First Race!

On Saturday, Craftsbury did a wonderful job hosting the first race of the season. It was a short one: women did four laps and men did six laps on a slightly more than one kilometer man manmade loop. But the loop packed it all in with uphill’s, downhill’s, corners, and even a flat to the finish.

We may have just finished a big week of on-snow training, but looking at the results, no one would ever know. The women had five skiers in the top eleven and the men had six in the top eighteen! It was an impressive day, and makes us very excited for what lays ahead this season.

Margaret started the day off very nicely for the Bobcat women with a fifth place finish. As you can see, Craftsbury was having fun with their excess snow pile and had us start atop a little bump!

Gretchen and Sam.

Helen.

Gracie. Check out Craftsbury’s solar panels in the background!

Sally and Gracie

Caroline. 

Britta and Hallie. These two got to ski the whole race together. The great things about being on a great team!

Happy and matching- nice work girls!

The snow started to come down a bit harder during the boys race…

Nick

Jordan.

Lucas

Pete. First race in a longg time- nice work!

Filly

Danny

There weren’t any pictures of Sean skiing, but we wouldn’t want him to feel left out!

Boys after a race well done!

Sorry Corky-  we didn't forgot about you, you were just too speedy for the camera!

Many thanks to Becky and Wilson for awesome skis and to Gabby, Lauren, Andrea, and Connor for awesome cheering!

And Kaelyn, Becky’s daughter, raced in her first J2 today! Congrats!

Two of our favorite things: Great Food and Great Skiing

The last few days of Thanksgiving camp where just a great as the beginning.  The whole team came even closer for thanksgiving dinner as each person contributed their own special dish to the table. Before digging into the deliciously prepared meal we took a minute to recognize all that we are thankful for. Although there was an array of thanks, a common theme was how much we appreciated our teammates, our coach and the ability to be on snow for a week of great skiing.

            The next day we had a beautiful classic ski; giving our new West coast skiers more opportunities to practice kilister application. After a great ski we took some down time in our respective houses before heading out in the afternoon for a bit of skate ski technique work where coach Dippo lead the ladies through some helpful drills. The boys entered beast mode after the ski, immaculately cleaning the Chandler house before heading over to Becky’s to wax our skis and finish off a stir fry dinner.  Before heading to bed we contemplated our upcoming race and our goals. For many of us it was the first time we were able sport the Bates colors. This is a moment that every Bobcat remembers throughout their skiing carrier. It was clear the whole team was stoked to get out and unleash all the potential we had been building this season.

Post dinner serenading 

Men

Women

Boys skiing

We See SNOW!

Saturday, November 17th the Bates Nordic team headed to Craftsbury, VT in search for snow.

Andrea navigates through Vermont territory

Upon arrival at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, the Bates Nordic team strapped on their skis and ventured out on the 750 meter loop of man-made snow.

Da loop (courtesy of our very own Margaret Pope)

Sean Woods whips around the course

Sunday, November 18th the team was back out on the tracks for an early morning classic overdistance. After a scrumptious lunch, the team hit the trails yet again to work on technique, get the balance back, and enjoy the snow crystals. Following the second ski of the day, the team decided to mix it up with a run through the woods at the outdoor center.

Andrea and Margaret stride up the hill

And runnin' runnin'

Monday, November 19th was another full day of skiing! Classic in the morning and skate in the afternoon. Sleep, eat, ski, eat, sleep, ski, eat, eat, eat, sleep, sleep sleep. And repeat. 

Lauren, Andrea, and Sam enjoy the sunshine! 

SO HAPPY

Tuesday, November 20th the boys headed out early to the trails while the girls got their beauty rest. The freshman girls made banana pancakes for Kaelyn's (Becky's eldest daughter) 15th birthday. Happy birthday Kaelyn!!!!!!!!

Get it Filly

Table set for bfastttt

After the afternoon ski for the girls, the whole team headed to Stowe, VT to eat pizza with the UVM ski team. Friends were made, good times were had.

Wednesday, November 21st started off with a good round of early morning intervals. The afternoon was off, and much-needed naps were taken. Chili for dinner and s'mores by the bonfire-thank you Chefs Pete, Jordan, and Seany!

Pete focuses on solid classic technique

J pushes over the top

Thursday, November 22nd, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Turkey Day started off with a run in the woods on the beautiful Craftsbury Nordic trails. Now its cookin' time-see ya on the flipside!

Yours truly, 

Margaret & Gracie

My family-I love you! I am so thankful for all of you! Happy holiday, I will miss those heavily mashed dado!-Marg

Happy birthday mom!! Can't wait to see you guys tomorrow, have a grrreat Thanksgiving!! xoxo Grace

Ahhhhhcadia

Hello my friends! This past weekend the team headed out for an epic weekend in Acadia, where we were graciously hosted by Lucas's grandparents. (THANK YOU!!!!!)

We spent our two precious days doing amazing things like intervals by the ocean, hiking in the national park, saunaing, coming up with the most efficient way to stack wood and eating things like ice cream, lobsters, bacon and even, in Jordan's case, a live crab. Here are some pictures from the weekend-unfortunately the boy's team is a bit underrepresented, but you can be sure that they took just as many cute summit photos.

 Gracie and Sally getting acquainted with their lobsters.

 OCEAN

Summit photo #1-please note Hallie

#2

 muscles at our 3rd summit of the day!

our yoga still needs some work.

We have one week of school left and then hopefully off to Canada for some SNOW!
Thanks for reading!

Leftovers from the Lobster Roll

Hello there, Bobcats!

This past weekend, the team made the 3rd Annual trip up to Acadia for yet another fall weekend-nordie bobcat adventure.

I had the unlucky fate to stay back home and get thesis work done - but figured in the meantime I could post a few more pictures from last weekend's Lobster Roll:

Van season - we all loaded onto the ferry from Rockport

A beautiful, sunny day for a 14k ski around the island

What more can I say - "The Way Life Should Be"

Lucas looks out on North Haven Island harbor 

Gretchen and Andrea taking a post-race walk among the many lobster traps

Jogging it out

Lucas and Filly all smiles :)

Some of the bobcat ladies!

By: Catherine Tuttle '13

Lobstah Roll

Sunday brought us a beautiful day of collegiate roller ski racing around the island of North Haven, about an hour and a half drive up the coast followed by an hour long ferry ride to the small island. At the ferry we met up with Colby, Bowdoin, and University of Maine at Presque Isle, as well as a few skiers from Gould Academy and Maine Winter Sports Center (hosts of the 6th annual Lobster Roll). The ferry ride was a great time for everyone to catch up with each other and take in the fresh ocean breeze—it’s great to see how close the skiing community is even outside of each athlete’s own team. We all seem to have close friends from at least one other school, no matter how competitive we are in races!

The women began the 14km race just after 11 o’clock with the men following just behind. Hallie and Margaret went 1-2 for collegiate women, and Jordan took bronze for the collegiate men. It was a great effort from everyone, battling headwinds and charging along the rolling coastal course. Bates skiers stacked the top of the field, fueled by the last Maine collegiate championship, the Chummy Broomhall Cup, where we were able to bring home the title (and the large crystal trophy).

It was also a great weekend to welcome our new assistant coach, Wilson Dippo, to the Bates Nordic family. Wilson comes to us from Salt Lake City, as a Bowdoin class of ’12 alum he knows the EISA circuit well and will undoubtedly be a huge asset to the team as we move toward the carnival season. Stay tuned for a more formal/detailed introduction!

Overall this weekend provided a great way for all of us to test our mettle and get into the mindset of racing teams that we’ll see every weekend for six weeks this winter. After seeing this weekend's results I’m even more excited for what’s to come in January!

-Danny



You can find results HERE. In the top right corner you can switch between men's and women's results.
Here are a few photos - more to come soon!