CRAFTSBURY – With a thriving afterschool and weekend kids program at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, the ski center coaches put on a Bill Koch League event for all the kindergarteners to eighth-graders. Bill Koch was a U.S. silver medalist back in the early 1980s, and the youth ski programs still bear his name.
photo by Phil Belena
Younger kids (Lollipoppers) skied some short loop-the-loops. The courses became longer and more challenging as the age groups increased. The young skiers had to veer off groomed trails onto snowshoe trails for short stints A highlight was skiing through a maze within the hoodoo snowmaking piles. When these piles are made they look like hoodoos or spires or giant soft ice cream cones, take your pick. Veteran groomer, Keith Woodward, carved out spiral lanes, channels and almost-tunnels for the skiers to navigate. Then the skiers jumped back on the main trails to the finish.
Circosta Wins Vermont Eastern High School Qualifier
RIPTON – Every year over 150 of Vermont’s best young skiers convene for the Eastern High School (EHS) and Under 16 (U16) Qualifer. This year it was hosted by the Rikert Touring Center where the skiers race 3 km classic in the morning followed by 3 km skate in the afternoon. The times are combined to determine the top 20 or 24 skiers who will represent Vermont at the EHS and U16 Championships in March with teams from Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York. There are even small teams from the Midwestern states and Canadian Provinces who join in the three day event because it is so unique, super social and really fun.
photo by Phil Belena
Greensboro’s Amelia Circosta is back and back strong after not skiing the first half the ski season because of a foot injury. She won the classic portion and was second in the skate, but her combined time put her in first place. Craftsbury’s Ruth Krebs was not far behind in fourth and Greensboro skier, Anika Leahy, 16th. Coventry’s twins, Isabel and Emily Linton, placed 12th and 17th. Craftsbury sister’s Katherine and Lila Mackenzie were 37 and 67 with Glover’s Nora Demaine 35. On the boys side, Sisu Lange (St. Johnsbury) placed sixth, Zeb Whitlock 10 (Hyde Park), Max Demaine 28 (Glover), and Oryon Hart 30 overall (Craftsbury). Hart was the fifth U16 skier.
