Tour de Ski Recap

Hey everyone! Zak Ketterson checking in from Seefeld, Austria where I am with the U.S. Ski Team attempting to recover from this year’s Tour de Ski. The Tour de Ski is a multistage ski racing event that consists of 7 races in 9 days in three different countries. Two races in Switzerland, two races in Germany, and three races in Italy. Sounds like a lot, right? If my current state of exhaustion is any indication, it certainly is a lot. That said, I figured I would take advantage of all this downtime to write a summary about what this year’s Tour was like for me and share some behind the scenes insights.

*Obertsdorf, Germany: The site of stages three and four. 50+ degrees F, not much snow in sight.*

Stage 1: Skate Sprint, Val Müstair Switzerland

Enter Switzerland, specifically Val Müstair, a picturesque valley in the mountains. I was fresh off some really awesome Christmas weeks in Norway, feeling fresh and ready to go for the tour. I am really confident in my sprinting abilities, but two big things were at play in this race. First, this was to be my first skate sprint since February 2022. Second, the race course was at nearly 6,000 feet of altitude, and I could feel every inch of that. The air was thin, and it didn’t help that I spent the last few weeks at sea level in Norway. I did my best to try to make the top 30 and move onto heats, but this day felt super flat and slow. Onto the next one!

*Recovery is key! Being sure to get in some good food in between so many races.*

Stage 2: 10K Classic Pursuit, Val Müstair Switzerland

New day, new opportunities! I was looking forward to the opportunity to compete in an event that I had a lot more experience in this season and I started the race hoping to pass a lot of people and move up in the Tour standings. By about 6K into the race, I had moved up from start position 59 to a top 30 position. Things were going great and I was happy with how the race was going. Then, the altitude hit me on the last lap and I had a classic sufferfest on the last lap. If there is one thing I really learned in these first two stages it’s the importance of staying at high altitude over Christmas. The vast majority of top skiers in these first two stages spent Christmas in the mountains so that they were already well acclimated to the thin air by the time these races rolled up. I had an amazing time in Norway and got in plenty of good training but there was no fooling my body into breathing this thin air.

Stage 3: 10K Classic, Obertsdorf Germany

Ah, finally time to head back down to some lower altitudes. After the 10K in Switzerland, we hopped into vans and drove the 3.5 hour drive to Germany. Obertsdorf is about 2,500 feet lower than Val Müstair and I felt like my body was immediately back in a more friendly environment. I had really high hopes for this race and was hoping for a really good result. During the race, I felt like I was having a really hard time focusing and competing. It was like an out of body experience where I didn’t feel like I had any fight or drive in my body. I wasn’t skiing slow by any means, but I just had no drive in my body. It was like one of those dreams where you are trying to run away from something but your legs just don’t work. I ended up in 38th, which was really disappointing for me. I don’t really know what happened! With so many races still coming up, however, I did my best to move on and focus up for the next races.

*Cooldown run after the race. Looking and feeling a little shell-shocked.*

Stage 4: 20K Skate Pursuit, Obertsdorf Germany

Another race that I had really high hopes for. This was a great opportunity to improve upon my disappointing performance from the day before and claw back a lot of time in the Tour standings. The race started, and I immediately felt that something was wrong. The weather was incredibly warm in Obertsdorf, resulting in super weird snow conditions. On this day, the snow went from frozen/icy during the warmup to warm/slushy during the race. I had chosen a pair of skis that felt really good in the icy conditions but as soon as the race started I could tell that I was on the wrong pair. I fought as hard as I could for most of the race but it was a really hopeless experience. No matter how hard I pushed I couldn’t keep up on the flats and downhills. This is something that happens from time to time in ski racing, even despite everyone involved’s best efforts to avoid it. I ended the day pretty far back from the leaders and was pretty disappointed with the day overall.

*Grinding through a tough 20K in the slush (PC: NordicFocus).*

Stage 5: Classic Sprint, Val di Fiemme Italy

Pretty much right after the 20K finished in Germany, we loaded up into a van and knocked out the 4.5 hour drive to Italy. The next race was to be a classic sprint, one of my favorite disciplines. Much like the skate sprint in stage one, however, it was definitely something I felt a little rusty on because of how few sprints I have been able to do this season. Despite all of the disappointing races in the previous days, I had a career best finish in both the Qualifier and Overall (15th and 17th) and made World Cup sprint heats for the first time in my life. It was a really motivating and inspiring experience and I can’t wait for the next sprint I get to do on the World Cup. Racing heats is a really fun experience and I was super close to moving on to the semi-final. It was also fun to get some real TV time :)

*Taking the lead out of the start in my Quarterfinal. I ended up falling just short of moving onto the next round.*

Stage 6: 15K Classic Mass Start, Val di Fiemme Italy

After such a strong feeling race the day before, I had a lot of confidence heading into this race. I have struggled a lot this season with feeling like my body has that “race gear” and the previous day’s classic sprint was the first time this season where I felt like things were actually firing on all cylinders. This race started out really well and my body felt even better than the day before. For the first 7.5K of the 15K race, I was skiing comfortably in the lead pack. As more and more skiers dropped off the lead pack, I was feeling more and more confident. My skis were great and my body felt amazing. Then, at about 8K into the race, my binding broke off my ski around a sharp, downhill turn and ended any hopes I had of finishing with the leaders. I lost a ski and broke a pole in the crash and had to hobble my way over to some coaches a little ways up the hill to get a spare ski and pole just to finish the race. This day was really hard for me to digest because it felt like a really good day was flushed down the drain and there was really nothing I could’ve done to avoid it. Still, I got a lot of confidence from knowing that I was strong enough to ski with the leaders and it was a really awesome sign for the rest of the season.

*Throwing my hands up in frustration after a really disappointing crash in the 15K.*

Stage 7: Skate Final Hill Climb, Val di Fiemme Italy

Spoiler alert: I didn’t actually do this race, or finish the Tour de Ski this year. I woke up the morning after the 15K with the classic scratchy feeling in the back of my throat that is a clear indication of an oncoming illness. It was a hard decision, but I decided to drop out of the Tour in hopes of avoiding the illness. There are plenty more World Cup races coming up in the next weeks after the Tour, so I wanted to try to set myself up for future success rather than fighting through a brutal race and getting really sick. My decision paid off in the next few days as I managed to avoid getting sick. It was definitely sad to watch the last race happen from my hotel room, though.

Now: Recovery Camp, Seefeld Austria

That brings us to today. I have been in Seefeld for about a week now and am trying my damndest to recover from all of the stress and racing that was the Tour de Ski. Recovery has been going well and I am doing a lot of easy training in order to try to let my body absorb all of the races. There have been a few minor setbacks like a stomach bug going around a few of the US dudes here, but for the most part things have been really great. Seefeld is a really cool place and I feel really fortunate to get to be here.

*Interesting looking green bathtub after trying a “bath bomb” for the first time. Been trying to use all the tools at my disposal to let my body relax and recover from the Tour.*

Next: Period 3 World Cups in France and Italy

In a few weeks, I will be heading to Les Rousses, France for some more World Cup racing. I am really excited to be doing both distance AND sprint races at these next few World Cups and I am hoping to carry some good momentum from the end of the Tour into these next races. After France, I will go to Toblach, Italy for even more racing. I am really excited that my coach, Caitlin Gregg, will be joining me at some of these races! She will be there as a coach and wax tech helping the U.S. Ski Team.

Thank you so much to everyone at home that is cheering me on, and of course to Team Birkie for being the support crew that allowed me to get here in the fist place.

Until next time!