Bogus Basin will host the best junior Nordic skiers in the Intermountain Division which features the Bogus Basin Nordic team, the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation, McCall Nordic and other teams from around the region.
Around 200 athletes will compete in an effort to make it to the nationals in Fairbanks, Alaska in March. The races will be in the U-16, U-18 and U-20 divisions.
"We have about 40 athletes here from the Bridger Ski Foundation," said coach Andrew Morehouse out of Bozeman, Montana. "We have tons of athletes who are hoping to qualify in Fairbanks and they are excited to see some improvement from their previous races."
On Saturday, the racers will compete in the Classic, a 7.5 kilometer race for all divisions.
On Sunday, it will be the Skate with a 5k for the U-16 kids and a 10k for the U-18/U-20 divisions.
Races start at 10:00a.m. on both days.
"The Classic is the one where you are walking with a scooch," said Logan Mowry, the coach of the Glacier Nordic Team out of Whitefish, Montana. "And then Skate Skiing you are doing more lateral movements like ice skating. You are gliding on your ski a lot more and you are making a V with your skis."
Several teams were up at Bogus Basin on Friday getting in some practice laps, checking out the course and preparing their equipment for the races this weekend.
"We are going to test about eight different types of kick wax today," said Mowry. "That is just on your test skis, so we will have to take that sticky wax off your skis each time between tests. It adds up to a lot of time and you have to keep everybody happy and focused. So one way I do that is by showing Rocky II before every race."
I heard several kids refer to the course as "interesting". They talked about narrow corridors which might make passing difficult and the punchy uphills and downhills, including a big downhill that has features a U-turn at the bottom.
"The kids describe the courses as really flowy, which is fun," said Morehouse. "I think the organizing committee has done a great job of getting everything ready to go and we are excited."
I didn't get a chance to talk with the Bogus Basin Nordic Team as they were planning on coming up to the mountain once they get out of school.
Bogus Basin will have a few select trails open to the public this weekend, so people can expect more congestion on the mountain.
