WEST FARMINGTON – Hundreds of skiers across New England and beyond flocked to Titcomb Mountain for the U16 Championship this weekend. The New England Nordic Ski Association assembled the top 14- and 15-year-old Nordic skiers from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts and the Midwest to Titcomb Mountain for three days of races.
Titcomb Mountain and its ski staff had put in hours of work for the momentous gathering. Hundreds of skiers along with fans and family members took in the national event.
“Goes to show, there are so many people who love our little ski mountain, and are willing to put so much time and effort into making this NENSA U16 Championship event a highlight of the season for these young athletes,” Tony Ramsey, the event’s director said.
On Friday, March 10, the freestyle (skate) skiing competitions were held in sunny 30 degree temperatures. The girls freestyle race was won by Vermont’s Ingrid Miller, clocking a time of 14.44.2. Cal Schrupp from New Hampshire raced to a 1st place finish with a time of 13.10.8.
On Saturday, the weather impacted the best laid plans for the race. A bitter cold magnified by a slap-your-face wind led to a delay of the classic race until midday and bumped the freestyle sprints planned for later in the afternoon. Another precaution was redirecting the start of the classic race from the wide open airport to inside the shelter of the woods.
The classic race for the boys was won by Finn Sweet of New Hampshire, finishing with a 14.40.8 time. For the girls, Adrienne Remick took home first for Vermont with a final 17.32.2. Isabelle Jandreau from Madawaska finished 2nd, just 1.1 seconds behind Remick with a 17.33.5 time.
Sunday, the third and final day of competition, featured mixed relays with boys and girls included in each team. Vermont (36.54.5) continued their control of the competition by winning the relay, beating the next best team, Massachusetts (38.05.9) handily.
When the final scores were tallied, Vermont took home the team crown with an overall score of 11,923. New Hampshire (10,578) edged out Maine (10,234) for second place. Massachusetts (8,609) finished fourth, with New York at the tail (1,087). The Midwest sent a partial squad to the event and was not involved in the scoring.
Overall the turnout, despite the weather, was everything you would hope for in a national event.
Robert Lazzaroni, the USSA Nordic Domestic Program director, visited on Sunday to take in the events and was very impressed with “what a gem of a ski club Titcomb Mountain is,” he said.
Ramsey believes the impressive showing would provide greater things to come for Titcomb. The overall success of the events would put Titcomb Mountain in consideration for bigger things to come.
“A lot of races now are held on trails designed with modern race-oriented features and aspects,” Ramsey said. “Titcomb’s Nordic trails are world-class quality, can meet FIS standards, but because of their history and diversity of development, have a very different feel.”
The trail and race quality was appreciated by the athletes as many spoke to how much fun the course was.
The amount of work in organizing the event wasn’t lost on Ramsey, who gave credit to Deb Aseltine, sponsors Franklin Savings Bank, Western Mountain Financial and Hannaford to name a few.
“Thanks to everyone pulling together such a great weekend, and to the volunteers for enduring the cold conditions,” Ramsey said.
This was an amazing event, with skiers from as far away as Minnesota! Congratulations to Titcomb and all the organizers of this event.
Another little mountain pulls it off. The success of the events this past weekend at Titcomb Mt. Ski Area was due to the dedication of many members and friends of Titcomb. Thanks to all those involved from the organizers of the race to the many volunteers who conducted the race to the parking crew who took care of the buses, vans, and many vehicles and to the stockers of the fires in the stove and fireplace so the spectators could get a warm rest between events from the March bitter cold. Thanks to all the many sponsors of the NENSA U16 Championships. It was all greatly appreciated by the racers, coaches, and parents and friends of the competitors. They will always their time here in Farmington. Well done Titcomb!