One of the perks of living in the Middle of Nowhere, N.H., is that we have easy access to a variety of outdoor activities to take advantage of in our downtime. In the winter, many students venture to one place in particular — the Dartmouth Skiway. Located 20 minutes north of campus, the Skiway has four lifts and 31 trails spread out over two mountains. Every winter, hundreds of students enroll in a variety of snow sports classes at the Skiway through Dartmouth for a fraction of what it would cost in the real world. According to the Registrar’s Office, there are currently 228 students enrolled in classes of all skill levels, including downhill skiing, snowboarding and Telemark skiing. Natalie Shell ’15 took beginner downhill skiing last year and is now enrolled in intermediate lessons. “I learned when I was little but had not skied since I was about eight, so there was a good 11 year gap where I forgot everything,” said Shell, who grew up in California. The lessons gave Shell “a lot of confidence on the slopes, and really taught [her] how to reposition [herself] on the skis.” Blake Osborn ’15, another warm-weather native who hails from Texas, usually goes “skiing once… Read more »
Snow in October?!? There are a lot of reasons to be distressed about this mid-fall snow shower, but I can’t help but get excited for ski season after seeing some real snow on the ground. Ski season doesn’t begin until the end of December (earlier if you’re hardcore and are willing to scrape down lightly powdered back-country trails), but now is the time to purchase season passes. Though the winters in Hanover can be brutal, being here puts you in a prime location to access amazing skiing. Here’s a breakdown of the passes for resorts in the area: The SOS College Pass gives you access to Mt. Sunapee, Okemo and Stratton. If you purchase it by Dec. 19 it’s $315, and if you’re looking for a variety of slopes with pretty good snow-making equipment this is a solid choice. The Triple Major lets you ski Bolton Valley, Jay Peak and Mad River Glen. It’s $299 if you buy it by Nov. 7. Great for skiiers interested in more back-country style slopes, but snowboarders should take note that they won’t be able to ride the trails at Mad River Glen. A Stowe season past will cost you $399 if you buy… Read more »
A friend recently asked me, “Doesn’t it make you sad when all of the snow melts and you can’t ski anymore?” Her question made me really think about how I feel at the end of the ski season. To be honest, it’s a mixture of all kinds of emotions instead of any one specific feeling. I’m sad that all of the snow is melting, that the season is coming to a close and that we won’t be skiing again until next season. But I’m also happy because it means that we’ll have a much-needed break from the grueling experience of being in-season and managing schoolwork all winter long. We are all exhausted and spring is the time that we finally get to unwind and give our bodies a rest. The weather gets nice and I can play golf, mountain bike, road bike and enjoy the outdoors. And my toes can recover from all the frostbite I have gotten over the course of the winter. It’s also the time of year when we lose our seniors. On the women’s alpine team of eight, losing two seniors is like a nest of chicks losing two of their chick siblings. Who will help… Read more »
Catherine Treyz / The Dartmouth Senior Staff Lake Placid, N.Y. is a town defined completely by the 1980 Olympics, and for most Americans, those Olympics are synonymous with the US-Soviet “Miracle” hockey game. But for Nordic skiers, Placid, as it’s called, is the site of some of the best-known ski trails in the East — because clearly the 1980 Olympics included Nordic racing, biathlon and Nordic combined (cross-country racing and ski jumping) events as well. So this past weekend, Saint Lawrence University hosted the season-opening carnival in Lake Placid. All four skiing squads — men’s and women’s Nordic and alpine — bused to Placid Thursday afternoon in order to prepare for races on Friday and Saturday. We were disappointed to realize that the drive was long enough (about three hours) that we wouldn’t get to preview the course on Thursday afternoon. Typically, we like to spend as much time on the course as possible before the race, because knowing the terrain is really important to skiing efficiently. Simple knowledge of the way a climb is tapered, the way to quickly ski a corner or where the snow might be firmer or softer can shave seconds off your race. And while… Read more »
Catherine Treyz / The Dartmouth Senior Staff So my toenail fell off today. Cool. I can thank Mother Nature and my two-sizes-too-small ski racing boots for that. Frostbite is just one of the joys of ski racing on the East Coast, along with the always-changing weather we face everyday. Unfortunately, our race venues are not like a hockey rink or a swimming pool, where the conditions stay the same every time you compete. In our races, it could be -20 degrees with blue ice and wind blowing at 30 miles per hour in your face, or 50 degrees and sunny, with slushy, mashed-potato snow. But for us, this is just something you “suck up” and deal with. No one on the team cares if my toenail fell off today because everyone’s toes are just as frostbitten as mine. Just a few weeks ago, I started to complain about my toes and Kelsey Roddick ’11, another alpine skier and our co-captain, humbly said, “Mine kind of hurt too,” and took her socks off and showed me her blackened, blistered toes, which made mine look like a foot model’s. To face the freezing weather conditions, we have our own little tricks we… Read more »
Catherine Treyz / The Dartmouth Senior Staff Sometimes I think the only unifying force among Nordic skiers is incessant complaining. Complaining about course conditions and race officials, about the weather and the wax on our skis, about our motels and – most of all – about school. But optimism and resilience also play a huge role in a sport as finicky as Nordic skiing. By finicky, I mostly mean that the sport depends on nature: without snow, we can’t ski, and skiers who can’t ski are not a happy crowd. Even in our young season, we’ve run the gamut of conditions. (More on that later.) Luckily, we’ve got a veteran coach, Ruff Patterson, and cool-headed upperclassmen like me (cough) to help weather the storm. I’m one of five ’12s on the men’s team this year, along with two ’11s, six ’13s and four sparkling new ’14s, for a total of seventeen skiers. Like most endurance sports, Nordic skiing is a year-round affair. “Great skiers are made in the summer,” my high school coach used to say. So spring, summer, and fall are devoted to a regimen of running, weightlifting, biking and most of all rollerskiing. Rollerskis are those foolish-looking rollerblade-thingies… Read more »