Williams College Nordic Ski Team: The Return of Sparkle Season

Sunday, December 23, 2018

The Return of Sparkle Season

As Jessie Diggins wrote in her blog post last week, sparkle season has returned. Ephs across the country are donning their cow suits and rippin' down the trail. This weekend Marika, Isaac, Braden, and I headed up for the Craftsbury Eastern Cup Opener to test out the courses for Senior Nationals. The Massey-Biermans were kind enough to host me and feed me up at their house near Craftsbury. CSU waxed some super fast skis as well!

Here the girls are on their way to the race! My good friend Clara (now skiing for Harvard) kindly drove me up to the Northeast Kingdom. Marika and Quincy (Lil 'Q) are also pictured. Lili Q' was kind enough to show us Marika's high school highlight reel. There is some quality footage there.

Marika's dad Paul took some great photos of the team. Saturday was a skate sprint. Kind of wet at first but transitioned to snow for a very fast course. Some Olympians were in the mix as well. Lil 'Q and I made the open heats and Isaac made the U18/U20 heats.

Getting after it!

Don't forget to be groovy.

Let's go!

I got to face off in the quarters and qualified for the Semis after Ida Sargent failed to show up and two girls tripped themselves up out of the start.

Good friend Leah Brams (she is one of the reasons I started skiing) and I racing again in the semis. I sadly had skis so fast that I caught up to the UVM skier in front of me on the down and my ski ended up in between her legs. Somehow in the fall my binding came off the the ski disappeared. I searched for my ski and eventually found it in the river next to the trail. This is what happens when you do not snowplow out of principle. Not the first time I have lost a ski in a race (that would be the relay freshman year at EHS) but hopefully the last. A great learning experience whipping around the course with friends.

Isaac off to a fast start!

Day Two was 5k/10k skate on the North course. Sadly the mass start was cancelled due to lack of snow but we still had fun.

Braden makes an appearance.

Isaac with the U20 podium!

I also ran into some alumns this weekend. Jordan showed up to race for the Williams Gentleman's Ski Team. Heidi came for a brief ski at Craftsbury since there was no snow at Stowe. She won the wall sit contest this fall with a time of 45minutes and many extra kg of weigh added.

Hannah Cole raced on Saturday and we look forward to seeing her at Senior Nats.

Earlier in the week, I enjoyed some time at home including code names, sleeping, socializing, watching a horror movie and visiting Josh and Olivia's apartment in Cambridge. My OD included ~40 loops (0.8k each loop) at the Weston Ski Track and then a run along the Charles River.