In this episode of Nordic Nation, we speak all things trail design with John Morton. Based in Vermont, and global in perspective, Morton provides insights into the literal ups and downs of trail design and how full-blown nordic centers and small scale trails can bring a modern vibe to an old-school sport. He runs Morton Trails locally but has a global reach with projects based in China. His most recent trail work at Paul Smith’s...
Running a small liberal arts college is big business. Stress over enrollment. Stress over capital improvements. Stress over staying relevant. Paul Smith’s College in Paul Smiths, New York is a relative newcomer on the East Coast college scene; founded in 1946 and currently enrolling 745 students. One particular aspect Paul Smith’s makes it stand out – a massive 14,200 acre campus in the foothills of the Adirondack high peaks region. This is perhaps the school’s...
On the tails of a season North American skiers might still be smiling about, it could be hard to think about how climate change might negatively impact our small sport. It is convenient to have selective memory and recall a phenomenal crust ski on the Lost Man Loop off of Independence Pass in Colorado on June 10th of this year, rather than remembering running the same loop when it was almost completely dry on July...
The following was submitted to FasterSkier by John Morton, a former U.S. biathlete and two-time Olympian (1972 and 1976) who has attended 10 Winter Olympics as “either an athlete, a coach, the Biathlon Team Leader, Chief of Course or, more recently as a spectator,” according to his bio (at end of article). Today, Morton, 71, lives in Thetford, Vermont, and works in trail design. *** I’ve had the remarkable good fortune of attending 10 Winter Olympic Games....
Inspired by the Maine Winter Sports Center, a small Montana community formed the Seeley Lake Regional Outdoor Center for Kinetic Sports (ROCKS) in 2010, and this spring, ROCKS will file an application to build a new Seeley Lake nordic-ski venue. If all goes according to plan, the area would be one of six venues with D-category homologation.
From a new 5 k homologated course to the largest snowmaking system of its type in North America, Middlebury College's Rikert Nordic Center in Vermont is on the cutting edge of cross-country ski racing. It did so largely in part to attract events like NCAAs, which start today.
I know, it’s been a long winter and even Nordic diehards are ready for some sunshine, song birds and green grass. But I can’t help one look back at the recent, remarkable ski season. The snow may have been late in arriving here in New England, but when it came, we were buried. Locations to the south and over near the Atlantic coast, which typically have decent skiing only a couple of weeks each winter,...
For the sixth time, in the nearly 60 year history of the NCAA Skiing Championship, the University of Vermont will host the four day competition to determine the nation’s top individual skiers as well as the country’s best collegiate ski team. Since the first NCAA Skiing Championship, held in 1954, the competition program has changed to reflect the evolution of the sport. Early collegiate championships featured downhill and slalom from the Alpine disciplines as well...
Seeley Lake, MT – Olympian and Nordic ski trail designer John Morton of Morton Trails was recently in Seeley Lake to assess the potential of Seeley Lake’s Nordic trails. Morton Trails teamed with local firm CTA Architects and Engineers and was selected through a competitive bidding process to perform a Nordic events and training center feasibility study for Seeley Lake. The team was selected by Seeley Lake’s Nordic Challenge Steering Committee, a group representing various...
More than a decade ago, Maine’s governor, Angus King commissioned an economic study which determined that New England’s largest state was actually two distinct, economic regions: the affluent southeastern coast, and the struggling, northern forests. Through the years, Aroostook County had been dealt a hat trick of economic setbacks: first, the emergence of Idaho as the nation’s premier source of potatoes, second, Quebec’s ability to process timber products more economically than Maine, and more recently,...
What do a GPS, a retired airline pilot, and a Norwegian guru named Hermod Bjorkestol have in common? All are key components of a plan to bring many of the U.S.’s biggest venues in line with International Ski Federation (FIS) standards. At its annual meetings in Turkey in early June, FIS made it clear to American officials that a longstanding exception would be revoked: starting in the winter of 2011-2012, all races held in the...