Wild Weekend #1!

I hope everyone had a great holiday and will soon have a happy New Year! I've been reading, skiing, watching Netflix, and spending time with family... just generally doing anything that involves no thinking at all - so the blog is a little late.

GH on the big climb

Nathaniel looking strong

Anyway, right after finals, some of us headed over to Craftsbury for Eastern Cup #1! It was a wild weekend, in that everywhere had great snow. Then, it absolutely POURED. Craftsbury did a fantastic job, though, and other than changing the race to an interval start, everything was able to go on as scheduled. The other thing that made it kind of crazy, was that NENSA decided to start having its Eastern Cup weekends be all one technique (I will say this worked out in our favor because Jackie and I would not have been able to fit our classic skis in the car).

Matt M. hauling up Screaming Mimi

The sprint day was great, but long as usual. Junior heats are late! For the men, we had Matt Young, GH, Nathaniel, and Matt Manwaring (his time is off due to a missed start). For the women, we had Jackie, Steph, Jordi, and me. I qualified for open heats to be quickly knocked out in my quarterfinal. It was great to be able to cheer for everyone, though! It was also such a privilege to be in a heat with talented sprinters and try and learn from them - hint - you probably shouldn't lead the first downhill :) Steph and Jackie qualified as well for junior heats! They raced well, and both of them skied gutsy races with some big moves on the steep uphill in the woods. So inspiring to watch them leave it all out there. Jackie made the A-final!

Women's Qualifier
Men's Qualifier
Open Women's Heats
U18/U20 Women's Heats

The interval start was fun as well. Ben joined us, which was great. Some awesome results - Jackie absolutely crushed it in her signature race... the hilly 5k skate! However, some of us were definitely hoping for more. It is hard to remember, but that is a good place to be going into Christmas break.

Nathaniel in a good pack

Women's 5k
Men's 10k

Thank you as always to the Townsend's for hosting us. The food was fantastic! I always love the bread, but it was pretty great to see everyone else's reactions, as it was their first time at a Townsend dinner. Needless to say, they were impressed and happy. Thanks to Jackie for the pictures! We don't have photos of the women, because we raced first both days. Happy holidays!

Bringing Home the Hardware - Candy Cane Cup Round 2

What a team! (Day 1 Crew: L-R: Kyle, Graham, Nathaniel, Matt, GH, Lucy, ETown, Emily, Steph)

This past weekend things got a bit crazy. Half of us went up to Canada for the 2nd annual Candy Cane Cup while half stayed back to study for finals, which was definitely a mind-numbing struggle fest, but let's face it, it was probably the smarter decision... ANYWAY, everyone made it through one way or another, and now it is break!


Before getting ready for the first Eastern Cup, listening to non-stop Christmas carols, and eating way too much chocolate, though, I wanted to update the blog about how awesome SLUSKI is this year.

GH in the heats (Nathaniel photo)

Graham in the heats (Nathaniel photo)

On Saturday, we woke up early to head up to Nakkertok in Ottawa for a skate sprint. The 6 AM departure made for an array breakfast options including: no real breakfast, overnight oats, and over-the-border oats (for those who struggled to make oatmeal before getting in the van... Graham). The day started well with almost everyone (including ETown and Kyle!) qualifying for heats. Nathaniel threw up, perhaps due to some bad pub chowder, so he was sidelined after the qualifier. We made it through the day with no broken equipment, though I made a rookie move and fell after catching my ski on a v-board and GH flew off the trail (literally onto the warm up loop) in his final. All in all, though, we brought home a lot of hardware, including some that was maybe due to messed up results again? In addition to real hardware, we got lots of candy and chocolate, which I can only imagine made for better van food than over-the-border oats. We really did bring home a lot, because there were normal open and age group awards in addition to a special podium just for University students. Matt made the heats: Emily and Graham made the B final; and Steph, GH, and myself made it to the A final! Matt in particular looked awesome coming up the big hill, Graham had an amazing finish, and Em handled the craziness that is constantly warming up/cooling down/figuring out what life is like a champ. I guess Kyle and ETown did well too :)

ETown rocking the old race suit (Nathaniel photo)

GH's hands may or may not look like his favorite monster toys from the bookstore hot cocoa (Nathaniel photo)
For those who don't know what those look at click this: Monster

Steph on the junior women's podium! (Graham photo)

Me (Lucy) on the podium (Graham photo)

GH was supposed to be on the junior men's podium, but got on this one too (Graham photo)

On Sunday, we got up early again for a classic 10k. The tiredness may have been getting to us, because Steffi and I were definitely getting more than a bit giggly pre-race. In the end, we had a different crew, but some more great results! I think the consensus was that ETown and Kyle nailed the skis, and we are all gaining a bit more of an appreciation for classic skiing. It helps that first years Jordi and Steph are both classic pros. Thanks to Jordi, Eliza, Tim, and Ian for joining us for day 2!

Steffi bringing it in (Kyle photo)

GH on the junior men's podium

Me (Lucy) on the women's podium (Kyle photo)

Steph and Eliza reppin' SLU on the junior women's podium! (Kyle photo)

A huge thanks to Nakkertok for hosting such a great event for the 2nd year in a row! Their snowmaking is fabulous, the volunteers are always helpful and friendly, the competition is great, and this year we completely lucked out with warm and sunny days. Thank you to photographers, Doug Ranahan and Dianne Galus for getting some great shots as well. To readers of the blog, keep a look out for news from the first Eastern Cup this weekend and happy holidays!

The Candy Cane Cup may or may not be my favorite race of the year (Graham photo)

DAY 1:
Qualifier Results
Heat Brackets
Video of Women's Heats
Video of Men's Heats
Photos from Doug Ranahan

DAY 2:
Results (Ian raced as Nathaniel)
Photos from Doug Ranahan
Photos from Dianne Galus (There is one of Steph and Eliza mixed in with all the Nakkertok kids)

GH leading his quarterfinal (Nathaniel photo)

Graham looking speedy (Nathaniel photo)

Me working on tuck skating (Nathaniel photo)

First Race!

SLUSKI is back for the 2018-19 season! This past weekend, a van full of us went down to Gore
for a race on Saturday. It was a rude awakening in terms of the early morning wake-ups and freezing weather; however, it was a great time and a sign of more good things to come.

In the lead up to racing last week we got on snow at Star Lake. The only problem was that there was too much snow...? I'm not sure that there can ever be too much snow, but our pre race speeds in the sinky powder were definitely one of those times where you just have to enjoy the outdoors and laugh it off. I know that I definitely looked like a flailing giraffe. Having a couple feet of powder in December, though, is really special.

After that, those of us going to race headed to Blue Mountain Lake for a wonderful dinner at Kyle's parents. We had fun hanging out in front of the fire and playing with the dogs, Bebe and Harry. By this time of year, all of us are pretty dog deprived.

Kyle's parents had us over for breakfast as well (where the oatmeal was much better than the instant stuff we would have had otherwise!), and then we headed out. It was really cold, but that made for great kick and hard tracks. Everyone did well. The boys went out first to sweep the first 4 spots. Shout out to Brian for taking the win on his home course! The girls went out a bit later to also sweep the first 4 spots. There was a bit of confusion when Jackie and I both had technical difficulties and missed our starts... Hey, there's a first time for everything! However, the starters were incredibly generous and let us jump in when we were ready.

In the end, we had a fun day and some classy podiums! Just a note, the timing got a bit messed up, so the podiums are not quite right. Nathaniel was actually 3rd in the men's race, and there may have been some confusion with the women's results after Jackie and I threw off the start order. Also, those who stayed back also deserve a special shout out for enduring the POW at Star Lake for a Saturday time trial.

Thank you to the organizers at Gore for putting on a great race, Kyle's parents for being so welcoming, and all of you for sticking with us. We'll be racing at Nakkertok this weekend, Craftsbury after that, and then a brief break for Christmas before Senior Nationals and the carnival season! It's a wild ride, so stay tuned.

RESULTS

L-R: Tim, Brian, GH (Graham photo)

L-R: Steph, Lucy, Erin (Graham photo)

YAY TEAM!!!

Snowy Days :)

Beautiful skiing! (Graham)

Hi everyone! 

Erin Waters ’19 here representing the senior class of two. Matt Young ‘19 and I have survived the last three years and are looking forward to our final season!  This fall has been wonderful; we have seen this team grow and change so much, and it is so exciting to get to know all of the first years.  What a great group!!

We have been back from ski camp at Forêt Montmorency for over a week now, and everyone seems to be slowly recovering.  We were able to put some great training hours on many kilometers of beautiful corduroy.  During our breaks in between workouts we would all pile into the lodge, and everyone would scramble to find a seat and get as close to the fire as possible. Lucy Hochschartner ‘20 would even make a little nest on the floor claiming that was the only way she could fall asleep.

Jackie convinced Tim to order a cosmopolitan at St. Patty's (Graham photo)

Jordi... it's unclear (Lauchie photo)

Back at the house, filled to the brim with all 20 of us, we rested and recovered from the many hours.  The house was definitely not designed for all the abuse from hungry and tired skiers. We ravaged all the food in the kitchen, and the thin walls meant that we had to tiptoe around after curfew. When someone spilled water on the second floor, it percolated through the floor boards onto the kitchen table below.  Ben Carnahan ‘21 also managed to break the top bunk by just lying in bed.  Honestly, it is amazing everyone survived.

Speedy Brian (Lauchie photo)

Who is scarier? (GH photo)

Ian in the pow (Lauchie photo)

Lucy & Graham #twinning (Kyle photo)

Graham and Kyle - creepy elves

With great pictures and sore legs we made it back to school after a very long ride home and devoured the eight pizzas Etown ordered for us. We took the next few days off and used the following week to let our bodies absorb the 20+ hours of training.  Last week we were still able to get on some great snow at both Higely Flow and Mt. Van Hoevenberg, where we were able to do intervals on Ladies 5k.  On Sunday we all hoped the snow wouldn't melt too much, and although Canton lost quite a bit, we still got on snow at Star Lake this week!

Signing off,

Erin Waters ‘19

Hello from near and... France!

Hello from France! My name is Kate Andy and I’m a junior on the ski team. This fall, I decided to take a semester abroad to Rennes, France, and I am having a great time so far. My primary focus here is intensive language and cultural immersion. It has definitely been a challenge, but I’ve had the privilege to explore some pretty amazing places too.

Me in Paris on my second day!

Medieval towns and enchanted forests? This can’t be real! 

I’ve been able to continue my training while in France, although I miss training with the team at SLU! My training has mostly been running and doing body weight strength on a local playground I found not too far from my house. Running has been a great opportunity to really discover the area and also meet some new people.

Last weekend I escaped from the city and took a weekend to Chamonix, a small town located at the base of Mont-Blanc, right in the midst of the French Alps! I went for a long hike in the mountains, which was an incredible adventure. It was my first solo hike, and despite not having a trail map, I didn’t get lost (which for those who know me is a true feat in itself)!

(caption) Views from the two peaks I hiked. I summited the second peak at 2525m=8284ft!

I’ll be in France until winter break, and hopefully as the weather becomes chillier I’ll be able to go snow-skiing! Until then, it’s back to the university and struggling through broken conversations with strangers. I hope everyone at SLU is having an awesome fall and I can’t wait to see you all at winter camp!

Views from the two peaks I hiked. I summited the second peak at 2525m=8284ft!    

-Kate

The rest of the juniors, myself (Lucy), Jackie, and Emily are doing well too! Classes are a little harder for sure, but we’re still loving SLU just like we did when we wrote our introductions way back when. Reading back through them, what stands out is how excited we all were to be joining such a big group of awesome, talented, and dedicated girls. We aren't quite so star struck anymore, but we've only come to love the team more and more!

L:R Jordan, Dottie, Nathaniel, and Graham 

Coach Kyle and Steph!

In other news, we got on snow this week! We headed down to Van Ho in Lake Placid, which has 0.5km. Talk about laps on laps. I think everyone thought it was fun and worthwhile, though! Skiing > rollerskiing. It was a recovery week, so there wasn’t too much going on otherwise. Keep an eye out for an update from the seniors, and news from THANKSGIVING CAMP! We can’t believe it’s that time of year again but are so thankful it is.

Jackie cruising on the home turf

Laps on laps :) But hey, it's snow! ***

 -Lucy