The Middlebury Nordic Ski Team begins its season officially on the first Monday of October. Middlebury skiing is part of the NESCAC conference and races the Eastern Carnival circuit. The team fields six women and six men in both classic and freestyle races attempting to qualify up to six participants in the NCAA championships held in early March. It is the goal of the Middlebury Nordic team to develop skiers capable of excelling at the highest levels of competition in college and beyond. Below are stories, tales, race reports, wax suggestions, photos, and a look at what goes on with this remarkable team.
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The Road to St. Lawrence Carnival Just Got a Bit Less Interesting.
by AG,
December 28, 2009
click to enlarge
There are doubtless many alums that have memories of the crown point bridge. Some in the van, some in trouble. (Patty has some great stories of the Flash & Barney days.) Today the bridge came to an end. Don't blink at 15 seconds - that's when the bridge evaporates into the snow and poor visibility.
Blog Comments
The frost mtn crew could hear the blast while skiing on 59 rd. Crazy! Shred in at Nationals panthers!
- 12/29/09, from Sabe
If you're going to throw Flash and Barney under the bridge, may as well toss Webber too. Crazy folk.
Christmas has come and gone. There is snow falling in Middlebury and the season is here. College racing always seems like an far-off goal so here's what we have coming up:
This week five members of the team are heading to the US National Championships in Anchorage, Alaska. Actually, this isn't totally correct, since three of our crew, Patrick, Dana and Lauren, are from Anchorage. Chase and Corrine will be heading up to the main event shortly. Why such a small crowd? Simple. US Nationals is a long way from Middlebury with a tight and difficult collection of races. It is costly both financially (there is a recession going on...) and physically. The athletes racing that are not from AK are athletes that have World Juniors and U23s in their sites. So what will the majority of the crew do?
Luckily, this year the Canadian Nor-Am circuit makes a stop in Val Cartier, QC just a scant six hour drive from the Champlain Valley. Patty Ross assisted by Sabe Davison (Midd Class of '07, former GMVS coach and current head of the local Frost Mountain Nordic Club / Team) will lead the charge into a competitive field to open the 2010 racing season.
Middlebury's Eastern contingent took on all eastern hot shots at the opening Eastern Cup in Presque Isle, ME, just a quick 9 hour drive from campus. Despite the fact that it is a hike, Presque Isle was a great venue and provided a sweet place to break the seal on the season of racing. Saturday's classic sprint was technical and a fair amount of terrain providing a solid wake up. Chase Marston and Corinne Prevot led the way results-wise with some strong performances from heat-leading Keely Levins and late-heat attacking Jimmy Levins. We suffered a bout of bad luck when we had 28 racers in the same 7-skier heat. (Math is not a priority in Northern Maine.) It was a fine place for team captain Graham Egan to work on his tactics as reported by the UVM blog on Fasterskier.
The classic day was cold with good tracks despite relatively low snow coverage in the area. Our results were solid and promising and I'm psyched with how folks were able to push into race mode. (Click the link below for results.)
Following the holidays our crew will split with a contingent heading north to Alaska for the US Nationals where the focus for some will be qualifying for WJC / U23 teams. (Congratulations to Patrick Johnson, who's late-season results pre-qualified him for U23s this year.) Our second crew will head to Val Cartier, QC for some strong FIS racing.
Lauren Fritz and Doug Debold lined up a pair of podium finishes in regional races to open the season. Doug finished third in the Grandview Classic in Ironwood, while Lauren finished third in an AMH cup race near Anchorage.
Gardner enters his fourth season at the helm of the men's and women's nordic ski teams. He came to Middlebury from Colorado Rocky Mountain School (CRMS) in Carbondale, Colo where he was Nordic Program Director. Since coming to New England, he acted as the wax tech for the 2008 Junior National Team, a coach at regional development camps and serves on the U23 NENSA board. Gardner is the coordinator for sustainability in athletics, serving on the college's environmental council. In the summer he enjoys road racing for the MetLife cycling team.
Now entering her 23rd year as a full-time coach of Middlebury nordic skiing, Patty came to the College after four years of world-class competition. She was one of five American women nordic skiers to compete in the Sarajevo Olympics in 1984; she also competed internationally with the U.S. national team from 1983 to 1986. Patty graduated from the University of New Hampshire, where she was an All-East collegiate skier and captain of the Wildcat team. While at UNH, Patty competed in the World University Games in Sofia, Bulgaria. As a coach for the International Special Olympic Games, Patty received a Distinguished Service Award in 1984. She acted as a coach for the U23/ World Junior Championships in Italy in 2008.
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