Ascutney Slaloms

This was the final weekend of the regular season in our division. We were fortunate enough to be able to stay at the Holby family home in Ludlow, Vermont (Sophie's family). Grethe Holby (Sophie's mom) fed us both days and the house gave us ample room and time for some much needed team bonding.

Women's team co-captain Anna Bengtson was gracious enough to write up a detailed account of the weekend, so I will defer to her comments:

"From the sunny skies and warm temperatures during the day Saturday to the snowstorm Saturday night that make it necessary for Mr. Taub to tow the van back to the Elgort's house to the white-out Sunday during the race, the races were full of unexpected variables just the way the Brown Ski Team likes it.

As the last regular season races the seniors were out in full force. Although there was a momentary one-run race scare on Sunday, the weather gods pulled through clearing up the skies for the afternoon, probably due to the recognition of the devastation that would ensue if the senior skiers were unable to express their creativity and true personalities in costume form. Brown was well-suited second run on Sunday in black tie formals (Axler), retro ski gear (Mallory), gold (Meaghan), metallics, bright pink (Kimbie), princely attire (Antonio) and lone ranger duds (DR). In my personal opinion however, despite DR riding his pony through the finish and Antonio slashing every gate with his sword, no one was able to top the hockey player from St. Anselm who "checked" every gate in the course and then proceeded to throw off his gloves and fight a gate that "hit" him.

These aspects aside, it is Mrs. Elgort who makes the Ascutney races the best weekend of the season. This year all- parents, siblings and friends included -were able to enjoy the cozy ambiance and home-cooking that is inextricably tied to Trollstua. Saturday night Grethe and Sophie single-handedly created a feast as they do every year that silenced the house.

Excellent food, comfortable lodgings and unending adventures. What more could we ask for? I could actually use some of the leftover carrot cake...

Anyway, thank you again and again Grethe for everything, and congratulations seniors I at least will miss you, although I may not speak for everyone (insert evil laughter)."

Amidst all those great comments about the fanfare at the final race and the homestyle accommodations we had, Anna neglectes to mention that the women's team ended up with two 3rd place finishes - the best of the season. Krista Consiglio took the slalom on Saturday, Blaine Martin had an outstanding performance in the slalom on Sunday screaming to her best result of the year, not to mention Anna's best-of-the-season top-10 on Saturday.

The men finished out a fantastic season with the costumes, and some outstanding ski racing by the freshmen. David Sonshine finally went for it in the slalom, bashing down every single gate on Saturday, having waited all season to "just hit the gates." Jeff Ernsting really pulled it together on Sunday with what was unquestionably the best slalom run of his career. He took the hard work he had put in this past week at Wachusett (which resulted in a broken ski pole) and transformed it into a solid run. Unfortunately, at the top he skied over on of the gates, which caused a disqualification. We are looking for some fantastic results by him next year.

There are tons of photos from this past weekend:
-Professional Photos (to purchase or just look at)
-Dave Casey Photos
-DR's Photos (This weekend and the rest of the season)
-The Consiglio's Photos

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO ALL OF THE PARENTS! This year could not have been possible without you. This past weekend we had the Castens, Taubs, Caseys, Sonshines, Bengtsons, Elgorts, Ernstings, and Consiglios. It is fantastic to not only have your culinary support, but cheering as the racers come down for those 35 seconds of glory.