Norwegians(I hope I’m not helping them!)

No Canadians came close to a medal in the World Cup races in Canmore today. Alex Harvey had a respectable 11th, 20 seconds behind the winner, Tim Tscharnke of Germany. Still, it was exciting to be standing on the course and watching 65 of the world’s best skiers.

Norwegians Sjur Roethe(#2) and Chris Jespersen(#7)set the pace in the men’s 15K classic at Canmore.

None of the senior-team Canadian women were skiing today, as they are saving themselves for the sprints on Saturday. Our best result was Brittany Webster in 38th.

The top Canadian men, Harvey, Kershaw(17th), and Babikov(20th), were in the hunt for a good portion of the race, and I’m proud of their accomplishment.

Chris Jespersen and Sjur Roethe of Norway. I took this photo on Dec 6 while skiing at the Canmore nordic centre and posted it on the blog.

With 50% of my blood being Swedish, I probably shouldn’t be giving the Norwegians so much blog time 🙂 but they’re all so darn nice.  I took a picture a few days ago of Sjur Roethe, a young Norwegian skier who has never been on the podium. It turned out to be a good luck charm for Roethe, a 24-year-old who skied to his first ever World Cup medal, a silver, in today’s 15k race.

Roethe’s teamate, Chris Jespersen who also was in my photo, had a good day with an eighth place finish. Both men left an impression on me, as they were very friendly and obliging.

Today, I was standing along the course and started talking with a volunteer for the Norwegian ski team who was there to help his skiers should any of them break a pole or require assistance. Would you believe it, he knew who I was! Jørgen Brevik is a regular follower of this blog and he later sent me this email:

Jørgen Brevik of Trondheim, Norway

Bob,

I met you on the trails today, and we had a good conversation. I just wanted to thank you for amazing information about the skiing opportunities this area offers these days. I am really impressed by how the Bow valley is such a great cross-country skiing resort, and I am looking very much forward to experiencing all the trails. I hope to see you out there more days during December – I will be around ’till December 27th or so.

Also, if you have a chance, would it be possible to send me the one picture you took of myself today? It is always nice with more photos in my “Canmore 2012” album.

Thank you, and see you soon!

Jørgen Brevik
Trondheim, Norway

There’s still easy access to the recreational trails at the nordic centre and conditions look remarkable.

The PLPP trail report indicates that Tyrwhitt trail is closed due to an aggressive moose.

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