Internationale de Ski, the sport’s governing body) is very much concerned about medical concerns. Minus 4, that’s the standard. If it’s minus 4.5, the rule still says minus 4.”

The temperature readings from the course will be provided to athletes and coaches seeking the wax best suited for conditions. With four race days scheduled over six days — Sunday and Tuesday are training days — there’s room to reschedule if frigid conditions persist.

“It was beautiful out there today,” noted Joey Caterinichio, co-chair of the event’s organizing committee. “But pretty doesn’t make it legal, and Saturday is supposed to be cold.”

Will the 100 or so Alaskans racing have an edge in icebox conditions?

“I think so,” Caterinichio said. “Any time you’re having it in your region, you’re staying home and you know the course.” Anchorage hasn’t hosted the cross country nationals since 1994 — but now it’s on a run of championship events.

Beginning with last spring’s Junior Olympics for cross-country skiing, Kincaid is hosting these nationals, the just-completed World Youth/Junior biathlon team trials, the U.S. masters cross-country nationals this spring and next year’s cross-country nationals just before the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Alyeska, meanwhile, will host the alpine skiing nationals again this year.

“Nationals both this year and next are very important to racers holding 2010 Olympic dreams,” U.S. Ski Team coach Peter Vordenberg said in a press release.

Nationals are also among the final major domestic races of each season. Strong performances can boost a skier onto the international World Cup circuit for a few races.

“Ultimately, it’s the proving ground for whether you make the international team,” said Talkeetna’s Taz Mannix, a member of the U.S. Ski Team who trains with the Alaska Pacific University ski program.

“This is a great opportunity, having the races in Anchorage. We sometimes go under the radar, but Alaska is unique in that skiing is really valued here.”

Mannix, fourth in the 5-K freestyle in last year’s championship, will be one of the top Alaskans at Kincaid, but there’s no doubt two-time Olympian Kikkan Randall is the biggest homegrown star.

A year ago, Randall became the first American woman to win a World Cup race when she won a sprint in the Russian city of Rybinsk. She followed that up with victories in the sprint and 10-K at the U.S. nationals in Houghton.

This season, Randall’s last race before the holidays turned out much differently — a 40th place finish at a sprint in Duesseldorf, Germany.

“Last year at this time, I had just won my first World Cup race and was at the pinnacle of racing success. A year later, I am instead at the bottom of the pit, after having one of my worst-ever World Cup sprint races,” she said afterwards.

“I get to go home now to recharge, dial in my training and get back on track … and enjoy the snow.”

Randall and Mannix are the only Alaskans on the U.S. Ski Team — Randall is on the A team, Mannix on the B squad. But they’re not the only Alaskans seeking skiing success. Two Anchorage men who ski for APU, Lars Flora and James Southam, are former Olympians who should contend, particularly at home.

“Alaskans will represent really well — we have a pretty deep pool of talent,” Mannix said. “Having it here is a huge advantage for Alaskans.

Fans can also check out rising sprinter Andy Newell, a 2006 Olympian who has climbed the World Cup podium twice. The 25-year-old from Shaftsbury, Vt., is a two-time U.S. Nationals sprint champion.

And Kris Freeman of New Hampshire is a two-time Olympian (2002, 2006) and a 10-time U.S. champion.

Reporter Mike Campbell can be reached at mcampbell@adn.com or 257-4329.

ADVERTISEMENT