John Estle (left), 1984 Chief of Competition, FIS World Cup Races, Birch Hill, Fairbanks

There are a series of distance national championship Nordic ski races taking place in Fairbanks this week as part of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association’s Super Tour finals. The Chief of Competition is John Estle. Above you can see a picture of John fulfilling the same role in the World Cup races held here more than 30 years ago. It isn’t overstating things to say John is something of a legend in the Nordic Ski community. He has been inducted into the University of Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks Hall of Fame and he also served as the Cross Country Head Coach of the US Ski Team from 1990-93. His views on skiing and training are still sought after, and I began this episode by asking John what Fairbanks and the Nanooks were like when he began as a coach in 1982.