Kenai Central’s Karl Danielson double-poles up a hill on his way to victory Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, at the Tsalteshi Classic Invitational at Tsalteshi Trails. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Central’s Karl Danielson double-poles up a hill on his way to victory Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, at the Tsalteshi Classic Invitational at Tsalteshi Trails. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai’s Danielson, Homer’s Daigle win Tsalteshi Classic

Early winter on the central Kenai Peninsula has featured an uncommonly high number of perfect days for classic skiing — days with beautifully set tracks and mindless application of the wax it takes to get some kick.

Saturday was not one of those days. The Tsalteshi Classic Invitational at Tsalteshi Trails was all about dredging order from the chaos, best done by classic five-kilometer champs Karl Danielson of Kenai Central and Autumn Daigle of Homer.

Start with the origin of the meet itself. The skiers were originally supposed to be at a meet at Government Peak in the Matanuska-Susitna valleys over the weekend, but that was canceled due to high winds scrubbing the trails of snow.

So Soldotna coach Isaac Erhardt and Kenai Central coach Brad Nyquist got together and decided to throw together a quick five-kilometer, interval classic race for Saturday. SoHi would put together the trail, while Kenai would handle the timing.

“It’s really great we’ve got the kind of people around here to make something like this work,” Erhardt said. “We didn’t just hear the meet was canceled and say there was nothing we could do about it.”

Through Friday, conditions for Saturday’s race were shaping up to be perfect. But then snow fell starting late Friday night, and by the time of the race Saturday that snow had turned to rain.

To classic ski, skiers need something on the bottom of the ski under their feet to allow them to kick forward. Kick is easy to come by when temperatures are comfortably below freezing, but achieving kick when it is raining and temperatures are about 32 degrees is a nightmare.

Erhardt said the ingenuity of the racer comes into play during such conditions.

“A key factor today was the ability to read conditions when you are skiing and be able to change what you are doing,” he said.

That’s why Danielson — with no kick — and Daigle — with too much kick — were both able to find ways to win.

“It was crazy,” Danielson said. “I didn’t really know how it would turn out. I had a tiny bit of kick earlier in the day, but during the race conditions changed and I didn’t have any kick at all.”

Danielson won the boys race at 13 minutes flat, while Soldotna’s Jeremy Kupferschmid was second at 13:57 and Homer’s Jacob Davis was third at 14:14.

Not having any kick meant Danielson was able to cruise down the icy tracks on downhills and double-pole the flats with ease.

There were three uphills on each lap of the two-lap course, though. Without kick, Danielson was able to battle up those with a mixture of double-poling and the herringbone technique, or putting the skis in a “V” and using the edges to get up the hill.

Kuperschmid took a similar tact to Danielson in taking second place.

“I had no kick whatsoever,” Kupferschmid said. “The plan was to do double-poling, and then jump out of the tracks and herringbone when I had to.”

He said adjusting to different conditions is a challenge he welcomes.

“Ideally, we’d have good conditions with perfectly groomed trails, but this type of race can also be fun,” he said.

Unlike the top two in the boys race, the top two in the girls race had plenty of kick. But when the snow is perfect for a snowball fight — as it was Saturday — having kick often means it’s impossible not to have massive clumps of snow underfoot after applying all the pressure it takes to get up a hill.

Both Daigle, who won at 18:16, and Soldotna’s Kellie Arthur, who was second at 19:12, had that problem. SoHi’s Sonora Martin was third at 19:13.

Daigle wore zero skis. A normal classic ski gets kick from applying wax in the kick zone, but zero skis have a special material that feels like felt in their kick zone.

Zero skis can often be just the ticket in tricky classic conditions, but Saturday Daigle said she was getting large clumps of snow under her ski after the uphills.

Didn’t matter. She won the Division II state cross-country running title in the fall, so she was more than happy to turn a ski race into a running race.

“Running is my favorite,” Daigle said. “I do skiing to keep in shape and because it is super fun, but I’m not as good at it.”

In the interval start format, Daigle went out first and Arthur followed 15 seconds behind. Arthur had wax on the bottom of her skis that also generated snowballs on climbs.

Arthur was gaining on Daigle on the day’s first climb when she got to the top and rudely learned just how sticky those snowballs were when she face-planted.

“I ate it that first lap and that kind of pushed me back a little bit,” Arthur said.

Tsalteshi Classic Invitational

Saturday at Tsalteshi Trails

Five-kilometer classic

Boys individual results

1. Karl Danielson, Ken, 13 minutes, 0 seconds; 2. Jeremy Kupferschmid, Sol, 13:57; 3. Jacob Davis, Hom, 14:14; 4. Koby Vinson, Sol, 14:15; 5. Joshua Shuler, Sol, 15:20; 6. Jode Sparks, Sol, 15:40; 7. Denver Waclawski, Hom, 15:53; 8. Jack Harris, Sol, 16:07; 9. Bradley Walters, Sol, 16:46; 10. Foster Boze, Sol, 17:42; 11. Ryder Giesler, Sol, 17:53; 12 (tie). Josh Foster, Ken, Joseph Dammeyer, Sol, 17:56; 14. Lance Chilton, Sol, 18:35; 15. Anchor Musgave, Sol, 18:51; 16. Billy Morrow, Ken, 18:53; 17. Joshua Caspian, Hom, 19:00; 18. Andrew Super, Hom, 19:23; 19. Dylan Hogue, Sol, 19:25; 20. Tanner Reid, Hom, 19:29; 21. Toad Martin, Sol, 19:37; 22. Tristan Summer, Ken, 19:44; 23. Mathew Grzybowski, Ken, 20:39; 24. Hunter Beck, Ken, 21:42; 25. Gideon Colliver, Ken, 22:08; 26. James Chandler, Hom, 29:06.

Girls individual results

1. Autumn Daigle, Hom, 18:16; 2. Kellie Arthur, Sol, 19:12; 3. Sonora Martin, Sol, 19:13; 4. Zoe Stonorov, Hom, 19:33; 5. Cameron Blackwell, Sol, 19:54; 6. Isabella Dammeyer, Sol, 20:55; 7. Mickinzie Ticknor, Ken, 20:54; 8. Hannah Delker, Sol, 21:52; 9. Brita Restad, Hom, 21:31; 10. Erika Arthur, Sol, 21:51; 11. Katie Delker, Sol, 21:52; 12. Macady Musgrave, Sol, 22:52; 13. Elise Kemppainen, Ken, 23:39; 14. Kyaran Matturo, Ken, 24:00; 15. Rachel Kopps, Ken, 24:10; 16. Sophie Thomas, Sol, 24:12; 17. Kortney Birch, Sol, 26:16; 18. Abbigail Moffet, Ken, 25:33; 19. Charlie Morton, Ken, 25:35; 20. Kara Super, Hom, 25:39; 21. Ellie Syth, Liberty Fabich, Hom, 27:10; 22. Payton Matturo, Ken, 27:20; 23. Kya Cox, Ken, 28:03; 24. Victoria Denison, Sol, 28:09; 25. Grace Cushman, Ken, 29:07; 26. Mykenna Foster, Sol, 33:00; 27. Molly Nusbaum, Ken, 41:16.

Homer’s Jacob Davis works his way to a third-place finish Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, at the Tsalteshi Classic Invitational at Tsalteshi Trails. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Homer’s Jacob Davis works his way to a third-place finish Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, at the Tsalteshi Classic Invitational at Tsalteshi Trails. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna’s Jeremy Kupferschmid attacks a hill on the way to a runner-up finish Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, at the Tsalteshi Classic Invitational at Tsalteshi Trails. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna’s Jeremy Kupferschmid attacks a hill on the way to a runner-up finish Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, at the Tsalteshi Classic Invitational at Tsalteshi Trails. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna’s Hannah Delker strides to an eighth-place finish Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, at the Tsalteshi Classic Invitational at Tsalteshi Trails. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna’s Hannah Delker strides to an eighth-place finish Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, at the Tsalteshi Classic Invitational at Tsalteshi Trails. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Central’s Grace Cushman tucks for a downhill Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, during the Tsalteshi Classic Invitational at Tsalteshi Trails. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Central’s Grace Cushman tucks for a downhill Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, during the Tsalteshi Classic Invitational at Tsalteshi Trails. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

More in Sports

Ninilchik's Kade McCorison moves to shoot over attempted blocks by Aniak's William and Troy Morgan during a basketball game at Ninilchik School in Ninilchik, Alaska, on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Ninilchik’s Kade McCorison, CIA’s Ian McGarry make all-state first teams

The Alaska Association of Basketball Coaches sent out its all-state basketball teams… Continue reading

Roope Tuomioksa of the Kenai River Brown Bears attacks Payton Nelson and goalie Nick Erickson of the Minnesota Wilderness on Saturday, March 23, 2024, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Saturday: Brown Bears finish sweep of Wilderness

The Kenai River Brown Bears completed a two-game sweep of the Minnesota… Continue reading

tease
Friday: Brown Bears win 2nd straight

The Kenai River Brown Bears defeated the Minnesota Wilderness 4-1 on Friday… Continue reading

tease
Friday: Seward boys fall to Barrow in 4th-place game

The Seward boys basketball team lost the fourth-place game 66-42 to Barrow… Continue reading

Me working in the Alaska House of Representatives on Tuesday, March 12, 2024 in Juneau, Alaska. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)
Out of the Office: Juneau

It was kind of happenstance that I spent the last month living… Continue reading

Greg Fallon, Kenai, receives his gold medal for his team’s 4x400m relay 2005 or later mix effort from Mat-Su Borough Mayor Edna DeVries. (J. David McChesney/Frontiersman)
Peninsula athletes compete, win at Arctic Winter Games

23 athletes from the Kenai Peninsula, representing Kenai, Soldotna, Nikiski, Sterling and Homer, brought home 31 Ulus

tease
Thursday: Seward boys hold off Houston to make 4th-place game

The Seward boys basketball team defeated Houston 51-43 on Thursday to advance… Continue reading

tease
Thursday: Sitka girls knock Homer from Class 3A state tourney

The Homer girls basketball team was eliminated from the Class 3A state… Continue reading

tease
Wednesday: Grace Christian defeats Seward in 1st round

The No. 3-seeded Grace Christian boys basketball team defeated No. 6 Seward… Continue reading

Most Read