Jay Richards

Last week Jonell and I celebrated 18 years of marriage. They have all been great and keep getting better. The actual day we maybe saw each other a couple hours with ski camp, home hockey tourney among other things keeping us on the go. But, earlier in the week we did get away for a overnight date which was a nice break before cranking up big time at the resort.


Getting to that time of year the days are blending together. Starting at 4 or 5 in the morning and ending at 11 or 12 at night. December seems like it has been a long month but has gone by quick if that makes sense.

All three sno mos back in action. Have put almost 1000 miles on the three sleds combined. Last year at this time we were just getting ready to pack out the first significant snowfall of the year. Has been an awesome winter so far in the Midwest.


Last weekend we had the second high school camp. Skinnyskiers Ben Popp and John Munger coming to help out. Munger the driving force behind the City of Lakes Loppet, doing a fantastic job promoting Nordic and Benn working with Sisu skiers and super enthusiastic and positive all the time.
Steve Gromatka back at Maplelag to help out with camps and spending his winter break doing the ski pro thing and skiing with Jake. Showing off the new Maplelag ski suits. Even got him to do the hockey dad thing the other night. Said he was in good form hollering at Jens. Steve is a great asset to the Maplelag team, always waving the flag proud.
Dave, Josie and Karl Nelson. Honestly the nicest people I have ever met. Dave is one of the top classic skiers in the country and does a great job teaching kids the pureness of Nord. Josie represents the "Just Ski" idea like no one else. Whether there is 2 inches or 2 feet, as long as the skis are gliding, its good. The energy and vibe is amazing. When they weren't out on solo runs, they were skiing with Karl, strapped on the back logging big k's. Brought back memories of skiing with Jake in Glacier carving up the slopes in knee deep powder and getting buried.
Jon's team had their home tourney to add to the hustle bustle. The team got to the championship game and took the win over Proctor. Always nice to win the home tourney and think it has been a few years it has happened at the youth level in DL.

Jake race his second weekend of Jr Olympic Qualifying races. (Ben Dubay photo) He was going to go over with Ellefsons but they got sick so he ended up driving solo. We were all very proud of him driving solo 7 hours each way, right around 400 miles. He stayed with fellow Maplelag mtb teamer Casey Hildenbrandt which was nice instead of holing up in a hotel. The races were sprint and both days he just missed moving to the next round by inches. His skate quarterfinal ended up having 2 of the top 3 racers at the end of the day, giving the Jake the confidence he can ski with any of those guys. Like the mtb season, the training is geared for peaking later in the season. Knowing Jake, I told Jake if I were the top guys, I would be scared.
Jack's skiing goal this year is to ski every trail at least once. He is starting to cross off the list. Today we skied Bullhead together under pretty much perfect conditions. Fun outing.
I have been keeping the barrel stove in the warming house going daily the last three weeks. The ice rink is seeing lots of action keeping the skaters warm on the chilly days and a good place to swing in and warm up when grooming. Some times the temp has to be around 100 degrees in there. Nothing like wood heat. A snowman wouldn't last long! I need to find a old cushy swivel recliner like the old school warming houses so I can sit in there and maybe catch a cat nap. It is absolutely dead silent in there and possibly one of my favorite places at the resort.

Merry Christmas everyone!