Vermont Sports November-December, 2019

WHAT ATHLETES SHOULD KNOW ABOUT CAFFEINE | AN EPIC NEW TRAIL | HOLIDAY GIFTS

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BE YOU AGAIN. THE RIGHT SPORTS MEDICINE PROVIDER CAN HELP. Our team provides comprehensive sports medicine care, no matter how complex the injury.

Patients receive a course of treatment that’s ideally suited for them and built around the most advanced options available—whether operative, non-operative or a combination of both.

If you live in the Burlington area, make an appointment with The University of Vermont Health Network’s sports medicine specialists at UVM Medical Center.

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NEW ENGLAND’S OUTDOOR MAGAZINE ON THE COVER: Ansel Dickey and Tristan von Duntz ride into Groton State Forest on Cannondale CAAD fatbikes. Photo by Jake Hamm/Cannondale.

PUBLISHER

Angelo Lynn - publisher@vtsports.com

EDITOR/CO-PUBLISHER

Lisa Lynn - editor@vtsports.com

ASSISTANT EDITOR

Abagael Giles abagael@vtsports.com

DESIGN & PRODUCTION Shawn Braley

MEDICAL ADVISORY BOARD

Dr. Nathan Endres, Dr. David Lisle, Dr. James Slauterbeck —University of Vermont Robert Larner College of Medicine; Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation; Jamie Sheahan, M.S., R.D.

CONTRIBUTORS

Brian Mohr, Phyl Newbeck, Leath Tonino

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Lisa Lynn | (802) 388-4944 ads@vtsports.com

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VERMONT SPORTS IS A PROUD MEMBER OF

The film "Leave Nice Tracks" debuts this season, telling the story of how the first sanctioned ski glades on National Forest land came to be and how the members of Vermont's Rochester /Randolph Sport Trails Alliance (RASTA) cut them. Find out where this and other ski films are showing on page 38. Photo by Marius Becker

5 The Start

The Outdoor Summit

What happens when you put all of Vermont's outdoor rec groups in a room together?

7 News

The Latest from the Backcountry From a new Long Trail FKT to ski glades slated for southern Vermont, here's what's new.

14

Feature Fat Times at East Burke

Fatbike festivals are blowing up.

Here are a few of our favorites, from Abe-BERM-Ham to Winterbike.

18 Feature

Your Backyard Winter Adventure The perfect weekend fatbiking camping trip.

10 Nutrition

20

What athletes should know.

Fifty years ago some fraternity brothers started a ski shop.

Here's the story behind Skirack.

The New Buzz About Caffeine

13

Trails

Feature

50 Years of Selling Fun

Groomed to Ride

26 Feature

The Roller Derby Revolution Meet the people and leagues powering this sport.

30 Reader Athlete

Dr. Quarterback: Ivette Guttman

35 Reader Athlete

Arctic Ski Racer: Dan Collins

37

Calendar Race & Event Guide

42 Endgame Air Nordic

Why travel in your ski boots?

Why not?

How local groomers are transforming fatbiking.

ADVERTISERS! The deadline for the Jan/Feb. issue of Vermont Sports is December 18. Contact ads@vtsports.com today to reserve your space.

NOV/DEC. 2019 | VTSPORTS.COM 3

SOUTHWESTERN VERMONT MEDICAL CENTER

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PA R T N E R S H I P I S P O W E R F U L M E D I C I N E

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TM

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THE START

Waterbury Waterbury

AN OFFICE OF OUTDOOR RECREATION?

O

n October 10, New Hampshire became the 16th state in the nation to have an official “office of outdoor recreation”—a staff position dedicated to growing a sector that employs close to 79,000 people and generates $8.7 billion in consumer spending annually in that state, according to Outdoor Industry Association (OIA).

Maine has an office and soon, Vermont may have a variation, too—a dedicated person or group of people who will work in tandem with New Hampshire, Maine and New York to grow outdoor recreation.

“We want each state [in the Northern Borders region] to have an outdoor recreation economy office. We want them to be networked, and we want to market the region as a whole,” said Ted Brady, the Deputy Secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, a week later.

Brady was speaking to a packed house of over 100 at the first Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economy Summit.

It was held at Bolton Valley Resort on October 18 and put on by the Vermont Outdoor Business Alliance and the Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative.

The summit was a who’s who of Vermont’s outdoor recreation businesses and non-profits with speakers such as Ric Cabot of Cabot Hosiery (who launched Darn Tough Socks), Orvis’ Frazier Blair who shared how her company has grown in southern Vermont and beyond and Justin Worthley who talked about how Burton is growing in its community thanks to the recent addition of Talent Skatepark and a proposed concert venue.

The summit also gathered executive directors of trail organizations such as Mike Debonis of the Green Mountain Club, Matt Williams of the Catamount Trail Association, and Karrie Thomas of Northern Forest Canoe Trail; and land groups such as the Vermont chapters of The Nature Conservancy, the Trust for Public Lands and others.

As people in fleece and jeans listened to speakers and later sampled Bolton’s signature wood-fired pizzas, it was clear that here was the brain trust of Vermont’s outdoor recreation. It’s a brain trust that’s been operating on overdrive to get to where we are now.

According to the Outdoor Industry Association, outdoor recreation generates 51,000 jobs and $5.5 billion in consumer spending across Vermont, significant numbers given a population that’s less

The trails crew: Karrie Thomas of Northern Forest Canoe Trail, Zac Freeman of RASTA, Sinuosity's Mariah Keagy, Abby Long of Kingdom Trails and Mike Debonis of the Green Mountain Club at the VOBA/VOREC summit. Photo by Lisa Lynn

than half the size of New Hampshire’s.

And a new report by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis ranks Vermont fourth among all states in terms of the percentage of the state’s gross domestic product (GDP) outdoor recreation contributes.

So why does Vermont need an “office of outdoor recreation?” And what, exactly can an office do that Vermont’s myriad outdoor organizations are not already working on?

For starters, Brady explained, Vermont will now have a seat on the four-state Northern Borders Regional Commission Outdoor Economy Council.

Championed by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) ever since it was first introduced in the 2008 Farm Bill, the Northern Borders Regional Commission has, per its website awarded “over $30 million and leveraged $87 million for 155 projects across the four states.”

In Vermont, it has funded 58 projects totaling $10.6 million, including helping to build and market rail trails and support co-working spaces in towns like Lyndonville.

The new four-state NBRC Outdoor Economy Council will collaborate and allocate new federal funds to build outdoor recreation and support the growth of businesses that surround it.

Brady, who served as Senator Leahy’s aide and was the State Director for Vermont and New Hampshire for Rural Development before his current role, stopped short of saying exactly how much in new funding might come to Vermont for outdoor recreation or how, exactly the office would operate.

But he did add this: “When you close your eyes and think about Vermont, you think about New England and the Northern Forest. Ultimately, I hope we can think of that as a regional brand that attracts international visitors.”

@prohibitionpig @prohibitionpig

'tis the season

—Lisa Lynn, Editor

NOV/DEC. 2019 | VTSPORTS.COM 5

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NEWS

THERE’S A NEW LONG TRAIL FKT Nika Meyers was a little delirious as she ran the last 10 miles of the Long Trail on October 2. In doing so, the 30-year-old from Bridgewater set the Women’s Unsupported Fastest Known Time (FKT) for the 273-mile trail. She hiked the Long Trail from north to south in 6 days, 11 hours and 40 minutes, tracking her progress with a Spot Device.

Though two attempts at the unsupported FKT were made by men this summer (Jeff Garmire ultimately set a new record of 5 days, 23 hours and 48 minutes in late July), the only previous attempt at such an FKT by a woman was by Jennifer Pharr-Davis in 2007.

Davis hiked the trail in a “selfsupported” fashion, resupplying as she went, in 7 days, 15 hours and 40 minutes. Meyers, in contrast, set out from the Long Trail’s northern terminus with seven days of food in her pack, budgeting for 3,500 calories a day and no resupplies in between.

“It was something I’d been thinking about for a long time,” said Meyers, who has hiked the Triple Crown of National Scenic Trails—the Pacific Crest, Continental Divide and Appalachian Trails—in addition to the Arizona Trail and Long Trail (see our August, 2019 cover story). She met Pharr-Davis while working as a Green Mountain Club employee in 2013, and actually consulted her before taking on the FKT.

Nika Meyers, after setting the women's unsupported fastest known time on the Long Trail on Oct. 2.

Photo courtesy Nika Meyers

Meyers took an unusual approach: instead of setting daily mileage goals, she decided, at Pharr-Davis’s recommendation, to focus instead on hiking as far as she could each day. Her goal? To see how hard she could push her body with the goal of matching Pharr-Davis’ time.

“I averaged about 42 miles per day and hiked from about 3:30 a.m. to 9:30 or 10 p.m., aiming for a minimum of five hours of sleep every night,” said Meyers, who didn’t train beyond casual hiking throughout the summer. “I’ve hiked most trails not knowing where I’m going to end up that night and I did

THE ISLANDS GET A NEW TRAIL

MORE HUTS COME ONLINE New for this season, the Vermont Huts Association has announced that the Shrek’s Mountaintop Stone Hut will be joining its network of seven huts across Vermont.

The cabin, which sleeps two to four and is located on the summit of a small mountain in the Green Mountain Trails network in Pittsfield, features a wood stove, fire pits and amazing views. Located just off 25 miles of flowy mountain bike trails on property owned

by Spartan Race founder Joe de Sena, the stone cabin is a short half-mile hike or skin up from the closest trailhead. Reservations for the 2020 season will open by the end of 2019. Located between Killington and Rochester, the hut could serve as a stopover on the proposed Velomont trail, a route that would eventually link trails from Killington to Stowe. The cost to book Shrek’s Mountaintop Stone Hut (via vermonthuts.org) is $65 a night. “We’re also exploring the idea of locating a hut or yurt somewhere on Bolton Valley’s property and, possibly, another one in Huntington,” says RJ Thompson, executive director for Vermont Huts.

“It’s exciting to witness the new energy and creative thinking up there at Bolton Valley. If a hut makes sense for all parties involved, we’ll do our best to make it happen,” added Thompson.

the same here. I knew that if I fixated on where other people had camped ahead of me, the whole picture of the task ahead would just become crippling.”

After three final days of torrential rain, during which she developed sores on her ankles and nearly ran out of food, she met her mother and partner at the trail’s terminus. “It was magical. They brought a Thermos of hot tea and my mom’s homemade cookies. We sat by the trail and called my dad and twin sister, and then I hobbled very slowly to the car.”

Though there was no prior women’s unsupported FKT to break, Meyers’ time of 6 days, 11 hours and 40 minutes bested Travis Wildeboer’s longstanding men’s unsupported FKT of 6 days 17 hours and 15 minutes, which was set in 2010 and only just broken in June 2019.

“I was excited about how fast I’d done it, but in the couple of days after I finished, my whole body ballooned into this amoeba creature that was unlike anything I’d experienced on any of my thru-hikes,” said Meyers. “It really made me wonder, is it all worth it?”

Meyers, who coaches middle school Nordic skiing and works for the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies in Colo., will give a talk at the GMC's Waterbury Center visitor center on Dec. 20, titled “Rugged Happiness: Setting the Unsupported Female Record on the Long Trail” at 7 p.m. greenmountainclub.org

This October, the South Hero and Lake Champlain land trusts oversaw the completion of a new one-milelong loop through the Tracy Woods, a 45-acre tract of woodlands and fields on South Hero conserved in 2018. It’s a kid-friendly loop trail that winds through large hemlock trees, second-growth cedar forests and a wetland that features two distinct ecosystems: a Lakeside Floodplain Forest and Silver Maple-Green Ash Swamp.

The land is owned by the Tracy family, who managed the forests and farm fields and marshy shore habitat from 1841 to 2016, when they first partnered with the land trusts. The trail winds through portions of a working farm.

Pittsfield's Shrek's Cabin will now be part of the Vermont Huts network.

Photo courtesy Vermont Huts Association

NOV/DEC. 2019 | VTSPORT S.COM 7

NEWS S W

The trails shown here at Maple Hill will be open for winter 2020. Photo courtesy Southern Vermont Trails Associtation

N

E

Maple Hill Legend Uphill Skin Track Hike, Ski Bike Hike, Bike, Ski Catamount Trail Velomont Trail V.A.S.T. Backcountry Zones Dover Town Property USFS Property

Vermonter Tara Geraghty-Moats.

Private Property

Southern Vermont Expands Backcountry HAVE FUN, RESPECTTerrain THE AREA, AND STAY SAFE If you enjoy your time here please consider becoming a member of SoVTA at WWW.SOVTA.ORG/JOIN This network is designed, built and maintained by a few dedicated individuals.

Southern Vermont may be getting some will be spearheaded by the new of new routes for hiking, Nordic and Safety Tips for Users: Please follow these Off-line maps can be downloaded The Maple Hill Trail Network andskiing Important new mountain biking, and hiking Southern@Vermont Trails Association, backcountry skiing and biking in an area Never Travel Alone.

Leave No Trace SOVTA.ORG/MAPS Backcountry Zones would not have Always tell someone where you are going and when you expect to Principles: Emergency Numbers: 911 trails in the coming years. Earlier this between the defunct Haystack been possible without the which became a chapter of the Mountain return.

1. Plan Ahead and Prepare Deerfield Valley Rescue : (802) 464-5557 Bring a map of the area you are traveling and a compass (and know 2. Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces partnership betweenof The Town ofpurchased fall, the town Dover ait).50For Trail Trail Maintenance Issues Email : how to use Association in June, and Mount Snow resort.

Development 3. Dispose of Waste ProperlyCatamount Dover and SoVTA. Do not rely exclusively on your GPS or smartphone, as reception can Leave What You Find trails@sovta.org acre property off of Route 100, with thecan die.could start as early as spring4.5. 2020. fail and batteries Minimize Campfire Impactsand, as of press time, was seeking to Be prepared for emergencies.

6. Respect Wildlife is a chapter of the Before you go, familiarize yourself possibleas exit points. intention of linking the paved Valley Considerate of Other Visitors become aSoVTA chapter of the Vermont If with allanygoes planned,7. Be snowshoers Be aware of weather conditions. The weather changes quickly in the mountains.

Maple with Hill is an Trail the Crosstown Trails by the Mountain Bike Association. and cross-country skiers will have access Be willing to turn back if circumstances call for abandoning a tour.

YOUR LOCATION TO USE FOR EMERGENCY SERVICES Unpatroled Network.

Bring a first aid kit.

Mount SnowExist Golf Club. The Dover Final trail plans are still subject to a temporary loop trail, plus two small Natural Hazards .

Pack extra clothes, food to and other aids to ward off hypothermia in case of emergency.

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK Recreational Trails Committee will approval by the United States Forest backcountry touring areas for skiers and oversee planning and development Service. snowboarders this winter. The project

UTM: 18T 0677626mE 4759773mN

2020 ENDURO WORLD SERIES HEADS TO BURKE

Next Aug., riders in the Enduro World Series will face off on technical terrain like this at Burke Mountain. Photo by Jeb Wallace-Brodeur

The Enduro World Series is headed to the East Coast for the first time ever in August 2020, when top riders will compete at Burke Mountain Resort.

Burke Mountain has hosted three Enduro World Series Qualifiers events as well as a round of the 2019 North American Enduro Series earlier this year.

The race will run from Aug. 1 to Aug. 2, and Burke Mountain Resort is already promising a weekend of live music, food and drink for spectators. Expect live shows Friday and Saturday, with an event in the village featuring demos from major bike brands.

Photo courtesy

Tara Geraghty-Moats

TWO VERMONTERS NAMED OLYMPIC ATHLETE ROLE MODELS At the 2020 Youth Winter Olympic Games in Lausanne, Switzerland, American competitors will see some familiar faces as two Vermonters serve as Athlete Role Models.

Freestyle skier and Olympian Hannah Kearney of Norwich and Continental Cup Champion in Nordic Combined Tara GeraghtyMoats (also a ski jumper) of West Fairlee will serve as mentors to young athletes. They are two of 19 Athlete Role Models named so far.

Since 2010, the International Olympic Committee has allowed the International Federations whose sports will be featured to select exemplary adult athletes as mentors for youth competitors ahead of the Youth Olympic Games. About 1,880 youth athletes are headed to Lausanne to compete from January 9 to January 22, 2020.

Geraghty-Moats and Kearney, along with other mentors will share their experiences at the Youth Olympic Village, at training and competitions and during a series of activities and workshops.

Killington Gets a Whole New Park Experience This season, Killington skiers and riders will have access to a whole new array of park offerings, thanks to an announcement by POWDR, the resort’s parent company, this fall. Killington, along with Copper Mountain and Eldora in CO, Mt. Bachelor in OR, Boreal

8 VTSPORTS.COM | NOV/DEC. 2019

Mountain in CA and Park City in Utah, will have Woodward Start and Progression Parks and a new Red’s Backyard—a zone that features a range of rail garden job features for all levels of park goers, designed after Olympic medalist Red Gerard’s own DIY backyard terrain park.

Killington debuted its new Peace Park in 2018-2019, which was designed by pro snowboarder Danny Davis.

Killington has said it expects the parks to be open for the entirety of the 20192020 ski season, with most of the new development located at Ramshead.

“Having Woodward Mountain Parks at Killington is a natural fit, and we’re excited to be at the forefront of this new evolution in terrain parks,” says Mike Solimano, president and general manager of Killington Resort and Pico Mountain.

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NUTRITION

T

rue confession; I love a good cup of coffee. I never used to drink coffee thanks to youthful exuberance and the regular eight hours of sleep I got every night. But fastforward a decade and how things have changed.

Chalk it up to age or far fewer hours of quality sleep and my resolve that I need not consume coffee in order to be bubbling with energy all day has long since faded. It’s an admission I hear regularly from clients as they sheepishly cop to downing cup after cup of coffee to get them through their day. For those reading this, abashedly nodding your head and recognizing yourself as a fellow (gasp) “coffee drinker,” raise your mug proudly because that cup of steaming dark roasted beans could make you a better athlete.

Caffeine, the source of coffee’s ergogenic powers, is the reason so many of us seek it out. As it turns out, caffeine doesn’t just put the pep in our step to get out of the door in the morning or keep us from dozing off during a boring mid-morning meeting. Caffeine is one of the few readily available legal drugs that has been proven to improve athletic performance. With the plethora of products (nutritional and otherwise) on the market that claim they will make us run farther, bike faster and jump higher, caffeine ranks among the few that actually delivers.

Caffeine is a central nervous stimulant found in tea, coffee and cacao plants. When ingested, caffeine works to stave off drowsiness by binding with receptors in the brain. In doing so, caffeine blocks another compound, adenosine, from binding to these sites, thereby preventing adenosine from exerting its sleep-inducing effects.

Additionally, caffeine stimulates the release of neurotransmitters like dopamine, providing a surge of energy in the body. More energy is a nice perk when it comes to getting through a long day, but is that boost enough to truly clock a new PR? The good news? It is, and we have the studies to prove it.

Another thing that adds to caffeine’s performance benefits is its ability to help the body save glycogen. Glycogen, the storage form of carbohydrate in our muscle and liver, can easily be exhausted during endurance exercise.

However, research has found that caffeine decreases the body’s reliance on glycogen during exercise by increasing

10 VTSPORTS.COM | NOV/DEC. 2019

THE NEW BUZZ ABOUT CAFFEINE

NEW STUDIES ARE SHOWING THAT CAFFEINE COULD BE THE MOST BENEFICIAL, LEGAL PERFORMANCE-BOOSTING SUBSTANCE OUT THERE. BUT THERE’S A CATCH.

BY JAMIE SHEAHAN, M.S., R.D. Coffee drinkers can rejoice. But if you plan to use caffeine as part of your pre-race routine, there are a few things you should know.

the ability to mobilize and burn fat for energy. Increasing the body’s ability to utilize fat even when exercising at a high intensity is like the Holy Grail for most endurance athletes, as it allows them to push hard late in a race when glycogen stores are typically depleted.

As any experienced athlete knows, the mental challenge of pushing through fatigue can be more difficult than the physical fatigue itself. Our bodies are capable of so much more than we give them credit for, but it can be all too easy to succumb to the urge to slow down or stop when things get tough. This may be what makes caffeine the ultimate ergogenic aid.

Recent research has focused on caffeine’s effect on perceived exertion and performance. A study out of Melbourne, Australia, on highly trained cyclists and triathletes found that those who consumed caffeine prior to a twohour steady-state cycling test reported lower rates of perceived exertion.

Researchers then went one step further, having the cyclists complete a time trial during which those dosed with caffeine outperformed their non-caffeinated cohort by over three percent. This result is consistent with a meta-analysis that reviewed 21 studies examining the effect of caffeine on time trial

"For those reading this,

abashedly nodding your head and recognizing yourself as a fellow (gasp) “coffee drinker,” raise your mug proudly because that cup of steaming dark roasted beans could make you a better athlete." performance. That analysis found an average of a 3.2 percent improvement in endurance performance.

Until recently many of the studies examining caffeine and athletic performance used only male athletes as test subjects, raising the question: Can female athletes benefit from caffeine

too? Ladies, you can breathe a sigh of relief because a study published in the peer-reviewed journal, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, in June 2019, determined that women get just as big of an edge. In this study, Australian researchers found that the effect of caffeine on endurance cyclists was the same for men and women when consumed at a dose of 3 grams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight.

This finding suggests that prior studies demonstrating the ergogenic properties of caffeine are also applicable to women.

One major hang up for athletes when it comes to caffeine is concern about dehydration.

Yes, it’s true that caffeine is a diuretic and by definition a diuretic is a substance that increases the body’s production of urine. However, urinating more doesn’t necessarily translate to dehydration. Think about it logically: If you drink a large volume of water then you’ll urinate more, yet that water isn’t dehydrating you. Studies have shown that moderate consumption of caffeinecontaining beverages does not result in fluid loss in excess of the amount consumed.

So how much do we need? Most of

the referenced studies used controlled doses of caffeine in pill form to allow for careful control of the dosage used.

Fortunately for those who prefer their caffeine in coffee form, subsequent studies found coffee to be just as effective as a caffeine supplement.

Studies showing a positive effect on performance found that doses of 3-6 mg/kg of caffeine before and during exercise were most effective.

Considering the average cup of coffee has about 100 mg of caffeine, this means a 150-pound athlete seeking to consume the recommended amount of caffeine prior to exercise would need to have two to four cups of coffee.

If you’re sold on the idea of using caffeine, but coffee just isn’t your drink of choice, fear not—there are plenty of alternatives out there. Caffeine pills, gels, gummies or other caffeinated products can help you reap the same rewards. Also, studies suggest that the strategies of taking caffeine prior to and during exercise are equally effective.

However, there is one big caveat to these recommendations: To get the most bang for one’s buck, athletes should abstain from caffeine for at least a week prior to competition. For regular coffee users this could induce symptoms of withdrawal like drowsiness, irritability

Though most research indicates that caffeine is a highly effective performance enhancer, there are some caveats and it is possible to overdo it. Here are a few symptoms you'll want to avoid.

and headaches.

day of an event as a lower tolerance may

The very idea of a full week without

result in jitteriness, rapid heart rate and

caffeine could be just enough to turn

digestive issues; hardly performance-

even the most dedicated athlete

boosting side effects. That means, just

off. On the flip side, athletes who

like with any change to one’s pre-event or

do not regularly consume caffeine

racing protocol, practice makes perfect.

should be careful when it comes to

Experiment with the timing and dose to

ingesting even small doses on the

find what works best for you so there are

no surprises when it matters most.

Finally, it is possible to go overboard when it comes to caffeine. The NCAA considers caffeine a banned substance, placing a limit of urinary caffeine concentration of 15 micrograms per milliliter. This far exceeds the amount recommended, equating to about six to eight cups of coffee consumed within two to three hours of competition.

Short of guzzling an entire pot of coffee, most would find it near impossible to consume that much caffeine in such a short time frame and the side effects would likely be more harmful than helpful.

It seems almost too good to be true that a legal, readily available and safe substance can truly enhance performance, but the science says it all.

Coffee drinkers everywhere can now feel vindicated.

Jamie Sheahan is the Director of Nutrition at The Edge in South Burlington. Jamie holds a Master of Science in Dietetics from the University of Vermont, where she serves as an adjunct professor of sports nutrition. Jamie has run over 40 marathons in addition to several ultra marathons.

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GROOMED TO RIDE

IT’S GETTING EASIER AND EASIER TO RENT A FATBIKE AND FIND A PLACE TO RIDE, THANKS TO SKI AREAS THAT ARE OPENING UP THEIR TRAILS AND VOLUNTEERS WHO ARE GROOMING MOUNTAIN BIKE NETWORKS. BY BILL FLACK.

W

hen I first got interested in fatbiking I thought to myself, “Well, this might be a fun way to keep some level of cycling fitness in the off-season and get a few rides in.” I had no idea it would become such a staple in my life. Those unfamiliar often have a picture in their heads of what a fatbike ride might be like. That vision might include getting first tracks as you glide effortlessly through deep powder on a beautiful, untracked trail. The reality, of course, was often far askew of that vision when I began fatbiking.

I started riding when fatbiking was still a relatively young sport and learned many of the lessons a beginner learns through trial and error, like: how to dress for conditions, how to keep hands and feet warm, that wider tires are almost always better in snow—and the list went on. Virtually all of the trails in Vermont at that time were “natural,” meaning you had to try to ride them in whatever state they were in. It was best to seek out trails that had a lot of winter traffic. Snowshoers generally laid out the best track for fat bikers creating a wider and more uniform packed surface that allowed a fatbike to travel over it with less effort.

In the early years many riders didn’t want to deal with the sometimes challenging conditions that were the norm at that time. Picture trying to slog through a deep, boot-packed trail where you could barely maintain balance and had to crawl along at a snail’s pace. You really needed to be a bit of a glutton-forpunishment to enjoy this. I always found some level of satisfaction in navigating a difficult condition in the same way a technical mountain bike trail requires the combination of balance, handling skill and strength to negotiate it. But it sure wasn’t for everyone. So sadly, a lot of folks entered and then quickly exited the sport.

Then grooming started to happen and it changed everything. Early grooming efforts on Vermont trails would often be as simple as snowshoeing the trails with a purpose to try and flatten and pack the trail as firmly as possible. Stowe’s Ranch Camp now offers free snowshoe demos to anyone who wants to track out the Cady Hill trails behind the shop. Folks would sometimes pull a car tire or a weighted sled to help prep the trail surface and that’s still how many trails are being managed. A Herculean effort to be sure, but it can yield good results, until the next storm hits...then you have to begin again.

The biggest leap forward, however, was when mechanized grooming began to

Clockwise from the top, riders hit the trails at Grafton and below at Rikert Nordic Center. At Mud Pond, volunteers groom. Photos courtesy Grafton Ponds, Rikert Nordic and Bill Flack

happen. Today, most of the trail networks that are groomed use a simple machine called a Snowdog to prep the trails. This trail tool is nothing more than a rubber snowmobile track that is driven by a small lawnmower engine. The operator stands in a grooming sled behind the Snowdog, which packs the surface. The pace of the machine is typically quite slow, similar to hiking pace. That said, the Snowdog is currently the best tool for the job—it’s quiet, compact, very efficient and capable of navigating the turns typically found on a multiuse trail. It does no damage to the trail below the snow surface. Impressively, most of the Snowdog machines in Vermont were paid for by donations from local riders and trail groups.

The grooming process is a very physical task and also quite time-consuming if you’re going to achieve a good result. The Snowdog weighs close to 400 lbs, not counting the weight of the groom sled. All of the steering is done with body English. The machine gets bogged down fairly easily, so you have to constantly get after it whenever there’s fresh snow and, when it gets too deep, you have to snowshoe the track in advance of the machine just to get through.

Double-fall line slopes are quite difficult to navigate and often you have to dismount and shovel ahead of the machine to level out the track. Multiple passes are necessary to get a well-packed surface and the timing is also important (ideally, when the trail use is at a minimum late in the day) so the snow has time to set up. Grooming is a bit of an art-form and we’re lucky in this state to have a few masters like Mark Berardo at Saxon Hill’s trails in Essex Junction and

Hank Glowiak (owner of Chuck’s Bikes) and his crew in Morrisville, who lay down a track on the Cady’s Falls trails that’s as close to perfection as it gets, sometimes with features like berms and jumps built in.

The benefits of a groomed trail surface extend to virtually all snow travelers. I personally groom the Mud Pond trails in Williston with a dedicated group of volunteers and I can’t tell you how many times we’ve had snowshoers and hikers pull us aside to thank us for our efforts.

Grooming creates a uniform, packed surface that makes snow travel easier and safer for everyone. Have you ever tried to go on a snowshoeing excursion in fresh snow with young children? It’s no picnic! But perhaps the biggest benefit comes in the common freeze-thaw cycles we often experience these days. Left alone, our trail systems become an icy, boot-packed mess after a freeze-thaw.

For fatbikers, the groomed surface makes the riding far safer and enjoyable and, when conditions are right, the trail can actually be easier to ride than it is in the summer because all the roots and rocks below the snow are leveled out to a smooth surface. Skiers also benefit from the improved glide of the fast track and families with young children now have the option of giving their kids a more positive outdoor experience by making it easier to explore the trails.

Today, trails are being groomed at many ski areas around the state and ski resorts are renting out fat bikes. Early season, you can jump on a fatbike and take advantage of Rikert Nordic Center’s trails. Grafton Trails, Stratton and Suicide Six all have groomed trails and others are maintained by volunteers in Essex, Richmond, Williston, Underhill, Waitsfield, Stowe, Morrisville and Warren. And that’s only a partial list.

Many private networks such as Kingdom Trails and Millstone are also grooming trails for fatbiking.

If your local trails are being groomed you can help out anytime to lay down the track if you’re a skier or snowshoer, especially after a fresh snowfall. If you’re a hiker or biker we generally ask you lay off the groomed track.

Either hike on the sides of the track or hike on trails that aren’t being groomed until the track is solid. Most networks leave a portion of their trail system in a natural state so there are alternatives for everyone to avoid ruining all the hard work that goes into prepping a packed surface. Please do your part to respect the thousands of volunteer hours that go into improving winter trails for all of us to enjoy.

Bill Flack is an avid fatbiker and founder of the Facebook group, FatbikeVT

NOV/DEC. 2019 | VTSPORT S.COM 13

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY DRAW 500 CYCLISTS TO KINGDOM TRAILS IN FEBRUARY? WINTERBIKE, FOR ONE.

BY BENJAMIN HALL | PHOTOS BY RYAN THIBAULT

14 VTSPORTS.COM | NOV/DEC. 2019

Kingdom Trails' trail crew puts the same level of meteorlogical wizardry and science into grooming its trails as ski areas do, looking for perfect grippy conditions for riders.

“What really set off the remote aid station was that it was a gathering of the coolest cyclists around.”

As I stepped out of my van on Darling Hill in East Burke one Saturday last March, the cold air bit my checks and the moisture in my nostrils froze.

But the anticipation of the adventure was already warming my body as my internal engine started to rev up.

I pulled my fat bike out of the back of my van as more riders started to show up. As the sun rose higher in the sky, it helped to keep both spirits and energy high. Bikes and their owners were beginning to gather at the group ride launching area for the eighth annual Winterbike.

A collaboration between Ryan Thibault’s MBTVT and Kingdom Trails, Winterbike has become to fatbiking what June’s NEMBAFest is to mountain biking: a chance for group rides, games, vendors, beer, bonfires and more beer. It’s a scene—a who’s who of New England’s bike clan. And in 2019, it drew more than 500 people to East Burke to ride, the biggest crew yet.

A whole variety of group rides offered something for riders of every skill level and any desired adventure.

There were dozens of pros, and ride leaders included Olympian and former

Group rides were held for every level but all converged on a central "aid station" with a bonfire and beer.

national champion cross-country mountain bike racer Georgia Gould and Ted King, the former pro road racer.

They offered up longer rides for those who wanted the challenge of keeping up with a former pro across the more than 30 miles of groomed singletrack.

But there were also beginners and those who had rented a bike for the weekend in the ranks. And it didn’t matter: all group rides converged at a

mid-ride aid station where we were met with an assortment of the finest Vermont beverages, cheeses and crackers. There were even maple energy products from UnTapped (Ted King is an owner).

I hopped into the Intermellow ride, a fun three-hour ride on intermediate to advanced singletrack, and we pedaled along at a conversational pace. It was the perfect ride to enjoy both the day and the company of some fellow riders,

Fat tires and happy hounds love grippy snow.

soon to be new friends.

As we dropped into the first singletrack off of Heaven’s Bench we found ourselves cascading down a ribbon of switchbacks, the laughter and the fun factor increasing as we descended. The new snow had yet to firm up on this steep slope in the woods.

These conditions made drifting around corners interesting, and a fall meant being whitewashed in powder.

NOV/DEC. 2019 | VTSPORTS.COM 15

Each of us took turns digging ourselves out of the soft snow along the side of the trail, laughing along with the other riders who had witnessed the whole thing. This happened multiple times throughout the first stretch of trail, and really set the tone for the day. The energy and excitement were contagious.

As we dropped down into the valley the conditions quickly firmed up where the snow had the time to settle. Trails became the true frozen white highway that makes any fat biker grin from ear to ear. CJ Scott, Trails Manager for Kingdom Trails Association, and his team dedicate themselves to ensuring the conditions on the trails are top notch all winter long. And that’s no small task, for sure.

With multiple weather stations reporting current weather patterns on Darling Hill, CJ and his team are able to wait for optimal conditions before breaking out the groomers and hitting the trails. It became quite clear that there is a science behind the craft. They look at when, why, and how the snow crystal forms, hardening into the perfect snow for grooming. This all equates to a firm surface with good grip for our wide knobby tires.

We continued along the singletrack rolling up and over little climbs and weaving through the forests of East Burke, revelling in how good the conditions were. Then, all of a sudden we were in a clearing, surrounded by maple trees. A bonfire was set as the centerpiece to a spread of Vermont cheese, veggies, and fruit, complemented by hot maple syrup from UnTapped and crisp brews from Lawson’s Finest Liquids and Moat Mountain Brewery. But what truly set off the remote aid station was the gathering of several hundred of the coolest cyclists around.

People had come from all across the Northeast, from Philadelphia to Ottawa. As I made my way throughout the group, sparking up conversations, one common theme kept coming up.

Everyone was there because, well, everyone was there. I know that sounds

Kingdom Trails' 30 miles of groomed track took cyclists (and a few runners) across the open fields and past old barns of the Northeast Kingdom.

strange but let me explain: There is a certain culture shared among fat bikers, different from any other culture felt in the outdoor recreation world. It takes all the best parts of winter outdoor sports— overcoming the elements, enjoying the beautiful silence of the winter woods, finding harmony and balance between machine, body and conditions. That’s all there, but in the winter, that’s usually

The after party at the vendor village on Darling Hill, fueled by Lawson's Finest.

16 VTSPORTS.COM | NOV/DEC. 2019

experienced alone, or with a small group. Fatbiking events bring all of that but they also throw on top the party-like atmosphere of mountain bike festivals, cyclocross races, and spring skiing events.

No place was this more evident than at the apres party held at the vendor village back on Darling Hill. As we made our way back up Heaven’s Bench and

Author Ben Hall, the voice behind New England Dirt.

then back down to the Darling Hill event area, we could hear the music and smell the food cooking, all of which seemed to flatten the climb up as each pedal stroke got us closer to the festival finish.

Winterbike doesn’t just come to an end, it comes to a grand finale, complete with a 6X fat bike race, which pits six riders racing against each other down a groomed slope with jumps, berms, and choke points. The beautiful carnage brought many of us back to the first section of singletrack where we, much like the racers, were tossed from our bikes into the soft snow along the edge, only to get up laughing and clamoring for more. As the 6X race came to a chaotic conclusion, the games began. A slow ride contest had riders, surrounded by the crowd in a tight circle, moving as slowly as possible, only to face elimination as soon as the rider put a foot down. This was followed by a limbo contest, which has to be one of the funniest things I’ve seen. Watching riders attempt to get their bike and themselves as low as they can on a parking area filled with slippery wet gravel, mud, snow and ice is like watching football players figure skating.

After all the laughs, high fives, good food and brews, I loaded my bike back into the van, threw on a warm sweatshirt and started my drive back home to New Hampshire. As the miles rolled past, I replayed all the fun in my mind’s eye, sparking grins again.

Winterbike is already on the calendar for 2020, for February 22nd.

Come join me and 500 of the closest friends you’ve yet to meet.

Benjamin Hall, a.k.a, MTBBen, is the host of the podcast New England Dirt, which covers the trails, the culture, and the local flavor of life on, in, and around New England dirt riding.

8

Fatbike

weekends Not to Miss

IF YOU WANT TO SEE HOW THE OTHER HALF ROLLS, BRING YOUR FATBIKE (OR RENT ONE) AND HEAD TO ONE OF THE GROWING NUMBER OF WEIRD, WILD AND DOWNRIGHT FUN WINTER FATBIKING EVENTS.

This March, Grafton Trails (top left) hosts its first Fatbike Bash, complete with a beer and food pairing lunch. Suicide Six 's Abe-BERM-Ham sends riders on a banked and bermed slalom course (above) and Uberwintern sets riders loose on Stowe's hand-packed singletrack (left, bottom).

DUST ‘EM OFF FATBIKE GRAVEL GRINDER, STOWE, NOV. 23 Just in case you forgot what fat tires felt like, MTBVT hosts an 18mile ride on fatbikes from Ranch Camp on a mix of doubletrack, dirt roads, singletrack, cow path, a general fatbike safari with some backwoods aid station debauchery. mtbvt.com UBERWINTERN FATBIKE FESTIVAL, STOWE, JAN. 11 Stowe Trails Partnership and Mountain Bike Vermont collaborate on a day of fatbike revelry on powder-packed singletrack trails.

Expect group rides, demos, hearty brews and warm fires on the Cady Hill trails with a backcountry, beer-equipped aid station. mtbvt.com FATBIKE ROUNDUP, RIKERT NORDIC CENTER, RIPTON, JAN. 25 Imagine an outdoor party with a bonfire, outdoor cookout and yes, lots of fatbikes rolling on the groomed trails of the Rikert Nordic Center, with big views from the western slopes of the Green Mountains. That’s the Rikert Fatbike Roundup. Rentals and demos are available and the Center has one of the best snowmaking systems on cross-country trails in the state so conditions are usually buffed. rikert.com

WINTERBIKE 2020, EAST BURKE. FEB. 22 More than 500 riders are expected to converge at Kingdom Trails for group rides, a rolling party, demos and clinics. kingdomtrails.org ABE-BERM-HAM, SUICIDE SIX, FEB. 22 Imagine building a bike course that has banked slaloms, berms, jumps and hairpin turns? That’s what Suicide Six does each winter for Abe-BERM-Ham, an event that started off during President’s Day weekend. While it might sound a little hairy, the quarter-mile downhill course is mellow enough for kids, but has enough features to challenge expert riders and there are men’s and ladies open, masters divisions, and youth and grom categories. suicide6.com 75TH ANNUAL STOWE DERBY, STOWE, FEB. 23 It started out as a race between alpine and Nordic skiers from the top of the Mt. Mansfield Toll Road, some 13 mostly-downhill miles into the heart of Stowe Village. But a few years ago, someone got the brilliant idea of adding a fatbike division. Think of it as a winter downhill. stowederby.org

FATBIKE TO THE CLOUDS, GREAT GLEN TRAILS, MT. WASHINGTON, N.H., MARCH 8 Long referred to as “North America’s Toughest 10K”, the Ski, Shoe & Fatbike To the Clouds course uses 4k of the Great Glen Trails system, and then 6K up the snow-covered Mt. Washington Auto Road with an average grade of 12 percent and an elevation gain of 2,200 feet.

Entrants are required to complete the 10K using one pair of skis, snowshoes or one fatbike (no switching allowed). Participants must be able to comfortably ski, snowshoe, or fatbike the 6K down the Mt. Washington Auto Road after they finish the race. This is NOT an event for the inexperienced! greatglentrails.com 1ST ANNUAL GRAFTON FATBIKE BASH, GRAFTON TRAILS & OUTDOOR CENTER, MARCH 14 Put a bike rodeo, beautiful trails and a beer pairing lunch together and you have a Fatbike Bash. The Grafton Trails & Outdoor Center hosts the First Annual Grafton Fat Bike Bash and “Ride a Fatty for Saint Paddy.” There will be fat bike demos, a skills clinic and kids’ fun, a fat bike rodeo with barrel races, a limbo, slow race, spring and more. Grafton Inn also offers a beer pairing lunch by advanced reservation. https://www.facebook. com/events/417696018896174/?active_tab=about

NOV/DEC. 2019 | VTSPORTS.COM 17

backyard

Winter

adventure FOR AN EASY WEEKEND OF WINTER CAMPING, LOAD UP A FATBIKE AND ROLL OUT TO GROTON STATE FOREST.

BY TRISTAN VON DUNTZ | PHOTOS BY JAKE HAMM

Author Tristan von Duntz (left) and Ansel Dickey roll on groomed trails toward their destination in Groton State Forest.

18 VTSPORTS.COM | NOV/DEC. 2019

I

f anyone knows me, they know I love bikes. Even more, I love to come up with new ways to ride them. So when my good friend and talented photographer Jake Hamm gave me a call in the middle of last winter looking to ride and asked, “What do you have up your sleeve?" it just so happened I was in the mist of planning a winter fat bike ride. I told him about my plan: Ride into Groton State Forest on groomed and packed trails, camp out and ride back. A two-day, one-night ride adventure. I could hear Jake smile as he said, “Sounds perfect.”

One month later, the living room of my house in Marshfield is an absolute mess of bike gear (Jake is Cannondale’s staff photographer), beer and camp food. We also convinced Ansel Dickey, a Cannondale ambassador and former

professional rider from Woodstock to join us. Ansel makes riding fast and smiling at the same time look easy.

Between the three of us, my house was filled with multiple fat bikes, technical clothing and gear, food, so much camera gear you could sink a ship with it and of course, some of our favorite Vermont craft beer—pretty standard around here.

We built up the new Cannondale CAAD 2 fat bikes and dialed them in to fit each of us, and then drove out to Groton State Forest to stage some firewood at our campsite, which I had reserved through the offseason system at Vermont State Parks. Then, it was back to my house, where we packed all of our gear into frame bags, handlebar rolls and seat packs.

Conditions for the weekend looked

to be cold and crunchy, perfect for fat biking. Pro tip: When you can’t hear your riding partner tell you about how she/he finally figured out they’ve been airing up their winter tires too much and they’ve finally got them down around 7-8 psi and they are stoked, that means it’s epic fat bike conditions and you better get after it.

Vermont was in the midst of one of its deepest, coldest winters in a while, and I had been putting in some serious time grooming a six-mile network of private trails around my house in Marshfield. Too often I would groom late into the night, get in, take a shower and get in bed still smelling like the 1980s snowmachine I use to pull a tractor tire to make smooth, firm winter singletrack.

The plan was simple: to ride through

my groomed trails into downtown Plainfield, where we would pick up scenic groomed trails on private property and then ride the Cross Vermont Trail and groomed VAST trails over nine miles into the 25,000-acre Groton State Forest. There, we would bike up to our three-walled shelter in New Discovery State Park.

We pedaled our way into beautiful hardwood forest, past old red barns and hunting camps. We popped out of the woods near Goddard State College and took the pavement to the Plainfield park and ride, where markers blaze the way to the State Forest. Pedaling along the Cross Vermont Trail, you see remnants and relics of the old railroad that traveled this corridor. It’s easy to imagine yourself 100 years ago on a trail that used to serve a very different

“Winter adventure fat biking isn’t a fast-paced, glitzy or glamorous sport.

It’s quite the opposite.”

NOV/DEC. 2019 | VTSPORTS.COM 19

purpose.

At one point on the railbed, you can drop into downtown Marshfield to get provisions at the general store and Rainbow Sweets Bakery, but we skipped the side trip that day and headed deeper into the forest. Soon we were coming around a bend where Marshfield Mountain peeked out at us over trailside Bailey Pond.

The bare maple, birch and beech trees gave way to views that are closed off by summer foliage, and we stopped at a log landing to take some cool shots among the beastly machines used for logging. The working landscape is part of a new commercial maple sugaring operation, and we stayed for a while and watched the loggers working.

From the log landing, we embarked on a stretch of trail that passed lakes and ponds dotting the post-glacial landscape. Short offshoots lead down to waterfront camps, some closed for the winter, and others serving as yearround havens for adventure.

Glacial erratics cropped up throughout the woods as we pedaled closer to Groton State Forest, where the

GEAR AND CLOTHING LIST: Cannondale CAAD 2 fatbikes Soft Goods custom frame bag Blackburn HB Roll and dry bag Blackburn Outpost Elite seat bag Big Agnes Air Core sleeping pad Big Agnes Anvil Horn Zero-Degree bag MSR Whisperlite stove Ibex Shak hoodie Ibex wool beanie, knickers and bibs Club Ride Fat Jack mountain bike pants Club Ride Blaze vest Lake MXZ400 shoes Darn Tough Hker Boot cushion sock x2 Patagonia Down Aweater hoodie Patagonia Cap 3 base layer Black Diamond Legend gloves Meet Max wool bandana Giro Montaro MIPS helmet Small axe Cookpot, food and utensils Good beer Good whiskey

20 VTSPORTS.COM | NOV/DEC. 2019

Everything they needed for an overnight in a three-sided cabin the crew managed to pack onto the Cannondale CAAD 2 fatbikes (above and bottom left). Riding toward Marshfield Mountain and past Bailey Pond, the pair head to their camp (Raven) in New Discovery State Forest.

landscape was dramatically shaped by advancing and retreating ice millions of years ago. The ride was incredibly beautiful. And, thanks to a gentle grade, the trails were an easy ride, even though we were loaded down with heavy camping and camera gear.

Winter adventure fat biking isn’t a fast-paced, glitzy or glamorous sport. It’s quite the opposite, and I enjoyed a pace that allowed for casual conversation, a rest stop to enjoy the scenery, a drink or snack, or even a short detour as we rambled down the path.

We knew our destination was coming, and we kept moving to stay warm, rolling right up to our threewalled home for the night. We could have opted for a longer distance (about another 11 miles with some road riding) to reach more expensive comfortable lodging at state-run Seyon Lodge, with a crackling fire in the living room, beds, and gourmet food, but this wasn’t that kind of trip. We were looking forward to a night of primitive fire, libations, and old-fashioned conversation, with only our winter sleeping bags to keep us warm.

As we arrived and settled in, our first priority was to change into dry clothes and get warm. Jake wielded a small hatchet and took care of splitting wood for the fire while Ansel handled my trusty Norwegian compact aluminum shovel like a true woodchuck and dug out the fire pit. Before we knew it, we were warm, happy and eating homemade chili.

As we drank beer, sipped whiskey into the night, and toasted a few marshmallows, the sky overhead was a canopy of cold, unmatched silence.

Even though we were not far away from civilization, with Route 232 just a short jog away and home only a few miles beyond that, we were deep in winter adventure mode and there was no other place we would rather be.

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50 22 VTSPORTS.COM | NOV/DEC. 2019

YEARS OF SELLING FUN IN 1969 A GROUP OF UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT STUDENTS DECIDED TO OPEN AN OUTDOOR RETAIL STORE. OVER THE NEXT 50 YEARS, BURLINGTON'S SKIRACK HELPED MAKE VERMONT'S OUTDOOR SCENE WHAT IT IS TODAY.

W

e were just a bunch of fraternity brothers at University of Vermont sitting around drinking beers when we thought it might be fun to open an outdoor gear shop,” remembers Zandy Wheeler.

It was 1968—the year Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King were assassinated. The Beatles released the White Album that November. A gallon of gas cost 34 cents. Lycra, a material invented 10 years earlier by DuPont, was making its way from girdles into outdoor gear, remembers Linda Beyus, who later became Skirack’s apparel buyer. And not far from Burlington, the Trapp Family Lodge had just begun grooming cross-country trails and teaching guests to Nordic ski.

“I liked to ski, run and ride bikes but I wasn’t necessarily a top athlete,” says Zandy, then a kid in his 20s from Mount Kisco, New York who was, in his words “really into gear.”

At the time, the main ski shop in Burlington was The Alpine Shop and the bike shop was Earl’s Cyclery. “Alpine Shop was a good shop, but we wanted something a little less formal, a little edgier,” says Zandy.

They found a small storefront on Center Street (the front half of what is now The Daily Planet) and opened The Skirack in 1969. “We packed it full of gear we loved—skis, boots and more,” Zandy recalls. “At the end of the ski season we had sold a lot—but probably not enough to cover our costs,” he remembers with a grin. And there was inventory left over.

“We couldn’t just do another sale.

We had to do it our way,” says Zandy.

And so was born “The Midnight Sale.”

“We’d open the store at midnight and every few hours the prices would drop— like at 2 a.m. or 4 a.m.” The sale proved popular, so much so that “one year, the crowds were so big they broke the glass on the door trying to get in.”

The crew soon realized they needed to diversify beyond skis and started selling bikes as well—"high quality bikes from Europe,” Zandy says. Phil Hammerslough, who had been leading bike tours joined the shop as a partner.

“John Wheeler and I drove a truck down to New York, filled it with about

100 Italas—at the time ‘high tech 10-speeds’— and brought them back.

By the end of the month, we’d sold all of them at $110 each,” Hammerslough remembers. “The secret was that we didn’t just sell the bikes, we showed them why a bike was worth $110–which was a lot more than a Schwinn cost.”

Some of the early bike shop employees included Richard Sachs, who went on to build a reputation as a frame builder, Johnny Arbello (who would later wrench for top teams) and, for a

few weeks, Bill Humphreys, one of four American cyclists who, in 1973, was on the first U.S. team to burst into the top ranks of the European race circuit.

F

ifty years later, Skirack has helped shape the landscape of outdoor recreation in Vermont. It’s been named Snowsports Retailer of the Year and Nordic Retailer of the Year by Ski Industries of America,, one of the 20 Best Running Shops in America by Gear Patrol and has repeatedly made

the list of America’s Best Bike Shops compiled by the National Bike Dealer’s Association. It has put on clinics on everything from bike maintenance to running technique with top pros. And each year it fits and outfits kids from the King Street Center with running shoes free of charge so they can participate in the Junior Milers program.

After moving to its Main Street location in 1974, Skirack has gradually doubled in size, annexing the building next door, and now occupies 22,000 square feet of space. It has merged with Downhill Edge and launched two new stores, Patagonia Burlington and Vermont Trailwear in Waterbury Center.

The shop now employs over 100 people, carries more than 100 models of running shoes and has an underground warren of catacomb-like rooms filled with race bikes, mountain bikes, gravel bikes, electric bikes, kids bikes—and skis and snowboards.

But one thing has stayed the same: Skirack is still owned and run by the Wheeler family—Zandy, his wife Karen George, and son John George-Wheeler (who manages the Patagonia and Trailwear stores)—along with co-owner Spike Clayton, a former pro bike racer who has been working there since 1984.

I

n the early 1970s, Zandy’s identical twin brother John had joined the team. “John had been a conscientious objector and was working with underserved youth in Brooklyn before he came up here to Burlington,” Zandy says. In Burlington, John soon became what Karen George calls “the front man” of the operation. “He was just so charismatic—people loved him. He would stand at the front of the door

Opposite, clockwise from top: Skirack's first shop on Center Street with Bill Humphreys, Jon Williams, Richie Sachs, Bill Fitzsimmons and Johnny Albello; the service center today and the exterior; John Wheeler; an ad from the early 1970s that ran in the Burlington Free Press. This page: top, Zandy Wheeler, his wife Karen George and their kids. Their youngest, son John GeorgeWheeler, now manages their two other stores, Patagonia Burlington and Vermont Trailwear in Waterbury. This page, bottom, clockwise from top: John Wheeler, left, and his twin brother Zandy, a sampling of the brands and products carried today. The Skirack crew at one of the Catamount Outdoor Center races they sponsored.

NOV/DEC. 2019 | VTSPORTS.COM 23

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The Skirack crew in October, 2019, at their Community Service Day at the Intervale.

and shake everyone’s hand who walked in,” she recalls. In the late 1970s, Zandy moved away. He studied modern dance at the Mary Anthony Dance Studio in New York and went on to earn a degree in counseling psychology. He met Karen, also a therapist, in Lebanon, N.H. while they were both doing postgraduate work. And through much of the 1980s, John Wheeler ran the show.

"John also singlehandedly started the Burlington Triathlon,” recalls Paul Goldman. “He did everything from laying out the course to getting the proceeds to the Special Olympics,” says Goldman, at the time an owner of several radio stations. “He was just so enthusiastic it was contagious. I bought my first bike from Skirack and now I ride probably 300 miles a week.”

But John Wheeler was fighting a rare blood disease and in 1988, he succumbed to it. That’s when Zandy and Karen (whom he married) returned to Burlington to run the shop.

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A

fter a few bad snow years, Skirack had stopped selling alpine equipment), and in 1975, in its new location, the shop leased space to The Downhill Edge. Later, the The Downhill Edge moved across the street. Sam Hewitt, who now heads up Skirack’s warrantee department, was a Downhill Edge employee at the time.

“I remember Jake Burton Carpenter coming in with his plywood Backyard board and trying to get us to carry it,” he says. The shop did sell them for a while but, says Hewitt, “then-owner David Brooks never thought the snowboards would sell.” In 1997, after Brooks passed away, the Wheelers brought Downhill Edge back into the fold. And they carried Burton snowboards.

“I think the key to success is that we always hired people who were passionate about the sport and then taught them to sell, rather than vice versa,” says Wheeler.

Hewitt, who studied biomechanics

and locomotion at Pennsylvania State University and later went on to develop footwear for Timberland, is an example of that brain trust. He notes: “I don’t buy shoes for Skirack but I’ve learned enough that just by sniffing them I know what compounds have gone into them and whether cheaper fillers, such as chalk have been used.”

“No matter if it was a bike or a pair of skis or an accessory, we wanted to always carry and sell what was best in class," says Spike Clayton.

Doug Stewart, who works as the shop’s lead bootfitter is another example. A Level 3 examiner for the Professional Ski Instructors of America and a member of the elite Eastern Tech Team, he teaches skiing on weekends at Stowe. “We also have people like Adam Terko, who’s one of the top Nordic coaches in the East now working in our Nordic ski department,” says Zandy.

"What Skirack always did so well was hire experts who would help educate you. They didn't just want to sell you something, they wanted to sell you the right something, something that would make you better, or faster or would let you have more fun in a sport" Hammerslough recalls.

And there’s Roger Costales. Costales started working in bike shops when he was 15 years old and ran Skirack’s bike shop and service department from 1991 until he retired in 2018. “I stayed because of the people,” he says. “Both the people who worked there and our customers, many of whom became good friends and people I’d ride with.”

“It was people like John and Zandy and Roger that have kept us all coming back into the shop and helped me and so many others really become passionate about the sport,” says Paul Goldman.

“They really made it fun.”

Costales, when he hears this laughs.

“Yeah, I think I sold Paul Goldman his ‘last bike’ about 10 times.” And with Skirack still growing, Goldman may have many more “last bikes.”

C

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Green Mountain Roller Derby skaters like Shelby Armstrong (above) and Lena Freed (below) are working to grow their sport Vermont. Here, GMRD plays at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex. Photos courtesy Green Mountain Roller Derby

ROLLER DERBY HAS BEEN CALLED A “FEMINIST PUNK FEVER DREAM” BUT IT’S ALSO GAINING GROUND AS AN INTERNATIONAL SPORT, WITH TWO OF VERMONT'S TOP SKATERS HEADED TO THE INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS IN MONTREAL THIS MONTH.

BY ABAGAEL GILES 26 VTSPORTS.COM | NOV/DEC. 2019

A jammer for the Bennington Battle Cats hits hard against an opposing team's blocker. Photo by Dan Crowther

“N

ext up to jam for Gryffindor is TrasHer.” A petite woman, face painted fiercely, wearing a black dance skirt and wide fishnet tights over powerful thighs, rolls up to toe the jam line. Her helmet features a red sleeve with a lone gold star, the mark of a jammer. Her leather roller skates have four bright green wheels.

The whistle blows and TrasHer, a 37-year-old mom and daycare provider better known as Trisha DiFonzo, dives into the pack of women ahead of her, shoulder down. Chaos consumes her— bodies thud, wheels squeak against the floor and one skater is spit clear off the track mercilessly landing on her butt with a thud before popping up to reenter the fray.

Seconds later, TrasHer emerges on the other side, shot like a ball from a slingshot. Her legs cross and uncross gracefully as she hurls ahead of the pack, around the track, hips tucked low. When she catches the rest of the pack to lap them from behind, she spins elegantly, pumping both hands to her hips as she cocks a hip and faces the stands. There is the shrill of a whistle and then, the crowd roars.

This is a home bout at the Champlain Valley Expo in Essex Junction for Green Mountain Roller Derby, Vermont’s oldest women’s flat track roller derby league. Founded in 2007, it’s one of

six leagues across the state, from Bennington to St. Johnsbury.

Though its current membership is small (about 26 in a sport where a full team roster is 15), GMRD has trained skaters who have gone on to compete at the international level, including Danielle Baker of Plattsburgh, N.Y. who skates by the name “Mayday Va*j*j*” for ninth-seeded New Skids on the Block, Montreal's elite travel team.

This November 15-18, she and another skater with Vermont roots, Aylin Woodward, who skates for the Gotham Roller Girls under the name, Yeti or Not, Here I Come, will compete at the 2019 International Women’s Flat Track Derby Association World Championships in Montreal, an event that will showcase the top 30 teams in the sport from four countries, including Argentina and Australia.

Woodward, a former Dartmouth alpine ski racer and ballet dancer, got her start skating with Vermont’s topranked league Twin State Derby, in the Upper Valley just four years ago.

Though fierce competition has been at the core of roller derby since the early aughts, its image is shifting.

At the top, Woodward says, “We are certainly seeing less fishnets, less theatrics. But that spirit’s not gone from the sport—it’s just that we’re seeing a different interpretation of it.”

RIOTOUS ORIGINS “When we first started,” says Carrie Speranza, an 11-year veteran of Burlington-based Green Mountain Roller Derby who skates by Bust E. Breaker, “it was more like this underground punk thing. We wore a lot of fishnets and tiny skirts. For me, it felt like the makeup was taking away from people’s ability to see us as really skilled, highly trained athletes.”

Though roller derby has been around since the 1930s, today’s most popular version of the sport, women’s flat track roller derby, was born in 2001 over drinks in a bar in Austin, Texas.

A group of friends formed the sport’s first player-owned league, the Texas Rollergirls, with the goal of creating a sport for women, by women.

Like any good grassroots movement, there are a lot of competing stories about its origins, but one thread remains constant: “[In the early days] it was: learn how not to fall down on roller skates, get a cool outfit, and hit somebody,” Suzy Hotrod, the longestskating member of Division I Gotham Girls Roller Derby told Racked in 2017.

Uniforms were handsewn, players adopted names like Bettie Rage and Cat Tastrophe and fishnet stockings were ubiquitous. Flat track roller derby's founders imbued their new sport with the politics and aesthetic of the Riot Grrrl movement. And though some

of the rules were taken from a prior theatrical version of derby popularized in the 1960s and 1970s, where alternating teams of men and women faced off in full-contact team races on a banked track, in its reincarnation, roller derby gained both legitimacy as a sport and a certain edginess.

As the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association’s website reads today, “Skaters are ‘normal’ during the day…

Roller Derby is our escape from day-today life and our opportunity to embrace a tougher, edgier side of ourselves.”

According to reporting by The New York Times, modern derby names borrowed from Austin’s drag culture and punk scenes at the time.

In short, derby was reborn as thirdwave feminism, embodied as a sport with emboldened theatrics that belied serious athleticism.

Early leagues built their own tracks in warehouses, old fairgrounds and gyms, self-funded tournaments and travel and constantly amended the rules. Gear was cheap or handmade, the athleticism required was raw, and the leagues were self-governed. What started as three leagues in Austin spread like wildfire across America.

Nearly 20 years later, flat track roller derby’s governing body, the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), has nearly 500 member teams in 25 countries worldwide, with two located in Vermont (four more local teams are purely recreational or all-gender).

Today, the sport looks a little different from what it was in 2001. Most top players favor uniforms that channel volleyball more than punk rock and no longer compete in fishnets. Some skate under their real names and though the sport has stayed true to its player-run grassroots, the best athletes in the world train or skate as hard as professionals in other sports.

GIVING (AND TAKING) A GOOD HIT “When I put quad skates on, I feel like there’s a part of me that’s taking flight—there’s a freedom in moving as fast as you can on four wheels,” says Jenna Nunziata, 35, who skates by Schemestress for Twin State Derby’s A Team, the Upper Valley Vixens. She describes herself as “one of those kids

NOV/DEC. 2019 | VTSPORTS.COM 27

Skarya Stark jams for Twin State Derby's A-Level travel team, the Upper Valley Vixens. With a WFTDA ranking of 142, they are Vermont's top-ranked WFTDA league.

Photo by John Foster

who hung out at the roller rink.” Growing up in the 1990s, she played roller hockey and even did some jamming—hiphop dancing on roller skates—before diving into derby in the mid-2000s. Today, she’s one of the league’s star players, and formerly skated with Portland, Ore.’s Rose City Rollers, the league whose A team is currently seeded number one heading into the International Championships.

Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby is played in 60-minute bouts, a term borrowed from boxing. Two teams face off with five skaters each on a 108-meter oval track at a time. Bouts consist of jams, two-minute frenzied pushes for points in which each team’s jammer—the only player on the track who can score points— faces off against the other’s in a race to lap the pack of other skaters as they all skate counter-clockwise around the track.

At the start of a jam, two jammers toe the jam line, a horizontal line across the track set behind the eight blockers.

After one sharp whistle, play begins, and the blockers try to clear the way to help their jammer through while blocking the other team’s jammer from getting the lead.

“The way teams move on the track and even some of the play formations are a lot like football,” says veteran Vermont skater and GMRD coach Trena Isley of Burlington, who goes by the skater name Strawburied Jam. “Except both teams are playing offense and defense at the same time and the jammer is the ball.”

Once one jammer breaks ahead of

28 VTSPORTS.COM | NOV/DEC. 2019

identifies as a woman."

In Vermont and elsewhere, the best skaters leap, hop and skate backwards at full speed—and can keep their momentum doing so while taking a hard hit. Watching a roller derby bout can feel like watching full-contact ballet, where bruises and the occasional broken nose are worn as hard-earned battle scars.

“Whatever you’re dealing with off the track, there’s just nothing like hitting your best friend as hard as you can and having her be psyched about it to make you feel better,” says Isley.

In Bennington, Southshire Roller Derby is building what it hopes will be the next generation of Vermont roller derby players. Photo by Dan Crowther

the pack, a ref declares them the lead jammer with two short shrill whistles, at which point they gain the power to stop play by tapping their hands to their hips. Points are scored when a lead jammer laps the other team’s players, skating fast circles around the track as the pack moves.

At every level of play, flat track roller derby is raucous. There are the screams of toe stops on wood, bodies hurling, hips being thrown and powerful bodies of all shapes and sizes tucking low as they fly, wheels a colorful blur, around a track. It is fierce and unapologetic, a full-contact sport that’s like a fusion of basketball, football and rugby on roller

skates—with no ball and a lot of attitude.

Unlike running or even basketball, derby is a sport that rewards many different body types. It’s hard to typecast across positions. Some jammers are tiny and lithe, while some are powerful and tall.

Blockers go the same way.

Off skates, skaters at GMRD, Twin State and Montpelier-based Vermont Roller Derby are doctors, bartenders, grief counselors, librarians and fulltime parents. Some use they/them pronouns rather than she/her, and many skaters identify as LGBTQIA. "This is not just a women's sport," says Woodward. "It's a sport for anyone who is gender expansive or who

INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION “Roller derby gave me the feeling that I am a strong individual,” says GMRD vice president DiFonzo, (TrasHer), 37.

The busy mom to three and daycare owner skates daily on the Burlington bike path and trains for derby by doing Cross-Fit several times a week. “It’s the contact that gets me to practice. I want to feel strong and feel other people being strong with me.”

Contact between skaters is a near constant in derby, whether it's teammates bracing against each other at the start of a jam, small hip checks or big, powerful moves like the C-block, where a skater skates hard, parallel to their target, and suddenly curves their skates toward them to hit them squarely in the chest with their shoulder.

“When you take a hit that surprises you, especially for women skaters, I think it’s natural to get mad at first,” said

Vermont Roller Derby coach Julia Wilks, shown blocking above, says a player's first bout can be intense. "Being in a jam is like being in a car crash. You're getting hit from all different angles, tossed around sometimes, and then you get off the track and you have what we call 'jamnesia,' meaning you have no idea what just happened." Photo by TK

DiFonzo. “Now when I take a good hit, I want to buy that player a beer at the bar after the bout and be like, ‘That was a great hit!’ Where else do we as women and nonbinary athletes get to do that?”

For DiFonzo, camp is also part of the fun. “Part of the appeal from the beginning for me was the alter ego, that you could have this split between real life and derby,” says DiFonzo, who often paints her face before bouts and skates in fishnets. "But when I do, I'm showing my strength. Being sexy doesn't have to be in conflict with that."

Carrie Speranza has been coaching the Minor Catastrophes, Green Mountain Roller Derby’s junior team, for the last six years. Open to girls 6 through 17, the team often has between 15 and 25 skaters in the program at a time.

“It’s an opportunity for girls to be powerful and use their bodies in a way that they wouldn’t get to normally,” says Speranza. “As girls get older, they’re still taught to be a little softer and kinder.

Being aggressive as a woman is still often seen as a bad thing.” As a coach, she pairs older players with younger players as mentors. Speranza says, “I’ve seen these girls grow into leaders on the track, and take that confidence to their schools, to other sports. It’s pretty amazing.”

That’s especially true in Southshire’s co-ed junior league, where boys and girls toe the same line at the league’s current practice space, the Gilcrest Skating Rink in Hoosick Falls, N.Y., near Bennington. “It lets girls and boys know

“It's the contact that gets me to practice. I want to feel strong and feel other people being strong with me.” that they are physically capable of the same toughness,” says league secretary Sydney Adams, of Schaghticoke, N.Y., who started out as a junior player herself.

In GMRD’s adult league, each rookie skater is also paired with a mentor to

answer questions about navigating the rigorous skills assessments required by the sport’s governing body for prospective skaters. “It took me a full year to pass mine,” says DiFonza.

Woodward, one of the two Vermont players who will compete at Worlds this month, was recruited by a former co-worker who saw her skating around Dartmouth’s campus on Rollerblades.

“At every level I’ve played at, I’ve had incredible mentors who, of their own good will, gave me their extra time and patience to help me grow as a skater,” says Woodward of her rapid climb from fresh meat to infamous blocker on the number two-seeded team in the world.

“They lit my fire. I wouldn’t be where I am now without them.”

It’s one of the unique qualities that has endured since roller derby’s revival in the early aughts—the idea that as long as the opportunity for mutual empowerment is paid forward from one skater to the next, the sport will grow and thrive powered by volunteerism alone.

FRESH MEAT And so I found myself, this past July, under florescent lights in the Blue Ribbon Pavilion at the Champlain Valley Exposition, trying to stand up on borrowed roller skates for the first time at Green Mountain Roller Derby’s rookie boot camp. I felt like a cartoon character: unwieldy, legs and arms spread wide and uncertain of where I would fall in next. Even with a helmet,

mouthguard, kneepads, elbow pads and wrist guards, I was terrified. I was, in derby speak, “Fresh Meat.”

As a veteran skater moved elegantly backwards on her skates, cheerfully beckoning a pack of us newbies forward, we made slow movements, hands out, butts stuck up, uncertain of how to stop.

The first drill was learning to fall and then to get back up, again and again.

By the end of the two-hour practice, we joined league skaters for a drill: “27 in Five," one of several skating skills tests players have to pass before scrimmaging with the team or playing in a WFTDA-sanctioned bout. About 20 skaters took to the track to attempt 27 laps in five minutes.

Despite a summer of trail running, my thighs burned as powerful people with names like Snatch McKraken and Folsom Bruise flew unapologetically within an inch of my unwieldy frame, calling “On your in! On your out!” It was like being in a tunnel, where everyone was competing for the singular, most efficient path around the track. I leaned into my edges, got low, and for a second, felt myself accelerate out of the track’s curve. From the center of the room, through the reverberating noise and cheers, I heard an unfamiliar voice: “Way to take up space, Abagael!”

It was then that I decided I would come back—unwieldy legs be damned.

NOV/DEC. 2019 | VTSPORTS.COM 29

intimately.

FEATURED ATHLETE

DOCTOR QUARTERBACK Name: Dr. Ivette Guttmann Age: 45 Lives In: Bennington Current Occupation: Physician specializing in sports medicine and orthopedics Previously: Professional quarterback for the Independent Women’s Football League Orlando Fire and captain of the Orlando Mayhem, 2001-2004. Family: Mother Monica Gayle, twin sister Susan Fornaris and sister Jessica Clark

D

r. Ivette Guttmann is a recordsetting former quarterback— not for the National Football League, but for the Independent Women’s Football League. She is one of only eight quarterbacks in the history of professional football to have thrown seven touchdown passes in a single game and became the first woman to do so in 2004. Since that time, only Peyton Manning, Nick Foles and Drew Brees have repeated the feat.

She previously served as a team physician for the University of Miami and worked as medical staff for the New York Giants. In 2018, she started practicing sports medicine and orthopedics at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center Orthopedics and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Putnam Physicians, with a sub-specialty in pediatrics.

Above, Dr. Ivette Guttmann throws for the Orlando Fire in 2001. Below Dr. Guttmann now uses her experience as an athlete to inform her work as a doctor who gets athletes back in action. Courtesy Photos

Who plays professional Women’s American Football and what is the game like?

It’s a full contact sport. The rules and the gear are just like the men’s game.

Anybody who has played a team sport as an adult knows that it’s like having a second family. There were folks from all walks of life on this team—single, married, people with a bunch of kids.

We even had a grandmother!

Could you envision a uniform Women’s National Football League, like the NFL? I would love to see a Women’s National Football League. I think little girls need to see women athletes who don’t allow barriers to stop them from achieving success. I didn’t get to start pursuing my dream until I was in my twenties, but today’s little girls know that this sport is a possibility for them. There are women kickers on men’s varsity high school teams and some girls’ tackle football leagues. We saw the first fulltime woman coach in the NFL in 2016.

I see opportunities for the NFL to offer financial and logistical support for a Women’s National Football League.

There is a real fan base and I think these athletes just need a chance.

Where are you from and how did you first become an athlete?

I’m from Miami, Florida. My parents are Chilean, and I was brought up playing sports as soon as I could walk.

My dad started coaching me in softball at six or seven. I got into volleyball and basketball too, but I really loved playing football in the streets on the weekends.

My dad would play quarterback for the neighborhood kids and he was this all-time hero in the neighborhood. We bonded over the sport; football has always had my heart.

What led you to put off your residency to pursue a career as a professional football player?

My grandmother passed away soon after my graduation from medical school in 2001. She’d helped raise me and I was devastated. I moved home. When I was growing up, playing football couldn’t have been further from my thoughts. My high school didn’t even have a women’s soccer team.

But then, my mother ran into the mother of an old friend of mine, whose daughter was playing professional

30 VTSPORTS.COM | NOV/DEC. 2019

women’s football. She told me I should try out. I was like, “Mom, I’m not going to put off being a doctor to play flag football.” Of course, I soon realized this wasn’t flag football.

So you tried out for the Orlando Fire—what was that like?

It was 2001 and I was super nervous!

Everybody looked taller and faster than I was. Thankfully, nobody had a better arm. I thank my dad for that. It all started with him putting a baseball in my hand as a little kid.

How does your experience as an athlete influence your work as a doctor?

Whether professionals or weekend warriors, athletes are the most motivated patients out there, but that means you have to hold them back from hurting themselves. It helps that I can say, “I get it, I’ve been there.” Being an athlete also helps me with diagnostics. When someone says, I hurt my knee sliding or coming down from a blocked shot, I understand the biomechanics at play

Can you talk about your own experiences with injury and how they shaped your career as an athlete?

When I was 26, I dislocated and fractured my hip. That took me out for my second year of professional play. It was a ninemonth recovery, but I came back to break the record for touchdown passes in a single game in my third season.

At that point, I was 28 and felt it was time to move on. Now I love returning athletes to play, whether they’re a pro or someone who has previously untreatable shoulder pain and wants to be able to shovel snow in the winter. We athletes don’t quit, and I think that’s merged into my work as a physician. You don’t quit on me and I won’t quit on you. We’re going to get through this and figure it out together.

As a woman in football have you ever been treated differently?

I have experienced a lot of sexism in my life, though remarkably, never with football. For most men, when they find out that women’s football is full contact football, I have their full attention.

They’re like, “Oh my god, that is so cool.”

When I set the record for passing touchdowns in 2004, Jay Gruden was the offensive coordinator at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He sent me a handwritten note after that game, the gist of which was that it was quite a record for any player in any league. I was extremely humbled and surprised to be recognized by someone like that.

Who do you root for and why?

The New England Patriots! I’m a quarterback, so that’s who I follow. The fact that Tom Brady has maintained such amazing fitness, become a vegan and came back from an ACL injury in his early 40s is very impressive. He trains hard with his team in the off-season and he treats his body like a temple. The doctor and athlete in me admire that.

He’s earned everything he has.

Do you play now?

To be honest, at my age, I don’t want to get hit anymore! I’m interested in flag football, but these days I mountain bike, snowboard at Stratton and Mount Snow, play tennis, road bike, swim and play softball. Kingdom Trails is my favorite place to ride my bike. I love the combination of flowy but challenging trails. —Abagael Giles Editor’s note: As of 2019, there are more than 70 professional or semiprofessional full-contact Women’s American Football teams across the United States, with multiple leagues.

5

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FEATURED ATHLETE

THE ARCTIC SKI RACER Name: Dan Quinlan Age: 58 Lives in: Jericho Profession: Software manager for Collins Aerospace Family: Wife, Gudrun; children, Kaerstin (23) and Torsten (27) Primary sport: Nordic skiing

D

an Quinlan is one for epic feats.

Last winter, for two of the three days of the Arctic Circle Race last winter, he was the top American contender. The ACR is referred to as the toughest cross-country race in the world. Back in 1982, Quinlan stayed closer to home when he created a 4.62K oval track in Williston and set the world record for the most mileage skied (290K) in a 24-hour period, a record he held for two years.

Why do the Arctic Circle Race?

I’m a bucket list person and I like the idea of a challenge. The ACR is way more than a race; it’s such an adventure. It’s a three-day 160-kilometer race from Arena to Camp in Greenland with 5,300 feet of climbing each day on a double-tracked trail. The problem is, it’s expensive and time consuming because you have to fly five hours to Copenhagen and then four hours back to Greenland. Going into it, I had two goals: I wanted to complete it and I wanted to enjoy it because I only planned to do it once. Each day you can choose between the long or short routes.

I signed up for the long, but I wasn’t in the best shape because I had a bit of a crash during the Canadian Ski Marathon where I busted my knee and my ankle.

I’ve been following a six-month training schedule for years, based on the book Serious Training for Endurance Athletes. If I ever did it again, I’d do more hill training.

How did it go?

There were 160 racers. The first day we headed into the mountains and had a headwind for the first 25 kilometers which was fine because you really didn’t want to see what you were skiing into. I had an idea that it should take me about five hours but at that point I was only at checkpoint four [out of seven]. It took me six and a half hours and that blew me away. The whole “having fun” part was gone. It really is the world’s toughest ski race. You climb 3,500 meters in the first 20K. The first day I was the fastest of the nine Americans but since the having fun part was lacking, I hemmed and hawed

Peter Quinlan, skiing in the Arctic Circle Race.

Photo by Aqqalu Inuuteq Dahl

and decided to do the short route on the second day. You report that and they scrawl over your bib like a scarlet letter or L for loser. Some people actually went home after the first day.

There was a white-out on the second day so they moved the starting time from 10:00 to 10:30 and then 11:00. Just like the first day, the track kept filling up with blowing snow. I remember that as I was herringboning up, the guy in front of me stumbled and I grabbed him to keep him from falling back on me and knocking us both down the mountain.

On the third day it was still very windy although the temperature was good, so I went back to the long route and was the fastest American again but I’m not sure that should count for the whole race since I did the short route on day two. One guy from Maine did the full 160K and I only did 130K which was not an official distance. Day three was beautiful. That was the first time I could really see and that’s when I realized why it was so hard. You could finally see how hilly it was. There are no trees so there are no hard turns but there were still a few mandatory “skis off” sections.

I know you’ve done the Canadian Ski Marathon several times.

How does this compare?

It’s very different from the Canadian marathon which follows groomed trails from Mont Tremblant and Lachute, Quebec. You only have to carry a survival

kit with extra gloves, hat, dry pants, a whistle, sleeping bag and reflective blanket. You camp at the same place for two nights and they bring your food to camp. There are eight feed stations with water, sports drinks, chocolate, and bread but skiers had to bring their own cups and if you were caught littering, you would be disqualified. They have big warming tents for people to congregate and they have boiling water. You’re not expected to stay outside the whole time but you do sleep in your pup tent. I was in a three-man tent and although it was early April, the wind was just howling. If I had been the one to set the tent up, it would have blown over. The temperatures were in the single digits overnight and upper teens, low twenties during the day; mild according to the old timers.

Can you tell us about the Canadian Ski Marathon?

That race has three different levels. If you ski the full two days at 80K a day you start out at the bronze level which allows you to sleep wherever you want. Then the next year, you can do the silver level where you carry 5kg. After that, you can qualify for the gold level where you have to carry what you need to survive the night under the stars. When I qualified for gold in 2012 after successfully doing the first two levels, I got what I call fat man skis. You really become a fast touring skier rather than a racer because you are carrying a sleeping bag, food and

a change of clothes. I sweat a lot so I need extra clothing. Nobody carries a tent.

Some people carry plastic that they hang from their ski poles but I built a bivy sac out of Tyvek. If you do the gold level five times you get your number retired and I really wanted that. My bib number (369) was retired in 2017.

Have you always been a skier?

I grew up in Bennington and started skiing when I was nine. I was Vermont State Champion in Nordic skiing (it was only classic in those days) in 1978 but I only skied one year at the University of Alaska where I studied electrical engineering. After college, I coached at Burlington High School for two years and South Burlington for one. I loved hanging around with the kids. I worked for several years in Germany and that’s when skate skiing came into vogue but I never really liked it and when I returned to Vermont, I went back to what I loved.

I took a bit of a break from skiing when I had kids. We started geocaching and did that in every Vermont town and gore from 2005 to 2010. I created the Vermont 251 Plus 4 geocaching challenge [which challenges participants to find a geocached “treasure” in all 251 Vermont towns. ] I loved learning about many of the towns but the gores in the Northeast Kingdom were the most interesting. I’ve also climbed the 111 4,000-footers in the Northeast and biked from the Canadian border to Massachusetts on Route 100.

NOV/DEC. 2019 | VTSPORTS.COM 35

You’ve done a lot of distance skiing but in 1982 you did something completely different when you broke the 24-hour world record. Can you tell us about that?

I was coaching Burlington High School and looking for ways to raise money. The kids were supposed to collect pledges for every kilometer I skied. I discovered that the record had been set in Finland in 1977 and I wanted to break it. I set up a big loop at Catamount Family Center but there was too much climbing, so I settled on one that was 4.62K and Jim McCullough tracked it for me. The first time we set a date it snowed the night before so we had to wait for the temperature to go up and then down again. That fell during school break and the kids came out for the feeding and timing stations. I started at 4:30 p.m. and they got to stay up all night and play with walkie-talkies. It was the people who kept me going. I stopped twenty minutes shy of 24 hours when I realized I had the record at 290K but it was broken two years later.

Where else have you raced?

One of the things on my bucket list is doing the World Loppet. Loppet is the Norwegian word for ski marathon. Every skiing country has one. I’ve done the

On one night, fishermen from Sisimiut, Greenland brought the racers fresh seafood for dinner on sleds, including salmon, shrimp and strips of blubber.

Photo courtesy Dan Quinlan

American Birkebeiner [in Wisconsin] and the Canadian Ski Marathon so I decided to race in Iceland after the ACR but it was horrible. The day before the race was cold and then it was raining and you have to show up with the right wax. They hold it late in the season and there was so little snow that they had to move it further up the mountain. They held it the first of May and you know, there’s this thing called climate change.

Ski season is here.

A COPLEY HOSPITAL PRACTICE

People were passing me on the downhill and I’d catch up on the uphill but it was horrible. It turned into a vacation with a bit of skiing. This winter we’re going to Germany and France so I can add those marathons to the list.

Are you concerned about climate change hurting the ski industry?

Absolutely. Growing up in Bennington we would ski in early November and

we didn’t need fake snow. By March I would be tired of skiing but that doesn’t happen now because sometimes it only starts snowing in January. I have passes at Rikert and Craftsbury because they make snow. At Craftsbury, so many teams train on their snow-making trail in the early season that if you stop for a moment you get run over. I think we have a first-hand understanding here in Vermont that climate change is real.

-Phyl Newbeck

A SPECIALTY PRACTICE OF COPLEY HOSPITAL

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It’s good to know that we are, too.

36 VTSPORTS.COM | NOV/DEC. 2019

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RUNNING/HIKING/ SNOWSHOEING NOVEMBER 2 | Choice Academy Holiday 5K, Barre Wear your favorite holiday gear for this 5K fun run/walk. facebook.com/ events/2315221328791961 2 | 5th Annual Granite City 5K Run/ Walk for Veterans, Barre Proceeds from this race support The Veterans Place, Inc., an organization that provides support services for veterans in Central Vermont. cvrunners.net 3 | Fall 5K/10K and Half Marathon, Shelburne Run scenic loop courses past Shelburne Farms, out Shelburne Point and back along the Shelburne Bay Path into the village. racevermont.com

RACE & EVENT GUIDE 3 | The Highlander Sky Vertical Youth and Open Race, Waitsfield Head to the first Youth Skyrunning event in North America at Mad River Glen Ski Area. Vertically inclined junior athletes will have the chance to test themselves against the slopes of Mad River Glen. Adult racers welcome. Proceeds benefit the Harwood High School Cross Country Team and local Skyrunning World Championship Qualifiers. skyrunningus.com 3 | Vermont 10-Miler, Stowe The final event for the season in the New England 10-Miler Series, this race through Stowe features a beer garden at the finish at von Trapp Brewery, where participants get one free brew. vermont10miler.com

28 | Zack’s Place Turkey Trot, Woodstock Run or walk this community fundraiser race through the village of Woodstock to Billings Farm to the Town Green. There’s live music too. zacksplacevt.org

21 | EdgarMay Thanksgiving Day 5K, Springfield Wear a costume and run or walk this 5K route from Springfield Hospital on Thanksgiving Day. myreccenter.org 23 | The Westford Turkey Trot, Westford An annual 100-yard tot-trot, 3K walk/run and 10K run through the rolling dirt roads of Westford. westfordturkeytrot.wordpress.com

28 | Gobble Gobble Wobble 5K, Stratton FE Bring your funny costume and jump start your Thanksgiving with a run through the resort, starting at 9 a.m. stratton.com/ things-to-do/events/gobble-gobble-wobble

24 | Middlebury Turkey Trot, Middlebury Run an out-and-back 5K or 10K race at this food drive for the Addison County Food Shelf. middleburyfitness.com

28 | 43rd GMAA Turkey Trot 5K, Burlington A 5K walk or run on the UVM women’s cross-country course. gmaa.net

15 | No Easy Mile Film Screening + Benefit Concert, Waterbury Center Catch a screening of No Easy Mile, a new film about West Bolton ultrarunner Phil LaCroix’s mission to run 273 miles of the Long Trail in ten days or less to raise $50,000 for sober housing in Vermont at

28 | Gobble Gobble Wobble 5K, Stratton Pre-Thanksgiving dinner 5K road run.

Costumes are suggested, with ski passes and cash prizes on the line for winners. stratton.com

28 | Jarred Williams Turkey Trot, Richmond Choose between a 5K and 10K walk or run from the Round Church in Richmond.

Proceeds benefit the Never Give Up Ever organization. nevergiveupever.org

Zenbarn. Screening followed by music from Walk Talk. zenbarnvt.com

28 | Neshobe Pie Gobbler Fun Run & Walk, Brandon Run, walk or stroll in this race, where, in addition to the winning male and female racers, every 10th finisher receives a freshlymade pie. Approximately three miles over hill and dale at Neshobe Golf Course. runreg.com/neshobe-pie

28 | 16th Annual Gobble Wobble 5K, Barre A 5K fun run or walk in which strollers and leashed dogs are welcome. runvermont.org

16 | Run Your Can Off!, Winooski Run as many loops as you can in a three- or six-hour period on a 1.25-mile trail circuit on forest single track through the Gilbrook Natural Area. Make one donation to the food shelf for each lap run. runyourcanoff.blogspot.com

28 | Brattleboro Turkey Trot, Brattleboro Tackle the 5K point-to-point course or the kids' one-mile fun run. runsignup.com/Race/VT/Brattleboro

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28 | 9th Annual Killington Turkey Trot, Killington Take in the sights of the Killington area as you ascend High Ridge Road and prepare to run the rest of this fun 5K downhill to the finish. killingtonturkeytrot.com 29 | Turkey Hangover Hillclimb, Mount Snow Burn off your Thanksgiving dinner and get in shape for ski season with this annual fun run, often on snow. mountsnow.com 29 | 8th Annual 5K Turkey Trot Trail Run/Walk, Strafford Run up hills, across valleys and through the woods on the ski trails at Strafford Nordic Center on a challenging but scenic course.

Enjoy Strafford Organic Creamery Milk and home-made cookies at the finish line. straffordnordicskiing.com 30 | The Jingle Jog 5K, Shelburne The first 100 entrants in this race get a free Santa hat and jingle bells to ring along the course. racevermont.com

DECEMBER 1 | North Face Doggie & Me Hike, Stratton Head to Stratton Mountain for a free guided hike. This is the last hike in a series of seven. stratton.com 1 | Turkey Lane Turkey Trot, Hinesburg The Hinesburg Land Trust hosts the Louise Roomet Memorial Turkey Lane Turkey Trot. facebook.com/events/793063737778079/ 1 | Rir Ra Santa 5K, Burlington This fun 5K walk or run claims to be Vermont’s largest all-Santa race. All participants receive a Santa suit to wear during the event. Be sure to catch the postrace hot breakfast at Ri Ra Irish Pub & Restaurant. santa5k.ca 7 | 6th Annual Jingle Bell Jog, Brattleboro Run a fun 5K loop through downtown along the river. Holiday attire is encouraged and jingle bells are provided for runners to ring as they go. brattleborochamber.org 22 | Sunrise Snowshoe Hike, Stratton Stratton Mountain Resort hosts a snowshoe hike from the Nordic Center, followed by coffee, tea, hot chocolate and light snacks every Sunday, weather permitting, throughout the winter. stratton.com 31 | Central Vermont Runners’ New Year’s Eve 5K, Montpelier Run for fun or for competition through the streets of Montpelier. cvrunners.org

JANUARY 4 | BCBS Snow Days, Grafton This free event offers newcomers the opportunity to try cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and tubing at Grafton Trails & Outdoor Center. graftoninnvermont.com 5 | Dion Snowshoe Grafton Trails 10K Snowshoe Race, Grafton A USSSA National Championship Qualifying 10K Event. Expect a challenging technical snowshoe race course, with a free children’s Lollipop Dash. Event benefits the Grafton Elementary School Winter Sports Program. runreg.com/dion10k 26 | Komen New England Snowshoe Vermont, Grafton Tackle a 3K or 5K snowshoe walk at Grafton Trails & Outdoor Center while supporting the fight against breast cancer.

Dion Snowshoes will provide demos. komennewengland.org/snowshoe/vermont

FEBRUARY 1 | 8th Annual Grafton Winter Carnival, Grafton Go tubing, skiing or snowshoeing with new demo equipment from Rossignol, Dion and Nevitrek snowshoes or take a sleigh ride at Grafton Outdoor Center. Grab food and beer at the Grafton Inn. facebook.com/ events/910126979366277/ 8 | Komen New England Snowshoe New Hampshire, Gilford, N.H. A beautiful, twilight snowshoe walk held on the Nordic Trails at Gunstock Mountain as the sun sets. Dion Snowshoes will provide demos. komennewengland.org/snowshoe 14-15 | PEAK Snow Devil Winter Race, Pittsfield Run 100 miles, a marathon, a half marathon or a 10K on a gorgeous 6.5-mile loop in the Green Mountains. Each loop of the course has 1,200 feet of elevation change and offers sweeping views of the surrounding mountain ranges. peakraces.com 29 | Sugarhouse 1.5-Mile or 5K, Shelburne Head to Shelburne Sugarworks and FourSeason Outdoor Center for a hilly, beautiful run. If snow is on the ground, this will be a snowshoe race. racevermont.com

MARCH 1 | Nor’easter Merck Forest Ultra, Rupert The second annual Merck Forest Snowshoe Ultra: Run or walk a 25K or 50K snowshoe course at Merck Forest. netrailruns.com 14 | 3rd Annual Leprechaun Dash 5K/10K, Shelburne Race to the pot of gold at the finish line in your best green running clothes in this early season road race. racevermont.com

38 VTSPORTS.COM | NOV/DEC. 2019

BIKING/FATBIKING NOVEMBER 16 | Crown Point Cyclocross & Vermont State CX Championships, Springfield Race over varying terrain with many natural obstacles and two barrier sections. Course is laid out around a golf course. facebook. com/CrownPointCyclocross/ 16 | 7th Annual Green Mountain Showdown, Stowe Head to the Rusty Nail Stage for locally produced mountain bike video shorts, slideshows and spoken word pieces dedicated to mountain bike culture in Vermont. Proceeds benefit the Stowe Trails Partnership. Hosted by MTBVT.com.

Matinee for families. mtbvt.com 17 | 29th Annual West Hill Shop Cyclocross Race, Putney This classic cyclocross race features slippery hills, big banks and a singlespeed race that is part of the Zanconato SSCX Trophy Series. westhillshop.com 21 | Vermont Mountain Bike Association Annual Meeting, Montpelier A gathering of friends from around the state who are making trails happen in their local communities. Election for the new Board of Directors, announcements about new projects and 2020 Trail Grants. vmba.org 23 | Dust ‘em Off Fatbike Gravel Grinder, Stowe MTBVT hosts an 18-mile ride on fatbikes from Ranch Camp on a mix of doubletrack, dirt roads, singletrack, cow path and general fatbike safari with some backwoods aid station debauchery. mtbvt.com

JANUARY 11 | Uberwintern Fat Bike Festival, Stowe Stowe Trails Partnership and Mountain Bike Vermont present fatbike group rides, demos and more at Ranch Camp with a backcountry, beer-equipped aid station. mtbvt.com 25 | Rikert Fatbike Roundup, Ripton Rent or demo a bike and ride Rikert's groomed trails with an outdoor party, bonfire and cookout. rikert.com

FEBRUARY 22 | Winterbike 2020, East Burke Demo fatbikes, participate in group rides at all levels of experience, attend clinics and more at this epic wintertime celebration of all things fatbiking on the trails of Kingdom Trails. kingdomtrails.org

22 | ABE-BERM-HAM, Pomfret Race a banked and bermed downhill fatbiking course at Suicide Six Ski Area. suicide6.com

MARCH 8 | Fat Bike to the Clouds, Gorham, N.H. Great Glen Trails hosts a 10K ski, shoe or fatbike up the Mt. Washington Auto Road. greatglentrails.com 14 | 1st Annual Grafton Fatbike Bash, Grafton Head to Grafton Trails and Outdoor Center and “Ride a Fatty for St. Paddy.” Check out youth activities, skill clinics in fatbiking, a fatbike rodeo and awesome bike demos. facebook.com/events/417696018896174/

MULTISPORT/OTHER NOVEMBER 2 | Bouldering Youth Competition, Burlington Petra Cliffs hosts a youth climbing competition as part of USA Climbing Region 802, New England East. Kids compete to climb at the Bouldering Youth Championships. petracliffs.com 2-3 | NENSA Trapp Invitational Rollerski Race, Stowe Hosted by Trapp Family Lodge, this elite rollerski event typically draws 2018 Olympians, many Junior National Champions and World Championship medalists. nensa.net 9 | Bolton Valley Skate Park & Bowl Competition, Bolton Valley Head to the indoor skate park at Bolton Valley for youth competitions early in the day with adult competitions to follow. Afterparty into the night. boltonvalley.com 15-18 | International WFTDA Roller Derby Championships, Montreal Watch the top 10 women's flat track roller derby teams in the world compete for the Hydra Trophy. See story, pg. 26. wftda.com 16 | The Dark Horse Bouldering Competition, Essex Metrorock hosts round one of this Northeast climbing competition, with subsequent rounds in Brooklyn, N.Y. and Everett, Mass. darkhorseseries.com 22 | LGBTQ Climbing Nights, Burlington Petra Cliffs and Outdoor Gear Exchange host a planned meetup to climb, boulder, learn to belay or work on your project, with 50% off climbing, gear rentals and belay lessons for event attendees. petracliffs.com

DECEMBER 20 | Rugged Happiness: Setting the Unsupported Female Record on the Long Trail, Waterbury Center Vermont’s Nika Meyers shares photos along with the story of how she hiked the Long Trail in six days, 11 hours and 40 minutes to set the record for a women’s unsupported FKT on the Long Trail. greenmountainclub.org

JANUARY 24-26 | Smuggs Ice Bash, Jeffersonville Winter’s biggest climbing event happens at Smugglers’ Notch and at Petra Cliffs in Burlington. Sign up for free gear demos, clinics, slideshows, talks, competitions, an epic dry tooling comp, a party and prizes. smuggsicebash.com

FEBRUARY 22 | Winterbike 2020, East Burke Demo fatbikes, attend clinics and more at this wintertime celebration of all things fatbiking at Kingdom Trails. kingdomtrails.org Feb. 28- March 1 | Memphremagog Winter Swimming Festival, Newport Choose your distance and stroke for this cold weather and cold water swimming festival in a lap lane carved out of Northeast Kingdom ice. Distances range from 25m to 200m. kingdomgames.co

MARCH 14 | 1st Annual Grafton Fatbike Bash, Grafton Head to Grafton Trails and Outdoor Center and “Ride a Fatty for St. Paddy.”

Check out youth activities, skill clinics in fatbiking, a fatbike rodeo and awesome bike demos. facebook.com/ events/417696018896174/

SKATING/CURLING NOVEMBER 6 & 10 | Learn to Curl with the Rutland Curling Club, Rutland Head to Georgetti Arena for a lesson on the rules, etiquette and strategy of curling, with techniques for delivering and sweeping the stone. rutlandrocks.com

JANUARY 12 | 16th Annual Lake Morey Skate-a-thon, Fairlee Find out how far you can skate in a day on the groomed trail around Lake Morey.

Nordic skate rentals will be available and Vermont Nordic Skaters will be holding clinics and workshops. uvtrails.org

Jan. 31-Feb. 2 | 11th Annual New England Pond Hockey Classic, Meredith, N.H. Live music, food and beer on the ice are all available at this weekend of wild pond hockey spectating and competitive play on Lake Winnipesaukee. pondhockeyclassic. com

FEBRUARY 1-2 | Vermont Pond Hockey Championships, Fairlee Competitors of all ages head to Lake Morey for a weekend of open-air, competitive pond hockey on groomed ice. lakemoreyresort. com 7-9 | 9th Annual Lake Champlain Pond Hockey Classic, Colchester Three days of pond hockey on beautiful Malletts Bay with an on-the-ice beer garden from Labatte Blue. Teams head to Burlington after play each night to take in the nightlife. pondhockeyclassic.com

21-22 | NENSA Eastern Cup Season Opener, Sugarloaf, Maine Sugarloaf, Maine hosts a Free Sprint 1.5K Nordic race on Saturday and a Classic 5K for U16 and women racers and 10K for men. sugarloafcom/the-outdoor-center 22 | Winter Wild at Magic Mountain, Londonderry Run, skin or snowshoe up the slopes to the summit of Magic Mountain Ski Area, then descend for a three-mile route with 1,450 feet of vertical gain. teamampactive.org

JANUARY 5 | The Crosscut Classic, Stowe Stowe Nordic hosts a Zak/Club Cup race at Stowe Mountain Resort Cross-Country Center. stowenordic.org 5 | Gunstock Freestyle, Gilford, N.H. Gunstock Nordic hosts a 10K Freestyle Individual Start Nordic ski race. gunstocknordic.com

9-10 | Memphremagog Women’s Pond Hockey Tournament, Newport Kingdom Games hosts two days of women’s pond hockey for teams of six players plus one referee. memphremagogpondhockey. com/

11 | Bogburn Classic Nordic Race, North Pomfret Head to Haydock Farm for this Nordic Race, part of the Zak and Club Cup series.

Classic 13K men's and women’s races with a 7K for U16 and BKL (distances vary by age group) classic individual start. nensa.net

NORDIC/SKIMO/BACKCOUNTRY

11 | EPH’s Challenge Classic Race, Woodford Head to Prospect Mountain for men’s and women's 10K Classic Mass Start Nordic ski races, a 5K U16 Classic mass start and a 1.5K U14 Classic mass start. prospectmountain.com

NOVEMBER 7 | 7th Annual Vermont Backcountry Forum, Rochester Join RASTA, the Catamount Trail Association for a potluck, beer, backcountry project updates and premier of the film “Leave Nice Tracks.” catamounttrail.org 9-10 | Backcountry & Bluegrass, Randolph RASTA hosts two days of trailwork at the Braintree Mountain Forest followed by beers and music from Beg Steal or Borrow at Chandler Center for the Arts. rastavt.org

DECEMBER 14-15 | Magic Rando Fest, Londonderry Kick off the ski season at Magic Mountain with workshops on uphill skiing with a focus on randonee and skimo, geared toward beginners and athletes looking to hone their transition sequences, layering strategies and gear, plus two USSMA sanctioned skimo races, part of the Northeast Rando Race Series. magicmtn.com 14-15 | NENSA Craftsbury Opener Knock in Spirits and Mass Start, Craftsbury Common Nordic skiers face off in a 1.4K freestyle race Saturday and a 7.5K classic race Sunday. nensa. net

12 | Trapps Race to the Cabin, Stowe NENSA and Trapp Family Lodge and Outdoor Center host this 5K classic Nordic race with an uphill course. trappfamily.com 18 | The Beast Skimo Race, Berkshire East, Mass.

This is the second USSMA-sanctioned skimo race in the NE Rando Race Series.

Choose between the full competitive course, with three cycles of multiple ascent/descent circuits up and down the mountain and a shorter recreational course which skips the bootpack. nerandorace.blogspot.com 20 | 47th Annual Geschmossel Classic Nordic Race, Bretton Woods, N.H. Part of the Zak Cup Series, this is one of New England’s oldest citizen races. A 15K classic Nordic race on the Ammonoosuc trail network at the Bretton Woods Nordic Center. Attracts members of the United States Ski Team. nensa.net 25 | M.W. Otto Rhode Memorial, Gorham, N.H. Granite Backcountry Alliance hosts this skin and ski event on the Mt. Washington Auto Road, with apres drinks and food provided at the Great Glenn Hotel. granitebackcountryalliance.org

24-26 | Craftsbury Super Tour & UVM Carnival & Eastern Cup, Craftsbury Common Enjoy a classic 10K mass start citizens’ race after the elite races. craftsbury.com 26 | Winter Wild Uphill Race at Cranmore Mountain, North Conway, N.H. Run, skin or snowshoe this 3.5-mile race with 1,100 feet of elevation gain on the ski skopes at Cranmore Mountain. teamampactive.org 26 | Bolton Valley Split & Surfest, Bolton Catamount Trail Association hosts a day of backcountry exploration on splitboards and all mountain snowboards. Free demos, clinics, tours, food and beer. boltonvalley.com 27 | Winter Wild Uphill Race at Black Mountain, Jackson, N.H. Run, skin or snowshoe three miles to gain 1,200 vertical feet in this race up and down Black Mountain Ski Area on ski trails. teamampactive.org

FEBRUARY 1 | Burke Backcountry Adventure, East Burke Head to Burke Mountain Resort for this USSMA-sanctioned skimo race. skiburke.com 1-2 | Craftsbury Marathon Ski Festival and AXCS Masters National Championships, Craftsbury Common Head to Craftsbury Outdoor Center for a Nordic skiing marathon event with 33K or 50k classic Saturday and a Freestyle 33K Men’s race and 17K Women’s race on Sunday. craftsbury.com 8 | The Bowl, Middlebury The third USSMA-sanctioned skimo race in the Northeast Randonnee Race Series for 2019-2020. Choose the full competitive course or the shorter recreational course, as both climb and descend for multiple circuits on the Middlebury Snow Bowl. nerandorance.blogspot.com 8 | Flying Moose Classic, Bethel, Maine Choose from a 20K, a 10K or a 2.5K classic mass start Nordic ski race. skireg.com/flying-moose-classic 8-9 | Canadian Ski Marathon, Mont Tremblant, Canada This annual two-day event features a doubletracked ski trail divided into 10 sections spanning 160K (100 miles) from Mont Tremblant to Lachute. skimarathon.ca 9 | Winter Wild Uphill Race at Pats Peak, Henniker, N.H. Run, skin or snowshoe this 5-mile course comprised of two laps up and down the ski trails at Pats Peak as part of the Winter Wild Uphill race series. teamampactive.org

NOV/DEC. 2019 | VTSPORTS.COM 39

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15 | The 75th Stowe Derby, Stowe One of the oldest ski races in North America, this race takes more than 400 competitors from Canadian Cross Country Ski Team members to NCAA champions to recreational skiers looking down the Mt. Mansfield Toll Road from the peak’s summit on an 18K course through the Stowe Mountain Cross Country trails to Stowe. The winners descend the 2,800 feet of vertical drop in 45 minutes.

There is also a 10K fatbike race. teammmsc. org/events/stowe-derby 16 | Winter Wild Uphill Race at Mt. Ascutney, Windsor This running only race starts at 6 p.m. on the old ski trails of Mt. Ascutney. Race by headlamp, as the event starts at 6 p.m.

Course is 3.1 miles long with 800 feet of climbing. nerandorance.blogspot.com 22 | The Bolt, Adams, Mass.

The fourth USSMA-sanctioned skimo race in the NE Rando Race Series, this backcountry ski race is self-supported, with three full circuits of climbing and descent including a bootpack on Mt. Greylock. nerandorance.blogspot.com 29 | RASTA Skimo Race, Brandon Head to the Rochester Area Sports Trail Alliance Backcountry Ski Area off of Brandon Gap for this USSMA-sanctioned race. The fifth in the NE Rando Race Series, the full competitive course features three circuits of climbing and descent and the shorter recreational course skips the bootpack. nerandorance.blogspot.com

MARCH

W H E R E VE R M O N T E ATS P I Z Z A

9 | Winter Wild Uphill Race at Waterville Valley, Waterville, N.H. Run, snowshoe or skin 2.5 miles and gain 1,100 vertical feet as you summit Waterville Valley Ski Area on ski trails and descend again. teamampactive.com 14 | The Sun, Peru Head to Bromley Mountain for this USSMAsanctioned skimo race, the sixth in the NE Rando Race Series. Expect a three-circuit competitive race and a shorter recreational option. nerandorance.blogspot.com 16 | Winter Wild Uphill Race at Crotched Mountain, Bennington, N.H. Run, ski or snowshoe 2.5 miles up Crotched Mountain Ski Area on ski trails, to gain 850 feet. teamampactive.org 21 | Something Bigger, Sunday River, Maine Head to Sunday River for this USSMAsanctioned skimo race, the seventh in the NE Rando Race Series. Expect a two-circuit competitive course with a recreational option that skips the bootpack portion of the race. nerandorance.blogspot.com

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40 VTSPORTS.COM | NOV/DEC. 2019

ALPINE SKIING/SNOWBOARDING NOVEMBER 2 | Vermont Ski & Snowboard Museum Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Stowe Head to the Lodge at Spruce Peak for a reception to honor this year’s inductees: Jeff Hastings, John Brodhead, Doug Lewis, J.G. Gerndt and Ann “Nosedive Annie” Bonfoey Taylor. vtssm.org/hall-of-fame 21 | Splitboarding 101, Burlington Head to Outdoor Gear Exchange for a free course on splitboarding from the team at Weston Snowboards. facebook.com/ events/406342986954743/ 23 | The Big Kicker, Sugarbush Mt. Ellen holds a party with rail jams, kids’ games, live music, a raffle and prizes to celebrate the start of the ski season in the Mad River Valley. sugarbush.com 23-24 | Opening Day Weekend, Stratton Lifts start spinning at 8:30 a.m. at Stratton Mountain Resort to kick off the 2019-2020 season. stratton.com Nov. 29-Dec. 1 | FIS HomeLight Ski World Cup, Killington Catch a full weekend of ski racing by the top racers in the world in slalom and giant slalom at the Killington Women’s World Cup. Live music, parades, autograph signings are all part of the weekend lineup. killington.com

DECEMBER 15 | Santa Sunday, Bolton Head to Bolton Valley to ski or ride for the day decked head-to-toe in a Santa or Mrs. Claus outfit and earn a free day of skiing or riding at the resort. boltonvalley.com

JANUARY 10 | Learn to Ski/Learn to Ride Day, Stratton Learn to ski and ride by taking a lesson at 9:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Stratton joins the broader ski industry in seeing how many beginner lessons the resort can offer in a single day. stratton.com/ 26 | The Vertical Challenge, Smugglers’ Notch Enjoy a day of free, casual ski racing for snowboarders and skiers with a festival element of fun. ski-vc.com

FEBRUARY 15 | The Vertical Challenge, Bolton Valley Enjoy a day of free, casual ski racing for snowboarders and skiers with a festival element of fun. ski-vc.com

ONGOING Nov.-Dec. | Stay to Stay Weekends See what it would be like to live and work in Vermont. Connect with employers, realtors, community leaders, local entrepreneurs and get outside. Nov. 8-11: Burlington. Dec. 1316: Newport. vermontvacation.com Nov. 1 - 16 | CVRR Fallen Leaves 5K Race Series, Montpelier Three low-key 5K races on a flat and fast course at Montpelier High School. Nov. 2, 9 and 16. cvrunners.org Nov. 2-16 | Hard’ack Fall Trail Running Series, St. Albans Three 5K foot races on trails at Hard'ack on Nov. 2, 9 and 16. stalbansvt.myrec.com

SKI SWAPS Nov. 22-23 | Cambridge Rotary Club Ski & Ride Swap, Jeffersonville Equipment drop-off: Nov. 22 from 6-8 p.m. at the Cambridge Community Center.

Sale hours: Nov. 23 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. rotarycambridge.org Nov. 22-24 | Okemo Mountain School Ski & Snowboard Swap, Ludlow Equipment drop-off: Nov. 16 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Nov. 17 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Nov. 20 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Jackson Gore. Sale hours: Nov. 22 from 4-7 p.m.

(3-4 p.m. early hour with $5 admission fee, free for Okemo employees); Nov. 23 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Nov. 24 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. okemomountainschool.org

FILMS Leave Nice Tracks For four years, filmmakers Dan Cirenza, Marius Becker and Kyle Crichton followed Vermonters Angus McCusker, Zac Freeman and a posse of volunteers from the Rochester/Randolph Sports Trails Alliance as they created ski glades in the Green Mountain National Forest—the first sanctioned glading done on National Forest land. Catch their inspiring documentary, Leave Nice Tracks: the State of Vermont's Backcountry this fall, at locations across Vermont. Community Center, Rochester: Nov. 7; Outdoor Gear Exchange, Burlington: Nov. 9. leavenicetracks.com MountainFilm Festival Tour This traveling festival tour aims to celebrate the people and cultures that make mountains so compelling as much as the athletes themselves. Catch "Life of Pie," a film about two mountain bikers-turnedpizza chefs who transformed a Colorado Mountain town, or "Rusty’s Ascent," which probes whether the risks mountaineers take are worth it and "The Running Pastor," a film about running and spirituality in the Faroe Islands. UVM Davis Center,

Burlington: Oct. 30; The Big Picture, Waitsfield: Nov. 2; Middlebury College Dana Auditorium, Middlebury: Nov. 3. mountainfilm.org Reel Rock 14 Film Tour Catch some of the best new climbing films made around the world with shots from more than 500 locations in 40 countries.

Catch previews for feature documentaries like "The Dawn Wall" and "Valley Uprising" along with powerful shorts. If you’re lucky, you may catch your local crag. This year’s lineup hasn’t been released yet but stay tuned. Petra Cliffs Climbing Center, Burlington: Nov. 7 at 6 p.m.; University of Vermont Davis Center, Burlington: Nov. 21 at 7 p.m.; Salle Pauline-Julien, Montreal: Nov. 28 at 7 p.m.; Imperial Theater, Montreal: Dec. 12 & 13; Stratton Mountain: Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. reelrocktour.com Takayna This film, produced by Patagonia, uses trail running to explore the conflicting narratives of activists, locals and Aboriginal communities living and working to conserve one of the last tracts of Gondwanan rainforest in the world in Tasmania. Onion River Outdoors, Montpelier: Nov. 7. vnrc.org Timeless Warren Miller Entertainment celebrates its 70th by featuring a few ski legends like Glen Plake next to newcomers Caite Zeliff, Jaelin Kauf and Baker Boyd. Skiing was different in 1949, when Warren Miller shot his first film. Shaped skis and highspeed quads, modern touring equipment and heli-skiing weren’t around yet, but this year’s film captures the aspects of the sport that haven’t changed. Filmed in Jackson Hole, France, British Columbia and Austria, the film captures mountain culture and high-flying big lines. Killington Snowshed Conference Room: Nov. 30; Stratton Mountain School Kaltsas Center: Nov. 30; Horowitz Performing Arts Center, Saxtons River: Dec. 7; Town Hall Theater, Middlebury: Dec. 11&12; Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington: Dec. 13; Okemo Mountain School Training Facility, Ludlow: Dec. 21; Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center, Stowe: Dec. 22. Expect urban ski segments, big lines on the mountain and plenty of attitude. warrenmiller.com Wild & Scenic Film Festival Hosted by the Upper Missisquoi and Trout Rivers Wild & Scenic Committee, this fundraiser film festival showcases some of the most moving films about activism around the outdoors. The films showcase the natural landscape, but also aim to inspire and ignite solutions to environmental degradation. See films like Adventure Not War, a film about U.S. veterans traveling back to the mountains of Iraq, and Blue, about fatbiking in Valdez, Alaska. Jay Peak Resort: Nov. 30. wildandscenicfilmfestival.org

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ENDGAME

A

round the holidays, I fly from Colorado to Vermont wearing a fleece jacket, blue jeans, and... cross country ski boots. You spend 15 hours in ski boots? Yes, I do. You deal with layovers, delays, mad sprints between terminals, all the hectic travel crap, in tight, sweaty, goofy, boxytoed ski boots? Yes, precisely. You ride escalators and— Yes, ski boots!

The reason is simple: extreme frugality. Though I own two pairs of beater skis—freebies that I picked up in Colorado (where I’ve spent parts of the past three winters) and childhood planks that I keep in my kind mother’s Vermont basement (where the bulk of my gear stash resides)—I only own the single pair of boots. Furthermore, I refuse to pay 35 bucks or whatever to check a bag. That’s right, I’m the gentleman with sandwiches stuffed into his pockets and a carry-on that appears as if it might rupture. More to the point, I’m the gentleman asleep in seat 28C, his legs extending across the aisle, old black Alpina boots blocking the beverage cart.

So-called “sensible” people (after they finish chuckling) generally advise me to take Christmas and New Years off from skiing, give the boots a rest, leave ‘em in the Rockies. Sorry, I reply, not an option. One of the greatest pleasures in my life is touring the familiar fields that border Little Otter Creek, in Addison County, where I was raised and am (despite sporadic western wanderings) still most at home. For this elemental joy—the joy of wild turkeys and breaking trail and pastel sunsets and breathing hard and snowflakes whirling in ten thousand directions at once and cooling sweat—I’ll do whatever it takes, comfort and fashion be damned.

The first time I entered an airport wearing ski boots, sure, it did feel kind of weird. Among other things, there was the security line rigamarole (sidelong glances from TSA agents) and the slippery awkwardness of restroom floors. However, it also felt pragmatic, like I was hacking the system, and that felt good. Having flown Air Nordic three Decembers in a row, I’m slowly learning to “rock” the outfit. Sexy isn’t exactly the word. Confident is better.

This confidence received a boost recently, during (ugh) back-to-back-toback flights on United. To relieve the airport boredom, I entertained myself by surveying the procession of passing feet. Such diversity! Such a pageant of styles and brands! Specifically, I was

42 VTSPORTS.COM | NOV/DEC. 2019

AIR NORDIC

IF YOU CAN TELL A MAN BY HIS CLOTHES, YOU CAN TELL A SKIER BY THE BOOTS HE FLIES IN.

BY LEATH TONINO If you meet the author traveling home to Vermont around the holidays, you'll know him by his Nordic ski boots. Photo courtesy Leath Tonino

impressed by how often a specialized type of footwear was employed for… hmm, for what? Does that cowboy boot intend to stomp a rattlesnake in Concourse B? Does that Nike sneaker intend to run a five-minute mile between Cinnabon and Brookstone? Does that soft, supple moccasin intend to sneak up behind a deer before taking the quarry with a well-aimed shot?

Of course, nobody was wearing ski boots other than me. I was likely the only person in the nation, perhaps the world, flying Air Nordic that particular day. Despite my odd dress, it dawned on me that I was, nevertheless, just another regular American, i.e. a guy whose personality is expressed by his idiosyncratic kicks. The lady in dainty, glittery, cherry-red ballerina slippers values attention-catching glamour and, accordingly, that’s the foot (pun alert) she puts forward. I value extreme frugality and cranking laps in the back 40: wild turkeys, breaking trail, pastel sunsets, breathing hard, snowflakes whirling in ten thousand directions at once.

“For this elemental joy—the joy of wild turkeys and breaking trail and pastel sunsets and breathing hard and snowflakes whirling—I'll do whatever it takes, comfort and fashion be damned.”

Writes my hero, the “self-appointed inspector of snow-storms,” that outdoorsiest and thriftiest of Yankees, Henry David Thoreau: “I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes.”

I myself am renewed, somehow, each time that I explore the ever-dynamic terrain of home.

Okay, but here’s the best part, the most affirming moment of that transcontinental slog. In Newark (or was it LaGuardia?), an off-duty pilot settled onto the bench beside me and—ha!—I noticed that his black leather boots closely resembled my own. No, he didn’t have a little metal bar in the toe, but still.

“Nice boots,” I said, thinking that if anybody deserves to set the trends in aviation fashion it’s the captain, the boss of the skies, he who glides the clouds as a cross country skier glides snowy fields.

He looked at me, eyes on my eyes, not on my Alpinas. “Thanks.” Pause.

“Where you headed?”

Contributing editor Leath Tonino of Ferrisburgh, Vt., is the author of The Animal One Thousand Miles Long: Seven Lengths of Vermont and Other Adventures and The West Will Swallow You (October, 2019). A version of this essay originally appeared in Cross Country Skier.

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