The VASA

A couple of weeks ago, our family drove 2.5 hours away from St. Ignace to the VASA
to do some competitive cross-country skiing. Mike skied the 12k and Liam the 10k race Saturday morning. All 5 kids skied the kids races that afternoon. Sunday, Jonathan skied a 6k race, and Liam and I were going to ski the 16k race. The temp was 0 with a wind chill of -15. I thought it would be fun to use our skate skis, but it turns out that wasn't such a great idea - it was a classic race, groomed only for classic skis. After about 4 km, it was impossible to skate, and our slippery skate skis didn't go so fast on those classic tracks. It was a painfully slow, and painfully cold 12k (we took a shortcut and knocked off 4k). A valuable lesson was learned though - do NOT wear skate skis in a race groomed for classic skiing. I am so proud of the kids for their great skiing, especially Liam, who logged in more than 25 km
of skiing that weekend! There are x-c ski races throughout America and the world - a goal of mine is to participate in a ski marathon in Europe someday. I am not fast, but I love exercising outside in the beautiful snow.

We are back home in sunny but super cold Minnesota, and hoping to get outside to do some more x-c skiing before spring settles in. It is absolutely my favorite sport, and I hope to pass my love for it on to our children.