If you happen to get to the Craftsbury, VT, Outdoor Center any time this winter, take a look at the photos in the touring center (open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, all winter). I have an exhibit of 22 16-x-24-inch color prints from some of the racing coverage I did in 2016 and 2017. The photos range from local racers in New England Nordic Ski Association races at Craftsbury to skiers at the world championships last February and March in Lahti, Finland. I tried to capture the action, color and beauty of gliding on snow as well as the emotional and personal side of the sport. Above, the Canadian Women’s relay team after a strong finish in Lahti. Below, US Paralympic sit-skier Andy Soule prepares for a race; Norway’s Marit Bjorgen celebrates after her team won the women’s world championship relay; and Chris Young of Jay, VT, helps his son, Jack, with pole straps before a NENSA race at Craftsbury.
Click here for more information from the Craftsbury web site. 
Category Archives: Finland
Stretching Shadows in Helsinki
The morning commute for bird and man, Helsinki Railway Square, April.
Meanwhile, in Lapland
Well, actually it was back in early March, after the Lahti World Nordic Ski Championships. We ski toured in Lapland, northern Finland, in the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park. Basically inn-to-inn skiing, complete with northern lights and daily saunas. The park is laced with hundreds of kilometers of trails groomed for classic and skate skiing, weaving through the low, rounded Lapland mountains called tunturi. We went on a week-long guided trip with a company called Feel the Nature/Fell Trek, made some new friends, saw some beautiful country, and ate munkki, the best donuts in the world. Because the Euro was so low and we were already in Finland, it wasn’t such a big expedition, although we were far enough north to be inside the Arctic Circle. We only saw the aurora borealis once, but it was an unforgettable night, temperature about 0 F and color dancing across the sky. Click here for a gallery/slideshow. You can use the right-click arrow to speed things up or move around in the gallery. 
Lahti #11
Favorites from Friday’s men’s 4-by-10-kilometer relay and today’s women’s 30-k at the World Nordic Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland. Long story short, as the two fans above indicate, the Norwegians won them both. They are the people in red and blue. Click here for stories, more photos.
Lahti #10: Favorites
Favorites from today in Lahti: East Montpelier, VT’s, Liz Stephen, above, charging up the big hills as part of the US women’s 4-by 5-k relay team. Liz hammered the hills to help bring the team to within about 30 seconds of a bronze medal. Other favorites, below: Norway’s Marit Bjorgen waving the flag (again) after Norway won the relay; the Swedish relay team, on camera for the ski press after finishing second; the Canadian team, looking wholesomely Canadian after finishing tenth in a field of sixteen; and Sadie Bjornsen leading the US skiers out of the finish area. Click here for details at FasterSkier.com.
Lahti #7a
One from yesterday: Norway’s Marit Bjorgen, en route to her 16th World Championship medal, first place in the 10-K interval start at Lahti. For details and more photos click here.
Lahti #2
Today the women’s 5-k and men’s 10-k qualifiers were held, races designed so skiers without World Cup points can compete. Racers from such unlikely ski countries as Iran, Lebanon, Ireland, Brazil, Venezuela and Armenia skied, along with others from countries like Australia, Iceland and Denmark. The top 10 in each race will get to race against World Cup skiers later in the competition. By the way, the guy with the big gray beard at the bottom is Juha Mieto, a many-medaled Olympic skier from the 1970s, said to be among the most popular celebrities in Finland. Click here for some details and results.
