Blueberry Crisp! MUHS Nordic hosts at BBH

It was a bit chilly this morning when the MUHS Nordic Varsity Girls stood out in the field at Blueberry Hill with skiers from CVU, Otter Valley and South Burlington.  Tony Clark had groomed immaculately, and continued to do so all through the day.  The CVU girls were dominant (and numerous!) but Dominique powered the girls, followed closely by Britta, skiing for North Branch.  The MUHS Varsity boys missed being one-two by the length of a ski pole, with Walker and Will coming in two-three to loud cheers.  Cheers, too, for Jake Whitcomb, the wax master extraordinaire, and his two able assistants, Mia Allen and Rick Klein.  As usual, coach Chas Lyons ran a smooth operation, with lots of help from parents and MUHS nordic groupies.  (You know who you are.)   Check out the FMN website to see pictures, or look at our Blueberry Hill album on Picassaweb.  (Where they are out of order, but able to be viewed in a larger format and as a slideshow.)

Women's Group Glides Over Perfect Tracks

A perfect morning on perfect snow.  What more is there to say?  We started on Battell and looped over to Holland and Frost, and indeed it was quite Robert Frostish in the woods.  Kudos to Allison Dickinson, not only for skiing minus a basket, but for using poles of different lengths. 

Paintballers Have A Blast

by Dominique Powers

It was a chilly Saturday evening when many Frost Mountaineers met at Mountain Top for the Fourth Annual Paintball Biathlon. Thankfully it was a skate race otherwise we might have been using Polar...or at least it felt like it. The high schoolers went off at around 5 o'clock, girls and then boys; all people older than high school set off at 6:30, fully under the lights. Though the paintball guns often froze, and even when you swore you were pointing it right at the target, the paintballs kept on getting lost in the bushes, it was well worth it. When looking back on the race I think that many people will remember it as very cold; as well as a great time.

Dominique is a ninth grader and competes on the MUHS Nordic Team, as well as forFrost Mountain Nordic.

Frost Mountain Nordic Women's Weekly Tour

It was a gorgeous blue wax day as the group climbed up Gilmore to Rte. 59 and onto a newly groomed Brown Gate Trail.  Barry King pointed out along the way porcupine tracks, moose barking and bear claw marks up a good sized beach tree.  We topped off our Thursday morning ski with a final descent down the Holland to the touring center. Good company, good snow and the beauty of the northern woods in January makes for the start of a very good day.  This is the first year for the women's group.  Come join us at Breadloaf waxed up and ready to go on Thursday mornings at 9:00 am.  All ages and abilities welcomed.  Pictured from left to right: Holly Ferguson, Linda Punderson, Alison Dickinson and Barry King.

First Time Trial of the Obama Era

Apparently many of the regular TT crew failed to heed our new president's call to work harder because they missed yesterday's time trial on perfect Breadloaf tracks.  Ted Hicks carried the day in the skate race, beating first-timer Fred Kniffin in a speedy time of under 16 minutes.  Bill McKibben finished first in th classic race, and also last, and indeed in every other position, all in a time of 17:58. 

Last Time Trial of the Bush Era

In bracingly cold conditions, on hard and fast tracks (thanks John, Jim and Tim), we contested the second time trial of the year on Wednesday afternoon.  Barney Hodges, returning to the course where he covered himself in college glory, covered himself in bloody gore when his nose sprang a leak at the crest of Battell.  Though he pulled up to staunch the flow, he stayed in sight of Ted Hicks at the front of the skate race in roughly 16 minutes.  Bill McKibben won a three-way classic contest with a 19:05 time.  Congrats to Morris Earle on his first time trial outing.

Next week the time trials move back to Tuesday--which means we'll be able to celebrate Barack Obama's inauguration.  Yes We Can!

--Bill McKibben

Moonlight Ski, Sauna and International Potluck

Even though the full moon was obscured by passing clouds, the night was bright as a jolly group skied around Hogback last night. One skier was surprised when the stump in front of her moved, But, it wasn’t a stump, it was a fellow skier who had taken a fall. We ended on a long downhill, which generated a lot of laughs and exhilaration. A warm fire, hot food and sauna at Blueberry Hill topped off the evening. A special thanks to Tony Clark for freshly groomed trails and for planning the event.

An Adventure Ski with Bill McKibben

A group of seven lead by Bill McKibben enjoyed a beautiful tour through the woods yesterday. A special highlight was skiing pass an old homestead that had known better times. There were sweeping views of the Green Mountains toward the north, as the group winded down to a forgotten field with gnarly old apple trees. The tour concluded through a long avenue of stately red pines planted in the 1930s by the CCC, passed Robert Frost’s Cabin and ended at Breadloaf. A good ski day for all.

MUHS hosts High School Race at Rikert

A fantastic day at the races!  The Rikert crew, led by John, Tim and Jim, could not have groomed better, head coach Chas Lyons ran a smooth operation, the participation of parents and Frost Mountain members was key, the waxing was top-notch and the concession stand was a great addition.  More than 200 racers were out on the course.  Here's a link to the album of pictures that's on the website.  Click on any photo to enlarge it, or play it as a slide show.  Results available here. Congratulations to all!

First Time Trial of the Year

from Bill McKibben:

The winners were Bruce Ingersoll, who skated the 5k course in an astonishing 15:40, Ted Hicks, the first classic skier across in 18 minutes and change, and Dia Jenks, the first female skier to reach the finish.  It was an incredibly icy course--doubtless these are the fastest times we'll see all year.  But great fun--the college team was finishing intervals as we began, and the high school has a time trial as we finished.  All together there must have been 50 skiers up at Breadloaf trying to go as fast as they could!  Special kudos to Sara Wesson, first-time TTer, who finished strong, double-poling across the line.

Place Your Bets

Update from the US Nordic Ski Championships in Anchorage, Alaska

by Andrew Gardner, January 3, 2009

click to enlarge

Typically when it is cold and a race is threatened to be canceled, one has to go into the race as though it's going to happen. That's a challenge this week since racing seems brutal and increasingly unlikely. Still, the Sauce & I worked through a big pile of skis and the schedule is set for tomorrow. Here are some resources that will get you through tomorrow:

Anchorage Nationals Website.

Photos from Nensa

Temperature at Kincaid - Look at "West Turnagain"

Fasterskier.com


More soon...

Why do you cross-country ski?

by Bruce Ingersoll

Nordic skiing has taken me to places in the outdoors I would never have gone before. From skiing off the very peak of Mt Shasta (14,000 + above sea level) to the base on skate skis, to Calgary and France to watch my sister compete in the Olympics, to skiing in the hardwood forest above Breadloaf in the red dusk of sunset on a cooling March afternoon – Amazing sport! I also love Nordic skiing because now that my daughters are older - 9 and 12, they are loving it and it is a great way to spend quality time with my kids, who will just as often request to go Nordic skiing, rather than the Snow Bowl on a Saturday or a Sunday.

Bruce Ingersoll is one of the co-coaches of Frost Mountain Nordic Bill Koch League.

Elite Skiers Sign On To Support 350.org

by Andrew Gardner

First posted on www.FasterSkier.com on December 24, 2008

When Sara Renner planned her comeback to World Cup racing, she left out a trip to New Zealand last summer, a typically annual pilgrimage for the Canadian silver medalist. Renner cited sustainability concerns as motivation in her decision to reduce travel, “We thought about the overall costs of going there. It played into the decision.” Elite athletes don’t usually consider their carbon footprint when planning training. Most of athletics is governed by a more is better mindset. Bling tends to trump social outreach. But green motivations spurned Renner and her husband, Alpine World Cup racer, Thomas Grandi to lessen their impact. It also spurned them to join a collection of athletes endorsing 350.org.

Defined by one of its founders, Bill McKibben, a fanatical cross-country skier, “350 is the red line for human beings, the most important number on the planet. The most recent science tells us that unless we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, we will cause huge and irreversible damage to the earth.” read more...