Photos are below. I was too busy waxing to see the J2s race, unfortunately.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Holderness Classic
The annual Cheri Walsh race at Holderness was a day very different from the day before at Waterville. Temps had dropped way down into the teens, the sun was brilliant and the wind was whipping. The wax team arrived bright and very early and set up shop in the lee of the Holderness gym and mostly out of the wind. Wax testers Rob, Alex, Jamie and Kathy got started figuring out what to use and the day was underway. The CSU wax crew started banging out skis, kids started warming up, the food table was piled high with all manner of good stuff and the races got under way. With all the new snow, the Holderness course promised the best classic conditions in many years. Races started with BKSL events and some of those little kids can ski! Sign them up! Most of the gang from yesterday were entered for the classic race give or take, but no Masters racers. CSU ended up having a great day with Julia Kern dropping the hammer and her face mask on lap two to win the women's 10km. Lots of skiers improved on their performance of the day before, notably Will Rhatigan moving from 18th to 8th, Rebecca having an excellent 10th, Rosie having a great race and Gavin and Jacob having solid races on the men's side among a few of the results. Results can be found HERE.
Photos are below. I was too busy waxing to see the J2s race, unfortunately.
Photos are below. I was too busy waxing to see the J2s race, unfortunately.
Waterville Valley JNQ
Its been a longggggg time since Waterville Valley has held a JNQ race, so it was nice to return for a race that was so much closer to home. The current management has some things to learn about putting on a quality race, such as groom early enough to allow the course to set up and do at least 2 offset passes with the groomer so that the middle isn't totally soft. And, it was a bit weird to have the start and finish in different places. With all the lovely new snow though, it was some nice skiing. The course had two long climbs and two long downhills, so it was a different sort of pacing challenge compared to Trapps or Holderness with their unrelenting ups and downs. CSU was, of course, there in force, including a few EMBKSLers and a few masters skiers including newly minted Master skier Alex Jospe, complete with tiara, Rob, Brett Rutledge and Doug Jansen. Results are HERE. A photo dump:
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Monday, February 3, 2014
We are a very serious racing team
Yes, yes, very serious. Technique tonight was all about the army crawl. Talk about a core workout! (not sure butt-scootching counts as a technique, but I saw some excellent variations on that theme during our relays).
(this is harder than it looks)
Thanks to John Sakalowsky for the photos and video as he was passing by.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Torin Tucker
At the Craftsbury Marathon on Saturday Dartmouth skier Torin Tucker tragically died during the 50k race. CSU offers its condolences to Torin's family and friends. Torin was a young man in the prime of his life doing something he obviously loved to do and doing it very well. Our hearts go out to Torin's family.....
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| Torin Tucker is #170, at the end of lap 3 of the Craftsbury Marathon |
Craftsbury Marathon
This year's edition of the Craftsbury Marathon found us once again doing loops at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center instead of a point to point course. That said, Craftsbury once again put together a great loop that included woods, fields, ups and downs and was in excellent shape, especially given the low snow and corn stubble sticking up. This year's course was a bit different in that instead of climbing up Ruthie's Run to the far point we went up through the fields of Sam's run.
The night before as many of the CSU clan gathered at the Village House Inn, where Kate takes good care of us before the race year after year, the talk turned to weather reports. It was 28F and we all wondered if it would actually get as cold as forecast. I was already waxed for the colder forecast, so it would be a rough morning if things changed. However, upon waking way too early it was evident that temps had dropped overnight and wax would work. Given the abrasive snow with an underlayment of ice, I opted for a thin layer of Rex Blue Klister, one of the most tenacious elements of the universe, with Toko Red and Toko Blue over. I was very satisfied with my skis. Many opted for straight hard wax binder and hard wax. Would it last?
Given my rather nasty cold that I came down with the previous weekend, I opted to change from 50k to 25k, a smart move indeed. I never would have made it 50k. As we gathered on the starting line, there was no wind, it was about 20F, the sun was out, it was a beautiful day for a ski race! As we headed off at the bell's ring it wasn't long before I rued the fact I'd moved back a bit at the start. Some of these guys were not so hot on the downhills, or were overeager. In Murphy's field someone tumbled causing some other minor pile ups. Things started to settle down as I watched my CSU Brethren slowly pulling away....Frank and Andy, Bob Burnham and a few others like Jim Fredricks that I like to try and race with. This would be a day of lowered expectations and conserving energy and snot-rockets. I continued to struggle with lousy downhill skiers for a bit but shed most of them on the giant slalom downhill at last.
Now the first longish uphill on Sam's. I cranked up in the track, so much so that in my less than ideal state I had to pull over. I was gassed! Bill Holland's tale of a few years ago came to mind, the little white crosses of bonks past along the side of the trail. I couldn't let that happen! I let a few people by and got back in the tracks and slowly cranked it up again. If I was going to survive even 25k I was going to have to dial it down, ski smart, use my good double pole and fast skis. I was now going back and forth with some old masters, and I mean old, and masterful, skiers, Perry Bland and Peter Davis. They were the calm amongst the younger and not so smooth skiers out there. They steadied my ship and slow I got going again, focused on skiing smoothly. On the long Ruthies downhill I recovered and started pressing again. It doesn't hurt to have good skis either! On the climb back to the center I kept it under control and started passing some kids who weren't as enthusiastic as they'd been 5km ago. Looping through we now started passing the touring groups and high school kids, sometimes yelling 50yd away that I was on your right or left. Early warning system. Down the giant slalom I deftly passed a guy on the inside of the turn. This was fun! The second time up Ruthies I did not blow a gasket, dropped Peter and Perry and started chasing others, mostly 50k skiers, but what the heck. I passed a few and finished reasonably strongly, happy with my performance in far less than ideal health conditions. I now grabbed the camera and caught many CSUers as they lapped through for 25k or 50k.
Lots of CSUers had good races on this beautiful morning. John Sakalowski was cranking along, his classic skiing now really coming together just like last week at Jackson. Robert Faltus was pretty happy with his race. Kate Yoder had an unfortunate reaction to some GU and lost it a few Ks later, but soldiered through. Andy was having a good ski, locked in combat with Joe Holland. Lisa was happy with her 25k and was followed in my a smiling Jody Newton. Jim Burnham had a solid race. I missed Victor, but he was out there as always. I'm sure we'll get a few more stories!
The night before as many of the CSU clan gathered at the Village House Inn, where Kate takes good care of us before the race year after year, the talk turned to weather reports. It was 28F and we all wondered if it would actually get as cold as forecast. I was already waxed for the colder forecast, so it would be a rough morning if things changed. However, upon waking way too early it was evident that temps had dropped overnight and wax would work. Given the abrasive snow with an underlayment of ice, I opted for a thin layer of Rex Blue Klister, one of the most tenacious elements of the universe, with Toko Red and Toko Blue over. I was very satisfied with my skis. Many opted for straight hard wax binder and hard wax. Would it last?
Given my rather nasty cold that I came down with the previous weekend, I opted to change from 50k to 25k, a smart move indeed. I never would have made it 50k. As we gathered on the starting line, there was no wind, it was about 20F, the sun was out, it was a beautiful day for a ski race! As we headed off at the bell's ring it wasn't long before I rued the fact I'd moved back a bit at the start. Some of these guys were not so hot on the downhills, or were overeager. In Murphy's field someone tumbled causing some other minor pile ups. Things started to settle down as I watched my CSU Brethren slowly pulling away....Frank and Andy, Bob Burnham and a few others like Jim Fredricks that I like to try and race with. This would be a day of lowered expectations and conserving energy and snot-rockets. I continued to struggle with lousy downhill skiers for a bit but shed most of them on the giant slalom downhill at last.
Now the first longish uphill on Sam's. I cranked up in the track, so much so that in my less than ideal state I had to pull over. I was gassed! Bill Holland's tale of a few years ago came to mind, the little white crosses of bonks past along the side of the trail. I couldn't let that happen! I let a few people by and got back in the tracks and slowly cranked it up again. If I was going to survive even 25k I was going to have to dial it down, ski smart, use my good double pole and fast skis. I was now going back and forth with some old masters, and I mean old, and masterful, skiers, Perry Bland and Peter Davis. They were the calm amongst the younger and not so smooth skiers out there. They steadied my ship and slow I got going again, focused on skiing smoothly. On the long Ruthies downhill I recovered and started pressing again. It doesn't hurt to have good skis either! On the climb back to the center I kept it under control and started passing some kids who weren't as enthusiastic as they'd been 5km ago. Looping through we now started passing the touring groups and high school kids, sometimes yelling 50yd away that I was on your right or left. Early warning system. Down the giant slalom I deftly passed a guy on the inside of the turn. This was fun! The second time up Ruthies I did not blow a gasket, dropped Peter and Perry and started chasing others, mostly 50k skiers, but what the heck. I passed a few and finished reasonably strongly, happy with my performance in far less than ideal health conditions. I now grabbed the camera and caught many CSUers as they lapped through for 25k or 50k.
Lots of CSUers had good races on this beautiful morning. John Sakalowski was cranking along, his classic skiing now really coming together just like last week at Jackson. Robert Faltus was pretty happy with his race. Kate Yoder had an unfortunate reaction to some GU and lost it a few Ks later, but soldiered through. Andy was having a good ski, locked in combat with Joe Holland. Lisa was happy with her 25k and was followed in my a smiling Jody Newton. Jim Burnham had a solid race. I missed Victor, but he was out there as always. I'm sure we'll get a few more stories!
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| Anne Burnham smiling at 25k |
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| Richard Garrison |
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| Lisa Doucett |
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| Jim Burnham |
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| Jody Newton |
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| John Sakalowski |
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| Frank Feist |
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| Andy Milne chasing Joe Holland |
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| Robert Faltus |
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