OH SHIT!
THE Mark White.
Skin side down people and keep em in one piece!
The Editor,
PPPC
Normally here at the PPPC, we do not give a rats ass about what mainstream, off brand puffy jacket wearing, non full carbon/ slack geo/enduro mtn bike rydn, society thinks about anything that goes on in the mountains or the culture surrounding it as the slopes, single tracks, trails, nordic centers, ect are already pretty full. Reacting to some Manahattanite’s drivel about “Cross Country Skiing” is not really a priority.
But, Gentle Reader, every once in a while you come across a piece that is really special and NYT’s Sam Anderson’s “What Cross Country skiing reveals about the human condition” is this on the Russian Track Teams PED regimen!
To be honest, I was pretty much done with this guy after the first sentence about winter sports all being a “total Hassle”.
“Every winter sport is — in addition to being an inspiring triumph of elegant majesty — also a total hassle. It is not easy to convert your soft, frail, squishy, warm human body into something that can survive in the hard world of frozen water. It requires all kinds of logistics: fitting, strapping, buckling, bundling, clomping, shivering.”
Yeah, loading skis into a car and putting on a jacket, pretty much insurmountable and Woah there Sambro; already strike one as XC skiing is THE least hassle by a magnitude 55 compared to a day up the LCC but I digress… Sambro here, in addition to being overwhelmed by loading some skis in a car, just doesn’t know anything about “Cross Country Skiing”.
The statement; “Even the sport’s greatest champions, over the course of an event, average speeds that would be legal in a school zone. In the racers’ slowest patches, struggling up terrible hills, schoolchildren could probably outrun them.” is so comically written by someone who has never attended an actual “Cross Country” Ski race as the speed smacks you straight upside the face!
Not sure I see anything slow going on here but Sambro from Manhattan might know differently;
The intern searched around the net real quick to see if we could locate Sambro;
PPPC staff is not yet convinced Sambro has ever been outside longer than the walk from the uber to the east village coffee bar but we are VERY biased and jaded.
Does the Manhattanite Nordic Expert, even realize that in “Cross Country Skiing” there are 2 disciplines? Skate and Classic?…….Sambro?…….Hello?
Classic is, of course, hella fast as well;
Sambro, The Nordic Skiing Expert wouldn’t know it as he, due to no hassles or insurmountable loading of skis into a car, is most likely inside with a good book;
Then we get this Pulitzer worthy observation; “Cross-country skiing is where the elegant majesty of winter sports goes to die an excruciatingly drawn-out death. So why would anyone do it? And why on earth would we ever watch?”
Well Sambro, Grace Be to ULLR!, how about this;
Gentle Reader; correct me if I am wrong but all I see here IS Elegant Majesty!
SO what the F is this supposed informed, professional journalist writing about?
Every old story stereotype of the sport he ever heard in his life!
Fake News!
Ok, back to living the dream…….
The Editor;
PPPC
2002 Olympics.
(All Pedal n Pole Photo’s are shot on a Canon G1x.)
Todd Lodwick on his way to Olympics #6.
(All Pedal n Pole Photo’s are shot on a Canon G1x.)
Sit Skier crushes the Wasatch Citizens Series.
(All Pedal n Pole Photo’s are shot on a Canon G1x.)
(All Pedal n Pole Photo's are shot on a Canon G1x.)
So I opened up the PPPC office the other day an noticed that the last time a post went up was 12/31/13!! How on earth did this happen again? Almost two full months have gone by without a post. Sadly, this is a massive disappointment on so many levels;
1) PPPC recently bought a new camera an despite the fact that the blog owner/operator skis everyday, not a single ski photo has been taken since 12/31/13
2) PPPC had all these plans to post up daily articles about nutrition, workouts, cute/whimsical(what in the hell is a “stride box”?) type stuff, or even what outfit I am working out in that day;
Let’s take this out for a trot around the block……
But as usual-NONE OF IT HAPPENED!!
Luckily here in America when you can’t get all of your work done you can get someone to do it for FREE! And after an exhaustive search; Pedal n Pole has hired an intern!
SHHH!! Intern working.
PPPC decided to give this guy a chance due to the fact he claims he can get a Bryan Fletcher post Sochi interview and always seems to have large amounts on barrel aged spirit’s on hand. The Intern’s duties will include editing, content production, daily cleaning of the PPPC office facilities, vehicles, as well as daily ski tunes for both Tele and Nordic gear along with anything else we the management feel is vital for operational success. The intern has been warned that if he fails to fulfill these duties, his services and passport will be traded out to Trail Run Girl where he will immediately and for eternity find himself editing posts on hot cocoa, pink running shoes, and leggings!
So come along for the outdoor adventure and photography as Pedal N Pole Park City works to maxmize it’s return on The Intern!
(All Pedal-n-Pole photo’s are shot on a Canon G1X)
When you live in Utah it is pretty easy to find a world class winter sporting event without really even trying. On this particular Saturday, 12/28/13 it happened to be the Nordic portion of the US Nordic Combined teams Olympic Trials! PPPC say’s HELL YES to all forms of Nordic skiing and racing and proceeded to take 465 pictures! Below are the best ones;(click on photo’s to enlarge to full screen)
Even the kids get in on the stoke as the athlete’s were led into the comp by Park City Nordic Team athlete’s!
Top Dog Todd Lodwick
Mr. 6 freaking time winter Olympian in total control.
Up Up!!
The usual unreal, perfect Utah weather for an event!
Things getting hot on the downhill!
Fierce comp face.
Yeah, my form is perfect!
These two were never more than an inch off each others skis!
Other world class races this corner would have been crowded with pro photogs! Not in Park City…….
Can you say HISTORY? I knew you could……
Lodwick gets the win! And makes history…….
Nobody even close!
The big winner today was Nordic Skiing!!
Did I mention this event was FREE to the public? Just another random day in Park City Utah!!
Keep Skating!
PPPC.
(All Pedal-n-Pole photo’s are shot on a Canon G1X)
