Mount Gay Rum New England Masters at Cranmore & Attitash
Feb. 2^nd & 3^rd, 2002
by Jen Calder

Thursday night Bingo cancelled. So did the 5:15 Weight Watchers’ meeting.  These were bad omens for Masters racers as they negotiated the weather-related hazards of travel for Friday’s SuperG.  By Friday morning the same weather system that forced those judgment calls had closed or cancelled every school and scheduled event within the voice range of the radio announcer—and our SuperG.

It was windy and cold Saturday and some of us were almost stopped for no gain making our way down to the start of the slalom on Comp Hill, where about 120 ski racers assembled in motley for the 2^nd leg of the Gibson Cup Combined.  Those whose mettle had been tested and proven on the Cranmore GS stood poised to turn the tide of battle, nervously engaging in ping-pong repartee while assessing any chinks in their opponents’ psyches.  The course held up for inspection, but by the time the forerunners had gone, it began to resemble the surface of the moon more than a racecourse.  We broke through fast, yawning craters with loose collapsing edges, some big enough to swallow up a small woman.  It proved as much a test of balance and bravado as it did of strength and technical skill.  The second course was equally precarious, but more open, permitting the development of longer trenches around the gates. 

Always a crowd-pleaser, the second Super Seed of the season fielded 11.  Class 1’s Seth Mann and Class 4’s David Lamb actually tied for 10^th place.  Bravely these men launched themselves into the abyss, leaning into the attack with reckless abandon.  Chris Johnson, an athlete made of the sternest stuff, skiing with a torn ACL and a knee brace, had the fastest first run. Jim Harding got him by 4 one hundredths in the second run, not good enough to beat him, and Chris claimed the overall victory of the day, defending his 2001 Gibson Cup title. 

Jessie McAleer won the slalom, but Susanna Whitcher carried into this race a commanding lead from her GS for a combined lead of almost 2 second, winning her the 2002 Gibson Cup honors.  Third place finisher in the slalom, Kirsten Bosworth, stormed the gates in an authoritative second run.  Class 8’s Birdie Britton slammed through the course with a top ten finish in the slalom, 8^th in the combined.

Outstanding performances within the men’s classes:  we need to start with Class 11’s Duffy Dodge.  While he’s no stranger to praise from the press, you have to admire a man who can still best half his younger opponents.  This flip-flop contest continues in Class 8 between Steve Foley and Robert McKee.  Nobody seems to be able to post a serious challenge to Bill McCollom, the Bode Miller of Class 7.  Class 6’s Russ Probert, a man of steely composure who thinks too much, and such men are dangerous, quietly appropriated second place at Cranmore, second place in the combined.  And second place in the GS on Sunday.   The race between Class 1’s the Seth Mann and Steve Ouellette looked more like freestyle competition than Alpine racing, but even so they finished within hundredths of each other.

Having drunk the delights of battle, the combatants’ post race party spirit was enhanced by sponsor Shipyard Brewery and an animated raffle featuring largess from Atomic, Florian Tools, Denby Pottery, Artech, Swix, Buchika’s Ski & Bike, and Mount Gay Rum.

The Tobin Award, honoring those who have contributed to New England Masters’ racing, recognized this year Pam and Bob Fisher. Both started skiing at age 10 and have raced for over 50 years.  At age 32 Pam enjoyed the distinction of being the first woman admitted to the Veteran’s Circuit at Bromley, opening many doors for women in ski racing both by deed and example.  She and Bob, a retired literature teacher, have coached skiing for over 30 years.  The parents of three generations of racers, the Fishers have given of time and self not only to build the skiing community, but in forging role models of commitment and cooperative spirit which have established a behavioral standard for service to which we can all aspire.  They are richly entitled to accolade and worthy of the standing ovation bestowed upon them by their peers.

Sunday’s race on the Spillway at Attitash promised peril.  Errors and deviations from line showed in multiples of seconds, and a series of blind gates and unpredictable pitches coupled with New Hampshire hard-pack made miscalculation easy.  Steve Foley felt the risky line was faster, others debated the wisdom of round high, and most expressed dissatisfaction with their performance on the first run.  The second course turned a NASCAR race into a Formula 1 race, one of those courses in which you sure don’t want to look where you don’t want to go.  This was very midwinter madness. Will you or won’t you, a push out of the starting gate meant you had joined that dance, and it was a tango, a deceptive and seductive screamer that raised the adrenaline and undermined reason.  Jessie McAleer, with flamboyant flourish, threw down the gauntlet in the first run with a challenge that was not answered by the men until Class 4.  Callie Phillips, Kirsten Bosworth and Carolyn Beckedorff were all within a couple of seconds of her, and all three narrowed her advantage in the second run to within a second.  Callie Phillips got within half a second, but McAleer was in complete control of this course and very few of the men and none of the women bested her on this day.

Tip Kimball blasted into first on the first run, but the play would be played out and Dave Lamb outmaneuvered him on the second run to win by a little over two tenths of a second.  Sean Florian held on to finish third, but he was under attack from fourth place Doug Tucker who discarded all caution on his second run to close the gap.  Remarkably, given all the terrain with it’s inherent penalties for slip-ups and slides, Class l’s Matt Aeschliman and Seth Mann tied for 7^th place. 

Virtually every culture that has fashioned myth and folklore has a tradition of dragon combat: fierce duels with monsters, giants, windmills, all demons variously defined.  Although we haven’t been able to identify the specific gene, it is suspected that slaying monsters, like language, is part of our DNA.  Not everybody inherits a proclivity for the pastime, anymore than everyone gets blue eyes, but those with a predisposition for adventure were no doubt the men and women who struck out to explore, to trade, to expand their boundaries, to consciously undertake more difficult or rarely traveled pathways.  These people were clearly the ancestors of ski racers—people easily bored with routine, spectator sports, safety and security-- people who get their kicks testing the right stuff, confronting and outsmarting demons and dragons, a course and a clock.    They know that making a living is not the same thing as making a life, and they are drawn to this sport not only to slay dragons, but also to share the company of a diminishing portion of the population that values a road less traveled.

The Mount Gay Rum SISE Cup circuit resumes next weekend, February 9^th & 10^th, at Mt. Sunapee/Dartmouth Skiway for the Combined.  The top three Combined winners in each class will be pooled in a raffle for a pair of Atomic 10’22s.