CB Nordic Team turns in big week in Montana

“It’s the biggest training week of the year”

[  by Than Acuff  ]

While the Crested Butte Nordic Team (CBNT) has been able to get on snow right in their own backyard, they still headed to Montana for the annual trip to the Yellowstone Ski Festival and were met with phenomenal conditions to maximize their week-long training block.

It’s a tradition for the CBNT allowing for some early season camaraderie, especially from the moment they leave Crested Butte at 5 a.m. and arrive at their destination at 9 p.m.

“It’s a long drive, with a long Costco stop in Utah to get enough groceries for the week,” says head coach Ben Theyerl. “The whole week is a big bonding experience for the team and coaches.”

And while building a team bond meant to last through the season is one of the goals, training is the main reason the team heads to Yellowstone and thanks to conditions, the training week proved extremely fruitful.

“It’s the biggest training week of the year,” says Theyerl. “The biggest difference was the quality of the snow up there. They had a two-foot base, and it was snowing throughout the week.”

With tracks rolled out daily and no sage or grass poking through, the 11 CBNT athletes got down to business continuing to build on their base but focused on technique.

“We get to work on technique really intensively for a week and build a foundation,” says Theyerl. “Proper skating technique clicked with all of the kids that week.”

The typical day involved a 7 a.m. run followed by getting on skis at 9 a.m., a break midday and then back on skis at 3 p.m. for additional work. 

“Every athlete got between 15 and 20 hours on skis over the week,” says Theyerl. 

The only break came on Thanksgiving when the kids went for a leisurely team ski and then gathered for the team Thanksgiving meal. Friday was back to training and the week closes on Saturday with races. Races that Theyerl makes sure are not focused simply on results.

“If they do well, they worry they’ve peaked and if they do poorly, they think they’re out of shape,” says Theyerl. “It’s really just a good chance to put a hard effort in. More about getting to the starting line after a week of hard training and pushing through the race.”

And while some impressive results were put down by some of the CBNT athletes, it was the prep and the little things that mattered to Theyerl.

“I saw some really cool moments during the races,” says Theyerl. “And, I got to see them plan out a race strategy the night before and then execute it. It was a very good week and we’re looking forward to the next few weeks as we prepare for our first race.”

The CBNT’s first real test of the season will be right here in Crested Butte as Crested Butte Nordic is hosting the first Junior National Qualifier of the season on Saturday and Sunday, December 17-18.