Thursday, December 28, 2017

MSA! Is it Cold Enough?


It's darned cold up here in the North, but a little sun at least makes you think it isn't as cold as it seems, if only until the next downhill frosts your face.  Too cold to get the camera out much.  A really fun afternoon ski with Alex, Madeline, Rebecca, Lily, Laura, Kate, Phoebe and Hannah doing speeds and transitions.

Friday, December 22, 2017

Monday, December 18, 2017

Fort Kent Eastern Cup report

The first EC of the season kicked off up in the way far north, pretty much Canada, at the Fort Kent Outdoor Center. They received a nice dump of snow midweek, followed by some days of chilly temperatures, so the conditions were pretty much perfect. Saturday was a skate sprint, which means everyone did a qualification race, and the results of that race seeded people into heats.

The bossman and his sidekick testing wax on a bright sunny Friday afternoon, basking in the warmth. Or something like that. Was certainly a shock to my system to ski at below-zero temperatures!

The women raced first, and Laura, DXCer Lily, and Coach Alex slid into the open heats. After the top 30 open racers, the next fastest 12 U18/U20s get pulled out for semifinals/finals, which included Madeline and Kate. Then the next 12 fastest U16s go into heats, where we had Shea, Eva, and DXCer Aggie. Francesca, Amelia, Phoebe, and Elizabeth didn’t go quite fast enough to qualify for the heats in this competitive field. They got the advantage of resting up for the next day, and started the mental preparation for it.

In the open heats, both Laura and Alex ended up third in their heats, with bib numbers not low enough to make it into the semis as lucky losers, and Lily finished just behind Alex. In the U18 heats, Madeline skied a really smart semifinal, tucking in behind a gal from GMVS and cruising through in 2nd, and then blitzing the final for the win! Kate did her first skate sprint heats, and ended up in the B final, where she skied a smart race and ended up 3rd in the heat, learning a lot along the way. For the U16s, Eva and Aggie got bumped to the B final after a brave semifinal, and then skied a smart race, with Aggie winning the race and Eva ending up third in the heat. Shea absolutely crushed her semifinal, and then ended up in third place! Awesome work, ladies.

 
Madeline on the top step of the U18 podium, and Shea in the bronze medal position for the U16s. 

The men had a great day too. We qualified three for the open heats: Oliver and Jackson qualified in 15th and 16th, and James landed in 22nd. The next 12 U18/20s were tight, but Alex B landed in that group, with Jacob just missing the heats by 1 second! So close. Linden and DXCer Quinn qualified for the U16 heats comfortably. Coach Rob had a blistering time in the qualifier, winning the master’s field. Ben and Henry didn’t qualify for heats in this tough field.
In the heats, Jackson and Oliver were in the same quarterfinal. Oliver led it out hot from the start, but tangled with a competitor and crashed. Jackson came up the wax-cabin hill in a comfortable 2nd place, but didn’t quite have the finish he wanted, ending up in 3rd place. His bib wasn’t a low enough number to make it through as lucky loser. James was in the next heat, and he was in third place coming through the rolling hills behind the stadium. Then he used great skis and a finish kick to out-lunge eventual winner Daniel Streinz at the line, getting into the semi-finals. He landed in the B final, where he had a good finish for 4th, and 10th overall. 

In the U18 heats, Alex got bumped to the B final, and then duked it out for 5th place in the heat. In the U16 heats, Linden also got bumped to the B final, where in an exciting race, he was fighting for the lead coming over the camels humps, and the three leaders lunged across the line in an all-out sprint. Unfortunately for Linden, his split wasn’t quite good enough, and he was third in the heat, which was still a great result. Quinn fought hard for a fifth place finish (I need to check on this – right now the results aren’t up for the U16 men).

The fun thing about sprints is that anything can happen. Sometimes, that anything works in your favor, and sometimes, it works against you.

Proof that teenagers now only communicate via pictures.

Sunday dawned chilly, but sunny, with really great conditions. The waxing was straightforward, and nearly everyone had great skis. The course was fun, starting with some long hills and then coming back down to the stadium with a couple little kickers along the way. Mass start races for everyone, 5k for U16s and the women, and 10k for the men.
The U16 men went first, and our boys had great races. Linden ended up fifth (fourth American), and Ben 10th (and sixth American). Our DXC buddy Quinn had a breakout race, in 12th. Great skiing gentlemen! The U16 women were next, and Shea and Eva both had really good races, with Shea in fourth (third American) and Eva in 6th! Just behind them were Aggie and Francesca, skiing really nicely in 10th and 11th, and Amelia just behind in 13th. Elizabeth had a really nice race for not getting on snow much yet, in 26th and right in the mix with a pack of other girls.

Next off was the open women’s 5k mass start, which was, as one coach predicted, completely chaos. There was some aggressive skiing in the start, and a crash shortly thereafter that definitely affected the outcome of the race, as half the field was caught behind it. Laura skied a great race despite coming from the middle of the early crash, and ended up in 13th as the sixth U18. Kudos! Just behind was Coach Kathy, in 16th. Next was Madeline, with a solid race, in 21st race, followed by coach Alex in 23rd, and Lily in 30th. Pretty good showing for the top 30! Schuyler (from DXC) had a great race, skiing really smart to get around lots of other racers to end up in 39th, followed closely by Phoebe in 45th with an excellent race. Kate had a rough day out there, which are the only days you can really learn from.

The men’s 10k was next. James and Oliver led our baby blue pack, coming in for 11th and 12th, with Oliver right on James’ tails. Not far behind them was Jacob, showing his classic specialist colors, in 26th place. Jackson had a solid race, putting some classic distance demons behind him, ending up in 37th. Henry had a little trouble with his skis, ending up in 60th, and Alex had a good first lap but then faded a little in the second lap, ending up in 71st. Connor had a rough day, breaking his binding off of his ski, but he managed to get the binding back on the ski and still finished!

New Wax Team leader John Buchheit absolutely crushed it this weekend. Skis were fast, classic skis kicked like a dream, and there was zero panicking. His faithful followers were solid and dependable, churning out fast skis all day long. Kudos!

Great work to all the racers. This is an incredibly deep field that we’re racing against, so it’s hard to sometimes get the results you want. But it’s important to remember that every race is a practice for the next one, and the smart racers are the ones who are learning from each race and each mistake, figuring out what they can do better next time, and celebrating the small process successes (for example – I remembered to bring boot covers, and my feet were warm!). Fantastic weekend up in the County. Thanks to all who made it so fun!

Kathy and Alex took Rob to an Asian fusion restaurant for dinner on our way back south. Rob is skeptical, and claims to prefer the potato-based food from the County. 

Monday, December 11, 2017

Classic time trial

With a little natural snow at weston, we held a time trial, complete with mandatory striding zones. "in the races, will they force you to stride on a flat?"



Thanks for John Bucheit for compiling the results. These times are all verrrry approximate. Some skiers did not have watches. Some "forgot to hit the button." Some did not report their time. I think the order of the first 11 skiers is accurate. 

1. Jacob J. about 23:00 (no watch - guesstimate)
2. Oliver S.about 23:05 (no watch - based on Jacob's guesstimate)
3. Henry J  24:23 (had watch)
4. Ben B. 24:54 (had watch, but time based up finishing 1 s. behind Henry)
5. Andy M. 25:24 (no watch, but estimated he was 10 s. behind John S.)
6. John S. 25:29 (had watch)
7. Shea B. 27:24 (had watch) - done on her own after practice because of babysitting conflict
8. Francesca 27:40 (had watch)
9. Lucas Daly 28:00 (no watch, estimate)
10. Eva 28:35 (had watch)
11. Amelia 29:05 (had watch, but forgot to hit button, so this was an estimate in part based on finishing close to Eva)
12. Flora 31:00 (estimate - pulled out phone about a minute after she finished)
13. Milo 32:04 (had watch)
14. Tali W. 35:00 (estimate, I think)
15. Serena J. (no time given)
16. Kate W. (no time given)

Good job to all the skiers! 





























Sunday, December 3, 2017

Craftsbury Round 2

CSU Jrs were in action again at Craftsbury going around and around on the manmade snow.  Good skiing and good prep for going around and around at Weston.  Lots of skiers out there with Craftsbury and UVM in attendance, Dublin School, and lots of masters skiers.  Had to play a bit of dodge-em.  The Jrs. did some 1 lap sprints this morning with some of the Craftsbury kids.   Awaiting the real stuff.....













Sunday, November 5, 2017

2017 Fall CSU Fall Classic Rollerski Race

Up the first hill

We had a smaller turnout this year than in recent years, even though the weather for rollerskiing was pretty good with light winds, temps about 50F and mostly overcast skies but no rain, snow or other stuff falling.  Harvard brought a big contingent as usual, making it a fun race with several CSU Jr. grads including Clara Cousins, Izzy Cole, Will Rhatigan and Jacob Meyerson.

It's a bit hard to report on the race from the back of the pack, but suffice it to say, everyone shot off the line and headed up the hill way ahead of me.  There was a nice lead pack with Alex Burt doing the 1 lapper skiing with Mack, James (who did 2 laps) and Will, while behind them things got stretched out a bit.  Leading out on the women's side were Tegan and Hannah.  Further back, Robert and I were chasing Lily and at one point I made the pass but got re-passed at the bottom of the long downhill so it was back to chasing.  About this point Robert told me he was struggling and eased off a bit.  Back up front, Alex came across the line leading the pack and finishing first in the Jr. race closely followed by Mack and James, but Mack gapped James somewhere on lap 2 to take home the victory with James 17 sec. back.  I passed Kate Weinberg on the back half of the course with her speed reducer flopping around, so I hope that wasn't have a negative impact on her speed.  Kate hung in to take first for Jr. women.  At some point Andy came by on lap two.  His pole tip had failed on lap one and he'd pulled off to get his skate poles at the car before continuing on his way.  I was still chasing Lily, passed on the long downhill and then got re-passed again and that was it as she floated up the hills gaining time on me.  Up front Tegan must have put the hammer down on Hannah and came in first in the women's race with Hannah 20 sec. back.  In the Jr. race Henry and Linden were going at it with Henry coming out 1 sec. ahead at the finish.

So, it was a good day of racing.  I'd like to thank everyone who helped out by timing and watching the corners and keeping the traffic at bay.  Thanks to Chris City for the great photoset.

Alex crosses the finish line

Henry edges Linden for 2nd place


CSUJr racers

Jamie giving out awards (pies and cider donuts!)


Henry

Tegan takes control

Izzy leading out

Robert chasing Kate chasing Lily

Robert

Add caption

Linden and Henry

Ben

Clara leading out

Kate

James airborne

Will


Men’s Results



Name Club 1st Lap Finish Time
Mack Fitzpatrick Harvard
18:11
36:18
James Kitch CSU
18:11
36:35
Will Rhatigan Harvard
18:12
36:45
Chris O’Brien Harvard
18:24
37:33
Haakon Sigurslid Harvard
18:40
37:52
Connor Green Harvard
19:08
41:01
Jacob Meyerson Harvard
20:42
41:56
Andy Milne CSU

44:35
Jamie Doucett CSU
23:10
45:45
Robert Faltus CSU
24:44
50:29




Women’s Results



Tegan Thorley Harvard
22:02
43:59
Hannah Hardenberg Harvard
22:02
44:19
Isabel Cole Harvard
22:39
45:12
Lily Koffman Harvard
23:09
45:34
Clara Cousins Harvard
22:46
47:01




Junior Women



Kate Weinberg CSU

23:49
Francesca Kitch CSU

25:40




Junior Men



Alex Burt CSU

18:10
Henry Johnstone CSU

20:06
Linden Niedeck CSU

20:07
Ben Buchheim CSU

20:39