Event Report: UVM Outing Club Winter Classic

Snowshoe racers get last minute instructions and wait for their alpine teammate to finish.

Race day dawned clear, sunny and warm as 11 team of 3 racers gathered at the Bolton Nordic Center.  There were many great costumes, lots of neon and spandex on course. Everyone had a great time  and cheered loud as everyone crossed the finish line. The race started with a slalom, then  snowshoe and finally a nordic ski.

“Everyone had a really great time and the club’s leader community is already super psyched to put on Winter Classic ‘10.” Kevin, UVM OC Organizer  | UVM Outing Club Website

RESULTS

place    Team name                                         total time
1    Team Building Exercise Not Tonight    1:11:07
2    Tres Amigos Muchos                                1:11:19
3    Da Waffles                                                   1:12:13
4    Out Wheelers                                             1:12:17
5    Kowabungas                                               1:17:07
6    Winner Winner Chicken Dinner           1:21:32
7    Callie Abbott                                              1:43:12
8    Better Luck Next Time                           1:52:08
9    Awesome                                                    1:54:18
10    Dynamic                                                   2:25:48
*    The Piggly Wigglies                                  0:56:10

A perfect long weekend.

Monday: Overnight temps around 10degrees and morning grooming will make great skiing to

Our grooming advisors.

day on our groomed trails.  We have 25km groomed classic and skate.  And it doesn’t get much better than this- extra blue.  Temperature at 8am is 12 degrees and forecast is for temps to rise into the mid 20s.

There is still nice power on our backcountry trails.  And folks skiing Bolton to Trapps trail report good skiing.

Sunday: It’s another great ski day today.  Groomed and Backcountry Skiing is awesome.  25km groomed, trail surface is packed powder mixed with frozen granular.  at 8:30am it is 12 degrees and no wind.

Backcountry reports are great.  And we have heard that there is powder everywhere and no breakable crust.  Out pass holders are calling it “BOLTON MAGIC”– great powder when you lease suspect it.

Make a Day of It- Our spotlight today is  On the Rise Bakery

yum

This place is amazing.

They make a mean pizza, fab baked goods, coffee, great music and if you get there early enough in the morning a bag of day olds.  And everything is local!!!  Also live music Wednesday-Saturday.

They are just off Rt 2 in Richmond.  Turn at the light in Richmond onto Bridge street and they are down the hill on the right.

[do you have an idea of a place that we should add to our Make a Day of It listing... let us know. send an email nordiccenter@boltonvalley.com]

Happy Valentines Day! Bring your valentine skiing and check out our Make Your Own Valentine Table.

Saturday: Conditions are perfect today. 4-6″ of powder on Thursday afternoon and some cold temperatures in the past 48 hours will make for some great skiing all weekend. Today we have 25km groomed Classic and Skate. Trail surface conditions are packed powder with some granular snow tilled in. Wax of the day is Blue. Temps at 8am is 7 degrees, it’s a perfectly clear blue sky and the sun is just rising over the mountains. The forecast is for warming through the day.

We recommend getting here early to ski for the next couple days so you can get parking. And don’t forget there is often space in the Tennis Court Lot down behind the Sports Center building.

Today we have Groups lessons at 10am and 1pm. Our Explorer Snowshoe Tour is today from 2-4pm.

Make a Day of It- Today’s spotlight is on Williston Farmers Market Winter

Market. Grab breakfast at the market on your way to Bolton and you will be fueled for a great day of skiing with some yummy locally made food.

Friday 2/13 we hosted the CVU/CHS High School 5km Freestyle Race. Thanks to everyone who helped make this race happen. We had great trail conditions and it was fun to see so many parents and spectators cheering.

Link here to the CVU Ski Team Results Page [results will be posted asap]

What a difference a day makes.

I just returned from grooming and wow is it good out there. We had very minimal snow loss in Saturday night’s warm up and this combined with several inches of new snow Sunday morning makes the skiing great.

Today Broadway, World Cup, Spruce, Maple and Pond Loop are groomed for classic and skate. Trail surface are packed powder. Other trails were groomed Sunday morning and have a nice hard pack surface with skied in powder on top.

At 10am it is 10 degrees, sun is shining strong and there is no wind.

In the woods it’s powder on a base. Our regular backcountry skiers are out now surveying conditions and we will report on their findings later in the afternoon.  The finding on backcountry conditions have concluded that it is a couple inches of powder on a crust.  It is decent skiing, but a little more challenging than skiing on powder.

I have taken lots of photos recently.   We still have lots of great snow.  Enjoy.

Have a great day, Liz

Ice forms each winter on the exposed rock ledge along the bottom of Broadway.

Maple Loop is one of our favorite trails. It is so peaceful and the scenery is amazing.

Clem and Herman have been skiing together at Bolton for 20 years... Picnic Loop before lunch, then Maple or World Cup in the afternoon.

There is always such a great variety of equipment on our ski racks. Racing skis, touring, light backcountry, heavy backcountry, alpine touring, snowshoes, pulks and the occasional wooden skis with pine tar base.

The groomer heading away from the Nordic Center. Check out how big those snow piles are. We might have snow until June this year.

Event Report: Get Out and Backcountry Ski Festival

Registration area with lots of great info from CTA and Bolton.

Perfect powder, excited participants and great volunteers were the hilights of the 1st Annual Get out and Backcountry Ski Festival at Bolton Nordic.  Early morning temps in the single digits didn’t deter about 50 people from getting out to Bolton yesterday for a great day of backcountry tours and clinics sponsored by Catamount Trail Organization.

Morning action included Telemark Skills Clinic on the Tele Practice Slope, a mini tour up Bryant Trail to Bryant Cabin, then down Gardners Lane, Cliffhanger.

The festival group.

Amy Diller from the CTA opened up her pack to share what she brings out on a backcountry ski. Check out her blue helmet.

Lunch was busy with talks about How to pack backpack for a day of skiing and a discussion of skis, boots and poles for backcountry.  Just before heading back outside for the afternooon sessions the group was tested on CTA, U.S. Skiing and Bolton trivia… prizes included great stuff from the CTA  gift vault.

Jim from the CTA and Morgan from Rossignol answer questions about backcountry gear.

The afternoon session included longer tours to Georges George, Bryant, JJs and Holden’s Hollow.  At the end of the afternoon everyone was tired and happy after a great day outside.

Mansfield Nordic Club- BKSL Duathlon

Today was a cold day, but it was not without lots of  skiing action.  Early morning clouds vanished and a brilliant blue sky appeared in time for a great ski day.  We hosted the Mansfield Nordic Club Youth Ski League Duathlon.  It was a great crowd of excited kids and parents coming from as far away as the Frost Mountain Club in Ripton. (Frost Mountain has the best team hats.)

The events started with a Lollipop Race for the littlest kids…. and the prize was not just any old lollipop, but a fancy rock candy lollipop.  The J5-J3 racers did race in Duathlon format- Starting with a mass start and classic race loop, then they changed their skis and poles and finished up the race with a skate loop.  With bomber classic tracks and nice firm corduroy for skate the racers were happy and skied fast.

J3 racer coming into the finish line.

The lead boys working together into the last lap on Picnic Loop.

Parents directing racer into the transtion zone to change skis from Classic to Freestyle.

Lollipop kids coming into the finish line with lots of cheering from parents and other racers.

Racers getting a course description from Murray.

Parents cheering with a bell for the Lollipop Race.

Lollipop racer from Frost Mountain Club making the turn on her second lap as her dad cheers.

Adventures in the Backcountry

New skis and bindings. These things are awesome.

I am just going to put it out there- backcountry conditions are perfect right now and they were perfect last weekend.  Despite lots of traffic on our ungroomed backcountry trails conditions are so good.

After a year of wanting the Karhu Guides I finally got my hands on a pair and skied them last weekend.  WOW it was awesome.  They are light, have waxless pattern in the middle and metal edges.  I skied up to Bryant Cabin with no problem and glided/turned some of the chutes off Gardners Lane on the way back down.

This past Sunday I went out skiing with Angus, Kricket, Pete and Matt.  They planned to do a longer ski, so I joined them up Bryant and about 1/2 way out Birch Loop, then turned around and had a leisurely ski back to the Nordic Center.   I had a fantastic ski with good friends, nice snow and perfect trails all in an hour and a half.  You don’t have to go far or be out there all day to have a great experience on our trails.

On the lookout for powder. . . the ski up to Bryant Cabin is a perfect time to chatch up with friends.

Angus standing next to one of his maps posted on Bryant Cabin. He is a great cartographer and we love the map that he made for Bolton Nordic.

A happy group, sheding layers and getting ready for the next part of the ski.

The way back down from Birch Loop was really fun.  I came across Chris, one of our Nordic Ski Patrolers, at Bryant Cabin.  Chris and I shared some of our morning adventures and then went off in different directions.  From Bryant Cabin I skied out Gardners Lane and took a sharp right on Big Blue.  Gardners Lane has a nice skied in track and once I got to Big Blue (a nice steep chute) there was some tracks ahead of me, but also mounds of of nice fresh powder.  At the bottom of Big Blue I decided to get back on Bryant Trail headed down.  And near the World Cup intersection I explored on of Art’s newer trails- Cup Runneth Over.  This is a great trail marked with red markers that connects from Bryant to Broadway near the pump house.

I’m going to work on a course for Saturdays BK Youth Race…. photos from my weekends adventures will be online soon.

Liz

Ski Games and Activites

On Friday, January 9th under a clear sky complimented by setting sun and rising full moon the Mt. Mansfield Nordic Club BKSL Skiers and UVM Ski Team joined forces for a great afternoon of ski games, jumping, dual slolom, obstacle course with rollers, Stick in the Mud and a relay race at the end. After the sun had set everyone headed inside for homemade goodies, hot chocolate and poster signing by the UVM Ski Team. [read a little more about this on the UVM blog]

Most important before games on skis is stretching and warmup.

The UVM Team shares their secret stretch with the MMSC skiers. . . we are actually not sure what's going on here.

The group get's organized and UVM Skiers do introductions and tell a story about their first memory of skiing.

Let the games and jumping begin... the snowbank luge jump was amazing. And there were some spectacular landings and huge crashes.

There were also rollers at the end of the obstacal course.

Ryan is starter for the dual slolom and it looks like the kids in the starting gate are about to go down backwards.

This crew is getting ready for a serious game of Stuck in the Mud... including some crashes and spills. Everyone was laughing.

Just before sunset everyone gathered on the snowbank for a group photo.

Results and Story- Catamount Trail BC Challenge

Thanks Racers- we had a very successful 2008 Trapps to Bolton Backcountry race in some challenging conditions and weather last Saturday. Link here for full results!

Photo Credit: Jim Fredericks

Catamount Trail BC Challenge Race –  Trying to discourage all but the hardiest backcountry skiers, the race poster read ”No Wimps Allowed”. This didn’t discourage fourteen hardy souls who signed up to take the challenge and when it came to race day, twelve racers stepped up to the starting line.

Socked in by dense fog and threatening rain, the racers sprinted out of the start on the groomed trails at the Trapp Family Touring Center. After three kilometers, they made a sharp turn onto the Old County Road and the ungroomed Catamount Trail. Another couple of kilometers, the racers were greeted by the Stowe Mountain and Rescue Squad at the beginning of a seven kilometer grueling climb to the highest point on the Catamount Trail at 2420 ft. At that point Eric Tremble led the charge at a blistering pace with Justin Beckwith in hot pursuit 30 seconds behind. The other competitors were more spread out as they paced themselves for the long climb ahead. Racers using lighter weight racing poles with small baskets punched through the top layer of crusty snow causing more difficulty in the climb. About 45 minutes into the race the going got even tougher for the competitors as a cold rain created an icy coating on the course and harder climbing conditions for all those except racers with kicker skins.

The finish arena was a welcome site for the competitors at the Bolton Valley Touring Center with professional race course fencing, pop up tents, and a enthusiastic group of spectators. First over the line was Eric Tremble of Jericho, VT who maintained his lead throughout the race and nailed down a lightning time of 1:42:39. Tremble crossed the finish line displaying a big smile and a trace of souvenir blood on his face caused by a crash in his daredevil descent. Justin Beckwith of Waitsfield, VT never backed off his pursuit of Tremble and crossed the finish line soon after in 1:44:40. Third place went to Chris Rodgers of Westford in 1:56:11. In the women’s category Sarah Moore from Waitsfield, VT overtook Betsy Richert of Keene, NY on the descent to take top honors in the women’s category in 2:23:48. Unable to detach her kicker skins, Richert lost valuable time in the downhill and finished 1 minute and fourteen seconds off the pace. Competitors used a wide range of equipment from no-wax touring skis and boots to heavy backcountry equipment and plastic boots. The winner, Eric Tremble used no-wax touring skis, light touring NNN boots, and BC telescoping poles.
Beckwith raced with light metal edged BC skis outfitted with NNN racing bindings and a combi boot. His Swix Universal klister worked extremely well throughout the race but he said his race poles with smaller baskets hindered his climbing ability.

Following the race, all competitors and volunteers were treated to a much appreciated pasta buffet at the BV Nordic Center. A great array of prizes were donated by by Karhu USA, Trapp Family Lodge, Rossignol, Bolton Valley, and the Catamount Trail Association. When the day came to an end, all the racers had a great time and vowed to return for the next years 2nd Annual BC Challenge. The profits from the race will be donated to the Catamount Trail Association.

Article by Jim Fredericks, CTA

Link here for full results!

Catamount Trail BC Challenge Race–

It was challenging day for a race, but everyone had a great time.

Racers getting last minute instructions from Jim Fredericks of Catamount Trail Org.

And the racers are off– skiing out the Teaching Track Trail at Trapps before getting on to the Catamount Trail South towards Bolton Valley.

Eric Tremble (1st place) and Justin Beckwith (2nd Place)– discuss the race just after coming across the finish line.

Today’s Results

Women:

1. Sarah	Moore
2. Betsy	Richert

Men:

1. Eric	Tremble
2. Justin	Beckwith
3. Chris	Rodgers

Saturday Ski

On the trails– by Liz

I went on one of the best skis of the year this afternoon with my friend Eric Tremble.  All these photos are from Saturday.

We went out today with the intention of skiing Telemark and Bobcat– two trails that finally have enough snow to groom.  It was a blast and I felt a little bit like we were in the Bill Koch/Rossignol Movie- the Ski Experience.

Art and Eric– discussing the best equipment to use for the Catamount Trail BC Challenge Race.

We started up Telemark– it was groomed this morning– it’s always fun to ski something new.

The kick wax worked great and we had an easy time striding all the way up Telemark.  Skiing down Bobcat was super fun– it’s still a little bumpy, but this challenged us to concentrate on balance.

Great view of the alpine trails from Bolton Lodge- from Bolton Lodge we headed up Beaver Pond and Deer Run.  The snow on the groomed trails was quite good– and fast with several inches of new snow tilled into the transformed crust.

We cruised back up the hill in the great classic tracks on Maple Loop.

Tremble skiing up Maple Loop

We bombed down Spruce Run- slid all the turns and checked out views of Camel’s Hump and the BV alpine trails along the way.

Snowbanks on Maple Loop– we couldn’t pass up this photo opportunity.  The snow pack is still so deep and we are forecast to get more snow this week.

On the way back in we skied Pond Loop and noticed the deep snow on the dock.  There is nothing like skiing in late February and March–

At the end of the ski I ran into Clem Holden, who has been skiing at Bolton for more than 50 years– he says the conditions are perfect– get out and ski.