Minnesota Skinnyski Series

Due to some upheaval in the Minnesota Nordic Ski Association, the Minnesota Skinnyski Series will not be held for the 2011-2012 season.   We hope to be back in next fall!

This year the Minnesota SkinnySki Series awards will be presented as part of an expanded Minnesota Nordic Ski Awards banquet. Go to to the MNSA web site for details and to reserve your tickets – and stay posted as award winners are announced!

The 2011 Minnesota Skinnyski Series returned to the beautiful city of Bemidji for the final race of the season in the Minnesota Finlandia.  After two weeks of warm temperatures, the weather dropped and flash froze the previously-melting course, creating wicked-fast conditions across the board.  Nearly 300 skiers showed up in Bemidji this year for the Finlandia and helped provide for an exciting finish to the 2011 MiSSeries.

In the 25k Pursuit, MiSSeries veteran Kathleen DeWahl cruised in alone for the women’s title, while on the men’s side was an exciting race to the finish.  Phil Rogers, another MiSSeries veteran, came out of a tough classic portion and stormed back to catch the leaders then won the race in a four-way final sprint!

This year’s overall competition featured domination by the famous/infamous Finn Sisu Vakava team.  On the women’s side, Cheryl DuBois held out over teammate Angie Robinson to take the overall title, with another Vakava skier in Kathleen DeWahl using her win to move her into the final three of the standings. The men’s overall champion this year is David Christopherson, who stormed away from the field early and dominated this year’s series.  Finishing in second was Odd Osland with Phillip Rogers finishing in third place.  Congratulations to Cheryl DuBois and David Christopherson for their overall victories!

The battle for the Skier of the Year, the most improved skier from last season to this season, came down to the wire as Richard Anderson pulled away from Jason Dalebroux to finish on top.  Kathleen DeWahl finished in third after finishing second overall last year.  Richard will receive free entry into all of next year’s MiSSeries events, congratulations Richard!

The women’s age group competition saw no change in the final standings but also saw a number of new winners mixed in with veterans of the MiSSeries.  Kathleen DeWahl continued to bring home the prestige as she takes home age group honors, while for the first time ever we have a tie at the top of the final standings in the 35-39 age group with Kim Rudd and Sara Kylander-Johnson!  Congratulations to all the women for your age group victories.  The men’s side also saw no final change in the standings as a mix of MiSSeries veterans and new skiers joined the coveted winner’s circle.  Congratulations to all the skiers on your age group victory and good luck training this summer as the targets are now squarely fixed to your backs!  Here are the final standings as follows:

Age Group    Women;                                            Men
00-24    Kathleen DeWahl                                    Peter Olejniczak
25-29    Johanna Winters                                     Nathan Porath
30-34    Elaine Nelson                                           Jason Dalebroux
35-39    Kim Rudd/Sara Kylander-Johnson     Grant Nelson
40-44    Angie Robinson                                       Mark Ahlers
45-49    Cheryl DuBois                                         James Schultz
50-54    Marise Widmer;                                     Jack Baker
55-59    Carol Markham-Cousins                       Richard Anderson
60-64    Jean Lavelle                                           David Christopherson
65-69    Caroline Kostroski                                 Odd Osland
70-74    Wanda Arenz                                          Will Gosnold
75-79                                                                      Wally Hed                                                             80-84                                                                      Erv Schilling

The Series also saw six hearty skiers complete all seven of the MiSSeries races, skiing a whopping 189km and countless more training in between!  This year’s Ironskiers are Kathleen DeWahl, Richard Anderson, John Lavelle, Jean Lavelle, Odd Osland, and Wally Hed.  Your dedication to the MiSSeries is phenomenal and we commend you for your hard work, congratulations!

Finally the battle for the coveted traveling team trophy indeed came down to the final race of the season.  Finn Sisu Vakava, confident in victory, only scored one skier in the final race, but Peter’s Cheaters used all their cheating prowess to storm back with four skiers scoring perfectly in the final race of the season.  Alas, it was too little too late for the Cheaters as Finn Sisu Vakava repeats as the team champion for the MiSSeries!  Finishing in third was Hoigaards/Breadsmith with Skinnyski.com finishing in fourth place.  If this competition has shown us anything, it’s that the shenanigans will return next year for another go around.

The 2011 Minnesota Skinnyski Series has at last come to a close.  The season saw some of the coldest and warmest race conditions imaginable and featured the best races in the state of Minnesota.  Congratulations to all the skiers who competed and had a great time out there, this series simply wouldn’t happen without you.  Next up is our annual end-of-the-year awards banquet which will also feature the awards for the Midwest Junior Championships and the recipient of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award by the Minnesota Nordic Ski Association. Click here for more info and to reserve your tickets for the banquet on April 2nd, 2011.  We hope to see you there.

The 2011 Minnesota Skinnyski Series began with war against Mother Nature as the Twin Cities Championships, Boulder Lake Ski Race, and Mayor’s Challenge all faced bone-chilling cold.  After a warmed up Nordic Spirit, the City of Lakes Loppet saw temperatures soar in a possible attempt to compensate for the cold temperatures experienced at the beginning of the season.  The Mora Vasaloppet continued that trend as temperatures soared into the high 40s for one of the warmest Vasaloppet’s on record.  Nevertheless, a record field of over 2000 skiers turned out for one of the largest ski races in Minnesota.

This year’s MiSSeries race was once again the 35k freestyle, which saw conditions start out fairly fast until the sun came out and slowed the races down.  In the men’s race, defending champion Nathan Porath pulled away at the big hill and never looked back to repeat as champion.  On the women’s side, Angie Robinson moved up from third place with an amazing race to ski into Mora solo and take the win.

For the overall competition on the women’s side, Cheryl DuBois currently leads Angie Robinson by 30 points with Kathleen DeWahl sitting in third place.  On the men’s side, David Christopherson has all but wrapped up a victory with a dominating lead over Odd Osland and Jay Wenner.  In the Skier of the Year competition, Jason Dalebroux currently holds a less than 20 point lead over Richard Anderson with Elaine Nelson vaulting into the top 3.  With only one race left, watch this one closely as anything can happen.

The age group competition of the MiSSeries also has a number of close races as we head down to the final race of the season.  In the women’s 35-39 category we have a tie between Sara Kylander-Johnson and Kim Rudd!  In the 65-69 and 70-74 age groups there are only five point leads between the leaders, Wanda Arenz and Caroline Kostroski, and their challengers.  For the men’s side, the 30-34 age group has Jason Dalebroux with only an eleven point lead over Jacob Beste.  The men also has three new leaders across their categories in Nathan Porath, Jason Dalebroux, and Grant Nelson  Many of the other age groups appear to be wrapped up, but if history is any indication people can come out of nowhere at the Finlandia to take a title.  The age group leaders are as follows:

Age Group    Women;                                            Men
00-24    Kathleen DeWahl                                    Peter Olejniczak
25-29    Johanna Winters                                     Nathan Porath
30-34    Elaine Nelson                                           Jason Dalebroux
35-39    Kim Rudd/Sara Kylander-Johnson     Grant Nelson
40-44    Angie Robinson                                       Mark Ahlers
45-49    Cheryl DuBois                                         James Schultz
50-54    Marise Widmer;                                     Jack Baker
55-59    Carol Markham-Cousins                       Richard Anderson
60-64    Jean Lavelle;                                           David Christopherson
65-69    Caroline Kostroski                                 Odd Osland
70-74    Wanda Arenz                                          Will Gosnold
75-79                                                                      Wally Hed

Skiers coming out of the woodwork to take a title at the Minnesota Finlandia has not proved to be more true than when it comes to the team competition.  Currently, defending champions Finn Sisu Vakava hold a commanding 500 point lead over their hated rivals Peter’s Cheaters, with Hoigaards/Breadsmith in third and Skinnyski.com in fourth.  However, history has shown that the Finlandia is when the Cheaters are, as one Vakava member famously put it, “too good at cheating”, so expect some zaniness at the final race of the season.

The 2011 MiSSeries wraps up with skiers descending on the Commissioner’s unbiased opinion (warning: may actually be biased) of the greatest city in the world: Bemidji, for the 30th annual Minnesota Finlandia.  Winners of the various categories win the vaunted hand-painted lumberjack axe, and there will also be special prizes for the 30th anniversary race.  Though Bemidji has been beset by record temperatures (50s anyone?), the course has held its own and has over 20 inches of base still left, so expect that to freeze over during the cool down in the next day and be wicked fast for Saturday.  We hope to see you there.

It has been a season of extremes for the 2011 Minnesota Skinnyski Series.  During the first three races of the year saw bitterly cold temperatures test even the hardiest of skiers.  However, the tide turned during last Sunday’s City of Lakes Loppet as temperatures rose into the low 30s and provided beautiful conditions for the mighty race with 1200 skiers in the 35k freestyle.

The mens race was dominated by the one and only Matt Liebsch who broke away from the field at the 15k mark and never looked back, with CXC teammate Garrott Kuzzy taking second and Chris Cook taking third.  The womens race saw a bit of drama as Olympian Caitlin Compton snapped a pole early in the race but picked up another to win the race by over 5 minutes!  Following her was Kristina Owen in second and Johanna (JoJo) Winters in third.

The overall competition saw no cahnge at the top as Cheryl DuBois continued to lead the women with fellow Finn Sisu Vakava teammates Angie Robinson and Kathleen DeWahl in second and third respectively.  On the mens side, David Christopherson continued his dominant run by racking up another perfect race and extending his lead over Odd Osland and Jay Wenner.  The Skier of the Year competition between for the most improved skier from one year to the next is down to a horse race with Richard Anderson holding a ten point lead over Jason Dalebroux, with David Christopherson in third place.  With only two races to go, this competition is going to go down to the wire.

The age group competition saw a number of lead changes once again as the competition continues to heat up.  In the womens 35-39 age group Kim Rudd took the lead from Jena Ogston and holds it by only five points, while in the 55-59 age group Carol Markham-Cousin broke her tie with Robin Downs to take the lead.  In the mens 40-44 age group Mark Ahlers of Finn Sisu Vakava took the lead over City of Lakes Loppet Director John Munger in what should be an exciting finish with only two races left.  The age group standings are as follows:

Age Group    Women;                                            Men
00-24    Kathleen DeWahl                                    Peter Olejniczak
25-29    Johanna Winters                                     Eugene Beletskiy
30-34    Elaine Nelson                                           Jacob Beste
35-39    Kim Rudd                                                Bob McKenzie
40-44    Angie Robinson                                       Mark Ahlers
45-49    Cheryl DuBois                                         James Schultz
50-54    Marise Widmer;                                     Jack Baker
55-59    Carol Markham-Cousins                       Richard Anderson
60-64    Jean Lavelle;                                           David Christopherson
65-69                                                                      Odd Osland
70-74                                                                      Will Gosnold
75-79                                                                      Wally Hed

Finally, the heated team competition doesn’t look so hot right now, unless of course you are Finn Sisu Vakava who holds a nearly 500 point lead over their hated rival Peter’s Cheaters, with Hoigaards Breadsmith in third place.  Though Vakava might seem to have the inside track, history has proven that anything can happen during the last two races of the MiSSeries.

This weekend the MiSSeries takes its talents to Mora for the annual Mora Vasaloppet 35k freestyle.  Temperatures look to be downright hot with temperatures in the 30s and thousands of skiers ready to descend upon the small town.  With only two races left in the 2011 MiSSeries, the final stretch begins now.