All the races this weekend are being held on a 5km loop at Galena, sat=5/10km classic, sun=15/30km skate mass start. Here's my analysis of the race course for the classic race.

The course breaks down more or less like this: 1km up, 1km down, 1km up, 1km down, 1km flat(ish). Because of all the downhills it skis really quickly and feels like a short 5km. I think that the crucial skill for this course is going to be the ability to decide which is faster for you: between striding and kick double poling or between double poling and tucking. There are many sections where it isn't clear which technique you should use. In fact, depending on how strong the racer is, how fast they are going, and how fast the skis are running, two racers could ski this course to the best of their ability and ski it using different techniques in many places.

The uphills are almost gradual enough to kick double pole (I think I would still stride most of them) and it will behoove the racers tomorrow to pay very close attention to where the hill flattens out slightly and they can get in a few effective kick double poles. On the other hand, you don't want to get bogged down kick double poling when you should be striding. The downhills also are on the verge of tucking or double poling. I tend to err on the side of too much tucking. I think for a lot of the downhills, the wind resistance from opening yourself up to double pole will negate the acceleration from poling, or at least make the gains not worth the energy expenditure, which would be more valuably spent on an uphill.

The basic determining factor will be fitness and technique, but there's not much a racer can do to improve those two things the night before the race. I only know all of this because I'm not racing tomorrow-- if I had to race it, I'd be a lot less sure in my analysis!