Anchorage Daily News

Weather 4, Skiers 1.

A one-sided cold war continues to play out at Kincaid Park, where the nation's best cross-country skiers have been all but defeated by subzero temperatures making it impossible to crown national champions as planned this week.

For the fourth time in five days, ski races at the U.S. Cross Country Championships were called off because of temperatures that failed to rise to the legal racing limit of minus 4 on Wednesday. The thermometer read minus 11 for most of the day at the park.

"It's colder than yesterday," event spokesman John Quinley said after the most recent postponement.

Today is the last day of the championships, which are in Anchorage for the first time since 1994.

As originally scheduled, the championships would have featured four races over six days. Five days into the event, only one of those races has been held. Officials hope to stage the sprint race at noon, weather permitting.

Only one day has been warm enough for racing -- Monday, when 5-kilometer and 10-kilometer skate races were held in just-barely-legal temperatures that left racers with numb fingers, noses and other body parts. Each day since then has been colder than the next.

Kincaid Park may stay busy even after the majority of skiers in town for the national championships head back to the Lower 48.

UAA has scheduled four straight days of alpine racing at Alyeska Ski Resort beginning today and three days of nordic racing -- Friday, Saturday and Sunday -- at Kincaid. Some of the college skiers in town for the U.S. championships will stay for those events.

And Anchorage's Kikkan Randall, a two-time Olympian, will host a "Fast and Female" gathering for female skiers Friday night at Kincaid. The event, which is free, begins at 4:30 p.m., ends at 8 p.m. and will include skiing, snacks, storytelling and games.

A hundred girls have already signed up for the event, and top skiers from the U.S. Ski Team -- including Randall -- will be among the participants.

"If for some crazy reason it's too cold outside, we've got the whole chalet and we'll improvise something inside," Randall said.

For questions or to sign up, call 360-9650.

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