Hi everyone,First of all thank you so much for being a sponsor of this marvelous event.  You have no idea how many smiles it put on the faces of all the people who attended from all over the World.   The photo I am sending is that of Gold Medal winners of the relay for the 60-64 women who blasted to a huge victory over their competitors, and who skied their hearts out despite their years.   I think the photo says it all - it was a great time and we thank everyone involved.  Unfortunately our fourth teammate Gabriele Anderson could not be there that night, however, I am wearing her medal too.  From left to right Elizabeth Schluter, Trina Hosmer and June Lane.  A HUGE THANK YOU!June Lane   

Some photos from the last day’s races:

The day’s race highlights:

The afterparty at the Manchester Ice Centre:

Once again, thanks to everyone for a great turnout for our open house day at Blackhawk on the River. Hope you enjoy the great footage that was put together to commemorate the day. Don’t forget to sign up now to join the Blackhawk team for your private sales dinner and tour tonight! Please visit your Blackhawk Sales Concierge to schedule your visit by calling Sima Muroff at (208) 634-8014 or by emailing sima@blackhawkontheriver.com.

The Idaho Statesman confirmed in a first-class article on how great it is to live in McCall, Idaho.

Here are some of the excerpted highlights:

“Lyle Nelson stood on the compact snow at Ponderosa State Park on Wednesday wearing wire-rimmed glasses, a brown corduroy coat and a wide smile.

The four-time Olympic cross-country skier is the unofficial ambassador for the Masters World Cup international cross- country skiing event being held in his hometown of McCall.

“I’m enjoying this as though I’ve never done this,” he said.”

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Skiing is on the minds of the 1,223 competitors from 23 nations. The McCall event boasts the second-largest turnout in the Masters World Cup’s 28-year history. The United States has 660 athletes competing.

It is the third Masters World Cup held in the United States and first since Lake Placid, N.Y., hosted the 1998 games.

Nelson, 59, participated in the Olympics in 1976, 1980, 1984 and 1988 and worked as an NBC color analyst for Nordic events at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympics. He was an organizer for the sport at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

But he was only watching skiing this week. He was not competing or part of the planning committee that bid to host the Masters World Cup five years ago.

“I let other people have fun,” he said. “They picked my brain a little bit.”

There are 130 volunteers working every day and nearly 300 total doing everything from driving buses to working start-finish lines to serving lunch each day.

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“The planning process was a huge undertaking,” said executive director Erin Roper, a McCall resident who has been on the committee two years.”

“”We had skiers coming in at least two weeks early,” she said. “We had skiers coming early, staying later, traveling to Sun Valley, traveling to Hells Canyon. We had a group of Russian skiers that wanted to go to Boise - they wanted to go shopping, so they hired a bus and a translator.

“The community benefit from this, I think, largely will put McCall on the map as a Nordic ski destination. We have to sort of build up the areas and maybe become a training ground for the Olympics in Vancouver. We’ve had some athletes inquire about that already.”

- Reprinted from the Idaho Statesman 3/7/08 in Boise, Idaho

To learn more about the great city of McCall, Idaho CLICK HERE

BY TOM FOX - tfox@idahostatesman.com
Edition Date: 03/07/08

MCCALL - Victor Krutikhin lives in a region in Russia that gets hammered by snowfall.

He said it is typical for the heavilly wooded area east of Moscow to have an accumulation of four to five feet of snow for six months at a time.

So, Krutikhin said it was only natural he took to cross-country skiing at an early age and has not quit.

“It’s probably the biggest sport,” he said through translator Sheila Johnson of Minnesota.

Russia has been a major player in the Olympic cross-country scene. And on Wednesday, the Russian participants in the Masters World Cup at Ponderosa State Park were just as competitive. The seven-day event was open to anyone over the age of 30.

Russian teams finished first in seven of 14 relay races at the Masters World Cup at Ponderosa State Park.

Krutikhin’s group was second to a United States relay team anchored by Boise’s Eric Jensen.

The relay races involved four 5 kilometer legs. The first two legs were completed by competitors skiing classic style and the final two legs were completed by competitors skiing freestyle.

Krutikhin, who works in a lumber mill, said he paid over $3,000 to make the trip to this year’s Masters World Cup.

Teammates such as Aleksander Pushkarev had sponsored who paid for the trip.

Krutikhin, 44, said he practices the sport three times a week for two to three hours twice a day.

“There’s lot of competitions in Russia and it’s very interesting,” he said. “Every weekend there a competition and there’s probably more than one every weekend.”

- Reprinted from the Idaho Statesman 3/7/08

Boise-based KTVB Channel 7 aired this during the 10pm news tonight.

Melissa Lewis of Fairbanks has picked up a couple of medals so far at the Masters World Cup in McCall, Idaho.

Lewis, who has won the Sonot Kkaazoot 50-kilometer ski marathon several times, claimed the gold medal Monday in the 10-kilometer freestyle for 35-39-year-olds with a time of 28 minutes, 59 seconds, nearly two minutes faster than her nearest competitor. Two days earlier, at Ponderosa State Park, Lewis took second in the 15K classic in 52:19, just over a minute behind American Mary Wellington.

The week-long race series is considered the World Championships for masters skiers. A total of 1,223 skiers from 23 countries are participating, including 660 Americans.

Other locals partaking include Dave Edic, Bob Baker, Steve Clautice, Bruce Jamieson, Owen Hanley and Don Lokken. Edic, who recently turned 50, has a pair of top-10 finishes in the men’s 05 division.

Judy Rabinowitz, who now lives Outside but was the first Winter Olympics skier from the Fairbanks area, is also participating.

- Reprinted from The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner 3/7/08 - Fairbanks, Alaska

It was a fantastic day at the races today. The sun was shining and it was one of the largest crowds since day one.

PART ONE -

PART TWO -

PART THREE -

Gino Ceccato of Italy celebrates after his team won the bronze medal in the 30-34 age group Wednesday in the Masters World Cup relay races in McCall. Photo by Katherine Jones.

The Masters World Cup hasn’t been in the United States since 1998, but it has been in McCall since last week.

The international cross country event has been a showcase for 1,223 skiers from 23 nations. The age-division athletes, some former Olympians and others intermediate in level, have been competing since Saturday. The event ends Friday night with a closing ceremony at the Manchester Ice Centre.

- reprinted from the Idaho Statesman 3/6/08