More Exciting Cross Country Ski Racing at the Haywood Cross Country Ski Nationals in Corner Brook

by Keith and Heather Nicol
     Thursday, March 20 it was more sprint racing at the Haywood Cross Country Ski Nationals in Corner http://www.skinationals2014.com/
Brook. Again the weather was perfect for skiing with highs around 0C with light winds and the Junior Men and Women, Open Men and Women and University students took to the trails. The format was similar to the previous day with interval starts to determine which skiers would go on the heats where only the fastest 2 skiers would continue to advance to the finals.The women skied 1.4 km while the men skied over a 1.6 km course. The trail had significant climbs and difficult corners which made for challenging racing. It was exciting to watch some of Canada's Olympic Cross Country Skiers take on this course and the men's open final was particularly close with the three top finishers doing the splits for the medals. The next race is a classic race on Saturday, March 22 which is the last day of the Nationals Cross Country Ski Races. Again spectators are encouraged to come out and cheer on the racers which have come from across the country to ski in Corner Brook.  For more information see:

The action out of the start was fast and furious

The Men's Open Final was very close !

The corner caused several falls as skiers had to quickly step turn on the hard packed snow

Many of the women's races were very close

Into the finish chute

There were several steep climbs through the course