Janeway Cup GS – Stratton, March 12, 1999

In the last weekend of Sise Cup competition, New England Masters racers were back at Stratton Mountain for one of the most popular races on the circuit. Traditionally plagued by inclement weather (if the sun is out, it can’t be Stratton) this year’s Janeway Cup was no exception. Originally scheduled in January when fog and torrential rains forced cancellation, the season’s premier GS took place last Friday in several inches of new powder on the mountain’s long and potentially harrowing North American trail. Despite the snow, which continued to fall throughout the day, the race came off without a hitch due to the herculean efforts of the staff and students of Stratton Mountain School. The routine logistical difficulties of running a race are significantly amplified by less than ideal weather conditions and the SMS crew ran a flawless race and made it look easy.

The Janeway Cup has been held almost annually at Stratton since 1963. The race was named for the late Senator Edward Janeway, a long time Vermont senator and one of the founders of Stratton Mountain. Senator Janeway was an avid skier and an advocate of the type of friendly competition that Masters racing continually seeks to foster. The Senator felt strongly that skiers of all ages should be able to enjoy the thrill of ski racing competition and that an award ought to be reserved strictly for more "mature" competitors. Thus, the Cup that bears his name is awarded to the fastest male and female racers over forty.

The men’s Janeway Cup was hotly contested by Bob Hill and last year’s winner Doug Tucker. On a course that demanded tremendous respect, Hill took a first run lead of almost half a second. Tucker, known for strong and exciting second run comebacks, was unable to overcome the deficit and Hill became the 1999 Janeway winner. The women’s competition was no less heated as defending champ Margaret Vaughn squared off with ‘96 winner Nadine Price. When the dust settled Price managed to slip past Vaughn to take this year’s prize.

The overall men’s race went so convincingly to Pat McNamara that other competitors could only scratch their heads in amazement. The course was fast and slick and the light was flat; so flat that the soft snow lining the track was virtually invisible, though each racer new it was there, threatening to turn the slightest mistake into mayhem. While many knees were knocking with fear and trepidation, McNamara scorched the first run with a blistering 62.30, almost three seconds ahead of the field. His second run was no less amazing, only .06 slower. While a number of would be contenders bettered their first run times and narrowed the margin in the second run, none could gain on him. When his jet wash subsided, Hill and Tucker took second and third respectively. Alex Gadbois and Mike Zimicki completed the top five.

There were a number of close contests in the men’s classes and most of them involved split runs. In class 8 Bob McGrath edged David Britton in the first run by just .38 seconds. Britton answered by taking the second run by .29, narrowly missing the class title by a mere .09 seconds.

With a blistering second run Bob Wigglesworth overcame a first run deficit of .44 seconds to take class 7 by better than a second, leaving first run winner Rod Taylor in the runner-up slot. Chris McAleer easily took the first run in class 6 by better than a second. But when Bill Brennan and Greg Gill came back and smoked their second runs, the calculator was necessary to determine the final result. When the math was done, McAleer held on to take the victory just ahead of Brennan and Gill’s winning run was not enough to move him out of third.

Class 2 was also decided in split runs. Stephen Willey had a third of a second advantage after the first run but Alex Gadbois really poured it on in the second run to overcome the deficit and take the class in convincing fashion. In his first Masters race, David Eldredge, part of the growing Wachusett contingent, put together two solid runs to take fourth in class 2. Also in his first Masters appearance and also from Wachusett, class 2’s Mike Bellino did not fare quite so well. He is probably still picking the bark and pine needles out of his teeth after failing to negotiate the gully. But he said he had a ball and he’d be back.

Like so many other contests of the day, the women’s overall race followed the split run theme. Margaret Zuccotti set the pace with an outstanding first run and took a three quarter second lead into the afternoon run. But when Nadine Price answered with a winning second run she slipped past Zuccotti and into her first overall Masters victory. Margaret Vaughn continued the solid skiing which has been her trademark this season and took the bronze. The consistently improving Karen Nash easily took the fourth place slot and Susan Dorn put two good runs together to move into fifth.

Although they were not racing on Friday, several long-standing fixtures of the Masters extended family made guest appearances. Anna Marie and Heinz Paul Wieser and Arne Rostadt were in attendance to greet old friends and check up on the news. Their participation has been sorely missed and their presence was warmly welcomed by all the members of the Masters community. We wish them the best and hope that they will visit again.