XC Skiers Are Cool

Back in February and March, I got a little bit obsessed with the Vasaloppet ski race in Sweden, to the point I started tracking down the websites of various big-name racers to read about their preparations (or rather, to read the machine translations of their original postings about their preparations). When you want to follow international skiing, you have to cobble together your own ESPN. I even emailed a few of the big-name Vasaloppet racers, more to see if any would respond than for another reason. They all wrote back, in English, and said, basically, that they were happy to hear from North America.


Among the racers whom I contacted were Joergen and Anders Aukland, who compose the Xtrapersonell team and who, in March, took first and second in Vasaloppet. (Anders, the elder brother, subsequently won the FIS Marathon Cup, having placed first twice and second three times in the nine-race series.) When they did so well, I wrote again to say that I had enjoyed watching the race via the web and ask if they sold any team gear. I mean, everybody else wears clothing advertising pro teams, why not support an ultra-obscure professional ski-racing team?


Someone using the name Joergen (perhaps the racer himself, more likely a staffer borrowing his name for credibility) wrote right back to say that if I sent my postal address, they'd send me a hat. I thought, "Yeah, right," but sent the info anyhow. Here's what I got in the mail from Norway today:

DSCF8205


Pretty, ain't it? Too bad there's not enough snow to really put it to good use right now.


Forecast: Significant blowing and drifting, with the possibility of heavy accumulation in rural areas.