New England
New England JOQ Day Two: Chisholm Ski Club welcomed recently retired US Ski Team member Justin Freeman and current USST skier Liz Stephen to Sunday's TD Banknorth Eastern Cup Freestyle races. The course featured two times up the feared “High School Hill” for women and three times for men; for many juniors it was their first crack at a longer distance race.
For the full story and complete results, click here.
Source: NENSA
New England JOQ Day One:
Alex Howe and Parker Tyler Win TD Banknorth Eastern Cup Classic Sprints –
Gunstock's Alex Howe skied away from Matt Briggs (Colby) and Rody Lageson (UNH) in the men's final to take the victory in the opener of the TD Banknorth Eastern Cup at Rumford. On the women's side it was three Stratton Mountain School teammates on the podium with Parker Tyler taking victory followed by Sophie Caldwell and Megan Killigrew. Isabel Caldwell (Stratton), Kristin Halvorsen (GMVS), and Elizabeth Anderson (Ford Sayre) earned the top 3 J2 spots, with Briger Tyler (Stratton), Nate Niles (Maine Coast), and David Sinclair (GMVS) standing on the men's J2 podium.
For the full story and complete results, click here.
Source: NENSA
Previous Races
The Geschmossel – Bretton Woods
A great report, pictures and results from Jamie Doucett of the Cambridge Sports Union.
CSU Blog – Geschmossel at Bretton Woods
John Sackett Memorial
Burke Mountain's Sam Tarling and Trina Hosmer of Stowe, VT skied to victories at the John Sackett Memorial.
For full results.
10K Women
10K Men
5K Boys
5K Girls
MidAtlantic
Previous Races
Harry Eldridge Memorial
Many New England juniors traveled into the Empire State with no JOQ in their own region. This made for a competitive field at the Harry Eldridge Memorial races and MidA JOQ. In the women's freestyle race OJ Lucy Garrec finished first in 21:31, 33 seconds faster then former UVM standout Carina Hamel. Jessica Snyder rounded out the podium with a time of 22:13.
In the men's freestyle race USBA's Zachary Hall bested the field by almost a minute with a time of 18:21, Sam Morse finished second in 19:19 and Travis Mann-Gow finished in 19:42.
In the 9.9 km women's classic race Stratton Mountain School's Karmen Whitman top the field with a time of 33:35 and Megan Killigrew and Kelly Levins finished with an identical time of 34:22 to round out the top three. In the J2 girls 6.6 km GMVS's Kristen Halvorsen finished first in 22:30, seven seconds faster then Carly Wynn, who finished one second faster then Isabel Caldwell.
In the men's 13.2 km classic race GMVS coach Jon Arne Enevoldsen bested his skiers with a time of 37:30. GMVS's Doug Debold and Preston Butler rounded out the top three with times of 39:03 and 39:17 respectively. In the J2 boys 6.6 km GMVS's David Sinclair won with a time of 19:13, Steve Mangan finished with a time of 19:46 in second and Bridger Tyler finished third with a time of 20:25.
Rocky Mountain
Previous Races
The SoHo SuperQ
The SoHo SuperQ, which is the 2nd biggest junior competition in the Nation, showed some strong racing by the some of the top juniors in the country.
For pictures and short write up on the event RMD Nordic
Tour the Summit
By: Louisa Morrissey
Winter Recreation, Families, Friends and Environment came together this past Sunday in the second annual Tour the Summit event representing a cooperative effort of the Towns of Frisco and Breckenridge, Gold Run and Frisco Nordic Centers, High Country Conservation, the Summit Nordic Ski Club and numerous local shops and businesses. 250 Nordic skiers and snowshoers of all ages and abilities took advantage of the unique opportunity to ski the Summit Country recreation path between Gold Run Nordic Center and the Frisco Nordic center. Along the way they fueled up on cookies, hot drinks and chocolates provided by local favorite restaurants Cool River, Blue Moon, Abbeys and Gilchrist Catering. At the finish, they were rewarded with delicious soup from Food Hedz, New Belgium beer and a surprise accordion concert from Gene Dayton.
This year’s tour saw a huge increase in the number of local families participating. In fact, family registration easily overwhelmed individual sign ups. While a few people challenged themselves to see how quickly they could cover the distance, most took their time to enjoy a beautiful Summit County winter day with family and friends. Ages ranged from 2 or 3 year olds, comfortably packed into a sled with Mom or Dad as the “sled dogâ€, to the fit and fast over 70 group. While some skiers had years of experience, others used this event as an opportunity to try out Nordic skiing for the first time. Sit chair skier Dave Poole humbled everyone as he cruised through the course…even flying right by the chocolate station as he enjoyed a little speed on the downhill. Everyone finished….happy with a challenge met and a day spent with family and friends..
While this is a festive fun event, participants were reminded along the route that our ability to enjoy winter recreation in Summit County is a fragile gift of the environment; one that can disappear quickly with climate change. While the facts presented along the way in signs from High Country Conservation seemed overwhelming at times, they were quickly followed by action items that each person could easily take in their own lives to make a difference. For instance, “It takes 12 million barrels of oil to make the 100 billion plastic shopping bags the United States consumes annually.†If all of us just took the time to bring our own bags to shop, we could easily make a dent in this daunting figure! At the finish area, several participants took a quiz from High Country Conservation to find out if they were an “eco warriorâ€, or needed to do a little more work to change their lifestyles.
This was a “zero waste†event. Each participant was given a plastic mug to use and reuse for drinks and soup along the course. All waste was either recycled or composted. Amazingly, at the end of an event with hundreds of participants and 5 food/snack stops, there was less than half a small bag of trash!
In offering a unique chance to ski the rec path (groomed only for the day of the event), enjoy a festive day with family and friends and also a day to remember that our winter lifestyle is a precious gift….one all of us need to preserve…the Tour the Summit event is quickly becoming a new tradition in the county.
The Tour the Summit is also the first event of a five event series across the state. The next stop will be the Leadville Tour on the 27 of January. Similar to the Tour the Summit event, the Mineral Belt Historical Tour is a recreational event (not a race) and will have food stops provided by local eateries. A strong environmental message will be echoed here. Unique to the Mineral Belt Tour is the emphasis on the rich mining history of the area. There are dozens of historical signs along the route. Participants will ski right by and under historical buildings, tailings piles, and mining equipment. For more information about the Mineral Belt Historical Tour go to www.leadvillenordic.org. For information about the entire “Keep Winter White†Nordic Tour Series, check out www.coloradocrosscountry.com.
