Monsoon Afternoon at Loon (GS February 23,2003),
I enjoyed the Hochebirge party on Saturday very much. The beer, cheese and crackers and peanuts tasted good while watching the video of both runs of the slalom. Derek Griggs handled the awards nicely, and I didn't note surprise that the team of Franz Schemmel, Doug Wisse, Hans Baurmeister and yours truly lost to a team that included Haldor Reinholt, Larry Voelker and Duffy Dodge. Also, the salad, lasagna and cookies were excellent.
Early Sunday morning, there was good coffee and eggs-over-medium at Peg's, but there was, if you'll forgive a four letter word, rain. I was at Loon pretty early and did well in the parking spot competition, if not in the subsequent competition on the hill. The morning got started with Dwight Conant telling me of doing 25 MPH over the icy Kancamagus Highway, damp Loon course setters setting out to set, Advil on the registration table, courtesy, I was told, of Stacey Weston, and Peter Dumont telling me, "At least, we'll be skiing downstream."
By nine, it was fine. John Pierce, one of my coaches at Mt. Hood last summer, gave an excellent course review. He told us what to do straight out; none of this you-might-consider. I took careful notes in my little notebook, including to counter rotate a little, and Stefi Hastings offered to bake cookies for me if I would give her a copy. Michelle Woloshin asked me if I was going to stop and review my notes on the way down the hill in my run.
The first run was a fun one. A couple of pushes after the wand, three easy gates, and then, as someone said, it was like pushing the down button in an elevator. That started something like a little roller coaster going over the ripples in the steep to the transition. The approach was from a blue to the right, then across to a red on the left, through a blue under gate, and then hopefully what was a smooth, carving, sweeping turn through the red gate and into the lower part. The lower part was slightly mundane at first, but it soon perked up and became increasingly interesting. It didn't seem very long until the finish line came while going very fast. One then endeavored to stop prior to the fence, which Cheeb Everitt likened to landing on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific.
For the second run, Tip Kimball did the review, which I regret to say I missed out on. The fog arrived simultaneously with the completion of the forerunners, which, incidentally, included Heinz Paul Wieser who was skiing very well. From the start area, sometimes one could see the fourth gate, which was the blue one with the sharp drop, and sometimes one couldn't. Wendy Hill put it well that in the top part she could see the gates but not the snow. Some skiers experienced some bouncing in the lower part; some did not, in fact, reach the finish.
I noticed one or two little things. In the first run: Russ Probert, going so fast that he had to use the exit from the finish area to get stopped; Tom Calder, with a fast time, possibly related to training at Bromley; Jon McClain, my friendly rival, skiing faster than I did. For the second run: Margaret Vaughn saying, with tongue in cheek, "They didn't slip one of the gates low enough"; Anneliese Fejan looking strong and skiing well; Chuck Thorndike, with a smile, exclaiming "What a rough ride"; Bruno Janicki, opining " I survived"; Steve Laverty, too out of breath to comment; John Gilman, skiing very smoothly; Ted Bidwell, skiing well; Hans Truckenbrod, skiing in balance with high speed; Robin Fiske, enjoying a day at the races with the New England Masters.
Carolyn Beckedorff was the fastest woman on the hill, followed by Anneliese Fejan, Maragaret Vaughn, Martha Hainright, Patti Lane, Stacey Weston, Anne Nordhoy, Caroline Elander, Michelle Woloshin and Anna Wieser. Michelle Woloshin took Class 1, and Anneliese Fejan Class 2. In Class 3, Carolyn Beckedorff was first, and Caroline Elander second. Martha Hainright won Class 4, with Patti Lane in second place. Class 5 went to Margaret Vaughn, with Stacey Weston next. Anna Wieser was first in Class 7, a slight 0.67 seconds ahead of Sue Boulter. Anne Nordhoy was the winner of Class 8, and Virginia Petrie second. Wendy Hill won Class 9.
Matt Aeschliman was the fastest skier on the hill. Then, among the men, it went John Pierce, Seth Mann, Tip Kimball, David Wolff, Chris Yombor, Derek Griggs, Eric Cutting, Hans Truckenbrod and Alexander Zavorski. Class 1 was won by Seth Mann, and Alexander Zavorski took second place. Matt Aeschliman was first in Class 2, and Anthony Digangi followed. John Pierce took Class 3, a second and a half quicker than David Wolff for both runs combined. Tip Kimball won Class 4, and Derek Griggs was runner up. In Class 5, Jon Morrison was one and a half seconds faster than Dana Billings for the two runs. Eric Cutting beat Hans Truckenbrod by a mere third of a second in Class 6 for the two runs, after trailing by 0.08 in the first run. For Class 7, Dwight Conant was the winner, and James Doig next. Bob McKee had two great runs taking Class 8 and fifteenth among the men; Ted Bidwell was number two in the class. In Class 9, David Britton outskied Haldor Reinholt in the first run, but Haldor took David by an exactly even one second in the second run and became the winner. Haldor was 28th among the men, and David 30th. For Class 10, Al Sevigny had the best first run, yet Paul Rich's second run won the class for him. Duffy Dodge was first in Class 11, and George Caner after Duffy. Lastly, with respect to Class 12, the orange and black, Rod Aller, defeated the crimson, Dick Wood, but by a close 0.71 seconds for the two runs.
I would like to express our appreciation to our sponsors: Artech, from whom you may obtain Dominator Race Zoom wax; Florian Tools, from you may acquire pruners and loppers; Denby Pottery, purveyor of fine bowls and pitchers, if possibly not to the Queen, to the Masters; Buchika's Ski & Bike Shop in Salem and Haverhill, which we should all visit; Atomic Skis, from whom you may obtain the Sl-11 World Cup slalom ski and go on to better racing; Swix, maker of the famous yellow and white. Thank you to our course setters, starters, gate keepers, bib and ticket dispensers, time recorders and Loon for being our host. We appreciate John Pierce and Tip Kimball leading the course reviews, the TD, the referees, and Gary Colwell for his hard work.
See you at Sugarbush! |