The 2026-27 is underway for Bowdoin Nordic! The first two weeks of October are always a bit hectic - several days of tryouts/testing followed by Fall Camp. We got things started with our skills evaluation - a run through of several technique drills to get an idea of how people handle themselves on rollerskis. Our crew looked quite good - the returners showed good progress and the newcomers really nailed it. They all looked equally sharp in our subsequent workouts on the road - this is one of the more technically sound groups we've ever had. Our 2k ski erg test was even more exciting - double record breakage! Ruth (7:45.9) and Clara (7:52) broke the team record of 7:53.8 held by Mia Vinding '24. Almost every returner PR-ed, many by a wide margin - this was the best overall erg performance I've ever seen in tryouts. No records in the 3k run, but several nice PRs. In the combined erg/run times, Sawyer (16:28) broke Zach Ennis '23's team record (16:36). Overall some encouraging signs from tryouts - now we need to put in a couple months of good consistent training to ensure that we can cash in on the potential we've shown so far.
For Fall Camp we were back to Carrabassett Valley at the Adaptive Outdoor Education Center - a beautiful spot and a perfect facility for a team training camp. First up was threshold repeats up Freeman Ridge Rd - great pavement, nice quiet road, and a grind of a hill with some lovely scenery. Last year we did this workout and made friends with a couple small children who came out to watch us ski - they were back this year running back and forth alongside the skiers, which was pretty cute. Afternoon session was a nice trail run right out our front door. Day 2 was the Bigelow Traverse - around 17 miles covering five peaks - an iconic Fall Camp workout. The whole group completed the traverse - always a good sign. Our weather luck ran out on Day 3 - we had planned a rollerski OD on the Long Falls Dam Road, but decided that a long ski in cold rain wasn't the wisest choice. Instead, we settled for another trail run around the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center trails, which ended up being a pretty pleasant way to close out the break. This was a really successful camp - good training and some quality time to come together as a team. Big thanks to the many Bowdoin Nordic supporters who made it possible for us to have this experience!
