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