2025 U.S. Nationals and Travel Across the “Pond” to Estonian Nationals
Chris during the classic 20km in Anchorage.
After several days of festive indulgence and navigating a sugar coma over Christmas, it was time to shift focus to the U.S. National Championships.
This year, the event took place from January 2nd to the 7th at Kincaid Park in Anchorage, Alaska. Despite a lackluster snow year and some heavy rain, the organizers did a commendable job maintaining the race courses, ensuring they were relatively debris- and moose-free. Speaking of moose, they certainly made their presence known. During official training, many athletes couldn’t help but get excited—and maybe a little touristy—when a moose wandered near the trails. After all, skiing alongside a moose is a unique Alaskan experience! But things got a bit more serious on race days when some stubborn moose refused to clear the trails, causing quite a headache for volunteers and competitors.
Fortunately, as far as I know, everyone made it through unscathed.
The championship opened with a 10km freestyle interval start, followed by a classic sprint on Saturday. Both races suggested my fitness was solid, and I felt optimistic about Sunday’s 20km classic mass start. If everything came together, I thought, it could be a great race. But conditions had other plans. The waxing conditions were tricky, falling somewhere between klister, klister cover, and hard wax. After testing skis, it was clear that grip would be a challenge, and I’d need to rely heavily on double poling. Unfortunately, my troubles didn’t end there. On the first lap, about 3km in, the pack bunched up on a steep climb. A combination of shuffling athletes and my wide V on a herringbone led to disaster—a broken ski. From that moment, it became a chase. The broken ski’s tip flapped wildly whenever I lifted it off the ground, and I could only hope it would hold up long enough to finish. Despite catching the lead group again, I never managed to settle into the pack. The race was a bit of a struggle, and eventually, I fell back for good, finishing in 12th place.
Just three days later, I was on a flight home to Estonia for the national championships that weekend. Attempting such a tight turnaround was a gamble, especially with almost 30 hours of travel through 11 time zones. Still, I decided to take the risk and found myself back on the start line just 40 hours after landing in Tallinn. Unsurprisingly, jet lag hit hard. Saturday’s sprint race was a disaster—I decided to skip the heats, opting instead to rest for Sunday’s 10km classic. I managed to push my body to sleep until nearly 5 a.m., a minor victory compared to the previous night. Still, I knew it wouldn’t be an easy race. To make things even more challenging, it started snowing heavily. And then, just a few strides out of the gate, my pole snapped in half. For a few hundred meters, which felt like an eternity, I skied without a replacement until I finally got a new pole and could get back into the race. Despite the odds, I fought my way to a third-place finish. It wasn’t the result I had hoped for, but given the circumstances, I couldn’t be too disappointed. This experience was a valuable lesson, and one thing is certain: I won’t be traveling through 11 time zones right before a race ever again!
- - Christopher
Here racing Estonia nationals in Otepää, a few days after international travel.
