Updates for USA Skiers:
MWC2012 in Oberwiesenthal, Germany
USEFUL LINKS
AXCS Phone: 541-317-0217 Email: axcs at xcskiworld dot com
Diana Lynn Rau (The Travel Society), 970.887.3095 or toll-free 866.759.6867 or email Dianalrau@cs.com.
Rathaus Hotel Facebook: Some photo updates, requires German to read most posts.
Webcam views from the alpine hill above the village.
Weather Underground forecast for area.
Weather.com forecast for area.
AccuWeather forecast for area.
TEAM USA TRIP REPORTS
December 27 Pre-Trip Venue/Course "Preview"
(submitted by AXCS National Director J.D. Downing) -- Following the World Masters Association meetings in September 2010, the MWC2012 race courses were substantially revised. So much so that I am having to rely more on a combination of the course profiles and my memory of the general area than many other years.
The race venue sits right on top of a ridge that extends W/SW from the Fichtelhorn alpine area "summit" immediately above Oberwiesenthal. I've walked the entire ridge from the alpine summit lodge to the race venue so the emphasis on "summit" reflects it's not much of a height or distance difference. The views, however, from near the race venue are quite nice looking north and NW into Germany with the Czech border ridge immediately to the S and SE on the opposite side.
Given the ridge top location, I do anticipate that on windy days we will be most exposed at the stadium areas and less so on the race courses. So it'll be a little tricky deciding what to wear and wind could also influence wax selection a bit in ways we don't intend.
The MWC2012 stadium will actually use the parking lot for the race venue for all race starts. Race finishes will be in the regular stadium. The difference came about because of concerns within the WMA that the race starts would be too crowded for the biggest MWC classes especially given the original plan for courses to dive down a fairly large hill less than 200m from the start line.
There are a collection of small wax cabins near the permanent stadium and I believe Team USA will either have a cabin of our own or we'd share with another English-speaking nation (AUS, CAN, UK). There are other permanent indoor areas plus there will be large tent spaces as per the usual at the MWC. We will have exactly one Team USA parking pass and it may be possible to have that used where we have rental cars within the group. Other than official national passes, there will be no parking at the stadium given the parking lot will be mostly covered with snow. So most of our contingent will need to take the organizer shuttles (5-15mins one way, I'll explain the discrepancy once we are there).
Race Courses
Please view the "tracks" pdf files available at this MWC2012.com page.
The pdf files show off satellite shots of the course layouts and (now) include profiles. The most important courses to look at are the 5km, 10km and 15km depending on your age. All 30km courses will run 2 x 15km and 45km courses will run 3 x 15km. For the eldest classes you are looping the 5km as much as needed to hit your distances.
You can see on the profiles that all 10-45km courses will feature a net drop in the early km's followed by a very healthy climb (see more below) and then a long stretch of gradual/rolling terrain to the finish. The 15k loops will have a spur 5km (appearing as the left "wing" that will be more gradual/rolling/flatter terrain before you hit the course low point and begin the big climb. Where my preview did not allow me to do was know for certain how the far points of these courses flow. Everything near the stadium has a "soft" hillside layout such that it will flow almost like a rolling pasture even though you'll be in and out of thinned conifer forests instead of grassy knolls. Using some good guesses, I do not believe that the courses will actually ski as basic as the profiles might suggest in some sections. There will be some stretches of very gentle terrain, but overall I think we'll find things rolling quite a bit even if it looks dead flat on the profile. But this is a guess since so much was changed.
In the early going I'd say that the profiles are probably fairly accurate showing a pretty big net drop around 2km (10km/15km courses) after a gentle start. These races will likely start quite hard especially in bigger classes or when top guns are trying to break things open right off the start. I saw no downhills on the original course design that were worrisome with high speed corners and it is likely that the new courses are even more user-friendly. But you will still need to prepare for a fast opening 3-6km.
Even with the fast start, you'll need to be conservative with energy expenditure given the 80m max climb that appears on both the 10km and 15km after you get to the low point of the 10km/15km courses. As reference, the max climbs in Silver Star were in the 25-40m range and the one big grade in McCall was 30m. So this 80m max is a true monster by comparison. Unfortunately the WMA Directors did not get to preview that part of the course in Fall 2010. But on input from other nations it skis very much like a long roadway climb.
What the profiles also hide is that the area immediately around the stadium(s) drops to the N/NW and thus I would anticipate some more climbing stretches in the late going than the profiles suggest. The final kilometers will not exactly be hard, but I do not believe we will find them easy either. Skiers will be rewarded when you can find a strong pace that allows you to build up to the red line just prior to the finish -- rather than a plan that has you trying to hold on in the final stretch. I can see these courses skiing similar to the 10km in Silver Star which similarly rewarded smart pacing and strong final third skiing.
In training I would suggest trying to simulate interval and tempo/pace workouts that have you doing "overspeed" work early on flatter/downhill terrain, then a hard middle with lots of uphill, followed by a final stretch of rolling terrain with a net uphill flow. This type of terrain modeling should be possible in most home locations for our current USA roster even if you can't simulate a full 80m net uphill. Just make that middle portion as hard as you can.
December 7 Pre-Trip Prep Resource
The Pre-Trip MWC Resource has been a staple for USA skiers going to European MWC events for the past nine years. If you see something J.D. should add or update -- please email <
