Nordic team opens season in West Yellowstone

“The kids are super motivated to train right now”

Once again, the Crested Butte Nordic Team (CBNT) headed to Montana last week for the annual Nordic rite of passage, the Yellowstone Ski Festival.
The Yellowstone Ski Festival brings the Nordic community from all over the nation into West Yellowstone for a week of training and racing, kicking off the season for the professional circuit. For the Crested Butte team, the trip is about focus, and fun.
“The atmosphere is awesome. Everyone there is excited about skiing,” says CBNT coach Austin Ross. “It’s a chance to get outside and get after it and it’s a great way for the kids to focus on skiing.”
The CBNT put in a full day of driving on Saturday and then hit the track starting Sunday with two workouts per day. Ross used the week to push his skiers and get them prepared for the upcoming season.
“We did some long, slow skis, worked on technique and some interval training, and made sure the kids are where they need to be and have good habits,” says Ross. “It’s a really good time to put in some hard work because the race season is two weeks away.”
The team did take an easy day on Thanksgiving with a team ski into the National Park, followed by a massive team Thanksgiving dinner complete with all the trimmings.
“The Thanksgiving dinner with the team is always a highlight,” says Ross.
While the week does include races, Ross explains that results are far from the goal of the week.
“Racing is definitely secondary but it is worthwhile for some of the kids,” says Ross.
Both Aiden Truettner and Benjamin Swift make the jump to the U18 age class this season and as a result will be jumping into a new distance, 15 kilometers. Ross used the trip to Yellowstone as an opportunity to introduce both Truettner and Swift to the new distance.