Mount Gay Rum Sise Cup Starts at Cranmore and Gunstock
Nature did her part for the 2001 inaugural race of the New England Masters Mount Gay Rum Sise Cup Series, blessing us with the bounty of six inches of fresh powder. Under a persistence veil of falling snow, a gregarious assembly of multicolored competitors congregated at the top of Cranmore's Comp Hill to compete for the first event of the Gibson Trophy, an award presented to the fastest man and woman with combined times at Cranmore's GS and slalom races. The atmosphere was carnival, an all day party to the cacophonous accompaniment of bursts of nervous laughter, repeated proclamations of "racer ready," amplifiers blaring who was on course and the mathematical manifestations of our efforts, and swift-switched asides evidencing the easy camaraderie of a community of kindred spirits renewing old acquaintances, building some new ones. Cranmore set a technically challenging course causing us to resent at once the laws of gravity and the truth that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, as we hoped against reason that rounder is better. The second run, a Doug Tucker special with yee-ha potential, developed some corrugations that tossed racers about, tumbling many from the course.
Will Withington threw down the gauntlet with a definitive opening challenge, besting perennial rival and last year's Sise Cup champion Chris Johnson by a second and a half. Jim Nash shaved in two hundredths of a second behind Johnson, and Sean Florian wasn't far out in 4th. In a charismatic display of aggressive athleticism, Class 5's Doug Tucker blasted his way into a solid fifth.
Proving that good women like good wine improve with age, Class 5's Nadine Price opened the season's contest in the woman's field in first place. Karen Nash, who's off season sport is competitive cycling, carried fitness and endurance onto the slopes barely two tenths of a second behind Price. Cheryl Rowland, skiing with threatening consistency, bested Margaret Vaughn. And Class 6's Gay Folland, a self proclaimed slalom animal, demonstrated she commands control of a GS course better than most too, finishing ahead of the rest of the women's field in fifth. Newcomer to the Sise Cup series, Susanna Giombetti, completed a preeminent first run, two seconds ahead of the field, but hit a glitch in the second run that took her out of the competition.
It must not be practice that makes perfect, but perfect practices that achieve that state, because last year's class leaders, for the most part, retained their positions. Saturday's closely contended races were to be found in Class 11, where Nate Grifkin edged out George Caner by less than two tenths of a second, and in Class 9, where the race was for second place and Doug Wisse slipped by Larry Young by two tenths. In men's Class 2, where again the battle was waged for second place, David Bruhm outmaneuvered Kyle Tracy by a little more than 3 tenths of a second. In the women's field some of the closest competition is to be found in Class 7, where Suzanne Boulter, Dee Larsen, and Stefi Hastings are within partial seconds of one another.
Post race festivities featured not only Cranmore's copious spread of cheese platters and ale, but the news that in addition to repeat sponsors Swix and Artec, the Denby Pottery Company will provide us with handsome prizes and raffle items, and Mount Gay Rum has agreed to support the New England masters racing community for two years.
While one race does not constitute a trend, the slalom, an event suffering from attrition in recent years in New England, staged a healthy rally on Sunday at Gunstock. Speculation has it the new shorter skis may be breathing some vitality into the event. The Gunstock Ski Club efficiently moved 139 racers through the starting gate, and more than 80% of them were equipped with state of the art slalom skis, and if you don't want to buy them don't even demo them, because once you've carved 3 turns in them you can never go back. Even the DNFs proclaimed the race "fun." And those of us who question our sanity every time we step into a starting gate experienced an epiphany of insight at the top of the Ramrod Trail, with its arresting panoramic view of lake Winnepesauki under the hazy rose and blue hues of a perfect winter day. The snow was excellent, the weather temperate, the courses were rhythmic and held up to the steady onslaught. Hardly anyone spared a thought for the office.
Chris Johnson lunged his way to the fastest time on both runs for first place. Class 2's Jody Lozeau, a coiled embodiment of focused consciousness, burst through the course to second place, a little over a tenth of a second ahead of relentless Sean Florian. Steve Willey took fourth and Will Withington garnered fifth place honors.
In the women's race, Class 2's Carolyn Beckedorff, who made her Sise Cup debut with a victory last year at the ever-exhilarating Pat's Peak slalom, bashed her way into first, a commanding 10 second ahead of second place finisher Caitlin Dulac. Erstwhile Sise Cup regular and frequent victor Kimberly Wolff placed third, with Cheryl Rowland and Nadine Price rounding out the top five.
The Mount Gay Rum Sise Cup resumes the challenge January 13th with a heart-stopping GS at Middlebury's Snowbowl, and a slalom on Sunday at Suicide Six.