By: Cate and Luke Costley

With a light snow falling, skiers from across Berkshire County converged on Windsor’s Notchview Reservation for the second league race of the year. The dusting of powder from the night before made for soft snow, but to the pleasure of the fans and excitement of the racers, a mass start format was used instead of the typical wave start. Although always slightly nerve-racking, most skiers navigated through the crowds with minor casualties. If unscathed, they were able to proceed along Notchview’s demanding five and a half kilometer course. Both a long course, for primarily varsity and top junior varsity skiers, as well as a short course, for young or inexperienced skiers, was offered, giving a good look at the league’s veterans and it’s up and coming talent.

Divided by a frozen lake the boy's varsity race gets started. Photo courtesy of Tamara Hitchcock.

In the boy’s race, Wahconah’s senior Kyle Dempsey won for the second week in a row. Taking a reserved approach through the first two-thirds of the course, he didn’t make his move from third place until the final climb. Following his example was sophomore Luke Costley, who hung back in fourth before catching up to Dempsey, passing him, and ultimately being beat to the line in a sprint finish. Rounding out the top five was Terry Fowler, Bill Prescott, and Jordan Tuboly in third through fifth respectively. The Greylock boys also won the team competition. Delaney Pudvar claimed first in the short course.

Mount Greylock's Machenzie Hitchcock takes the lead right from the start. Photo courtesy of Tamara Hitchcock.

On the girl’s side, Mackenzie Hitchcock also continued her winning ways, taking first from the very beginning and never relinquishing her lead. Her time of 20:40 was enough to hold off teammate Cate Costley, who returned to the league after missing last week’s race. Brenna Keogh was bumped to third but still put up a solid effort amidst a tidal wave of Greylock skiers. Laura Nolan, Lenox’s Josie Marshall, Amy Santella and Haley Mahar all stayed not far from the top three and will all look to improve their times and places in next week’s classical discipline race. Greylock made it a sweep as they joined the boys in winning as a team. And finally, Greylock’s Alexa Adams won the short course as well.

http://images.fasterskier.com/2010/01/Boys-Results-1-2-2010.pdf

http://images.fasterskier.com/2010/01/Girls-Results-1-2-2010.pdf

http://images.fasterskier.com/2010/01/Boys-Short-Course-Results-1-2-2010.pdf

http://images.fasterskier.com/2010/01/Girls-Short-Course-Results-1-2-2010.pdf

Mount Greylock's Mackenzie Hitchcock starts off right where she left off. Photo courtesy of Ken Kuttner.

The Berkshire League Nordic skiing league got started this year at Prospect Mountain in Woodford, Vermont.

http://images.fasterskier.com/2010/01/Boys-Varsity-1-28-09.pdf

http://images.fasterskier.com/2010/01/Boys-JV-12-28-09.pdf

http://images.fasterskier.com/2010/01/Girls-Varsity-12-28-09.pdf

http://images.fasterskier.com/2010/01/Girls-JV-12-28-09.pdf

FasterSkier and Prospect Mountain are teaming up to put on the second annual Late Great new England Ski Race/Prospect Spring Fling.

Come out for the last ski race(s) of the year in New England (yes…the March Hare Nordic Ski Race starts at 10:00 and we are starting at 10:01…).

Sunday, March 29

Conditions are still good at Prospect.  There is plenty of snow, but it is very dirty.  You could definitely use good skis, but older skis may be preferable due to the dirt.

The Events:

10:01 — 8km Mass Start Pursuit Race (5km Classic straight into a 5km Freestyle)

11:30 — Obstacle Course Sprint (The sprint format will be a March Madness inspired head-to-head bracket style ski off)

Prizes will be awarded for both races, and overall winners (male and female) will be crowned the Great Champions! Participants do not have to do both races.  But to qualify for Great Champion, you must complete both events.

Festive attire encouraged and rewarded!  The person wearing the best costume will be named the Jester of Fling.

The Place:

The famous Prospect Mountain in Woodford, VT – the land where there is always snow.  Conditions are currently excellent at Prospect, and the forecast for the remainder of the week is favorable.

The Cost:

$20 – Proceeds to benefit the Berkshire Nordic Ski Club. Day of race registration only beginning at 8:30am.

The Sponsors:

The one and only FasterSkier.com – your online source for all things cross-country skiing.

Prospect Mountain – where the snow always falls and the trails are always open! Prospect’s website is www.prospectmountain.com.

Prizes will be supplied by various local businesses.

For questions, please email Topher Sabot:  topher at fasterskier.com

Here are the results of the race held today at Prospect Mountain in Woodford, VT.  This annual race raises awareness about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, a silent killer that claims the lives of nearly 2500 infants in the US alone every year.

sids-results-3k-09

sids-results-5k-09

sids-results-10k-09

The 2nd Mathias Jessup Bartels benefit cross-country race and tour was held this Sunday, February 15th, at Mt. Greylock Regional High School. The school’s trails and fields had held enough snow for what ended up being some quality classic skiing–some klister required. The 6 kilometer race course was fairly flat, and saw several competitors brave the terrain in skate equipment, double-poling the entire race, including some battles on the uphills. Topher Sabot edged Nick Fogel for the 6 kilometer victory, a short distance ahead of third-place finisher Matt Voisin. The women’s field was led by Jen Mygatt, followed by Andrea Fisher and Camille Robertson.  The well-attended race attracted over 70 competitors for a fast, sunny ski. A touring option was also available for the 6k race course.
The 2 kilometer race sailed off a short time later, at 11 o’clock, and provided a chance for families, beginners, and youngsters to showcase their talents in a shorter course. In a close battle, Will Nolan and Alex Harrington tied for the victory.
Racers and spectators were greeted inside by a significant spread of waffles and other baked goods as prizes were awarded. A bevy of gifts were available as rewards across age category and distance, gifts donated by various businesses including The Mill on the Floss, Overland, Fasterskier.com, Pappa Charlie’s, and many more. All told, close to $2500 was raised to benefit the Mathias Jessup Bartels Memorial Scholarship Fund. Mathias was an outstanding young man – a scholar, athlete, and leader of his class. He was a high school junior and standout member of the Mt. Greylock Nordic Ski Team when he died in his sleep on January 31, 2004 of sudden cardiac arrest due to a heart arrhythmia of unknown cause. The Mathias Jessup Bartels Memorial Scholarship is awarded annually to a graduating senior at Mt. Greylock who exhibits the integrity, kindness, and commitment to excellence shown by Mathias.

A sincere thank you goes out to those who donated prizes as well as to the skiers, spectators,cheering squads, timers, starters, finishers, flag setters, flag wavers, waffle makers, waffle eaters, food providers, cleaner uppers, signer uppers, good looking parents, better looking kids, and fabulous coaches, from the grateful Bartels family and from the entire Mt. Greylock Nordic Ski community. The event was one of good cheer, good weather, good competition, and good company–all in the name of an amazing cause.

Complete Results:

mathias-race-results-20091

We’re on for Sunday… it looks like we kept enough snow to pull off the event.  We look forward to seeing you all there for the 10:00 am start.

Warm temperatures were the order of the day for today’s Massachusetts Nordic State Championships in Windsor, MA at the Notchview Ski Reservation. 250 racers wearing t-shirts, tank tops, and even bathing suits skated around the 7.5k course as the sun emerged and the snow softened throughout the day.