Cross country skiing: Tim Hill
EnduranceRadio.com
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Welcome back to Endurance Radio, thanks for joining us for another interview today.
We’re going to be speaking with Tim Hill; he’s a top Master cross country skier, also an adventure racer and cyclist. We’re going to be talking to him about his background in endurance sports.
First things first; the Race of the Day today is the Mammoth
Marathon; it’s on
So we’re going to be right back to speak with Tim Hill right after this.”
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<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Tim thanks very much for joining us today, I appreciate your time.”
<<Tim Hill>>: “Thanks for having me here Tim.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Talk about your background, have long have you been involved in cross country skiing?”
<<Tim Hill>>: “I got involved in cross country skiing when I was about seven, so it’s been about 33 years now, then racing for a little over 30 years now.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “It seems like a lot of triathletes do cross county skiing in the off season in the wintertime as a way to mix things up a little bit, and it’s a great endurance sport isn’t it?”
<<Tim Hill>>: “Yes, its definitely a great endurance sport and one of the most taxing as far as using all your different body parts at once and all that, and we do get a lot of cross over with different summer sports athletes that like to use it for winter training.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “If you’re a cross country skier in the winter, what do you do in the summer time as your off season?”
<<Tim Hill>>: “Summertime, off season, cross country skiing, its kind of the original cross-trainers. We always are looking at other sports during the summer and do a lot of bicycling, running, roller skiing; we have skis with wheels that we use. We also mix it up with some other sports. Recently, after I became Master, I got involved in some other things like adventure racing a little bit, and I’ve done a few triathlons here and there, just to mix it up, keep it interesting.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “A lot of adventure racers do cross country skiing as well it seems. Right before we started recording, you talked about where you were right now and what you were doing; tell us that.”
<<Tim Hill>>: “I’m out here at Auburn Ski Club, outside
of
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “So it sounds like that type of industry does a pretty good job of attracting younger folks into the sport.”
<<Tim Hill>>: “Yes, it’s done great. Its been a great venue up here at Auburn Ski Club, they’re done a lot to really promote it in the last several years here and really made Far West into a force in Nordic skiing, which they hadn’t been previously.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Are you racing on a professional level this year?”
<<Tim Hill>>: “Well it’s not quite professional. I do have some sponsors. I’m working with a group called Thank Racing, and they have some sponsors, CWX Clothing, that type of thing. I’ve also worked closely with Fisher and Swicks and I do get some support, but I don’t actually get paid to do it.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “If somebody wants to get into cross country skiing for the first time; let’s say they are a triathlete or an adventure racer and they want to try something a little bit different during the winter, what’s the best way to get started and how do you find out more about it?”
<<Tim Hill>>: “The best thing to do is to contact a ski area that’s somewhere close by and find out what they have as far as a ski school program. It’s best to get a lesson, it’s a very technical sport and it makes a big difference if you know what you’re supposed to do and how to go about skiing. So get in, get yourself a lesson at a local cross country center and that’ll get you started on the right foot. You can also get in touch with anybody locally that runs races and that type of thing, and see if you’re into the competitive end of it and you’d probably enjoy doing that and you’d be able to get some more help with different aspects of the skiing.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “There seems to be a lot of races of cross country that are pretty long. These races last quite a while, sometimes a full day or multi-day right?”
<<Tim Hill>>: “Actually not too much. Most of the races that I do range anywhere from 10K up to 50K, so a 50K race runs just a little over two hours for me. The top guys in the world will hit just under two hours or something like that.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “What kind of training regime do you have right now?”
<<Tim Hill>>: “I do a little bit of interval work in the weeks that I don’t have the big races coming up. Most of its racing and recovering during the winter and getting in recovery skis and working on technique and intervals when I get the chance.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Is the season coming to an end here now or does it last for a while longer?”
<<Tim Hill>>: “The season will be wrapping up in
April, so it’ll be wrapping up at the beginning of April for me. I’ve got Gold Rush coming up and then I’ll possibly
will go to Spring Series which is an international event that’s, I believe, in
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “How big is the cross country industry in terms of skiing?”
<<Tim Hill>>: “It’s actually a pretty small industry overall. We’re been trying to grow it for many years and it’s definitely been picking up with the past several years; the skating has brought in a whole new aspect to it since the mid 80’s, and that’s gained some popularity. It’s kind of a multi-faceted sport that appeals to people on all different levels, as far as touring and racing. It’s not a high dollar sport; it doesn’t have a lot of draw into it.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “It seems like one of the biggest draws is being out there in the wilderness and the whole aspect of being off-road, if you will.”
<<Tim Hill>>: “Yes, its something where the draw to it can be, like I said, theres many different draws as far as being out in the wilderness, that’s a great one for many people, getting out in the back country doing that sort of thing. Skating is something most people don’t realize that racers will skate 15K, 30K into that range, close to the same speed that a mountain biker goes, averaging about 17 miles per hour. It’s pretty fast and exciting. You can get up to 50 miles per hour in the downhill’s and that sort of thing at times. Theres a definitely a lot of excitement as far as endurance sports go, getting out there and going fast.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Now a cross country skier was in the news recently because she was killed in an avalanche. Is that a big risk; is it something that is always in the back of your mind, thinking about the safety aspect of that?”
<<Tim Hill>>: “Actually it’s not when you go to the touring centers and that type of thing. That’s where I generally do most of my skiing, is touring centers, because I’m preparing for races. In the back country, if you’re in the back country you definitely need to know your avalanche protocols and take your avalanche courses, have your beacons, ski with people that are experienced and pay attention to all the warning signs. Its easy for people to get caught, and theres kind of been a tendency recently for people to get excited about going to the back country and take off before they do their homework so it definitely becomes a bigger risk. It’s always a risk when you get out in the back country.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “So that’s probably part of the reason to get some expert assistance when you first get started in terms of finding the right places to do this?”
<<Tim Hill>>: “Yes. If you’re going out in the back country you absolutely need to get assistance for learning that and learning about your avalanche dangers and the other risk factors that are out there in the back country. If you’re skiing at a touring center you can go out and go it on your own, but you’re better off if you take a lesson just because it is a technical sport. Its something that is difficult to pick up on your own right away.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Are there some websites out there that are good for people to go to to find out more about the sport?”
<<Tim Hill>>: “Yes, there are a few. In my area we have www.farwestnordic.org that has a lot
of information about all the skiing that goes on around here. Theres also, out of
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “That’s a good place to start. We’ll link to those for our listeners’ right below this.
Well Tim we’re just about out of time. Thanks very much for joining us; I appreciate you taking the time out of your schedule to talk to us on the phone.”
<<Tim Hill>>: “Thank you Tim, it’s been my pleasure.”
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