Spring break stuff

So I had this vision that I would record all the stuff we did on Spring Break and make a great video and have this awesome blog entry.  Well, it turns out that may have been biting off a little more than I can chew right now.  Especially since I keep updating the blog because it seems like a worthwhile way to not finish doing our taxes.  Anyhow, I decided to use mostly still photos.  So here goes.

First we are going to Juneau at the end of the month so Spring Break was somewhat of a 'Staycation', but I told the kids we would visit a resort town anyhow...they weren't impressed.

So we headed on up the road to Fairbanks.  This was a trip put together by the ski team, there was no race in Fairbanks, just a different place to ski.  It turned out to be a lot of fun and we had a great day.  Of course it didn't hurt that the day we were there was the warmest day Fairbanks had seen since October!!  Kind of a fun area to ski, and instead of a chairlift they used buses to get you back to the top, a feature which would be really nice on a super cold day!

After the ski day we all headed over to the World Ice Sculpture Championships.  It was simply amazing.  Pictures don't do it justice, but its the best I have.  Plus they build all sorts of stuff for the kids to play on and slide down.

Its a giant ice Mosquito!!

We didn't feel like skiing for another day, especially since Sunday wasn't a nice warm blue sky day so we left a day early and headed home.  On the way we stopped in Nenana and bought tickets for the Ice Classic.  For $2.50 per ticket you get to try and guess when the ice will go out on the river.  Last year the winner got $350k!!!  They build a big tripod and put it in the river with a cable attached to a clock.  When the cable moves far enough, the clock is stopped and the closest guess (to the minute) wins.  The kids are all excited about what they are going to do with the money!!  Seems like they think they've already won.

Later in the week we went out to Hatcher Pass to do some sledding, dig some forts and just enjoy the outdoors in the mtns.

Friday was Max's Birthday, he was thrilled with all his presents and phone calls!!  His party is TBD!!

Saturday brought the 10 and under State Championship Ski Race, hosted at our local hill.  Both Alex and Max were eligible to race.  There was a Slalom, a Giant Slalom and a mini Super-G.  The kids had a great day.  Alex ended up 5th in all three events and earned enough points to be the 5th fastest 10 and under male skier in the state!!  They also break it down by age group for the individual events and Max got 2nd in the Super-G and the Giant Slalom and he is the State Champion in the Slalom for the 8 and under division!!!   They both had some fantastic runs and are already looking forward to next year.  Nick will be skiing in the 13 and under Championships in Juneau at the end of the month.

That's it for now.  Thanks for reading.

Race Day!

Finally, as promised I have pictures and video.  It only took a month!


Yesterday was the final race for the YSL, it was a slalom race held at Alyeska.  Unlike most of our races this was only one run.  It was a great day, with a good turnout.   Things have been heating up in all the age groups, and all the kids were very interested in their chances of winning and how they would place in the overall series championship.
  The course was set on a moderate to steep slope and with temps in the upper 30's the snow was somewhat clumpy and grabby.  Also with temps this warm the race course tends to get very rutted out and more difficult for the later racers, which doesn't bode well for Max as they race in order of age with the oldest first.  Also this was a slalom race and the boys are just starting to actually hit the gates rather than ski around them, unfortunately sometimes they concentrate so hard on hitting them that they actually sacrifice speed due to a poor line or bad form.

Nick's race went well.  You'll see in the video that his form improves towards the bottom of the course when he starts to relax and ski his line.  He ended up 3rd for the day and had enough points to take the overall championship!!  Several of the boys left before the awards ceremony which is why there are only 2 boys on the podium.  Nick was thrilled with his result and he definitely has a good chance to be on the podium at the state championships in Juneau later this month.  He'll have to be on his game though as all the top players will be there.

Alex has really had a break through lately and is skiing well.  Unfortunately during this race he scrubbed a lot of speed in the middle of the course and that cost him some time.  He ended up 6th for the day and 3rd in the overall championship.  He is delighted with his trophy!  His division is pretty heavily stacked with about 8 very competitive racers.  His State Championship race is in 2 weeks and he definitely has a good shot at the podium if he skis his best.

Max had a great race with only one little bobble that you can see on the video.  Unfortunately his main rival fell and was out of the running today.  They are very close on the race course, swapping wins each week.  After introducing them last week they've become big supporters of each other and you even see them exchange congratulations on the podium and shake hands!  Max ended up 1st for the day and 1st in the overall.  Max has a very good shot at a top podium spot in the State Championships, but any little mistake and his rival/friend Daniel will be all over it.  It will be fun and nerve wracking to watch since they are so close in ability.

I was hoping for a bright sunny day to film, but that didn't quite work out.  So we did what we could.

Plus some pictures too!  Enjoy and thanks for reading.