SKI TEAM REUNION

We had a great day of skiing at Prospect on Saturday for day one of the Williams Ski Team Reunion weekend. It was a blast to see so many faces from the past and present together in one place and skiing/racing together. Check out the suits!!!

Dave Dethier and Bud 

SUITS from past and present!

right side of group

Middle of group 

left side of group

THE WHOLE GROUP!

1....2....3....ROCK THE COW!!!!!!

We then had an outstanding banquet on Saturday night to celebrate the careers of Bud Fisher and Ed Grees. It was a great time and was enjoyed by all!!!

The team is now gearing up for our Norway trip. We're off to Sjusjøen on Saturday for a week of skiing!

NCAA 15/20K SKATE

This past Saturday the 15/20K NCAA Championship skate races were held at Soldier Hollow in Utah. Friday night the temps dropped down to around 24, which hardened things up nicely. The race starts were also moved to 9AM and 10:30AM from the original start times of 10AM and NOON in hopes that the track wouldn't soften up too badly in the forecasted 55 degree temps. We had been testing wax all week and the conditions were as expected on Saturday morning. By 9AM the final college men's race of the season was underway. We were ecstatic to see Will and Eli mixing it up in the top half of the field right from the get go. Will worked his way up quickly through the field and was solidly in the top ten before too many k's clicked by. At one point Will was in 2nd place! Eli was consistently in the upper teens during the first 10K.  Thanks to Peter Hoenig (once again) I have a few pictures of the race!

Eli early in the race

Men's Field climbing Hermod's 

Will leading on a ripping downhill

 If you block out the snow below Will's skis it wouldn't be hard to imagine roller skis on his feet!

At about 12.5K Will crashed hard in the feed zone and instantly went back to 25th place right as the lead pack started to break apart. It was unfortunate timing, but Will got back on his feet and managed to pass a group of skiers on Hermod's on the last lap to secure a couple of points in 29th place. Eli hung in the lead pack for almost the entire race and finished in 17th, only 25 seconds from 3rd place! It was a great race for Eli and an excellent way to wrap up his Freshman season.

The women's race started at 10:30 and the trail was starting to show the effects of the Utah sunshine. Everything stayed relatively firm, but the snow slowed considerably throughout the race. Hannah fought hard for all three laps and battled the tough uphills and slowing snow all the way to the finish. She finished in 33rd, just 24 seconds out of the points wrapping up an outstanding freshman season!!

Hannah working the flats with Isabell Caldwell behind

It was a beautiful day with bluebird skies and everyone enjoyed the post race activities.

Trailside on Hermod's

Eli making sure our wax cabin sign made it home

Hannah, Matt Cole and Peter Hoenig
discussing the race

 The team then headed down to Park City for the awards BBQ at the finish of the slalom event. Peter Hoenig, Cathy Schen and I went looking for some fish:

I saw a fish, but didn't catch one. It was
BEAUTIFUL WEATHER!

We said our goodbyes to folks in Utah and packed our bags for morning departure. Between our Suburban and the Alpine team minivan we managed to get our 18 bags and 6 people to the airport.

BAGGAGE FEES? Yep.

 We arrived home late Sunday night. It was an awesome trip with some great racing, beautiful weather and excellent company. It's hard to believe the college racing season is over. Luckily we have our trip to Sjusjoen, Norway coming up in less than two weeks!!!


Back home in Williamstown, we found mid-winter conditions at Prospect. Here are Jayvin, Caitlyn and I enjoying the Lollipopper's Ice Cream social!

Caitlyn getting the hang of it

This weekend is a BIG ski team reunion to celebrate the careers of Bud Fisher and Ed Grees. The weekend is kicking off tomorrow night at the Purple Pub at 8PM. There will be a nordic race at Prospect on Saturday at 11AM and an alpine race at Jiminy Peak at 11AM. 6pm Saturday night the reception and dinner will start.....ending time? Who knows! We're all looking forward to celebrating the careers of these two outstanding coaches!

NCAA 5/10K Classic

Yesterday was the 5/10K Classic NCAA race at Soldier Hollow. All week the race organizers were worried about warm temps, but the tracks froze up hard overnight and held solid for the most part during the race. The tracks did change quite a speed wise and early starters had some fast first laps! Hannah was bib 40 (the last starter) in the women's race and skied well to move up in ranking and finish 33rd on the day (less than 30 seconds out of the top 20. The hills are BIG at Soldier Hollow and the air is thin. Here is Hannah on Hermod's Hill:

Hannah nearing the top.
It's a LONG WAY UP!

Women's results: http://www.barttiming.com/eisa/Results14/EISA/ncaa2014-3.pdf

Due to the conditions the race organizers decided to start the men at 10:20 (10 minutes after Hannah started). The early starters set a blistering pace as the tracks got worked in. Eli started bib 32 and Will 34. After the first lap they had both skied up a few places. At the finish Will was 33rd and Eli 38th.

Will near the top of Hermod's
Check out the ribbon of snow for the race trail in the
background!

Eli charging up Hermod's

Men's results: http://www.barttiming.com/eisa/Results14/EISA/ncaa2014-4.pdf

 It was a rough day out their for EISA as we only had 3 men in the top 20. The women faired slightly better as Anja Gruber (UVM) took the win and 7 in the top 20.

Peter Hoenig and Cathy Schen arrived yesterday along with Matt Cole. It's wonderful to have parental support out here for the races. Thank you for the pictures Peter!

Bud and I cleaning skis and putting away
the klister for the year!

Tuesday was the NCAA banquet with all alpine/nordic athletes and coaches. It was a nice dinner and awesome to see everyone all dressed up!

The Williams Table
Kelsey, Eli, Bud, Shannon, Will and Hannah

Eastern Nordic Men (Blurry, but Will is in this one)

Eastern Nordic Men (Eli in the front, Will behind Chris Stock)

EASTERN NORDIC WOMEN. Hannah next to Anja Gruber front and center

The Williams Crew:
Kelsey, Eli, Will, Bud, Shannon, Hannah, Jay

Soldier Hollow on Hermod's Weds Midday

Soldier Hollow Venue

ribbons of snow through the countryside

Bud and I took a drive up to the top of a development
in Midway on the way home
from the coaches meeting
NICE VIEWS!

There are a LOT of new houses down there. They all look pretty similar.

We are off to skate today at SoHo and to do some testing and waxing in preparation for tomorrow's skate races. The men start at 9:30 and the women at 11:00.

You can watch the live feed of the races here:

http://www.ncaa.com/championship/liveplayer/player?gameId=442787&date=2014/03/08

Wish us luck for the last college race of the season tomorrow!

Williams out West

We're in Utah!

Activities include:
Watching movies- Dark Shadows, An Unexpected Journey, and The Desolation of Smaug
Making and consuming sweet chili
Hot tubbing
Night adventure runs
Socializing with Norwegians
Waxing
Skiing
and... a little bit of homework.

Here are some action shots of Day 2 at the course:

 SoHo chillin'

 Our own personal Porta-Potty (plus Eli's thumb)

 Skis awaiting the secret sauce

 Rare and never to be seen in the East- A Black Billed Magpie

 Flags

We're stealing this at the end of the week.

And that's update number one! We'll get back to you later!

-Eli, Hannah, and Will

UTAH

We arrived in Utah Sunday afternoon safe and sound. We're staying in Midway, which is over 1000 feet lower than Park City and a very similar elevation to the racing venue at Soldier Hollow. The hotel has a very european feel and at times it seems like we're in Switzerland!

Morning walk in a long sleeved t-shirt

Outdoor speakers playing music all the time

 Yesterday we classic skied at Soldier Hollow and did some ski and wax testing. It was a day at the beach with many skiers skiing in shorts. The klister of the day? The warmest thing you have!

Soldier Hollow

 The amount of man made snow on the trails is really impressive. In some spots in the stadium you have to climb a 4 foot tall snow wall to get on the trail!

Will, Eli and Hannah are enjoying their stay so far. We're off to ski and test at Soldier Hollow again this morning and the NCAA banquet is this evening.

The weather looks warm for the entire week here in Utah. The alpine teams are having trouble training on the hill because it's too soft and some of the nordic event times might be changed a bit. The nordic races start Thursday with the 5/10K classic.

Back on the east coast Hannah B., Laura and Luke are racing at Junior Nationals. The highlight of the classic races yesterday was Hannah's 2nd place finish in the U20 category. Way to ROCK THE COW!