February 24: Nordic Paradise at Prospect (And: beware of fashion police)

What a treat. With another new foot of snow on the ground and our main man, Steve Whitham, on the Paana groomer, these tracks are nearly too good to be true.


"I'm Bleeding from the eyeballs!" cried one Fashion Police, after catching Alice Nelson in this all-colorful outfit

PODIUM FINISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Men take 3rd in Skate Relays! Alice Nelson takes top individual finish in 10km classic.

Alice Nelson races in the front pack of the women's 10km mass start classic

Friday's mass start races, 10km classic for both men and women, saw a lot of success. The women had their best weekend yet, placing 4th as a team. Alice Nelson and Kirsten Johnson placed 6th and 10th, respectively, with Liz Kantack finishing off the score at 23rd.
Even with five of our men in the top 30, the level of competition proved stiff, as the men's team placed 5th. Keith Kantack and Alex Taylor led the team with 12th and 16th places.
Saturday came to light with blue skies, sunshine, and temperatures in the low 20's: a perfect day for skate relay races! Each school had two teams of 3 racers who each did a 5km loop.
The women went first, Alice Nelson scrambling to a 7th place trade-off which Holly Whitney and Kirsten Johnson kept until the finish.
The men's race was second, Alex Taylor scrambling off the line to finish with a pack that was racing for 3rd through 5th place. Sam Kapala, keeping that position, came into the stadium lap zone and overtook both UNH and Colby to hand off in third position to Keith Kantack. In the hot seat, Keith led a pack of skiers for most of the 5km loop, entering into the stadium for the finish line with UVM and Colby. Keith took the middle lane, UVM's Juergen Uhl on his right and Colby's Sam Mathes on his left, and raced neck and neck all the way down the finish lane, edging both teams out at the line and capturing a podium finish for Williams!


Keith Kantack outsprints UVM and Colby for a 3rd place finish!


The team of Keith Kantack, Sam Kapala, and Alex Taylor on the podium with Dartmouth and Middlebury

Team Pic

Alex Taylor wins soloist competition! And the snow just keeps on . . .

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALEX TAYLOR ON WINNING HIS SOLOIST COMPETITION!!!!
Atay competed Tuesday night against a host of very talented musicians and was picked as one of three winners to be soloists in a Berkshire Symphony concert which will be held in late April. A clarinetist, he played Copland's Concerto, proving he is as smooth on the winds as he is on skis . .. .

Alex Taylor and Sam Kapala in the midst of a pack of racers in last Saturday's 15km skate. Photo by Dave Dethier.

Also worth mentioning: Another foot of fresh snow at Prospect = Gorgeous skiing!! We had a fantastic easy skate ski yesterday as the flakes quickly accumulated around us.

Dartmouth Carnival: Love is in the Air And: Fantastic Prospect Skiing And: Ladies’ Waffle Night

Atay, Evan, Sarah, and Eric show their love after the races on Saturday
After a week of warm weather and rain across most of the east coast, we were thankful to arrive at Hanover, Home of Dartmouth College, and still find enough snow on the courses to hold the races. The snow was coarse and dirty, but it held up both days under stable conditions (20-25 degrees and bluebird skies!) and the tracks were rocket-fast. Friday’s classic race called for klister wax and VR45 – not so fun to apply or remove, but great for racing. Women raced a 5km loop and the men followed by racing two laps . Alice Nelson headed the ladies team with a 12th place finish, followed by Kirsten Johnson and Fiona Worcester in 22nd and 30th. The men’s team, sans Dimitri Luthi (who fell ill Thursday night), was still able to place their top three men before 18th place, scoring a 4th place for their team score. Eric Anderson, our top finisher, had a PR place of 11th, with Alex Taylor only 4 TENTHS of a second behind, in 12th place. Keith Kantack was our third to score points, coming in at 17th place.
Saturday’s mass-start skate race started from a narrow field and quickly funneled into the winding, hilly forest. There was, of course, carnage - falls, blocks, pile-ups and broken poles - but nothing that you wouldn’t expect when 70 racers toe the line all at once. Despite some frustration, the men fought hard through the pack and again placed all top three scorers in the top 25: Keith Kantack at 12th, Alex Taylor 20th, and Sam Kapala in 22nd. The women had a tougher day, but there were some notable races (Holly Whitney had a PR placing) and it was fun to watch Liz and Sarah storm down the finish track together.
Even those who had bad races, however, soon forgot all about them, as the carnie-crushes got underway. A tradition on the Carnival circuit, the Dartmouth Carnival is always a Valentine Extravaganza, as the athletes exchange hand-made cards, posters, notes, songs, poems, ballads, soliloquies, and many other forms of endearment with racers from other teams. The sun was out and the mood was just as high.


Liz and Sarah sprint toward the finish together at the end of the 15km skate.

Sam Kapala closes in on a Bates skier

Fiona Worcester double poles into the stadium at the end of the 5km classic

Glue, Glitter and Poetry: After a pasta dinner at the Nelson's house on Friday night, the team gets busy making their carnie-crush valentines cards for the following day

Sarah shows off the valentine she has made

The mens team recieves a Carnie-Crush poster from the Bates women's team.

The Harvard mens team presents our ladies with their own poster.

Coaches Smith and Fisher, happy with the weekend of racing, soak in the sunshine.

And: Fantastic Prospect Skiing

Again, we experience the amazing phenomena of Prospect Ski Trails. While everyone else on the East Coast is dealing with melt-down, dirty tracks, and klister conditions, we skiied our O.D. this Sunday on bomb-proof tracks carved into 8 inches of fresh powder.

exceptional tracks!

Eric Anderson shows that winning stride

Mens team takes pause to pose

The Ladies team, in keeping with tradition, sports Valentine t-shirts dedicated to a certain member of the men's team. THe men receive the customized t-shirt after the ski.

And: Ladies Waffle Night

Barb Kourajian had the ladies team over to the Fisher-Kourajian household for her specialty Norwegian waffles. Heart shaped and spiced with cardamom, these waffles brought back memories of touring in Norway and fueling up at trail-side bakeries. It was also a great time to exchange stories about the weekend: on valentines made, given, and received!

Barb Kourajian with a plate o' waffles!

The Ladies team, at the Kourajian-Fisher household, pose by Barb's Valentine Tree after polishing off two batches of heart-shaped waffles

Prospect Mtn. Valentine's Day Race

Team World Domination had a spectacular day of racing for Williams College at the Division II college race at Prospect. Although the start time was delayed twenty minutes because the race organizers had neglected to set up the start line and the race course, conditions were great, with some of the best grooming that Prospect has ever seen.

The Eph women took up two-thirds of the podium for the "10k" (actually about 8k) freestyle race, with sophomore Maddy Wendt coming in first, closely followed by Gabrielle Joffe in third. Freshman Hannah Hausman completed the Williams roster with a first place in the no-poles division, putting her in 12th place overall.







The men likewise easily out-skied any competition. Caleb Lucy '11 placed first, followed by fellow sophomore Robby Cuthbert in 5th place and freshman Nick Fogel in 6th.

Mens Team Captures 3rd in both races at UVM Carnival!

Sam Kapala and Alex Taylor relax and smile after both completing their second successful race of the weekend at Trapps.


This weekend the team traveled to Stowe, VT for the UVM Carnival. The college races were combined with Super Tour races, and the large numbers and additional high-end racers made for an exciting field.

Saturday's races were 5/10km freestyle and Sunday's events were 10/15 classic.
The mens team dominated on both days: On Saturday Atay led the mens team by taking 6th, Keith had his best skate race ever at 13th, and Sam Kapala had a 20th place to round out the scoring. Then, on Sunday, the men put all 6 racers in the top 30! Dimitri Luthi had a blazing fast race, challenging some of the top Nor-Am racers in the country and finishing 3rd for the college racers. Sam Kapala had his best-ever college points race, finishing 12th, and Keith Kantack rounded out the team score with a 17th. Next in the top-30 finish was Evan Dethier in 22nd, Alex Taylor in 23rd, and Caleb Lucy at 30th.

The women had a tougher weekend, battling sickness and horrendous racing conditions for the classic race on Sunday. Alice Nelson, just recovering from sickness, led the ladies in the skate race with a top-15 finish. Sunday morning was a mix of hail, sleet, rain, snow, and 20-30mph wind gusts which made for tricky waxing and low visibility. But, tough as the womens team is, there was no complaining. They put their heads down and raced hard against the howling wind, blowing snow, and in race tracks ranging from snowed-in to iced-in. It wasn't until after the women finished that the conditions stabilized and the sun came out. Fiona Worcester led the Williams women by double poling most of the course, placing 20th.


Alex Taylor, on his way to a 6th place finish in the skate race.

Dimitri Luthi captures a podium finish in the classic race.

Coach Fisher, waxing the women's skis inside the van in order to keep the skis dry as the wind and driving wet rain made for difficult waxing as well as racing!

Liz skis off the first uphill onto the course, as the wind drives visibility to near-zero.

Caleb Lucy rounds out the team's classic feat of placing all 6 racers in the top 30.

Robby Cuthbert, double poling out of the start as the storm clouds loom behind.

Evan proves he is a nice person despite being a formidable adversary on the race course: he shares a cookie with Hannah, as Nick looks on.

1) Alumni Race: Ephs Take Crown 2) Ready to Race, Baby: Intervals at Prospect

After the college races last Sunday at Jackson, their was an pre-advertised Alumni Race for all alums of the Eastern Carnival Circuit. It was a proud time to be from Williams College, as a majority of the Alums that lined up on the start line had purple cow spots on! After cheering on the Williams carnival skiers all day, they showed they still had some energy left as they dominated the race field on the 1.2km sprint course. And who came out of the woods in first, racing across the field toward the finish line and looking like Peter Northug at the finish of a World Cup sprint race: our very own Joel Bradley!!!

Eph Alums: Joel Bradley, Amelia Bishop, Tim Stickney, Sarah Torkelson, Christina Perron, Amelia Bishop, Aaron Bloom, Mary Iaculli

Not pictured: Ellen Chandler and Spike Kellog (who, by the way, had a blasting fast race!)

Joel Bradley crushed the field in the final stretch of the race: bringing home the Winners Cup for the Williams Ski Team.

Sarah Torkelson, Christina Perron, and Elissa Rehm show that the Purple Cow Alums still have what it takes.


2) Wednesday, Feb 4:

Race-pace intervals at Prospect get the Ephs sharp and ready to race in the upcoming UVM carnival at Trapps


The ladies team works it on Workout Trail

The mens team

Hannah Hausman, still with a cast on, gets strong by no-pole skating

10 km skate

Saturday was a 10km skate race for both men and women, a grueling 3km uphill on each lap of the 5km course. Beautiful day, great tracks, although many of our skiers (especially the ones that made the later heats) were a bit tired from the sprints. Alex Taylor was our top finisher, missing a top-ten finish by only 3.5 seconds.
I didn't take any pics since I was video taping the races, but there are some really awesome pictures online (where I got the pictures below) - I posted the link underneath our own Picasa link on the right hand side of the blog. Also posted is a link to the EISA website, where you can access full results.


Maddy - on her way to her top carnival finish

Holly Whitney

Caleb Lucy

Atay: top team finisher, at #11, also a PR.