Colby Carnival - EISA Regionals

Another carnival season in the books. We finished up this weekend with the Regional Championships at Sugarloaf. Messy weather made this a challenging weekend. Yesterday started off easily enough - dry snow and straightforward waxing in the lead-up to the men's race - but things got weird in a hurry. The sun came out, temps rose quickly, and suddenly we were climbing the ladder with warm hard waxes. Our guys kept coming back in need of more kick, so we eventually went nuclear and sent most of them out on VR7o, with a little 75 for some. Unfortunately, the snow on the high point of the course had stayed somewhat dry, so people ended up on stilts halfway through the lap and spent the rest of the lap double poling the downhills - a total mess. We weren't the only ones struggling - I heard some horror stories from other teams. As far as I know no one got it right - the top skiers all raced on Zeros, of which we had none. Fischer will be selling a lot of those to EISA kids next year. Although it was a tough day, the guys held it together for some decent finishes, with Colman leading in 37th.

Things stabilized a bit for the women - the tracks in most places were wet enough for klister, althougth the snow up top was still quasi-powder. We ended up with a very thin klister layer covered with a lot of hard wax. It worked out pretty well - sounded like we had some of the better skis out there. Erin was solid in 48th, with Olivia posting one of her better finishes in 51st. Grace looked great and skied with a lot of snap - one of her best races ever. Courtney felt and looked good, but for some reason, her result didn't reflect that - she finished 52nd. It's always frustrating when this happens, but she skied well - once you've done that there's nothing more you can control, and the results just are what they are.

Overall, the team skied well yesterday - the women were solid, and the men seemed to have the legs, just not the skis. We had great support from Tom and Matt, who drove up from campus to watch. They jumped into the mix when things got frantic before the men's race, helping us to get skis done on time - a messy situation would have been worse without their help (they were really on the ball when our tent blew away, too). So, a difficult day but not a bad one. In hindsight, I'm wishing I'd tried all sorts of clever combinations for the guys to see if any of the tricky stuff might have been the magic bullet, but unfortunately there's only a narrow window before a race where you can get your testing done and still have time to wax the skis. Maybe there was no magic bullet to be had - certainly no one else found one. This race seemed more like 2 races: a race for people with Zeros and a race for those without. That's tough to accept. I want a race to be decided by who skis the best, with the wax accounting for only a small portion of the difference between racers. I don't like days when the gap between those two factors gets narrow, but that's part of the sport. Now Zeros are one more piece of the wax puzzle - not just an oddity that a few lucky skiers have, but something you can't compete without on certain days. One more level of financial commitment, and one more factor separating two equal skiers on a messy wax day. Guess we'll all have to get them to make things equal again. Damn it.

But enough of that nonsense. We had another race today, and it was a good one. 15/20k mass start skate. It rained buckets last night, and we lost tons of snow. Coverage was still great, but apparently there was some trouble with the grooming equipment, because the course was icy with lots of bumps and ruts. The women were solid again - decent races across the board, with Courtney leading in 43rd. This was a tough race - a fast, icy, and uneven track is challenging for anyone, and I'm proud of how well our women were able to hold it together. I'm really happy for Grace - she had another good race, battling Ollie's sister Meri to the end. She's trained really well this year, and it's great to see that paying off at the end of the season.

The course softened up just a bit for the men, but things were still somewhat sketchy. We had a few crashes in the early going, most notably Niko: someone fell in front of him, his legs got taken out, and his head hit the snow - the hard, icy, sharp snow. He opened up a good gash above his eye, but this didn't stop him from skiing hard for the next 20k. Lots of people drop out of races for lesser reasons, but Niko's a hero. Two weekends in a row that he's the toughest man on the team.

Meanwhile, Walt and Spencer had gotten themselves in decent position in the middle of the pack. They kept picking people off and moving up, finally finishing with a surge over the last few kilometers to put themselves deep into the 20s: 22nd for Walt and 26th for Spencer. Great to have 2 guys in the top 30. If you'd told me at the beginning of the season that I'd be happy with a 22nd place finish by Walt at Regionals, I'd have laughed. But the season didn't go exactly as we planned, and this was a big positive step in what's been a long road back. Now he's ready to have some good races in March. Great day for Spencer, too - I can't wait to see what the future holds for him and the rest of this talented first-year class.

By the way, we had a great group of supporters at the race today - lots of Bowdoin folks drove up to cheer and help out. Shem, Nick, Wilson, and Elissa did feeds and poles, which was huge. Great parent turnout as well (so nice to race in Maine) - we were well fed all all weekend. Special thanks to Courtney's family, who hosted half the team in their condo at Sugarloaf - it was wonderful to stay in a home instead of a hotel! Thanks to all of our parents and supporters who took care of us this season - it's been a good one, thanks in large part to you.

So, that's that. Another carnival season done. Soon enough we'll reflect on the season and figure out what's next, but for now there's still plenty of skiing and racing to be done. Rangeley Loppet this weekend, and then a lot of good race opportunities over Spring Break. I'll keep the updates coming.

Middlebury Carnival & NH Eastern Cups

Middlebury Carnival - good times. Probably the most fun I've had at any carnival this year, and certainly the best overall skiing by our team. Rikert got snow just in time, and we had beautiful skiing for both races. Colman led the men with a 37th in the 10k mass start classic - Scott, Niko, and Nat had a 4-way sprint finish with a UNH skier, finishing 45-47 in that order - a great effort by all 3 and a PR for Nat. Erin had the best race of the weekend with a PR of 41st - she started cautiously and passed a ton of people in the second half of the race. Courtney was tired and a bit under the weather this weekend, but still managed to move up throughout the race to finish 45th. Grace also had perhaps her best race of the season - a good day.

Yesterday's 3x5 skate relay saw blue skies and sun - perfect. Olivia led off with a great effort, pulling away from St. Mike's and the SLU second team just before the tag. Erin dueled with the SLU skier for the better part of 5k before opening up a gap - their 3rd skier put in a fast leg to pull ahead of Courtney, but we were in it - a good solid day. On the second team, Elissa and Maren both felt decent - good sign for next weekend. Colman scrambled for the men's first team and came in right in the middle of things, posting a great split on the longest of the 3 legs. Scott and Nat went back and forth with the UVM and Colby second teams, ultimately beating Colby and finishing just behind UVM. Our second team was a bit short - Spencer ended up sick after the classic race - so Niko pulled off a heroic double, racing the 1st and 3rd legs and looking as good as I've ever seen him in a skate race. Chris toughed it out in the 2nd leg, and they ended up not too far behind the Colby second team. Overall, a fun weekend with some very encouraging signs - lots of people feeling good and moving forward. I'm excited for Regionals at Sugarloaf - we just need to get some rest! Lots of people are feeling the effects of several weeks of school, racing, and travel - hopefully we can hang in there for a few more days to cash in on the peak that's coming.

The ECT raced in New Hampshire as well - the Silver Fox Trot in Hanover and the Gunstock Eastern Cup in Gilford. I haven't gotten a full race report yet, but the results look solid - they held their own against the other college skiers at the races. Sounds like the waxing was a bit tricky - warm temps and falling snow - but they pulled it off with some help from Ollie, who also did the race himself, and Elissa, who volunteered to stick around after the carnival to provide race support. Thanks to the Cooks for hosting the team again - this trip would have been hard to pull off without your support!

Flying Moose et al

We had several people racing outside of the carnival circuit this weekend. The Eastern Cup Team raced in the Close to the Coast 10k skate at Pineland - Tom led the team in 3rd, with Shem and Woody not far behind. On Sunday, the group split up - half the team headed to Gunstock for the Paintball Biathlon and the other half went up to Bethel for the Flying Moose 20k Classic. No results available for the biathlon, but Tom was again our first finisher amidst a sea of UNH skiers. Word is that Matt dominated the early stages of shooting before losing his mojo. In the Flying Moose, Colman decided to go for a rare triple-race weekend - an unorthodox approach to recovery, to be sure, but to each his own. It worked out OK - he ended up in 3rd behind Colby assistant Ryan Kelly and a fast master skier. Ollie broke a pole but hung in for 8th, with Shem close behind in 13th and Nick 19th. This weekend the ECT will be racing a pair of NH Eastern Cups, fittingly. This group is just starting to hit its stride, so I'm looking forward to see what they can do against what should be a large and very competitive field.

Dartmouth Photos

Here are a few photos from Andy Shepard - these are from the men's skate race on Saturday. Check out the rest of his gallery here.

Colman

Spencer

Walt

Dartmouth Skate

Today was a gorgeous day for a race: blue skies and sun, no wind, fast snow - perfect. The team responded with our best race of the year. Spencer provided the day's highlight with a 30th place finish, our best of the year. He got himself in good position out of the start in spite of a high seed, and moved up throughout the race. It was exciting to see him battling with so many good skiers and looking like he belonged there. He was in the 20s for a while before a couple crashes dropped him back, but he hung in there and finished with a strong sprint to lock up an NCAA qualifying point. To my knowledge, only 3 other Bowdoin first-years have ever scored NCAA points: Walt and Elissa in 2007 and Ed Hunter in 2005. The rest of the team was solid. Colman and Walt finished 34th and 36th - nice to have our top 3 guys in the 30s. Nat and Niko had good days as well, although between the two of them they broke two poles and lost a basket on a third.

On the women's side, Courtney was 45th, Erin 50th, and Olivia 52nd. Erin and Olivia were both really happy with their races - they felt great on the climbs, and would have been several places higher if they hadn't crashed a couple times each (we struggled on the downhills again today). Maren's still recovering from a cold, but she showed good fire by chasing down another skier in the last couple kilometers. The little victories matter. Overall, I'm encouraged to have so many people feeling good today - I think we're starting to come into form at the right time. These next couple weekends should be fun.

We had great support again this weekend. Thanks to the many parents who helped feed the team (those groovy cranberry/Cheerio things from the Askins family really hit the spot). Thanks also to Jeremy Huckins '05 for showing up to cheer and help with wax testing yesterday. I'm sure there are some great photos out there - please pass them along if you have any!

Dartmouth Classic

Dartmouth 5/10k classic today. Coarse, frozen snow - nice and fast. We klistered up and took our best shot. No breakthroughs today, but a good effort all around. Courtney and Erin put up decent results in spite of crashes, and Olivia was solid as usual. Nat and Niko had the best races on the men's side - Niko crashed twice and still had one of his better races of the season. Scott took the prize, though - he ended up in the woods about 20 seconds after he started. Any time your skis are above your head, your race is in jeopardy. He had to take off a ski and a pole to get back upright. I have to say that I'm a bit concerned with the number of crashes we've put up this year - this is getting rather silly. Next year we're going to devote a ridiculous amount of time to downhill skills. But I'm proud of everyone for getting up and racing hard in spite of misfortune. Decent day overall. Tomorrow's a mass start 10/15k skate on one of the toughest, most technical courses around. It's going to be great.

Pat Cushman Sprints

Ollie took a group down to Portland yesterday for the Pat Cushman Memorial Sprint Race at Deering Oaks. This event is held in memory of Pat Cushman, a pillar of the Portland ski community who passed away last winter. By all accounts it was a great event. Deering Oaks is in downtown Portland, and the races were held in the late afternoon and evening - a cool atmosphere for a ski race. Ollie won the prelim, but graciously stepped aside so that Jeff could advance to the finals (there was only one heat), along with Tom and Dan. Tom battled with 2 Bates skiers at the front of the pack before slingshotting ahead to take the win. Dan was close behind the lead group in 4th, with Jeff taking 7th. The guys had a great time - I'm looking forward to making this event a regular part of our winter in the future.

Tonight we're in Hanover. Things are a bit slushy here, but there's plenty of snow for a good clean course tomorrow. Temps are supposed to get nice and cold tonight - should be a great day.

Detours

Sunday's trip home from Stowe got a bit interesting for 2 of our 4 vans. Here's a map by Spencer illustrating the various detours:
As you can see, one van went north instead of south on 89, finally realizing their error as they approached the Canadian border. They then made it home with only a minor mishap in Lebanon as they mistook 91 for 93 - could've happened to anyone. Credit for the excursion to Massachusetts belongs to an unnamed coach. Only coaches not graduating from Harvard and members of Coach Slovenski's Van Driver Hall of Fame made it home unscathed.

Good training this week in spite of a mini-thaw across New England. Yesterday was perfect purple klister conditions - my favorite. Let's hope that Oak Hill looks like this on Friday...

UVM/SuperTour Classic

Yesterday's classic race was an adventure. We had warm temps and a bit of rain overnight - by morning the snow was wet and transformed - pretty straightforward klister conditions. Ollie, Wilson and I were up at the venue early, and we had the wax dialed in pretty quickly. Right about then the weather got biblical - snow/sleet, huge gusts of wind, and even some thunder in the distance. Pretty soon, klister was too much but hard wax wasn't enough - everyone's favorite conditions. We finally broke down and tested hairies at Wilson's suggestion - they were working great, so we made the call and put them on the women's skis, with much help from Matt and Elissa. As the race got underway, the temps started to drop, the wind kept up, and the snow dried out - trouble. Predictably, the skis weren't so great, and the women did a lot of running up the hills. Amazingly, we still ended up with some of our best results of the season - Courtney scored a huge PR in 32nd, with Erin 44th and Olivia 49th. It wasn't exactly a satisfying day, but there was a lot to be proud of - everyone was struggling with the wax, and our skiers held it together as well as anyone.

Things settled down a bit for the men, but the conditions were still variable all over the course: windblown powder, slush, glazed tracks gradually turning to ice - a mess. We ended up with klister covered - not an easy application, but fortunately Nick's sister Kate (a former all-American for UVM) had volunteered to help, and we were able to get everyone's skis waxed on time. Things worked out OK - Spencer and Nat had carnival PRs (34th and 49th), and Scott tied yesterday's PR of 35th. The race of the day belonged to Shem, though - he skied smoothly, caught rides off faster skiers, and looked great throughout the race. He's been working hard and making big technique gains this season, but until yesterday he hadn't put it all together. Overall, the team showed some toughness on a brutal day, and I'm pretty happy about that.

A lot of people took good care of our team this weekend. Lots of parents and siblings were on hand to cheer and take photos. Kathy Bishop (Jeff's mom) set out a huge spread for the team on Saturday, and the Shepards brought their usual tasty lentil and chicken apple sausage soup (the Shepards and this soup are responsible for 100% of my meat consumption in the last 6 months). Wilson was a tireless test pilot and wax tech, and his hairies skills were stellar. Matt and Elissa were also indispensable at the wax table. Lastly, special thanks to Kate Crawford for volunteering to get her hands covered with klister when she could have been relaxing and enjoying a great day of racing. Thanks to all of you for helping us survive a very challenging weekend.

Here are a few photos by Andy Shepard from the men's races - more online here. We had tons of other folks taking pictures out there, so I'll post some of those when I get them.

Spencer getting nice and tall.

Tom Cook had a solid weekend with two good races.

Walt chasing Sylvan Ellefson around a turn.

Niko showing no signs that he spent the fall in the rollerski-free zone of Copenhagen.

UVM/SuperTour Skate

Decent day at Trapps today - 5/10k skate. The carnival is being held as part of a SuperTour & Eastern Cup race, so there was a huge crowd and tons of fast skiers. Our group held its own - carnival PRs for Erin (44th), Olivia (49th), Scott (35th) and Nat (52nd), with Colman tying his best of 32nd. Lots of others had solid races as well - Tom was right in the mix, and Woody looked nice and smooth in what was clearly his best race of the season. Overall, a good start to February. We'll be looking to keep moving up in tomorrow's classic race. Interesting weather forecast - temps right around freezing with snow and high winds. Should be fun.
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