Great snow awaits nation's top nordic skiers in Fairbanks

Overnight low temperatures are expected to creep above zero just in time for the first race of the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships and SuperTour Finals, which begin Monday evening in Fairbanks with an impressive field of competitors.

"Every single female American World Championship medalist ever has confirmed they will be competing," said John Estle, the chief of competition and a former U.S. Ski Team coach.

That stellar group consists of Anchorage's Kikkan Randall and Sadie Bjornsen, who are teammates at the APU Nordic Ski Center, and Minnesota's Jessie Diggins and Caitlin Gregg.

Bjornsen's participation is in question due to an illness that prompted her to return to Anchorage on Sunday. She'll miss Monday's race, but hopes to recover in time to compete later in the week.

"I'm hoping to power rest and fly back as soon as possible to jump in," Bjornsen said via text.  "I'm really bummed because I was looking forward to the final races of the season and on top of that, they are at home in AK!"

Diggins won two World Championships medals last month in Lahti, Finland, to bring her career total to four. Randall and Bjornsen each won one medal in Lahti — the first for Bjornsen and the third for Randall – and Gregg won one at the 2015 championships.

After at least three years of course changes due to below-average snowfall, the Golden Heart City is boasting a 26-inch snow-pack, with 80 inches of cumulative snow fall this season.

"It's some of the best skiing you can get right now," said Becca Rorabaugh, a Fairbanks native who just returned from the World Cup Finals in Quebec City, Quebec. "Fairbanks gets a bad rap from people Outside. People are surprised to see the sun."

The last time Fairbanks hosted a U.S. championship race, in 2009, conditions were slowed by ash on the snow from the eruption of Mount Redoubt, which also caused travel disruptions for out-of-state racers.

Races begin Monday with a skiathlon, in which skiers switch from classic to skate technique midway through the race. Women will ski a total of 15 kilometers and men will ski 22.5. The race is the first time the format has been held at a national-level race since 2008.

Wednesday brings a highly anticipated skate sprint that will pit Alaska hero Randall, 34, against Diggins, 25. The two finished in the bronze and silver medal positions, respectively, in the skate sprint at the World Championships.

Diggins, who competes for the Stratton Mountain School T2 team, has overtaken Randall as the top American sprinter in the last couple of years. Randall, a three-time FIS crystal globe winner in the sprint, didn't compete last year while pregnant but has gained steam throughout this season.

She also has the advantage of having been a consultant on the design of the new sprint course at Birch Hill, which will be used in its entirety for the first time this week.

The new course has one of the toughest climbs of any homologated sprint course in the world, with 47 meters (154 feet) of climbing in a 1.5 kilometer trail.

Friday's race will be a mixed-technique club relay, an event that began in 2014 when the races were held in Anchorage. APU has won the event every time it has been held.

"We have a huge rivalry with (Stratton Mountain), we've gotten lucky a couple times and put together really good races to win," said APU's Reese Hanneman, a two-time national champion who grew up in Fairbanks, "We always know they will be really fast and we know we'll have to have our best day to beat them. The relay is a huge source of pride for us."

Sunday's races are a 50-kilometer classic for men and a 30K for women.

Aside from determining three national titles — Monday's skiathlon does not count as an national championship race — the competitions will decide the season's SuperTour champions. Beyond that, they are a chance for local standouts to shine.

Along with Hanneman and Rorabaugh, two other Fairbanks skiers are looking to land on the podium: David Norris, who won the 2016 American Birkiebeiner, the largest ski race in North America, and Logan Hanneman, Reese's younger brother who is back in the country after being the top American finisher in several European Continental Cup races.

Local skiers are enjoying their time with family and friends.

"For me it's a matter of trying to remember I am at a national level race and not go snowmachining or back-country skiing in the hills every day," Reese Hanneman said.

Norris said he'll try to catch some burbot through the ice on the Tanana River in between races.

Estle said hometown pride was a primary factor in the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks' decision to host the event.

"We aren't doing this to make money," he said. "A lot of these volunteers have been watching these guys race since they were little. It would be really great for them to see the locals on top of the podium."

Schedule of events

Monday
5 p.m. – Women's 15K skiathlon
6:15 p.m. – Men's 22.5K skiathlon

Wednesday
4 p.m. – Freestyle sprint qualoifying
6 p.m. – Freestyle sprint heats

Friday
6:30 p.m. – 4x5K mixed-gender/mixed technique relay race

Sunday
10 a.m. – Women's 30K
12:30 p.m. – Men's 50K

If you go

Spectating is on foot only. On race days, the Birch Hill trails will be closed to public skiing from an hour before race time to the completion of the races. Do not skate-ski on the classic courses where tracks have been set!

The Old Warming Hut is reserved for race volunteers each day through the night of Sunday, April 2. Public use will not be allowed.The Birch Hill Cross Country Ski Center building will be open for extended hours during the week for those who normally would use the Old Warming Hut.

Can't go to Fairbanks?

Races will be livestreamed at supertourfinals2017fairbanks.us

Lex Treinen is a skier with the APU Nordic Ski Center. He didn't compete this season because of an injury.