Snow - We Don't Need It

As I peruse the weather for Mont Sainte Anne, Craftsbury, Williamstown, Prospect, I succumb to the notion that a good portion of my job is figuring out where the snow is.  On any given day, I can confidently tell you where there is (or isn't...) skiing in New England, who has snow making, what the temps. are in various locations, and who's going to see the magic fall from the sky in the near future.

With that being said:
-Craftsbury has a 1k manmade loop that is getting hit pretty hard with rain and warm temps, but valiant shoveling efforts by the Outdoor Center have given hope to the Eastern Cup races happening there this weekend.
-Mont Sainte Anne has received several inches of snow recently, and expects to open this weekend.  The team will be in Mont Sainte Anne for our annual ski camp starting on the 27th of December.
-Rikert (Middlebury, VT) has less than half a kilometer of manmade snow, but expects to start making snow again Friday.
-Quarry Road (Waterville, ME) has half a kilometer of manmade snow.
-It was 60degrees in Williamstown yesterday...
-There's a chance Prospect will get some flurries this weekend.  There's a better chance that it's going to rain there next week.

The only thing I can't do in regards to the weather is control it.  All we can do is "control the controllable's", keep working hard, and hope.  Luckily, most of the team has no idea what skiing even is as they're entirely absorbed in books and final exams - smart.  Unless you're Jack Schrupp and you're done with finals before they've even begun, and you're skiing at the base of Gunstock every day because the lifts are closed - almost too easy.

Lack of snow and cold temps. aside, the team began last week with our annual Crew team/Ski team Erg workout.  It was a great effort from everyone, and a nice change of pace.  Because the Erg workout is so easy for us nordies (we made the crew team look silly at their own sport...J.K. they're pretty strong...) we decided to lock all the windows in Lasell, suck out all of the oxygen, and replace it with that of vaporized sweat and body odor.  Lasell was ripe!

JFields - "If you're not pulling the handle so hard into your chest that you start bleeding, than you're not trying hard enough"

"I just like smiling. Smiling's my favorite!"

Jack "I just want to black out" Schrupp

Tsaina - "I think I won. Is that bad?"

On Thursday, the team headed to Prospect for some threshold bounding, and another course preview.  I would have taken some pictures, but I was too busy spending the majority of the 2x25min session in L6, while everyone else was L3.  As a coach, if you're not redlining in every workout, you're not doing your job right.  

This past Friday marked the last day of classes for the Fall semester.  With that, Jason and I took some of the team up to Craftsbury for the weekend.  Because it was during reading period, the camp was optional, and many stayed on campus to prepare for final exams.  Despite warm temperatures, Craftsbury continued to surprise us - the skiing was great!

Nick Gardner - "You ever heard of the Minnesota State Meet?!"

The team will finish up final exams, and some will head to Craftsbury for the Eastern Cup races this weekend.  Others will head home for Christmas break.  The Eph's will reconvene in Quebec on the 27th for a week long ski camp.

Make money, get turnt, pray for snow(making).

P

Few Pics From Craftsbury

Hannah Cole and Olivia doing some no-pole skiing.

Braden and Eli enjoying an evening skate ski with no one on the trails!

Not bad skiing all things considered!

More to come as I digest the weekend, and the inherent craziness of finals week, coupled with the beginning of ski season with no snow...

Recovery Week

Greetings from the purple valley!

Last week was a full on recovery week after our first on snow camp in Craftsbury. Resting can sometimes be the most frustrating part of training, but this team knows how to do it right. Everyone is excited to get back on snow and start racing!

 

Awesome team dinner at Jason's house. 

Team viewing of Bend featuring JFields.

Some of the men on a crisp New England morning.

Found roller skiing. Obviously a man of the people.

Recovery Week

After our glimpse of winter at Craftsbury camp, the team returned to the balmy weather of Western MA.  We enjoyed an easy week before our last training block before the racing season.  Excitement is building!  The highlight of the week was the Yankee Swap hosted at Jason's house.  The girls made a delicious chocolate torte and mousse with a secret ingredient.  The boys made an awesome salad with walnuts, apples, goat cheese and raspberries.  Perry picked up some Lasagna from the store too.

T wonders what could be inside all the presents.

3 lovely women awaiting the meal.

Tsaina is delighted with her robot chocolate that Perry claims to have molded himself.

Eli has an initiative strategy for not dirtying his tie. (courtesy of R.Smith)

Eliza and Nick enjoy each other's company.  

Jason and Rogan are excited to have the team at their new house.

Perry with Braden and Evan while Rebecca tries to sneak her way into the picture.

We can only wonder what Perry is up to.

The master chef herself cutting the torte.

Jordan is super proud of his Bend video.  

Eli is grateful for his ab roller from Perry.

Joey rocks his new blinking Christmas earring.  We hope it makes a guest appearance at New Years.

Jason got his ears pierced as well.

Tsaina loves her new jumpsuit.

Look out for Rebecca around campus rocking her new vest.

Peace out!

Saturday morning we went for a beautiful run enjoying the last days of fall.  Some post practice stretching!

(courtesy of R.Smith) 

(courtesy of R.Smith)

Koala or human?

Koala or human Part II?

Thanks to all my teammates and coaches for a wonderful recovery week.  Looking forward to the first snow!

Sonya

From stuffing to snow

Another eventful and productive week is in the books for the Williams College Nordic Team. Starting off the week, most of us were able to get home for a few days to spend time with family around the dinner table, as we chowed down on some Thanksgiving classics and fueled up for the big weekend ahead in Craftsbury. Although the team arrived a couple days later than expected due to weather uncertainties, we made sure to stake claim to the rich Vermont soil.

Hundreds of laps of the .5 kilometer loop were broken up by good food, laughs, and some school work too.

It was great to see the coaches get involved in some shenanigans as well, as it was clear that we were the team having the most fun in the dining hall. 

The Craftsbury Outdoor Center did a great job of making the best of difficult circumstances to give us some solid conditions for both skate and classic training. 267 laps in, sticky klister on their hands and fresh, local Vermont produce in their stomachs had Eli and Jordan feeling a certain kind of way. 

It was exciting to get a taste of the racing season on our last morning with a little showdown against Harvard and UNH, in what can only be described as a one-of-a-kind racing format with an undisclosed number of laps and a nontraditional start. Great job to everyone, especially my fellow freshmen in the Class of 2019! Below: post-race with Luke, Nick, and Braden.

Thanks to the coaches for organizing another great week of training and to my teammates for some awesome memories.

-Evan Carr

c'bury camp

Hello EPH fans! RSmith here, I hope this post finds you well. We just had an awesome camp ON SNOW up in C'bury over thanksgiving break. And oh boy we have a lot to be thankful for. Four hours/day on a .5k loop could not have been more fun. We enjoyed the delicious c'bury food (as always), absorbed those beloved nordic ski community vibes, and got to spend quality time with each other and our awesome coaches Jay and Perry-Bear. I tried my hand at biathlon as well and discovered a sharp-shooter calling.  A perfect way to kick off a season on white-powder. I attached some photos  that really captured the essence of the excitement and documented some of the odds lost.

the week started with an awesome video made by our awesome coach Perry Thomas 

searching for snow: the purple cow spandex are out 

lots of excitement in the smith-mobile driving up to Craftsbury (Ft. Tom Smith)

teammates tea-bag for one another

Jordan

Elowyn sports an alternative team uniform

Sonya is too excited to nap

Tsaina AMPED about snow

Coach Jay and Pear-Bear

Perry lost an odds at dinner...

Coach Perry "I'm drooling" Thomas

Nick lost an odds before our team meeting to be Luke's footrest 

until next time,

Bex