Vermont Sports 2022-12 December

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Berkshire Outfitters

169 Grove St, Adams MA 413-743-5900 berkshireoutfitters.co

High Peaks Cyclery 2733 Main St, Lake Placid NY 518-523-3764

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Mountain Ops 4081 Mountain Rd, Stowe VT 802-253-4531 mountainopsvt.com

Omer and Bob’s

20 Hanover St, Lebanon NH 603-448-3522

omerandbobs.com

Onion River Outdoors

20 Langdon St, Montpelier, VT 802-225-6736 onionriver.com

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

Power Play Sports

35 Portland St, Morrisville VT 802-888-6557 powerplaysportsvt.com

Skirack 85 Main Street Burlington, VT 05491 (802) 882-4530

Umiak Outfitters

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

Waterbury Sports

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

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

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VERMONT SPORTS IS A PROUD MEMBER OF

5 The Start

The Wintermeister Challenge Vermonters learn to embrace winter sports. That’s a good thing.

6 News

New Glades, VOBA Award New glades go in off Brandon Gap. The Leahy Trailblazer Award winner named, Glebe Mountain preserved forever.

10 Health

Beating the Winter Blues

More than just the “blues,” Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a serious condition. A UVM professor who is conducting leading research in this area explains how to combat it.

19 Feature

Lake Placid Revival With more than $500 million invested in improving and building new facilities, Lake Placid is ready to host the World University Games.

28 Feature

25 Ways to Be a Wintermeister Try biathlon, go off a ski jump, take an avalanche safety course. See how many of these 25 winter sports activities you have done and set your goals now for this coming winter.

30 Gear

Light up the Night New gear to brighten the long dark days ahead.

28 Featured Athlete

The Wild Ice Skater

Evan Perkins has made exploring frozen waterways on skates a hobby.

30

Calendar

Race & Event Guide

34 Endgame

Racing the Clock

Learning to skate ski as an adult is a race between how fast your technique can improve and how slowly your fitness level deteriorates with age.

Kip Roberts of Onion River Outdoors on Montepelier’s backyard fatbike trails. Photo by Jeb Wallace-Brodeur

THE START THE WINTERMEISTER CHALLENGE

EMBRACE A NEW SPORT, EXPLORE A NEW AREA OR SET A NEW GOAL FOR AN OUTDOOR CHALLENGE.

There are any number of ways you can end the sentence “you know you are a Vermonter when…” My favorite? “… when you look forward to putting on ski boots.” There’s an excitement in the air that’s palpable at this time of year as the first snowfall covers the ground. The Killington World Cup, held Thanksgiving weekend, feels like winter’s coming out party.

In these early weeks of winter, before the rush of holiday crowds, we have Vermont to ourselves. It’s a time when hunters explore the bare bones of the forest. The ground hardens. Fatbikes get tuned up. We wax our skis, pair up ski poles, find the bins where we stashed the goggles and mittens and skates, and prepare for the full joy of a new season.

It’s a Vermont tradition to embrace outdoor winter sports that dates back to the days before gyms, before indoor rinks, before basketball courts. In a 1939 article, The New Yorker called Hannes Schneider, the multi-talented Austrian ski racer who was considered the father of ski instruction, the “Ski-Meister.” The notion of “meister” (in English, “master”) implied being adept at a number of different sports. The Stowe Derbymeister competition to this day rewards those who compete in the event first on skate skis and then repeat the course on classic skis. For over a decade, another event, Stowe’s Wintermeister challenged people to speed skating, alpine racing and crosscountry skiing.

The Winter Olympics were born out of this celebration of multiple winter sports in 1924, in Chamonix, France. In 1932, Godfrey Dewey (son of the founder of the Dewey Decimal System) brought the third winter Olympics to Lake Placid,

New York. The event was presided over by Franklin D. Roosevelt and was the first time a podium was used to honor winners. Athletes competed in Nordic skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined, speed skating, figure skating, ice hockey and bobsled. The Olympics famously returned to Lake Placid in 1980. And this January 11-22, for the first time since then, there will be simultaneous competitions in 12 sports as some 1500 athletes from 50 countries descend on the town for the World University Games (see “Lake Placid’s Revival”).

Most of us may never try bobsledding (although you can, at Lake Placid’s Mount Van Hoevenberg facility) or luge, but we can challenge ourselves to try something new this winter. Each year, I set a new goal for myself—be it trying a sport that I haven’t (biathlon, anyone?), reaching a new level at an existing sport, participating in a new event or exploring a new part of the state.

In this issue, we compiled a list of 25 things to do that can make you a “Wintermeister,” along with a rough scoring system.

As Tom Weaver writes in this issue’s Endgame essay, “Racing the Clock,” learning a new sport as an adult is a race between a fitness level that’s destined to decline with age and how fast your technique can improve. But it’s a race that has no downside and no loser. Simply getting outside, getting exercise and a bit more Vitamin D can stave off seasonal affective disorder as Emma Cotton notes in “Beating the Winter Blues,” as well as improve your fitness and overall health.

You know you are a Vermonter when….winter has only just begun and you eagerly embrace it.

—Lisa Lynn, Editor

The Stowe Derby challenges cross-country racers to stay in control going downhill. Photo by Benjamin Bloom

BRANDON’S NEW BACKCOUNTRY ZONE

Brandon Gap, the site of the first sanctioned ski glades on National Forest Service land, will have a new gladed zone soon. Located just above the Chittenden Brook hut (part of the Vermont Huts system), the northeastfacing zone starts off a yet-unnamed peak, at 2,900 feet and descends 900 feet of vertical. One line has been cut with a skin track, thanks to a group of dedicated volunteers with the Ridgeline Outdoor Collective, the organization that put in Brandon’s first glades. The zone is more remote than others in the area and located at the end of a 2-mile tour up the plowed National Forest Road 45, which paralells Chittenden Brook. There is a scheduled workday on November 12th at 8:30 am to add another ‘line’ to the new zone. For those interested in helping, contact Karl Fjeld at karlfjld6@gmail.com for details.

VOBA HONORS OUTDOOR GEAR EXCHANGE FOUNDERS

In 2021, the Vermont Outdoor Business Alliance dedicated its first annual Trailblazer Award to Senator Patrick Leahy. Senator Leahy was honored for his years of service to growing Vermont’s outdoor recreation landscape and related businesses. That included help in securing nearly 400,000 additional acres of Green Mountain National Forest, establishing Vermont’s first National Parks and National Recreation Areas as well as getting nearly $70 million in federal aid to help clean up Lake Champlain.

That’s a tough act to follow but on Nov. 10 at its annual meeting the VOBA awarded the 2022 Leahy Trailblazer Award to Outdoor Gear Exchange principals Marc Sherman and Mike Donohue. “The award honors leaders who have made historical and long-lasting contributions in Vermont’s outdoor sector and contributed substantially to growing Vermont’s outdoor recreation economy,” said VOBA Executive Director Kelly Ault.

Since Outdoor Gear Exchange‘s early days as a consignment shop, Marc Sherman and Mike Donahue have grown OGE into one of the largest and most influential

independent outdoor retailers in the country.

It is also a true “trailblazer” in showing how an outdoor business can give back to the community. OGE has committed to giving back to the recreation community through consistent efforts such as inkind donations (First Camper Program), Everyone’s Wilderness charitable giving, nonprofit partnerships and instore fundraisers for causes. This past summer, it sponsored the Long Trail relay raising over $25,000 for the Green Mountain Club.

Sherman and Donohue have demonstrated unwavering leadership with a focus on sincere, impactful work in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) long before others in the sector. OGE was the first specialty retailer to hire a full time Diversity Manager, Miguel Reda.

OGE has since built numerous partnerships in the community with under-represented populations (Unlikely Riders, Pride Vermont, Vermont ReLeaf Collective, CTA’s New American

program) with donations of gear, funding and promotion and uses its store and social media as platforms for social and environmental impact. OGE has also showcased how other companies can successfully integrate DEI into the fabric of their organization.

In 2020, Sherman and Donohue were recognized on the national level with the Outdoor Retailer Inspiration Award given to “individuals, organizations, and companies who inspire and encourage others to enjoy, participate in and support outdoor recreation. Vermont Sports published an article on OGE’s community efforts in 2021.

“It’s hard to imagine anyone more deserving of this honor,” said Senator Leahy in a video presentation recorded from his office in Washington D.C. “Marc and Mike have invited everyone, regardless of their experience level, to venture into the outdoors. They have a consignment so people can afford things. And they’ve partnered with Vermont State Parks to loan gear to novice campers and others who might not be able to afford it. This is so great. OGE is working to make it easier for people who traditionally haven’t been able or inclined to access the outdoors to do so.”

GLEBE MOUNTAIN PRESERVED FOREVER

In 2019, the Nature Conservancy set out to preserve what was formerly a private hunting preserve — a 3500-acre parcel, around Glebe Mountain, near Londonderry— as a wildlife haven and enhance public access. Now, thanks to federal funds secured by Sen. Patrick Leahy, it’s been added to the Silvio O. Conte Wildlife Refuge. “I have worked for many years on the conservation of ecologically diverse public lands in Vermont and across the United States for use by current and all future generations,” said Leahy in a statement. “The decision by U.S. Fish and Wildlife to add Glebe Mountain to the Conte refuge means it, too, will be open for public use by birders, hunters, hikers and others, while protecting a diverse ecosystem and preventing forest fragmentation.” The area has provided habitat for black bear, as well as ispecies like the wood thrush, Blackburnian warblers and Louisiana waterthrush.

OGE’s Mike Donohue and Marc Sherman, at work.

Glebe Mountain’s pot of gold? Its wildlife.

Every October, Corey Burdick starts an unusual morning routine. She pours her first cup of coffee, then sits down next to an Apollo goLITE—a silver square about the size of a camera that emits a bright, blue light. Basking in the glow of this artificial dawn, she’s effectively staving off a very severe case of the winter blues.

A few years back, during one of those particularly cold, dark winters that keeps you indoors, huddled by the woodstove, Burdick stopped feeling like herself. An avid runner—she’s run the Vermont City Marathon, the Green Mountain Marathon and a handful of halfs—she wasn’t used to feeling listless and unmotivated.

“At first I thought, maybe I just have the winter blues, because it’s dark all the time,” she says. “But I wasn’t coming out of it, and nothing seemed to be helping. I just felt so down. It was during that time that I knew something was really off.”

Burdick dove into research and found an answer that made sense immediately: Seasonal Affective Disorder. For many Vermonters, this phenomenon might make sense. Winter drains the light from the sky and takes our Vitamin D, barbeques and swimsuits with it. It subdues and sends us into a state of hibernation or worse, depression.

More than 14 million Americans suffer from the disorder, (appropriately abbreviated to SAD). Prevalence ranges from less than two percent of people in southern states, like Florida, to nine percent in northern states, like Vermont.

Some treatments for SAD are similar to traditional treatments for classic, non-seasonal depression, like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and antidepressant medication. But there’s one very big difference: SAD patients can be treated with light. Or can they?

University of Vermont psychology professor Kelly Rohan has been studying Seasonal Affective Disorder and has conducted the first large-scale study of its treatment, thanks to a $2 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. Results of her study, published in Nov., 2021, in the American Journal of Psychiatry call into question whether light therapy alone is the most effective treatment.

BEATING THE WINTER BLUES

ONE OF THE NATION’S TOP EXPERTS IN SEASONAL AFFECTIVE DISORDER, UVM’S KELLY ROHAN HAS SOME ANSWERS ON HOW TO BEAT THE WINTER BLUES.

BY EMMA COTTON

WHAT IS SAD?

Simply put, Seasonal Affective Disorder is clinical depression that follows a seasonal pattern. As the days shorten, patients can lose interest in activities that they normally enjoy, have trouble concentrating, gain weight, sleep longer, and in the most extreme cases, have thoughts of death or suicide. Rohan, a leading expert in SAD says symptoms are identical to those of major depression.

“It causes a lot of distress for the person, and impairment in their ability

to function in important roles, like at work, in school and in relationships,” she says. “That’s where we can draw the line, I think, between people who really have SAD versus people who are around the water cooler just commiserating that they don’t like winter.”

Rohan doesn’t know what, exactly, causes SAD, but it might have something to do with biological clocks, thrown off-kilter by the changing seasons. Normally, around bedtime, the brain secretes the hormone melatonin, which signals to the brain that it’s time

to sleep. In some SAD patients, that dose of melatonin arrives later than it should.

In a lab, Rohan can test whether a patient’s biological clock is running on-schedule by taking hourly samples of blood or saliva and assaying those samples to see when melatonin is produced. But this testing is cumbersome and expensive, so Rohan instead uses clues from patients’ sleeping habits to determine whether winter light is disrupting circadian rhythms.

“The patient might have a lot of difficultly rising in the morning—maybe hitting snooze over and over again, or maybe sleeping right through that alarm clock, unable to wake up,” she says. “That’s because the melatonin would still be being produced (in the morning), in theory, for somebody who’s got this kind of a pattern.”

That’s where light therapy comes in. Bright light, like that emitted from Burdick’s Apollo goLITE lightbox, suppresses melatonin. Used consistently—the normal treatment is 30 minutes each morning—the light can simulate an early dawn, readjusting the biological clock and promoting normal sleep patterns.

SUNSHINE AND SEROTONIN

After Burdick was diagnosed with SAD, she tried various forms of treatment until she found a routine that worked. Now, she self-treats using a combination of light therapy, Vitamin D supplements, Omega-3 fish oils (no study backs this as a treatment for SAD, but Burdick swears by it), exercise and social activity. But one of the best treatments, she says, is sunshine.

“If I can get outside on a sunny day, I find that that is really helpful, and especially if it’s snowy, when the sun is reflecting off the snow,” she says. “It’s hard to get motivated, but if you can force yourself to get up and out there, even for a five or ten-minute walk first thing in the morning, it really makes a big difference.”

According to Rohan, not all SAD patients show evidence of a slowrunning biological clock. In those cases, the patients wouldn’t need to re-adjust their circadian rhythms, making the morning light box treatments less useful.

But light still helps, maybe because of its link to the production of serotonin,

Go for that run. Retraining your mind and body to enjoy winter is one of the best ways to combat Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD, according to researh by UVM expert, Dr. Kelly Rohan. Photo Adobe Stock

a neurotransmitter that contributes to feelings of happiness. In a study published in Psychological Medicine in March of 1998, Cambridge University scientists administered a substance that depleted the serotonin levels of SAD patients during the summertime, when they were unaffected by the disorder. Upon receiving this treatment, the symptoms returned.

Then, in 2002, a study called, “Effect of sunlight and season on serotonin turnover in the brain,” published by The Lancet, scientists took blood samples from 101 healthy men and determined that the longer they were exposed to bright sunlight, t he more rapidly serotonin was produced. “Our findings are further evidence for the notion that changes in release of serotonin by the brain underlie mood seasonality and seasonal affective disorder,” the study reads.

If light produces serotonin, and increased levels of serotonin alleviates symptoms of SAD, one might logically conclude that exposure to light helps SAD patients, even if the light exposure occurs in the middle of the afternoon. According to Rohan, gaining this exposure from natural sunlight is even better than using a light box.

“There’s more light to be had from

the sky than from a light box,” Rohan says. “A light box produces 10,000 lux. On a clear, sunny day, you can get 100,000 lux outside. Of course, the snow will reflect that light, so if you’re out there doing winter sports, you can really get a lot of light.”

Rohan says that, while not every SAD patient will benefit from spending time outdoors, the sunlight and fresh air could help athletes and people who enjoy getting outside in other seasons feel much better. In an effort to practice what she preaches, Rohan jogs for four miles every day.

“It has to be below zero and usually ice on the ground for me not to go,” she explains to her patients. “How do I do this? I dress appropriately. I understand in the winter I have to put on more layers. Sometimes even ski pants, and sometimes crampons. But I’m willing to do that, because I know that if I go, I’ll feel better than if I don’t go.”

CHANGING THE LANDSCAPE

Treatment for SAD extends beyond light treatment, whether it’s natural or on a timer on your bedside table.

In fact, in 2015, Rohan released a study showing that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) helps alleviate winter

depression much more effectively than light therapy. Out of 177 research subjects, 46 percent of patients treated only with light therapy reported that their depression returned the following winter. Only 27 percent of those who were treated using CBT felt the symptoms again.

At its most effective, cognitive behavioral therapy extends beyond the psychologist’s office. There are two components: the “cognitive,” and the “behavioral,” and each work to pry loose the underlying thoughts and behaviors that fuel depression.

In the cognitive side, the psychologist encourages patients to identify, challenge and change negative thoughts about winter. Using the Socratic method, the psychologist asks the patient to look objectively at the depressing thoughts, then use evidence to argue them.

“For example, if we can take people from the thought, ‘I hate winter,’ to, ‘I prefer summer,’ which is more neutral in tone and doesn’t have as much effect on mood, they’re going to feel better,” Rohan says.

In the behavioral side, the psychologist asks the patient to avoid “hibernating”—that is, wrapping up in a blanket and watching TV, or

allowing phone calls from friends to go unanswered. Rohan says it’s important to find activities to enjoy, whether that means braving the cold temperatures or finding indoor alternatives. But those who enjoy outdoor exercise can fight SAD from multiple angles.

“Exercise seems to have antidepressant properties,” Rohan says. “So, if I work with someone who’s depressed, and I know that they like to exercise, I will try to capitalize on that, and make that one of the pleasant activities that they’re going to strive to do to get out of hibernation mode.”

Burdick finds that sense of community through running.

“You have a support network with runners,” she says. “You have group runs. You have this community. You don’t always want to see people, but it’s actually really beneficial.”

While Burdick’s SAD used to hold her back, she now has an effective tool belt of skills she can use to curb the symptoms. She has learned how to call back her happiness during the winter— especially on sunny days when she’s running with friends.

“Those days are magical,” she says.

Note: this story has been updated since it first ran in 2018.

GIVE THE GIFT OF RELAXATION

From hammocks and straps to chairs and blankets, every piece of ENO gear is designed to help you relax wherever your adventures take you.

The Lake Placid REVIVAL

It’s been five years since the region around Lake Placid put in a bid to host the 31st World University Games. It won the bid and in those five years, a lot has happened. The state has invested more than $500 million in the aging Olympic facilities —some built originally for the 1932 Olympics and others for the 1980 Games. That

investment has made Lake Placid one of the most state-of-the-art training grounds in the country for sports such as cross-country skiing and biathlon, ski jumping, skating and hockey and the sliding sports. And the whole town is celebrating with new hotels such as the Grand Adirondack Hotel opening, new sidewalks and pavement and a fresh row

of retail shops opening on Main Street.

The town has been hustling to get ready for Jan. 12-22, when the 31st World University Games will be held there, bringing more than 1500 athletes ages 17 to 25 to compete in 12 Olympic sports. More than 100,000 spectators are expected, too.

“The University Games feel like an

Olympics in that all these athletes from different winter sports are competing at the same time,” said Tim Burke, a former World University Games competitor, as he gave a tour of the Mount Van Hoevenberg facility. Burke, who grew up just outside of Lake Placid, was the first American to ever take the lead in the Biathlon World Cup. He’s competed

in previous World University Games and now coaches the U.S. Biathlon Team.

“We’ve hosted a lot of different national championships and World Cups here for various sports but this January will be the first time since 1980 that all those sports will be happening at once, in one small town,” he said.

Put on by the International University

Sports Federation (FISU), the World University Games have not been held in the United States since Buffalo, N.Y. hosted the Summer Universiade (as it is also called) in 1993. Lake Placid hosted the winter version back in 1972.

The FISU Games are held typically in a different city ever two years, though the 2021 Games, scheduled to be held in

Lucerne, Switzerland, were cancelled due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

For 11 days in January, Lake Placid will be home to nearly 1,500 athletes representing 50 countries, as well as another 1,000 or so coaches, trainers, officials and other delegates. There will be opening and closing ceremonies, podiums, flags flying from each country

represented and much of the pomp and circumstance that goes with an Olympics, albeit on a smaller scale.

The town of Lake Placid will host cross-country skiing, biathlon, Nordic combined, ski jumping, figure skating, speed skating and short track speed skating, curling and the semi-finals and finals for ice hockey.

The alpine ski racing events (alpine combined, slalom, GS, super G and mixed team parallel) will be held at Whiteface Mountain and free skiing (ski cross, slopestyle and big air) and snowboard (parallel slalom and GS, slopestyle, big air and snowboard cross) events take place an hour south, at Gore Mountain. All sports will hold events for men and for women, unlike the Olympics where the Nordic combined competition does not have women’s event.

Unlike the NCAAs, participants represent their countries, not their universities. In other words, alpine ski racing’s mixed team parallel event could include racers from Middlebury College and the University of Colorado or other colleges or universities. Participants have to be between 17 and 25 years old and enrolled in a college or university and invited by the sport’s governing body. As of press time, qualifications hadn’t been finalized.

“It’s different for every sport,” notes Tommy Biesemeyer, an Olympic downhiller who grew up in the Lake Placid area, raced for the University of Vermont as an undergraduate, and then returned to the area where he coaches at Lake Placid’s Northwood School. “This year it might be tough for a lot of the top alpine skiers in the East to compete as it happens in the middle of carnival season and the World Cup and no one wants to get hurt,” he notes. “But in cross-country and other events, you’re likely to see some top competitors.”

A VILLAGE OF OLYMPIANS

In addition to Biesemeyer who competed in the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, Lake Placid has produced its fair share of Olympians. A new quad chair is named ‘Warhorse’ for another local ski racer, two-time Olympic medalist Andrew Weibrecht who now works at his family’s Mirror Lake Inn, an elegant resort and spa in Lake Placid. Guests at the resort can even arrange for a private ski session with the Olympian who earned a silver in Sochi and a bronze in Whistler, both in super G.

Olympic biathletes Lowell Bailey, Tim Burke and Maddie Phaneuf all came from the Lake Placid area and now are

The speed skating oval and revamped Olympic Center with three more ice rinks indoors are in the heart of town, off Main Street. Photo courtesy ORDA

back in town coaching a new generation.

“I wasn’t alive when the 1980 Olympics were here” says Phaneuf, 27, who competed in the 2018 Winter Games. “But the town has this Olympic spirit and expectations. As a kid growing up here, it just inspires you,” she said as we toured the Mt. Van Hoevenberg facilities.

Colin Delaney also grew up crosscountry skiing on the trails at Mt. Van Hoevenberg and ski jumping. “I think I was 12 or 14 the first time I went down this,” he said as we stood at the top of the 128-meter ski jump that towers over the landscape like a sky scraper. Delaney went on to compete in Nordic Combined on the World Cup and now he too is back as a coach, helping the next generation of ski jumpers speed down the ramp in a tuck and then take off, flying the length of a football field.

As you move around town, it feels like every person, every business is in some way connected to the past Olympics and now, to the FISU Games. At Locker Room Five – a nod to the locker the gold-medal winning U.S. men’s hockey team used in 1980—you can rent skates and head out on Mirror Lake. In the stunning new Grand Adirondack Hotel, there’s a small rumble of different languages being spoken in the lobby as guests are often international athletes or officials from various sports.

“I went to high school right there,” says Chadd Cassidy, general manager of the Olympic Center, as he stands in the new restaurant in the four-ice rink complex that looks out at the speed skating oval and his old high school. “I never imagined I’d be overseeing the renovation of this place now. It took a village to put on the 1980 Olympic Games. And now just about everyone in town is in some way connected to making this place a destination for sports in the future.”

That future may never include an Olympics – the event has outgrown the area. Whiteface may never see another World Cup downhill as the old course no longer meets new standards. But in October 2022 alone, Lake Placid hosted the national championships for skeleton, bobsled push, Nordic combined, a major figure skating competition and the inaugural Spartan Lake Placid Trail Challenge, an ultra-distance trail run. Lake Placid may not host an Olympics again, but you can be sure it will continue to be where Olympians are trained.

For more on the FISU World University Games, tickets, events and more, see lakeplacid2023.com.

PLAY LIKE AN OLYMPIAN

While some venues may be closed to participants leading up to and during the World University Games (Jan. 1122), there are plenty of ways to enjoy many of the same venues that Olympic-caliber athletes do. To learn more, visit lakeplacidlegacysites.com. Here’s a rundown of the improvements made to the facilities and how to enjoy them.

MOUNT VAN HOEVENBERG

BASE LODGE

More than $60 million went into revamping the site of the sliding sports (luge, bobsled and skeleton runs), cross-country and biathlon facilities. The cornerstone is the stunning 30,000-square-foot base lodge. Near the entrance is a two-story climbing wall and a retail shop, the only Swix retail shop in the U.S. To one side is a lounge area with upholstered chairs worthy of an upscale hotel. Here, huge windows look out across a 30-station biathlon range. In the summer, a paved roller ski track runs by here and in the winter, the ski trails loop right past the lodge under a bridge where spectators can gather. The other side of the building has a bar and lounge area with big glass windows that look out on an indoor push track where bobsled and skeleton crews practice their

starts. Outside, there’s a new mountain coaster ride (open summer only) and an 8-million-gallon snowmaking reservoir, as well as a new hiking trailhead to Cascade Mountain.

What to do there: When events are not in session, anyone can enjoy the base lodge, use the climbing wall or, in the summer, ride the mountain coaster and hike or bike the trails. In winter, when events are not underway, you can ride the bobsled (with a pro on board) down an abbreviated course and hit speeds of 50 mph. Or, watch the bobsled or skeleton racers practice their starts on the indoor push track from the comfort of the bar/lounge area. Step into Nordic skis and explore Mount Van Hoevenberg’s 55 kilometers of groomed cross-country trails and five-kilometer World Championship loop. You can also access the adjacent trail at the John Brown Farm, a historic

site that once belonged to an early abolitionist. In the summer, you can also learn to luge or bobsled with a pro, or take a biathlon lesson.

SKI JUMPING/FREESTYLE TRAINING COMPLEX

In addition to the new base lodge at the Mount Van Hoevenberg complex, the ski jumping and freestyle skiing area saw major renovations. A renovated base lodge with a retail shop and lounge area looks up at the landing area from two ski jumps and is the place where you can see athletes soar off the jumps and land.

What to do there: Get a sense of what it’s like to go off a 128-meter ski jump. Ride the gondola up to the base of the jumps and from there you can take an elevator up to the platform the athletes launch from. Get a direct view down the run, as well as stunning vistas of

the surrounding Adirondack mountains. The ski jump is by far the tallest vantage point in the area. In the summer, ride a zip line that’s adjacent to the smaller jump.

WHITEFACE MOUNTAIN

Whiteface Mountain also had its base lodge updated and this past summer, a new quad lift went in as well as 160 new snowmaking guns. If you want to test your mettle, Whiteface is steep, has the second-longest trail in North America and the biggest vertical drop in the East: 3,430 feet. No wonder the mountain has produced racers such as Olympians Andrew Weibrecht and Tommy Biesemeyer. Most of the mountain will be open during the University Games and yes, there’s also plenty of beginner terrain.

What to do there: You’ll need to ride the lift up to watch the University Games

ski races but the rest of the mountain will be open for skiing during the event. For expert skiers in search of fresh tracks, hike to The Slides —35-acres of ungroomed terrain—from the Summit quad. These steep, narrow chutes are only open when ski patrol deems them safe.

GORE MOUNTAIN

Gore Mountain, about an hour north of Saratoga Springs and south of Lake Placid, will host the freeski, big air and snowboard slalom events at the University Games. The mountain, with 440 skiable acres, lays claim as the largest ski area in New York. It also boasts the largest array of solar panels at any ski area in the country: 14,589 ground-mounted solar panels power the operations. This season the ski area is adding a new blue trail off Burnt Ridge, adding to the two new quads installed last season.

What to do there: With five terrain parks and a ski/snowboard cross course, Gore is a favorite for freeskiers and riders. Some areas will be closed for the University Games competitions but there will be plenty of other terrain to explore.

OLYMPIC CENTER & DOWNTOWN.

In the heart of downtown Lake Placid, the Olympic Center has seen a complete overhaul of its three indoor ice rinks, locker rooms, and even the systems used to cool and heat the venue. The 1932 and 1980 ice rinks regularly host hockey and figure skating championships and the Center will be the site of the hockey finals at the University Games. There’s also a new restaurant with big views out across the outdoor speed skating oval and all the way to Mount Van Hoevenberg, as well as an expanded Olympic Museum. It’s a short walk from the beautiful new hotel, the Grand Adirondack Hotel or

from the upscale Mirror Lake Inn, as well as a handful of other hotels, motels and restaurants.

What to do there: Beyond watching the hockey finals, figure skating or speedskating, you can explore the newly-reopened Olympic Museum set in the heart of the Center or grab a bite at the Center's new restaurant with views out over the speed skating oval. When events aren’t happening, the oval is open for public skating and lit at night. You can also skate on Mirror Lake, just across the street, where the town clears an oval and two-mile skating path. An old ski jump by the beach house has been turned into a toboggan run. The start is 30 feet high and the chute will send you flying 1,000 feet across the lake. You can rent toboggans on site. Dogsledding rides are also often available on the lake.

The Slides at Whiteface Mountain are prominent off the Summit (below). Head to Mount Van Hoevenberg to get a view from the top of the ski jump (left), watch bobsled racers practice their starts or see biathletes racing and training on the 55 kilometers of groomed trails, (bottom). Photo courtesy ORDA

Vermonters embrace winter in ways that others don’t. “Before we had all these indoor winter sports, things like ski jumping and cross-country skiing were what children just did in the winter,” said John Caldwell, a former Nordic Combined Olympian and author of the seminal book on cross-country ski technique

during an interview with this magazine.

Towns like Stowe, Middlebury, and Lyndonville had their own ski jumps. Sledding hills and rope tows were as ubiquitous as town basketball courts or pickleball courts are now.

Nordic Combined was included in the first Winter Olympics in 1924, challenging skiers with a competition

that combined ski jumping with crosscountry skiing. Hannes Schneider, the Austrian ski instructor who emigrated to New Hampshire, was what The New Yorker called in a 1939 a “Ski meister,” equally adept at all forms of alpine and cross-country skiing as he was at ski jumping.

Today, the term is used loosely.

The Stowe Derby has a “Derbymeister” division for those who ski the course from the top of Mt. Mansfield’s Nosedive trail to town twice: once on skate skis and once on classic. There is now a fatbike division as well. In 1983, Cap Chenoweth started a Wintermeister competition that involved alpine racing, cross-country skiing and speed skating

as part of Stowe’s Winter Carnival. Scott Dorwart, a former member of the Olympic cycling team, was a perpetual winner.

Today, Stowe’s Sunrise Guides has a “Mountain Meister Challenge” which includes a hike up Mt. Mansfield to Taft Lodge, a 12-mile cross-country tour of the Stowe Nordic Center and Trapp

Family Lodge trails, an 8-mile up-anddown backcountry ski up Sky Top, and a classic winter climb up Smuggler’s Notch’s Hidden Gully.

There are any number of ways to combine winter sports into a “meister” competition. We hereby launch the DIY Vermont Sports WinterMeister. See how you score on these 25 challenges.

WINTERMEISTER SCORING

Vermont Sports is launching our own version of a WinterMeister competition. Give yourself one point for each of the 25 challenges you have completed – with bonus points allocated for some.

Total up your points and see what level you reach;

Bronze: 0-10 points: Welcome to the state. You have so much to learn.

Silver: 10-20 points Good start. There are still plenty of new things to try this winter.

Gold: 20-30 points. Close enough! We’ll call you a Wintermeister.

For this view, try hiking to the summit of Camel's Hump at dawn on a winter's day. Photo by Stephanie Graudon

1. LEARN TO SKATE SKI

You can rent a pair of skate (freestyle) skis and try it for yourself, but learning the right technique makes this sport so much more accessible and fun, not to mention a great workout. Many Nordic centers offer skate skiing lessons and rentals. Craftsbury Outdoor

Center, Trapp Family Lodge Outdoor Center, Rikert Nordic Center all have snowmaking for early-season skiing and have top-notch instructors, including many expert racers and former team coaches. At Craftsbury, a lesson for two is $60. At Rikert, a series of three hourlong private lessons is $195.

2.

TRY YOUR HAND AT BIATHLON.

Maybe you can freestyle ski but not shoot. Maybe you can shoot but not ski. No matter: Anyone can enter the Ethan Allen Biathlon Club six-race winter training series. Held on Thursday nights under the lights at the Camp Ethan Allen Training Site, the winter training

series is held in January and February and open to first timers as well as experienced biathletes. Race distance is usually 5 to 6 kilometers, and the club has 18 rifles for use during practice and races. Craftsbury Outdoor Center also offers lessons in biathlon from $35 per person for a group lesson.

3. SKI THE CATAMOUNT TRAIL

The more than 300-mile trail runs up the spine of the Greens from Massachusetts to Canada. Some will do the whole thing – and increasingly, there are more and more attempts at a fastest-known-time. The FKT is currently 14 days, 2 hours held by Aidan Powell But most people

ski it in sections. The Catamount Trail Association hosts guided single and multi-day tours of the trail. Bring your own touring skis.

4. SKATE A LAKE

Skating a pond or a rink is all well and good but after a few rounds it gets old.

This winter, check off some new skating destinations. Lake Morey in Fairlee has the longest groomed skating trail in the U.S. — 4.3 miles. Invest in a pair of Nordic skates and the proper safety equipment (see more on wild skating on p. 28) and you can also explore Vermont’s other lakes that fully freeze,

over and are often free of snow early season, including Lake Champlain,

5. ROMP OR RACE ON SNOWSHOES

If you are new to snowshoeing, demo a pair or bring your own to the annual candle-lit Snowshoe Romp through Hubbard Park in Montpelier. If you’ve

Nick Witherbee whips around the groomed fatbike trails in Stowe (left). Tristan Von Duntz. top, rode his fatbike to a campsite in Groton State Forest. Photos by Darren Benz, left and Jake Hamm, top

been snowshoeing, try running a race— it’s not as easy as you may think. Start small with a 5K or 10K run such as Racevermont’s Shelburne Sugarhouse or the 3-mile Millstone Madness race in Websterville. Feeling strong? Four points if you race the Snow Devil Snowshoe Race at Green Mountain Trails. Put on by Peak Races, the shortest race is a 10K on a loop around Spartan race founder Joe De Sena’s property and

the longest distance is 100 miles. See Calendar for race dates.

6. SOAR OFF A SKI JUMP

Just across the Connecticut River, the Storrs Hill Ski Area offers lessons in just about every type of skiing you can imagine (backcountry skiing, telemark, snowboard, alpine, crosscountry) and (drum roll) ski jumping. The Thursday evening program helps

prospective jumpers learn the sport and then progress from the 10-meter to the 25-meter to the 50-meter jump. Five points if you actually jump. Not ready to jump? Watch some of the best in the sport compete in the annual Harris Hill Ski Jump or head to Lake Placid. One point just for watching.

7. SLED DOWN LINCOLN GAP

If you’ve ever biked up Lincoln Gap you

know it’s the steepest paved mile in the country. Come winter, the gap is closed and draws sledders and jack jumpers. Weapon of choice among locals? The Mad River Rocket, designed by Warrenbased architect David Sellers.

8. WINTER SWIM OR DIP

One point if you dip into a lake or crack the ice in a pond in pursuit of the Wim Hof method. Bonus: If you have

participated in the Lake Memphremagog Winter Swim, a challenge to swim (yes swim) a 25-meter pool cut into the ice courtesy Kingdom Games, add 5 points.

9. GO SNOW TUBING.

It may not be the most athletic of sports but let’s face it, it’s fun. You can take an inner tube to any hill where the snow has been packed down or you can head to Stratton’s Coca Cola Tube Park, Ascutney Outdoors or Okemo Mountain

Resort, where there are dedicated snow tubing hills or “parks,” complete with dedicated lifts for the ride back up.

10. EXPLORE BACKCOUNTRY SKI ZONES

All over the state, backcountry glades are beckoning, promising untracked powder to those who are ready to get up early and earn their turns. What started at Brandon Gap with the first sanctioned and mapped backcountry ski glades on National Forest land in the nation, has expanded and Vermont now has designated backcountry zones maintained in the Northeast Kingdom (Northeast Backcountry Alliance), the Randolph/Rochester/Brandon area by the Ridgeline Outdoor Collective (ROC) and in southern Vermont in Readsboro, by the Dutch Hill Skiers and Hikers Recreation Alliance (DHASH). This past fall, volunteers with ROC helped glade new zones above the Chittenden Brook Hut. In addition, the Catamount Trail Association will be releasing a guide to backcountry skiing in Vermont this winter, complete with a word or two on etiquette. Bonus: Give yourself 5 points if you have volunteered for a work party with one of these organizations.

11. OVERNIGHT IN A BACKCOUNTRY HUT

Vermont has so many options now for hut overnights, from the cabins (with woodstoves) at Merck Forest near Dorset to the Nulhegan Confluence hut in the Northeast Kingdom. Those huts are part of the growing network of huts that can be booked through the Vermont Huts Association. The Green Mountain Club maintains popular huts in the

winter are Bolton Lodge and Bryant Camp, both just a short backcountry ski or snowshoe from the trails of Bolton Valley Resort. Vermont State Parks is another great resource and has the keys to two of the sweetest backcountry huts in the state: the Stone Hut near Stowe’s Mount Mansfield ski trail, and the more luxurious Seyon Lodge (hardly a hut, but still lovely) in Groton State Forest. Note that the most popular huts, such as the Stowe and Bolton huts, often book out a year in advance.

12. LEARN WILDERNESS

Avalanche Association (A3) East Coast Avalanche Education teaches Level 1 avalanche safety courses in Smuggler’s Notch this winter, as well. If those fill up, you can also take courses with them at Mount Washington in New Hampshire. The courses cost $525 for two days of Zoom instruction followed by two days in the field. They fill up quickly. Acadia Mountain Guides also offers AIARE Level I and II courses at Mount Washington.

14. TRY ICE CLIMBING

Vermont has some spectacular ice falls, from central Vermont to Lake Willoughby. Petra Cliff’s annual Smuggs Ice Bash (Jan. 27-29), a long-running festival devoted to the sport, is the time to demo gear, attend clinics and learn more. All winter, Petra Cliffs also offers single-day or multi-weekend progression courses any time the ice is right. In central Vermont, Vermont Adventure Tours also offers ice climbing lessons.

15. SUMMIT CAMEL’S HUMP

SURVIVAL.

Imagine you were stuck out overnight in the backcountry, in winter, with no shelter. Improve your chances of survival by taking a winter wilderness survival course. Steve Lulek, who helped found the U.S. Army Mountain Warfare School in Jericho, teaches one-day winter survival courses at his Rutlandbased Vermont Adventure Tours. You’ll learn to build a quinzee hut or other shelters, trapping techniques and other survival necessities. Bonus: For 3 more points, take a wilderness first aid course. TrainNEK offers an 8-hour First Aid & CPR for Snow Travelers course that covers everything from patient assessment to how to recognize and stabilize musculoskeletal injuries until further help arrives.

13. TAKE AN AVALANCHE COURSE

Burlington’s Petra Cliffs hosts AIARE Level 1 certification courses in Smuggler’s Notch in January and February and Level II courses at Mount Washington. Certified by the American

One of the best views in the state is from the summit of Camel’s Hump. At 4,081 feet it’s Vermont’s third highest mountain and its rocky summit sticks high above the surrounding Greens offering spectacular 360-degree views. Well above treeline, the summit knob gets a coating of rime ice and windpacked snow in the winter that makes it feel like true alpine terrain. Wear snowshoes, crampons or at minimum, spikes. It’s a 2.1-mile hike from Burrows Trail trailhead.

16. SKI A MARATHON.

You may have run 26.1 miles but have you skied a marathon—a 25- or a 50-kilometer course? The Craftsbury Marathon and the Lake Placid Loppet are two ski marathons on the American Ski Marathon series. While the race attracts elite and Olympic-level skiers, there are also plenty of people who are just out to finish. At Craftsbury, if you’re up to it, compete on classic skis on Saturday and then try a 33K skate ski marathon on Sunday. Earn the fastest combined in both events and you win the Brodhead Challenge. For more regional ski marathons, see nensa.net

17. FATBIKE AT A FESTIVAL.

If you haven’t tried fatbiking on a groomed trail yet, do. It’s all the fun of mountain biking but with big grippy tires that make you feel like SpiderMan and softer landings. You can rent fatbikes at Kingdom Trails, Rikert

Learn to ice climb in Smuggler's Notch and you may get to the level of Pat Cooke, seen here at the crux column on Glass Menagerie, WI5, on at the Mount Pisgah cliffs in Westmore, Vt. You don't need to be a pro to race at the Killington Dos Equis ski bum series. Photo left by Alden Pellet, top by Jerry LeBlond

Nordic Center and many other crosscountry centers. Fatbike festivals are also on the rise. Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton hosts the Addison County Bike Club’s Fatbike Roundup on Jan. 28. MTBVT’s Uberwintern in Stowe is Jan. 21, Rutland’s Cold Rolled is Feb. 12 and Winterbike, the mother of Vermont’s fatbike fests, is at Kingdom Trails on Feb. 25.

18. DO THE STOWE DERBY

One of the oldest and craziest ski races in the country, since 1945 the Stowe Derby has challenged skiers to go from the top of the Nosedive trail on Mount Mansfield on a 20-kilometer course that has 2,700 foot vertical drop. It combines downhill, uphill and flats and often finishes in the town of Stowe. The freestyle (skate ski)

division starts off first and those who are vying for the Derbymeister award do that, then take a bus or car back up, ride the lift back up and then compete in the classic division. For many years, some alpine skiers would do the race on alpine gear but the majority opt for skinny skis. There’s also a fat bike division and a kids’ race as well. Bonus: 2 points if you have done the Derbymeister and 4 points if you have also raced the fatbike division.

19. WINTER CAMP AT A STATE PARK.

Vermont’s state park campsites may be closed in the winter, but there’s nothing to stop you from hiking, snowshoeing, fatbiking or skiing in and pitching a tent. Winter camping close to home is a good way to test your skills and a great way to have some of Vermont’s most scenic

areas to yourself. The parks website (vtstateparks.com/winter-activities. html) lists recommendations of which parks are best for cross-country skiing, ice skating, sledding, snowmobiling and ice fishing, as well as information on what access roads are plowed and where to park. Brush off a tent platform, bring warm gear, light a campfire and chances are you will have the place to yourself for the night.

20. NIGHT SKI UNDER THE LIGHTS

Night skiing under the lights is something every Vermonter needs to do at least once. There’s a festive, “it’s a party” atmosphere. Folks who have been working all day are ready to cut loose. And there’s a certain thrill to gliding down a lit slope under a starry sky. Many

of Vermont’s smaller hills (including Ascutney, Brattleboro Ski Hill, Bolton Valley, Cochran’s and Northeast Slopes), turn on the lights a few nights a week. There’s often a bonfire at the base, gleeful children screaming down the lit trails and at Cochran’s a now-famous homemade dinner on Friday nights, free with your lift ticket.

At Bolton Valley, you’ll find ex-World Cup racers competing alongside newbies at the Thursday night corporate race league. Middlebury Snow Bowl has applied for an Act 250 permit to put in night lights in 2024.

21. JOIN A SKI BUM RACE LEAGUE.

There’s a myth that you have to be a ski racer to join a ski racing league. Not true. In fact, part of the fun of many of

Want to try biathlon? The Ethan Allen Biathlon club takes novices and has weekly evening practice sessions in Jericho. Photo by Betsy Geraghty/Ethan Allen Biathlon Club

Vermont’s so-called “Ski Bum” race leagues is the mix of people and ski levels. Sure, you might find ex World Cup racers competing or even ex-Olympians (as is true at Stowe, Bolton Valley and the Middlebury Snow Bowl). But there are often grandparents who have never skied a gate in their lives before joining and people on snowboards or telemark skis. While yes, there are results, there are handicap systems so how you do matters less than how you improve, and racing gates is a great way to improve your skiing. Perhaps the best part though? Joining a league is fun, a chance to be part of a team and participate in the apres-ski parties, usually held at local bars.

22. RIDE A ROPE TOW

The first ski lift in the country was a rope town that ran up Gilbert’s Hill in Woodstock, before it was moved to what is now Saskadena Six ski area. At one point, nearly every town in Vermont had a community or back-yard rope tow. Many of those still exist. Grab a pair of sturdy work gloves (Kinco’s or Vermont Glove are our recommendations) and find out why so many ski coaches say the best skiers in the country are those who are raised riding surface lifts. A few of our favorites are: Northeast Slopes – the oldest continually-operating rope tow in the country, Cochran’s (because so many Olympians were raised there) and Ascutney Outdoors’ tow, which helped revive the once-defunct ski area.

23. LEARN A NEW PARK TRICK

Terrain parks are not just for kids. Learning to slide a rail, go off a small jump or ski switch can help anyone improve their skiing or riding. Up your skills this winter and start at one of the progression zones, such as those at Sugarbush or Killington. If you’re feeling bold, the mother of all terrain parks is Mount Snow’s Carinthia Park, which has turned out Olympic freeski champs such as Caroline Claire and Mac Forehand.

24. GO ICE FISHING.

Ice fishing is a time-honored tradition in Vermont. There’s more to it than simply sitting around an ice shanty and waiting for a fish to bite. A number of state record fish have been pulled up through the ice, including a 2.4 pound

yellow perch caught in Caspian Lake. In 2010, Richard Levesque struggled for 12 minutes to pull what turned out to be, at the time, record-setting 14.55 pound walleye out of a hole in the ice on Lake Champlain.

25. POND SKIM

Pond skimming is an end-of-winter ritual at many Vermont ski areas and while most focus on the costumes and making the biggest splash, there’s some skill to making it across the water and off the ramp in style. Former Sugarbush Resort owner Win Smith has made it a habit of competing nearly every year at the resort’s annual event, held at Lincoln Peak. Bonus points: Give yourself one point if you have ever competed, three points if you made it across.

Want to learn to skate ski? Rikert Nordic Center has a 3-lesson package. Photo courtesy Rikert Nordic Center

Best Choice in Orthopedic Care

Winter months in Vermont brings out the best in all of us with abundant outdoor activities. While you enjoy the Green Mountains, the team at Mansfield Orthopaedics is here for you offering expert care and a great patient experience.

In addition to renowned surgeons, our team of expert orthopedic providers include podiatrists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners as well as a caring team of nurses, and medical assistants. Don’t let injuries or chronic pain keep you from hitting the slopes or trails. We are here for you! Superb orthopedic care close to home.

A BRIGHTER, LIGHTER HEADLAMP

If you have ever cursed the darkness and wish you had a miner’s headlamp, read on. Petzl makes those. But it also has focused on making both the brightest and lightest of sport headlamps. The new Petzl NAO RL ($169.95) is one of its brightest yet, boasting a 1500 lumens beam and uses Reactive Lighting technology which allows it to adapt automatically to ambient light. You can also adjust the beam, which has three lighting levels, for a flood or focused light. It can illuminate up to 600 feet. The minimum burn time is 5 hours, but you can get more if the light is not on full power. What makes this a great headlamp for skiing, running or cycling it is also features a red light at the rear of the headlamp, either continuous or blinking, to warn those behind you. The minimal head harness has two straps, making the headlamp light (it weighs in at just 145 grams)

LIGHT UP THE NIGHT

DON’T LET THE LONG DARK DAYS KEEP YOU INDOORS. HERE ARE A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE WAYS TO LIGHT UP THE NIGHT WHILE EXCERCISING.

but also keeping it secure on your head. On top of that, the lithium-ion 3200 battery is rechargeable with a USB Type C port and can be used to charge other devices, such as a cell phone.

TIGHTS FOR LIGHTS

You might know CEP as a brand for compression socks and tights. That’s true. But the company has upped its game with the new line of reflective apparel that looks as good during the day as it does at night. What’s cool about this line of clothing is that the reflective streaks, which look like bolts of lightning. appear only when light is reflected off of them thanks to CEP’s use of Smart Reflective Technology. The windbreaker tends to be too light for winter wear but the Reflective Tights ($119.95), which are made from a breathable polyester and Spandex, are made from a good mid-weight material with plenty of stretch and a broad,

comfortable waistband. The waistband also features a large pocket on the back for phone, keys, or wallet. The line comes in both men’s and women’s, and in a deep purple, black or olive colors.

SOLAR POWERED BIKE LIGHT

MPowerd is known for making solarpowered inflatable lanterns, Luci lights, that are part of any backpackers’ gear. The company has expanded into other lights and now has a Luci Solar Bike Set ($54.95). Ideal for twilight rides or commuting home, it’s not a bright light: the front beam is just 100 lumens and the taillight is 40 lumens. But a charge lasts 15 hours. An adjustable silicone strap makes it easy to attach the front and taillights (it comes with both) around any bars or seatposts measuring 25-32 mm. The headlight has four light modes, including a flashing one, and weighs 2 oz. The taillight is 1.2 oz. Keep in mind that

the manufacturer doesn’t recommend using these when the temperatures drop below 15 degrees Fahrenheith and they are water resistant.

A DISCO-LIGHT VEST

The manufacturer claims that the Noxgear Tracer2 ($49.95) illuminated vest is visible a quarter mile away. And at that distance, you might be mistaken for a disco on wheels or a running UFO. The beauty of the Tracer2 is that you won’t be missed. The reflective chest vest holds in place LED straps and a light that centers on your torso. The vest has 8 different multicolor flashing modes that can vary depending on your mood and lighting needs. While the straps can slide out of place, it’s a vest many runners and cyclists swear by. It’s also waterproof and rechargeable with a USB C cable and it has a smart LED charge indicator.

Petzl NAO RL

CEP Reflective Tights

Luci Solar Bike Set

Noxgear Tracer2

EVAN PERKINS: SKATING WILD ICE

Name: Evan Perkins Age: 47

Family: Wife, Heidi Choate; Son, Huckle (15)

Lives in: Barnet

Profession: Farmer and part-time outdoor wilderness instructor

Main Sports: Wild skating, whitewater and sea kayaking, whitewater canoeing, and wilderness expeditions.

Evan Perkins has explored northern waters – as far north as the Arctic Circle — by kayak but in the winter he likes to look for frozen waterways and wild ice, places he can explore on skates. Last year, Perkins used his wilderness training and years of skating experience to host a free clinic for wild ice skaters. Later in the season, he put his background to good use by helping an injured skater get back to shore safely. He is planning on putting on at least one more free clinic for skaters this winter.

You are a farmer, right, at Small Axe Farm?

We have a one-acre, off-grid, no-till, market vegetable farm. We bought the property in 2002 and moved here full-time in 2006. Two years later we started selling food commercially and although we’ve had some part-time jobs, this is how we have made our living for over a decade. We have a CSA and sell to restaurants and co-ops like White’s Market, Hunger Mountain Coop, Littleton Coop, and lots of other little stores.

How did you get into wild skating?

Because I’m a farmer I have a flexible schedule in the winter. I live right next to the Connecticut River. I’ve skated from points as far south as Bellows Falls and as far north as Groveton, New Hampshire at different times. Rivers require a high level of knowledge. I generally start the season on high altitude ponds and then go to bigger lakes, smaller rivers, larger rivers,

and Lake Champlain as well as some skating in Maine. If I have the time, I’m willing to drive some distance to find good ice.

Where do you most like to skate?

I love the wilderness, but I can’t always get there because of the farm. Wilderness often requires many weeks of travel, but skating lets me explore nooks and crannies. I love big swamp systems where you have to hike in and there aren’t a lot of people. I’ve paddled in many of these places so it’s

fun to be in those same areas but flying across the ice.

You also explore by kayak, too. Where do you go?

Our family has done a lot of sea kayaking on the Maine Island Trail. I used to do two-to-three-month expeditions in the Canadian Artic when I was in my 20’s. We would occasionally have to drag canoes across the ice and that’s when I developed my love for reading ice. It requires the same set of skills under different circumstances. That was one of the things that most prepared me for learning how to read wild ice —although when we were kayaking, it was usually rotten spring ice.

What is the joy of skating on wild

ice?

The sports I do —skating and kayaking in the summer—aren’t adrenaline sports, but they are about being out in nature in a way that you’re really connected. When I’m skating, there is so much observation going on: knowing the wind direction, the weather we’ve had, ice texture and color, the bends of the river, and wind patterns. When I’m skating my mind is processing all that information and I’m working physically which allows the other part of my mind to be quiet. It’s a meditation. My mind is most quiet

when my body and the subconscious part of my mind are engaged. That allows my conscious mind to be at peace, thinking deep thoughts or just being in the moment.

Is there a culture around wild skating in Vermont?

One thing I love about this sport is that it’s hard to monetize. You can’t predict when you’ll have good conditions, and you can’t make money off it besides selling gear. But because of that, unless you know someone it’s hard to get proper training. Wild skating is an amazing and different culture. There is elitism in every sport, but there seems like less here and people tend to be pretty generous with information. There is a listserv for outdoor skaters (groups.google. com/g/vtnordicskating) that’s a great resource and people share their knowledge there.

What equipment people should carry on wild ice?

It really depends on where you skate. The minimum for a protected pond close to shore would be flotation like a PFD or flotation backpack that is securely fitted, ice picks, a helmet, and a change of clothes nearby. If people have training in how to use it, a throw rope should be included.

Evan Perkins, on the ice for fun (top) and at home on the farm (below). Photos courtesy Evan Perkins

NOW HIRING

FOOD & BEVERAGE

MOUNTAIN OPERATIONS

• Full and Part-Time Lift Operators

• Full and Part-Time Ticket Checkers

• Part-Time Parking Lot Attendants

RENTAL/REPAIR

• Part-Time Cashier: The preferred candidate will have experience in customer service, point-of-sale systems, and some basic knowledge of ski equipment. Flexible hours!

• Full and Part-Time Ski Rental Technicians: Experience preferred but willing to train the right candidate.

THE SKI SCHOOL IS ALSO LOOKING FOR INSTRUCTORS!

All positions come with flexible work schedules, a season pass, free mid-week skiing at Sugarbush, and competitive pay.

How did you learn so much about ice safety?

I fell in love with skating when I was a kid skating on little swamps and ponds. I was a terrible skater until my early 2’s and just used an old pair of my father’s figure skates. In my early 30s I found out about Nordic skates. I always wanted to skate faster and with those, I could. With Nordic skates, I learned about the risks I had been taking. I’m a self-taught person in most of the things I do. I learned through observations and through Bob Dill’s Lake Ice website (lakeice.squarespace.com).

Last year there was an accident on Lake Champlain. Can you tell us about that?

We were probably six or seven miles from where we had put in at Button Bay but only about a mile and half off Basin Harbor. There were several groups out there because there had been reports that Button Bay was good. It was very windy, and we had taken a break when one of the skaters caught up with us and told us an experienced skater had fallen hard and he had lost consciousness. Given what we knew about his injuries, that would have been a common result of his trauma. He clearly had a major dislocation and break. When we got to him, he was woozy and we were pretty far from shore. I focused the group on figuring out whether he needed to be evacuated or whether he could skate out. I strapped his arm to his side, and he said he thought he could skate back. Several skaters held on to him and skated with him to Basin Harbor where he was picked up.

Do you have first aid training?

I became a wilderness first responder at 19. I maintained that for 20 years, and also taught at an outdoor leadership school, Greenfield Community College in Western Massachusetts, until five years ago.

What made you decide to teach a free ice safety class?

Last year I saw that there was a real spike in interest in wild skating on the listserv and when I was out on the ice, I also saw more people out there than in previous years. Many didn’t have appropriate gear and I thought there should be more knowledge out there. Wild skating is one of those sports that can be done easily and safely, but it requires knowledge to do it safely. It’s very easy to step on the ice in contrast to some other sports. If you want to kayak the rapids, you need a lot of preparation

but when you skate you just put one foot in front of the other and suddenly, you’re on thin ice. I didn’t want to charge for the training session because I love the spirit of the sport, but I have no problem with someone else doing that.

How did it go?

It was fantastic! We had 16 participants and three or four others who volunteered to help. We held it at Joe’s Pond in Danville. There were a few local people, but most had to drive some distance to get there. The expectation was that people who showed up knew how to skate and would bring PFDs. I had some extra PFDs and ice safety gear. We covered the options for gear but didn’t get into the minutia.

Not everyone had Nordic skates, but all ice skates were welcome. We covered general ice safety including what can go wrong and what gear or skills you need to protect yourself. I talked a lot about the foundation of ice safety: knowing weather history, understanding crystal formation and other ice science like how fast and at what temperature ice can thicken, and how much weight a particular thickness can hold. Then we talked about more specific things like testing the ice with a pole or other method and reading the ice. What do you need to know to go the next 20 feet, 50 feet, quarter mile? I gave them the basics of reading ice and took them from being on shore with the right gear, to knowing when to go out, how to travel on the ice, and getting basic concepts of reading boundary lines between plates. We talked about different kinds of hazards like gas holes and holes left open by the wind but didn’t cover big ice skating with plate tectonics.

Will you be teaching this year?

I’d like to do at least one in early December when there is some local ice. My hope would be to do one in the Northeast Kingdom and maybe one more centrally located at a mountain pond or in the central Champlain Valley. It’s hard to predict when and where. This is a sport where you can never really give a straight answer, but I’ll put out the information on the Vermont Nordic skating listserv.

The listserv is an amazing resource. If someone asks a question it usually gets answered very well. Listservs are one of the few redeeming areas of the Internet.

—Phyl Newbeck

Want a great place to take a vacation?

Here are 3 great homes we know you will love. Have a property you want to share? Contact ads@vtsports to be included in future listings.

CLASSIC STOWE CABIN WITH HOT TUB

This picture-perfect classic Vermont 2-bedroom, 1-bath cabin sits in a quiet valley not far from the slopes and backs up to miles of trails that are great for hiking or backcountry skiing. Just 15 minutes to the Trapp Family Lodge, town and Stowe Mountain Resort. airbnb.com/h/ stowe-vt-cabin-with-hot-tub

LAKEFRONT COTTAGE PICO & MIDDLEBURY

On gorgeous Lake Dunmore, this freshly-renovated 2-bedroom, 2-bath cottage sleeps 6, is central to great skiing at Brandon Gap, Killington, Pico, Middlebury Snow Bowl and Rikert Nordic Center. Yearround, skate, XC ski or swim right out your front door. airbnb.com/h/ lake-dunmore-cottage

KILLINGTON CHALET ON MOUNTAIN ROAD

This cozy retreat is just one mile from main base areas and within walking distance to over a dozen restaurants and bars. It has a wood-burning fireplace, washer/dryer, porch, t.v., and wifi. This 2-bedroom, 1-bath, sleeps 4 people and will take dogs. vrbo.com/650909 or email rent. killington@gmail.com

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Here’s your chance to get your vacation rental property in front of the millions of affluent skiers and riders who visit Vermont each winter. Rates start at just $100 a month. Contact; ads@vtsports.com

VERMONT SPORTS

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

COM. ALL AREA CODES ARE 802. ALL LOCATIONS ARE IN VERMONT, UNLESS NOTED. FEATURED EVENTS, IN YELLOW, PAY A NOMINAL FEE.

RUNNING/HIKING

24

RACE & EVENT GUIDE

| Neshobe Pie Gobbler, Brandon

Join us for a Thanksgiving morning tradition! Run, walk, stroll with a chance to win your Thanksgiving Day pie! Every 10th finisher receives a freshly made pie, plus the winning male and female. Distance: Approximately 3 miles over hill and dale at Neshobe Golf Course. This is a rain/snow or shine event. No refunds. Self-timed. runreg.com/neshobe-pie

21

| Überwintern, Stowe

Überwintern is an annual fatbike festival featuring a day of fatbike group rides, demos and sharing local brews around warm fires with friends on a winter’s day. mbtvt.com

28 | Rikert Fat Bike Roundup, Rikert Nordic Center, Ripton

Ryland Bell, Cam Fitzpatrick, Connery Lundin, and more. warrenmiller.com

11-12 | Ski, Ride & Winter Sports Sale, Cambridge

NOVEMBER

5 | UCS Superhero Race, Bennington

Come dressed as your favorite superhero from the comics and run through the heart of Bennington. ucsvt.org/events

10 | Vermont 10 Miler, Stowe

The course is a stunning, challenging tour of Stowe’s beautiful countryside, starting at Stowe Land Trust’s Mayo Farm Event Fields. vermont10miler.com

20 | 44th Middlebury Turkey Trot, Middlebury

In addition to the race gift for this 5K/10K and regular draw prizes the race is giving away turkeys and a number of passes/gift certificates to local businesses. Awards: Finisher medals and custom medals to overall male and female race winners in both 5k and 10k. Winners also receive a 20 lb turkey!! middleburyfitness.com/ middlebury-turkey-trot.html

24 | Gobble, Gobble, Wobble 5K, Stratton

This family-friendly 5K begins in the courtyard, loops around the resort, and concludes back in the Village. Sign up as a family, with your running buddy, or hang out and show support for your favorite runner Thanksgiving morning. Stratton.com

24

| Turkey Trot, Killington

The 11th edition of the Killington Turkey Trot Run/Walk starts at 9:30 a.m. at the Pickle Barrel and benefits local charities. Killington. com

24 | Gobble Wobble 5K,

Barre

Runners are strongly encouraged to register in advance. The deadline for ordering a t-shirt is November 9th, and online race registration will be open until Nov. 20th. runningintheusa.com/details/46265

24

| 46th Annual GMAA Turkey Trot 5K & Food Drive, Burlington

An unscored fun run on a 5K loop around UVM recreation trails. Suggested donation of $5. 1/4 mile kids' race before the 5k at 9:45. Prizes to top 3 male and female overall. gmaa. run/schedule/turkey-trot/

Guided group fat bike rides for all abilities, one set of rides in the morning, one in the afternoon, followed by bonfires and fun. addisoncountybikeclub.org

FEBRUARY

12 | Cold Rolled, Rutland

The Cambridge Area Rotary raises money to help send all of the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students at the Cambridge Elementary school to Smugglers’ Notch Resort to enjoy skiing, snowboarding, and snowshoeing. The sale also helps to provide access to reasonably priced winter sports equipment. Drop offFri., Nov 11, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm; Advance Sale - Fri, Nov 11, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Ski & Ride Winter Sports Sale - Sat. 9 a.m. Smuggs.com

12 | Ski Swap, Rikert Nordic Center, Ripton

24

| Zack’s Place 5K Turkey Trot, Woodstock

As participants line up and register for the race they are entertained by a band on a flatbed truck. Hot coffee, tea and hot chocolate are offered. The race begins in front of the Woodstock Elementary School at 10:00 AM, then meanders through the historic Village of Woodstock, then on towards Billings Farm, around Mountain Avenue and back. An awards ceremony, refreshments and band follow. zacksplacevt.org/events/ turkey-trot/

DECEMBER

31

| New Years Eve 5K, Montpelier

Join Central Vermont Runners and ring out the old and ring in the new with a 5K run through downtown Montpelier, starting at 2 pm. cvrunners.com

JANUARY

The event will feature a vendor village, rides for all ages and abilities, and groomed packed powder trails for your fatbiking pleasure. Group rides will begin at 10am with an aid station, refreshments and bonfire. mbtvt.com

12

| Frozen Onion, Montpelier

A fun race with free fat bike demos for newcomers. Race starts/ends at North Branch Nature Center and uses the groomed trails of North Branch River Park. Multiple distance options available, and a kids’ race, too! onionriver.com

25 | Winterbike, Burke

Now in its 12th year, Winterbike will include the usual crowd pleasing ingredients including a ride, remote aid station, after party catering by Ranch Camp, and so much more/ Hosted at Mike’s Tiki Bar and on the Kingdom Trails network, boasting over 31 miles of cold-rolled singletrack. mbtvt.com

SNOWSPORTS & OTHER

Frost Mountain Nordic hosts its annual ski swap at Rikert. Consignment Drop Off: Friday, Nov. 11th from 5pm to 7pm Ski Swap: Saturday, Nov. 12th from 10am to 3pm. Pick Up Unsold Goods: Sunday, Nov. 13th from 10am to 12pm. frostmountainnordic.org

18-20 | Okemo Ski and Snowboard Swap, Ludlow The best place to gear up for the winter with new and used equipment at great prices. You will find everything you need to get out on the hill this season.... skis, snowboards, boots, bindings, helmets, goggles, outerwear and more!

All proceeds benefit Okemo Mountain School. okemomountainschool.org/eventscalendar/ski-and-snowboard-swap2022

19 | Big Kicker, Sugarbush

27

| Onion River Outdoors Snowshoe Romp, Montpelier

Gather at the Hubbard Park Old Shelter for ORO’s annual Snowshoe Romp. Enjoy a candlelit trail through the woods, hot chocolate, ice cream and a bonfire. Bring a headlamp and demo snowshoes from MSR, Tubbs, and Atlas! 6-8pm. onionrver.com

before turning left on to West Hill Road.

BIKING

JANUARY

20-23 | Fat Tire Adventure & Poker Ride, Burke

The Inn at Burklyn partners with Dynamic Cycling Adventures to host a fatbike poer ride at Kingdom Trails. Land at five different areas where you can exchange a playing card in an attempt to improve your poker hand… best hand wins a prize. burklyninn.com

NOVEMBER

5 | 9th Annual Backcountry Forum, Mount Snow

Join SoVTA and CTA for an afternoon of fun focused on backcountry skiing and riding in Vermont, activities, education, peer to peer discussions, and more. It’s a great opportunity for CTA chapters and members to get together and build excitement before the snow begins to fly. The early afternoon will feature exploration in the Stratton Town Forest, a new recreation area where construction began this summer and is slated to open for backcountry skiing in the winter of 2023/24. catamounttrail.org

11 | Warren Miller “Day Maker” Film, Burke Mountain Resort

A killer storm cycle in the Monashees. Adaptive backcountry riding like you’ve never seen before. The ultimate grass skiing run. Starring Crazy Karl Fostvedt, Michelle Parker, Katie Burrell, Hana Beaman, Darren Rahlves,

Join Sugarbush, Mad River Glen, and community partners at Mt. Ellen for the kick-off the e season. Live music by The Party Crashers in the Green Mountain Lounge, bonfire, rail jam at the bottom of Straight Shot, pizza and beer tasting provided by Lawson’s Finest Liquids. This year’s Big Kicker is a benefit for Coats for Kids. Please bring clean unwanted yet usable winter jackets and donate. For your donation

Sugarbush is offering discount coupons for meals at Rumble’s. Sugarbush.com

25-27 | FIS Killington Women’s World Cup, Killington

A celebration of alpine ski racing here in the Northeast. In addition to watching the fastest female ski racers in Slalom and Giant Slalom battle for the top prize on the signature

Superstar trail, the weekend is packed full of entertainment on race days including live music by Michael Franti, Vermonter Noah Kahan, Stephen Kellogg and DJ Angie Vee. Plus a vendor village. Killington.com

JANUARY

19-22 | 48th Stowe Winter Carnival, Stowe

2 & 3 | Warren Miller “Day Maker” Film, Middlebury & Burlington

This year’s Warren Miller film features a killer storm cycle in the Monashees. Adaptive backcountry riding like you’ve never seen before. Dec. 2 at the Town Hall Theater in Middlebury and Dec. 3 at the Flynn Theater in Burlington. warrenmiller.com

3 | Cold Open Rail Jam,

Stratton

This jam format consists of smaller to medium-sized features to get your tricks going. .A few prizes will be awarded to those who are bringing the most stoke, picking up others, dishing out high fives, and throwing down in the park. stratton.com

3 | NE Rando Skimo Race, Stratton

Start the randonee season at Stratton. Mass start for uphill-only vertical race is 9:30 Series default start (no advance announcement, so prepare yourself at start location ahead of time) is at gondola tower with uphill access sign, just above base area gondola loading terminal. nerandorace. blogspot.com

9 | Earn-Your-Turns Roundtable, Sugarbush

Sugarbush and the Mad River Valley Backcountry Coalition and the Catamount Trail Association bring together skiers and riders interested in uphill travel alongside land managers, ski area operators and the US Forest Service. Meet at the Castlerock Pub at Sugarbush’s Lincoln Peak base to learn about uphill travel, proper etiquette and for a panel discussion. sugarbush.com

10 | Wall of Fame Ceremony, Sugarbush

Sugarbush inducts the 2022 class into the Wall of Fame in a fantastic evening of camaraderie and celebrations, followed by a concert by The Grift. sugarbush.com

10 | Silver Fox Trot & Citizens Race, Craftsbury

Outdoor Center

All ages compete in this cross-country ski race on the trails of Craftsbury Outdoor Center, part of the Zak series. A mass-start, freestyle race (by age group/gender class), except for the 1st/2nd graders. nensa.net

17 | NE Rando Skimo Sprint, Berkshire East, MA

Be prepared for uphill, downhill, hiking and skate skiing. nerandorace.blogspot.com

18 | Santa Sunday, Bolton Valley

Dress head-to-toe in a full Santa Claus get-up and get a free lift ticket for the day. Santa Group Photo: 11 am, slopeside of Main Base Lodge toward Mid Mountain Lift – don’t worry, you won’t have trouble finding the Santas. boltonvalley.com

7 | Bogburn Classic, Pomfret

New England skiers flock to Pomfret for a classic cross-country ski race that was first held in 1986. The Haydocks welcome the community to their property to highlight their love of classic skiing in a low-key and friendly environment. Nensa.net

17 | NE Rando Skimo, Berkshire East, MA

This event will be paired with Backcountry Magazine's Basecamp Clinics, demos, and raffle prizes nerandorace.blogspot.com

12-22 | FISU University Games, Lake Placid, New York

Watch student athletes ages 17-25 from around the world compete for their nations in 12 Olympic sports at the Lake Placid, Mt. Van Hoevenberg, Whiteface and Gore Mountain sites. This will be like a mini-Olympics with more than 1,500 athletes participating and more than 100,000 spectators anticipated.

For a full schedule: lakeplacid2023.com

14 | TUCK IT! Fastest Skier & Rider in the East, Magic Mountain

Skiers bomb the 1,500-foot top to-bottom slope and are ranked by the speed as they fly past the radar gun. There is a $1,000 cash prize. magicmtn.com

15 | Mad River Glen Triple Crown Family Tournament, Mad River Glen

The original father/son race dates back to 1942 when it was held on Mount Mansfield (Stowe). Now open to anyone who wants to participate. Racers complete a family-friendly GS course where a racer’s best time from two runs is counted. The time is then added to that of other family members (by blood). madriverglen.com

21-22 | Women’s Weekend Snowsports Clinic; Greens to Blues, Magic Mountain

Go from skiing green runs to intermediate blue ones with coaching by on snow trainer, Rebecca Skandera, a PSIA Lev2, AASI Lev1 instructor and Dr. Chrissy Semler. Dr. Semler is a licensed clinical mental health counselor, certified mental performance consultant, and professor listed on the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee Sport Psychology and Mental Health Registries. Repeast Feb. 4, Magicmtn.com

18-23 | Winter Rendezvous, Stowe

Celebrating 39 years, join hundreds of LGBTQ winter enthusiasts for 5 days of world-class skiing and boarding at Stowe Mountain Resort. This fun-filled event offers a host of outdoor activities, parties, and entertainment winterrendezvous.com

The town of Stowe shines with over 20 major activities for both young and old, from zany sports events, the Ice Carving Competitions, ski movies, Kids Carnival Kaos and the infamous snowgolf and snowvolleyball tournaments. gostowe.com

27-29 | Smuggs Ice Bash, Smuggler’s Notch

Vermont's annual ice climbing festival features talks, demos, clinics and more. Put on by Petra Cliffs with on-site demos and vendors at Smuggler's Notch's ice falls. smuggsicebash.com

28-29 | Craftsbury Nordic Marathon, Craftsbury

Race the Classic races on Saturday and freestyle on Sunday. The 50k will be Saturday, with the Sunday race coming in around 30k. craftsbury.com

29 | Prospect Mountain XC Sprints, Woodford

Join Nordic ski racers of all ages for the cross-country ski race on the trails of Prospect Mountain. Part of the Zak series. nensa.net

FEBRUARY

1 | 101st Harris Hill Ski Jump, Brattleboro

The world’s top male and female ski jumpers compete on a 90-meter jump, and soar more than 300 feet at speeds of nearly 60 mph. The event has a festive atmosphere for the whole family with food, music, and a beer tent. harrishillskijump.com

3-5 | Vermont Pond Hockey Championships, Lake Morey Resort, Fairlee

The 12th Annual VT Pond Hockey Championships return after a two year hiatus with Open, League and Pond divison. "Pond" i is strictly for recreational players who have no formal league or school experience, men and women 21 and older. You can have up to six players on a team, but only four players on the ice at one time. Each team is guaranteed four round-robin games (weather permitting), and the opportunity to qualify for the medal round and win the coveted Golden Sap Bucket Trophy. lakemoreyresort.com

4 | USASA Night Rail Jam, Bolton Valley Resort

Held under the LED lights at the Hyde Away Terrain Park, conditions warranting. Boltonvalley.com

17 | NE Rando Skimo Sprint, Bromley

Be prepared for uphill, downhill, hiking and skate skiing. nerandorace.blogspot.com

11 | Kandahar, Mad River Glen

A race of a bygone era, the Kandahar channels the spirit of full mountain races that were once commonplace. The last version held in the 1980s began on Creamery, descended onto Moody’s, before taking on (Grand) Canyon. At the bottom of Canyon, racers went straight across Easy Way, over the cliff on One Way, and over S-Turn Cliff onto Lower Periwinkle and finished by the base of the Double. The modern version ismore modest but will still reward those who can ski gates as well as terrain on the trail. Madriverglen.com

11 | Mansfield Nordic

Club Skiathlon, Sleepy

Hollow, Richmond

A Classic/Freestyle Skiathlon: Skiers switch from classic to freestyle skis mid-race for men and women U16 and older (6km classic + 6km freestyle). Back by Popular Demand: “What the Heck, I’ll Try It” 5km Freestyle (your choice of technique). There’s also a Lollipop race for kids. Nensa.net

26 | 78th Stowe Derby, Stowe

Ski from near the top of Mt. Mansfield’s Toll Road trail all the way to town or wherever the 20 km course runs. Also a 6K short course and 16K fat bike division. mmsc.org

17-18 | Eastern Cup Open & Rikert Nordic Grand Prix, Rikert Nordic Center, Ripton

Get an early start on the season at Rikert where snowmaking on the course assures good conditions. Saturday is a Classic individual start on a 5k for U16 and a 10k Open. Sunday is a Freestyle pursuit start: 5k U16, 5k Open. Hosted by Frost Mountain Nordic. Rikertnordic.com

23-26 |Lake Memphremagog Winter Swim Festival, Newport

Get ready to take the plunge and breaststroke a 25-meter hat race (make your own hat that must be worn the whole way) or compete in classic freestyle, butterfly and relay in distances from 25 to 200 meters. This is all in a pool carved out of the lake ice. Brrr. kingdomgames.co

17 | NE Rando Skimo Sprint, Mt. Greylock, MA

Be prepared for uphill, downhill, hiking and skate skiing. This backcountry ski race is entirely self-supported (no aid stations) nerandorace.blogspot.com

26 | Stratton Terrain Challenge, Stratton

The race returns for its second year at the Stratton Nordic Center as part of NENSA’s race calendar. With support from the Stratton Mountain School Nordic ski team, West River BKL and the Putney Ski Club, you can look forward to a fun and challenging “terrain challenge” freestyle race. incorporating tight corners, swerving downhills, dips and loops, and plenty of ups and downs on a course that will keep your heart pumping. nensa.net

RACING THE CLOCK

LEARNING TO SKATE SKI AS AN ADULT IS RACE BETWEEN TECHNIQUE AND FITNESS. THE GOOD NEWS? THERE ARE NO LOSERS.

BY TOM WEAVER

Ionce asked elite ski racer Norwegian Thorodd Bakken, a two-time NCAA champion during his years at University of Vermont, for a single bit of advice on becoming a better skate skier. “Just feel the dance,” he told me. Just feel the dance

Done well, skating suggests magic, a whole-body sleight of hand. Done poorly, it suggests many things— nineteenth-century prison labor, silent movie slapstick, a weekend workshop for novice puppeteers, physics in the hands of an angry god, a music video for “Song of the Volga Boatmen.”

Though I’ve skate skied for years— umm, decades—I came to the sport as an adult and still have a lot to learn. No precocious toddlerhood on skinny skis for me, no adolescence priming the muscle memory with other slippery balance sports, alpine skiing or ice skating. I blame some of my skate ski shortcomings on this. I also have a rotating cast of excuses: snow is too fast, snow is too slow; too much coffee on the drive out, too little coffee on the drive out; ankle, knee, toe, back, instep hurts.

Classic skiing, of course, comes with its own set of nuanced challenges. But while a beginner’s classic might be a shuffle, a beginner’s skate fringes on public spectacle. It’s the sort of endeavor that compels one to search for easy answers and to ask accomplished skiers for that one piece of advice that might be the key to the kingdom or, at least, a respite from the flailing.

Across the years, I’ve compiled these tips, along with my own epiphanies gleaned on the trail, into that list of “Skate Ski Cues.”

A small sample: Drive knee to flex ankle. Body braced but not rigid. Snappy. Feel your foot under you. Hot potato, hot potato, hot potato. Baby, you’re a firework. Skating is like throwing a paper airplane. Body square to the path, as if you’re a plastic figure on a foosball game. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Ride a flat ski. A personal favorite, “Ski on your haunches,” my friend Nirmegh, Zen master in Carhartts, advised one sunny day heading up Sugar Road at Trapp’s.

I search out wisdom from afar via the internet, studying the deep well of videos at Nordicskilab.com where

kindly Canadian coaches break down technique in exhaustive detail. Though it may be akin to a soap box derby racer looking to Formula 1 drivers for guidance, I pore over World Cup races on YouTube, slowing the playback speed to the point at which I can begin to absorb what exactly Johannes Klaebo might be doing.

Living in Vermont, I have the blessing and curse of often being surrounded by highly skilled skiers. There are live lessons on display as Olympians past, present, and future glide past on the local trails. If I’ve seemed to stare at anyone too long, standing trailside while studying your V2 alternate, I apologize. My intentions are pure.

All of the above is evidence of the not-so-quiet desperation of a sixty-twoyear-old man. My wife is perpetually steps ahead of me in ski proficiency, possibly due to once being a competitive ballroom dancer. We join similarly afflicted friends in Mansfield Nordic Club forays on winter weekends and frigid weekday evenings at the Ethan

Allen Firing Range in Jericho, home of the U.S. Biathlon team.

Under the lights, aided by coaches with a preternatural patience for adult learners, we have tried to learn this thing before our bodies, fasttwitch muscle fibers on the decline, just cannot do it. We are “masters athletes” in the ski world, patrons of Walgreens’ Senior Discount Day in any other. There are PhDs and professors, CFOs and CEOs, doctors and lawyers among us. Yet, most would quickly trade credentials—job titles, salaries and, quite possibly, souls—to ski with the ease of the seventeen-year-olds who skate past us like a flock of birds.

So, what’s with this?

Many of my ilk are long-time runners, battered by thousands of miles, personal records set decades in the past. A friend once compared himself to an old Volvo: “Fine for around town, but you wouldn’t want to take me on a long trip.” As skiers, though, we are ascendant; our gains in technical facility still outpace

our losses in muscle mass and aerobic capacity. But even though my rage when GPS gods shortchange me on what surely had to be a Strava segment PR speaks to the contrary, getting faster is truly not the objective. Really it isn’t.

On this lifelong journey to skate ski competence, I’m also steadily improving, or at least maintaining, my balance, strength, and endurance while spending time in the great outdoors, all worthy goals for the AARP set. So, for a Boomer athlete, does the moral of this story boil down to the Rolling Stones’ truth that “you can’t always get what you want, but you get what you need”? Come to think of it, Mick Jagger—lean, nimble, hip joints salaciously loose for a nearoctogenarian—has the makings of a decent masters skier. But I digress. While the long-term healthy aging benefits of Nordic skiing are abundant and valid, they are still not the root of this yearning.

Who knows? Maybe all those years ago Thorodd Bakken told me “just feel the dance” in an effort to make this guy with his questions quickly go away. But he was far too thoughtful for that, and there’s too much inner-game of skiing truth in his phrase. Ultimately, his simple advice captures what I’m after and where my greatest fulfillment in skiing is found—those Holy Grail moments when I silence the self-criticism, quiet those cues buzzing around in my head long enough to just feel the dance.

Maybe it happens while skating endless early season laps on the blessed manmade snow at Sleepy Hollow in Huntington. Maybe it happens coursing the bottom of Ruthie’s Run on a bright February day in Craftsbury. But I trust that—if only for a few consecutive strides before I trip on my poles—those moments will happen in the season ahead, the fleeting feeling of the dance that is graceful and joyous, focused and flowing, worthy of a long quest and a little obsession.

Tom Weaver retired in 2021 from the UVM communications staff where he was longtime editor of Vermont Quarterly Magazine. These days, he and his wife, Sheila (recently retired from the UVM statistics faculty) enjoy exploring new trails and backroads while skiing, cycling, and running.

Tom and Sheila Weaver, pursuing the dance at Craftsbury Outdoor Center. Photo by Jarno Makarainen