Vermont Sports, January/February 2020

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5 The Start

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31 Gear

As Vermont's longstanding 'tradition of open access evolves, what can lawmakers—and trail users do?

Forty years ago Lake Placid hosted the Olympics. Today, you

Here's how new technology is

Whose Woods Are These?

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Kingdom Trails' Growing Pains

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As three landowners close their land to mountain bikes, Kingdom Trails looks at sustainable growth.

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An Olympic Weekend

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Feature Deep Cuts

Your (in)complete guide to some of the best sanctioned glade skiing zones in Vermont and where to go for a beer after.

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Feature Athletes of the Year

Vermont's athletes put on some historic performances in 2019.

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The Changing Face of Nordic

changing cross-country skiing.

35 Gear

Winter Warmers

New baselayers, socks and jackets are making winter sports better than ever.

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Calendar Race & Event Guide

42 Endgame

Thank You Notes

A tribute to four people who changed our outdoor sports landscape.

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THE START

WHOSE WOODS ARE THESE?

Waterbury Waterbury

Fatbiking at Kingdom Trails Photo courtesy Kingdom Trails

1200 members, 80 percent of Vermont’s forests are privately owned.

It’s by the grace of many landowners and a long-standing Vermont tradition of open access and unposted land that we have been able to carve running paths and mountain bike trails and to snowmobile, hunt and fish on lands we don’t own.

If those lands are used for logging, sugaring or farming, the landowners may get a tax break. If they are simply open for public recreation, the most they often get is a hearty thank you from the trail users. Or, in the case of the Brewster River Mountain Bike Club in Pleasant Valley, near Underhill, a Landowner Appreciation Day. On those days club members and other volunteers show up to stack wood and do other chores for the owners.

However, as Vermont’s trail networks continue to grow and benevolent landowners pass their parcels on to new generations or subdivide, the very trail networks we’ve worked so hard to build and maintain may be at risk of unraveling.

What can we do to both protect the networks of existing trails and provide incentives to landowners to continue allow trails and recreation on their property? Is there some variation of on the Current Use program that would help ensure the longevity of our trails by providing a reward to those who share their lands, in the same was as there are tax breaks for farmers and foresters and sugarers who maintain a “working landscape”?

This winter, the legislature will be taking a hard look at many things (ranging from Act 250 to tourism spending) that impact outdoor recreation – a leading source of revenue for many rural areas of the state. Let’s hope that both protecting and growing our trail networks – economic drivers for many of the regions they pass through—is one of them.

And in the meantime, we can all work harder to show our appreciation to those who are sharing their land.

—Lisa Lynn, Editor

On December 16, 2017 Dan Purjes on behalf his company, MFW, sent a letter to the town of West Windsor, Vt. that in 30 days he would be revoking use of 104 acres of land that had been key to the rebirth of Mount Ascutney’s trail system.

It was a little like giving a kid coal for Christmas—or, more accurately, taking away last year’s gifts.

For six years, the town, the Sports Trails of the Ascutney Basin, the Trust for Public Land and others worked hard to revitalize the land that was part of the MFW-owned ski resort that closed in 2010. They had built trails, put in signs and, this season, launched a rope tow.

The 104 acres were home to 5 miles of some of the best beginner trails for fat biking and mountain biking.

Purjes noted, as reported by The Vermont Standard, that he would be open to renegotiating the lease if there was some tax incentive.

If that sounds familiar it's because I wrote those words in the Jan./Feb. 2018 issue of Vermont Sports. Two years later, it was déjà vu when we learned (in midDecember, 2019) that three landowners whose property is used by Kingdom Trails were withdrawing permission for mountain biking on their land, as Abagael Giles reports on page 7.

While no specific reasons were given for the withdrawal, there has been increasing concern about the crowding and traffic that have accompanied Kingdom Trails growing popularity. And there have been reports about altercations between riders and landowners.

This also came on the heels of the shuttering of the nearby Victory Hill Sector trails, following a decision that the landowners there had not fulfilled their Act 250 obligations.

All these incidents are reminders of the important role that private landowners have played in generously allowing public recreation and trail building on their land.

According to the non-profit Vermont Woodlands, a non-profit with more than

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NEWS

KINGDOM TRAILS GETS A LITTLE SMALLER In early December, Kingdom Trails Association reported that three Darling Hill landowners had notified the nonprofit saying they no longer wished to provide bike access on their properties.

While the change will affect fatbiking and mountain biking, Nordic skiing, hiking, snowshoeing, jogging and horseback riding will all continue to be allowed on the 12.4 miles of affected trails.

“We fully respect their decision, as it is their private property and they have the sole right to determine the use of their land,” wrote executive director Abigail Long in a statement on the trail organization’s website on Dec. 16, 2019.

Kingdom Trails has facilitated mountain biking on its 100-plus-mile network since 1994 through agreements reached with 97 private landowners.

Though the landowners’ reasons for withdrawing their permission for bike access have not been disclosed, Kingdom Trails’ statement made reference to “concerns for the pressure and stress the continued strong growth in trail use and area visits has put on landowners’ properties as well as the roads and small villages where trail access exists.”

In July 2019, Kingdom Trails Association was awarded a United States Department of Agriculture grant to complete a Network Feasibility and Infrastructure Study, with the goal of engaging landowners and community members to identify possible new welcome center locations, as well as additional parking, pedestrian crossings and other new infrastructure to better manage the trail network’s growing popularity. The study will also explore how trails, along with economic development, enhance quality of life for locals and quantify their role in economic development.

This season, Kingdom Trails celebrates its 25th anniversary. New for this season, the organization is grooming an additional seven miles of new fatbiking trails in the White School area. Photo courtesy Kingdom Trails

“While success of the trails has brought meaningful economic benefit to the area, challenges and tension points exist around traffic, congestion and pedestrian safety,” wrote the organization in a statement from Dec. 16.

According to reporting by Justin Lavely for the North Star Monthly, mountain biking at Kingdom Trails grew by nearly 50 percent between 2016 and 2018, reaching 137,000 rider visits in 2018.

The study is slated to be completed by the end of mountain biking season in fall 2020. In the interim, Kingdom Trails is working with the town of Burke to improve East Darling Hill Road, which is the main access point for the affected properties and other trails within the network, improving drainage, adding a new subbase and asphalt and a five-foot climbing bike lane for uphill cyclists who use the road.

Kingdom Trails has also purchased two parcels of land adjacent to the

road in a move that will secure a critical trail connection by creating an off-road riding option that

will eliminate the need for downhill bike traffic on East Darling Hill Road.

This summer, the organization made another move to mitigate bike traffic on local roads, when it built the roughly three-mile Flower Brook connector trail, which runs between downtown East Burke and East Haven. The idea is to discourage cyclists from riding on Vermont Route 114.

Kingdom Trails is also exploring ways to extend its trails to the Burke Town School and possibly to West Burke. Similarly, the nonprofit is in communication with the Lyndonville Select Board regarding a trail that would connect the potential new Lyndon Green Space (located at the site of the old town garages) with the main trail network.

“While the Kingdom Trails network will be affected by this change in access and connectivity, miles of diverse trail terrain remains for all skill levels,” wrote Long in mid-December.

GOT A GREAT OUTDOOR RECREATION INITIATIVE? YOUR TOWN COULD WIN BIG. For the second year in a row, the state of Vermont is offering grant awards to Vermont towns, villages and cities ranging from $10,000 to $200,000 to help them invest in outdoor recreation. The Vermont Outdoor Recreation Communities Grant Program was first funded in 2018, and in its first year, the state received $1.6 million worth of funding requests from 29 Vermont communities.

On Dec. 4, 2019, Governor Phil Scott announced a new round of funding for projects ranging from environmental stewardship, programming and events, capital projects, marketing and planning and more, all with the intent of helping communities grow their localized outdoor recreation economy. Grant applications are due Jan. 20, 2020. Last year, the town of Randolph received $65,000 for marketing events, trail design and construction and trailhead amenities and Newport received $35,000 for a critical trail connection project along Lake Memphremagog. For more information, head to fpr.vermont.gov/ vorec-community-grant-program.

NEW LAND CONSERVED IN CENTRAL VERMONT Thanks to a generous donation by landowner Christina Castegren, the town of Fayston has a new Town Forest, as of Dec. 11, 2019.

The 93-acre property rises from the end of Boyce Hill Road and will be called the Boyce Hill Town Forest.

It was conserved through the Vermont Land Trust, and offers stunning views of the Shepard Brook Valley.

“I think these views should be shared,” said Castegren. “The beauty of this place provides a sense of awe and peace that people seem to need these days.”

The future of the land, which is known to locals as Risley’s Pasture and Newis’ Field, had been uncertain since 2011 because of a permitted eight-slot subdivision.

“People can continue to hike, hunt, snowshoe and ski there,” said Liza Walker of the Vermont Land

Trust. Starting in the spring of 2020, the Conservation Commission will work with the community to create a long-term management plan for the property to support trail development and conservation.

Also new for this winter, a new document that will determine the future of new ski trail and glade development on the 26,000-acres of public land that surround Camel’s Hump is expected to be finalized in January or February.

The Long Range Management Plan for the Camel’s Hump Management Unit, which dictates allowed uses and management practices for the Camel’s Hump State Park, Camel’s Hump State Forest, Robbins Mtn. Wildlife Management Area and Huntington Gap Wildlife Management Area, is expected to be approved and codified by the Agency of Natural Resources early in the New Year.

According to Commissioner of the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation Michael Snyder, highlights of the new LRMP include the management of ski glades in the vicinities of Bald Hill in Huntington and the Old Callahan Trail in Duxbury. Other highlights include new cross-country ski trails in Huntington near the Camel’s Hump Nordic Ski Area and the official designation and maintenance of the Camel’s Hump Challenge Trail—a 13-mile ski route around Camel’s Hump peak.

Provisions have also been made for new ski glades off of the Catamount Trail in Honey Hollow in Duxbury and Bolton. A new backcountry hut was “conceptually approved” in the upper Honey Hollow area as well.

“I’m happy to tell you that this plan includes great things for backcountry skiing,” said Snyder in December.

JAN/FEB. 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 7

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NUTRITION

I

t’s official: We have just ushered in a new decade. The fanfare of confetti, fireworks and champagne toasts is over and we look to 2020 as a year brimming with endless possibilities. The start of a new year often brings with it the resolve to make positive change.

It seems fitting, after what has been for many of us a period of excess and indulgence during the holiday season, that the New Year can serve as a starting point to get back on track or embark on a new goal to be happier, healthier and ultimately make it a better year than the last.

Unfortunately, resolutions are often synonymous with unfulfilled aspirations to lose weight and exercise more. Advertisements for diets flood our airwaves and social media, each boasting more rapid and significant results than the rest. Most of these we can write off as offering false promises or setting us up for failure, but it doesn’t have to be all gloom and doom.

In fact, we can reflect back on the various diets new and old from 2019 to guide us into a healthier 2020. Here we break down the top three diets from 2019 that just might be your ticket to that new and improved you.

BEST: THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET If you want to lose weight, improve your performance as an athlete and be healthier, look no further than this “diet.” I use the term “diet” loosely here because it is really more of an eating style than diet. There is no set calorie limit or specific distribution of carbohydrates, protein or fat. Instead, the Mediterranean Diet emphasizes whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans and legumes and healthy fats like olive oil. Though mostly plant-based, the Mediterranean diet encourages eating fish or seafood twice a week and still allows for moderate amounts of dairy, eggs and poultry.

As is the case for any good diet, some wiggle room is important and the allotted daily glass of red wine for women and two for men gives “dieters” just that. Studies show that those who follow a Mediterranean Diet not only lose weight, but have decreased risk for heart disease, cancer, depression and dementia. From a performance perspective, the inclusion of highquality carbohydrates provides ample energy and antioxidants to power long workouts and reduce inflammation. For 2020, Club Med is where it's at.

THE 3 BEST AND 3 WORST DIETS

IF YOU’RE AN ATHLETE, DON’T GET SUCKED IN BY ONE OF THE MANY FAD DIETS. INSTEAD, HEED THESE WORDS FROM A REGISTERED DIETITIAN AND EXPERIENCED MARATHONER. BY JAMIE SHEAHAN, M.S., R.D. Cutline here Photo by

Diets that build in flexibility and lifestyle choices may just be the key to eating and feeling better for athletes in 2020. Look out for healthy carbs, fats and plenty of produce, like what you find in the Mediterranean or Nordic diets.

BEST: FLEXITARIAN Plant-based diets may be all the rage in the health and fitness world right now thanks to the documentary “Game Changers,” but as discussed in our last issue, it can be a challenge for athletes to go entirely plant-based.

There’s no question a plant-based diet gets top ranking for health benefits, but it can feel unattainable for those who just can’t picture life without the occasional steak. Meat lovers don’t despair; the Flexitarian Diet was designed to allow “dieters” to derive the benefits of a vegetarian diet while still allowing for moderate amounts of animal products.

This means the majority of proteins are of the plant variety with the occasional meat or animal product. The actual health benefits of the diet are hard to determine as there are no set “rules” and thus no true definition of what constitutes a Flexitarian Diet.

However, research shows that reducing meat consumption reduces risk for heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

The best part of the diet is, as the name implies; it’s flexible. For athletes, this can be ideal as the time and effort that go into training can make it difficult to also find time to plan and prepare meals with lots of restrictions that still meet their nutritional needs. If you’re just starting out, try easing in with one meatless dish per week until you find a happy balance.

BEST: NORDIC DIET It’s no coincidence that Scandinavian countries consistently top the charts for happiness and health. Their lifestyle, including their diet, is certainly a major factor. The Nordic Diet is based on ten core concepts; Eat more fruits and vegetables every day. Eat more whole grains. Include more foods from seas and lakes. Eat less meat and ensure it is high-quality when you do. Eat more wild foods. Use organic produce as much as possible. Avoid food additives.

Base more meals on seasonal produce.

Consume more home-cooked food.

Produce less waste.

Studies show these core concepts translate to a diet that reduces the risk for heart disease and diabetes. As a major bonus for athletes, this diet has also been shown to reduce levels of inflammation in the body. The Nordic Diet also encourages meals to have a ratio of 2:1 of carbs to protein. This emphasis on carbohydrates is ideal for many athletes, especially in a diet culture that usually discourages carb consumption. No wonder the Vikings had ample energy to pillage and plunder!

Inevitably, reflecting on the past year means learning from what we did right as much as from what we did wrong.

I’m sure we can all look back at years past only to cringe wondering, “What was I thinking?” (yes, mullets were once stylish). And let me tell you; when it comes to diets in 2019 we had plenty of missteps. This is especially true for athletes who adopted diets that were never intended to be used by active individuals. Let’s delve further into the worst diets for health and performance that 2019 gave us.

JAN/FEB. 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 9

WORST: CARNIVORE DIET This is arguably the most polarizing diet craze of 2019—a diet where meat is the only item on the menu. This is no exaggeration. The Carnivore Diet permits only animal-based foods and completely omits fruits and vegetables. This may sound like a dream to self-proclaimed “meat eaters” and a nightmare to those who enjoy the occasional piece of fruit, salad or slice of bread.

It’s essentially a more extreme version of the Keto Diet (discussed below) with absolutely zero carbohydrates allowed and a higher protein intake than Keto.

What makes it top our list of deplorable diets? For starters, a diet solely reliant on animal products is completely contrary to everything we know about diet and health.

Diets rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes and whole grains have been proven time and again to prevent disease whereas red meat consumption has been shown to do just the opposite.

For athletes, the Carnivore Diet provides more than enough protein, but is deficient in numerous vitamins and minerals and, of course, carbohydrates, making it a negative for health and performance.

WORST: KETO DIET More formally known as the Ketogenic Diet, this was originally created to help manage symptoms of epilepsy in children.

Tempting though they may be, restrictive diets that promise weight-loss may not help you meet your athletic goals this year.

It is now far better known for producing significant and rapid weight loss through extremely low-carb, moderate protein and very high fat intake.

Contrary to the general principles of our top-three best diets, adherents essentially eliminate grains, fruits, vegetables, beans and legumes from their diet and instead fill their plates with highfat foods. Though the long-term health effects are unclear, the impact on athletic performance is undoubtedly negative.

For all intents and purposes, an athlete on a Keto Diet is like a car stuck in first gear; it can move, but very slowly.

Attempting to push the pace will result in a total breakdown. Additionally, a lack

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of fruits, vegetables and whole grains leaves athletes low in antioxidants, thus impeding recovery from tough workouts.

As tempting as it can be to sign up for a diet that promises rapid weight loss while still allowing for plates piled high with bacon and eggs, let’s please leave this diet craze in 2019.

WORST: WHOLE30 DIET According to its founders, the Whole30 was originally intended to resolve physical and mental health issues caused by specific foods. In theory it doesn’t sound so bad; eliminate all sugar (yes, that includes natural sugars too), alcohol, soy, dairy, beans, legumes,

grains, processed additives and “junk” food for 30 days.

You can then begin the process of reintroducing individual food groups to gauge your body’s reaction and thus determine which foods you should or shouldn’t consume for optimal health.

As with similar elimination diets, the Whole30 is highly restrictive and any weight loss is typically erased when individuals return to their old eating habits.

I’m all for cutting back on processed and packaged foods as stipulated with this diet. However, the biggest concern when it comes to Whole30 is that despite the fact that it was not meant to be a longterm diet, it is being treated as such, with individuals forgoing the reintroduction phase and leaving healthy foods like whole grains and legumes off the menu.

Just like the Carnivore and Keto diets, limited carbohydrates will leave active individuals fatigued and ultimately hinder performance.

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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WEEKENDS AWAY

AN OLYMPIC WEEKEND

On the infamous Olympic Bobsled Track, you can rip down an ice luge in a bobsled at 55 miles per hour. Photo courtesy ROOST

Skate the track around Mirror Lake as you take in the historic inns and great camps along the way. Photo courtesy ROOST

AS LAKE PLACID GEARS UP TO CELEBRATE THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1980 WINTER OLYMPICS THIS FEBRUARY, PLAN A WEEKEND WHERE YOU CAN TRY THE BOBSLED RUN, SKATE THE OLYMPIC OVAL OR EXPLORE THE BACKCOUNTRY.

BY ABAGAEL GILES

“H

ere we go!” shouts our pilot, as the four-man bobsled slides forward into the hand-chiseled ice luge. Our ride starts just halfway up the mile-long track that arcs and spills down the side of Mt. Van Hoevenberg. As we accelerate, I have the feeling that I’m entering the blue, icy

12 VTSPORTS.COM | JAN/FEB. 2020

bowels of a big snowy beast.

With 20 turns in total, this track, built for the 2000 Goodwill Games along a portion of the path used for the track that hosted bobsleigh at Lake Placid, N.Y.’s 1980 Olympic Games, is one of the most challenging bobsleigh, skeleton and luge tracks in the world. As

Marketa Jeriova, the 2002 and 2006 Olympic luge athlete says as she accepts my liability waiver, “If you can drive here, you can drive anywhere.”

As we fly down at 55 miles per hour, each turn spits us forward until the sled banks high, tipped almost on its side.

All I can feel is speed, cold air and the

sense that I’m flying.

Then, after just 50 seconds—the same amount of time it takes the World Cup bobsled athletes who compete on this track to scale its full mile-long length—it’s over. The pilot, also a former Olympian, hops onto the platform at the edge of the ice, pulls his helmet off and

offers his hand with a grin.

And for the first time, I understand what Milton-born Team USA bobsled pilot Geoff Gadbois [See Athletes of the Year, p. 27] means when he says, “You come back for the speed.”

The Lake Placid bobsled experience is just one of many ways that anyone can get a taste of winter sports most people never try, and on the same ice—and snow-covered runs—where Olympians have made history.

It was 40 years ago this February that the 1980 Olympics took place in the tiny Adirondack village of 2,500.

And this year, as part of the 40-year anniversary, there are more reasons than ever to visit Lake Placid.

One of two Olympic and Paralympic training centers in the United States, the town and Olympic Regional Development Authority are hosting a week-long celebration of the 1980 Olympic games from Feb. 14 to Feb. 23, featuring a ceremonial lighting of the flame, opportunities to get first tracks with Olympic medalist Andrew Weibrecht at Whiteface Mountain, learn to luge with Olympic lugers and coaches, try biathlon for a day with Olympic biathletes at Mt. Van Hoevenberg and more.

Governor Andrew Cuomo recently committed nearly $240 million in funding to support the Olympic Regional Development Authority facilities that housed the historic 1932 and 1980 games—an unprecedented investment that will create a stadium with world-class facilities for World Cup biathlon and Nordic skiing events, a new 50,000 square-foot base lodge at Mt. Van Hoevenberg and more. The projects are expected to be completed by 2023 but some efforts are already underway.

Whether you head over during the formal celebration, from Feb. 14-23, when you can brush shoulders with Olympians, or go another time, here are ten ways to have a winning weekend in Lake Placid.

RIDE A BOBSLED, SKELETON OR LUGE The ice on Lake Placid’s mile-long track for bobsled, luge and skeleton competitions is hand-chiseled, poured and brushed by expert trackmeisters (many of whom are former Olympic sled athletes) every day to keep it smooth and fast. Set on the side of 2,940-foot high Mt. Van Hoevenberg, the track is the main training site for the U.S. National teams. It’s one of just four sites in North America approved for international competition by the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation and regularly hosts World Cup competitions.

Sign up for the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA’s) Bobsled Experience ($95 per adult) and take a ride in a four-man sleigh

in-bounds big mountain terrain in the East. On Feb. 15 and 19, you can ski with Olympians like two-time Olympic medalist and Lake Placid local Andrew Weibrecht ($104 per adult lift ticket).

In November 2019, Whiteface's MidStation Lodge was destroyed in an overnight fire. According to The Adirondack Daily Enterprise, the mountain never stopped running its snow guns.

At 90m, this is the smaller of the two ski jumps at Lake Placid. Take in the views like an Olympian and ride the glass elevator to the top of the 120m jump. Photo by Abagael Giles

SPEEDSKATE ON THE OLYMPIC OVAL Skate during the day or at night under the stars on the 400-meter Olympic Speed Skating Oval at the heart of the village. The track was built for the 1932 Winter Olympic Games and sits right in front of the 1980s Olympic Complex, downtown. Here, you’ll skate the same track where American speed skater Eric Heiden won five gold medals in 1980 and set a world record in the 10,000m.

Skate rentals are available, along with a bonfire where you can warm up between laps as you look out at Mirror Lake and the High Peaks.

BE A BIATHLETE FOR A DAY Tucked in the shadow of 4,098-foot Cascade Mountain, the Adirondacks’ most-hiked 46’er, the 55 kilometers of groomed Nordic trails at Mt. Van Hoevenberg are lined by snow-laden spruce and fir. Ski to Josie’s Cabin and drink hot chocolate by the woodstove under the big wood beams or warm up at the outdoor fire pit. Try the “Discover Biathlon” program, and get a ski lesson, a day pass, a shooting lesson and access to the same 30-point range where Team USA Biathlon trains each season for $55. And on Feb. 18, you can take a lesson with Olympians Lowell Bailey, Andrea Henkel and Tim Burke.

When you take a toboggan ride on Mirror Lake, you'll ride down an antique ski jump.

from halfway up the track with a former Olympian as your driver. Or try the skeleton experience, where you’ll lie bellydown on a lightning-fast sled and reach 30 miles per hour. On Feb. 17, you can try the most dangerous Olympic sport, the luge, with coaching from Olympic silver medalist Gordy Sheer.

SKI THE ORIGINAL 1980 OLYMPIC ALPINE COURSES With 3,430 feet of vertical, Whiteface

Photo courtesy ROOST

Mountain has more continuous vertical drop than Aspen Mountain in Colorado and is the only American ski area east of the Rockies with the vertical to host a World Cup downhill event. When Swedish skier Ingemar Stenmark won the gold medal in both the slalom and giant slalom there in 1980, it was the first time the Winter Olympic games were hosted on manmade snow. Today, Whiteface has 98 percent snowmaking coverage and some of the most serious

LEARN OLYMPIC HISTORY Lake Placid is one of only two cities in history to host the Winter Olympics twice and has produced more than 100 Olympians. Learn what it took to be an Olympic speed skater in 1932 and how athletes now rise through the training ranks in the exhibit “Quest for Speed” at the Lake Placid Olympic Museum. See the scandalous and pioneering outfits worn in the 1932 Olympics by Sonje Henie, the Norwegian figure skater who became the first athlete to win a gold medal in the same event at three consecutive Olympics.

And if think you’re nervous about taking a bobsled ride, check out the wooden contraptions used on the 1932 track at Mt. Van Hoevenberg (a track that two people died on just before the 1932 Olympic Games).

You can also get a history tour of the entire complex from a guide who saw the 1980 Olympic games in person.

Watch real footage of the “Miracle on

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The Adirondack High Peaks are known for their opentop slides and big mountain ski terrain. Take in to bottom: the views in comfort from a dogsled ride on Mirror Lake. Photo courtesy ROOST

The Olympic Sports Complex, home of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympic Games, sits at the heart of Lake Placid's downtown. Photo courtesy ROOST

WHERE TO EAT, DRINK AND STAY If you like beer, you’re in luck. Lake Placid is home to three microbreweries: Valcour Brewing Company, Big Slide Brewery and Lake Placid Pub and Brewery. For classic diner fare and a true local vibe, head downtown to Lisa G’s for lunch or breakfast.

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Try the Heritage Berkshire pork cheeks, braised with whole-grain mustard, Fiddlehead IPA, caramelized fennel and parsnips at The View at Mirror Lake Inn. At the Top of the Park you’ll find creative cocktails like the Algonquin, with Taconic Founders Rye Whiskey, Dry Vermouth and a touch of pineapple.

Consider a night at the Hotel North Woods Resort on Main Street, with affordable, modern rooms that balance a young, chic vibe with a woodsy aesthetic. Get fancy and book your own luxury cabin or suite at the Lake Placid Lodge, on the shores

Snuggle up under a blanket and take a horse-drawn sleigh ride through the woods at the homestead of abolitionist John Brown, right below the Olympic Ski Jumping Complex. Photo courtesy ROOST.

of Mirror Lake. Right next to the Olympic Center is the Crowne Plaza Resort, owned by the family of legendary Olympic figure skating coach Gus Lussi.

The Van Hoevenberg Lodge and Cabins offer quaint and very cute trailside lodging, as does the bunkroom at Cascade Cross Country Ski Center, or stay on the shores of Mirror Lake at the Lake House at Lake Placid Resort, another cozy mountain town hotel that offers complementary skate rentals, as it is located right off of the twomile Mirror Lake skating Loop.

Josie's Cabin at Mt. Van Hoevenberg is the perfect place for a backcountry cup of hot cocoa.

Photo by Abagael Giles

Ice” in the Herb Brooks Arena, where the USA Men’s Hockey Team beat the four-time defending champions, the Soviet Union, to win the gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Games. On the night of the game, the 8,500-person arena was packed with 10,000 spectators and was so raucous the local fire marshall was afraid to kick anyone out for fear of igniting a riot. See goalie Jim Craig’s mask and uniform from that game in the museum downstairs.

SKATE ON MIRROR LAKE As soon as there are at least six inches of ice over Mirror Lake, Lake Placid’s Recreation Department grooms a twomile skating course that starts near the town beach. Bring your hockey skates and join one of the games of pick-up or skate the full loop. The lake is surrounded on all sides by the Adirondacks’ High Peaks, with views of Whiteface’s trails and slides. Rent a fatbike or Nordic skis at High Peaks Cyclery and explore the far reaches of Mirror Lake. Bring a headlamp and make it a nighttime skate in the glow of Lake Placid’s waterfront.

HEAD TO THE TOP OF THE 120M SKI JUMP Ski jumping has been a tradition in Lake Placid since the first 35-meter jump was built there in 1920 by the Lake Placid Club. Take a tour of the Olympic Jumping Complex (located right next to the farm where abolitionist John Brown grew up). From the Intervale Base Lodge, you can watch the U.S. aerial, freestyle and Nordic combined athletes jump year-round. New for this season are a set of “frost rails” for the 90m and 120m ski jumps—an internal refrigeration system designed to maintain a more consistent and reliable jumping surface. It’s the first of its kind in North America, and ORDA hopes it could bring World Cup ski jumping competitions back to Lake Placid for the first time since the 1990s.

This winter, you can also ride the new gondola from the Intervale Base Lodge to the base of the 90m and 120m ski jump towers. Then, a new glass elevator rises for 120m to the top of the tallest jump,

THE OLYMPIC FACILITIES ARE GETTING

BIGGER AND BETTER This year, the Olympic Regional Development Authority has started building a brand-new racing facility at Mt. Van Hoevenberg, complete with an FIS and IBU-approved stadium designed to accommodate World Cup events, with 5km of new World Cup-standard ski trails in concentric loops through the stadium. By 2021, 3.5km of those trails will have the first automated snowmaking system at any Nordic center in the United States. “We’ll be able to cover our World

Ride the toboggan track in teams of two at Mirror Lake in Lake Placid this winter. It's the perfect thrill for kids. Photo courtesy ROOST

with 180-degree views of the High Peaks and the entire Olympic complex—from the bobsled run at Mt. Van Hoevenberg to Whiteface Mountain to the Olympic village. Step out onto the observation deck and stare down the steep jump itself—the same one that Billy Demong, the first American to win a gold medal in Nordic Combined, competed and trained on. If you’re lucky, you may even see Vermont’s Tara Geraghty Moats, currently leading the Nordic combined Continental Cup, in training.

TAKE A TOBOGGAN RIDE DOWNTOWN If you’re not up for a bobsled ride, check out the 30-foot-high, converted historic ski jump trestle that sends wooden toboggans down a chute and 1,000 meters out onto frozen Mirror Lake.

Hosted by the town of Lake Placid, it’s the perfect thrill for families with kids.

Grab a rented sled, climb the stairs to the top and take the reigns as you fly down the trestle and out onto the ice.

Cup trails with three to seven centimeters of snow in less than a week,” says Nordic Programs Director Kris Seymour.

Starting in Fall 2020, visitors to Mt. Van Hoevenberg will be able to ride two-person carts that look like bobsleds on a mountain coaster— the longest in the world—that follows the path of the 1932 and 1980 Olympic bobsled runs to a new 50,000 square-foot base lodge (slated for completion in 2023) near the site of the existing bobsled track and future biathlon arena.

Once completed, the new lodge, which will be

GO FOR A DOG SLED OR SLEIGH RIDE If you drive 25 minutes out of town to the historic Lake Clear Lodge, you can take a wooden sleigh driven by Belgian draft horses over woodland trails along the edge of Lake Clear. With big stone fireplaces, exposed natural wood beams and a Great Camp aesthetic, the lodge offers sleighrides by lantern along the lakeside trails. In Lake Placid, Country Dreams Farm offers daytime horsedrawn sleighrides, complete with thick blankets and views of the Olympic Ski Jumping Complex set against the drama of the Great Range and Whiteface Mountain at John Brown Farm.

Thunder Mountain Dog Sled Tours also offers dog sledding right from Lake Placid Village, out onto Mirror Lake or into the Adirondack woods.

SKI TO A FULL MOON PARTY On the Saturday closest to the full moon of every month through the winter, locals grab a headlamp and ski

the central base for all of Mt. Van Hoevenberg’s biathlon, Nordic and sled sport facilities, will feature a 40-foot rock wall and workout facilities open to the public, a trail center and (eventually) a new trailhead with access to the summits of Cascade Mountain and Mt. Van Hoevenberg.

There will be a new 500-foot-long push facility, the first of its kind in the United States, where Olympic and World Cup athletes can train and practice their starts, pushing bobsleds on a 500-foot stretch of ice with glass windows so visitors can watch. Another room will house a

into the woods at one of Cascade Cross Country Ski Center’s Full Moon Parties.

Grab a map and ski along their 20km of groomed Nordic trails to a series of bonfires—each with a keg featuring a local brew. Ski back to the old-school great lodge for a fire in the big stone fireplace and dancing at the end of the night. This year’s events run Jan. 11, Feb. 8 and March 7.

ICE CLIMB A GULLY, SKI A SLIDE Thanks to serious freeze-thaw cycles, the Adirondacks are home to some of the best ice climbing in the Lower 48.

Pitchoff Mountain, home to a popular moderate multi-pitch ice flow near Mt. Van Hoevenberg, offers a series of stunning 50- to 350-foot climbs that require access by skis across a frozen pond. To explore, hire an AMGAaccredited guide from an outfitter like High Peaks Mountain Guides or Cloudsplitter Mountain Guides, both located in Lake Placid. They can also take you backcountry skiing on slides like Bennies Brook on Lower Wolfjaw Mountain, which features serious pitch and about 1,100 vertical feet of wide open, big-mountain terrain.

MAKE A CLASSIC SKI TOUR The Adirondacks have a long history of classic, moderate ski tours on trails cut by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Some climb High Peaks (there is one, for example on Mt. Marcy).

Others, like the 35-mile Jackrabbit Trail that winds from Keene to Lake Placid through the woods and meadows of the High Peaks Wilderness, are suitable for backcountry cross-country skis. For an intermediate tour, the 8.2-mile roundtrip to Avalanche Pass leads to a stunning lake-filled cleft between Mt. Colden and Mt. Marcy with a fun descent on a ski trail reminiscent of the CCC trails on Mt. Mansfield. Get more information from the Barkeaters’ Alliance at betatrails.org.

For a full schedule of the 40th Anniversary of the 1980 Winter Olympics, head to lakeplacid.com/the-40th-anniversary-ofthe-1980-winter-olympics.

large-format treadmill that articulates so Nordic athletes can roller-ski. And yes, there will be a bar.

Also new for summer 2020 are a series of four zipline courses at the Olympic Jumping Complex that will run alongside the 90m ski jump tower and landing hill to give visitors a sense of what it’s like to be an Olympic ski jumper. According to ORDA, the most extreme of the courses will reach speeds of 60 miles per hour and send participants down a 30-degree incline.

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SURE, THERE’S BRANDON GAP. BUT AROUND VERMONT, NEW AND UP-AND-COMING BACKCOUNTRY ZONES ARE GIVING SKIERS A CHANCE TO FIND FRESH TRACKS.

BY ABAGAEL GILES

I

t was freezing. The snow was so light it scattered like glitter with each push of our skis.

We were climbing, my friend and I, ever upward. Stands of beech and maple opened up from time to time to give views of the ice flows on Mt. Pisgah.

After a short stretch on a groomed Nordic trail, we came to another skin track. Here, the forest changed entirely.

Open maple glades soon gave way to a dark crown of fir and spruce as we wound our way up a steep skin track to the 2,648-foot summit of Mt. Hor. In the cold mountain light the landscape was almost blue.

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As snow swirled across the cliff bands, we found ourselves alone. Dropping in to the first sanctioned ski glades cut on state-owned land in Vermont, we found steep spruce and birch glades blanketed with untracked powder that reached our thighs.

Though skiing at Lake Willoughby State Forest is magical, it’s not the only place in Vermont where you can find solitude and untracked snow far from the beaten tracks of ski resorts.

When Vermont journalist David Goodman first published his definitive guidebook Best Backcountry Skiing in the Northeast: 50 Classic Ski Tours, 30

years ago, backcountry skiing was a bit of a niche sport. As he prepares to publish the fourth edition of the book in the fall of 2020, he calls the recent boom in new skiing in Vermont since 2010 “an explosion.”

“I think the backcountry ski scene [in Vermont] is probably more vibrant and thriving now than it’s been since backcountry skiing had its heydey in the 1930s and 1940s, before chairlifts went up,” says Goodman. “We’ve come full circle, back to that sense of excitement and exploration and development of new trails. I think we are riding the front edge of a wave here.”

Since 2016, five sanctioned gladecutting projects have been established on federal and state lands around Vermont. Since the Rochester-Randolph Area Sports Trails Alliance formed in 2013 and became the Catamount Trail Association’s first chapter, five other chapters have cropped up across the state. Some, like the Dutch Hill Alliance of Skiers and Riders (DHASH) and Northeast Kingdom Backcountry Coalition have developed new glades.

Others like the Mad River Valley and Grateful Shreds Backcountry Coalitions are still building support to launch projects.

Skiers tour past a clearing with views of Mt. Pisgah on their way to the summit of Bartlett Mountain in Willoughby State Forest. Silviculture projects like this allow for stunning views and interesting skiing at the Northeast Kingdom Backcountry Coalition backcountry ski zone.

Photo by Jake Lester

What’s happening around Vermont is a backcountry revolution of sorts. “In Vermont, we have communities that have made a commitment to developing backcountry ski zones where the sport can bring people together,” says Matt Williams, executive director of the Catamount Trail Association. Willams, who grew up skiing out of his Sharon backyard on a three-pin telemark setup, adds: “Most places you go in the world, backcountry skiers are reluctant to share their favorite stashes."

However, if solitude is what you’re after, he says, there will always be

untracked powder in the depths of the Green Mountains—skiing in natural glades known only to locals and accessed by landowner permission or in rare stands of old growth and moose browse on public lands. “The skiing here in Vermont is world-class, but it’s not readily apparent. It takes some work to find the hidden lines, and you could spend a lifetime exploring our winter landscape.”

Here are a few places to start, from north to south.

Willoughby State Forest: The First Glades on Vermont State Land Drive to Lake Willoughby in the dead of winter and you’ll find the mountains that form this 1,500-foot-deep granite cleft hold deep snow, varied glades and exciting terrain. Willoughby State Forest is home to the first sanctioned ski glades created on Vermont state land—cut in 2016. Here, you’ll find low-angle beech and birch glades on east-facing Bartlett Mountain and serious steeps (the steepest in NEKBC’s managed zones) with well-spaced fir and spruce from the summit cone of

Mt. Hor. The two areas are accessed via the same skin track, which leaves from a parking lot off of Route 5A at the south end of Lake Willoughby to meet a 12-kilometer network of groomed Nordic ski trails, with stunning views of Mt. Pisgah through the trees. Both peaks—Bartlett rounded and gentle, and Mt. Hor rocky and pointed—are easy to lap and close together, making this the perfect place to head with a group or to ski hard in the morning and hit gentler terrain in the afternoon.

“It’s the place we suggest if you want a first taste of the Northeast Kingdom

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backcountry,” says NEKBC President Maria Young.

Closest Town: Westmore Managed by: Northeast Kingdom Backcountry Coalition (NEKBC) Vertical Drop: 640 feet on Bartlett Mountain; 820 feet on Mt. Hor Difficulty: Beginner to Expert; Après: The Gap Pub & Grill for fried pickles, real poutine and drafts from Saint J Brewery in St. Johnsbury; Stay: For a drive-in backcountry cabin experience, book a night at the Green Mountain Club’s Wheeler Pond Camps ($75) in Barton and hunker down by the big woodstove or ski across Wheeler Pond in the morning. You’ll have the whole basin to yourself. For an affordable, heated room, book a bunk in the 16-person bunkroom at Northwoods Stewardship Center ($150 per night for groups of up to five, $25 per night per person thereafter). Maps and Intel: nekbc.org Moose Haven & Kirby Ridge: The Backwoods Powder Stashes Where the glades at Willoughby State Forest are open, accessed by groomed trails and well-mapped, the new lines cut on Kirby Ridge in Kirby and in MooseHaven Forest in East Haven, 15 miles away, are anything but. Fourwheel drive is a must to reach the trailhead parking for both areas, which is on private land. At this point, NEKBC recommends only skiing Kirby Ridge and Moose Haven with someone who is familiar with the zone, or joining NEKBC for one of their next work days at the sites to learn the ins and outs of how to navigate them.

At MooseHaven, NEKBC cut two new intermediate-advanced lines from the top of a long ridge, with 1,000 feet of gladed skiing from top to bottom. The lines—No Show and Under the Radar— are a nod to the East Haven Mountain Radar Base, a Cold War-era radar tower atop East Haven Mountain—the next ridge over.

“These are beautiful woods with big old birch trees and an open understory shaped by browsing moose,” says Young.

No dogs are allowed here, and the lines have a wild and rambling feel. This was a deliberate choice by NEKBC, the conservation-minded landowner and forester Dave Senio. A sign marks the parking lot this year, off of Young's Road.

If you want to ski Kirby Ridge, Young highly recommends attending an NEKBC work day or finding a willing local to show you. “This is a small but steep zone with plenty of little rocks and hucks that is west-facing in a hardwood forest of beech, ash and birch,” says Young. Maps and signage are forthcoming. “This is big terrain.”

Closest Town: East Haven (Moose

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A snowboarder climbs to the ridgeline at Kirby Ridge, a new zone managed

by Northeast Kingdom Backcountry Coalition. Photo by Evan Carlson

Haven); Kirby (Kirby Ridge); Managed by: Northeast Kingdom Backcountry Coalition (NEKBC) Vertical Drop: 1,000 feet on Moose Haven; 600 feet on Kirby Ridge; Difficulty: Intermediate to Expert; Après: The Hub on the Hill or Publick House in East Burke; Stay: The Essex House at Island Pond ($75-$149 per night). Maps and Intel: nekbc.org

The Bolton Backcountry: The Backcountry Ski Area On the leeward, northeast facing faces of the high ridges around Bolton Valley Resort, you’ll find light, cold powder from lake effect storms over Lake Champlain in plentiful piles that stick around even after wind or warm weather.

Here, in addition to Bolton Valley Resort’s groomed ski trails, there’s a 100 km network of narrow old-school, CCC-

style backcountry trails and glades.

Bolton's backcountry offers everything from low-angle skiing through mellow stands of old-growth white and yellow birch to steep balsam fir glades and narrow chutes through cliff bands.

The resort has become something of a Ground Zero for backcountry skiing in Vermont, with backcountry lessons and state-of-the-art alpine touring and splitboard rental gear available at the Nordic Center, a new warming hut situated atop some of the most popular ski runs, as well as two backcountry huts with woodstoves that you can book for overnight stays through the Green Mountain Club: Bolton Cabin and Bryant Camp.

This year, the resort is offering a backcountry access ticket for $17 (a Nordic & Backcountry season’s pass is $179 and $129 for Catamount Trail Association members and includes three one-ride lift tickets that can be shared with a friend). A Nordic/ Backcountry/Uphill Pass or ticket is now required at all times on Bolton’s Nordic, backcountry and designated uphill routes, whether or not lifts are running at the resort.

The Catamount Trail runs along the ridgeline from Bolton Valley to Nebraska Valley in Stowe. There, experienced skiers looking for a five or six-hour meandering point-to-point ski tour can skin and ski the 9.4 miles from Bolton Valley’s Nordic Center (the trailhead for its managed backcountry zone) to climb 1,300 feet and descend 2,300 feet through open forest with views of the Worcester Range and Little River Valley along the way.

The Catamount Trail Association offers a shuttle service back to Bolton Valley on Saturdays in January and February (see catamounttrail.org for the schedule), but you can also continue on to Trapp Family Lodge for a night at the resort.

For another rolling and meandering tour with opportunities to lap steeper glades along the way, pay $15 for a single lift ride up Bolton’s Vista Quad to access the six-mile Woodward Trail. This trail, cut in 1972 by Vermont ski pioneer Gardiner Lane and his infamous crew of “Old Goat” trailblazers, winds from Bolton Valley to Little River Road in Waterbury. The route features rolling terrain but rewards skiers with a gentle 2,500-foot descent to Waterbury Reservoir, the former site of the town of Woodward, Vt. See David Goodman’s guidebook Best Backcountry Skiing in the Northeast for more information about the trail’s history and terrain.

Closest Town: Bolton; Opened: 1920s; Managed by: Bolton Valley Ski Area and Catamount Trail Association; Vertical Drop: 1,700 feet with 1,500

New for this season, Bolton Valley Ski Area has added a propane stove-heated warming tent at the heart of its backcountry glades. Photo by Shem Roose

acres of ski touring; Difficulty: Novice to Expert; Après: Grab one of the local beers on draught and a wood-fired pizza at the James Moore Tavern in Bolton’s retro lodge; Stay: The Inn at Bolton Valley (boltonvalley.com) or Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe; Maps and Intel: For a detailed map of the area and ski lines as well as trails, head to boltonvalley.com

At Mt. Ascutney, touring skiers can ski the steep, old ski trails or find stunning backcountry tree skiing. Photo by Jim Lyall

The Brandon Gap Backcountry Recreation Area: The Brainchild Since 2016, when four backcountry ski zones were created by the RochesterRandolph Area Sports Trails Alliance (RASTA) in a pioneering partnership with the Green Mountain National Forest, Brandon Gap has become a legendary backcountry zone.

There are now about 22 lines through a mix of birch glades and snowladen conifers accessible right from two parking areas on Route 73 (Brandon Gap). While weekends tend to get busy with folks driving from as far as Boston to ski and ride the glades, it’s the perfect place to grab quick laps before or after work or to spend an entire day exploring its varied zones.

The terrain ranges from moderate to advanced, and the braided network of ski lines is designed so that even if you

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A skier tours into the new glades at the Dover Town Forest in early December. Photo by Steve Petrik

A snowboarder rides the handcut glades on "Yankee Corner" at Dutch Hill in Readsboro.

Photo courtesy the Dutch Hill Association of Skiers and Hikers

A RASTA volunteer finds hard-earned face shots at Braintree Mountain after a December storm.

Photo by Cyril Brunner

show up on a busy Saturday, you’ll find quiet on the skin track and in the trees.

From the Bear Brook Bowl Trailhead you’ll find two zones: No Name and Bear Brook Bowl. Bear Brook’s skin track meets The Chittenden Brook Trail, which leads ultimately to Chittenden Brook Hut (a two-and-a-half-mile tour). If you plan ahead, you can score an overnight at Chittenden Brook Hut, an insulated, thermostat-regulated, remote cabin just four miles down the road, part of the Vermont Huts Association's growing network—though

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it’s a two-mile ski in to the cabin, which is not near the gladed zones.

With 1,300 feet of vertical drop and terrain features like boulders and cliff bands to huck, the six lines in Bear Brook Bowl are challenging. In contrast, No Name offers 1,100 feet of vertical, braided moderate lines including a “new line in the middle that is nice and mellow compared with the steeper stuff at Brandon Gap, with a consistent pitch the whole way down,” says RASTA President Angus McCusker, adding, “This zone is perfect for a lunch break or early morning

tour—it’s designed so that you can peel off halfway up and ski quick laps.”

From the Brandon Gap Long Trail Parking Lot, you’ll find Goshen Mountain Backcountry Area and Sunrise Bowl, both accessed via The Long Trail. The Summit of Goshen Mountain is open, with acres upon acres of high elevation, skiable meadows which offer views of the Green Mountain spine looking North and even the White Mountains to the East. Sunrise Bowl offers 500 feet of vertical drop on easier, more open terrain, while the Goshen Mountain Zone features five lines ranging from moderate to expert terrain as you move from skier’s right to left.

Pro tip: on a powder day or weekend, RASTA recommends parking at the park & ride in Rochester, or at Graves Church in Forest Dale, then carpooling to the trailhead parking.

Closest Towns: Brandon and Rochester; Opened: 2016 Managed by: RASTA; Vertical Drop: 16,000 vertical feet of skiing (total);

Difficulty: Intermediate to Expert; Après: Grab a beer at Red Clover Brewing Co. in Brandon or morning French pastries at Café Provence or head to cozy Sandy's Books and Bakery in Rochester. Stay: Chittenden Brook Hut at Chittenden Campground ($140 per night; vermonthuts.org); In the Works: RASTA has received preliminary approval from the U.S. Forest Service to establish gladed skiing on the two peaks (Corporation Mountain and Round Mountain) that form Chittenden Brook Bowl, which faces the Chittenden Brook Hut and is a two-mile ski via the Long Trail from the top of Bear Brook Bowl at Brandon Gap. “It’s likely that project will proceed next summer or the summer after,” says RASTA president Angus McCusker. Maps and Intel: For a detailed map of the area and ski lines, head to rastavt.org.

Braintree Mountain Forest: The Quiet Touring Destination If you want to find solace on a long tour in the woods that culminates in

untouched powder runs, Braintree Mountain may be for you. With an hour-long approach to the heart of the Braintree range, it’s the perfect place for a set of fat, fish-scale backcountry skis and three-pin bindings. “It offers a wonderful opportunity to ski some historic old Vermont woods and roads,” says RASTA volunteer and lifelong local Zac Freeman. “It’s just a stunning network of cross country and Nordic touring trails that lead to some great ski runs.”

Braintree Mountain Forest spans 1,547 acres of undeveloped land off of Riford Brook Road in the town of Braintree, and encompasses four peaks: Round Top, Twin Peaks, Skidoo and Braintree Mountain, known to locals as “30-30.”

Head to Twin Peaks for two tighter tree lines that hug a flowing, continuous fall line. At Skiddoo, you’ll find eight dreamy ski lines off of the top of the ridge. Ski laps from the Bell Gates Cabin, a day-use only warming hut at the base of the bowl. “At the top of Skiddoo, you’ll find these big open moose meadows, like at the top of Goshen Mountain,” says Angus McCusker. “They never logged that high, so the forest is naturally open and relatively untouched. The skiing gets tighter as you descend into the lines cut by volunteers.”

“I think the backcountry ski scene in Vermont is more vibrant now than... since... the 1930s and 1940s.”

Closest Town: Braintree; Opened: 2014; Managed by: RASTA; Vertical Drop: 1,500 feet with 1,547 acres of touring; Difficulty: Novice to Intermediate; Après: Grab a beer at Bent Hill Brewery in Braintree and catch live music from local bands on weekends in the Upstairs Gallery at Chandler Music Hall in downtown Randolph; Stay: Chittenden Brook Hut; In the Works: This spring, look out for the new OutdoorHub, RASTA’s timberfame base in downtown Randolph, with a gear shop, 3D maps of the mountain biking and backcountry ski trails in the area, a bar, coinoperated showers and garden with food trucks. Maps and Intel: For a detailed map of the area and ski lines as well as trails, head to rastavt.org.

Jan. 18, backcountry skiers will be able to hitch a 1,800-foot ride on the new Dopplemeyer T-Bar, which restores lift service to ten easy-to-moderate trails on the lower mountain. Even with a boost, you’ll still have a good skin or snowshoe to reach the toughest terrain. This is the perfect place to gently introduce a friend or kids to backcountry skiing. In the summer, the mountain features 50 miles of worldrenowned cross-country mountain bike and hiking trails managed by a local Vermont Mountain Bike Association chapter, Sports Trails of the Ascutney Basin.

Ascutney: The Sprawling Playground At 3,130 feet high, Mount Ascutney is a monadnock—a singular peak that rises from the valley above the town of Brownsville. Since the 469-acre ski area shuttered in 2010, a band of local volunteers called Ascutney Outdoors has revitalized the old trails—trimming back vegetation and re-establishing 50 acres of hardwood and red pine glades between the steep, winding former ski trails (think a smaller Mad River Glen) on the upper two thirds of the mountain. Starting

Closest Town: Brownsville; Opened: 2015 Managed by: Ascutney Outdoors; Vertical Drop: 1,443 feet; Difficulty: Novice to expert; Après: Brownsville Butcher and Pantry Stay: Free off-season in the lean-tos at Mount Ascutney State Park; In the Works: No new glades, but more work to restore the existing ski trails; Maps and Intel: For trail information, head to the Ascutney Outdoors Center and Main Trailhead at the base of the former ski area. ascutneyoutdoors.org Dutch Hill: The Little Stowe For some old-fashioned tree skiing on

The hour-long tour out to the glades at Braintree Mountain Forest takes skiers through meadows with views of the Green Mountains wrapped in snow. Photo by Cyril Brunner

mostly moderately pitched terrain, head to 83-acre Dutch Hill, in Readsboro.

Dutch Hill was operated as a ski area until 1985, and DHASH president Bill Beattie, who learned to ski there, says it’s the perfect place to ski fast laps or cut your teeth on mellow, wide-cut glades and mostly-clear former ski trails in the backcountry. Six lines have been completed and the intent is to submit plans for 12 more to the U.S. Forest Service, which manages this land in the southern half of the Green Mountain National Forest.

“We used to be known as The Little Stowe for our steep terrain. We’ve got plenty that’s mellow, but there are a few expert lines through some cliff bands that are pretty fun in a mature forest,” says Beattie. Another word of warning: “People drastically underestimate how much snow we get down here. We can get slammed with a storm that leaves you skiing waist-deep powder, and Dutch Hill holds snow through the beginning of April in most years.”

Closest Town: Readsboro; Managed by: Dutch Hill Alliance of Skiers and Hikers (DHASH) since 2017; Vertical Drop: 570 feet; Difficulty: Novice to Intermediate; Après: Bright Ideas

Brewing in North Adams, Mass.; Stay: The Readsboro Inn ($50 per night). In the Works: DHASH has submitted a permit application to establish new, steeper glades with 750 feet of vertical drop in the vicinity of the old Christiana Trail on National Forest Land that was never part of the original ski area but that will be accessed via Dutch Hill.

Maps and Intel: dhash4vt.org Dover Town Forest and Horace Hill, Dover Starting this winter, skiers and riders have access to six new gently gladed backcountry ski and snowboard zones between Mount Snow and Haystack Mountain, thanks to a new Catamount Trail Association chapter, Southern Vermont Trails Association. The goal, says president Steve Petrik, is to create 800 acres of backcountry skiing and 100 miles of mountain bike trails on a mix of Green Mountain National Forest and town-owned land over the next eight to ten years.

This year, skiers have access to about 100 acres of new backcountry skiing and five miles on winter-use trails in six zones across two properties. On Horace Hill in the middle of downtown Dover, you’ll find five ski lines that wind through a former maple sugaring operation, with widely spaced, oldgrowth maples —some with a diameter of 60 inches or more.

At the 50-acre Dover Town Forest, head to Chutes and Ladders, which features one of the largest fire-scarred birch stands in southern Vermont and a steep rollover. “Generally, the trails start out mellow, dropping to near vertical terrain that dips into a steep ravine with tons of fun features and big, old beech and birch trees,” says Petrik. He notes, “Because we see such high winds, we built braided ski lines rather than glades to better hold snow. These aren’t glades—this is New England woods skiing.”

Closest Town: Dover; Opened: 2019 Managed by: Southern Vermont Trails Association; Vertical Drop: 1,400 feet at Dover and 300 feet at Horace Hill; Difficulty: Novice to expert; Après: TC’s Restaurant and Tavern, owned and operated by the family of five-time Olympic snowboarder and gold medalist Kelly Clark; Stay: The Grey Ghost Inn (Rooms start at $104). In the Works: The Ridge, a currently proposed, 200acre remote series of three backcountry ski zones near Carinthia; a 200-acre zone in old-growth forest called Bulls Bowl and a mellow touring zone with three tours in Dover called Copper Hill, with the latter two projects slated to open in 2023-2024 Maps and Intel: sovta.org

JAN/FEB. 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 21

of the

YEAR IN 2019, THESE VERMONT ATHLETES MADE THE WORLD STAGE IN A BIG WAY.

22 VTSPORTS.COM | JAN/FEB. 2020

Mac Forehand finds big air close to home at Carinthia Parks. Mike Dawsey

E

ach December, when it comes time to choose our Athletes of the Year, we have a hard time narrowing the field.

This year, the bar was set higher than in many years by athletes such as Elle Purrier, a farmer’s daughter who ran one of the fastest miles ever recorded by a woman, and Mac Forehand, who at 17, won the overall slopestyle skiing World Cup. Here, our tribute to the Vermont athletes who put the world on notice. — Lisa Lynn & Abagael Giles

JAN/FEB. 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 23

ATHLETES OF THE YEAR collar background as well and really just seemed to get me. It was close to home and I really liked the school. It wasn’t until I got to UNH and was part of the team there that I really thought of myself as a ‘runner,’” she said.

At UNH, Purrier became an 11time All American, the NCAA mile champion and the most decorated athlete in the school’s history. After graduating in 2018, Purrier turned down offers to go pro that would have taken her to the Pacific Northwest and chose to go with New Balance, where former Dartmouth coach, Mark Coogan, is now coach. “I wanted to stay close to home and Mark was friends with Hopp so he knew me, too.”

Staying close to home this year had another benefit: in spring of 2019 her high school sweetheart and neighboring farmer, Jamie St. Pierre ,showed up at her parent’s farm. In one hand, he had a calf—a Brown Swiss cow—and the other a ring. The two have plans to marry in the fall of 2020.

When asked about her other best moments from 2019, Purrier doesn’t hesitate. It wasn’t finishing 11th in the World Championships, setting new personal best times or nearly winning the Fifth Avenue Mile—it was finishing third in the 5,000 meters in the 2019 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships in July, which qualified her for the Worlds.

“Just knowing I was qualifying for the World Championships and knowing I was part of the U.S. Team was pretty exciting,” said Elle. “And then just going to the Worlds and learning so much from these other racers I’ve looked up to,” she said.

With the Olympic trials coming up in June, soon they may be learning from her.

ELLE PURRIER, MONTGOMERY, VT On Sunday, Sept. 7, 2019, running star Jenny Simpson, Vermont’s Elle Purrier and a pack of elite professional women runners toed the line at the start of the 39th running of the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York City. More than 9,000 runners were behind them and crowds of spectators lined the avenue.

Two minutes into the race, Simpson, 33, a former world champion in the 1,500 meters and the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, had pulled to the front. Announcers speculated that Simpson, who normally holds back, was going fast earlier than usual in hopes of breaking her own 2017 time of 4:16:6 (a time that tied a record set

by Patti Sue Plumer in 1990) which would make this her eighth win.

But a few steps ahead of Simpson was her relatively unknown New Balance teammate, Elle Purrier.

Elle (pronounced ‘Ellie’), 24, grew up on a dairy farm in Montgomery Center, Vermont and 2019 was her first full year racing as a pro.

Simpson began to pick up the pace and Purrier kept matching her until the two had put the width of a full city crossstreet between them and the pack. They crossed the finish neck and neck, with Simpson just barely eking out the win from her teammate. Simpson, finishing in 4:16:1, broke her own record. But so did Purrier, who finished in 4:16:2.

Those times put both women among the seven fastest mile times ever recorded by women–records largely set on tracks, and three of which were set prior to 1996. The world record for a women’s mile is now 4:12:33, set

by Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands on a track in Monaco in July, 2019.

“I hadn’t really planned to enter the Fifth Avenue Mile,” said Purrier by phone from Hawaii this December, just after finishing third of all elite runners (both men—who started 28 seconds back—and women) and winning the women’s Merrie Mile in Honolulu.

“My focus last fall was on training for 5,000 meters in the World Championships in Doha, which was two weeks after the Fifth Avenue Mile,” she said. There, at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar in October, Purrier earned the last spot in the 5,000-meter finals. In the World Championship finals she finished

24 VTSPORTS.COM | JAN/FEB. 2020

SOPHIE CALDWELL AND JESSIE DIGGINS, PERU & STRATTON, VT Elle Purrier's favorite moment of 2019? Running at the 2019 Toyota Track and Field National Championships where she qualified for the Worlds. Photo by Victor Sailer

11th overall, the second American.

It’s been an amazing year for a woman who six years ago was waking up before dawn to help with chores on the farm. “I really didn’t run much or even like running as a kid—I liked basketball and other sports better,” she said.

But farmwork built strength: “I think the hardest thing was loading 100-lb bales of hay,” recalls Purrier, who is 5

feet 5 inches and weighs around 130 lbs.

After Purrier won multiple high school, state, New England and Northeast regional championships in track and field, coaches from Dartmouth and a number of other top schools came knocking.

“Hopp, (Robert Hoppler, crosscountry coach at University of New Hampshire), came to visit me at home,” she remembers. “He came from a blue-

When Jessie Diggins and thenteammate Kikkan Randall won an Olympic gold medal in the women's sprint free in PyeongChang, it was far from a fluke. The pair may have been the anchors of the U.S. Women’s Cross Country Ski Team, but it was a team with deep talent, and much of that talent was rooted in Vermont. So much, in fact, that Diggins now calls southern Vermont home, owns a condo here and trains here all summer with fellow team members (many part of the Stratton Mountain School T2 Elite Team),

ATHLETES OF THE YEAR teammate Simi Hamiltion, a three time Olympian, who grew up in Aspen (his grandfather ran Aspen Mountain for three decades) and went to Middlebury College. Both her parents, ardent skiers, walked her down the aisle under the turning leaves in Peru, Vt., before her mother, who had been battling cancer, passed away in November.

Going into this season, Caldwell and Diggins will have an even stronger stable of teammates as Julia Kern and Sadie Bjornsen have also been posting strong finishes. The U.S. Women’s Cross Country dream team is going to be strong as ever.

RYAN COCHRAN-SIEGLE, STARKSBORO, VT

It was a big year for Olympic Gold Medalist Jessie Diggins. Photo by Reese Brown.

who are stars in their own rights, including Sophie Caldwell of Peru and Julia Kern, now at Dartmouth.

When Randall, who has been battling cancer, retired many wondered how the women’s team would fare.

After winning the gold and then publishing a book, Diggins was back at it last season and going into the 2019/20 season, is looking even stronger.

In December 2019, she earned three World Cup podiums: a bronze in the women’s 10k at Davos and two silvers at Lillehammer, in the skiathlon and the 4x5k relay. “I haven’t historically had great races [in Davos] because I take my time working into the season,” Diggins, who grew up in Minnesota, told the Minneaplois Star Tribune. “And this course is extremely difficult to pace. But this year, one of my goals was to come into the season a little closer to form than in the past, and it’s been awesome to feel like I’m in great shape while still working my way into top race form.”

And she’s had good company.

Sophie Caldwell, daughter of former SMS T2 coach and Olympian Sverre Caldwell and his ski racing wife Lilly, and granddaughter of Olympian John Caldwell, was with Diggins on the podium as part of the third place 4x5 relay team in Lillehammer. She also

Sophie Caldwell gives her all at the FIS Cross Country World Cup Finals in Quebec.

Photo by Reese Brown

Anyone who is still asking “but what about the men’s alpine ski team?” hasn’t followed what Ryan Cochran-Siegle has been up to this past year. While the U.S. has yet to turn out a male equivalent of a Mikaela Shiffrin or Lindsey Vonn, Siegle has been working his way up the ranks. Siegle, who grew up racing at Cochran’s Ski Area in Richmond under the tutelage of his mother, Olympic gold medalist Barbara Ann Cochran, seemed to have put injuries behind him in 2019 and began clawing his way up the ladder in World Cup races.

A supremely skilled technical skier, Siegle scored 21st in the World Championships in giant slalom in spring of 2019. He kicked off this season with an 11th in giant slalom at Soelden, Austria’s World Cup and on Dec. 23, was 12th in the parallel giant slalom in Alta Badia, Italy.

But recently he’s been upping his game in speed events too. After posting the fastest training run at the Birds of Prey Beaver Creek downhill World Cup in early December, Siegle placed sixth in the finals—the top American, followed by Steve Nyman, in 12th.

With teammates Ted Ligety and Tommy Ford also moving up the ranks, the men’s team may be poised to make a move this season. And Siegle will be right there.

LEA DAVISON, ARLINGTON, VT.

made the podium in Davos, where she took third—in a photo finish it appeared she tied for second—in the sprint final and then, on Dec. 21, 2019, placed fourth in the sprint final at the next World Cup in Planica, Slovenia. With

the season just kicking off, she stands to match or best her 2018/19 season where she earned three World Cup podiums.

For Caldwell, 2019 marked another big accomplishment: she married long-time partner and U.S. Ski Team

In the past two years, it may have seemed like Lea Davison, 36, was chasing shadows. She was racing in the shadow of Kate Courtney, who at 22 won the 2018 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Lenzerheide, Switzerland—the same place where Davison earned the

JAN/FEB. 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 25

ATHLETES OF THE YEAR

Ryan Cochran-Siegle Cutline competes at the 2018-2019 U.S. Alpine Nationals. Photo by Jamie Walter

silver in the Worlds in 2016—her second World Championship medal.

At the 2019 Worlds in Mont St. Anne, Q.C., Courtney earned a fifth and Davison an 11th. By finishing in the top 8, Courtney has secured a spot in the 2022 Olympics, Davison—a twotime Olympian—is still having to fight for hers. And she’s had to do so without the support of her long-time sponsor, Specialized, which dropped her in 2017.

In some ways, Davison has also had to chase her own shadow, the long one she has cast as the leading lady of cross-country mountain biking and a contender, finishing 11th and 7th at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

But with the 2020 Olympics coming up in Tokyo this summer, Davison is back. She’s now riding for Felt bikes as part of USA Cycling’s World Cup team and Sho-Air TWENTY20 team for domestic races. She’s also supported by Louis Garneau and is a brand ambassador for L.L. Bean.

Recently, she cut her hair, threw out her old bike kits, rebooted and changed up her training program and reset her energy. She began working full time with a nutritionist and strength trainer and filling in her winter fitness with Nordic skiing (Davison competed in Nordic at Middlebury College). And supporting her along the way was her wife, Frazier Blair, a senior VP at Orvis, who had competed as a ski racer at Williams College.

The two were married last summer in the Northeast Kingdom, wearing identical white kits made for them by sponsor Louis Garneau

26 VTSPORTS.COM | JAN/FEB. 2020

Lea Davison, climbing to an 11th place finish at the UCI Mountain Biking World Championships in Mont St. Anne, Quebec, last summer. Photo by Brooks Curran

and spent Christmas vacation in Norway, cross-country skiing, part of what Davison has posted is her “Race Burnout Prevention Recipe.”

Then, it’s back to the grind and getting ready for the last Olympic qualifier: the World Cup opener in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic in May where the top 8 will secure Olympic spots.

Davison will be there, fighting it out with Courtney and fellow U.S. teammates Erin Huck and Chloe Woodruff for what may be just two remaining spots.

MAC

FOREHAND,

WINHALL,

VT.

In 2019, Mac Forehand, then 17, got the invite that would make any teenager who’s into action sports, start fist-

punching the air: for the first time the Stratton Mountain School freeskier was on the roster for the X Games in Aspen. However, in January he cracked his scapula, forcing him to sit out.

That didn’t stop Forehand from coming back with a vengeance. In March, at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain, Calif., Forehand threw down a huge first run, scoring 90.95 to take the lead in slopestyle and earning his first World Cup gold medal.

In November, 2018, he’d finished second at the World Cup in Stubai, Austria, then a fifth in the next World Cup in France.

By the time he reached the final World Cup in Silvaplan, Italy he’d amassed enough points that even with a 12th place finish there, he could win the overall crystal globe given to the season-long winners of the World Cup. For a rookie U.S. Team member who had started the 2018-19 season by winning the Junior World Championships in big air in Cadrona, New Zealand, it was a whirlwind year.

“It feels crazy,” Forehand said at the press conference after the race. “I didn’t think I would have a chance to podium this year, nevermind take home the crystal globe at the end of the season. I want to thank all the guys back home at SMS (Stratton Mountain School) and U.S. Ski & Snowboard for supporting me all year long.”

Forehand is the only SMS student ever to win the overall World Cup while still at school.

Forehand, who grew up in Connecticut driving to his family’s ski house at Stratton every weekend, has been on coaches’ radars since he

ATHLETES OF THE YEAR

Geoff Gadbois, 24, of Milton is one of the most promising pilots on the U.S. Bobsled Team. Photos by Molly Choma was a grom. He began competing in freestyle at age 12 and his family moved to Winhall, in part so he could train.

“He’s just so smooth” says Jesse Mallis, the Stratton Mountain School coach who worked closely with Forehand, as he had with another World Cup globe winner, Devin Logan, on perfecting his big air jumps and slopestyle moves at Mount Snow's Carinthia Parks.

Forehand kicked off his 2019/20 season with a 33rd in a big air World Cup in Italy, and then made it into the finals in Atlanta’s big air World Cup, held on a ramp covered with man-made snow at Sun Trust Park. However, he injured his knee and had to sit out the final run but still scored a 10th overall.

With big air skiing being introduced as a medal event at the Beijing Olympics in 2022, it’s a discipline Forehand is working on alongside his freestyle tricks. With sponsorship from Red Bull, Faction Skis and Carinthia Parks, this Stratton Mountain School student’s senior year looks bright.

in Whistler, British Columbia.

During the race, Gadbois’ sled maxed out at 93 miles per hour to descend the 4,760-foot track in less than a minute.

It was a bold performance from a pilot who, just two days prior, had flipped his sled after entering a curve too late on the very same track. He and his teammate, push athlete Adrian Adams, slammed against the ice at 85 miles per hour, sliding, still in the sled, to the track’s base at such high speed that they yo-yo’ed back up the track and into the last curve before officials

could extricate them. Both walked away.

“My wife and I were watching from Vermont,” recalls Geoff Gadbois senior, the athlete’s father. “It was 45 minutes before we got a text from him letting us know he was ok.”

The sport of bobsled is incredibly precise. Drivers win (or lose) the podium in the blink of an eye and the whole event takes place in less than a minute. It’s one of the Olympic speed sports that are timed down to a one hundredth of a second.

Divided into two events: fourman and two-man, a bobsled run

starts with either one or three “push athletes,” some of the biggest, fastest sprinters on the planet, pushing a 300 to 500 pound sled as hard as they can for 50 yards before jumping on board and entering the luge. At that point, they put their faith in their pilot.

With as many as 22 turns to navigate in under a minute, the driver turns the sled by applying gentle pressure to its four rounded runners. The brake is never pulled until the track’s terminus, and the slightest imbalance in weight or movement can cause a craft to flip

GEOFF GADBOIS, MILTON, VT. At 24, 2022 Olympic hopeful Geoff Gadbois has taken, by his count, more than 2,000 bobsled runs.

Born and raised in Milton, Gadbois got his start in the junior bobsled program at Lake Placid, N.Y., at the age of 14. Since then, he’s put in some impressive finishes at World Cup and North American Cup events and on March 3, 2019, Gadbois piloted the two-man sled that earned Team USA a bronze at the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation World Championships

Then 17, Mac Forehand (center) scored his first ever World Cup win at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain in March, 2019.

Photo courtesy U.S. Ski and Snowboard

JAN/FEB. 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 27

ATHLETES OF THE YEAR

After years of competing as ski jumper, a biathlete and a cross-country racer, Tara Geraghty-Moats is dominating the sport that's finally open to women: Nordic Combined. Photo by Tom Kelly

at speeds of up to 95 miles per hour.

“Crashing is not fun, but the only way to get over a crash is to get right back out there and drive the track again,” says Gadbois.

Gadbois also drove the sled that took first place in the four-man bobsled at a North American Cup event in Calgary, Canada, on January 10, 2019.

The following day he took second place in the two-man at the same competition, and on Jan. 13, he took second place in the four-man bobsled in Calgary. And this past November, he took a third and fourth place finish in the two-man bobsled at a North American Cup event in Lake Placid.

“It was the speed that drew me in,” says Gadbois, a former lineman for Milton High School’s football team.

He’s competed on Team USA since 2014 with several years of top 20 finishes at World Cup and National Championship events and the odd top five finish.

Currently, Gadbois is one of 12 athletes on the U.S. Bobsled Team, and

28 VTSPORTS.COM | JAN/FEB. 2020

one of only three pilots. All three are younger than 24, which bodes well for the team’s development over the next eight years. Pilots tend to get better with age, with athletes peaking in performance well into their thirties. “It takes years of experience and driving many tracks all over the world to become a good pilot. As a team, once you’ve got your start down and you’re driving at a high level, equipment really makes a difference in this sport,” Gadbois says. As of now, Gadbois is a serious contender for one of three spots on the Olympic team. “I’m really making a big push for the 2022 Olympics in Beijing,” he says.

The United States has not earned a gold medal in men’s bobsled since the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, when the late pilot Steve Holcomb, the most decorated American bobsledder of all time, earned a gold medal in the four-man bobsled—the first for an American man since the 1948 Olympics.

It was Holcomb who nicknamed Geoff Gadbois “50-50,” at the first Driver’s

camp he participated in at age 15, says Gadbois father. Geoff Jr crashed 11 out of 22 runs on the track at Lake Placid—a notoriously challenging course. “It was a way of saying, hey, this kid has an intuitive ability to handle challenge in a very precise, very difficult situation. He may not be perfect yet, but he’s got gall, and there’s something there.”

TARA GERAGHTY-MOATS, WEST FAIRLEE, VT For more than a year, GeraghtyMoats has been what the Federation International du Ski (FIS) has called “the measuring stick for all Nordic Combined women, lending her voice and personality to a sport in which women have to make up for a lot of lost time.

In 2018/19, the first season of there even being a Nordic Combined Continental Cup for women, Geraghty-Moats won just about every event she entered, from Steamboat Springs, Colo. and Park

City, Utah to events in Estonia and Russia.

In December, in Park City, Geraghty-Moats once again swept the first Nordic Combined Continental Cup event of the 2019/20 season.

In January, she will take time away from her dual-sport (Nordic combined and ski jumping) schedule to serve in an official capacity as an Athlete Role Model at the Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne, Switzerland, which will have a Nordic Combined event for women.

Nordic Combined remains the only event not open to women in the regular Winter Olympics, something GeraghtyMoats has been campaigning to change.

While it has yet to be named an Olympic sport, in 2020/21 there will be a World Cup in Nordic Combined for women.

What makes Geraghty-Moats mastery of this dual sport where your starting time in a cross-country ski race is determined by how well you fare in the ski jumping event, even more impressive is this: she’s simultaneously competing at the World Cup level as a

ATHLETES OF THE YEAR ski jumper. That’s a feat akin to a rodeo rider also competing in steeplechase.

On Dec. 9, 2019, during a World Cup jump in Lillehammer, Norway, Geraghty-Moats got off balance after launching off the jump, her ski caught the air and she went crashing down. While the crash appeared horrific, sending her sliding down the sloped landing area, she suffered only a bruised hip and a sore rib. “I’ve honestly had worse injuries slipping on the ice in the parking lot,” she wrote on her social media pages.

A week later, she was back to winning the first Nordic Combined event of 2019/20 in Park City, Utah.

NIKA MEYERS, BRIDGEWATER CORNERS, VT. It was a record-breaking year for speed attempts on The Long Trail. Between June and October, three people set new unsupported fastest-knowntimes (FKTs) on the 273-mile trail that bested a prior men’s record that had remained untouched for nine years.

One of those people was 30-year-old Nika Meyers of Bridgewater Corners.

On October 2, Meyers finished the trail in six days, 11 hours and 40 minutes.

Her attempt was “Unsupported,” meaning she carried every piece of gear she used and each item of food in a pack on her back. The only thing she picked up along the way was water.

“There was no 'unsupported' record for a female hiker, so I used Jennifer Pharr Davis’ 2007 self-supported (meaning she cached food ahead of time at stops along the way) record of 7 days 15 hours and 40 minutes,” said Meyers. In 2018, Meyers also completed the Triple Crown of American long distance hiking trails: the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail, the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail and the 3,100-mile Continental Divide Trail.

“I wanted to try experiencing the Long Trail in a new way,” Myers said of this thru-hike. “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,” she said. Instead of setting firm mileage days based on other FKTers’ progress before her, she set out to take the notoriously rugged trail day by day—hiking until her body told her to stop. “I wanted to see what I could do.”

Though she only did the occasional weekend day hike over the summer,

Nika Meyers catches a second wind on the summit of Camel's Hump during her October 2019 thru-hike of The Long Trail. Meyers set a new lightning-fast unsupported women's "fastest-known-time" for the 273-mile trail, hiking it in six days, 11 hours and 40 minutes. Photo by Nika Meyers

Meyers, like the two men who also scored unsupported FKTs on the Long Trail this summer, beat Travis Wildeboer’s 2010 time of 6 days, 17 hours and 45 seconds—a record that remained untouched despite many attempts over the past nine years.

This summer, Josh Perry, a 24-yearold hiker from Yorkshire, England hiked the trail unsupported in 6 days, 9 hours and 48 minutes to finish on June 13. He held the record for just a short while, as Jeff “Legend” Garmire, a

28-year-old ultrarunner from Colorado hiked it in a blistering 5 days, 23 hours and 48 minutes to finish on July 24.

As Pharr Davis said of Meyers’ feat, “There are very few who can appreciate the demands of a six-day unsupported thru-hike on The Long Trail. As someone who has come close to her mark, I consider her efforts nothing short of Olympian.”

Meyers also, in her first attempt at an FKT, broke a men’s record that had stood for 10 full years. In the

world of FKTs on long-distance trails, men and women have historically competed in separate time categories.

Hikers like Meyers are closing that gap.

“Nika Meyers is one of my heroes,” says Pharr Davis. “She pours herself into conservation and outdoor education with the same passion and intensity that she used to set a FKT. She is a wonderful example of someone who has given back.”

JAN/FEB. 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 29

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THE CHANGING FACE OF NORDIC SKIING

FOR A SPORT THAT’S BEEN AROUND SINCE BEFORE RECORDED TIME, NORDIC SKIING HAS SEEN SOME AMAZING ADVANCES IN THE LAST FEW YEARS. HERE ARE A FEW OF THE BEST.

BY ANDREW GARDNER

At Rikert Nordic Center, snowmaking has helped keep the trails open for 115 days or more a season.

W

hile pop culture can be neatly sliced into decadelong lists of change and movement (the hippie Sixties, the neon Eighties, etc.), cross country skiing seems to resist big transformations. At many local trailheads, you’re still likely to find tall socks and knickers, age-old kick waxes and decades-old skis.

Yet in the past few years big changes have come to this 6,000-year-old pastime born under the northern lights.

Cross country skiing has evolved thanks to epic shifts in gear, a changing climate, relentless media and more professional attention. Here are the biggest factors impacting the sport and what they mean for skiers gliding into 2020.

GREENER WAXES The biggest change in ski wax hasn’t been advancements in technology but rather the absence of it. In November,

2019, the Federation International du Ski, (FIS) the governing body for alpine and Nordic ski racing banned fluorocarbon ski waxes—not because they make skis faster (which they do, and everyone has been using them), but because of health and environmental concerns about the polyfluorinated materials (PFOAs) they contain.

In a study published in 2011, researchers in Norway and Finland found that ski wax technicians had “median levels of PFOAs in their blood that were 45 times that of the average population,” as reported in Scientific American, and traces of PFOAs were found in earthworms in an area that was heavily used by cross-country skiers. PFOAs, which are slow to break down and can seep into groundwater, have been linked to cancer, birth defects, hypertension and strokes.

In July, 2019 the European Union

"Cross country skiing has evolved thanks to epic shifts in gear, a changing climate, relentless media and more professional attention."

outlawed the sale of all substances that contain PFOAs. Here, the New England Nordic Ski Association has issued a waxing policy and recommends fluoro

waxes be used “sparingly.” Larger wax brands have taken note. Swix Sport now can claim that 60 percent of its waxes are fluoro-free.

NO-WAX SKIN SKIS In the 1970s, Fischer employed a mohair-like base amidst its race-only selection. In the last decade, every manufacturer of classic skis began employing a mohair-like skin on the kick have given new life to the sport and made skis like Fischer’s Twin Skin Pro the best-selling cross-country skis in the world.

While skin skis will never glide as fast as a waxed ski, they offer consistency of kick in variable conditions where there typically hasn’t been any.

Mohair skins have been around since the 1970s but advancements in kick pockets–and general small areas coated with a mohair, Nylon or synthetic

JAN/FEB. 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 31

should you want to sleep in past the time zone required 5:00 AM start time.

Smaller races are gaining live stream traction including last year’s Junior National Championships and the NCAA Championships. These were races that were invisible just ten years ago unless you stood next to the course.

It isn’t just streaming media that’s changed skiing. In Scandinavia, a GPS is affixed to groomers managing the prepared tracks and an app offers a skier live reports on what’s been freshly groomed. Finally, if you’re inclined solely to spend your time scrolling the lonely pixels of social media, Instagram offers inside joke after inside joke via @ crosscountryskimemes.

Cutline here Photo by

skiing you like to do.

Better yet, take advantage of any demo opportunities at your local trails.

There’s a ski out there now for every skier and every type of terrain.

blend skin that stays on the ski— have revolutionized classic skis and now every major ski manufacturer is offering a different take on these nowax wonders. These skis work best in the track or on groomed trails and have evolved enough that light-weight models have become popular on the recreational race circuits.

ADJUSTABLE BINDINGS “It might seem small but the (Rottefella) Accelerator and the (Fischer or Rossignol) Turnamic binding likely saved classic skiing at the high school level,” says Jake Hollenbach, a competitive Nordic ski racer who runs the cross-country department at Burlington’s Skirack.

“The movement that binding offers lets kids buy a nicer ski - maybe one that doesn’t fit them perfectly in the first year and then slide the binding forward or back to allow for more kick or glide.”

Thanks to the sliding plate, the binding can be mounted without screws and is easily adjusted. Furthermore, bindings have finally adopted to a single standard after Salomon, the last holdout of a proprietary system in 2016, began offering an NNN compatible option in both boots and bindings making every boot and binding manufacturer in track skiing now compatible. The new bindings also help make the skin skis more effective by allowing for forwardaft movement, an adjustment that prompts the ski to perform differently based on the conditions. If you move it further forward, the binding allows for more weight on the kick pocket and hence, more grip. Further back yields more glide.

32 VTSPORTS.COM | JAN/FEB. 2020

Cutline here Photo by

A QUIVER OF SKIS FOR ANY TERRAIN As the explosion of alpine backcountry and fitness-focused uphill skiing has gained hold, there’s a widening new spectrum of skis designed to help you explore just about any terrain – from the ungroomed woods trails at Nordic ski areas to some of the wilderness terrain crossed by the Catamount Trail.

Many quivers now include everything from recreational skate skis and skinny in-track classic skis, to lightweight off-track cross-country skis, to serious downhill-focused alpine touring gear. Nordic and touring skis (those designed primarily for travel across the landscape, as opposed to going up and down) now come in a wide variety of widths, with a range of stiffness, weights and edges (some are metal for better holding on a slope.)

If you’re scratching your head about what skis you should buy, you are not alone. Head to your local ski shop and talk to the experts about the type of

MINGLING WITH THE BEST In the past few years, the U.S. has turned out some of the top Nordic racers in the world and Vermont has been the Ground Zero training ground to many of them. Jessie Diggins, Sophie Caldwell, Katherine and Ben Ogden and many other current and past U.S. Ski Team racers make Vermont home when they are not off racing on the World Cup. This winter, you might be able to catch them competing at the third stop of the Super Tour, held in Craftsbury Outdoor Center, January 24-26, a week before the Craftsbury Marathon Festival (Feb. 1) and the National Masters’ Championship (Feb. 2.)

THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION “When I was a kid, I had a VHS copy of a single World Cup race that I watched over and over again. I’m not sure it was even the World Championships or the Olympics.” describes Andrew Johnson, Head Coach of the Middlebury College Nordic Ski Team. “Now, every race is on demand and the effect is every kid in the sport can see the evolution of technique as it happens.”

In 2010, Eurosport partnered with the Tour de Ski, an eight-day ski stage race to bring live footage from each stage direct to a viewership. Today, a $70 subscription through NBC Gold (www. nbcsports.com/gold) allows for a live feed for every weekend race through the end of March and an on-demand option

MAKING AND SAVING SNOW “If sports were like species, cross country skiing would be high on the endangered species list,” says Bill McKibben, a climate change activist and ardent Nordic skier. Yet, starting in early November, you can see McKibben making laps around the Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt. thanks to the cross-country center’s snowmaking.

In 2012, a Middlebury alumn donated the funds required to build out snowmaking coverage for up to five kilometers, allowing the center to open in early November and stay open through April in 2019. On December 14, as rain swept away most of the natural snow on Vermont’s trails, Rikert was able to host a high school race.

Both Trapp Family Lodge and, the Craftsbury Outdoor Center also have snowmaking and last year, Craftsbury worked with students from the University of Vermont to study the most efficient way to save snow through the summer. After burying a stockpile of snow under woodchips last spring, the Center had enough snow in November for an early opening.

Inevitably, snowmaking and snow saving will be a part of the future of the sport. Countless World Cups over the last decade have been run on a thin ribbon of white across an otherwise brown landscape. Ski wax sales have trended ever upward, and the Sochi Games saw a relaxation of the uniform rules, now allowing for sleeveless race suits and cutoff legs.

The lack of consistent natural snow has given rise to more and more artificial snowmaking systems, which has, ironically, made availability of skiing more consistent, if less ubiquitous.

Andrew Gardner is a former NCAA and elite Ski Coach. He owns Press Forward, a public relations firm in Middlebury, Vermont that serves outdoor sport, sustainability, food and wellness clients.

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GEAR

WINTER WEAR FOR ANY WEATHER

IF YOU’RE HEADED INTO THE BACKCOUNTRY ON SKIS OR BY FATBIKE, HERE’S SOME ESSENTIAL GEAR WE LOVE.

The Mountain Equipment Dispersion Jacket

Smartwool’s PhD® Ski Light Elite Pow Days

Mountain Hardwear’s Ghost Shadow Hoody

Montana Montamix Skins

SMARTWOOL’S PHD SKI LIGHT SOCKS We’re partial to a certain made-inVermont brand of sock but, truth be told, when we slipped on a pair of Smartwool’s PhD® Ski Light Elite Pow Days ($30.95) socks, we were sold. The new signature lines from pro skiers Chris Benchetler and Angel Collinson (each have their graphics on the socks), are just about the perfect ski socks, with a fit that feels like a second skin. Light, warm and stretchy in all the right places they contour around your feet and calves and feature meshed zones for breatheability and cushioning in the heel. The super stretchy cuff is extra long to keep the sock from slipping down but not too tight. The socks are made in the U.S. using a blend of 55 percent merino wool, 42 percent nylon and three percent Elastane.

MOUNTAIN EQUIPMENT DISPERSION JACKET When we first opened this jacket it felt lightweight and a bit flimsy. And yes, it’s lightweight. But flimsy? Hardly. In fact, it’s withstood multiple ski laps in the woods, hiking, early season backcountry skiing and bushwhacking to cut lines. The Mountain Equipment Dispersion Jacket ($249) is now our go-to backcountry outer layer.

Why? The long tail easily covers your butt when you’re bent over on a climb.

The ExoLite fabric is super stretchy and moves with you. It’s breatheable and the large hood fits over a helmet or you can stowe it in its own pocket. Best of all, the whole thing scrunches down to next to nothing so on warmer days you can pack it easily for the skin up.

MOUNTAIN HARDWEAR GHOST SHADOW HOODY There are lots of reasons to feel good about Mountain Hardwear’s Ghost Shadow Hoody ($250 at REI). For starters, we especially love that this fits a little lower than some of their other jackets, giving full-torso coverage, and has a horizontal band across the bottom.

The Prima Loft synthetic insulation doesn’t bunch up like down does but keeps you warm all day and is a bit more substantial than the insulation in the brand’s popular Ghost Whisperer. But best of all, this jacket features Mountain Hardwear’s renewed commitment to sustainability: almost every part of this jacket is made from 70 percent to 100 percent recycled materials—from the insulation, to the shell and even the zipper tape. Mountain Hardwear claims each jacket keeps 5 PET plastic bottles

out of the landfill. And that gives us a warm fuzzy feeling.

MONTANA MONTAMIX SKINS New for this season, Swiss-based Montana International's Montamix Skins ($180) have a chromium stainless steel ski clamp that fits any touring ski.

Thanks to that—and the skins' tapered forward tip—the Montamixes are reliable on even the coldest and snowiest or warmest, wettest days. The effective tapered design also minimizes drag from snow that can often get caught up under the lip of a skin. We’d take these on a multi-day ski tour, and we love “The Skinny” a specially-designed synthetic sleeve that lets you efficiently strip your skins from your skis, fold them away from snow and grit so you can stash them (lint-free) in your jacket and keep them warm for your next lap on the descent.

JAN/FEB. 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 35

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VERMONT

SPORTS

RACE & EVENT GUIDE

LISTING YOUR EVENT IN THIS

5 | Get Rec’d 8k Snowshoe Race, Stratton Part of the Dion WMAC Snowshoe Series, this is a USSSA National Championships qualifying race at Stratton Mountain. dionwmacsnowshoe.com

CALENDAR IS FREE AND EASY. VISIT VTSPORTS.COM/SUBMIT-AN-EVENT OR E-MAIL EDITOR@VTSPORTS.

COM. ALL AREA CODES ARE 802.

8 | Baby/Toddler (0-5) Hike with the Green Mountain Club, Waterbury Center Bring your toddler or baby and join two GMC staff parents with their kids to talk about hiking tips and check out a half-mile hike on The Short Trail behind the visitor center.

Repeats Feb. 12 and March 11. greenmountainclub.org

ALL LOCATIONS ARE IN VERMONT UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

FEATURED EVENTS, IN YELLOW, PAY A NOMINAL FEE.

RUNNING/HIKING/ SNOWSHOEING JANUARY 1 | One-One (New Years) Fun Run, Burlington Head to Memorial Auditorium for a 5k fun run through downtown Burlington. Costumes are encouraged. gmaa.run 3-4 | Extremus Group Winter Trek, Keene, N.Y. The Endurance Society hosts a 24-mile Alpine-style winter group trek through the Adirondacks with 10K of climbing. endurancesociety.org

10 | Full Moon Snowshoe, East Charleston Northwoods Stewardship Center hosts a guided nighttime snowshoe from 6-9 p.m. on their woodland trails, followed by a campfire with s’mores. northwoodscenter.org 10 | Full Moon Snowshoe Hike and Astronomy Program, Woodstock Head to Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park for a nighttime hike under January’s “Wolf” moon.

Learn about the moon and its different phases and view it through a high-powered telescope. Runs from 5:30-7:30 p.m. nps.gov/mabi/index.htm

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

11 | Gurney Lane 5k, Queensbury, N.Y. Run a 5k snowshoe race on the Gurney mountain bike trails. If the snow is insufficient, this race will be held as a trail running race. Dion snowshoes will be available for rent during the race. dionwmacsnowshoe.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

11 | Climate Change: Past, Present and Possible Futures, Woodstock National Park Service Communications Specialist Ed Sharron offers a two-hour presentation that explores Earth’s past and speculates about possible future scenarios at the Forest Center at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park. nps.gov/mabi/index.htm

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19 | Cock-A-Doodle Shoe Snowshoe Races, Saranac Lake, N.Y. Run a 10k or 5k race on snowshoes on the rolling trails on the New Land Trust property. Dion Snowshoes will be available for rent during the race. dionwmacsnowshoe.com 19 | Nor’Easter 5k Night Snowshoe Race, Londonderry Viking Nordic Center hosts a nighttime snowshoe race on lighted trails. The race starts at 6:30 p.m. in the evening and all participants must wear a headlamp. Repeats March 7. dionwmacsnowshoe.com 20 | The Taylor Series: Searching for White Blazes, Middlebury Mary Lou Recor recounts misadventures, trail-breaking and more as part of her 14-year effort to hike the entire Long Trail during the winter. greenmountainclub.org 23 | The Taylor Series: Hiking the John Muir Trail, Waterbury Center Steve Hurd shares tips for trip planning, along with memories and photos of his solo thru-hike of California’s John Muir Trail. greenmountainclub.org 25 | Mt. Tom Snowshoe Scramble 5k/10k, Holyoke, Mass.

Run (in snowshoes) a 5k scenic route on the Mt. Tom trails.

Racers running a 10k will do two loops of this course, and can decide mid-race what distance they wish to run. If snow is insufficient to snowshoe, this will be a trail race. dionwmacsnowshoe.com 25 | Nor’Easter Midnight Madness Snowshoe 5k, Londonderry Head to Viking Nordic Center for a 5k nighttime snowshoe race that starts at 9 p.m. dionwmacsnowshoe.com

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25 | Winter Tree Identification Workshop, Woodstock Bring a bag lunch and join the National Park Service for a snowshoe trek with Jon Bouton to learn how to identify trees at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park. nps.gov/mabi/index.htm 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 26 | Waterbury Winterfest Family Fun Run/Walk, Waterbury Center Run a 5k or walk a mile through Waterbury Village. Dogs are welcome at this fun event followed by great prizes and hot cocoa. waterburywinterfest.com 30 | The Taylor Series: A Long Trail Hiker’s Climb of Denali, Waterbury Center Green Mountain Club executive director Mike DeBonis shares photos and stories from his June 2019 journey to summit Denali. At the Green Mountain Club Visitor Center. greenmountainclub.com

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 Pond Outdoor Center.

Grab food and beer at the Grafton Inn. facebook.com/ events/910126979366277/

1 | Winter Wildlife Tracking Snowshoe, Woodstock Catch a one-hour lecture about animal prints and tracks and then head out for a snowshoe hike and learn to identify them as you go at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park. nps.gov/mabi/index.htm 1 | Green Mountain Athletic Association Annual Dinner, Williston The local running club celebrates a season of races and announces plans for next year at this annual dinner at the Catamount Country Club. gmaa.run 1 | 5th Annual Snowshoe "Face Race," Suicide Six Race by snowshoe up Suicide Six's black diamond trail, "The Face" and back down "Easy Mile" to a post-race party. suicide6.com 2 | History Snowshoe/Hike of Camp Smith, Waterbury Center Enjoy a two-hour guided snowshoe hike through the Historic Civilian Conservation Corps Camp Charles M. Smith in Little River State Park. The mile-long camp housed the 2,300-plus CCC employees who built the Waterbury dam in the 1930s. waterburywinterfest.com 8 | Green Mountain Club Full Moon Snowshoe Dinner, Smugglers’ Notch Hike from Route 108 in Smugglers’ Notch for 2.25 miles to a candlelit dinner at the Hearth and Candle Restaurant by the ski area’s summit. greenmountainclub.org 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

8 | Blue Cross Blue Shield Snow Days, Chittenden Head to Mountain Top Inn & Resort for a free day of crosscountry skiing and snowshoeing for participants of all ages and abilities. bcbsvt.com 9 | Bald Mountain Snowshoe, East Charleston Embark on a wintry 5.5-mile round-trip trek up Bald Mountain with Northwoods Stewardship Center. Snowshoe rentals are available. northwoodscenter.org 14 | Valentine’s Day Candlelit Snowshoe, East Charleston Northwoods Stewardship Center hosts a guided nighttime snowshoe from 6-9 p.m. for couples and single folks alike through the candlelit forest followed by a fire, hot cocoa, cookies and live music at the lodge. northwoodscenter.org 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 15 | Blue Cross Blue Shield Snow Days, Lyndon The Lyndon Outing Club hosts a Blue Cross Blue Shield Snow Day, with free Nordic skiing and snowshoeing and tubing/sledding for participants of all ages and abilities. bcbsvt.com 15 | Frigus Snowshoe Race, Gansevoort, N.Y. The Endurance Society hosts a 5k, 15k (1,900 feet of elevation gain) and marathon snowshoe race (5,700 feet of elevation gain) on ungroomed trails at Moreau Lake State Park. New for this year, there will be a one-mile kids’ snowshoe race. Part of the Dion Snowshoe Series. endurancesociety.org 22 | Winter Wildlife Adaptations Snowshoe, Woodstock Learn about wildlife that is active during the winter months and take an on-snow snowshoe workshop in identifying signs of their presence at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park. nps.gov/mabi/index.htm

CENTRAL VERMONT’S FULL-SERVICE SKI SHOP The area’s largest selection of A.T. gear from: Scarpa Fischer Fritschi Marker Black Diamond Leki Ortovox and more!

Join us for a group skinning tour or stop by our shop on the corner of the Okemo access road.

802-228-2776 | 44 Pond St | Ludlow, VT | TheBootPro.net 38 VTSPORTS.COM | JAN./FEB. 2020

Ethan Allen Biathlon Club 2020 Winter Race Series

DATES January 9, 16, 23, February 6, 13, 20 TIMES 5:00 pm - Registration 5:30 to 6:00 pm - Zeroing 6:15 pm - Race Start WHERE Ethan Allen Biathlon Club Ethan Allen Rd., Jericho, VT See our website for Registration & MANDATORY Safety Clinic information Info: www.eabiathlon.org

28 | The Headlamp Hustle Snowshoe Shuffle, St. Johnsbury See how many laps you can snowshoe in two hours on a one-mile loop built by the Caledonia Trail Collaborative on Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital land. This is a night event, starting at 6 p.m. so headlamps are needed. campscui.active. 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 5 | The Taylor Series: Hiking Abroad, Morrisville Head to Rock Art Brewery for a talk from thru-hikers Kevin Hudnell and Elizabeth Fenn about long-distance hiking on a budget in Europe and the Middle East. greenmountainclub.org 6 | The Taylor Series: Building a Four-Season Hut Network in the Green Mountains, Richmond Vermont Huts Association executive director RJ Thompson discusses the organization’s plans to create a backcountry hut network for year-round public access. greenmountainclub.org 7 | Winter Trails Day, Waterbury Center Green Mountain Club leaders offer guided group hikes around the Green Mountains, winter skills workshops, snowshoe demos, kids’ activities and more, plus a campfire and s’mores, followed by an after-party. greenmountainclub.org 14 | Lucky Leprechaun 5K, St. Johnsbury A mostly flat out-and-back 5K that starts and ends at the St. Johnsbury Welcome Center. campscui.active.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 21 | Bluff Mountain Snowshoe, East Charleston Northwoods Stewardship Center hosts a guided three-mile round-trip snowshoe trek to the summit of Bluff Mountain, which features views of Island Pond. northwoodscenter.org

FATBIKING/CYCLING JANUARY 1 | Resolve to Revolve, Lyndonville Kingdom Trails hosts a fatbike demo day.

Members and non-members are welcome to demo fatbikes for up to 45 minutes at a time on Kingdom Trail’s 25+ miles of groomed riding, followed by an after-party. kingdomtrails.org 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 11 | Torchlit Trail Experience, Lyndonville Kingdom Trails Assocation hosts a selfguided ski, fatbike or snowshoe to an openair fire and hot chocolate in the woods.

Follow the glow sticks along the trails that lead from the Nordic Center to find the fire. Bring a headlamp or flashlight. kingdomtrails.org 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 29 | Local Motion Winter Bike Commuting Workshop, Burlington A seasoned year-round bike commuter offers tips for staying warm, outfitting your bike for winter use, dealing with ice and snow and staying safe on the roads. Starts with a classroom discussion and ends with practice on the bike path. localmotion.org

FEBRUARY 1 | Fat Tire Bike Demo Day & Group Ride, Waterbury Center Bicycle Express hosts a fatbike demo day as part of Waterbury Winterfest. Join a crew of all abilities for a ride on a groomed track.

Enjoy post-ride or race beers from 4-6 p.m. at the Alchemist. waterburywinterfest.com 1 | Carrabassett Fat Tire Race, Carrabassett Valley, Maine Fatbike a 9- to 10-mile course, or an 18to 20-mile course on groomed trails at Sugarloaf Mountain Resort. sugarloaf.com 8 | 6th Saratoga Fatbike Rally, Saratoga Springs, N.Y. A day of fatbike group rides, fun races, beer, demos and more. bikereg.com/44928 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

29 | ABE-BERM-HAM, Suicide Six Race a banked and bermed downhill fatbiking course at Suicide Six Ski Area. suicide6.com 29 | The Taylor Series: Biking the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, Enosburg Falls A Green Mountain Club member presents on his experience biking 2,850k from Banff, Alberta to Frisco, Colo. along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. greenmountainclub.org

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/

MULTI-SPORT/OTHER JANUARY 9 | Moving Earth: Cotton Brook and Other Landslides in Vermont, Waterbury Center State Geologist Marjorie Gale discusses the recent 12-acre landslide at Cotton Brook and the geologic forces that triggered it at the Green Mountain Club’s visitor center as part of The Taylor Series. greenmountainclub.org 11 | Introduction to Walleye Fishing, Lake Carmi Head to Lake Carmi State Park for a free workshop from Vermont Fish and Wildlife on the basics of ice fishing for Walleye.

Topics covered include safety, equipment and regulations. vtfishandwildlife.com Jan. 23-26 | 46th Stowe Carnival, Stowe Ice carving, snow volleyball and snow golf are just a few examples of the fun that takes over the village of Stowe over Carnival weekend. stowecarnival.com 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 1 | The #EqualPay Game, Essex Junction Green Mountain Roller Derby hosts their first home bout of the 2020 season at Champlain Valley Expo. Catch all of the excitement of flat track roller derby in a kid and family-friendly environment and support equal pay for women and nonbinary athletes. gmrollerderby.com 8 | The Taylor Series: The Spirit of the Mountains, Waterbury Center Scholar Melody Walker offers an interactive lecture about the Abenaki perspective on power, place and the spirit of all things.

Walker will discuss concepts within the Abenaki worldview and what a homeland means to indigenous people. greenmountainclub.org 14-23 | 40th Anniversary of the 1980 Olympic Games, Lake Placid, N.Y. A week-long celebration of the 13th Winter Olympic Games, with a full slate of activities ranging from re-living the opening ceremony and torch lighting to ice skating around the historic Olympic Oval, to skiing with Olympic athletes. There will be several opportunities to meet Olympic athletes, including speed skater Dan Jansen, alpine ski racer Andrew Weibrecht, luger Mark Grimmette, figure skater Paul Wylie and more. lakeplacid.com/the-40thanniversary-of-the-1980-winter-olympics 17 | Mount Snow Grommet Jam Finals, Mount Snow Head to a fun park competition with mountain coaches and riders for kids 12 & under followed by prizes and a raffle. mountsnow.com 20 | The Taylor Series: The Natural and Unnatural History of the Common Loon, Craftsbury Common Vermont Center for Ecosystem Studies biologist Eric Hanson presents on the recovery of loons in Vermont over the last 30 years, the threats they face now and ongoing conservation efforts, along with answering questions like: what is being conveyed in a loon yodel? greenmountainclub.org 22 | SMS Summit Series: Reel Rock 14, Stratton Stratton Mountain School hosts the 14th Reel Rock Film Tour, with movies that capture some of the best climbing and adventure feats of 2019. gosms.org/ summit-series 23 | Wintervale, Burlington Head to the Intervale in Burlington from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for a day of free fatbike demos and ski and snowshoe rentals from Skirack, a bonfire, kids’ activities, nature walks, food and hot drinks. intervale.org

JAN./FEB. 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 39

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 1 | Jack Jump World Championships, Mount Snow Dual slalom race for the best time. Speed, great racing and great crashes await those brave enough to race down the slopes on homemade sleds. mountsnow.com 17 | St. Patrick’s Day Lift Ticket Deal, Mount Snow Mount Snow will be selling $17 lift tickets for this day only online exclusively and hosting live music on Main Street during the day. mountsnow.com/tickets-passes 21 | SMS Summit Series: Wild & Scenic Film Festival, Stratton Catch an evening of films highlighting earth’s beauty and the environmental challenges facing various ecosystems and communities across the globe. gosms.org/ summit-series

SKATING JANUARY 12 | 16th Annual Lake Morey Skate-athon, 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 24-26 | Frostbite Face-Off Hockey Tournament, Fairlee This annual 4-on-4 pond hockey tournament is open to those 21 and older and features all sorts of fun, from costumes to themed after-parties. Teams battle on Lake Morey for the Yeti Cup. lakemoreyresort.com 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 | 11th Annual 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

40 VTSPORTS.COM | JAN./FEB. 2020

7-9 | 9th Annual Lake Champlain Pond Hockey Classic, Colchester Three days of pond hockey on Malletts Bay with an on-the-ice beer garden. pondhockeyclassic.com 8-9 | Put Cancer On Ice Pond Hockey Tournament, Fairlee New for this season, Lake Morey is host to a 4-on-4 pond hockey tournament with proceeds benefiting Norris Cotton Cancer Center. lakemoreyresort.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/

NORDIC/SKIMO/ BACKCOUNTRY SKIING

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 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 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 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 13 | The Taylor Series: Backcountry Skiing All 110 Mountains in Vermont Above 3,000 Feet, Waterbury Center Spencer Crispe of Brattleboro describes how he became, over four winters, the first person to climb and ski down every major mountain in Vermont. greenmountainclub.org

15-16 | The Last Skier Standing, Jackson, N.H. Black Mountain Ski Area and Ski the Whites host an alternative skimo-style uphill-downhill race in two formats: a 24-hour relay and a race called “The Last Person Standing” where each participant must finish the course within an hour and be in the starting area prior to the next lap start. The race is over when one skier remains. There are two race categories for each event: Fast & Light (think skimo gear) and Heavy Metal (for AT, telemark and splitboarding gear). skithewhites.com 16 | Sisters of Skimo Movie Premiere, Burlington Outdoor Gear Exchange hosts a premiere of the new film Sisters of Skimo, which documents the journey of Sierra Anderson and her fellow female competitors in ski mountaineering racing as they vie to compete at the World Championships in Switzerland. Before the film at 7:30 p.m., enjoy a Q & A about the sport of skimo and a gear clinic with OGE’s resident skimo athlete and gearhead. gearx.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 23 | 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 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 | The 8th Descent of the Connector Trail at Waterbury Winterfest, Waterbury Strap on your snowshoes or backcountry skis for a tour that departs from the Blush Hill Country Club parking lot and winds through pristine woods to a rolling finish with views of the Little River. Shuttle will bring skiers back to the village. waterburywinterfest.com 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 2 | 33rd Camel’s Hump Challenge, Huntington A rigorous wilderness 13-mile ski tour and race where backcountry Nordic skiers traverse around the perimeter of 4,083foot Camel’s Hump to raise awareness for Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementia. act.alz.org

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 double-tracked ski trail divided into 10 sections spanning 160K (100 miles) from Mont Tremblant to Lachute. skimarathon.ca

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

ALPINE SKIING/ SNOWBOARDING JANUARY

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

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/

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

11 | Green Mountain Club Member Weekend at Mad River Glen, Fayston Green Mountain Club members ski for half-price at Mad River Glen with their membership card. greenmountainclub.org/ members/overview-and-benefits

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

11-12 | Annual Skirack Ski & Snowboard Swap, Burlington Drop off times: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Jan. 6-10.

Swap Hours: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Jan. 11; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Jan. 12. Pick up all gear 2-5 p.m. on Sun. All winter sports gear in good condition, including skis, snowboards, boots, poles, ski racks, snowshoes and fatbikes are accepted. No straight skis, department store bikes, helmets or clothing or bikes with tires 4 inches or larger. skirack.com/ski-swap

23 | Teton Gravity’s Roadless Screens at Outdoor Gear Exchange, Burlington Teton Gravity Research’s newest snowboarding film, Roadless kicks off at the Catamount Trail Association’s Splitfest event. Doors open at the store at 7:30 p.m. with beverages and a raffle. Show starts at 8 p.m. gearx.com 24 | 37th Annual Farmers’ Appreciation Day, Jay Peak Each Vermont farm is allowed four free lift tickets to be used the same day with their co-op or farm ID, with the option to purchase additional lift tickets for $25 each.

Sign up in advance by calling or emailing Ian at imajor@jaypeakresort.com or 802.327.2154. jaypeakresort.com 24-26 | USASA Southern Vermont Series—Slopestyle, Mount Snow Mount Snow hosts an epic event that draws serious park competition from around the region in snowboarding and freeskiing. mountsnow.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 26 | The FISK Trophy Race, Suicide Six Now in its 83rd year, the Fisk Trophy slalom race is the oldest alpine trophy race in North America. Notable past winners include Chip Knight and Jimmy Cochran. suicide6.com

FEBRUARY 7 | 17th Annual Moms’ Day Off, Peru Bromley Mountain offers all moms free skiing and riding, provided they show a photo of their children at the ticket window and make a $25 donation to Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center. bromley. com

18 | SMS Summit Series: 5Point Film Festival, Stratton Catch an evening of meaningful adventure stories on film at Stratton Mountain School. gosms.org/summit-series

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

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

18 | Free Skiing and T-Bar Dedication, Brownsville Ascutney Outdoors hosts a dedication ceremony for the mountain’s new T-Bar lift at noon, followed by free skiing until 4 p.m. and a celebration with chili from the Brownsville Butcher & Pantry. ascutneyoutdoors.org

22-23 | 35th Annual Kare Andersen Telemark Festival, Bromley Mountain Bromley Mountain hosts clinics for skiers of all ages and abilities on Saturday, with a USTSA sanctioned race with both citizen and expert categories on Sunday. Enjoy live music and apres camaraderie on Saturday evening. bromley.com/event/telefest

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

20 | Grommet Jam #2, Mount Snow The second in a series of three rail jam competitions for skiers and riders under 12 at Carinthia Parks. mountsnow.com

MARCH

APRIL 4 | Berkshire Highlands Pentathlon, Charlemont, Mass.

Compete solo or as a team to complete five events in a day: a 4.2-mile road/trail run, a 16-mile cycling leg, a two-mile kayak, a two-mile obstacle run, a mile hike to the top of the mountain and a downhill ski to the finish. berkshirehighlandsevents.com

SERIES Dec. 10-March 10 | Craftsbury Outdoor Center Tuesday Night Race Series, Craftsbury Common This friendly but competitive Nordic race series runs every Tuesday evening from Dec. 11 to March 19 on different trails at Craftsbury Outdoor Center. Race distances range from 5K to 10K and start at 4 p.m. craftsbury.com Jan. 7-Feb. 18 | Green Mountain Roller Derby Winter Boot Camp, Essex Junction Curious about roller derby? Learn to skate from league players and work towards passing your skating assessments to join the league in weekly guided practices on Tuesdays from 8:30-10 p.m. at the Champlain Valley Expo. No prior experience required. Gear is available to borrow. gmrollerderby.com Jan. 11- Feb. 15 | The Catamount Trail Express, Stowe The Catamount Trail Association offers a ski shuttle for backcountry skiers between Bolton and Nebraska Valley, intended for those skiing Section 22 of the Catamount Trail, a 9-mile route between Bolton Valley Resort and Trapp Family Lodge. The shuttle will run between the parking lot on Old Country Road in Nebraska Valley and Bolton Valley Nordic Center with a set schedule, every Saturday. catamounttrail. org Jan 12-Feb. 16 | Twin State Roller Derby Presents: Roller Derby 101, Claremont, N.H. Twin State Roller Derby offers a six week training program designed to introduce the basic skills needed to start playing or officiating roller derby. No roller derby experience or gear is necessary. Learn to skate and join the Upper Valley roller derby community. twinstatederby.com Jan. 14- March 3 | Green Mountain Skimo Series, Bolton Valley The Catamount Trail Association hosts a weekly uphill-downhill ski race at Bolton Valley Resort, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday evenings. Catch great raffles, a fun aprèsscene and more. All edged gear (splitboards, alpine touring, telemark or randonnee skis) welcome. catamounttrail.org

JAN./FEB. 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 41

ENDGAME

I

THANK YOU NOTES

VERMONT LOST FOUR PEOPLE WHO HAD AN ENORMOUS IMPACT THE OUTDOOR SPORTS LANDSCAPE. HERE, WE THANK THEM. — THE EDITORS

f you walk into Burton’s Burlington headquarters, you will see a wall of thank you notes to Jake Burton Carpenter that Burton put up after his unexpected death this past November from complications with cancer. In the past month or two, Vermont lost him and several others who left their mark on the outdoor sports world. While we all mourn their losses, we are thankful for all they gave us. Inspired by the Burton wall, here are our “thank yous.”

To: Jake Burton Carpenter, April 29, 1954 – Nov. 20, 2019 Yes, you gave us the snowboards you first crafted in your barn in Londonderry, Vt. and all that came in the 42 years after— on up to the Step-On binding and your first and only signature line, Mine 777.

But more than that, you gave us the high-octane energy that went along with everything you created. With Burton, snowsports entered the action sports world, terrain parks evolved and suddenly skiing—at the time dominated by ski racers—became fun again. As Jason Levinthal said recently, “when I saw how much fun was going on in snowboarding, I thought ‘why can’t skiing be that way?’” Inspired by your work, he went on to create the twin-tipped Line Skis and park skiing was born.

But more than that, you created an ethos of a work life-balance that few companies the size of Burton can truly live up to. You shut down the offices on snow days. You made the commitment to ride 100 days a year—rain or shine.

You held a killer party at your home each year for your employees, your riders and friends. You and your wife Donna gave women ranging from Burton’s graphic designers to pro riders such as Kelly Clark equal chances to excel. You two created the Chill Foundation to give young people access to board sports who may have never otherwise played on snow or seen a surf break.

Locally, you helped to build the Swimming Hole—the coolest pool and gym ever—for the town of Stowe. You brought Talent Skatepark back, housing it at Burton’s headquarters.

You fought testicular cancer and Miller Fisher syndrome and came back as strong as ever. In your last year, you swam across Lake Zurich, did sky dives, surfed and rode in Chile. You left us an example of how to live and three sons —George, Taylor and Timi—and your wife and business partner of 40 years, Donna, who carry on your energy and spirit. You lived well, played hard and worked hard. Thank you.

42 VTSPORTS.COM | JAN/FEB. 2020

After Jake Burton Carpenter's passing this November, Burton employees put up a wall of thank you notes to the founder of the company.

To: Spike Clayton, Nov. 27, 1958 – Dec. 15, 2019 Your mother is probably the only one who called you by your full name, Stephen Haskew Clayton—the rest of the world knew you as Spike. You were a skier, ever since you started straightlining down Bromley Mountain ,and you were on the Alpine team at University of Vermont and served as a wax technician for the Nordic team.

But you were equally passionate about cycling—so much so that in 1984 you were ninth in the Olympic trials and raced with the Stowe-Shimano team.

Those two sports were what brought you to what was, at the time, a burgeoning Burlington outdoor gear shop, Skirack, in 1984. At first, you were the cross-country ski buyer and Nordic skiing became your passion. You did your first Stowe Derby on wooden skis, leather boots and three-pin bindings.

Your passion for cycling, and critical appraisal of the gear that you sold, helped make Skirack one of the country’s leading shops for cyclists. You became an owner and helped it grow and were

on hand, despite your battle with cancer, for the 50th anniversary celebration in November. Thank you for making Skirack what it is today.

To: Jean Haigh, Mar. 21, 1935 – Nov. 2, 2019 You were doing what you loved most, leading a hike near your home in Craftsbury, when you took your last step.

The wilds of the Northeast Kingdom were your home and you loved nothing more than sharing them with others. You helped found the Friends of the Willoughby State Forest and, for 20 years, worked on the Kingdom Heritage Trail, which opened this past year. You were a president of the Green Mountain Club and a long-time board member and hike leader.

And you were a true Vermonter.

Born in Rutland, you grew up loving Morgan horses and skiing at High Pond, a tiny ski area near Brandon. You got your masters in education and taught at Castleton and Johnson State Colleges.

But what you loved most was teaching people about the outdoors. Thank you for that.

Photo by Lisa Lynn

To: Karen Newman, April 12, 1961 – Nov. 13, 2019 You set a goal – to win your age group at the U.S. Aquathlon Nationals and you pursued it relentlessly until a year ago, on Nov. 11, 2018, just months after you had faced yet another bout of metastatic Stage IV cancer, you achieved that goal.

You wrote about your struggles with cancer and the joy of achieving your goals, despite it, in our October 2019 issue, in a story you titled “Blessings.”

That was not your first story in Vermont Sports. You wrote about competing in the World Championships in Aquathlon despite being barely able to sit. You wrote about overcoming an eating disorder and how competitions helped. You wrote a book, "Just Three Words" about how at age 46, your cancer diagnosis gave you a new lease on life and helped you overcome your battle with bulimia.

A registered dietitian with a degree from University of Vermont, you went on to serve as the president of the Vermont Dietetics Association.

More than anything, you were a devout Christian and your determination to live fully, to never give up and die graciously inspired all of us. Thank you.

SKIING IS NOT A LIFEST YLE. IT’S LIFE.

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Umiak Outfitters 849 S Main St Stowe VT 802-253-2317 umiak.com

Golf and Ski Warehouse 290 Plainfield Rd W. Lebanon, NH 603-298-8282 GolfSkiWarehouse.com

Outdoor Gear Exchange 37 Church St Burlington VT 888-547-4327 GearX.com

Waterbury Sports 46 South Main Street Waterbury, VT 802-882-8595 WaterburySportsVT.com

High Peaks Cyclery 2733 Main St Lake Placid NY 518-523-3764 HighPeaksCyclery.com

Power Play Sports 35 Portland St Morrisville VT 802-888-6557 PowerPlaySportsVT.com

West Hill Shop 49 Brickyard Ln Putney, VT 802-387-5718 WestHillShop.com

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