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.
Twin Cities Championships
Boulder Lake Ski Race
Mayors Challenge
Nordic Spirit
City of Lakes Loppet
Mora Vasaloppet
Minnesota Finlandia