What an exciting weekend of racing for Northwest Vermont at the Tour De Rumford. Nine club members traveled to the “only show in town” over the weekend to compete in the first Easter Cup weekend of the season. Race conditions were promised and delivered. All races were held on a 1.7 Km loop which held up the record number of athletes in all fields. One might think that racing the same loop would be boring, but it turned out to be quite a show. Each day added a little variety, and the immense field of skiers of all abilities kept things interesting. This was a huge event that drew 400 competitors, and local Maine celebrities such as Joan Benoit-Samuelson, and Governor Baldacci to Chisholm Ski Club pulled off this event at Black Mountain flawlessly.

Conditions in Rumford were variable depending on the day, and the time of day. Friday things were pretty good, and the fields were small. The rolling course of manmade granular snow had set up nicely for the impending weekend. On Saturday temps reached the mid 30’s making waxing a bit of an issue for the classic race. Things cooled of greatly for Sunday’s Freestyle race, but we were pleasantly surprised with about 3 inches of fresh powder in the morning. This was a welcome sight as it put a much needed finish on the race loop. Wind was not a factor over the weekend. As stated earlier the course was a rolling 1.7 Km loop. Nothing too challenging in itself, but repeated laps proved otherwise as skiers found little time to rest between uphill sections.

The only NWVT member to compete all three days was our newest member Ilke Van Genechten. NWVT is happy to pick up this skier who is returning to competition after a few years off. It is clear that Ilke will be a great addition to the club as she exhibited dedication to the sport by racing all three days in a winter that has been very frustrating. Throughout the weekend she improved in the standings utilizing a great combination of technique and strength. She was one of the top skiers in New England throughout high school and college with a decorated history that reminds me of other club members Dhyan Nirmegh, Lary Martell, and Perry Bland.

The rest of NWVT’s members joined Ilke on Saturday. It was a 5km race for the women and 10 for the men. Evan Martell got things started in the juniors’ race. Going on Scott Magnan’s best guess for wax he did well in the very elite field of mostly private ski school athletes. Then the women went off. NWVT had three competing, Ilke, Jessica Bolduc and Samantha Martell. All with relatively close start times it was fun to watch as the made their way around the loop. Then the men started their 10k. Tyler led things out with an early start. He was chased by the top finishers at nationals. Then Damian, Scott and Lary got on course toward the end of field. As I have said in the past “just to finish and Eastern Cup race is an accomplishment.” Scott and Lary finished well among the masters racers, making things look very positive for up-coming races. Damian held his own and made his goal for time. One notable thing of the day was that Damian raced on multi-purpose universal KLISTER thus ending his 11 year boycott of the sticky mess.

Sunday was a day all can be very happy about. Fresh snow set the tone as the skiers took to the course for the final day of competition. Races went in the same order as Sat with Juniors, the Women then Men. Evan had another strong performance, then Ilke had an early start and had top placing for the NWVT women with a solid finish in the college dominated field. Jessica and Samantha had late starts. Jessica grew up Turner a town close to Rumford, and put on a little show for the home crowd. She started off a little passive, but as the race progressed and by the 3rd of the 6 lap race spectators recognized her and saw a glimpse of her old form that dominated Maine high school skiing in the mid 90’s. With her long hair wildly flowing behind her and her intimidating pole follow-through it was clear that she tuned it up a notch and stuck it to her fellow masters’ competitors. For the men Tyler was off early again and set the pace for the club. Damian was in the middle and Scott and Lary were once again in the tail end of the start order. Damian had a much better day finding a nice group of college men to ski with. Scott found himself racing with CSU top gun Andy Milne. Although Milne went by after the 3rd lap, he could not shake Madman as he held on to the finish. Lary was in a tight battle with other familiar masters racers Eric Schultz and John Brodhead of Craftsbury. It was fun to see these guys trading places over the course of the race.

Needles to say it was a great weekend to be on snow. The stage has been set for the upcoming races in Jackson and Burke next weekend. These are club series races as well as the Masters Club and Individual Championships. NWVT was 3rd last year at Jackson , judging from this weekend I think we can improve. I hope we can all get out to these races. The White Mountain Classic is on. Let’s get a few car loads over there and show them what we’ve got!