It snowed the other day. I got pretty jazzed by the sight of snow and my youngest and I headed out the door for some fast grass skiing on the soccer field behind our house. It felt good to go out and stride. It felt good to get some speed on one of the hills. I felt momentarily scared when I realized I was ripping downhill, in the dark, on not very much snow and that I couldn't see where the rocks were. I made it down in one piece and all I could think was, "let's do that again!".
And so starts the ski season.
The lifts are spinning. The Nordic trails are slowly getting covered. The back country is still a ways off, but it's here, and I'm smiling.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Pair of Olympic Skiers lead 2010 Class to be inducted into the Maine Ski Hall of Fame
Portland, ME: (September 29, 2010) When the Maine ski community gathers Friday October 22 at Lost Valley for the 8th annual Maine Ski Hall of Fame Induction Banquet, the class will include Olympic Skiers Kirsten Clark-Rickenbach (US Ski Team) and Marcus Nash (US Nordic Ski Team). Joining this pair will be Morten Lund (ski writer) Joan McWilliams Dolan (US Freestyle Ski Champion), Bernard Paradis (Fort Kent ski coach), Bob Harkins (US Ski Team coach), and John Atwood (10th Mt Division).
The banquet, always a sellout starts with a social hour at 5 PM, dinner at 6:30 followed by the awards. Since its inception in 2003 the Maine Ski Hall of Fame has honored 73 Maine skiers who have brought distinction to the sport in the state, nationally and internationally. The members inducted to date include competitors, coaches, ski area founders, instructors, ski patrollers, competition officials, volunteers and even inventors. This year's class, listed below is typical, with competitors, coaches and a writer whose work has been read around the world.
The Hall of Fame is a division of the Ski Museum of Maine which is located above the Sugarloaf Ski Shop in Kingfield. Attendees will all receive a full color program book with biography of each of the inductees. Programs from previous induction banquets can be found on the museum web site.
Reservation information can also be found at the site. Cost of the dinner is $35 per person. The Ski Maine Association handles the reservations and can be reached at 207-773-7669 extension 105.
Class of 2010
Kirsten Clark is a Hall of Fame skier with a brilliant career. Her US National Titles include five Downhill titles, one Super G, and one Combined. In addition, in 13 years on the US Team the Raymond native stood on World cup podiums 8 times, including one DH victory, in 28 top ten finishes. In 2003 she won a Silver Medal in the World Alpine Championships and skied in three Olympics. It's the best Alpine record of any Maine skier.
Fryeburg's Marcus Nash skied on the US Cross Country team in two Olympics in nearly a decade on the team. His best international result was a Gold Medal along with teammate Justin Wadsworth in the Goodwill Games at Lake Placid in 2000. Nash was a nine time US Champion at various distances.
Most Maine skiers have heard of Mort Lund, whose ski writing career started in 1954 with Sports Illustrated, but how many know he grew up in Augusta and graduated from Bowdoin College? He went on to write for Ski Magazine on every aspect of the sport, covering Olympics, short ski teaching, GLM and working with PSIA. His books include, "The Skier's World", "The Skier's Bible", "The Ski Book" and more. For more than three decades he was SKI's leading writer. He is one of the most prolific ski journalists in the World and continues as editor of "Skiing Heritage" the first US nationwide history journal published under the auspices of the International Skiing History Association.
Bernard "Ben" Paradis has been described as the "Glue" that held the ski community together in the St. John Valley. As a coach for Fort Kent High School for 26 years his teams won 5 state titles in classes A & C. He developed numerous state champion skiers and won over 20 Aroostook championships, all while serving on the board of Lonesome Pine Ski Trails.
John Atwood's career in skiing spanned a lifetime, skiing on the University of New Hampshire ski team, 1941-1943 and as a Second Lieutenant with the 10th Mt. Division in Italy 1943-1945. Following the war he skied on the US Army ski team in Europe before returning to UNH 1947-1949. In 1962 he founded the Fryeburg Junior Ski Program, developing a feeder program for Fryeburg Academy, one of the state's top ski teams which he coached over the next 20 years winning the state Class A girl's title in 1976. He also found time to serve on the Ski Patrol at Pleasant Mountain through the sixties.
If Freestyle Skiing had been part of the Olympics a couple of decades before it was recognized, Maine might have had a Gold Medalist a lot earlier. Joan McWilliams, (Now Dolan) skied out of Sugarloaf and dominated the sport winning five National Championships in seven years on the US Team. She started in the Sugarloaf Masters Program in the early seventies and went on to win her first National Title in 1976 as a freshman in high school. In 1979 Joan represented the US in the first ever FIS sanctioned freestyle competition and won the combined title. Had it not been for a horrific crash in the 1983 National Freestyle championships she might have gone on to win many more titles. Instead she turned to coaching and has produced a bunch of our countries top freestyle competitors at CVA.
While at Edward Little High School in Auburn, Bob Harkins worked as a weekend volunteer ski patrolman at Sunday River and continued volunteering while at the University of Maine. After graduation he turned to coaching in the alpine racing program at Sunday River beginning a teaching and coaching career that led to serving as athletic director and head ski coach at Gould Academy before becoming director of the racing program at Alpental Ski Area in Washington State. Next came a stint with the US ski team heading up the Development Program and working as alpine operations manager during the Calgary Olympics. From the US Team, he returned to Sunday River where he was the key figure in creating the Perfect Turn Program an innovative way to develop skiers, which is still used at Sunday River and Sugarloaf and has been franchised to other ski resorts.
The banquet, always a sellout starts with a social hour at 5 PM, dinner at 6:30 followed by the awards. Since its inception in 2003 the Maine Ski Hall of Fame has honored 73 Maine skiers who have brought distinction to the sport in the state, nationally and internationally. The members inducted to date include competitors, coaches, ski area founders, instructors, ski patrollers, competition officials, volunteers and even inventors. This year's class, listed below is typical, with competitors, coaches and a writer whose work has been read around the world.
The Hall of Fame is a division of the Ski Museum of Maine which is located above the Sugarloaf Ski Shop in Kingfield. Attendees will all receive a full color program book with biography of each of the inductees. Programs from previous induction banquets can be found on the museum web site.
Reservation information can also be found at the site. Cost of the dinner is $35 per person. The Ski Maine Association handles the reservations and can be reached at 207-773-7669 extension 105.
Class of 2010
Kirsten Clark is a Hall of Fame skier with a brilliant career. Her US National Titles include five Downhill titles, one Super G, and one Combined. In addition, in 13 years on the US Team the Raymond native stood on World cup podiums 8 times, including one DH victory, in 28 top ten finishes. In 2003 she won a Silver Medal in the World Alpine Championships and skied in three Olympics. It's the best Alpine record of any Maine skier.
Fryeburg's Marcus Nash skied on the US Cross Country team in two Olympics in nearly a decade on the team. His best international result was a Gold Medal along with teammate Justin Wadsworth in the Goodwill Games at Lake Placid in 2000. Nash was a nine time US Champion at various distances.
Most Maine skiers have heard of Mort Lund, whose ski writing career started in 1954 with Sports Illustrated, but how many know he grew up in Augusta and graduated from Bowdoin College? He went on to write for Ski Magazine on every aspect of the sport, covering Olympics, short ski teaching, GLM and working with PSIA. His books include, "The Skier's World", "The Skier's Bible", "The Ski Book" and more. For more than three decades he was SKI's leading writer. He is one of the most prolific ski journalists in the World and continues as editor of "Skiing Heritage" the first US nationwide history journal published under the auspices of the International Skiing History Association.
Bernard "Ben" Paradis has been described as the "Glue" that held the ski community together in the St. John Valley. As a coach for Fort Kent High School for 26 years his teams won 5 state titles in classes A & C. He developed numerous state champion skiers and won over 20 Aroostook championships, all while serving on the board of Lonesome Pine Ski Trails.
John Atwood's career in skiing spanned a lifetime, skiing on the University of New Hampshire ski team, 1941-1943 and as a Second Lieutenant with the 10th Mt. Division in Italy 1943-1945. Following the war he skied on the US Army ski team in Europe before returning to UNH 1947-1949. In 1962 he founded the Fryeburg Junior Ski Program, developing a feeder program for Fryeburg Academy, one of the state's top ski teams which he coached over the next 20 years winning the state Class A girl's title in 1976. He also found time to serve on the Ski Patrol at Pleasant Mountain through the sixties.
If Freestyle Skiing had been part of the Olympics a couple of decades before it was recognized, Maine might have had a Gold Medalist a lot earlier. Joan McWilliams, (Now Dolan) skied out of Sugarloaf and dominated the sport winning five National Championships in seven years on the US Team. She started in the Sugarloaf Masters Program in the early seventies and went on to win her first National Title in 1976 as a freshman in high school. In 1979 Joan represented the US in the first ever FIS sanctioned freestyle competition and won the combined title. Had it not been for a horrific crash in the 1983 National Freestyle championships she might have gone on to win many more titles. Instead she turned to coaching and has produced a bunch of our countries top freestyle competitors at CVA.
While at Edward Little High School in Auburn, Bob Harkins worked as a weekend volunteer ski patrolman at Sunday River and continued volunteering while at the University of Maine. After graduation he turned to coaching in the alpine racing program at Sunday River beginning a teaching and coaching career that led to serving as athletic director and head ski coach at Gould Academy before becoming director of the racing program at Alpental Ski Area in Washington State. Next came a stint with the US ski team heading up the Development Program and working as alpine operations manager during the Calgary Olympics. From the US Team, he returned to Sunday River where he was the key figure in creating the Perfect Turn Program an innovative way to develop skiers, which is still used at Sunday River and Sugarloaf and has been franchised to other ski resorts.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Snow
My phone rang at 6am one morning last week. I didn't answer as my phone was downstairs, but I heard it beep to let me know there was a message. I checked- it was Josh, the PC version of the message, "it snowed last night on Mount Washington and I am so excited."
Again that is the PC version, but I have to tell you it sent chills down my spine, as it is approaching. The last day of summer is near and soon we'll be sipping hot apple cider and anxious to get out for the first "glaze glides" on the XC skis (skiing on frost on a well manicured lawn) and then keeping tabs on Sunday River's snowmaking plans.
It's coming.
Again that is the PC version, but I have to tell you it sent chills down my spine, as it is approaching. The last day of summer is near and soon we'll be sipping hot apple cider and anxious to get out for the first "glaze glides" on the XC skis (skiing on frost on a well manicured lawn) and then keeping tabs on Sunday River's snowmaking plans.
It's coming.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Ready for winter?
Temps in the 90's and humidity that leaves me in a puddle has me thinking a great deal about the cold air and white slopes that are only a couple of months away.
I'm not sure what it means but the ski dreams started early this year, like Fourth of July early. Part of it may be the projects going on at the local hills such as the new lift at Shawnee Peak or the base rebuild at Cranmore, or the announcement of Sugarloaf 2020. Or may it is the fact that Legend of Ahhhs is slated to premier this fall.
All I know is that I'm looking forward to winter and getting out on the hill with my girls and those days when your turns are silent and deep.
It's coming my friends.
I'm not sure what it means but the ski dreams started early this year, like Fourth of July early. Part of it may be the projects going on at the local hills such as the new lift at Shawnee Peak or the base rebuild at Cranmore, or the announcement of Sugarloaf 2020. Or may it is the fact that Legend of Ahhhs is slated to premier this fall.
All I know is that I'm looking forward to winter and getting out on the hill with my girls and those days when your turns are silent and deep.
It's coming my friends.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Bode
This column originally ran in the Mountain Ear on February 25, 2010.
He now has every color of Olympic medals, along with World Championship medals, and a couple of those crystal globes they give to the skier who wins the overall World Cup. Bode Miller has gone from punch line to “redeemed” and while I’m happy for him I still feel like the mainstream media is missing it when it comes to Bode. Bode loves skiing at the limit more than he loves winning, and I don’t think that he’s kidding when he says that.
When I talk to friends or co-workers who think ski racing only takes place every four years they have a hard time understanding why “Bode doesn’t care about winning.” I find that perplexing considering the number of wins he has racked up in his decade and a half or racing at the highest level of the sport. But then, I have to remember that most casual ski racing fans don’t pay attention to the World Cup and the only time they get to hear Brian Williams mention a ski racers name it is during an Olympic year.
This got me thinking, Shaun White is lauded for “going for it” and for “progressing” the sport. He could have easily been in a situation where his second run mattered in the Olympics and been in a situation where he needed to throw down the double McTwist 1260 to win- and he’d have been celebrated regardless of if he blew up or stuck the landing- because he was pushing the sport. Yet Bode isn’t celebrated when he pushes so hard that he blows up.
I understand that there is a difference between a judged sport and a timed sport, Apollo Ohno won’t get any style points if he nails a triple axel in the 1500m short track race. I know that it is hard to compare progression in ski racing since we don’t have World Records for the athletes to beat, in terms of year over year comparisons on the exact same course. At that same time, the skiers are getting faster, technique is always being refined and even revamped, equipment is always evolving, and that takes athletes who are daring enough to push the envelope.
Bode pushes the limits to see how fast he can go, and when it all comes together, he is fast and he often wins. I also think he truly enjoys that sensation of putting down a run where he let it all hang out and that is more important to him than the time on the podium.
Personally, I’m glad Bode has gotten his gold, if for no other reason, that the casual fans can now say that he is a great ski racer. For myself, I will always enjoy watching a man from Franconia do whatever he thought needed to be done to go fast on a pair of skis, even when it meant that he might blow up. In my mind, Bode has progressed the sport- and for that I say thank you.
He now has every color of Olympic medals, along with World Championship medals, and a couple of those crystal globes they give to the skier who wins the overall World Cup. Bode Miller has gone from punch line to “redeemed” and while I’m happy for him I still feel like the mainstream media is missing it when it comes to Bode. Bode loves skiing at the limit more than he loves winning, and I don’t think that he’s kidding when he says that.
When I talk to friends or co-workers who think ski racing only takes place every four years they have a hard time understanding why “Bode doesn’t care about winning.” I find that perplexing considering the number of wins he has racked up in his decade and a half or racing at the highest level of the sport. But then, I have to remember that most casual ski racing fans don’t pay attention to the World Cup and the only time they get to hear Brian Williams mention a ski racers name it is during an Olympic year.
This got me thinking, Shaun White is lauded for “going for it” and for “progressing” the sport. He could have easily been in a situation where his second run mattered in the Olympics and been in a situation where he needed to throw down the double McTwist 1260 to win- and he’d have been celebrated regardless of if he blew up or stuck the landing- because he was pushing the sport. Yet Bode isn’t celebrated when he pushes so hard that he blows up.
I understand that there is a difference between a judged sport and a timed sport, Apollo Ohno won’t get any style points if he nails a triple axel in the 1500m short track race. I know that it is hard to compare progression in ski racing since we don’t have World Records for the athletes to beat, in terms of year over year comparisons on the exact same course. At that same time, the skiers are getting faster, technique is always being refined and even revamped, equipment is always evolving, and that takes athletes who are daring enough to push the envelope.
Bode pushes the limits to see how fast he can go, and when it all comes together, he is fast and he often wins. I also think he truly enjoys that sensation of putting down a run where he let it all hang out and that is more important to him than the time on the podium.
Personally, I’m glad Bode has gotten his gold, if for no other reason, that the casual fans can now say that he is a great ski racer. For myself, I will always enjoy watching a man from Franconia do whatever he thought needed to be done to go fast on a pair of skis, even when it meant that he might blow up. In my mind, Bode has progressed the sport- and for that I say thank you.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Is the end near?
I'm sitting at my dining room table looking over at Shawnee Peak trying to figure out if I can muster the strength to head over for a few runs. I feel like I should as they will wrap up their season next weekend and I'll be up at Sugarloaf, so today is my only real chance to say "until next year" to my home hill.
The issue of course is that in the last five days I've become spoiled. Temps in the 60's, bluebird skies, wet spring corn, and a great group to ski with every day. Today it's cloudy, it has been spitting snow (I haven't had snow in my yard for well over a month), and it's not warm. Wow when did I become such a whiner?
With that being said the past week has provided some fantastic ski days. Skiing with friends and family every day, even getting a day for just K and I- it has been great. I'm starting to get the hang of this alpine thing again and have stopped trying to drop a knee on my first turn every run.
So now I'm starting to get stoked to get out there. Just need another cup of coffee first.
The issue of course is that in the last five days I've become spoiled. Temps in the 60's, bluebird skies, wet spring corn, and a great group to ski with every day. Today it's cloudy, it has been spitting snow (I haven't had snow in my yard for well over a month), and it's not warm. Wow when did I become such a whiner?
With that being said the past week has provided some fantastic ski days. Skiing with friends and family every day, even getting a day for just K and I- it has been great. I'm starting to get the hang of this alpine thing again and have stopped trying to drop a knee on my first turn every run.
So now I'm starting to get stoked to get out there. Just need another cup of coffee first.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Back on Track
My ski season hit a bit of a speed bump a few weeks ago when all the snow in my yard melted. I'm not sure what the story was as I knew there was great snow up in the mountains, but since my yard was bare I figured cycling season had started.
Last week I got back on track by heading up to enjoy a day up at Wildcat with a buddy from work. We lucked out and got a bluebird day and perfect snow for gripping and ripping. I took out the alpine skis and had a good time trying to see how deep of a trench I could rip into the side of the mountain. There weren't too many people there so we were making full use of the trails making big, fast turns that left tracks that ran fully edge to edge. It was fun making turns like that as I can't quite do that on my tele boards.
We took a short break to give me a chance to try and fix a hot spot in my boot and while I was doing that I saw the coolest ski pants I've ever seen.
Enough said.
We made about a dozen runs and then pulled the plug as we both had to get back to pick up our kids from school, and we wanted to make sure we had time to stop by the Moat for a bit of late lunch.
That day on the hill got me fully juiced to ski again and knowing that we had a stretch of wet weather heading our way for the weekend I took advantage of the kids having Friday off from school and we headed over to Shawnee Peak. Elizabeth, my oldest, invited a friend of hers to come with us. He was talking big game in the car about how we were going to need to wait for him, I sort of chuckled to myself as he didn't seem to be able to comprehend that my girls can rip on skis and that he was going to find himself trying to keep up. That proved true very quickly and he settled his ego a bit, instead focusing on keeping up with the girls. It made me realize I need to find out if Team Betty is still around so I can get some new "Ski Like a Girl" stickers. Emma was taking special pride in schooling Liz's friend. What can I say it made me smile.
The weekend came and went with wet weather reminding us that spring is right around the corner. It took me most of the weekend to figure out how to set all of our clocks ahead, still have a few to go.
Then this morning I found motivation to head up the mountain for an AM skin and ski with a brief pause to watch the sun rise. I never tire of watching the sky change color and watching the snow slowly go from blue to white. The snow was a bit stiff in places this morning, but I'd bet by the time first chair spun it was in good shape.
Now I have a couple more days of AM skin and ski trips and then on Friday K and I are heading over to Bretton Woods for a good day out on the hill over there. In all it will complete a very good weeks worth of skiing.
Last week I got back on track by heading up to enjoy a day up at Wildcat with a buddy from work. We lucked out and got a bluebird day and perfect snow for gripping and ripping. I took out the alpine skis and had a good time trying to see how deep of a trench I could rip into the side of the mountain. There weren't too many people there so we were making full use of the trails making big, fast turns that left tracks that ran fully edge to edge. It was fun making turns like that as I can't quite do that on my tele boards.
We took a short break to give me a chance to try and fix a hot spot in my boot and while I was doing that I saw the coolest ski pants I've ever seen.
Enough said.
We made about a dozen runs and then pulled the plug as we both had to get back to pick up our kids from school, and we wanted to make sure we had time to stop by the Moat for a bit of late lunch.
That day on the hill got me fully juiced to ski again and knowing that we had a stretch of wet weather heading our way for the weekend I took advantage of the kids having Friday off from school and we headed over to Shawnee Peak. Elizabeth, my oldest, invited a friend of hers to come with us. He was talking big game in the car about how we were going to need to wait for him, I sort of chuckled to myself as he didn't seem to be able to comprehend that my girls can rip on skis and that he was going to find himself trying to keep up. That proved true very quickly and he settled his ego a bit, instead focusing on keeping up with the girls. It made me realize I need to find out if Team Betty is still around so I can get some new "Ski Like a Girl" stickers. Emma was taking special pride in schooling Liz's friend. What can I say it made me smile.
The weekend came and went with wet weather reminding us that spring is right around the corner. It took me most of the weekend to figure out how to set all of our clocks ahead, still have a few to go.
Then this morning I found motivation to head up the mountain for an AM skin and ski with a brief pause to watch the sun rise. I never tire of watching the sky change color and watching the snow slowly go from blue to white. The snow was a bit stiff in places this morning, but I'd bet by the time first chair spun it was in good shape.
Now I have a couple more days of AM skin and ski trips and then on Friday K and I are heading over to Bretton Woods for a good day out on the hill over there. In all it will complete a very good weeks worth of skiing.
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