15k/10k Mass Start Skate -- Pictures by Kathryn For those first 2k, Rich was totally smoking! Chris, Ash (Clarkson) and Dave (Clarkson) take time out from the mass start to have a silly-face contest. Chris won. Damn, that's a lot of asses. One of our zero-training heroes (along with Craig) rounds a corner... Mr. Intensity strikes again. Another hill, another chance to V1 right-dominant. Stop drafting me, you one-basket freak! Nothing like some extremely viscous PowerGel for breakfast. Liz and Leona lead Lexi and Linnea in the low light! The front of the girls pack... ...and the back :) "Well... on the upside, I could stab Lexi to death with my pole now." 1k Sprint -- Pictures by Danny & Kathryn Technique: check Fast Skis: check Yellow Lenses: check Fast-twitch muscles: Damn. Craig almost* made the sprint finals, until a freak timing error** screwed him over. *: missed by 25 places **: poor fitness and technique "Damn, my form looks a lot better qualifying." - Colin No one wanted to wear a name tag during the sprints, but... (This picture is very deceptive...Skiers on the left are not leading the skiers on the right, despite how it looks.) Ian and Colin toying around with Toby(in 1st, from Skidmore) and Ryan (2nd, Clarkson) before smoking them. Yeah, right. Ryan "Division I" Kelly wins by enough to slide in backwards, but Toby, Colin, Ian and Mike aren't watching anyway. Ian shows his mastery of "landing on the outside edge" en route to 4th place. Mmm.. photoshopping people's names onto photos is strangely fun. Mara makes a second attempt at conquering asthma for the day, while Linnea "drafts" at the back. Leona maintains the status quo... barely. Trying to sprint without V2 is like skiing classic in a skate race... Asthma has been defeated! Just don't ask for a 10k. If you're warming up, do not jokingly pose for Danny, or this might happen. 10k/7.5k Classic -- Pictures by Linnea & Colin Well...at least someone had kick! Heh, heh...wax monkey. It will take more than a few trees to hide a red suit and neon hat. Two teams, five heads, zero idea what klister is going to work. Steve Lanni is one funny dude. VERMONSTER! -- Pictures by Danny Banding together to leave the hotel on time in the morning: impossible Banding together to eat 30 scoops of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream: easy In something vaguely resembling a twisted pledge event, Ian is forced to eat the last scoop with his bare hands.