Spring Skiing Time

The spring skiing has long been here on the nordic trails - super fast in spots and then Superman in others.  But the mountain has been a solidly frozen mass all month - until yesterday.  Autumn was ripping tele turns on her new boots yesterday and we both went up today.  It has finally started to turn into mashed potatoes.  This time of year the best formula is to nordic ski in the morning, then hit the mountain in the afternoon.  That is what we did.  Fun while it lasted I guess because the rain is supposed to move in any minute.  In fact, I can hear the "mixed precip" hitting the window now.  While I grieve over the slow but sure destruction of our blessed snow I will watch my tourney brackets (hockey and bball) either do really well or implode - there is no middle ground I have learned.  As always my dream bracket involves UNH dismantling all opponents en route to their first championship while my "other" bracket has Notre Dame squeaking a win from Yale.  Oh and basketball?  Louisville over Oklahoma. ~Wm

Spring Races

It has been a beautiful weekend for racing.  Autumn and I, accompanied by Patrick, went to Rumford, Maine, where the NCAA National Championship Nordic events were being held.  We watched the men's and women's freestyle (skate) Saturday.  The women went first and the finish could not have been more exciting - with Colorado's Alexa Turjan just leading Denver's Antje Maempel down the stretch they went into a sprint for the final 250 meters.  Maempel closed the gap and at 100m they were side-by-side.  A super close finish, Maempel overtook Turjan and won by .5 seconds!  What a race!  UNH's Sarah Wright finished in 14th position. The top eastern athletes were 3rd and 5th by Dartmouth ladies, Rosie Brennan and Sophie Caldwell.  The men were next and Colorado's Vegard Kjoelhamar won by over 20 seconds. There was a great fight for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th positions - all coming into the stadium at the same time.  Another exciting finish.  No UNHers qualified - the top easterner was again Dartmouth's Patrick O'Brien.  Amazing that Rumford, Maine hosted the most important NCAA Nordic event of the year.  Today, we held our 9th annual Inferno downhill nordic race.  The winner finished in under 10 minutes covering about 15km - what a screamer.  The weather has been super sweet and the snow is amazing.  This is the best time of year to get on a pair of skinny skis!  Hope to see you out there. ~wm