MvW Underway

With several inches of snow falling yesterday, the roads were messy enough that we decided to minimize driving by training at Mt. Ararat. Mt. Ararat HS coach Ed Mendes grooms a nice little set of trails around the fields and through the woods behind the school, including a pretty decent hill. We started off with a sprint relay, the first of the Maine vs. World events. World pulled off a comeback win in a race filled with crashes. More crashes were in store in our next MvW event - we combined hill repeats with a series of downhill races. Maine evened the score thanks to a heroic effort by the Eusdens and Grace's upset win over previously undefeated Kaitlynn. Many impressive body prints were left in the trailside powder, mine included - one of my best crashes in a while, thanks to a slow-witted Alaskan standing in the middle of the turn. Overall, not a bad workout for a sloppy conditions day, and it was fun to check out a new training venue.

Today we started things off with Round 3 of MvW - the baking/dessert contest. The judging proved to be absolutely painful, as both entries were fantastic. Maine's truffles were technically dazzling and near professional quality, but World's apple tart had that down-homey quality that has made America what it is today (ie, really overweight). 3-2, World - could have just as easily gone the other way.

With our blood sugar running high, we headed to Pineland for some sprints. More sloppy skiing due to yesterday's snow and the classic coastal Maine "wintery mix," but we managed another productive workout. First, Maine narrowly edged World in the agility course relay to even things up at 3-3. Next, we combined our sprints with more downhill work, racing in small groups around the hairpin turn just off the teaching field. More spectacular crashes - I think Rainer and Sanville were having some sort of contest to see who could auger in most deeply. Toward the end of the session, Riley pulled of this impressive maneuver:

Fortunately, everyone survived, and I think they even sharpened their turning skills. I was actually pretty pleased with how things came around. I've heard that this weekend's course at Bond Brook has some nice technical turns - looking forward to seeing how our skiers handle them!