Mid-Week Training Week 2

This week we had two great days of training. On Tuesday we were able to run a full length GS down Smith Walton and Wachusett. It was about 40 out so (much to the chagrin of some athletes) we were able to get in some real race simulation by stripping down to GS suits. There were some strong performances by Mallory, Eliza, and Blaine on the course. The BC coach is particularly fond of placing "stubbies" in the course which are small gates that can be useful in directing one's line, though our guys weren't quite as into them as he was.

Today we switched hills for the first time in many years to train slalom at Blue Hills (this is the hill that you can see at the 95/93 Interchange). They were making snow on Smitty W for the general public at Wa-Wa, so we took off for the day to Canton Mass (hometown of both Mike Cohen and men's ski team legend Dilly). The hill is definitely on the small side (see picture to the left), but has a solid steep pitch that rivals Smitty W at points. The best part was that the double is super quick (about 3 minutes) which means that our athletes were able to get in a ton of runs. We set two courses - a training course without timing and a "race" course that had timing. Even with about 40 racers on the hill (BC, Babson, and us) we got in about 8-10 training runs which is amazing for midweek training. Blue Hills is also much closer to Providence than Wachusett (about 35 minutes versus 70 minutes) which everyone was pleased with as they didn't have to rush to make 1 o'clock class! Those without classes will be skiing tomorrow morning at Wachusett as well as we get ready for our race this weekend at Pat's Peak and Loon. We are pleased to note that Nick Moore, the club team member of the men's club team, will be announcing this race as he did with much enthusiasm last year at Wachusett. We are also hoping that some former members of the team will be showing their support on the hill so watch out for them!

Waterville GS

For the first time in several years we ran a full length GS course during the regular season. The 70 second course was a challenging world class course that left our racers especially tired at the end. Overnight we received about 3 inches of snow which meant lots of slip work. Beneath the new snow was a super hard surface that made for some solid race conditions. More to come....

Waterville Slalom

Today we were on the piste at Waterville that played host to nearly a dozen World Cup races. The many knolls make for interesting course sets that change widely from race to race. We had two solid courses for both the men and women on each run.

I am writing this recap several days after the event, so my memory of both runs is a bit hazy. I do recall solid performances by most of our girls and guys. There were a few slip ups on both sides, but overall we had some strong effort. DR and Adam had some of their best runs of the season. The women took a fourth place finish and Krista Consiglio won that race by nearly a second!

This weekend also saw the return of the self proclaimed "People's Captain "Antonio del Balzo from his winter break trip to Verbier. His British accent and humor were well appreciated additions to the ski team. Tseveta Krumonova was also excited to return to the women's team after a two month sailing journey in the South Pacific. Welcome back!

A special thanks to the Taub, Casey, Bengtson, and even Marley-Mauzy (Janey Marley Mauzy's '07 mother and sisters) families who braved the heated tent outside to come and show support for the team.







(Mike Cohen '11)

Wa Wa - Week 1

This was our first week back at the summit of Mt. Wachusett. The skiing was as fantastic as we all remember. The newcomers were greeted with the perfect snow conditions and super fast lift we have come to love. The routine begins at 620 when we leave for the ski area. Some of us enjoy what DR affectionately calls the "Willy Dozen" which is two dozen donuts of my own choosing. Wachusett is about an hour from campus and located just outside of Worcester. We usually arrive at about 740 and move as quickly as possible to be on the lift by 8.

From 8-9 only racers are allowed on the mountain. This year we will be training alongside Boston College and Babson. This makes for some excellent competition, though also some decent sized lines. We set the courses as fast as possible on Smith Walton (aka Smitty Dub) which is the steepest trail on the hill. While the coaches are setting, everyone else tries to get free runs on Smitty Dub and on 10th Mountain Division (10MD) under the chairlift. Usually by about 830 we have the course up and running. On Tuesday this week we trained GS and on Thursday it was slalom. From the GS Day, men's Cpt. DR provided these words:

"The snow was soft. the sky was blue. the liftlines were short (though it got crowded by 10:30). the course was nice and easy, a couple tricky turns over the knolls (more on that later). One of the coaches set up some brushes in the course to help with our lines. Unfortunately no one knew the point, and we thought we were suppposed to ski around them, or at least I did. I figured out about three runs into it that we were supposed to straddle them rather than go around. Whoops. The knolls in the course made for interesting terrain - Downhill-style jumps., though also some near-mccartney crashes."

(The McCartney like crashes may be an exaggeration, but for those of you who missed a harrowing fall from the Hannenkham downhill check out this link )

Yesterday we had the benefit of being able to set two full length slalom courses - one for the men and one for the women. This meant that the hill held up stronger and longer than usual. We were able to get away with just one slip run on each course. Both the men and women seemed to have fantastic days on the hill. The work of a coach on slalom days, however, has almost as much to do with course maintenance as working with the athletes. In one morning of training 10 gates on the men's course were destroyed and many needed replacement as well - this meant lots of hiking.

We are excited about the Waterville Slalom and GS this weekend. The ski area has rented a hut just for the ski racers so if you are coming be sure to look for it in front of the normal lodge. It should prove to be an exciting Carnival. Hope to see you there!

Wildcat - Private Training Sessions (Pt. 2)

It was twenty below, today, at least - and that was before the windchill. DR, Dow, and I braved the weather heroically as we forged ourselves as ski pioneers on the winding trails of Wildcat. DR reintroduced the face cloth as face mask to the ski world, a practice crafted by the neckwarmer-wary (and Captain Emeritus) Charley Cummings. The oblique reference showed DR's true passion for preserving ski team tradition. We continued to work on high edge angle while covering our faces as best as possible and trying to keep moving down the hill with the 30 MPH wind gusts. The biggest achievement of the day was likely introducing Dow (the Caymaniac) to the men's team tradition of figure eights. We "set the synchros" about four times on the super dry super grippy snow, and by the end we were really impressing ourselves. We are are looking forward to some more training at Wa-Wa coming up this week and throughout the rest of the season.

Wildcat - Private Training Sessions (Pt. 1)

The women's team and most of the men's team chose to head back to Providence today, but DR, Dow, and I have decided to get a couple more days of training. We cleaned the house in the morning and then DR and I took for the cold, windy, slopes of Wildcat in the afternoon. We skied from 1230-330 in the coldest weather yet - it was -10 at the summit. There could not have been more than 100 people there. DR and I did a few drills working on edge angles, pole planting, and, of course, "setting the synchros." The figure eights we laced down the race trail were rewarded with cheers and yells (at least in our minds). The three of us are now enjoying the final moments of Jan Camp joking about those boys who left early while we contemplate what will likely be another epic day of training tomorrow.

Cranmore SL

We had a double slalom set today on what proved to be another day of perfect weather here at Cranmore. Unfortunately, the word of the day proved to be "Hike!" Both runs for both teams were plagued with a series of bobbles and hikes that hurt the team performance. For those that have not seen a double slalom set, it looks like a mine field of blue and red poles on the hill. Quite confusing even for the most experienced racer, the men raced on the right side of the trail and the women on the left.

The women's team had a decent morning with nearly all the women finishing around their usual times, though there were a couple hangups. The men's team had a solid morning with leaving them ahead of UConn after the first run. There were a couple bobbles that left them with one DNF and a hike. They men's team had poor performance on the gatekeeping with not a single member showing up on time (DR and Dow excepted -see photo above for them hard at work). On the bright side, Ken's lodge poker game is improving.

The snow held up well for the afternoon giving us some of the best race conditions of the season. Dry, grippy, hard snow. The women's team again had a couple of problems, with Mallory going all star on full gate length uphill hike on the fourth gate on the course. An impressive effort! Great work also by Meaghan who despite having to hike on her first run had a stellar second run. The men's team's game deteriorated. The course showed them no mercy. All the men skied the first six gates with expertise and some of the strongest skiing of the year. For most, this was, unfortunately, followed by a major blunder. Mike Cohen lost a ski and in the process pulled himself out of a "Chicken Finger Classic" competition with Axler. DR ate it, almost careened into the B netting, but eventually recovered. David Sonshine dropped 23 seconds between the first and second runs to complete the first slalom of his careeer! Great work!

Thanks also to the Caseys, Sonshines, Bengtsons, and Wendy Wolf and Jack Behrle (Adam Axler's parents) who supplied us with great food and strong support in the finish corral!

Cranmore GS - Beautiful!

Four inches of snow followed by blue sunny skies. The perfect ski day! The morning began with a delayed start due to the snow we received overnight. We were forced to spend about an hour slipping out the wide line on the course and clearing out the soft snow. Eventually we got down to a nice solid track that held up for both the men's and women's runs. First run for the women had some solid results with them coming in second and Krista Consiglio smoking the entire women's field (and most of the men's!) by a second and half. EPIC! The men also posted some strong runs. Adam Axler skied so hard that he lost a ski on the top part of the run (we are hoping that he keeps it on tomorrow). Congratulations go especially to David Sonshine who completed his first ever run! Great work!

The second run did not have much change from the first one. Elisa Handbury had a spectacular second run and Meaghan Casey also skied better that run. Our men had decent second run. Dow continued to battle "the plague" which has been circulating around the ski team, and Jeff finally got his hands in front of him to put down a better second run. Sonshine also had a fantastic save as he careened towards the B netting. Hannah did not compete today due to a shoulder injury, but she and I were able to sneak in an excellent run on the backbowls at Cranmore and enjoy a little fresh snow and ride that legendary double (see photos).

Please take some time to check out the fantastic photos which I have linked above. Special thanks to Blaine and Susan who took close to 50 photos to put up on our website. Well done! Thanks also to the Taubs, Caseys, and Richardsons for bringing food and much appreciated team support. Looking forward to another great day tomorrow at historic Cranmore and a Slalom that looks to be a real ripper with a start that is well up on the pitch.

Rest / Men's Team Rip Day

Most people rested today while most of the men's team went out to take advantage of the fantastic conditions at Wildcat. We worked on some basic GS skiing drills and maybe a couple of tuck runs to get us ready for this weekend's races at the legendary Cranmore. (The founder of Cranmore Hans Schneider is known for his part in making skiing popular through the famed wedge christie and is often referred to as the Father of Modern Alpine Skiing). There were also more than a few opportunities for popping air on some of the rollers left over from snowmaking. Mike Cohen was the star for today finally letting the concept of a parallel inside ski "click." The highlight for the relatively cold day was a rainbow like circle around the sun called a parhelion. There was also another rainbow like figure that was upside down to the ground, though did not make a complete circle. Unfortunately, no one had a camera, though other pictures online do not appear to pay the phenomenon justice.

Also, make sure that you check out Meagh and Sophie who made this week's Wildcat Update on the Wildcat Website. Congratulations!

SL GS Combo

A big day today for the ski team. We were able to get in our intended back-to-back session of Slalom and GS. In the morning we got four solid race runs in of slalom on some of the best snow this year. It was definitely hero snow and it showed as everyone was ripping apart the course. All of our runs were timed and Sophie and Krista have been laying down some rippers. Hannah Brennan was sporting some cardboard shinners as she began to take on the art of shinning the gates. Her hard efforts were rewarded a strong fall, but she should be ready to go by this weekend. We were also filmed a bit in the morning by Wildcat TV and we will likely be on their video blog later this week. More to follow on that.

In the afternoon we closed down Bobcat, set a full length GS, and had timing. We had some especially strong times posted by Adam Axler who has been working hard on upper and lower body separation. DR also layed down several fantastic runs and considers this some of the best ski racing of his career. We are hoping that it will hold over until this weekend at Cranmore. Tomorrow is a rest day, though there may be a few members of the men's team headed up to Wildcat for a few early morning runs.

If you get a chance, you might want to check out some of the fantastic photos that DR has uploaded to our photo blog. Note that DR and I are some of the few holdouts (Axler is in there too) in what has become a men's team tradition of not shaving during Jan Camp (a strong zoom may still be required to see the facial hair, however).

Wildcat - More Slalom Training

The dump of snow from yesterday was well groomed for fantastic snow quality today. It was a great opportunity for everyone to get some strong slalom free skiing under their belts. We quickly got a full length 60 gate slalom course up today with the selfless help of Jeff Ernsting and Ken Ettinger. We had to do two full slip runs to clear out the soft snow and get down to the ice. In the morning everyone got 4-5 runs in. Some solid skiing was being put down by the entire women's team. DR was skiing some of the best runs of his life and we are hoping that Mt. Cranmore will present some strong opportunities for him to push out.


We left the course up through lunch and did two slip runs (some people did three) to cut down the burms that developed on the course. All the runs in the afternoon were timed which provided for an excellent tete-a-tete between the top skiers from the men's and women's teams. We got some excellent video and spent a few hours in the afternoon reviewing slalom footage. The men's team will all be working on upper and lower body separation and early turn initiation tomorrow as we do back-to-back sessions of SL and GS in the morning and afternoon respectively. It is also possible that the Wildcat TV will be filming us for their weekly video segment!

Powder Day!

The ice from this weekend's freeze was complemented perfectly by an all day snow totally close to 8 inches by the end of the day. It was a bit treacherous getting to the mountain, but we were still able to get on the lifts at 9am. We were able to get the course set up quickly with the efficient help of men's team captain DR Richardson. Unfortunately, we had a slightly smaller crew of skiers today as some members of the team are nursing colds. The morning presented us with some solid training as soon as we were able to get down to the harder snow. Mallory Taub made considerable progress through the morning as did Adam Axler and Mike Cohen. We were able to take some video and will be reviewing it in the next few days.

(click photo for photo album)

In the afternoon we set a course that we did only three runs on. We had to take two full length slip runs to clear out the enormous amount of snow that accumulated during our lunch break. Courtney (aka Coach Whalen) set her first ever ski course which was well received by everyone. Congratulations!

The snow was super slow, but it gave people a chance to work on being aggressive. After our three runs we pulled down the course and took a much needed free skiing adventure around the mountain. The sides of the trails were covered with snow, though the ice from the rain last week made for some strange skiing conditions. The photos that I have made an album from (above) are from our afternoon free skiing session. We have more slalom set for tomorrow, though it may be difficult to pass up the excellent snow that is set to continue until 10 tonight.

Also - big news in US Ski Racing history with Bode Miller matching Phil Mahre's record of World Cup wins by and American - see article here.

Sunapee GS #2 - Welcome to New England

We had optimal ski racing conditions today. The mush from yesterday set up overnight to create rock hard ice. Generally this is great for creating a consistent race surface, but it was totally different from the soft snow that we have been training on all week. The first run went off without a hitch with Mike setting the course. While we had solid performances by all of our men and women, both were relatively hesitant on the hard pack snow. Blaine's west coast upbringing meant that this was pretty much the first time she had actually raced on ice. After the first run Sophie Elgort '08 was in 7th place. The men had a few bobbles on the top of the course with Ken Ettinger leaving one pole in the start gate. Dow Travers skied a "smoking" run with a 33rd place, but one on which we all think that he can improve.


We had several parents that provided us with food for lunch. The Bengtsons and Taubs were in attendance and Mr. Consiglio brought a pizza from the family restaurant in New Haven (above). It was well received by the athletes. (see photos)

Second run was less strong for the team. The snow actually hardened up between runs creating a super fast snow surface. The course set was especially tight at the bottom and devoured a couple of our racers at the end of the run. At the end of the day, the women took a fourth place finish and the men dropped a spot with a ninth place finish due largely to falls by Ken, DR, and Dow. We are hoping that four days of solid training this week will prepare us for the legendary piste of Mt. Cranmore. I know that I am especially looking forward to a couple of freeskiing runs on the back bowl trails and perhaps even a tuck run on Artist Falls - former men's team member John Gillis's favorite trail on the circuit!

Looks like some snow is coming in tonight. Hopefully a few inches will cover up those Brown spots on the mountain. Thanks again to the parents who make all of this possible and to those who are coming out next week for the race at Cranmore!

Sunapee GS #1 - Day of the Variable

It has been said that the Brown Ski Team puts the "able" back into "variable." That could not have been more visible than today. When we arrived at Sunapee at 7:35, the lift was not running, the course was not set, and the fog was so thick that we couldn't even see 100 ft up the mountain. The original plans had been to start slipping at 8:15, but those plans quickly deteriorated alongside the weather. Overnight some of the snow had frozen with the sleet, but beneath that was some pretty soft mush.

We waited until about 9:30 to really get things going. For those who haven't been to a race in a while, most of the decisions are made on the hill and radioed back to those at the bottom of the mountain. Like the children's game "telephone" the message frequently gets garbled in translation. There were multiple messages floating around on the airwaves today on start times and inspection runs which made for a morning that was nothing short of chaotic.

Eventually we had a group slip to break through the hard layer of snow and try and harden up the mush. This involved all of the athletes slipping down the hill in line formation. While this was able strengthen some parts of the course, the top quickly started to go brown as we hit dirt. It is amazing to think that only one week ago there was too much snow! The final verdict from the coaches was a delayed start time of 12 noon, a lowered start that cut off the top ten gates, and a one run race. In close to fifteen years of ski racing, I don't believe that I have ever seen a one run GS. The weather today left us with no choice. Around 11, racers got an inspection from the lowered start.

In a sprint race like this it is difficult to really do much critical assessment, but it seemed like both the men and women put together a solid effort. We have yet to see the results, but I will update this once they come in. The women's team was consistent with nearly everyone finishing under forty seconds. It was the first race for both Krista Consiglio '11 (2nd place!) and Blaine Martin '11. I was posted up at the bottom of the course and I overheard several surprised parents comment on how fast our new girls were! Overall the women came up in third place and with more training and races, we are poised to do even better. All members of the men's team had great runs also. All six guys stood up and it was the first runs for Dow Travers '11 (just in from Aspen), Mike Cohen '11, and Jeff Ernsting '11. It was a great first finish for our men and something that is a great stepping stone for the rest of the year.

David Sonshine and Susan Kovar did not race today but were assets providing moral support at the bottom and helping post the scoreboard for recording times. Even after the rocky start, the course seemed to hold together quite well. A special thanks to the Casey and Taub Families for coming all the way out to Sunapee to provide the team with both moral and edible support.

We are hoping for an equally strong finish tomorrow, and the weather looks like it might even include some sun!

In other news, we have been mentioned on the blog of our new home mountain Wildcat:
http://skiwildcat.blogspot.com/

Day 6 - What a Difference a Day Makes

Most people probably would have gone inside today. The warm weather continued, the brown patches got a little bit bigger, and then the rain came. It began with a shower and then continued straight through to downpour. We trained today with Boston College which meant 5 coaches on the hill and about 40 racers looping the course.

We were able to fortunately compensate for the soft snow by salting the hill. For those of you who don't know, when the snow is super soft it makes it hard to set an edge and the snow lacks the consistency to be able to focus on technique. Additionally, the deep ruts and bumps can provide for some dangerous skiing conditions. So, after slipping away all the soft snow, we salted the hill with the Boston College coach which involved lugging 50 lb. bags of calcium chloride down the hill while throwing handfuls onto the snow. We then waited for about 45 minutes while the snow "set up" and hardened. For about the first two hours of the morning people took free runs off of the triple.

At 11:20 we finally got things underway. We did timing for about the first fifteen racers, but then the downpour really began. The rain was actually so heavy that it tripped the electronic eye on the finish line. Accordingly, we bagged the timing, and focused in on technique. The salting paid off and we were able to get a nice hard track on the hill. Even with the hard snow the ride was far from smooth. This weekend will likely be more of the same conditions, and if people skied like they did today we will be ready for it! Meaghan Casey had a standout performance by attacking the whole course through the rain and skiing her best runs of the year (ever?).

After three runs we broke for lunch to dry off clothes. It was just about when we decided to call it quits for the morning that the rain stopped, the blue sky came out, and a rainbow formed at the bottom of the mountain that framed the rest of Mount Washington Valley. If only we had the camera! In the afternoon we took two runs and pulled the course.

The spirit award for today goes to Blaine Martin. Even with Lyme disease and torrential downpours Blaine stuck it out in the rain in full GS suit, high spirits, and, most importantly, a big smile. Her role in boosting team morale cannot be underestimated.

Tomorrow we have a rest day and will be traveling way down South to Sunapee to move into the hotel for Thursday and Friday nights. Hope to see you there!

Day 5 - Warm January We're Having

Today was one of those days that you wait all year for - sixty degrees, blue skies, beautiful views, and great corn snow. It is really too bad that it had to take place in the second week of January. The January Thaw is well upon us now and Wildcat has lost a substantial amount of snow in just two days. The powder that once blanketed the whole ski area has turned to brown patches.

(Click on this picture for photo album)

We were still able to get in some decent training this morning on Bobcat training another full length GS. We had the timing system set up this morning with six race runs and most people skiing in GS suits. There were, unfortunately, about three slip runs in between as the ruts were building up to about knee depth in points (there was grass showing at the bottom of a few of them). We also got three runs on video which should be helpful as we are training GS again tomorrow.

In the afternoon, we bagged the course as the snow only softened up. We watched some World Cup video in the lodge and then free skiied underneath the triple. Lots of emphasis on basics and a great chance to focus on what racers are working on in the course. The general consensus, however, was that the snow was not the best for race training. The forecast predicts that it will have to be as we are looking at more warm weather for the rest of the week.

In equipment news Elisa's Rossignol boots came to the house after some careful footwork by Mallory with the skis. She's quite pleased and a happy Elisa means a happy Brown ski team! We were able to take lots of photos today on one of the best days of skiing we will probably see all season. I won't be able to post them today, but look for them later this week.

Day 4 - First Day of GS Training

Pretty straightforward day today. We spent the entire day doing GS training on Bobcat. The warm weather made for some pretty big ruts but the team was skiing exceptionally well for their first day in GS gates this year. All told we made about fourteen (14) runs! We are looking forward to two more solid days of GS training before the GS series at Sunapee. It's wonderful having most of Wildcat to ourselves. One particular newcomer to the team - and ski racing in general - David Sonshine had a standout performance for his first day in gates. Another John Gillis in the making? The girls are looking forward to seeing their freshmen - Blaine and Krista - debut at the race on Friday. Meanwhile the teams are bonding on and off the hill, enjoying home cooked team dinners, and tuning sessions.

Day 3 - First day of Slalom

Today was a half day for the team. We broke up this morning into two groups. One group spent the morning continuing to work on drills which included wedge sets, J turns, and lots of traversing. The other group spent the morning training our first day of slalom on the upper half of Cheetah. While the snow is perfect for free skiing, the soft snow is prone to some decent size ruts. We got in about 5-6 runs. Tomorrow we will be training GS. Wildcat has been extremely supportive of our training here, and since it is Monday we will be able to close down the full trail and get in some excellent training.

Day 2 - Freeskiing and Drills

Today was our second day at Wildcat. The skiing here is fantastic with 8 feet of snow so far this year. Even though it was Saturday, there were hardly any lines. In the morning we broke up into three groups and free skied GS. Right now we are trying put some miles under our feet with an emphasis on the basics. We worked largely on carving in the flats and getting forward. In the afternoon we broke up into groups again and free skied slalom. We are working through a progression of drills and most of the racers will be moving into the slalom gates tomorrow on Bobcat.

We are staying in two houses about 20 minutes away from Wildcat. You can find more information about the ski area check out www.skiwildcat.com. For those of you who are not familiar with the area, Wildcat is located directly across the valley from Mt. Washington. Every run we take we have one of the most incredible views in the country and have clear view of that proving ground of New England skiing known as Tuckerman Ravine.

This week we plan on getting in some excellent gate training Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. We will likely take Thursday off in preparation for our back-to-back GS race series at Sunapee on Friday and Saturday (Jan 11th and 12th). We look forward to seeing many of you there.