October update... the unit

October flew by and November is around the corner. But although it seems the time escapes us, we are accomplishing a lot. We spent October break in Rangeley (which Filly will recap at some point in time, he’s just trying to keep you on your toes) and the camp was blessed with beautiful weather, PR-smashing improvements, and high quality workouts.

This past week was spent by most on getting back into an academic routine and focusing on physical recovery. On Saturday the group headed out to North Haven island by ferry with the other Maine college ski teams (Colby, UMPI, Bowdoin, UMO club) for a 15 kilometer freestyle rollerski effort. For some it was an opportunity to take bites out of a previous time, and for others it was an opportunity to race 15 k’s for the first time. For everyone it was a great learning experience; we discussed the lessons taken away from the (long) day on Sunday morning after another great combo OD effort. The highlights were working together with teammates on the course, figuring out what was too hard and what wasn’t hard enough, and putting in a hard effort on the wheels... which for some was also a new experience! And we got those mountain-dwelling western creatures out on the ocean for a fresh breath of salty air and, for all of us, a real change of scenery.

What I have been thinking about since Rangeley camp wrapped up is the power of “the unit.” Each effort I am amazed at what unique strengths everyone brings to the table, and these strengths hold hands with humility and respect. When we can put these strengths and qualities together and add in Becky and Matt’s support, the potential for success is high and the potential for fun limitless.

Last week at Bates I heard a South African judge speak on human rights. What stuck with me from his presentation was the African philosophy of “Ubuntu”. Ubuntu is a philosophy about respecting and supporting your fellow humans; one who practices Ubuntu does not feel threatened or jealous when others have success, realizing that he or she is part of a larger whole which is greater than he or she can be alone. In South Africa, Ubuntu means, “I am what I am because of who we all are” or simply “I am because we are.”

Skiing may be an individual sport, but there is beauty in being part of something larger and more powerful than any individual. Look around, see the opportunities... and get after it! -tara

roller ski to condor's a few weeks ago, thanks for lunch Deb!

wadey whatcha wanna do (when you're feeling a little seasick!)

big mens must be skiing.. but here the womens team loving the freshmen boys

these are some #artsy shots from wade... look at that black corduroy (good pavement!)

[...they did actually race... must have been too fast to capture the moment]

Check This Out...

Bates Skiing Slideshow from Nate Fuller on Vimeo.

We've spent a lite bit of time pulling together this video for you all to enjoy. We found a lot of old pictures in the Muskie Archives, and even included some more recent pictures and interviews with current skiers. After what we like to think was a well received debut at reunion today, it's now online for you all to see.

Alumni: If you have pictures of your own time here at Bates, let us know! We'd like to see this movie grow every year, and love to hear from all of you! You can even film your own answers to the questions our current skiers answer in the video and send those in if you're feeling really ambitious.

Stoweaways

Carnival Weekend 3: the first of our 3-in-a-row race weekends in Vermont. 

Friday morning we made the drive to last year's home-away-from-home, Stowe. The Saturday-Sunday Carnival races also doubled as Eastern Cups, making this one of the biggest weekends of racing in New England - there were almost 500 skiers out on course, and we brought the entire squad of Bobcats out to race.

It was great having the full crew out - as our boy Jerry Lynch says (and Becky quotes): "The strength of the wolf [read: bobcat] is the pack, and the strength of the pack is the wolf."

In fact, the only thing not familiar about this weekend in Stowe was the course: the standard loop was, shall we say, a little snow deficient. The organizers did a great job, though, and were still able to pull off a full 5k loop using parts of the standard 5k as well as the 7.5k loops. Luckily for us, the major climb (affectionately referred to by the Bobcats as "The Financial District") was still there - just in the middle of the course rather than the end.

Becky making fast skis

Saturday was a 5/10k skate. Hallie led the ladies in 20th on a course that was crowded (15-second start intervals), twisty and icy, with lots of racers struggling to stay on their feet - and on some corners, stay on the course itself. Gretch finished 28th and Margaret 33rd to put our girls in 6th. Worth mentioning: Grace, Janey and Gabby all finished within one second of each other.

Of Note: Jordan in 3rd is still taller than Patterson in 1st

Corks charging

Jordan led the men on a stellar day in the 10k with his first ever podium in an NCAA event, leaving with a big bronze medal (and a bottle of Trapps maple syrup!). Not to be outdone, Lucas entered beast mode to place 10th in his first ever top-10 carnival finish and Corky skied to 28th, breaking into the top 30 for the first time of his career. Their efforts put the guys in 3rd overall for the second time this season - can we even eat this much cake?

That's one proud Coach!

Who's a bobcat?

Sunday was a 10k CL for both men and women. Like Saturday, it was a long day: with J2s racing early and fields that not only included carnival skiers but nearly the whole New England ski racing community, the men's races didn't even start until 12:45.

The ladies kicked things off again. Jane put together a strong race to lead the girls in 27th on a tough day; Gretch and Hallie were 31st and 32nd, respectively.

Jordan continued a strong weekend with a PR classic result in 12th; it was definitely a "strength of the pack" sort of day for the rest of the boys, with Alex, Sean, Lucas and Corky finishing 32nd, 34th, 35th and 36th respectively, all within 10 seconds.

Tron Woods: half machine, half alllll natural

Lucas

Britta receiving some sort of deep wisdom

This guy....

More photos forthcoming shortly! (particularly of the girls)