After a cold weather post-postponement earlier this winter, weather woes continued to plague the Tour de Stowe event directors with forecasted ice and rain. However, after careful inspection of multiple weather forecasts, they decided to move ahead with the event. And with 20/20 hindsight, they made the right decision!
While it was quite icy and raining heavily when volunteers arrived onsite, the von Trapp groomers worked their magic on the trails, the rain slowed, the skies began to clear, and by the time the BKL/youth skiers were at the blueberry soup stop, the sun was starting to come out!
Stowe Nordic’s Tour de Stowe is a true celebration of recreational skiing for all skiers, young to old and new to experienced.
At 10am, after sharing some donuts and cider in the yurt courtesy of Cold Hollow Cider Mill, over fifty people set out on a beautiful tour of some of Stowe’s most picturesque trails which took them past a delicious food stop at the Slayton Pasture Cabin. People could choose their own adventure by skiing the 14km or 22km loop with the longer course wending its way over to the Stowe Mountain Resort trail system.
At 10:30am, the BKL/youth skiers set off on their 5km adventure course which was masterminded by Mansfield Nordic‘s Liz Hollenbach. With three unique activity stations and a food stop with blueberry soup, the skiers had fun challenging themselves both physically and mentally.
The first stop featured a dice-roll agility station where skiers rolled foam dice to determine whether they would ski backwards, do a 360, complete a ballet turn or ski as low as they could go. After some warm blueberry soup, they skied onto their their next station which was tennis ball biathlon! Last, but not least, skiers completed a slalom course before riding the roller bumps into the finish for a lollipop and some tasty Cabot cheese.
The day wrapped up with a raffle and community get together in the von Trapp Bierhall where participants gathered to swap stories and share delicious food and drink.
Thank you to Stowe Nordic and their awesome crew of volunteers, David Rye and the von Trapp Family Lodge & Resort, the Stowe Mountain Resort XC Center, Liz Hollenbach of Mansfield Nordic, Cold Hollow Cider Mill, Cabot Cheese, and our wonderful NENSA sponsors for making this fun, community event a reality for the third year in a row!
