Above the parking lot at Burton Snowboard Headquarters in Burlington, Vermont the world’s first Snowboard company has strung some old, rusted-out lift chairs to inspire some thoughts of wintery mountain scenes that are (hopefully) not too far off for us all.
Passing underneath those lift lines on the way to Sunday’s Free Fall Rollerski Festival, I thought of how often I’ve played out that relatively simple moment in my life. An essential act for us nordic skiers is passing over the lifts (or under them), literally and in our psyches, to explore what lies beyond. What we often find is just as beautiful as the mountain tops. Frosted tree lines with snow ready to take us into corners of the world that don’t often get visited. Sublime open meadows and deep pockets of forest.
…Or alternatively on Sunday, the concrete-laden loading dock behind the building. Ah…bucolic!
So rollerskiing doesn’t exactly lend itself to the same natural splendor that is so key to what makes our sport a special one to practice. In fact, the first thing Mansfield Nordic Club Head Coach Adam Terko and I thought to do while setting up for the morning’s sprint race was to fire up the leaf blowers and get any of the autumnal beauty from the fallen leaves Off. Our. Course!
The question we were unintentionally posing on Sunday then, was absent of the snow, the trees, the forests, and the leaves, is it still worth passing over the lift lines? What lies beyond it for those of us on skinny skis.
The answer on Sunday was the same familiar community, our nordic community, full of goodhearted people working hard to make sure that everyone can experience the adventure of moving across the terrain under your own volition in their own ways.
Specifically, for this year’s Free Fall, Mansfield Nordic Club and SkiRack helped us put together a program that stressed the fun of going fast in the morning, and the fun of exploring the world on skis in the afternoon. And the whole time, Free Fall celebrated the rare opportunity to take part in our sport wearing a few less layers than normal, and a little closer to the heart of the action in Burlington than usual.
Free Fall Sprints
The key in putting a compelling rollerski course together is finding the liminal space between a course that feels like skiing, but also helps stress things that are harder to on skis in the winter.
For the sprints on Sunday, we tried to find this balance by hybridizing a couple of popular formats from rollerski season’s past; namely agility and a “court-style” sprints. As Adam Terko expressed his goals for this course, “one in which you’re never really set.” The idea was that skiers had to think about the next corner while they were navigating the current one, but also, crucially, be on a course in which they were still able to hit race speeds throughout. The other adjustment from previous “duel knockout” formats was a shift to a “court-style” sprint that guaranteed every racer a full simulation of a sprint day. Four rounds; qualifier, quarter, semi-final, and final. All on a 1.1 k loop.
The field on Sunday featured a great mix of juniors from Mansfield, Craftsbury Ski Club, and Gould Academy. The qualifier was won by James Crowley in a time of 2:08, followed in short order by Niko Cuneo and Lucas Barstow at 2:09. Astrid Longstreth skied to the top Women’s time at 2:35, with Evelyn Burnes following her in a 2:56.
After two rounds of heats, the A-final featured top qualifiers Crowley and Barstow alongside Lorenzo Atocha. After a fast-moving start, Atocha held an early lead as the skiers navigated the chicanes and corners that formed the bulk of the course. The course featured a lap lane which widened for a moment before navigating these twists a second time, and through them, the group accelerated towards a stasis. All three were together, until a sharp corner where Lucas Barstow took a fast-moving line and exploded into the final stretch to take first place over James Crowley. Atocha finished the heat to round out the podium) 1st) Lucas Barstow, 2nd) James Crowley, 3rd) Lorenzo Atocha.
In the Women’s field, Astrid Longstreth held on for 3 consecutive heats to take the win, while Evelyn Burnes stayed consistent to take runner’s up. We also celebrated an Adaptive champion, as Craftsbury skier Otis Loga navigated the twists and turns on his sit-ski to a win!
BKL Clinic
After the Free Fall Sprints awards, a group of BKL skiers got together to try out rollerskiiing. Some had been on rollerskis a few times before, while for others it was their first time on rollerskis! We started by thinking about athletic body position, how to stop, turning techniques, jumping on skis (a fan favorite!) and then utilized part of the morning’s race course to set up our own mini-agility loop. Some skiers got to try out skate rollerskis and worked on frog jumps and skate pushes, and others opted for some classic work. Before we enjoyed our well-deserved popsicles, we played a lively game of pool noodle tag.
Mansfield Master’s Ski
While the BKL kids got to play during the afternoon, members of the Mansfield Nordic Club Master’s group got together for a beautiful Fall afternoon ski right through to the Lake Champlain shoreline in downtown Burlington.
A rollerski down a busy bike path in the heart of a city always uncanny. Again, nordic skiers spend all winter out in the woods, so being in the heart of the action takes an adjustment in attunement to your surroundings. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the tales of a Vermont high school race on a groomed section of the bike path made possible by an enterprising Lustgarten family in year’s past were worth it alone (if anyone has any photos from this, send them our way!).
The ski down to the shoreline of Lake Champlain incurred a particular hint of pride in this place, New England. You could see out straight West to the rippled ridges of the Adirondacks, and back up the hill to Burlington proper. With a group in which the ties to skiing run deep and traverse a very tightknit community, it was a perfectly placed ski in geography and in our calendar to remind ourselves of what we can be excited about in the months ahead. From the shores of Vermont, spanning out, they’ll be days this winter spent up in among the high peaks at Lake Placid, and out far flung in the deep forested woods of Vermont.
What do us nordic skiers get going beyond the lift lines, then? The familiar faces of friends, and endless pockets of a mighty old land where the ski tracks are well tread. It’s going to be a big winter!
