Shout out to Carmen!

A quick update from the running world! 

As you may know, I've continued to compete in cross country at Williams and spend my fall primarily training with the running team before making the transition to full-time ski training at the conclusion of the running season. This year, I get to share the multi-sport ride with first year, Carmen Bango! 

The cross country team is impressively big this year, with 21 first year men and 13 first year women bringing our roster total to 91. A huge contrast to the tight-knit ski team, these past few weeks have been filled with lots of introductions, re-introductions and trying to get to know each person as an individual beyond their name. It's going well so far and I'm very excited about the energy, enthusiasm and support that's driving the team dynamic. 

The first race of the season was hosted by Vassar College this past Saturday. Coach Pete Farwell decided to make a day trip of the meet, complete with a post-race picnic and visit to the outdoor sculpture garden, Storm King. Despite muggy conditions and plentiful sun, the team did a great job executing Pete's race plan, packing up in the first few miles and finishing with a strong progression over the final mile. I've been sidelined the past month so did not compete, but did get to go and cheer and get a good look at how the team is going to work together over the upcoming weeks. Up front we had a mix of strong senior leaders, improved returnees and some speedy first-years. One of which was Carmen, who came in as the seventh Eph! 

Although it's been a hard hit to not be racing at the start of my senior season, I have really enjoyed the opportunity to get in some extra ski training with the team. Last week we had a solid L3 interval session in Pownal, VT and a sunny over distance classic ski across the border in NY (all on FRESH pavement). Having spent a lot of time sweating it out in upper Lasell on my own, I can't tell you how wonderful it is to practice with a set of motivated, smiling, just all around awesome, teammates. This team is going to be a force come winter!

Listening as the president of Storm King gives us a brief tour of the sculpture garden.
PC: Anna Harleen

A couple of guys on the men's team, Alex Cowen and Liam Simpson, on T-Bear duty for the day.
PC: Anna Harleen

The women's team warming up for the race.
PC: Anna Harleen 

CARMEN! All smiles post race.
PC: Anna Harleen

Onward and upward,

Hannah

The first OD

All the lads are back on campus and life is good. After a summer of running and roller skiing solo, I am happy as can be to train with the crew. Today, Sunday, we went down to five corners for the first OD of the year. 

Luke Costley 

Carr's stoked to be rollerskiing

The first year boys

The final push up the hill to Driscoll's tray of fried eggs. Also this is nice shot of the beautiful work Sonya does cutting hair. Best barber in Williamstown Mass.

A classic Driscoll Brunch

Captain Eli Hoenig tries the fabled new coffee machine

Though my camera was only present for brief moments at random times, the this team's incredible spirit never leaves. No school on the EISA can compete with our level of support for one another and it'll show this winter!

Nick out.

 

Week One

The first few days of what looks to be a dominant season for the Ephs are already wrapping up with great success! The friendly rivalry between the Classes of 2017 and 2019 for who will be crowned the hardest class in Williams Nordic history is heating up. A couple of critical victories have fallen the way of the sophomores of late, but there are many weeks ahead for things to change so all players involved will have to stay on their toes and on top of their training. (Props to Sonya Jampel ’19 and her creativity for coming up with such a unique and motivating Class of 2019 rallying cry.) However, the new freshmen wildcards look to stir things up – can’t wait to see more of what they’ve got!

With two days of Captain’s Practice complete and already four epic workouts in the books, including runs up to the Taconic Crest, DP up Petersburgh, and a track workout, the men’s team is feeling strong and confident.

I slacked a bit this week on shots of the team, but to piggy-back off Benson’s post from earlier this week, I’ve included some updates on changes around campus…

The quad area between Paresky, Chapin, and Sawyer has undergone a transformation into some sort of art-park/playground type thing, but the changes are welcome for breaking up the monotony of the plain, old sidewalk.

New surface, new marble, no cars around Chapin Hall.

And you have to cross a bridge to get to Hollander now.

-Evan Carr

P.S. Hope everyone who follows the blog is doing well, especially Jack Schrupp and Josh Harrington.

"Hot, Oppressively Humid, High of 90"

The title of this post was the weather forecast I heard on the radio for yesterday. So we went for a 2 hr run and loved it! The training season has begun and the team is ready to rip!

Our traditional first run on the Taconic Crest. Look at the humidity invade the photo and look at us smile in spite of it!

Rolling into the Semester

Well, it's that time of year again...

Connor's Bros pods cover campus, everyone is scrambling to figure out their class schedules, and more excitingly, our team is slowly trickling back into Williamstown! I got here a couple days ago and got to move into my dorm (the new one!) before doing my first run up Pine Cobble of the fall with Sonya and spending many hours learning about team leadership. I had my first meal in a dining hall today (Driscoll, of course), and there have been several important changes on that front:

1. They now have the "wave-machine" so you don't have to swipe, just tap.
2. The salad bar has whole olives
3. The snack station thingy has crispy noodles. I'm not sure if this is new or I've just never noticed it.
4. They have new baked goods recipes, namely for a black bean brownie and a red velvet cookie.
5. They have a new espresso machine that has many different buttons you can push to procure a variety of caffeinated drinks. While this is the most notable development, I am skeptical of how well it works, but also looking forward to the fact that I might not have to spend quite as much money at Tunnel this semester.

Other notable changes to  campus include the beautiful new quad between Sawyer and Paresky, the scary metal structure at the end of Spring St. that is supposed to become a bookstore, and the major construction zone that is Schow.

Rolling into the new dorm while desperately trying to avoid "disciplinary action".

If you look closely, you will notice that this is the doorway to the best suite on campus, not only because it is decorated with cheerful (creepy?) animated snowmen, but also because Hannah, Tsaina and I all live there.

Our first team meeting is tomorrow and I am stoked to meet/see everyone again! 

ttfn

Benson

We're coming for you Williamstown!

Hi to all the Eph nordic blog readers!

As summer comes to a close and all of the eph skiers are making their ways back to the purple valley from all corners of the country (and world), its a good time to reflect on how lucky we are to be able to call a place like Williamstown home. I spent nine weeks of my summer in New York city and can't be more excited to escape the throngs of people, tall buildings, and garbage piles. I had a fun time in NYC this summer, but living in a city makes you cherish the times outside with the ski team family. I couldn't be more excited to have one more go at it with the team this year and am looking forward to seeing everyone in the next two weeks!

I just got back from a family trip in Switzerland and thought I would share some pictures from some mountain climbing adventures. Enjoy! 

Sunrise over the Alps from the Matterhorn

 Summit of the Matterhorn

 Summit of the Matterhorn

 Emergency hut halfway up the Matterhorn ridge with clouds covering the valley floor

 Scrambling down the ridge from the summit of the Matterhorn

 Some goats along the way

 Alps!

Out With a Bang

Great summer to be an Eph!

I just got back from a few months in Sun Valley, and am now enjoying some rest and recovery before getting after the next big training block. Maine currently feels like a swamp compared to the West, but at least there is some air to breath.

                                                           Good trail running or great trail running?

                                                                   Fellow Jerrys out on a run.

Bad poses and bad photo composition.

       End of August means lots time trials to make sure you don't suck. 

                                                                  See ya later Idaho

P.S. My plan for the downfall of the JA system is going swimmingly. Luke Costley has no idea he is just a pawn in something much, much, larger than himself. I will update accordingly as preparations are completed.

Happy back to school!

Hello everyone who reads the blog. I hope you are all having fabulous summers and for those of you who go to school I hope you are looking forward to that transition.

A few weeks ago I left Bend and all of the wonderfully fun, motivating, and supportive people who I have been lucky enough to spend the summer with there. Right to my departing moments, as Sonya chased down a bus to Portland with me and Becker made calls for me, I was reminded of how sweet it is to have such incredible teammates. After spending a week at home where I got to hang with the family, and train with the brother, I headed off to Ecuador.

I've been in Ecuador for about a week and a half now. I am living with an awesome family in Cumbayá which is right outside of Quito. Cumbayá is at 2,450 meters so I've been adjusting a bit to the slight change in altitude from what I'm used to back in Minnesota and Massachusetts. There are lots of volcanoes around here and I'm really looking forward to hiking up some of them (quite a few of them are over 5,800 meters, so tall!). One of the nearby volcanoes Cotopaxi, started spewing and doing other active volcano things last year, so during orientation we had to go through all these safety procedures just in case it erupts while we're at school. Also because of all the plates moving around there are often trembles here, there have been two or three since I've been here but I haven't felt them.

I have also been learning how to cook Ecuadorian food which I would love to share with the team when I see you all in Quebec if I can find the ingredients. Today was my first day of classes, I got some really cool notebooks with motorcycles and cars on them, so I felt ready!


There are lots of churches in Quito. This is a view from the top of one of them.


The valley you can see in this picture is Cumbayá where I live! I took the picture from El Parque Metropolitano which is a big park right in the city with lots of trails.


This is a volcano, what you see is a crater. Even though it is a little dangerous to live in a volcano crater, a lot of people live down there as you can see.




This is another volcano crater, but this one is filled with water.

To all of those who will soon be back at Williams, have a great start to the school year!

Much love,

Elowyn

Summer Training Exclusive Update

At Long Last: Boys Came Back

                 
One month ago on July 21st, there were two nordic skiers on the Williams campus: Perry "I hoe collards" Thomas and your author of this blog post.  Later that night, cruising in his prized -- if a little small and not quite as sexy as Joey's -- Tacoma pickup, Jordan Fields arrived. The next day, we spotted the cutest outdoor trip leader in the history of outdoor summer adventures, Luke Costley.  So, on Friday, July 22nd there were four.

Now fast forward one week. If you had been sitting in Tunnel City on Saturday Aug 30th at 9:30AM, you would have seen not just four, but a whole pack of Nordic skiers run by --  everyone looking toned, and most-everyone looking tanned.

We had called, and the alumni came home. Shout out to all the east-coast Nordic alumni that made the trip: Evan D, Nick, Phil, Ian, Casey, Isaac, Kalle, Vanya; also to current skiers, Evan C. and Jack. It was great to see our predecessors happy after college -- it gives us seniors hope -- and also back enjoying Williamstown.

       

When Joey and Evan came up, they went straight to the weight-room. On the left is picture of them (and Luke + Jordan) pretending to fly. On the right is Luke on the day after his return, poutier than ever.

  

Narrated by Kalle Jahn, this award-winning short documents the adventures of a few skiers on the Nordic boys team in their quest for gold.

But all that fun happened a month ago. Since then, I've finished my summer research at Williams and spent a week in Castine, ME -- a sleepy town, a little off the tourist track.  Here's a picture of Isaac '14 in the fort we made to hide from pirates. 

I'm looking forward to be back on campus, training with the team and meeting the new skier freshman. Rock the cow, stay uncomfortable, and stack skulls. Love, Eli.

P.S. Braden Becker mysteriously appeared on campus; he was spotted sitting on a wall eating a piece of a leaf.