Results and Race Report/ Photos
Katrina Howe, UVM, getting ready to start.
Race day dawned with cold temps and a perfect blue sky yesterday. By 9:30, men’s start time, temps were in the mid single digits and the sun was shining. Today’s races was 6km — two laps on World Cup and a finish lap on Broadway and Teardrop.
Thanks to Northwest Vermont Ski Club for working hard to get this race together and collect great prizes. Racers enjoyed homemade cranberry orange bread and prizes donated by the Ski Rack and Seventh Generation.
Race Report by Damien Bolduc, NWVT The Bolton Opener was held yesterday, December 13, in mid-winter conditions! Seventy-five racers from around New England made their way to the event making the race a great success.
The morning started early with volunteers setting up the course, and getting registration going. Temps were in the single digits with a light breeze blowing. The sun was bright as the morning haze gave way to clear skies. The snow was fresh firm powder groomed and set perfectly by the folks at Bolton. It was deep too! The course was as much of a wake up call as were the temperatures. Starting with an interval start, the course was a long 5K, two laps on World Cup and a trip down to Tear Drop before finishing up the last stretch of Broadway.
It was 4 year old Eva Thurston vs. 5 year old Camille Bolduc in the 1K mass start Freestyle from the top of Broadway to the pump house and back to the Finish. At the half way point the race was neck and neck, with Eva gaining the advantage due to Camille missing the turn around. Eva continued to open the lead to the finish with superior technique and determination. It was great to have these two compete in this division showing promise to the continuation of world class females emerging from Vermont.
The Men’s and Women’s fields were stacked with the best of the best in the region. Racers from UVM, Middlebury, Burke and others showed up by the van load. Last years winner, NWVT member Eric Tremble, knew the odds were against him as he started the race as #1. He held off the UVM team who followed in the start order by not getting passed. He was a great mark for them to chase and ended up 5th overall. He was a little over a minute back from former Olympian Pat Weaver, the overall winner. Other members having a strong showing were Jake Hollenbach, Evan Martell, and Josh Dillon. These three held their own, improving since last season amongst this rather elite field. Tyler Magnan and Leigh Mallory competed as well, shaking the rust off during the first race off the season. Damian Bolduc took home the “What the H@!! happened to you” award for regressing dramatically in the results since last season.
The Women had a very strong showing as well. NWVT skiers all had stellar performances, racing with each other among the aforementioned teams. Rose Long started things out for the NWVT women showing good technique as she gets back into action. It will not take much for her to be back up among the top finishers. Jessica started a few spots back and slowly closed the gap on Rose. Finally Ilke Van Genechten dug in for her first race of the season. She caught and passed Jessica and Rose as well as almost everyone else on her way to finishing 6th overall. These three were all very happy with how their seasons are starting out and are looking forward to the racing ahead.
So the Bolton Opener was a great success for all. Much gratitude to those who donated prizes: Skirack, Seventh Generation, Douglas and Mary Grant Sugaring, and Cat Tartaglia. A special thanks to all who helped out and especially the starters and timers for braving the cold and getting us all out and back on time. And last but not least Perry Bland for barking in the starting gate. He knew each person by name and gave a personalized word of encouragement to each athlete as they counted down to the start. What a great way to start a season!
Goodluck to everyone racing at Craftsbury’s 10km classic today.
Women’s Resuts
Place Number Name Club Finish Time
1 23 Caitlin Patterson UVM 0:21:41
2 27 Jennie Bender UVM 0:22:47
3 31 Keely Levins Rutland HS 0:23:09
Men’s Results
Place Number Name Club Finish Time
1 130 Patrick Weaver UVM 0:18:18
2 123 Juergen Uhl UVM 0:18:31
3 127 Alex Howe UVM 0:18:52
Full Results Link
UVM Ski Team Blog- Race Report Link
Racer crossing the finish line.
Jake Hollenbach, Alpina/NWVT racing on Broadway to the finish
Bolton Nordic 
