Caldwell Family at Sverre’s retirement at SMS (Beckwith photo)
There is perhaps no more fitting honor to acknowledge Sverre Caldwell’s contribution to the US Skiing than to be recognized with an award that is named after his father. This award annually recognizes a single individual, or entity, which embodies the spirit, dedication, innovation and pride in our Nordic community that the founder of NENSA exhibited.
Sverre grew up in Putney while his father was crafting the Cross-Country Ski Book, coaching the US Ski Team, teaching at the Putney School and raising a family with his wife Hep. John describes his sons arrival to coaching, “Sver loved sports from day one,” and found challenge growing up as the middle brother of four exceptionally athletic siblings. “And so the question is, how did Sver survive in this atmosphere? I dunno, but Hep and I paid a lot of attention to all our kids and maybe it paid off.”
“Somehow, Sver was always the most organized, the most with-it, and the most accommodating! And it’s clear to me, at least, that he carried these characteristics over into his coaching.”
Sverre, Tim, John and Peter Caldwell (Sophie Caldwell photo)
And did he ever – it would be nearly impossible to list the athletes and coaches Sverre Caldwell has influenced over forty years of coaching at the Stratton Mountain School – quite simply because he has directly mentored or worked with skiers from all corners of the United States. Rick Kapala, the Director of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Nordic Program describes Sverre and the Stratton Mountain School as the “Gold Standard,” that other programs measure their success against. Kapala goes on to say, “as I was beginning my coaching I would read John’s books cover to cover – and how was I supposed to compete with the Sverre who was literally in the book!” The professionalism of US coaching was effectively established on the shoulders of Sverre and the coaches of his generation. It was the friendly competition between programs like Sun Valley and Stratton that created the environment of greatness we see today in US Skiing.
Stratton and US Ski Team alum, Andrew Newell, was mentored by Sverre and now carries his own coaching torch with his start-up program, Nordic Team Solutions. “Sverre’s coaching style is perfect for young athletes… always upbeat and consistent in demeanor he always strikes a balance between pushing you incredibly hard while still keeping it fun. The perfect combination. He always understood the value of a cohesive team, and how we can all improve by pushing one another. He’s one of the easiest people to talk to, I think as athletes we’ve all strived to make him proud.”
The inclusive culture Caldwell developed during his forty years at the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) produced tens of Olympians and National Champions as well as inspiring the next generation of coaches and program leaders. Sverre always said he wouldn’t retire until we won an Olympic Gold medal – it might have taken a few years longer than he wanted – but that box was checked when Jesse Diggins (SMS T2) and Kikkan Randall (APU) struck gold in PyeongChang, South Korea. Of course there are many other statistics that a program needs to meet before the highest stage. For the past 24 years, the SMS program has boasted at least one Junior National Champion and at least one member of the US Junior World Championship Team per year. Attending SMS Bill Koch and Junior Camps is a rite of passage for many athletes from New England, New York and beyond – it often serves as a launching pad for these campers, either by inspiring them to train harder when they go home or deciding that the environment at Stratton is the perfect place to spend a few years in their training pursuits.
As Sverre moves aside from his position at the helm of the SMS Nordic Program, he leaves behind a legacy of one of the finest junior programs in the world. Caldwell is also responsible for creating and securing the funding needed to support the Stratton T2 Elite Team – the success of this program is undeniable with both US Ski Team athletes and coaches taking up residence during the summer months in Southern Vermont. Like his father Sverre has nurtured his own exceptional family including Sophie, who is respected as one of the top sprinters in the world along with twins, Isabel and Austin – Isabel currently teaches at the Burr & Burton Outdoor Program where she mentors youth in the classroom and coaches their ski team in the winter – Austin recently took the assistant coaching position at the University of Colorado after a tenure at the Bridger Ski Foundation. Perhaps Sverre’s best attribute is how he balances his passion for cross country skiing while being a loving father and husband – in the past few years he and his wife Lilly have traveled the world both recreationally and also to watch their children and current and former athletes compete on the international stage.
The world is simply a better place because of the mark the Sverre Caldwell has left on hundreds of exceptional human beings – luckily for US Skiing he continues to share his expertise and inspiration via local training groups (that include international stars), outreach to coaches and work on NENSA committees.
Caldwell with the author at 1997 SMS graduation.
Matt Boobar, the current Nordic Program Director at SMS leaves us with this: “Sverre touched so many in skiing and beyond. While the performances on snow speak for themselves it was Sverre’s overall approach to each student athlete as an entire person that really speaks volumes. He fully embraced the part of SMS’s mission to help create and establish strong personal values. He proves that nice people do finish first! While Sverre is retired from his full-time responsibilities at Stratton Mountain School he will continue to promote and build nordic skiing at all levels. Sverre is clearly a deserving recipient of any award in Nordic skiing, even the one named after his dad!”
Read all about Pennie Rand being the recipient of the 2019 NENSA Chummy Broomhall Award, the 2020 BKL Festival at Great Glen, the 2021 U16 and EHS host venues, US Ski & Snowboard critera for World Cup race selection, the first of our NENSA High Peaks Cyclery Rollerski Races ~ the App Gap Challenge ~ and so much more! Enjoy! https://conta.cc/2NwiEkY
NENSA is thrilled to announce Pennie Rand as the 2019 recipient of the Chummy Broomhall Award. This award honors Chummy, who was the Chisholm Ski Club leader for nearly 70 years, a two-time Olympian, and a builder of the race courses for Squaw Valley, Lake Placid and Black Mountain. He embodied the spirit of being a volunteer as he was a man who gave his time to generations. NENSA proudly presents this annual award to honor the unsung heroes of ski racing.
This year NENSA would like to honor Pennie Rand, of Richmond VT, for her limitless enthusiasm for our sport of cross country skiing, and her support to our NENSA programing and athletes, of every age.
Pennie infuses enthusiasm with everything she does – from founding and organizing five editions of the exciting Cochran’s Nordic Ski Cross, to making wild flower crowns for the winners of the annual App Gap Challenge rollerski race (and serving on the timing crew), to attending countless NENSA, EISA, and community events — LL Bean Adirondack pack on her back, camera in hand, and cheering as loudly as she can for each and every competitor!
Eli Enman of Sleepy Hollow has this to say about Pennie: “When I think of Pennie and the Nordic Ski Cross, I just think of all her energy, and love of skiing come bubbling through. She’s a great organizer, and she is awesome at pulling people in to volunteer to put on the most fun race possible. It’s also worth noting that the ski cross race is a sort of cross discipline event, with both Nordic and Alpine parts. This is reflected in her joy of all things skiing – with Pennie it’s all about getting outside on any type of equipment to enjoy winter. In short, she makes skiing fun and it’s impossible not to get caught up in her enthusiasm for the sport.”
Pennie is a native Vermonter from Middlebury and was the Vermont Skimeister Champion in both 1980 and 1981. She is a certified Nordic instructor and has led ski tours to Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Iceland. She is an alum of the University of New Hampshire where she was on the Nordic Team. Fitting of her well-roundedness, her daughters, Karin and Annavitte have competed both as Alpine and Nordic skiers — and it’s fair to say their “best day” is skiing together as a family with dad, Matt, in the woods where there is a combination of covering some serious ground and catching powdery schusses along the way!
In the 1990s, Rand was executive director of the Catamount Trail Association. She is a freelance photographer and an Alpine ski coach and starter for Cochran’s Ski Club. In 2014 she served as director of operations at the Vermont Ski Museum in Stowe VT. Currently Pennie assists Molly Peters coaching the St. Michaels’s College ski team.
Pennie stared the Cochran’s Ski Cross seven years ago as an end of season event — the once local race, has now grown to become a regional phenomenon that draws a diverse field with top collegiate and club racers (including National and International Champions), juniors, masters and local legends of both XC and Alpine skiing. This past April, registration was closed after 200 athletes signed up!
While the Cochran’s event is a celebration of the season and the skiing community there is no doubt that skiing skills and racer mentality are being learned by all the competitors. Many chose to wear costumes to disguise their intents – but it’s fair to say all the racers give it their allin search of bragging rights or just to push their personal boundaries! And the woman behind this fun phenomenon is Pennie, who is right there in the thick of the action, making sure the event is top notch — starting the race all while while cheering for everyone (and laughing in her signature belly laugh)!
Adam Terko of Mansfield Nordic on Nordic Cross 2019, “The hype was real! And the participation and engagement for this type of sport is a big box you can check on the list of ‘why New England is the strongest region in the country.’ It’s not just our awesome access to trails, clubs, competition, and resources. It’s local events like this where community members like Pennie have a vision and are willing to put it all together to make something like this happen…and the ski community that comes out to shred when it happens!”
Our hats are off to Pennie Rand for helping push the level of skiing forward, and NENSA thanks her for all she has done for our sport!
Editors note: Pennie and Matt are currently in Iceland courting their mountain spirit – as it should be.
NENSA is excited to announce the host sites for the 2021 U16 Eastern Championships and Eastern High School Championships!
The 2021 U16 Championships will be held at Fort Kent Outdoor Center in Fort Kent, ME on March 12 – 14, 2021. FKOC did an amazing job hosting this past year’s Eastern High School Championships and we are happy to be working with them again on U16s in 2021.
Eastern High School Championships will be held at Titcomb Mountain in Farmington, Maine on March 19 – 21, 2021. Hosted by the Farmington Ski Club, we’re excited to be holding EHSC in 2021 at the “Friendliest Mountain Around!”
This year we bid two years in advance for our Championship Events, so the 2020 events are already scheduled and announced. As a reminder: U16s in 2020 will be held at Mountain Top Inn & Resort in Chittenden, VT, and EHSC will be held at Gore Mountain in North Creek, NY.
Check out all the latest happening and news at NENSA, and beyond HERE
This June 20th issues includes NENSA’s newest sponsor, High Peaks Cyclery, our NENSA Club of the Year and NENSA Coach of the Year Award winners, all the info you need to get psyched and get signed up for the AppGap Challenge, happening on August 3rd, and so much more!