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by Jennifer Calder
Once more into the breach, fewer than a hundred intrepid masters racers convened for the annual challenge of the first leg of the combined at Pat's Peak. They prayed to that blind Goddess of Course Completion, entreating that giddy and fickle deity to shepherd them safely down the precipitous, twisting course, its unassailable surface barely yielding to the best-honed and tempered edges the science of tuning could render. Like greyhounds in the slips they followed their spirits upon the charge, but the course exacted its quota of sacrifices before the day was over. Those who tilted their way successfully to the bottom of the first run breathlessly declared it tough, turny-- and that dread word, "work." A racer over 50 came down from second course inspection yelling "Arriba, Arriba!" raising expectations we might be able to La Bomba our way through the gauntlet of gates, and the second course did ski about 5 seconds faster, but inflicted no less pain.
Word has it Chris Johnson's manna was a begal at the start, fighting fodder empowering him to bash his way to the fastest first and second run times to seize the day. The hard-charging Chris Bither, less than a tenth out on the first run, kept his lead over challengers Jim Harding, Marc Sorel and Class 1's Bo Peabody.
The closest contest waged in Class 6, where George Merrill and Bill McCollom completed their first runs within one one hundredth (that's right: 55.98 vs. 55.99) of one another. The pressure on, Merrill prevailed to take the run about 3 tenths of a second ahead of McCollom. Scott Pyles put together two solid runs for third in that class, but the fastest second run time among them was scored by Bill Brennan. With little at stake after an error in his first run, he pounded through the 53-gate course with the explosive propulsion of an uncaged cat for the 10th fastest 2nd-run time in the field. Steve Foley faced serious competition after the first run, barely two tenths ahead of Dwight Conant and Pete Donaghy (tied with times of 60.28). But Foley, the gauntlet thrown, responded by blasting through the second course to nail down an unequivocal three and a half second lead. Conant finished up a little over a tenth over Donaghy, but the second fastest second run went to fourth place finisher Jim Doig. In Class 4, John Weitz, Fred Dieffenbach and Keith Jones crossed the line in that order on both runs, but the times were close enough that a fleeting lapse in concentration would have decided a different outcome.
Most athletes recovering from major knee reconstruction would 'just say no' to tight slalom, but Carolyn Beckedorff slashed her way through both courses well ahead of closest challenger Lisa Densmore. Pat's Peak was Carolyn's season debut to New England Masters, but she plans to participate for the balance of the season, fueling competition in a deepening women's field. Perpetual energy personified, Karen Nash had a clear 3rd place on both runs. Margaret Vaughn finished a second behind, with Patti Lane only a half second out for fifth. Class 6's Cindy Berlack has retained her skill in slalom, negotiating the technical course with limber grace a little over a second out in 6th.
The enigmatic smiles of the victors provoked much post-race polemic about the virtues or necessity of the shorter skis. The verdict appears to be that will we not or won't we not, we'll all need them to compete on current courses.
Dartmouth Skiway, the second leg of the combined, is always a rush. The icy headwall leaves a lot of us searching for seat belts or at least a safety lane. The corridor and flats challenge technical ability and courage to hold a speed (and a line) that exceeds the comfort level, exaggerating the time disparity among those who can't, so that the larger question at the bottom becomes "how low did you go?"
The race was astonishingly close after the first run for a 60+ second GS, pitting Jim Nash, Bill Withington, John Pierce and Doug Tucker within a half second of one another. Alas, nothing gold can stay and an error on the head wall cost Nash a second on the second run. He finished fourth, a little over a tenth out from class 4 rival, fearless gate-grappler Doug Tucker. John Pierce slammed down that course like a Mercury heralding a charging garrison, second on the first run and second on the second. And we had to look closely at winner Bill Withington's bib to be sure he wore a number and not the letter "S." David Lamb and Bob Hill were so close in fifth and sixth they'd have needed instant replay to figure where they lingered too long on a comfortable edge.
The class line-ups read much the same-- few surprises and few close contests. Doug Wisse stayed ahead of Franz Schemmel on both runs, but there was no margin for miscalculation. Class 6, again riddled with excellence, reversed the Pat's Peak order on the podium, with McCollom ahead of Merrill. Brennan, who prefers slalom, held his own in GS for third. Infrequent on the circuit, Jep Barendse, with a fast first run, edged out regulars Probert and Pyles. John Singleton had the strongest first run in Class 5, but couldn't hold it in the onslaught of an incisive second run by Bob Resek. Jody Lozeau in Class 2 skied an aggressive race to finish in second place, less than a second behind David Bruhm. The battle in Class 1 was for second place behind Withington, where Bryan Reimer had the faster first run time, but scrubbed a second somewhere in the second run to yield the slot to John Naples.
In an object lesson on how to ski faster, Lisa Densmore commandeered first place, three tenths of a second ahead of woman's SISE Cup leader Melisaa Patterson. Joan Barthold, showing no attrition in strength or talent for her absence on the circuit, came in a strong third, besting speed specialist Nadine Price by three seconds. Lori O'Brien took fifth, about a second ahead of Meg Nutter, whose second run was only four hundredths of a second off O'Brien's time. Deborah Carter, whose child rearing time constratints have temporarily side- lined regular participation, put together two strong runs.
Racers had to complete four runs to garner laurels in the combined, thus rewarding both attendance and consistency. Chris Johnson earned top honors among the men, Lisa Densmore among the women.
The tour takes a break next weekend for Washington's Birthday, and resumes for the Hochgeberge at Cannon on February 26th and Loon on the 27th.
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