Dear Journalists:

Welcome to the 2010 Conoco Phillips U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships in Anchorage! Hundreds of America’s best skiers will be here for four races, including many Olympic hopefuls. The results in this week of racing will help determine America’s Olympic team, as well as our national champions, members of other international competitive teams and – for college skiers – will count toward qualifying for NCAA championships in March.

Your media credentials provide you with access to most places at Kincaid Park. The most action will be near the start and finish lines in the Kincaid Stadium. There are designated areas for crossing the race course, and race volunteers will allow you to cross when it is safe to do so. Elsewhere on the race course, you may find excellent vantage points for photography or viewing the racers; make sure you are behind any flagging or otherwise well off the race course during competition.

A warm up tent will be in place near the start-finish line and the timing building. That is often a good place to interview racers after competition. Top finishers will be escorted from that area to a drug testing room in the Kincaid Chalet. You can interview athletes on the walk up to the Chalet, but the drug testing area is off-limits to all but athletes and race medical personnel.
The Kincaid Chalet is generally the main gathering area for athletes before and after races. There is also food available for purchase, bathrooms and race information (start lists, course maps, etc.) Photography and interview are fine to do inside or outside the Chalet. Cell phone reception is hit-and-miss.

We will have a media area set up on the second floor of the Chalet. We will have copies of start lists and course maps, and can help find race officials for interviews. We can also issue a media credential if you arrive without one. Sometimes we have a good idea of where to find particular athletes, but other times you’ll be on your own. If you have particular people you want to interview (sponsors, coaches, race organizers, etc.) let us know in advance and we’ll help you make the connection.

In the Chalet parking lot, several teams will have trailers set up for waxing and equipment storage. These are not public areas, so check with coaches on whether or not they want media in these facilities.

We plan to post public domain photos of races on the event website, http://www.anchoragenordicski.com/nationals10/index.html
News releases, credential applications and other race information is available at http://www.anchoragenordicski.com/nationals10/press.htm