Homecoming

At the edge of the parking lot at the Wild Wings Ski Touring Center stands a strategically placed, much used, and much loved snow pile. Getting up speed by dropping down the short slope in front of the main building, young skiers catch air off the top of the pile, daring each other to ever-bigger, ever-trickier leaps. They’ve been doing it for years. Ben Ogden, Sophie Caldwell, Simi Hamilton, Katharine Ogden, Bill Koch, Fin Bailey. . . a disproportionate number of America’s recent ski-stars have tested their young courage—and honed their young skills—on this particular snow pile. This neighborhood produces skiers, and the view out windows along the North Road, the Hapgood Pond Road, and through Peru and Landgrove Villages frames the passing of Olympians, World Cup winners, NCAA champions as they run, stride, and roller ski past. This little Southern Vermont valley is home to many American skiers whose names are familiar to ski-fans around the country. And for those globe-trotting skiers, winter homecomings are particularly sweet.

With a break in the World Cup schedule to allow teams, equipment, and athletes to travel from Europe to North America (for upcoming World Cup events in Canmore, Alberta and Minneapolis, Minnesota), Ben Ogden took the opportunity to return home to Vermont. Part of Ogden’s membership in his team, SMS T2, involves a responsibility to give back to local ski communities, to engage with fans and developing skiers. It’s something Ogden does with ease, so it was more of a treat than a surprise when he arrived to share a practice session with West River Nordic (Ogden’s boyhood club team) on the trails near Stratton Mountain.

With many of West River’s young skiers sporting false paste-on mustaches (a nod to Ogden’s now-famous affectation) the workout included games, drills, and an unforgettable tour through the snowy woods of southern Vermont. And while a Minnesota World Cup is bound to get the attention of the American ski community, this is how a star can really have an effect on his sport. Ogden, himself, remembers ski stars of the past visiting his own practices at Wild Wings. Now Ogden gives back to these young skiers who follow his every move, who emulate his every technical nuance, and who go home with false mustaches tucked in their pockets as reminders of the day when Ben Ogden’s homecoming brought him back to the valley that raised him.