Gunstock GS/Blackwater SL

This week marked the start of classes and a few days of much needed rest. On Thursday night, the teams traveled up to Concord, NH for the weekend's races at Gunstock and Blackwater (Proctor Academy's private hill). Despite the bitter cold and windy conditions, the both the men and women skied well and maintained the standing within the division.

The women returned to top form on Friday as they won the Gunstock GS race as they had four skiers in the top 15. They were led by Kia Mosenthal '12 who finished in second place with a time of 1:25.88 seconds, just .08 seconds behind the race leader. Emily Simmons finished 5th (1:26.39), Krista Consiglio finished 11th (1:27.06), and Cat Stewart '13 finished in 15th place with a time of 1:28.47 seconds. Krista and Kia also helped lead the women's field in each run as Krista won the first run and Kia won the second run. The men also had a good day Friday as Dow Travers '12 finished tied for 24th place with a time of 1:25.54 seconds. Mike Cohen '11 and Alex Salter '12 also helped lead the men to an 8th place finish. Also, congratulations to George George '10, who made his first race start on Friday and skied to a 62nd place finish.

Saturday, the women finished 4th in the Blackwater SL and were led again by Kia Mosenthal '12 and Krista Consiglio '11. Kia again led the women as she tied with another racer for a 4th place finish with a time of 1:30.71 seconds. Krista also tied with another competitor for an 8th place finish with a time of 1:31.86 seconds. Elisa Handbury '10 provided the women with their third scored time as she finished in 17th place. The men struggled a bit on Saturday, but still managed to get the required 5 finishers. Dow Travers '12 again led the team with a 46th place finish. Ken Ettinger '10, Charlie Greene '13, and Alex Salter '12 also helped lead the team as they finished 57th, 58th, and 59th respectively.

This weekend's races helped the women maintain their 4th place position in the overall women's standings. The men are also still going strong and have secured an 8th place in the men's division standings. Next weekend, the teams travel to Wildcat, our home mountain, to wrap up the regular season before regionals. We will be hosting the weekend's races along with Boston College so come out and help support your Brown Bears as the women look to secure a post-season berth and the men look to finish out the season in good form.

Waterville Valley SL/GS

After three weeks, Jan Camp finally came to a close. The teams packed up and shipped down to Waterville Valley for the third carnival of the season.

The women finished 4th in the slalom course on Saturday. Krista Consiglio '11 led the team with a 3rd place finish and a time of 1:28.45 seconds. Elisa Handbury '10 and Emily Simmons '12 finished 11th and 20th, respectively, to provide the two remaining finish times. Cat Stewart '13 skied to a 21st place finish just behind Emily. Saturday proved to be a difficult day for the men, as much of the team fell during the first run. Jeff Ernsting '11, back from a semester in France, led the team as he finished 30th with a time of 1:43.22 seconds. Michael Cohen '11 had the second best time for the men as he finished 48th. The men finished in 8th place for the day.

Sunday, the GS course was cut down due to uncovered rocks in the course and a general lack of snow. So, the men and women moved down to the slalom start gate for a abbreviated race that lasted all of about 30 or 40 seconds. Even with the shortened GS, the women struggled to get their racers to the finish and ended up in 9th place. After 3 skiers fell, Emily Simmons '12 had to ski with an injured shoulder (dislocation) to give the team its 3rd finisher. Kia Mosenthal '12 led the team with a 1st place finish with a time of 1:07.01 seconds and Krista Consiglio '11 finished 4th with a time of 1:07.93 seconds.

The men skied to an 8th place finish again on Sunday as Jeff Ernsting '11, Ken Ettinger '10, Michael Cohen '11, and Alex Salter '12 helped lead the team. Charlie Greene '13 was again plagued by binding problems in the second run when he pre-released mid-turn at the top of the course and lost a ski.

Finally, congratulations to Kia for the race win on Sunday and thank you to the parents for all your help and support!

Cranmore SL Weekend

This weekend brought the men and women to Cranmore in nearby North Conway, NH. The weather was sunny and exceptionally warm with highs reaching into the 40s! Unfortunately, the warmth led to difficult snow conditions with deep ruts plaguing the field in the afternoons.

The women had a tough day Friday finishing 6th as the ruts led to a few falls and subsequent hiking. Elisabeth Handbury ’10 finished two clean runs to lead the women. Emily Simmons missed the weekend’s races due to a shoulder injury. The men finished 8th with Jacob Cohen ’13, Cody Shulman ’13, and Brendan Burke ’13 all starting and completing the first race of their careers! We would like to congratulate the freshman for this accomplishment.

Fortunately Saturday proved to be a new day. Kia Mosenthal ’12 and Krista Consiglio ’11 led the women to a first place finish. They finished 3rd and 4th, respectively. The men once again finished 8th ahead of MIT and were led by Ken Ettinger ’10 and Alex Salter ’12.

Next week the teams travel to Waterville Valley and wrap up the Jan Camp festivities before classes resume on the 27th. We hope to see you all there to help support Brown Skiing!

Sunapee GS Opening Weekend

The men and women traveled down to Mount Sunapee for our first races of the season this weekend. The women started strong on Friday as Kia Mosenthal '12 led the women with a third place finish, Emily Simmons '12 finished in fifth, and Krista Consiglio '11 in tenth. Freshman Catherine Stewart '13 had a great first collegiate finish with a 15th place! Walk on freshman Therice Morris '13 also skied to a 52nd place finish in her first ski race ever. The race was extremely close as the women finished second to Boston College, trailing by only 4 hundredths of a second.

The men also had a strong opening day beating U. Mass and MIT to finish 7th or the first time in years. Dow Travers ’12 returned after a year off to lead the men with a 24th place finish. Charlie Greene ’13 began his college career with a strong 52nd place finish. Ken Ettinger ’10, Michael Cohen ’11, Alex Salter ’12, and Rob Culliton ’10.5 also had strong showings to kick off the season.

Saturday, the women came out determined after Friday's second-place finish. Mosenthal led the Bears again with another great finish in second after completing the first run with only one pole. Consiglio mimicked Mosenthal's one-pole technique in her second run after losing it in the start gate, but still managed to finish fourth. Simmons finished right behind her in fifth and Stewart in 11th. At the end of the day, the Brown women had captured the lead by 7 seconds, a margin rarely seen!

The men’s team finished 8th on Saturday, closely behind U. Mass after two skiers did not finish the second run. Travers again led the team, followed by finishes by Ettinger, Cohen, and Salter.

After a great weekend at Sunapee the men and women look forward to getting into slalom and having great races at Cranmore next weekend. Finally, both teams would like to thank the parents who made it up to this weekend’s races to cheer us on and help feed us.

January Camp Update

The teams arrived in Bartlett this past weekend to 8 inches of fresh snow. Getting settled took some time as it required multiple trips to North Conway to visit the famed Hannaford Supermarket, the classic Stan and Dan's Ski Shop (say hi to Stan for us), and even a trip to The Home Depot.

The skies have since cleared and training for this weekend's races at Mt. Sunapee has begun. Our men and women ran their first gates of the year today alongside the Boston College ski team and will continue training tomorrow. Updates will continue as the season progresses and make sure to look for a post early next week with the results from the Giant Slalom at Mt. Sunapee this weekend.