Inside Edge: Cross Country Skier Cross comes to the PNW

... And the beat goes on! — The parade of storms continues this week, this time with some heavier matter. I’d say the season is now locked in, but I know better than to curse us.

Interesting MLK weekend — the new lifts really spread the crowd and take the burden off the front side. We never encountered a lift line of any consequence.

World Cup — A busy and interesting week on the international stage. The men raced the legendary Lauberhorn downhill track at Wengen, the longest race on the circuit, with great success.

Bryce Bennett came out of his early season funk and finished seventh, leading five U.S. men into the points. Ryan Cochran-Siegle was 14th, Steve Nyman was 21st, Jared Goldberg was 22nd and Travis Ganong was 27th.

In the earlier alpine combined, Bennett placed 14th, followed by Cochran-Siegle in 19th and Goldberg in 24th.

The ladies had a giant slalom party at Sestriere, Italy. Mikaela Shiffrin was third in the giant slalom (.01 seconds off the tied winners), and captured first and ninth in the two parallel GS’s.

Nina O’Brien also had a good week, placing 30th, ninth and 11th respectively in the three events. Action resumes this coming weekend with the men at Kitzbuhel and the women at speed events in Bansko.

Junior Race Series — The Junior Race Series got back into full swing after losing a week to powder. Despite a soft course with deep ruts, the kids charged hard.

The fastest boys were: James Schriber (23.60), Landon Buoy (25.11) and Fletcher Barrett (25.56). The fastest girls were: Lila Kadzejs (25.42), Halle Wyman (25.44), and Josie Buoy (26.45).

Most Improved standings currently are: Boys – Bode Scarlett, Tate Lauper, Anders Trygstad and Girls – Summer Healy, Lia Bradford and Faith Stephany.

The team competition is too close to call. The final day of racing will be this Friday. Racers meet their coaches at 5:30 p.m. no matter what the weather is. The ICE CREAM FEAST and awards ceremony will begin at 7 p.m. Bring your appetites!

Western Region Alpine Speed Series — The ultimate in viewing excitement. Watch the top rising 16-21 year old talent in the west compete at Schweitzer in downhill, super-G and giant slalom for honors and eligibility for the National Junior Championships.

The event spans this Saturday through Jan. 30. SARS needs plenty of help pulling this one off. Call SARS at 946-7859 to volunteer and receive a free lift ticket and lunch.

Spokane Junior Qualifier XC races — XC skiers from across the Pacific Northwest region (Washington, Oregon and no one from Idaho) traveled to the Nordic Ski center at Mt. Spokane for two junior qualifier events to determine the best skiers in the PNW division.

Saturday was the first ever Cross Country Skier Cross (XCX) race in any of the western XC ski divisions. XCX races are gaining popularity in Europe and on the U.S. East Coast. They require racers to quickly maneuver around obstacles, banked turns, off jumps and other challenges. This type of race requires balance and technique while performing one of the most aerobically demanding sports.

Sandpoint brought nine skiers to the XCX race Saturday, ranging from U10 to U18. All racers skied a 1K hilly sprint course first as a qualifying round, followed by three additional heats (quarterfinals, semis and finals) where skiers were paired against three other similar skiers.

Skiers maneuvered through a series of jumps, downhill and uphill slalom gates, a downhill jump with a banked turn and a series of uneven pump tracks. While all Sandpoint skiers had solid finishing times, the top racers of the day were Jude and Jonas Benson, finishing first and second overall in their age divisions.

Sunday featured an individual classic race. The athletes raced either a 3K, 5K or 10k course. In the 3K race of 20 U14 boys, Callahan Waters placed the highest, coming in fourth in a time of 8:38, followed by Kasten Grimm in sixth, Fletcher Barrett in ninth and Jonas Benson in 15th.

In the U16 boys 5K race, Jett Longanecker had a solid finish of seventh out of 21 skiers. Clara Cave finished 11th in the U18 girls.

Winter Trails Day — Free access to Nordic trails at Schweitzer. Come see what you’ve been missing! Contact the Activity Center at 208-255-3081.

Potpourri — Any comments, recommendations or contributions to this column may be sent to Shep Snow by email at shep@thesnowschool.com. Negative feedback should be sent to someone else.