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!