Throughout my 20s, 30s and into my 40s, I fancied myself a passable nordic ski racer. I, and a group of friends calling ourselves “Team Ross” (named in honor of long-time Middlebury College ski team coach and former olympian, Patty Ross) made the rounds to many local races, including the Breadloaf Citizens Race, the Stowe […]…Continue Reading Waxless Wonders in Frost Country
Tag: Ski Touring
The Rikert Trail Name Game
Way back when, in the 80’s, when I began my career at the College and started skiing regularly at the College-owned Rikert Ski Touring center at Breadloaf, some “newer signs” were being mounted on the trees, indicating new trail names. Apparently, until a few years previously, the trails had descriptive names, such as “Turkey Trot”, […]…Continue Reading The Rikert Trail Name Game
It’s like Riding a Bicycle
Long before I was an avid runner, my favorite endurance sport for many years was cross-country skiing. I picked up the sport as a grad student at Dartmouth in the early 1980’s and my first race was as the anchor leg (having only skied maybe 10 times in my life) on the “DFL“ relay team […]…Continue Reading It’s like Riding a Bicycle
Snowy Saturday Shuffle to Sugar Hill
Finally, on Saturday, the howling cold weather which has kept me indoors far more than I would like gave us a reprieve. Saturday’s mid-teen temperatures, which under normal circumstances would still be a bit on the cold side felt absolutely balmy, so I went for a ski in the morning at the Snow Bowl. Some […]…Continue Reading Snowy Saturday Shuffle to Sugar Hill
New Trails to Earthworm Manor
Finally, mid-week, we had a break in the polar-bearworthy weather with a warm day in the 20’s, so I chose to take a mid-week extended lunch break, and headed up to the Rikert Ski Touring area for the first time in longer than I care to admit. I had noticed the existence of a new […]…Continue Reading New Trails to Earthworm Manor
Skiing at the Trapp’s
More often than not, the transition from autumn running to winter cross-country skiing is a long, frustrating period of time, derided as “stick season”. This year, however, a warmer than usual November, followed by more generous than usual early season snow, seems to have shortened the season in which it is “too cold and rainy […]…Continue Reading Skiing at the Trapp’s
Silver (klister) Reconnection
For many years, I fancied myself a passable cross-country ski racer. Despite an inauspicious start, finishing dead last as the anchor leg of the 1981 Hanover Relays, a race in which the anchor leg of the winning team went by the name of “Bill Koch” (yup – THAT Bill Koch, and I was attired in […]…Continue Reading Silver (klister) Reconnection