Stowe Training Trip

On the quest for snow, we headed out for Stowe, Vermont on Sunday. The first day we all did a 2 -3 hour easy classic distance ski with the majestic view of the Vermont mountains in our sights and the sun setting down upon us. From there we drove to our accommodations for the next three nights. We are staying in the oldest ski house in Vermont – a rambling, large white house up on a hill off Route 108 – and though the house is a little quirky, we are all comfortable and enjoying the company of our teammates and comparing notes on who snores the loudest. 🙂

After snuggling with Simon and Bear (the house cats) all night, we headed out for our morning jog on Monday. We feasted on eggs, bacon, and oatmeal for breakfast and then started out for another beautiful classic ski. Half the team skied from the house (a little trail-breaking required on a backcountry trail to reach the Trapp’s trails) and the rest of the team drove up to the lodge and started from there. Nearly everyone on the team has “skied to the Cabin” by this point and we’re all enjoying the ripping downhills that the Trapp’s trail system has (Mollie says she’s learning to love them). In the afternoon, we did a short and sweet tour of the race course on skate skis to prepare for the upcoming Eastern Cups and, more importantly, our TT with GMVS tomorrow. 🙂 In the afternoon, we went into town and found a coffee shop (the team’s favorite activity, besides skiing).

Today we pushed the pace on the race course (“It was sweet,” says Gino) with some level three intervals. Skyler came down from Jericho and joined us. Everyone started the workout with some starts and finishes, including a boy’s team favorite – in a pack of ten: ripping down the Telemark Trail into the field, banging a hard U turn backwards into the finish and then sprinting away to an imaginary “finish line”. Lots and lots of photos to come once we get home tomorrow and Liz has her camera cord back. Then everyone got down to business with two long L3 intervals on the race course. Though we got a fair amount of rain last night, the trails at Trapp’s held up well and still have plenty of cover.

We’ll ski again this afternoon and tomorrow we’re looking forward to a continuous pursuit classic-skate TT with GMVS in the morning before departing for home, maybe with a stop at the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Waterbury, before we hit the highway.

Stay tuned for more pictures tomorrow…