Colby, Dartmouth, and UMF

 Three carnivals down, three to go - season is going fast. Here's a quick recap:

The Colby Carnival brought some cold weather - for a minute it looked like the races might be canceled, but we ended up with cold but not extreme temps. Day 1 was a 20k mass start skate - we weren't super sharp after a week off from racing for most people, but we managed some good performances. Beckett (22), Will (23) and Ollie (28) led the men, with Henri (35) and Ian (37) scoring impressive personal bests and Eli finishing 40th - this gave the men 6 skiers in the top 40, checking the box for one of the team outcome goals they'd set in the fall. Michael also produced an inspiring race - he crashed and broke a pole about 3k into the race, and then, while skiing with one pole, went way off trail into the powder. His ski came off and it took him forever to right himself, at which point he was pretty close to last. Nonetheless, he stayed with it and chipped away, passing dozens of people to finish a respectable 58th. Great races don't always show up on the results sheet, but we need to recognize them even when they're hidden. On the women's side, Emma had a mishap of her own, with a fall right off the line in the mass start. She was able to catch back up to the leaders, but the effort cost her - after several laps in the lead pack she fell off the pace and settled for 6th. Mirra had a breakout day in 21st, with Jori close behind in 25th. Kira scored her first top 30 of the season, and Francie posted a big PR with her first-ever top 40 finish in 39th. That night we had a lovely team dinner at Leslie's house courtesy of Megan and Andy Scott - always so nice to get off campus for dinner to give us that carnival feeling even when we're staying at home! Day 2 was a 7.5k classic - it was a fast race, with super close times. Beckett continued his impressive start, finishing 17th on his home course. Will (23), Lars (27), Ollie (28) and Sawyer (31) were all just seconds from the top 20. Emma led the women in 7th despite a wrong turn in the lap/finish area that cost her a lot of time - like Michael, she showed great resilience and kept pushing hard, moving up from 23rd to 12th to 7th. Jori found a little extra spring in her step, finishing 12th, and Ruth scored an impressive 20th to close out a great weekend for our first years.

The Dartmouth Carnival was our first in-semester road trip - racing from class to van for a long drive on Thursday evening always takes some adjustment. This was another cold weekend - the East seems to be in a bit of an deep freeze these last couple weeks, which has allowed us to keep all the lovely snow we've gotten. Once again, we were a bit flat on Day 1 for the 7.5k classic - got to figure out how to fix that! Emma (8), Jori (27) and Gillian (30) all put up top 30 finishes for the women. We were a bit shorthanded on the men's side due to illness, so we had a small crew. Sawyer stepped up with his first-ever top 30, finishing 30th on his home course, with Lars (35), Ollie (39) and Henri (40) close behind. We rallied for a strong 15k skate the next day. Emma skied with the lead pack the whole race, surging up the final hill to a 3rd place finish - great to have her back on the podium! Keira had a great race, scoring a PR in 21st, with Ruth finishing a strong 23rd. Francie continued her great season with another top 40 finish. For the men, Ollie finally broke the top 20 after a series of solid races, finishing 19th. Henri chased the top 30 right to the end, finishing 34th, and Michael bounced back from illness to score a big PR in 38th. This day felt like a nice step forward - hopefully something we can build on as we head into the second half of the season.

After Dartmouth had wrapped up, we had a small crew head up to Titcomb for the UMF Invitational 10k classic. This was a USCSA event, with several smaller clubs and teams from around the East participating. It was a nice opportunity to check out another side of collegiate racing, one that we don't get to overlap with often - super fun to race with a bunch of new teams! Natalie's prep for the women's race was a bit rushed due to an earlier than expected start time, but she handled it like a champ. Once the gun went off, she eased away from the field with a powerful double pole and ended up with a dominating victory. The men were second, so they had a little more time to get themselves situated before the start. Ian battled with a Clarkson skier the whole way, finally breaking away for a narrow win - his first time ever on a ski race podium! After getting caught up in a crowd at the start, Caleb gave a game chase but wasn't able to make contact; he was able to ski away from the rest of the field, however, and ended up 3rd. Overall, a great day and a really nice change of pace. Many thanks to Henri for helping with wax testing and troubleshooting at the start!

Next up is the UVM Carnival in Craftsbury - always a fun venue in a beautiful spot. Looking forward to seeing what we can do in our first sprint race in a while!

US Nationals & Roy Varney Eastern Cup

Ok, 2026 has been a lot so far. We started off in Lake Placid for US Nationals - four races in six days. After a couple days of travel, course preview, and testing, we jumped into the races with a 10k classic. Emma picked up where she left off last year, finishing on the EISA podium in 2nd (11th overall). Gillian posted a career-best 12th, with Ruth starting her college career strong in 23rd. Keira, Kira, and Jori were all just outside the top 30. Will led the men in 22nd - he was on pace for a top 10 finish when a broken pole strap cost him several spots in a very closely contested race. Ollie earned his first-ever top 30 finish in 25th, and Beckett (32nd) and Henri (43rd) kept up the first-year momentum with solid races.

Next up was the skate sprint. Beckett broke into the top 30 in 29th, with Eli (33rd) and Ollie (38th) close behind. Emma finished 9th and Ruth continued her hot start in 11th, with Keira rounding out the scoring in 27th. Although we didn't have anyone qualify for the open heats, the youngsters provided some excitement in the junior heats. Ruth stormed through the first two rounds, winning decisively, before settling for a close 3rd in the final. Keira finished 5th in her heat, improving her 27th seed to 25th. Ollie barely sneaked into the heats as the 30th seed, but he skied a smart quarterfinal - he waited patiently at the back of the group before moving up to 2nd on the final climb with a powerful V2 and then outsprinting everyone in the finishing stretch to take the heat win. He used the same tactics in the semifinal and put himself in great position but couldn't quite get past enough people at the finish, finishing 4th in the heat and just missing a lucky loser spot. He ended the day in 8th for the junior heats. Beckett used the same strategy as Ollie and was in great position around the final turn, but a missed pole plant cost him just enough momentum to leave him in 3rd; his final place was 15th after qualifying in 23rd. Overall, a fantastic showing by our juniors - the Bowdoin Nordic sprint future looks bright! The sprint race concluded the St. Lawrence Carnival component of Nationals - as a team, we finished 6th in the nordic scoring. Not a bad start to our carnival season, especially considering that we're rarely at our best in early January. We celebrated that evening with a get-together with some alumni who were in town as either racers or coaches: Jake Adicoff '18 (racing with Sun Valley), Rachel Zafren '18 (coaching at Dartmouth), Lily Johnston '20 (coaching with BSF), Renae Anderson '21 (racing with APU), and Morgan Richter '24 (racing with Team Birkie). We also got to see Aggie Macy '24 a few times during the week. Such a pleasure to catch up with these great people and introduce them to the next generation of Bowdoin Nordic!

After a day off, we were back at it with the 20k skate for big kids and the 10k skate for juniors. In the 20k, Jori led the women in 56th and Will was our top man 46th. Michael lost a pole early in the race and was pretty far back, but he stayed calm and skied an exceptional race, moving up to 86th by the finish. The rest of the men had excellent races as well - Sawyer 96th, Caleb 98th, Lars 107th, and Eli 113th. They were very competitive in the EISA field - with several long skate races on the schedule, this bodes well for our season. In the junior races, Gillian finished 13th and Ruth 20th for women. Ollie (44th) and Beckett (55th) raced in the men's A flight, with Henri (6th) and Ian (28th) posting strong times in the men's B flight. That night, we enjoyed a fantastic taco dinner courtesy of Brenda Hedges, one of many parents who provided a ton of support for our team all week.

By the time we got to the classic sprint, we were all pretty tired, and we had a smaller crew racing. The conditions were tricky, with untransformed snow rapidly warming and rain threatening - fortunately, another superstar alum, Noah Eckstein '21, stopped by to help with waxing and helped us get competitive skis. Emma (31st) and Jori (49th) were our top women's finishers, and Eli (132nd) and Will (140th) for men. That was enough racing for us - time to pack up and go home for some rest and training. Overall, a fun week and a great way to get sharp for the season. Many thanks to the army of parents who showed up to support our team - the Nationals experience wouldn't have been the same without you! Thanks also to Ethan - our hard-working student assistant coach really proved his worth on this trip, with exceptional work on testing and application.

After a few days of recovery, training, and Maine vs World challenges, we took a small crew up to Quarry Road for the Roy Varney Memorial Eastern Cup. After an intense week in Lake Placid, it was so nice to get back to one of our favorite venues for a relatively low-stress event (at least for us). Beckett (9th), Henri (15th), Lars (20th), Francie (17th), and Natalie (37th) shook off the Nationals fatigue to post solid races in the 7.5k skate. The next day was a 10k classic mass start. Henri was our only men's racer - he skied in the lead pack the whole way and ended up 4th, just five seconds from the win. As the 3rd place junior, he took home a lovely piece of cheese. The women's race broke up more quickly, but Francie kept herself within sight of the podium, showing some of her best skiing ever to finish 5th. Natalie continued her post-abroad journey with another strong step forward, finishing 21st. Once again, Ethan did a fantastic job of testing to help us get good skis all weekend.

After all this excitement, it was time to get back to reality and start the semester. We've got great snow at Pineland for training, and with a few days of classes under our belts we're looking forward to another trip to Quarry Road for the Colby Carnival. Stay tuned for more updates!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Bowdoin Nordic! We're back at it - got the band back together in Lake Placid, and we're fired up to race US Nationals these next few days. The first two races (10k classic and skate sprint) also double as the St. Lawrence Carnival, so we're jumping right into our season. We've got Natalie and Mirra back from their semesters abroad (Chile and Iceland, respectively), so this is the first time we've had the 2025-26 version of Bowdoin Nordic all in one place - stronger together! Natalie prepped for carnival season with a 25k trail race in Patagonia and the fabled AMH Cup Relay. Meanwhile, Mirra was back up to her old tricks, qualifying to represent the US for the third year in a row at the biathlon Junior World Championships! Trials results here. We've also got some alumni in town - Jake Adicoff '18, Renae Anderson '21, and Morgan Richter '24 are all racing this week, and Rachel Zafren '18 and Lily Johnston '20 are here as coaches. Plus we had Adam Carlisle '25 drop by for a visit this evening - all kinds of old friends around Lake Placid. It's going to be a great week, and we can't wait to get started. Here's a link to the livestream for tomorrow's race. Live timing and results at Bullitt Timing as usual.

Thanksgiving Camp 2025 & Pre-Season Racing

Amazing Thanksgiving Camp this year - Foret Montmorency came through with tons of snow! We drove up on a beautiful Sunday morning, enjoying the diverse musical offerings of this year's team playlist, and jumped right into the action with a nice long skate ski that afternoon with half the population of Quebec City - so great to see the Foret trails thriving! We moved into a couple of nice houses in Stoneham that evening and settled in for a week of skiing. Our daily routine was pretty simple: drive up after breakfast, long ski in the morning, early lunch break, shorter ski, and back home for a quick jog and dinner. All the trails were open, so every day we got to explore the wilderness on beautifully groomed trails - some of the best skiing we've ever had at this camp (or any other time, really). For the most part we stuck with long easy skiing with a little technique work, but we threw in a little intensity mid-week and a weekend skate time trial with the other teams at Foret: Colby, SLU, St. Mike's, Laval, and an assortment of Canadian club teams. The course was a good grind with lots of tough climbs - a great early season fitness test and our first chance to compete against some fellow college skiers. Our team looked pretty good, with solid technique and fitness - just need to sharpen up with a little more racing. We wrapped up camp with one last long ski the next morning before a rather adventurous drive home in a snowstorm - as always, sad to leave Foret but glad to be back home!

Team meals are always a huge part of Thanksgiving Camp, and we had some great dinners: green curry with rice and potatoes, soft tacos, pizza, curry noodle soup, and smash burgers. Deliberations are underway, and the winning meal will be announced soon - stay tuned. As always, the team rallied for a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner: mashed potatoes, stuffing, mushroom gravy, sweet potatoes, peas, squash, cranberry sauce, pumpkin rolls, rat rolls, brussel sprouts, green bean casserole, pies (apple, pumpkin, and nutella) and of course Chef Mike's final turkey (fortunately Chef Ian's apprenticeship was successful, so our future turkeys are in good hands). It always amazes me how this meal comes together every year - so much work goes into it, and every year the skiers do a great job. Sharing meals as a team is one of the great joys of Bowdoin Nordic, and we're so lucky to get to spend time together in beautiful places.

Since coming home, we've enjoyed some early season snow and even some local skiing. We've had a couple good workouts on a skier-groomed loop behind Farley, and a nice ski on the Brunswick Golf Course. Last weekend we raced the Quarry Road Opener - a double event this year, with both skate and classic. One week into December and we've already raced on snow three times - what a gift! One more week of team training before we take a pause for exams and break - we'll make it count.

November So Far

 Quick recap of November so far:

- The team got the month off to a good start with a day of volunteering with Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust doing assorted property maintenance projects at Hideaway Farm. We benefit so much from the beautiful trails at BTLT and elsewhere around midcoast Maine, and it was great to do something to give back.

-  Things got dark in a hurry after Daylight Savings ended - I swear it gets a little darker every year. This year we shifted all rollerskiing to the morning sessions and made good use of some safe venues for evening running/bounding - the Fitzgerald sand hill, Stagecoach Rd in Freeport, and of course the track. It worked out pretty well and allowed us to keep the team together instead of scheduling early afternoon practices and leaving half the team behind.

-  One highlight of our after-dark runs was a chance to finish up with some games under the lights. Game time is a longstanding part of Bowdoin Nordic, and it sometimes gets pushed aside in the rush to get our training done and get off to dinner and schoolwork. This year we made it a priority and got in some good games of ultimate and speedball. Turns out that this year's edition of the team has some decent ball sport skills (by nordic skier standards) - always a good sign for technique development potential!

- We did a combination time trial/interval session at Pineland - a 1.3k skate roll sprint followed by a series of intervals. This was a real grind and a great fitness builder. Will and Emma posted our top times, with the rest of the team close behind in a strong competitive effort.

- We did three point-to-point ODs that really showcased the best of our training venues: the Bradbury to Pineland run, the roll to Pineland, and the roll to Reid. Bradbury to Pineland was perfect weather - a lovely little jaunt through the woods. The Pineland roll was the opposite, with cold drizzles that really tested the spirit - one of those workouts where you're glad you did it even if it was a grind. For the roll to Reid, we started in Georgetown to give ourselves more time to explore a couple of beautiful back roads on little penninsulas - gorgeous coastal rollerskiing - and finished with an exploration of the state park trails, ending on the rocky cliffs overlooking the beach. So nice to get out and ramble around the Maine coast and woods!

After all that, we're so incredibly eager to get on snow. Fortunately, Thanksgiving Camp is here and conditions at Foret look amazing! We're headed up tomorrow for eight days of skiing and quality team time - check back for a recap soon!

October Training

 Ok, we're back! To be honest, we've been back for a month, but it's been hard to find time for a blog post with all the amazing training we've been doing. Here's a quick recap of October:

- We started the month with a great turnout at the Phil Soule Phlail 5k - over 100 people turned out on a beautiful fall day. Bowdoin Nordic legend Tom Cook '09 took the men's win, with Ava Collemore winning the women's category.

- After a few days of low intensity training and skills evaluations, we jumped into testing with our 2k erg and 3k run. Michael set the pace for the men's erg (6:51.8), while Francie and newcomer Ruth Krebs tied for the women's win in 8:05.8 - very impressive showing by the first-year! I should also mention that Michael pulled a 6:47.3 in a self-test a few weeks earlier, breaking Zach Ennis's old team record (sorry Zach, even a self-test counts). Overall team performance was very solid. We've been doing this test since 2013, and it was striking to look back at the historical record and see how much we've improved. Just a few years ago, a 7:30 for men and 8:30 for women would have been among the better times on the team - this year almost everyone beat those marks. In the 3k test, Emma led the women in 11:07, and Lars nudged his own team record higher with a 9:27. Again, the overall team performance was strong, with lots of PRs and five men under 10 - a big improvement and a nice indicator of team depth. Emma and first-year Beckett Cote scored the top combined times. I'm pretty happy with how the team looked in both the skills evals and the fitness testing - we've made good progress in both areas.

- Shortly after testing we jumped right into Fall Camp. This year we stayed at the beautiful Adaptive Outdoor Education Center in Carrabassett Valley. We started off with some technique-focused hill repeats on classic rollerskis on a quiet country road in Kingfield, where a couple energetic local kids ran alongside the team to help with motivation, and finished the day with a nice afternoon trail run. Day 2 was a Bowdoin Nordic classic, a 17-mile hike/run across the stunning Bigelow Range. We wrapped up with a beautiful OD rollerski to Long Falls Dam to close out a very succesful camp. Huge thanks to our many supporters - alumni, parents, and friends - who made this trip possible with their generous gifts to the program.

-  After camp we had a few days to catch our breath and then we tackled our first time trial of the fall, an 8k skate at Runaround Pond. Emma and Ollie blistered the course to take the wins. It was extra encouraging to see Ollie moving well again after lots of grinding rehab to recover from injuries over the past year - so good to see hard work paying off!

- We welcomed a huge crew of family members to campus for Family Weekend. They joined us for our first beach ski of the year - we had a fantastic workout on Seawell Beach at the Morse Mountain Preserve. Later that afternoon, Leslie hosted a nice get-together. We're lucky to have such incredible support from our team parents and other family members, and it's such a pleasure to have these opportunities to get to know them a bit better.

- We closed out the month with another Leslie and DJ-hosted event, our second annual pumpkin carving contest. We had some remarkably creative entries - the winner was a lovingly rendered depiction of a van with wide open doors, an iconic image that truly captured the essence of Bowdoin Nordic.

 That's all for now - off to a good start and looking forward to November!

Graduation 2025

Last weekend we graduated our small but very special Bowdoin Nordic Class of 2025.  Grace and Adam have been cornerstones of our team since they arrived on campus four years ago.  From being energetic, slightly naive first-years to rock solid team leaders and role models, these two have grown and learned so much, and it's been such a privilege to be part of their journey.  We'll miss them not just for their considerable skiing talents, but for their optimism, resilience, and kindness.  Grace and Adam are both headed to DC in August, where Grace will be attending pharmacy school and Adam will be working in finance.  It'll be tough to find snow down there, but no doubt we'll see them starting their master skier careers sometime sooner than later.  Congratulations Grace and Adam - we can't wait to see what you do out in the world!