Do you know French? - Quebec Camp Part 1

Yesterday Saint Mikes Nordic made the trek to Stoneham, Quebec for our first ever thanksgiving camp, hoping to find the snow that continues to elude northern Vermont. Our lunch stop on the way up to camp was enough to convince us that, no, as a team we are woefully unable to speak french. After awkwardly butchering the french language (much to the embarrassment of our Canadian coach), we continued on our way, peering out the windows, waiting for the ground to turn white. 

We were not disappointed. We arrived at Forêt-Montmorency determined to catch the rest of the light and were greeted by near perfect ski conditions. Excited about all the snow, the team skied until almost all the light was gone. We headed back to our chalet excited about the week to come.

What we saw out our windows this morning wasn't enough to crush our excitement, but it definitely left us a little less enthused to run out the door. We drove to the ski center in pouring rain, hoping to see it let up. Unfortunately it was destined to be a damp training session, and we headed onto the trails bundled up and determined to get in a good specific strength workout. By the end of the session the entire team was wringing out soaking wet clothing (why was the water running out of our gloves so dirty?!) and there was unanimous agreement that no one wanted to go back outside for an afternoon session. 

We have since retreated to home base for the afternoon for a much more sheltered strength workout. 

.skh

A friendly reminder from Julia!

When you reach the end of summer and it's been a while since you've seen your ski team family, here's a reminder to stay safe both in and out of training so you can make it back in the fall.

Williams and Middlebury Carnivals

Well, it's been a busy past couple of weeks for the team, prepping for the EISA Championships at Middlebury this past weekend.

Last weekend, the team was down in Bennington, VT for the Williams College Carnival at Prospect Mountain. We left earlier than usual, thanks in part to a HUGE snowstorm, one that gave Prospect almost 30" of new snow in the hours before the first race. And by early, I mean we were at our hotel before check-in, and got to tour Bennington for a little while.

Torin and Isaiah wanting the Nintendo-64 in the window.

The snow did more than just alter our departure time, though. With the sudden deterioration of road conditions, most of the restaurants in town were closed. Including the one we had reservations at. We had fun, though, driving around mostly empty Bennington, eventually stopping at the Bennington Pizza House, along with the Dartmouth men and the entire UVM team.

Dartmouth Carnival

On Thursday, the team traveled to Craftsbury Outdoor Center for the Dartmouth College Carnival, hosted in conjunction with the Craftsbury USSA Supertour, which brought some of the best domestic racers to Vermont for the weekend.

When we arrived, we did our usual course preview, getting a nice tour of the Craftsbury FIS Homologated loop. Afterwards, though, rather than just packing up and leaving for the night, as is almost often the case after arrival, a large portion of the EISA community remained, waiting patiently in the stadium until 4:15. It was at that time when Dartmouth seniors Annie Hart and Erik Fagerstrom led the group into the woods for a touching memorial to former Big Green skier Torin Tucker, who passed away at Craftsbury the weekend before, during the marathon. 

(Annie Hart photo)

UVM Carnival: The Fire Inside.

Last weekend, the team didn't travel per se for our carnival, but made the short hop over to Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe for the UVM Carnival/NENSA Eastern Cup races.

The Eastern Cup seems a much more relaxed atmosphere than just straight Carnival racing, with more people of varying ages and abilities, it seems more like an actual carnival!

The weekend actually started on a Saturday this week, as the event was kicked off with a 1,3km classic sprint. As it turns out, the SMC Nordic team isn't a strong sprint team. Oops.

In the men's race, Torin was the first SMC skier to race, sporting lucky bib #7. He was also the first place Knight, coming in 116th overall. He was followed closely by Isaiah, coming in 127th overall.

For the women, Chloe was the first finisher, coming in 116th as well. Behind her was Julia and Liz, in 135th and 137th.

Liz has the fire...

UNH Carnival: 2014 Edition

            After a solid week of classic practice, the team headed back out for the University of New Hampshire Carnival at Jackson Ski Touring last Thursday.

Upon arrival, we checked in to our hotel, which was right next to the stadium! The course after a bout of cold temperatures was fast and firm that afternoon, with the whole 5k international course available to preview. A whole 5k loop!

After our preview, the team went down the hill to the Shannon Door for dinner. Pizzas and pasta were the hot items at the ‘Irish Pub’ and we were accompanied by the Dartmouth Women, who were at the table next to us.

Dinner at the Pub

Colby Carnival

This past weekend, the team traveled to the Quarry Road Recreation Area for the first Winter Carnival of the season, hosted by Colby College. It was a long drive, nearly 6.5 hours by the time we arrived at the venue Thursday night. We arrived to a shortened course and tough conditions, with the area having been plagued by rain and mild temperatures the week before.

On Friday, the women started off the season with a 5km Classic race, two loops of the roughly 2.5km loop which still managed to include some of the tougher sections of the original course. The first race had some adverse conditions, with the hills being turned into a challenging mix of sugary-slush. The results weren’t all that great in the end, with Chloe leading the team in 84^th place (21:46.6), and Silke right behind in 85^th (22:15.4). Julia rounded out our top 3 in 89^th, coming in with a time of 22:56.3.

A few hours later, the men’s race was a different story. After the women’s race, the course was very different than the wax testing area, and any kick we thought we would get while going uphill during our 10km just wasn’t there. For many of us, it ended up being a 10km double pole. Add to that the increasing temperatures during the race, and you end up with bad times. Torin led the men in 79^th place (39:26.8), with Cody Putnam next in 84^th (42:12.6) and Simba third in 86^th (43:31.3). Over the day, Chloe and Torin were our only two scorers, with one point apiece.

After Friday’s race, we knew that Saturday had to be a different story. It was a 10/15km skate (so no wax to miss!), which meant 4-6 laps on course. Overnight, though, it had cooled off and left a nice base layer of ice under the granular that was left from Friday. This made for some interesting cornering and downhills.

In the women’s 10km, Silke led the group in 76^th, with a time of 34:50.2. Just under a minute behind, in 82^nd and 83^rd, Julia narrowly edged out Chloe for the second spot (and carnival points), with times of 35:45.2 and 39:49.5 respectively.

For the men, the course had been turned into even more of a sugar/ice track, with over 400 laps already having been skied into the course.  There were ruts, piles of snow, and tracks still left from the classic race. Torin led for the second day, coming in 63^rd in 41:34.4. Isaiah was next, coming in 81^st (45:38.1) and Boquist third in 83^rd (46:42.5). As a team, we tripled our point total, with Silke and Julia each scoring points (2,1), and Torin scored 3 points for the men.

Overall, both teams ended up in last for the weekend, with alpine’s points bringing SMC up to 14^th out of 16.

We are back in action this Friday at Jackson Ski Touring in Jackson, NH for the UNH Carnival, starting off with the men in a 10km Classic. 

Meet the Knights: Men's Team

Hey everyone! We thought it would be a good idea for you to get to know us a little bit!

These posts will be coming in two segments, with the Women's edition coming later this week.
Enjoy!

Name: Isaiah "Caveman" St. Pierre (Captain)
Hometown: Charlestown, NH
High School: Fall Mountain
Class of 2015
Major: Biochemistry
Skate or Classic: Classic
Favorite Distance: Sprints or marathons, don't really like anything between 3 and 25 km.
Favorite Skiing Memory: I raced the real Birkebiener a week after getting over the mumps.

Name: Torin La Liberte
Hometown: Madison, NH
High School: Kennett
Class of 2017
Major: Civil Engineering
Skate or Classic: Skate
Favorite Distance: 15km
Favorite Skiing Memory: Placing 13th at the 2011 Eastern High School Championships at Black Mountain after being seeded 104th.