Monday, March 31, 2014

A BC90 Miracle

This fall sophomore Kyle Curry and I found a good deal went in on some closeout pairs of Rossignol BC90 backcountry touring skis.

Mounting up the skis...simple but solid backcountry set-up. 3-pins keep it simple!

I don't mention brand names to suggest we are in any way affiliated with sponsorship and ski companies; I only share the product name because "BC90" has become somewhat of a universal phrase this winter in reference to open lines, glade-like hillsides and massive quantities of snow.

When training during Thanksgiving camp in Foret Montmorency, Kyle and I would look up at the clearcut hillsides and glance at each other quickly. "BC90's!" we would exclaim, wishing we'd smuggled our fatter boards across the border among the race skis and rollerskis. As more and more snow piled up we imagined breaking up the classic/skate/interval/distance monotony with a trip up to the higher elevations and a ripping descent back down to the "normal" trails.

Then the season proper came along, and the thought of ruining a carnival year due to injury or fatigue meant the BC90s stayed put in the back of the lockers. Every fresh snowfall brought back the cries for a "BC90 adventure" though, and the great winter of snowfall kept up the hope that there would be plenty of time for exploration after the racing ended.

So far, the best winter possibilities have come true. We ended the season with plenty of snow...enough to hold races on campus, crust ski anywhere imaginable, and plenty of snow for real adventures.

One of the first BC90 adventures was a trip to Seven Springs, the old Clarkson ski hill

We've made numerous trips with the BC90s so far: Seven Springs, Snowbowl, Titus and Big Tupper to name a few. But yesterday (Sunday), we woke up to a fresh foot of snow with more falling from the sky. "A BC90 miracle!" I texted Kyle. Eric, Kyle and I had already planned the day prior (on the way back from a great spring classic ski on 50k of trails at Van Ho in Lake Placid) that we would wake up and take the BC90s to nearby Catamount Mountain the next morning, a small peak that was asking to be skied. We had no idea of the impending snow...in fact it seems like nobody did.

The three of us began our trip mid-morning, and found even more snow just up the way toward the mountain, which is right inside the ADK park about 30 minutes from campus. We broke trail up to the summit and explored all angles of the mountain.

Near the summit of Catamount Mtn


Lakes, ponds and the foothills of the 'Dacks surrounded us as we made repeated trips up and down various slopes, jumping off little rocks, cruising through trees and burying ourselves deep in the powder. Every time you fell, your arms would sink shoulder-deep into the thick snow and you would have to wiggle repeatedly to dislodge yourself from the thick snowpack.

Kyle popping off a little rock jump...

...and straight into the deep end

With so much snow still around, there is still plenty of time for more BC90 adventures. If you're burnt-out from the racing season, nothing beats a backcountry ski. You are exploring the sport from a totally different perspective and still getting outside, challenging yourself and building strength, balance and coordination in new ways. When out on these adventures it's impossible for me (and probably any other skier who has read it) not to think of Hemingway's passages regarding skiing in the Alps from A Moveable Feast. I'll end this with a little sampler on the backcountry skiing of those days which, in fact, is really no different than today nearly 100 years later...

Anything you ran down from, you had to climb up to first, and you could run down only as often as you could climb up. That made you have legs that were fit to run down with...It was better than any flying or anything else, and you build the ability to do it and to have it with the long climbs, carrying the heavy rucksacks. You could not buy it nor take a ticket to the top. It was the end we worked all winter for, and all the winter build to make it possible.

Heading out of the woods...for now!

Friday, March 28, 2014

Skiing into April

The 2014 Larry Loppet was a great success. We had over 30 people out and enjoying a beautiful, sunny spring day on campus. The atmosphere was fun, the cookies were fresh and the hot cider was flowing.


They're off!

A sprint to the finish/Salomon ski boot advertisement featuring (from L-R) Kyle, Phil and Austin. From this photo evidence Austin has been officially disqualified for cutting the corner and going off-course

Thanks to skis donated from the Outing Program and ski team, everyone got to try their hand at the skinny skis, many of whom had never experienced the sport before. Of course, the day wasn't limited to just racing...we played a heated game of speedball on skis, and a few of the guys build a jump into a side hill and (with a little help from the snowmobile and some towing rope) caught some big air air:

Reed (top) and Eric catch some air and some rays...you couldn't pick better weather!

The snow is still sticking around, and while the spring sports like softball and tennis give us dirty looks for winter creeping into their seasons we are exploring all over. The crust cruising has been incredible...anywhere you see, you can skate ski! We've been on many trips up and down the Grasse River and into the forests of Pyrites. SLUSKI has shredded the alpine boards at Titus Mountain, Snowbowl and Big Tupper, gone backcountry skiing in the Adirondacks on Algonquin Mountain, and more. 

Kyle and Morgan took a trip to the Snowbowl for some afternoon turns one day

Kate out for a morning ski on the campus trails

Snowmobile trail skate skiing at Tooley Pond

Yesterday a few of us took a trip to Tooley Pond, a conservation easement near Star Lake about 25 minutes from campus. The elevation and temps meant the snow was more powder than crust...we immediately regretted not bringing out backcountry skis, but once we found the the vast network of snowmobile trails had been groomed to skate-able perfection we made do! You probably could've skied all the way back to campus!

Oh, but we still made time for some backcountry jumping and downhill runs...here's Meng getting after it on the skinny skis

Though temps are warming up there is still lots of snowpack out there. We're making a trip to Lake Placid tomorrow for what will likely be the last classic ski before next season...but you never know!








Tuesday, March 18, 2014

2014 Larry Loppet

Join SLUSKI this Sunday, March 23rd, for the first annual Larry Loppet! 


Monday, March 17, 2014

Spring ski racing continues!

Though Junior Nationals has come and gone, the snow has not! With great conditions all around New England, some more exciting racing has been going on over the past few weeks. Here's some photos and results. I'll try to go in chronological order:

L-R: Adam, Jason and Chad representing Mid-A and showing Alaska how to throw down on the Trapps course during the JN "Coach's Race", which took place mid-week in Stowe. Lots of athletes came out to cheer on (and laugh at?) their coaches during the race, which was a mass-start 5k classic. Team Mid-Atlantic had a great performance with myself (Adam) taking the win ahead of Alaska, with Jason and Chad not far behind in 3rd and 4th...nearly a podium sweep for team NY! (Ryan Young photo)

A few days later, Kyle Curry added another SLUSKI victory with a win in the 25k freestyle at the Lake Placid Loppet. (VanHo photo)Results

A day later in Richmond, VT, Eric and I competed in the inaugural Cochran's Nordic Cross event! This might give the Stowe Derby a run for it's money in terms of most fun ski race ever. Any nordic race that involves taking an alpine lift to the start is bound to be a good time...this race didn't disappoint with slalom gates, jumps galore, banked turns, backwards sections and ripping downhills...not to mention sun, blue skies and pancakes at the finish! I have no doubt Eric would have won had he not gone for a crowd-pleasing air off one of the bigger jumps and taken the world's most massive faceplant! Not that it mattered; I think everyone who raced was laughing the entire time

Moving back to Trapps, the Frielinghaus men Will and Chris had a great series of races at the US Ski Orienteering National Championships in Stowe. Chris recorded 2 silvers in the middle and long distance events, while Will picked up 2 bronze medals in the middle and long distances (despite a broken pole). Congrats!

What's next in the racing scene? I don't want to spoil the news before it becomes official, but we are planning on hosting a ski race ON CAMPUS for the first time in who knows how many years...I am calling it the Larry Loppet (for those unaware, a "Larry" used to be a common moniker for SLU students) and it will be a fun, low-key event making use of our campus trail system and grooming equipment. More info when it it is finalized!

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Junior Nationals Final Photo-Drop

Photos from the last few days of Junior Nationals...see past two posts for more pictures and quick stories!

What looks like a super-intense coaches meeting in the trailer

Start line of the men's 15k mass start. It was a great day for Chumley who notched 14th place and skied a very smart race doing so. Sun and warmth made for an amazing spring-skiing day. I quickly rolled up the spandex and sleeves...just to get a base

Waxroom action featuring Jason and I. I am missing a mask because I was in and out so much between testing and applying topcoats that I never got around to protecting the respiratory system. Whoops...

For the first few days, lunch was quality deli meat on whole wheat sandwiches. By the end of the week, we would wax until we couldn't feel our fingers before Jason finally made the call to go to the food truck for some greasy delights...you can tell how famished we are by the fact that there's a ski on coach Swayze's bench that was halted mid-wax-job in order to gobble those fries

With the warm weather and sun at the end of the week came some flooding issues...here Jason re-routes the small lake around the athlete wax bench

Speaking of trailer issues, the final morning we drove up to find our wax room TP'd and the staircases moved onto the roof. The New England trailer was also victim to some similar vandalism, so clearly somebody has it in for the East Coast...

Parting shot from JN's, a grouping of team #SLUEngland (minus Chumley and plus Kate). There were lots of alumni, current and former racers, family and friends out for the final relay races..."there are a lot of SLU people out here!" was one comment Erin got. That's pretty cool!

It had been 6 years since my last trip to Junior Nationals (back when they were Junior Olympics!) in Anchorage, Alaska in 2008. There was a lot of nostalgia seeing all these events and excitement all over again, and I am incredibly grateful to Jason, Marge and all the other Mid-A coaches who allowed me to tag along and help out. I feel like I was given a lot of leeway in terms of race day testing and wax choices...I appreciate the trust that was given to my decisions and am glad for the opportunity to wake up every day and be a part of another ski team. As some are fond of saying, Mid-AAllDayEveryDay!











Thursday, March 6, 2014

Junior Nationals Report #2

Just a quick update with some photos from the classic sprint!

Erin and her New England teammates getting down to business in the heats

Erin qualified in 7th position and was put into a stacked quarterfinal heat. Kind of cool that all three of the New England racers in her quarter also happened to be from New Hampshire...I don't know if they planned it or not, but right from the gun Erin, Maddy and Hannah broke away from the rest of the heat and made it a 3-person race up front. Erin hung in there for third and I was 90% sure she would nab a lucky-loser spot. Unfortunately she was just outside but still ended up 13th place! Another great result!

Everett (bib #7) rocking his quarterfinal

Mid-A had a solid day, with a good deal of athletes qualifying for the heats. The big result of the day came from NYSEF racer Everett Sapp, who used great tactics to advance through the rounds. Being one of the smaller guys in the heats, Everett would just hang near the back of the pack and not concern himself with getting into trouble on the downhills. Then, he just hammered that last big climb and pulled away from the rest. He ended up making it all the way to the final and getting 5th overall!

Marge and Jason, the ones who call all the shots!

Special appearance by Duncan Douglas aka "JackedUpOldMan" (in Toko jacket). For those that are unaware Duncan is a top biathlete and yes, his pole is being used as a rifle in this photo

Some EISA racing action...Gavin Hess (Mid-A/UNH) and Sam Merrens (NE/Dartmouth) in a quarterfinal together

Start of a women's heat...the combination of sun and snow made for some cool lighting up in the mountains




Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Junior Nationals Report #1

Busy week already here at Junior Nationals in Stowe! Team #SLUEngland is off to a great start, with some top results in the 5/10k classic race.

Erin racing to 17th in the 5k classic

All three SLU skiers were in the top 20 on an awesome classic race day: blue skies, hard tracks and blue kick wax! Calvin posted a 20th place finish, with Erin in 17th. The biggest race of the day, however, came from Blaine in 10th place. One race down and already our first SLUEngland All-American result! Blaine's take on his race? "I don't know, I just did what I always did but yeah it was sick." You can't ask for a better race mentality! Another highlight of a great season.

I am a wax tech for the Mid-A team this week, which has been equally cool. Something is always needing to be done so there hasn't been a ton of time for pictures, but I captured a few for atmosphere:

Hannah Barnes (Mid-A/Harvard) followed by Riley Douglas (Mid-A/HF-L). There are a few EISA skiers racing for Mid-A this week, and it is kind of cool to wax skis for people we are usually racing AGAINST during the regular season. Other EISA skiers along with Hannah include Maile Sapp (HAR), Gavin Hess (UNH), Adam Luban (MID)

All teams are given a mobile-home style waxing trailer to work in, but Edgewise definitely upped the style

Speaking of trailer-life...pretty much the only time we get to sit down is during lunch, when we prop ourselves up on whatever box or bin we can find to enjoy a sandwich or two. Can you tell this crew is putting in a lot of wax time?

I'll try to keep updates coming throughout the week...tomorrow is a big day of classic sprinting and conditions continue to look great. I have a feeling there will be more top-10 results for the #SLUEngland crowd...