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!