The lodge atmosphere at the Thomas Inneson Memorial Slalom held at Bromley seemed rather sedate this year -  there was no college race on the upper hill and no Boy Scouts! So, the day that began calm and relaxed in the lodge, heated up as the class 6 men battled it out for not only a class win, but for the overall. Bromley’s own Bill Zimmerman opened with the fastest first  run, and Matt Bemis (M4) won the second run, but it was last year’s winner Mark George with two solid performances that won the race. Mark George is so steady and calm in slalom that he doesn’t even look fast! Class 4 Terrence Fogerty’s third fastest second run was enough to hold off  Steve Ouellette (M2). Deserving some accolade for the slightly more aged is Class 7 Bob Andree from Greek Peak, NY just missing the top five by a tenth of a second. Andree held off Jerome Geurard (M3) by a mere 0.06. An influx of New York Masters racers stiffened age class competition and provided a reunion-like atmosphere.

            No story would be complete without mention a racer’s multiple linked recoveries. Matt Aeschliman’s second run was full of ooohs and wows. Matt skied with Bode-esque determination towards the finish line, but blew his Super Seed top three result and settled for second page results.

            Providing some first run entertainment was Ski Racing’s own Bill McCollom. Bill performed what appeared to be a full twisting full full - egg beater style - in the flush. The mishap left him scrambled all over the hill but fortunately uninjured.

            Once again, Jessie McAleer pushed the men to the limit. Jessie skied to fifth place in the men’s race, bested only by Zimmerman and George. Class 5 Margaret Vaughn’s second fastest second run just wasn’t enough to catch youngster Lauren Bennett (1). Taking full advantage of a buff course and the number 2 bib, Anne Nordhoy skied elegantly to a fourth place overall. Inspired by Nadine Price’s slalom results last week, (W4) Barb Brumbaugh, powered by a 101 degree fever (or was that a hot flash?) pulled out a top five slalom result.

            Age Class Highlights: It appears that Steve Foley is back from a broken leg and ACL injury. Steve moved to within 0.03 of Haldor Reinholt in the 1^st run, pushing Haldor to perform in the second run to maintain Class 9 bragging rights. In the closest age class race, it was Pete Donaghy holding off charging Chuck Thorndike by a mere 0.04 in overall time.

            The Janeway Cup is a Memorial to the late Senator Edward Janeway, one of the founders of Stratton Mountain and a promoter of Masters ski racing. The prestigious award is given to the fastest man and woman over the age of 40, this year, Scott Hardy and Nadine Price. Both racers have won the Cup in the past,  but it’s been seven long years for Price to return to her old GS form. Nadine, returning to an overall top three podium after three broken legs since 2002, decided this fall that “recovery is over,” she’s back!

            Last year’s winner Scott Hardy (M5) was taken by surprise as newcomer to New England Masters racing Randy Detrick (M2) took a 1.24 second lead over Hardy. Hardy answered with the fastest second run, but Detrick stole the win by 0.64. There was more new blood in the top five as Canadian Maxine Masse (M1) held onto third place overall. Steve Ouellette (M2) skied consistently and passed Doug Carpenter (M5) when Carpenter made some “witnessed” errors on the course, but was able to keep it together to finish the run. The next three class 3 racers deserve credit as Alex Gadbois, Jerome Guerard, and Mark Budreski duked it out for not only sixth, seventh and eighth overall, but also for the top three places within their age group. Tough class, as a mere 0.64 separated these men. Honors are extended to ninth and tenth place finishers Bob Andree (M7) and Matt Bemis (M4) on this long, tough course, full of surprises which left many wishing for an oxygen tank in the finish coral.

            While standing at the finish, racers waited to see what Matt Aeschliman could muster up after a DNF in his first run. Well, he DNF’ed again, but Matt is always willing to “try a line that‘s not always the most sustainable line.” Great entertainment though, Matt!  John Pierce “took himself out of the ball game” with a near back flip about two-thirds of the way through the course, which is incidentally where most of the crashes and DNF’s took place.

            Proving that he’s still got stamina and courage, Duffy Dodge (M12) held off many double digit classes younger than him (except for Doug Wisse, class 10).  Dick “Rocket” Prentice, Bob McGrath, and Philippe Marielle (M10), and class 11 Larry Voelker, and Alphonse Sevigny got topped by Dodge. Great Job Duffy!

             Well, Jessie McAleer (W3) won… again…

            Last years overall winner Liz Mezzetti (W1) crashed and hiked and still managed to pull off eighth overall coming back on the second run, second only to Jessie. Lauren Bennett (W1) was steady enough to hang on to second place overall as Nadine Price (W6) laid down the third fastest time and made up 1.20 seconds on Bennett. Price settled for third place overall and the Janeway win, and was happy with her second run. Next was Gay Folland (W7) who is always willing to point ‘em down the hill when necessary. Newcomer Abbi Lefebvre (W1) was fifth, holding off SMS alumni Patti Lane (W5) and Class 9 Anne Nordhoy.

            Other interesting news: Margaret Vaughn (W5) with a detour in a tricky section of the first run laid down a top five time in the second run. Kim Sceili (W4) showed how “game” she is for a good time, and how easily she can be coerced into racing the toughest GS on the circuit.

Full results at www.nemasters.org

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