The banquet opened with an exciting announcement by Friends of Harvard Skiing co-Chair Charles Hirschler ’76 and Nichols Family Director of Athletics Bob Scalise: the endowment of the Paul J. Finnegan Family Head Coach for Harvard Skiing.  Skiing becomes only the 14th of 32 Harvard head coaching positions to be endowed, which is the Athletic Department equivalent of an endowed chair for a professor.

Paul Finnegan ’75 was a nordic skier at Harvard, a two-time MVP and captain, and is a long-standing and enthusiastic supporter of the ski team.  At the banquet, Paul spoke warmly about how formative his ski team experiences had been, including one particularly memorable race when the temperature suddenly changed before the start and the team went out on overly-sticky yellow klister. Paul also acknowledged the inspiration then-coach Peter Carter ’69 (who was in attendance) provided.  In the words of Bob Scalise, Paul’s “commitment to skiing is a wonderful example of the loyal and dedicated alumni who make it possible for Harvard to pursue excellence.”

Nichols Family Director of Athletics Bob Scalise presents Paul Finnegan '75 (right) with a plaque commemorating his endowment. Also pictured (from left): Tim Mitchell, Chris City '94, Charles Hirschler '76, and Erich Horsley '94.

Paul is also a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers and the Visiting Committee on Athletics. Head Alpine Coach Tim Mitchell and Head Nordic Coach Chris City are the first holders of this endowment and are now the Paul J. Finnegan Family Endowed Coaches for Harvard Skiing.  Tim and Chris presented Paul with the Nicholas T. Rhinelander Spirit in Service Award, named in honor of the late Chair of Friends of Harvard Skiing Nick Rhinelander ’88, and a Harvard Skiing crimson sweatshirt.

Athletic Director Bob Scalise joined us to thank Paul for his gift.  He also addressed the assembled alumni, parents and students on the role of athletics at Harvard and how Harvard seeks to foster “education through athletics.”  He illustrated the deep history of Harvard athletics by pointing to the decades of achievements documented on the walls of the Lee Family Hall of History, where the banquet was held.

Rebecca Nadler ’14 shared her own contributions to Harvard history by narrating video of her 2012 NCAA Championship giant slalom runs.  Following a brief Q & A with Becca, a panel of alumni from 4 decades of Harvard skiing shared their experiences as Harvard skiers and answered questions from the audience.

Peter Carter '69

Peter Carter ’69, modeling an original Harvard Skiing jacket from the 1930s, shared photos from the 1960s and 1970s. Olympian Judy Rabinowitz ’80-86 and Debbie McLane Carter ’74 recalled being among the few women on the team in their respective eras and shed light on how much things have changed for women athletes at Harvard.  Judy also posed the question: who was the last four event (slalom, GS, nordic and jumping) skier at Harvard?  The best guess of the assembled alumni was Judy’s teammate David Rand ’79.  Other panelists included Ben Steele ’74, Matt Basilico ’08, Erich Horsley ’94 and Chris City ’94.

More photos from the event are posted on our Harvard Skiing Flickr page. Photos courtesy of Pierre Hirschler, Ogden Ross ’75, and Ellen O’Brien P’12.

Next year’s banquet will take place on Friday, April 12th (Patriots Day and Boston Marathon weekend).

Thank you for a wonderful season and for your support!

Alpine Race Report by Coach Mitchell

Becca and Alena

Harvard Alpine was represented by Rebecca Nadler at the Championships, held at Bridger Bowl ski area just north of Bozeman, Montana.  Conditions on the hill were a bit soft, but overall not too bad for championship week.  We arrived late on Monday evening and were greeted with a snow storm on Tuesday, the first official day of training, but some decent slalom training made it a productive day overall.  Wednesday was our chance to test out the GS hill, and we quickly realized that the key for Becca having a good result was going to be pressuring the top of the turn, so as not to dig the edges in too hard with the soft racing surface, but to still maintain lots of movement down the hill with the body to bend the skis and generate momentum.  Before training we were able to catch Alena Tofte going for it in the 5k nordic skate race at Bohart Ranch.

Race day saw a bluebird day with pleasant temperatures, the course sets looked great and the hill was buffed out.  Becca had a great tactical plan, and in short, she executed better than anyone else when it counted, won the race in commanding fashion, and brought home a first-ever NCAA Skiing National Championship for Harvard.  Other skiers in the event, even ones with recent World Cup experience, faltered on the “big stage” but Becca skied two of the smartest, most aggressive, well executed runs I’ve ever had the privilege to witness in person.  Becca put down a great first run, going into the second run in 2nd place.  She charged out of the start gate and nailed the first section of the course, putting pressure on Kristina Riis-Johanessen of UVM, the first run leader, who undoubtedly saw the performance that Becca put down.  Becca crossed the finish a bit less than a half-second ahead of eventual second place finisher, Kate Riley of UVM.  A few moments later, a bobble by Riis-Johanessen and the win was sealed for Becca, a massive cheer went up from the crowd, and history was made.

Within ten minutes, my phone was buzzing with over 100 texts/emails/voicemails.  It was about then that it started to sink in, the magnitude of Becca’s achievement. But truthfully, the best part of the day was the support and encouragement that we as a team recieved from other competitors, coaches, parents, spectators, and officials.  I have never seen anything like it at a ski race, and it was so encouraging to know that we have so many people pulling for the success of our athletes and our program.

Sam, Becca, and Tim

This was a team effort, and a big thanks goes out to our nordic coach, Chris City, for helping make a the wax-call on a day which was anything but straightforward in terms of figuring out what would be fastest on the snow.  Alpine coach Sam Damon also nailed the overlay wax at the start and got Becca’s skis buffed out and running like greased lightning, and got our athlete fully pumped-up to crush-it in the start gate, as he has been doing all season long.  The next 24-hours was a bit of a whirlwind, but suffice it to say there was a lot going on; we even managed to get in a great morning of slalom training before heading to Bohart Ranch, the nordic venue, to watch Alena Tofte give it everything she had for the Crimson in the 15k classic race.  Our experience from the previous day gave us a bit of extra energy which we put to good use with some boisterous cheering for Alena.

Saturday’s slalom had temperatures soaring in the high 50′s, making for a quickly softening track.  The plan for the day was to keep the line above the gate and try and bring speed into the long middle flat section, and then get on top of it for the final pitch into the finish where the snow was getting exceptionally soft.  Becca put down an aggressive first run with a few minor bobbles, but still managed to move up a few spots and was in good shape heading into the second run. With the first 30 finishers from the first run starting in reverse order for the second run, and the quickly softening snow, it was clear that it was going to be a battle and that anything was possible in terms of an overall result.  Becca’s second run was again aggressive in conditions that made it easy to ski defensively.  She linked clean turns on the upper pitch and danced through the tight hairpin/flush combos coming onto the flat.  On the lower pitch, where the turns were big and the ruts were bigger, Becca put down some of her best slalom turns of the year and overtook the lead after crossing the finish line.  She held onto the lead for a while, and ultimately ended the day in 7th place, her second All-American finish of the championship.

Obviously, saying that this was a great week for Harvard Skiing would be a bit of an understatement, but oddly enough I am struggling to describe the magnitude of this achievement.  Suffice it to say that it is huge, and it will only serve to inspire Harvard Skiing to keep on with our efforts.

Read more about Becca’s win in the Crimson, Ski Racing, the Boston Globe, and GoCrimson.  Video of Becca’s GS and Alena’s 5km are on Facebook. Things are clicking for Harvard Skiing and we’re not slowing down anytime soon!

Nordic Race Report by Coach City

On the nordic side, the big question going into the Championships was how Alena would respond to racing at altitude.  Bohart Ranch, the site of the NCAA nordic races, is at 5,000 feet – well above any course Alena had ever raced on.  Each 5km lap of the racecourse consisted of three hills: the long, steady “Telemark Hill” in the first kilometer, and then the herringbone-steep “Macedonian Wall” and the “S-Curve” uphills in the fourth kilometer.  The terrain in-between was largely flat or gently rolling with very manageable downs.  Alena needed to avoid going too far over redline on any of the uphills because if she did, the thin air would make it nearly impossible to recover in time to ski the intervening flats and rolling terrain well.  The question was: where was her redline at 5,000 feet?  Arriving late Monday evening, we wouldn’t have time to find out – she would have to go by feel in the races.

Alena

The first race was an individual start 5km skate on Wednesday morning.  Based on her performances this season, Alena was seeded near the middle of the field.  She paced herself well, keeping the throttle under control on the hills and making her skis run on the flats.  She had just enough in the tank to get over the 4km hills well and crossed the line before her legs cramped up from the effort.  She placed 27th overall; a mere 10 seconds faster would have put her in 23rd.  She was 10th among EISA skiers, which is consistent with how she was placing in our league all year and indicates she gauged her effort well, especially considering that the other Eastern skiers had traveled earlier and had up to a week to acclimate to the altitude and recover from their trips west.

The second race of the Championships was a 15km classic.  The women started in the late morning, and by the time the gun went off temperatures were already in the mid-fifties in the stadium and not much cooler in the woods.  Moreover, the multiple-lap format meant that the two tough climbs at 4km were quickly followed by the Telemark hill at the beginning of each subsequent lap.  The race quickly became a slog, with even the very best skiers walking the herringbone sections and sluggish downhills providing little respite.  Alena hung tough, chasing a pair of Utah skiers for much of the race while also trading back and forth with skiers from Bates, Northern Michigan and Colorado.  She finished 35th overall to cap a great season of racing that began just after New Year’s Day.

The other story of the championships was the dominance of the Eastern women.  The East placed 6 women in the top 10 in the skate race and 7 in the top 10 in the classic (including the first 6 finishers).  It reflects well on Alena’s multiple top-10 regular season performances this year that she was clearly competing among the best in the country every weekend.

Alpine Race Report by Coach Mitchell

Cate Kistler

Harvard Alpine wrapped up the regular season at the Middlebury Carnival, which also doubled as the NCAA Eastern Regional Championship.  Friday’s slalom was challenging, but for more reasons than a difficult course: the chairlift broke down prior to the first run, forcing the athletes to hike for both race runs.  Kevin McNamara put down probably his best collegiate slalom run of the year and was in 38th after the first run, but was caught out by a challenging combination in the second run that derailed what was sure to be a top-30 result.  Ian Anderson, battling a nagging shoulder injury linked together two solid runs, notching up some more valuable points for the team on the day.  The women were led by Catherine Sheils in eighth after the first run, but a hooked-tip just before the finish took her out of what looked to be a top-5 result after she was 3rd place on the second run split-time.  Cate Kistler led the team in 16th, continuing her steady climb in the slalom standings.  After a year and half away from racing because of a serious knee injury, look for Cate to be a regular top-15 finisher next season as her form continues to return/improve.  Becca Nadler skied solidly into 19th spot, while Caroline McHugh moved up a few positions to end the day 50th, filling the valuable role of the team’s third scorer, where her consistency has been of huge benefit to the team all season long.

EISA All-East Team

Saturday’s GS race was marked by new fallen snow and very high winds.  Ordinarliy this is just inconvenient, but on a hill like Middlebury that has two painfully flat sections, a gust of wind at the wrong time and your race was essentially over no matter how well you skied.  In fact, the wind was so strong that many racers were skating and poling from the start all the way through the fourth GS gate, which is beyond unheard of!  The men skied solidly, with Kevin in 56th and Ian in 66th, despite a big mistake in his first run.  Becca Nadler fought through an extremely windy start to pull down 12th place on the day, solid skiing on a hill that does not suit her skill set of excelling on steep, icy, turny courses.  Catherine Sheils skied one of her better GS races of the year, landing in 26th, with Cate Kistler 36th, Caroline McHugh 42nd and Liz Strong 44th.  The day also marked the last collegiate races for graduating seniors Caroline McHugh and Kevin McNamara, both integral parts in the team’s ascendancy over the last few years!

Nordic Team

In an ironic end to an almost snowless regular season, Saturday’s classic went off in a blizzard.  We had to tie the tent to several vehicles to keep it from blowing away!  Conditions slowed the race dramatically as racers plowed through inches of new powder and sometimes found themselves drifting or blown off the side of the course.  The winning time in the men’s 20km was almost 1:20.  (By comparison, this same race distance on a very similar course at Stowe took just 59 minutes two weeks ago.)  Akeo Maifeld-Carucci, who sat out Friday’s race with the lingering effects of the stomach flu, bounced back with his best race of the year and was in fact leading the race at 6km.  He finished 15th after skiing in and near the lead pack for the entire race.  Chris (31st) improved from Friday while Tor (63rd) skied well in his final collegiate race on a course that has been very tough on him in the past.  In the women’s race, Alena was in the lead pack for much of her race (and took a turn at the front as well) and finished 9th overall, which was her best classic result of the season.  Esther (31st) skied well in tough conditions, while Jen (55th) was hampered by icing skis.

Alpine Race Report by Coach Mitchell

Becca wins!

This past Friday-Saturday, Harvard Alpine raced the final regular-season carnival of the year at Jiminy Peak for the Williams College Carnival. The normal schedule was juggled slightly due to weather and snow conditions with the slalom being contested on Friday and the GS on Saturday.

It was a big day on Saturday, with Becca Nadler starting in the GS series standings red “leader bib.” Nadler had a day befitting the wearer of the leader bib, dicing the challenging hill, winning both runs and punching in for the overall win, the first for a Harvard Alpine skeir since Ben Steele in 1974! Catherine Sheils and senior captain Caroline McHugh gave the Crimson their second and third scoring results in 30th and 37th respectively, with Liz Strong rounding out the day in 40th.

Caroline

The women’s team rallied for a 4th place finish in Friday’s slalom, only 9 points out of 2nd place. The team was led by Becca Nadler, who clocked the fastest time on the second run with an aggressive approach on a course that even ate up a few world cup level skiers. On the strength of her second run, Nadler ended the day on the podium in 3rd place, a career best collegiate slalom result. Catherine Sheils was primed to be in the mix for a podium spot as well, but a bobble in the second run threw off what was shaping up to be a career best result for her as well. Freshmen Cate Kistler and Liz Strong both rallied strong second runs, with Kistler ending up 11th and Strong 24th, their best collegiate results to date.

Kevin

The men’s team was hampered by injury this week, with both Andrew Spielvogel and Ian Anderson out with shoulder injuries… Kevin McNamara held down the fort for the men’s team solo both days. In Friday’s slalom, McNamara put down a great first run, moving from a start position of 60 all the way up to 38th place; a second run slip-up enroute to what surely would have been a top-20 result cost McNamara a shot at his best collegiate result to date, but the speed was there… McNamara narrowly missed out on the second run cut in Satuday’s GS race, a day where there were few opportunities to move up the result sheet.

Nordic Race Report by Coach City

Those who have raced at Prospect Mountain outside Bennington know that area has its own weather pattern – there can be brown grass in Bennington and fabulous skiing a few miles away at Prospect. It’s a sign of just how weird this winter has been that Williams had to move its carnival to the opposite end of Vermont – Craftsbury – to find snow. We chased it there, too, for a one-day 10km classic race on Craftsbury’s newly homologated 5km course. Rain and warm temperatures this week had transformed the snow into an icy, sugary mix that held up surprisingly well throughout the morning’s racing. Alena Tofte led the team with her best classic race of the season (10th). Esther Kennedy skied very well but surrendered a few seconds over the last kilometer to slip to 29th (just 7 seconds out of 24th), while Jen Rolfes finished the scoring in 48th. In the men’s race, Chris Stock had his best distance classic result of the season with a 16th place finish, 20 seconds out from 11th. Tanner Wiegand (61st) and Tor O’Brien (66th) also scored for us in a very tightly-bunched field.

We had racing at three different venues in two states this weekend, and more great results as well. Once again we’re led by Becca Nadler, who has made a home for herself on the podium, taken on the league’s GS leader bib, and piloted our women to another top-5 team finish…

Alpine Race Report by Coach Mitchell

Harvard Alpine competed at the Dartmouth Carnival this past wekend at Dartmouth Skiway. Friday’s GS race saw fantastic conditions making for some really aggressive, tight racing. Becca was again knocking on the door of a victory, coming up with a 2nd place finish for the second weekend in a row. Solid skiing from the women’s team with Caroline McHugh in 26th, Catherine Sheils in 27th, Cate Kistler in 32nd and Liz Strong in 33rd led to a 5th place finish, although the ladies were only a few points away from 3rd… On the strength of Becca’s result, she took over the lead in the GS season standings, earning the red “leader’s bib.” The men had all three athletes hovering around the 2nd run qualification mark, with Andrew Spielvogel on the right side of the cut. Andrew put down a strong second run and moved into 41st to score valuable points for the team.

In Saturday’s slalom, the team as a whole had a bit of a rough day. The men just missed out on the second run cut, while Becca and Catherine, in good position after the first run, both went out of the course on the pitch after hitting a rut. Both were assuredly on their way to top-10 results on the day, and the speed is there… The rest of the ladies put down two solid runs each, which is what was needed to rally for as many points as possible. Cate led the way in 23rd, followed closely by Liz. Caroline McHugh was the third scorer in 35th.

The alpine team also competed at Burke Mountain on Sunday in a make-up for the cancelled UNH Carnival GS. Becca, racing for the first time in the red leader’s bib, showed she has no intention of giving up the lead in the GS standings. She pushed it on a tough hill for a another podium performance (3rd place). Caroline put down an amazing second run, her best of the year, to finish 28th; and Catherine overcame a few mistakes on the upper pitch with fast skiing on the course’s lower section for 38th on the day. The men were led by Kevin McNamara, who skied well to qualify for a second run on the most challenging GS hill of the season and ended the day in 52nd. The team competes this coming Friday and Saturday at Jiminy Peak ski area for the Williams Carnival. Wish us luck!

Nordic Race Report by Coach City

Although it was the Dartmouth Carnival this weekend, there was no snow in Hanover and our races were in Stowe for the second consecutive weekend. In the men’s 10km, Chris Stock notched his second-best career result with a 13th place finish, just 13 seconds out of the top 10. Akeo Maifeld-Carucci (36th) continued to move up the scoreboard. Captain Tor O’Brien (54th in a very congested field) helped the men place 8th. Alena Tofte, who can just about ski this course fast in her sleep by now, continued her top-10 performances with a 9th in the 5km skate. Esther Kennedy (26th) and Jen Rolfes (38th), followed a few seconds later by Clare Miller (42nd), all had really strong races. The women were 6th overall on Friday. You can see video of several of our skiers racing in Friday’s 5/10km skate here.

Saturday’s classic distance race (15/20km) was a battle from the (mass) start. Alena (18th); Esther (37th) and Jen (47th) all got off the line extremely well and worked to hold on to their positions throughout the race. Our guys were in packs throughout the race and equalled or improved on their previous classic results: Chris was 23rd; Akeo 42nd; and Tanner Wiegand 48th.

Alpine Race Report by Coach Mitchell

Harvard Alpine took the hill at Stowe this past weekend for the UVM carnival. Racing conditions were optimal both days, with firm snow and pretty good weather. Fridays GS saw the first Harvard Alpine podium in about 30 years with Becca Nadler capturing second place, narrowly missing the win. On the strength of that performance, she moves into second place in the season standings and has secured a qualifying spot at NCAA nationals. Freshman Cate Kistler and captain Caroline McHugh finished 25th and 27th respectively, securing enough points to end up 4th in the team score for the day. The men had the best day of their season thus far, with Kevin McNamara and Ian Anderson both qualifying for a second run, ending the day in 38th and 45th places, adding to the overall team score.

Saturday’s slalom race was themed with very difficult course sets that saw close to a 50% DNF rate. Unfortunately, our men were among those caught out by the challenging set/hill, and the women only managed two finishers. Becca Nadler again led the way with a 6th place, her best collegiate SL placing to date. Freshman Liz Strong punched in a solid 19th place from the 55th start position for her first collegiate score of the year.

On Sunday, the men’s team competed at the historic Fisk Cup SL at Suicide Six ski area, where Kevin McNamara came from the fifties to finish 32nd on the first run. Unfortunately, he went out in the second run just before the finish enroute to what promised to be a season best result. Ian Anderson had a solid race, finishing 59th for the best FIS point score of his career in slalom.

The ladies competed at the Middlebury Eastern Cup SL the same day. Catherine Sheils had a great day finishing 8th place, while the rest of the team was close behind with Becca Nadler in 12th, Liz Strong 16th, Cate Kistler 25th, and Caroline McHugh in 33rd. This marked the most consistent performance for the team this season, which bodes well heading into the Dartmouth Carnival this weekend!

Nordic Race Report by Coach City

On Friday evening, Stowe received an inch or two of new snow that didn’t much mix with the wet, icy hard pack beneath. The result was a mix of wet glazing classic tracks and stretches of fairly dry new snow that defied easy waxing solutions. We found a wax combination that worked quite well for the women and tested well for the guys. Alena Tofte (15th), Esther Kennedy (28th) and Jen Rolfes (30th) combined to give our women’s team a very strong 5th place finish for the day. In typical Trapp’s fashion, the tracks changed very quickly in the course of the the men’s race and the wax we’d really liked a few minutes earlier left our top guys without much kick. Chris (23rd) led the men despite having to double-pole up most of the hills. Akeo Maifeld-Carucci (43rd) and Tanner Wiegand (53rd) skied well under the circumstances and rounded out the scoring.

The women produced another nice team result in Sunday’s 10km skate. Alena (9th), Esther (23rd), and Jen (50th) brought us a 6th, just one point out of 5th (Bates). The men skied fast in a very deep field in their 10km skate. Chris (21st) and Akeo (46th) were separated by less than a minute; Tor O’Brien was just about a minute behind Akeo in 60th and our third scorer. Tony Ryerson (who suffered a season-ending broken arm in early January) helped with testing skis and finding fast flouro topcoats for our racers on both days.

Alpine Race Report by Coach Mitchell

Harvard Alpine had a tough go of it this weekend at UNH, as did many of the teams, with mother nature dumping 4-6″ of heavy snow/ice on the race hill before Friday’s GS race.  After extensive course work and side slipping, the conditions were deemed unsafe and the event was unfortunately cancelled.  This meant that the results from Saturday’s slalom race would be doubled for the carnival result.  With every team still in the hunt for the win going into day two, high-risk aggressive skiing was the order of the day as everyone was within striking distance.  The conditions on the race hill were better than the previous day, but still soft and inconsistent in places, and the men’s course was a rodeo ride to say the least.  The Harvard men battled hard, but with this year’s deeper field, a second run qualification eluded the trio.  Both Kevin McNamara and Ian Anderson had promising runs going, but a tough side-hill combination tripped them both up near the finish, and Andrew Spielvogel charged from the back to miss the second run by only two spots.  On the women’s side, Catherine Sheils put down a strong first run and was in 10th place after the first run, but was caught out by some soft snow entering a hairpin entering the top of the main pitch on the hill.  Quick reflexes had her make a great recovery, but lose several seconds, but still mamage to slavage a solid 16th place result on the day.  Becca Nadler put down two solid runs on the very direct first run course, and extrememly grinding turny second run course to score a 21st place result.  Caroline McHugh made a good move forward with a strong first run to move from a start position outside of the top-60 to qualify for a second run.  She was charging in her second run but a bobble on the tight second run course forced her to miss a gate; realizing the need to score points for the team she scrambled back onto the course and rounded out the team scoring in 41st.

The team also competed in some non-collegiate races on Sunday.  Ian Anderson, Andrew Spielvogel, and Caroline McHugh raced the Macomber GS at Waterville Valley, while Kevin McNamara, Liz Strong, Cate Kistler, Becca Nadler, and Catherine Sheils took to the hill at Cranmore for a FIS Eastern Cup SL.  Caroline McHugh decimated the field at Waterville with some inspired GS skiing, taking the win by over two seconds.  Ian Anderson also made some great moves in finishing 7th place from a start position outside the top seed.  At Cranmore, Kevin McNamara linked together two clean runs under very challenging snow conditions on two difficult course sets to move from 64th to 39th on the day.  The ladies were led by Catherine Sheils who overcame some mistakes in the first run to put down a good second run on a course that proved one of the most difficult of the season to finish 11th on the day.  Cate Kistler also put together two strong runs to score a 16th place, signaling that she is certainly on her way back to form after a serious knee injury sidelined her from racing for nearly two years.

Racing resumes this weekend at Stowe, VT, for the UVM carnival on Friday and Saturday, followed by non-collegiate FIS slalom races on Sunday at Middlebury SnowBowl for the ladies and Suicide Six and Pico for the men.

Nordic Race Report by Coach City

Sprint days are always chaotic: from the opening prologue through (hopefully) the final rounds of heats, it’s nonstop for athletes and coaches alike.  On Friday the weather added another layer of challenge.  We received about 6 inches of new snow overnight, but by 6:30 a.m. it was already starting to change over to sleet, then rain.  We chased the wax from hard wax through nearly every warm klister in our box and landed on a couple of combinations that worked well and were faster than the non-wax options for most of our skiers.  (In precipitation around 32 degrees, many skiers now rely on “zeros” – skis with rubberized patches in the kick zone that approximate the “hairies” of old.)

Three of our athletes advanced from the prologue to the heats.  In the quarterfinals, Esther Kennedy double-poled past two women in the last 200 meters of the 1.2km course to advance to the semis.  She ultimately made it to the B final, where she finished 6th (12th overall for the day).  Alena Tofte was knocked out in the quarters after nearly coming back from a tangle on the course that put her at the back of her heat.  She finished 16th on the day.  Emily Rogers had a very good sprint prologue in her first classic race of the year to round out our scoring.

The performance of the day came from Chris Stock, who powered through to the A final against three Dartmouth skiers, a UVM skier and a US Ski Team member.  Chris led the pack coming out of the woods at 1 km but was just out double-poled over the last 200 meters of the course and finished fourth.  It’s hard to describe how exciting it was to see a Harvard skier at the front of the race.  Akeo Maifeld-Carucci and Tanner Wiegand were close but just outside of qualifying for the heats.

By Saturday morning the snow had largely dried out leaving sugary uphills and rocket-fast downs.  Alena went out with the lead pack but a tangle on an early hill put her into the first chase pack – in sight of the leaders, but not quite able to bridge to them.  She skied to a team-leading 11th place.  Esther (30th) and Clare Miller (42nd) also had very solid races.  In the men’s race, Akeo Maifeld-Carucci (38th) also skied in the first chase pack for much of the race.  He was on pace for a top-30 finish before a multi-skier crash on the last downhill split his ski in half.   Chris (52nd) and Tor O’Brien (58th) rounded out the scoring for us.

We’re lucky to have skiing available to us at Weston… it’s clear from talking with other coaches that many teams have had to travel a long way or forgo on-snow time during the week as a result of this unusually warm and dry winter.

Many thanks to David Rand ’79 for hosting us at the incomparable Drifters Ski Club in Jackson and to David, Jim Stock (P’14) and Marty Miller (P’12) and his brother John for helping with setup and waxing in very tricky conditions this weekend.

Alpine Race Report by Coach Mitchell

Harvard alpine took to the hill this weekend for the first collegiate race of the season at Sunday River.  Snow conditions were great, although some new fallen snow and strong winds made visibility difficult at times.  The women’s team got off to a strong start with a 4th place finish in Friday’s GS, led by some stellar skiing by Rebeca Nadler in 6th position.  Catherine Sheils and Caroline McHugh rounded out the scoring spots for the team with very strong results in 21st and 30th respectively.  This represents some of the best GS skiing we’ve seen from the ladies this year.  Freshmen Cate Kistler and Liz Strong both ran into trouble in the first run, but only after putting down some great turns on the challenging upper section of the course.   With the addition of several new teams to the league has come a new rule cutting the field down to the top 60 after the first run.  The men had a tough go of it and narrowly missed the cut-off in the GS.

In Saturday’s slalom, the women were poised for another strong result after the first run, but a few hiccups in the second run had the women end up in 8th position.  Scoring was again led by Rebecca Nadler, who took advantage of a great second run start position, putting down one of the faster runs of the afternoon for a 10th place result, her best collegiate slalom result.  Catherine Sheils was on the verge of a top-10 result after a fast first run, but was caught out by a tight flush-gate in the second run, costing her a bunch of time, but a heads-up move by her in skiing the combination gate backwards saved some time and saved some team points in the process.  She ended up 14th on the day.  Caroline McHugh had a solid first run, but was forced out of the course after getting her pole stuck in the second run, ripping her pole and glove off of her hand completely.  Cate Kistler had a very solid top section of the first run going, but was caught out on the side hill section and Liz Strong diced the hardest part of the pitch and posted a split time that would have had her threatening the top-10, but hit a rut funny a few gates before the finish, costing her a chance at the second run.

The men put down some better skiing on Saturday, with Kevin McNamara and Andrew Spilevogel both skiing runs that would have qualified them for the second run, but both ran into trouble at the transition coming off the steep pitch.  Ian Anderson was linking together a fast run, but a straddle took him out of contention.  All in all, there were some great things to come out of the weekend, but the team is primed to take it up a notch for next weekend’s UNH carnival.

Nordic Race Report by Coach City

New snow – 6-8″ of it – fell as light dry powder in Rumford on Thursday night.  Winter, finally!  The new snow altered the course from the hard and fast manmade snow we’ve been skiing on since early December to something more familiar to the West.  The 5km skate used a variation of the national championship course with well-spaced climbs and very skiable downhills.  Alena Tofte led the team with a career-best 7th place finish.  Clare Miller and Esther Kennedy were neck-and-neck in the mid-30s.  The men skied 10km, which meant

3 trips up the fabled “High School Hill.”  Chris Stock rallied in the third lap to move from the mid-20s up into 19th.  Akeo Maifeld-Carucci, Tanner Wiegand and Tor O’Brien also moved up in the standings as the race progressed, which indicates good fitness.

The mass start classic races went off on Saturday under lightly falling new snow.  Alena and Esther skied near each other for most of the race and led the team with 22nd and 28th place finishes respectively.  It was Esther’s best finish since her freshman year.  Jen Rolfes rounded out the scoring in 43rd.  With a relatively short race distance, a deep field, and a mass start, the men’s race skied in a series of pulsing charges that alternately slimmed the pack and let it re-constitute.  Chris, Akeo and Tanner were all in the main pack for most of the race.  Chris repeated his 19th place finish with another late-race charge.  With Tanner and Akeo also finishing in the top 40 (about 40 seconds behind Chris), the men’s team placed 7th for the day, up from 9th in the skate race.

Junior Tony Ryerson suffered a season-ending broken arm after falling in practice on Tuesday.  He had surgery to repair it on Friday and was in our thoughts throughout the weekend.  We wish him a quick recovery!

Alpine Thanksgiving Camp Report – Liz Strong ’15

Thanksgiving break was the Harvard alpine ski team’s first on-snow training camp this season. Using my family’s house in Frisco as our home base, we trained at Loveland, Copper, and Vail. Beginning the camp with five consecutive days of giant slalom training, we rested on Thanksgiving.

My teammates battled illnesses ranging from influenza to appendicitis to come together and have a great Thanksgiving dinner. [Coach's Note: yes, one of our athletes had to have his appendix out during camp! He recovered well and is back to schoolwork and will be training again soon.] We spent the last three days of the camp training slalom at the U.S. Ski Team’s arena at Copper. Sunny skies and warm temperatures made it hard for us to leave Colorado Sunday afternoon, but we are looking forward to a short camp at Sunday River this weekend.

Senior captain Caroline McHugh posted a fantastic first-person video of a day on snow with the team on our Facebook page.

Nordic Thanksgiving Camp Report – Akeo Maifeld-Carucci ’15

This year marked the beginning of what looks like will become an great new Thanksgiving camp tradition for Harvard’s nordic ski team. This year we went to Craftsbury, VT instead of making the customary Thanksgiving break trek to Canada. In Vermont we stayed at the local outdoor center in an olympic-village like setting, with skiing out the door, weight facilities, and an excellent dining lodge. Our first day was spent dry land training, but thanks to a large snow that night we were able to ski twice a day for the rest of the week. It was such an amazing time being back on snow after the long summer months, and spending so much time bonding together as a team. Our first few days on snow were dedicated to easy distance skiing, with lots of technique work to transition and adapt all our hard work from roller skiing to snow skiing. The week built in intensity culminating in a 4.5km skate race.  This was a great opportunity for everyone to push themselves and get a in a really good hard effort.

Off the trails we also had a fantastic time. After a few months of Harvard dining hall food it was a nice change to have home-style cooking. We also had a suite with a nice common room where we were able to spend lots of time together studying, watching movies, talking about skiing and baking pies and cookies! Everyone was sad to leave after such a fun camp, but with only a few more weeks before local skiing, spirits are still high and the air is filled with excitement for the upcoming races.

Thanksgiving snow!

Nordic Team at Thanksgiving