.: Ski XCOttawa.ca :: Skiing in Ottawa and Gatineau Park

The ski racing adventures of XCOttawa- Craftsbury Edition
By:  Katie McMahon   (2012/12/19)

RSS

This past weekend, about half of XCOttawa made their way down across the boarder for a weekend of racing in Craftsbury, Vermont. About 40 minutes away from the Magog, and the Canada border, the Craftsbury Outdoors Center was keen and ready to host the first TD Bank Eastern Cup of the season. Seeing as it is so close to Quebec, many of the usual Canadian suspects were there, ready to get their first race under their belts and hopefully earn some sweet points along the way.
With little to no snow accumulation, the folks at the Craftsbury Outdoor Training Center did a fabulous job, creating and maintaining a 1.75km loop of artificial snow! The course was fast, and the team was ready to put their training to the test and toe that start line.
Saturday was a classic sprint, with individual qualifiers in the morning and potential heats in the afternoon. However, there was confusion regarding the original results of this race due to malfunctioning equipment, so the afternoon heats were turned into another individual qualifier race. Unfortunately, the girls of XCOttawa, thinking they had not qualified, had returned to the motel and were not notified of this "second chance race". Luckily, the results of the first race have been sorted out and can be found here.

Sunday's race was a race of laps; 5 laps (8.75km) for the women and 7 laps (12.25km) for the men. Round and round and round they went, trying to make each lap faster than the last! Although a tad dizzying, the course offered plenty of fun terrain, with rolling downhills, uphills and flats lined with spectators. Seeing as this race was only the second time on skate skis this winter for the majority of XCOttawa, the racers feel that it went alright. Results of the skate race can again be found here.

First race jitters out of the way and the kinks worked out, XCOttawa is looking forward to the rest of the season!
*Think lots of snow*
Happy Holidays,
Katie

Here are some pictures to help recount the weekend:

craftsburyvenue_1.JPG

The bottom section of the course.

nicwax_1.JPG

Nic Clifford helping us out so much over the weekend. Waxing like a boss.

karluphill_1.JPG

One of the XCOttawa boys killing it up the big hill! To be honest I cannot tell if it is Karl of Aaron. Either way, they're moving fast!

ingridsprint_1.JPG

Ingrid, being awesome. Look at that forward lean!

xcottawgirls_1.JPG

The girls of XCOttawa checking out the sweet snow podium. Future Eastern Cup podium?...I think so! ;) Also, check out Liza's door prize T-shirt, signed by the US women's team! 

 
Interesting Reading. . .
Interested in supporting XC Ottawa or advertising on our site? Email: info@xcottawa.ca.
© Copyright 2001-2006, www.xcottawa.ca. All Rights Reserved. Contact us before re-publishing anything seen here.