Remembrance of Skiing with Damon O'Neal

Over the last few years, I've been fortunate to correspond with many Bowdoin Skiing alumni. Recently, I got an email from Hank Haskell '56, who shared a thoughtful piece he'd written in honor of Damon O'Neal, brother of Hank's former teammate Roly O'Neal '59.

I was once an avid skier. I learned how to ski at Cardigan Mountain School in Canaan, New Hampshire, and later found myself on the ski team at Bowdoin College. Bowdoin’s ski team was pretty informal when I was there (1952-1956) and in my senior year, there were two seniors on the team — Paul DeBrule from Laconia, New Hampshire, and me — Paul was primarily a jumper and cross-country guy and I did slalom and downhill, albeit no expert.

Bowdoin accepted a group of excellent skiers three years after I arrived. These young tigers included Charlie Long, Charlie Jackson and Bucky Owen and featured John Christie from Camden, Maine, Bruce Chalmers from Brighton, Maine, and Roly O’Neal from North Conway, New Hampshire — all terrific skiers. With their expertise, and management by Charlie Leighton, Bowdoin’s ski team became one of the best in New England. John Christie recently told me, “We did end up competing with the B boys and even in the Winter Carnivals at Dartmouth and Middlebury. In 1958 we won the State Intercollegiates, beating the vaunted UMaine team that included Olympian-to-be Charlie Akers — our crowning achievement..."

One weekend I joined Roly O’Neal at his family’s house in North Conway. I met Roly’s Mom and Dad and his younger brother, Damon. Roly told me his brother was a better skier than he was, but I really wondered how he could be at so young an age (age 13). Roly and his family were modest people, and no one told me much about Damon. Roly mentioned we would be skiing the next day with Toni Matt. The name meant nothing to me at the time.

I ate dinner with the O’Neals and we talked about skiing the next morning at Cranmore Mountain. We hit the sack early and ate a wonderful breakfast the next morning — cooked for us by Roly and Damon’s mother. We walked up to Cranmore Mountain with our skis on our backs, and met Hannes Schneider, the head of the world-famous Eastern Slope Ski School, and met Toni — who would be skiing with Roly, Damon, and me that day.

Toni Matt lead the way as we rode the Tramway up Cranmore Mountain. He told us we’d start out on the back-side of the mountain, to limber our legs up, before setting up a slalom course on the main slope. Off we went — Toni, Damon, Roly and I. Wow! I watched the gifted Austrian, Toni, head down the slope with his skis practically glued together and Damon and Roly right behind. It was obvious to me that this would be quite a day. I had never seen such a great young skier, as this teen-ager, Damon, was that day. He was right with Toni Matt at every turn as they all three glided down the mountain, with me trying to keep up. I think I skied the best I have ever skied in my life that remarkable day and just couldn’t believe how talented Roly’s younger brother was.

I remember breaking to eat the sandwiches that Mrs. O’Neal had made for us. We talked together and I learned that Toni had schussed the headwall at Tuckerman’s Ravine on Mount Washington, New Hampshire, in 1939. I had no idea that we were eating lunch with, “the fastest skier to schuss the Headwall at Tuckerman’s Ravine on Mount Washington. His time for the 8-mile race was 6 minutes 29.4 seconds, with a top speed of 85 MPH."

The truly remarkable thing I remembered that winter day in 1956, however, was skiing and having so much fun with a fantastic young skier — Damon O’Neal. Damon was a delightful young man, who adored his brother Roly and his parents and skied with me as if I were a pro myself. I knew I had skied that day with a potential future U.S. Olympic leader. As Roly and I drove back to Brunswick, Maine, we talked about Damon’s achievements and hopes.

On March 15, 1959, Damon O’Neal was killed, “…in a skiing accident at Sugarloaf Mountain, Maine, as he was preparing for the Junior National Alpine Ski Championships. As a 16 year-old, Damon had won the New Hampshire Skimeister award a month earlier by the widest margin in the history of the competition. Local leaders of the skiing community had raised funds for Damon to go to Europe to help him prepare for the Olympics.”

I was honored to have known Damon and not only to have known him but to have skied with this gifted skier and outstanding young gentleman. The world skiing community lost a great young man that tragic day in March 1959 — a young man who has been an inspiration to me in the many years I have participated in the great sport of skiing.

Big Move for Zach

I'm happy to report that Zach is moving up in the world - he's just been hired as NENSA's new Executive Director! This is a pretty big deal - NENSA is one of the most successful and influential nordic ski organizations in the country. Outgoing director Pat Cote is a tough act to follow - his tenure saw incredible growth for both NENSA and New England skiing as a whole - but I have no doubt that Zach is up to the task. We were really lucky to have Zach as part of our team this year, and we're excited that the whole New England nordic ski community will now get to benefit from his many talents. Congratulations Zach, and good luck!

Distance Nationals 50k

Ok, now the season is over for real. Spencer wrapped things up with the Distance Nationals 50k skate in Craftsbury last weekend. The race was held on the same 1.6k loop that was used for the SuperTour Finals, which means that the racers did 32 laps. Thirty-two laps, people. Sixty racers in a mass start on a loop of this size could have resulted in some wacky hijinks, but somehow things ran pretty smoothly - fantastic job all week by the folks at Craftsbury. Spencer skied his usual long mass start race, starting patiently and gradually moving up throughout the race. He ended up in 34th, close behind a few outstanding skiers and ahead of several others - quite a good way to close out his collegiate ski career. Part of his success could be attributed to his ace support crew - Kaitlynn, Chris, and Wilson were on hand to help with waxing, feeds, and lap counting. Here's a picture of the group, courtesy of Lydia Eusden:


RESULTS

SuperTour Finals

The SuperTour Finals just wrapped up in Craftsbury. Due to the rapidly dwindling snow, the races were held on a 1.6k loop. Craftsbury has done a stellar job making and stockpiling snow this year, and it's a minor miracle that they had enough to pull off even this small loop. Our team was ably represented in last weekend's races by Spencer and Kaitlynn. Spencer had a solid performance in the 3.3k skate prologue, finishing 40th. He was the 10th EISA skier, with almost all of the top EISA skiers in attendance, so this was a very good showing, especially in his first crack at the prologue distance (not quite a sprint, but far shorter than our typical distance race).

The following day was a 10/15k classic mass start. With the snow disappearing rapidly, the course was reduced to a 1.6k loop. The tiny loop meant limited snow access, which gave racers very little chance to test wax and make adjustments to their race skis. Spencer ended up choosing his zeroes, which worked well during the brief testing window before the race - unfortunately, by race time the conditions had changed enough to render them useless. This made for a tough day, but he hung in there and raced respectably considering that he had almost no kick. With this lesson learned, they were able to pull together a workable klister combination for Kaitlynn; her skis weren't great, but she skied a solid race. It's tough enough to do a classic race without someone to help you with waxing and testing, and on a tricky waxing day with limited snow access it's even tougher. Still, I'm proud of these guys for giving their best in trying circumstances.

RESULTS

Even though it's almost April, Spencer still hasn't had enough; he's headed back to Craftsbury for tomorrow's 50k skate race - THIRTY laps on the 1.6k loop. Luckily, some intrepid teammates will be there to cheer him on and, more importantly, count laps. Should be an interesting race.

Sugarloaf 25K

Last weekend, Riley and Spencer jumped into the Sugarloaf 25k. In spite of the ridiculously warm weather throughout New England these past few weeks, the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center has held onto its snow remarkably well. At the gun, Spencer and Riley quickly formed a 3-man lead pack with Jordan Buetow of Bates. Riley led for the first several kilometers before falling back, leaving Spencer and Jordan to ski together until the finish. Spencer was able to hold off Jordan in a sprint finish, winning by a mere tenth of a second. Jordan is one of EISA's top skaters, as well as one of the best sprinters, so this was an impressive win for Spencer. Riley cruised in for a solid 4th place finish - a good showing for both Eusdens.

RESULTS

Here are a few photos, courtesy of Steve Fuller of Flying Point Road.

Bretton Woods 2012

Jackson and Kaitlynn raced the Bretton Woods 50k classic last weekend. They were fortunate to have a dedicated and capable support crew (Spencer, Riley, and Steph) in attendance - these guys tested waxes and got the skis dialed in, and then headed out on course for feeds and cheering. Both of our racers had strong performances, so the wax techs obviously did a great job. Kaitlynn finished 2nd for women, while Jackson was the 8th man, close behind a group of college skiers who all scored NCAA points this year. Both of them were right in the mix - another great learning experience about skiing in groups and pacing a distance race.

50k Results

The following day, Spencer raced the Mt. Washington Cup, a 15k skate race - he skied to a convincing victory over a strong group of skiers. In a sport where only one out of dozens or hundreds of competitors gets to win any given race, winning is nice - it's a rare and special thing to cross the line first.

15k Results

Rangeley 2012

Last weekend we continued our annual tradition of racing the Rangeley Loppet, with Drew, Alec, Jackson, Erin, and Shelby all taking part. This race is a fun way to wrap up the season, and it's a great experience for the skiers. It's good chance to practice tactics, fueling, and pack racing, and also to get comfortable with a 50k - the longer distance helps put our 15/20k EISA races in perspective. This year featured perhaps the deepest field I've seen in this event - lots of college skiers and a few fast seniors and masters. It had snowed a few inches the night before and was snowing on and off that morning, even switching over to ice pellets at one point. Even though the course had been groomed a few hours before the race, high winds had blown dry powder all over the course. It was slow, sloppy skiing, and the lead pack went out at a very relaxed pace, allowing Alec and Jackson to settle in and cruise for the first several kilometers. By the end of the first lap, Jackson was still hanging in there among a group of 10 or 12 pretty elite skiers. With the course now well-packed by a couple hundred skiers, things sped up considerably, and the pack gradually splintered. Remarkably, although he skied alone for much of the 2nd lap, Jackson was able to keep a steady pace and pick off a couple other skiers in the final kilometers to finish 9th overall and 2nd in his age group - an impressive performance, especially for a 50k rookie. Alec skied a good tactical race, working with a 3 person chase group to pick off places as the 2nd lap went on - he ended up second in a 4-man sprint to claim 12th place overall and 3rd OJ. Shelby also brought home a sweet age group medal - she skied a steady race in her first 50k ever, finishing as the 13th woman and 3rd OJ. Drew paced himself well - when I saw him at 45k, he was pushing the V2 well into the lower section of a long climb, and I thought, "Who is that guy?" (he was wearing his Ely race suit, so I didn't recognize him at first). He had a huge grin on his face and was really flying - he passed several racers in the final 5k to finish in style. Erin had a pretty massive bonk - when she saw me late in the race, she was feeling woozy and stopped to tell me about this strange tingling feeling she was having throughout her entire body. I was a bit concerned that we'd be carrying her off the course, but I kept this to myself and told her that it was just a little bonk and she'd be fine. Oddly enough, this seemed to reassure her, because she took off and skied strongly for the last few kilometers. It was a nice display of determination and a fitting way to finish her Bowdoin career. Overall, a good showing by our team and a fun day for all of us.

RESULTS

With that, we're done with team races and practices for the year - sad but true. Still plenty of winter left, though - in fact, we have more snow at Pineland right now than we've had for the past 2 months. There's lots of skiing and racing to be done for the rest of the month - I'll keep the post-season updates coming as always.