Page 8C
OUTSIDE
East Oregonian
Saturday, January 14, 2017
SKI REPORT
Spout Springs
Tollgate, Ore.
CLOSED FOR SEASON
Anthony Lakes
North Powder, Ore.
New snow: 17” this week
Base depth: 57”
Conditions: Lots of pow-
der
Ski Bluewood
Rich Rautenstrauch/Chieftain
Susan Parraga and her dogs practice with the
sled at Salt Creek Summit in this Chieftain fi le
photo. The team will compete in this year’s Eagle
Cap Extreme, which begins Jan. 19 at the Fergu-
son Ridge Ski Area.
Dayton, Wash.
New snow: 14” in last 48
hours
Base depth
Conditions: Groomers in
great shape, the cold is
keeping the snow fresh
and light.
Ski Fergi
Joseph, Ore.
New snow: Few inches
this week
Base depth: 25”
Conditions: Some new
snow, windswept
Mt. Hood Meadows
Government Camp, Ore.
New snow: 13”
Base depth: 93”
Conditions: Groom is
packed powder. Off
piste is powder and ski-
er-packed powder.
Mushers, huskies about
to descend on county for
Iditarod-qualifying race
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
he best part of the Eagle Cap
Extreme sled dog race,
according to organizer Troy Nave,
comes half an hour before race
start, when more than 200 Alaskan
huskies fi ll the parking lot at Ferguson
Ridge Ski Area with a cacophony of joyous
howling.
“You have to succumb to it,” said Nave,
who serves on the event board of directors.
“The excitement is so contagious.”
Mushers from across the Northwest and
Canada will head deep into the Wallowa
Mountains for the 13th running of the Eagle
Cap Extreme, beginning Thursday, Jan.
19. Kickoff is at noon for the 200-mile and
100-mile races, as well as the fi rst stage of
the two-day pot race, which runs 31 miles
both days.
The 22-mile juniors race and second leg
of the pot race will begin at noon on Friday,
Jan. 20. All races leave from Ferguson
Ridge, about nine miles outside of Joseph. A
shuttle bus will be available at 9:45 a.m. on
race days.
The public can also meet and greet
mushers during a potluck at 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 18 at the Joseph Commu-
nity Center.
No pets are allowed at the potluck or in
the race area.
Despite having no history of dog mushing
in the area, Nave said the Eagle Cap Extreme
has become part of the fabric of Wallowa
County. It is one of only two sled dog races in
the lower 48 states that serve as a qualifi er for
the Iditarod and Yukon Quest, the two largest
mushing events in the world.
“It’s kind of amazing that something like
this is right here in our backyard, off the
beaten path,” Nave said.
Dogs and mushers will have their work cut
out for them. The 200-mile course features
26,000 feet of elevation gain, running up to
Salt Creek Summit and back down to the
Chieftain fi le photo
It’s almost time for sled dog teams to
once more come out of the starting
gate at Ferguson Ridge Ski Area near
Joseph for the 10th running of the
Eagle Cap Extreme sled dog race. The
race begins Jan. 19.
Ollokot Campground for a required six-hour
layover. Teams then work their way out to
Twin Lakes and PO Saddle overlooking Hells
Canyon, before fi nishing back at Fergi.
Brett Bruggeman, of Great Falls, Mont.,
has won the 200-mile race the last two years,
and returns again in 2017. In 2015, he fi nished
the course in 30 hours and three minutes.
“He’s phenomenal,” Nave said. “He’ll be
the guy to catch, yet again.”
A total of eight mushers will compete in
the 200-mile race, eight in the 100-mile race
and seven in the pot race — including locals
Morgan Anderson, of Enterprise, and Susan
Parraga, of Joseph. Parraga was the fi rst local
musher ever to enter the Eagle Cap Extreme,
while Anderson previously competed in the
junior race.
There is only one contestant in this year’s
junior race, 15-year-old Christina Gibson of
Riverside, Wash.
Nave said interest in the Eagle Cap
Extreme grows every year, and its reputation
continues to build.
“Our purse isn’t as big as some of the
other races, but (mushers) are drawn back by
the community support and the route,” Nave
said. “We’re going over some of the most
scenic terrain anywhere.”
MEET THE MUSHERS
Twenty-four mushers will compete
in four races during the 13th running of
the Eagle Cap Extreme, from across the
Northwest and Canada.
2 00-mile
• John Kunzler, Vernal, Utah
• Bryce Mumford, Preston, Idaho
• Neal Bowlen, Park City, Utah
• Laurie Warren, Council, Idaho
• Brett Bruggeman, Great Falls, Mont.
• Scott White, Snohomish, Wash.
• Mark Stamm, Riverside, Wash.
• Clayton Perry, Power, Mont.
100-mile
• Steve Madsen, Cougar, Wash.
• Adam Buch, Cranbrook, British
Columbia, Canada
• David Bush, Bend, Ore.
• Gabe Dunham, Bend, Ore.
• Dina Ludd, Okanogan, Wash.
• Hugo Antonucci, Adin, Calif.
• Karen Ramstead, Perryvale, Alberta,
Canada
• Bino Fowler, Bend, Ore.
Pot race
• Morgan Anderson, Enterprise, Ore.
• Scott Barber, Ramona, Calif.
• David Hassilev, Priest River, Idaho
• Linda Pierce, Okanogan, Wash.
• Connie Star, Cle Elum, Wash.
• Susan Parraga, Joseph, Ore.
• Jane Devlin, Bend, Ore.
Juniors
• Christina Gibson, Riverside, Wash.
Conditions should be in great shape for
this year’s races, with approximately two to
three feet of snow over the course, including
two feet of packed snow at Fergi. Cold
weather should persist until race day, Nave
said, which is good for the dogs.
An awards banquet will cap off three days
of racing, starting at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan.
21, back at the Joseph Community Center.
Tickets are $20 for the general public,
including dinner and entertainment. There
will also be live and silent auction fundraisers
to benefi t the nonprofi t Eagle Cap Extreme.
Nave said the event is a labor of love for
directors, volunteers and the entire commu-
nity.
“We have a lot of support,” he said. “It’s a
privilege to be around these canine athletes.”
■
Contact George Plaven at gplaven@
eastoregonian.com or 541-66-0825.
Trump defends
L.L. Bean heiress
over donations
backing him
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) —
President-elect Donald Trump
is urging people to buy L.L.
Bean as the company faces
calls for a boycott because of a
family member’s donations to
his candidacy.
Trump on Thursday tweeted
his thanks to Linda Bean, a
granddaughter of the outdoors
retailer’s founder, and cited her
“great support and courage.”
He ended by saying, “Buy
L.L. Bean,” garnering criticism
from the nonpartisan money-in-
politics watchdog Every Voice
for “personally encouraging
his supporters to boost the
companies of his super PAC
donors.”
Bean called the backlash
against her “bullying” and
“un-American”
during
Thursday morning interviews
on Fox’s news and business
channels and vowed that she
would not step down from the
company’s board of directors.
“That’s all they are: a small
kernel of hardcore bullies out
on the left coast, West Coast,
in California, trying to control
what we do, what we buy, what
we sell in Maine,” she said on
Fox News Channel’s “Fox and
Friends.”
Bean and the Freeport-based
retailer have been targeted by
anti-Trump groups following
The
Associated
Press’s
reporting of her donations
to the pro-Trump Making
Maine Great Again PAC. The
founders of #GrabYourWallet
have called for a boycott of
L.L. Bean but said it would stop
if the privately held company,
known for its signature
waterproof
rubber-bottom
boots, cut formal ties with
Linda Bean.
A newcomer to cross-country skiing gets hooked by the sport
By CHADD CRIPE
Idaho Statesman
BOISE, Idaho — The fi rst time
I tried cross-country skiing, I was
in junior high in southern Minne-
sota wondering why anyone would
want to work that hard in bitter cold
when they could be downhill skiing
(or hiding indoors) instead.
That remained my opinion of the
sport for most of the next 25 years.
But when I became the outdoors
writer at the Idaho Statesman
nearly a year ago, I quickly iden-
tifi ed cross-country skiing as a
sport I needed to learn. With my
desire for good, interesting exercise
increasing as I get older, it was
even an exciting prospect.
So the past two Wednesdays,
I spent a couple hours learning
how uncoordinated I can be (sorry,
Josh), sweating profusely and
enjoying the beauty of clear days at
Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation
Area.
The verdict: I could ski on my
own quickly, though not yet effi -
ciently; the sport’s reputation as a
great calorie burner is well-earned;
and I think I’ve got another lifetime
sport to pursue.
“Most people have a really
positive response to it,” said Josh
Williams, the director of Bogus
Basin’s Nordic center. “A lot
of people come in being a little
intimidated by it and come out of it
feeling like that intimidation wasn’t
necessary. It’s a lot easier and more
fun than they anticipated.”
The fi rst question we needed
to settle: classic or skate style? I’d
been told by several people who are
better downhill skiers than I am that
skate skiing could be a challenge to
learn. And classic skiing, they told
me, would be a fairly comfortable
transition from running.
That made my decision easy:
classic for now, and maybe I’ll try
skating later.
On our fi rst day, Williams
covered the basics of traveling
across relatively fl at land on the
Nordic Highway. After I recovered
from the shock of how light, skinny
and slippery my skis were, Williams
started by having me shuffl e my
feet to get the feel for the skis. We
moved into the classic-ski tracks —
the parallel lines set by groomers
— that make it easier to keep your
skis on the right path. The next step
was a 1-2-glide pattern, learning to
let my skis do some of the work.
As Williams told me, the reason
skiing is more effi cient than walking
or running is the ground you cover
while gliding. Then he introduced
poles, and that’s where the day got
tricky. The motion that comes so
naturally when running or walking
suddenly had me thinking too
much — left ski forward, pull with
the right pole; right ski forward,
pull with the left. It wasn’t until we
tried a short uphill section, which
requires more of a running motion,
that poling fi nally felt natural.
After we were done, I spent
another hour on my own trying to
establish the rhythm required to ski
for extended periods. My biggest
bugaboo: I tried to go too fast rather
than settling into more of a walking
pace. But the extra work paid off.
When I reported for the second
lesson, I was immediately more
comfortable.
“It’s really good when you take a
lesson to take some time to practice
on your own and then take another
lesson to help refi ne your form,”
Williams said.
For the second lesson, we moved
to the hills. Going downhill was
like watching my son on his fi rst
day of downhill skiing. You just
snowplow, or wedge, or pizza — or
whatever term you use — your way
down the hill and around corners
because the skis aren’t designed for
parallel turns. On the climbs, we
used more of a running/stomping
motion to prevent the skis from
sliding backward on moderate hills
and a herringbone, V-shaped walk
on steep hills. The running motion
takes some practice to use your
weight correctly; the herringbone is
pretty easy, and less taxing.
By the end, I felt like I could go
out to a groomed trail anywhere in
my travels and enjoy myself. The
risk of injury is minimal — the
equipment is more likely to break
than your body, Williams said,
because only the toe of the boot is
attached to the ski. In fi ve years at
Bogus, the worst injury Williams
has seen was a twisted ankle.
He’s a former high school and
college runner who was attracted to
cross-country skiing for the winter
workout.
“I like it because it’s a full-body
workout,” he said. “... You’re
working your upper body a lot,
working your core. It’s also a lot
lower impact. It’s easier on your
joints than running.”
“With classic skiing, if you feel
like you’re a really athletic person,
you can usually get out and tool
around,” Williams said, “but it
doesn’t hurt to take a lesson. With
skate skiing, it’s defi nitely good to
start off with a lesson just because
sometimes the motion is not super
intuitive.”
Cross-country skiing includes
two distinct styles: classic and
skate skiing.
Classic: Classic skiing involves
a more natural, running-like tech-
nique that makes it easier to learn.
Usually one pole is used at a time
in an alternating pattern. Parallel
tracks are groomed into the trails
to make this style easier; they
also help keep your skis properly
aligned. Classic is better suited to
ungroomed trails, too.
Skate: Skate skiing generates
more speed and is the preferred
method for covering longer
distances. It is reliant upon groomed
surfaces and can be more diffi cult
to learn because of the less-intui-
tive technique. “Skate skiing is a
lot more like ice skating or roller
blading,” said Josh Williams,
Bogus Basin Nordic center.