MMSC/MMWA Women's Program: Who needs a T-Bar or a rope tow when you have a snow cat!

Well, we finally got some snow...and lots of it! We have had some snow pretty much daily for the last few days which has made the mountain look fantastic.

Alita took a tumble training before break...taking advantage of the fresh snow for a soft landing!

I must report on our first "gym challenge" that occurred just prior to break. We were doing a jumping workout using the hurdles in the gym requiring athletes to be powerful, have flow with their jumping, and land softly and quietly like a ninja. After the workout, we had a Ninja Competition. Judges Lucy and Michael were tasked with sitting with their backs to the hurdles and score the athletes by who was most quiet. Atop the podium was Sophie Leiter, followed by 2nd place Alita Rogers, and 3rd place Sandra Schoepke.

After break, we returned to Stowe and received over a foot of snow! In most cases this would be fantastic, however we were at Cochran's for the annual Holiday Night SL. If you haven't been to Cochran's before, it is not ideal for powder skiing. It actually turned out to be not so ideal for racing with the heavy snowfall, the T-Bar broke during the day before the race, and then about halfway through the girls first run, their rope tow decided it was finished for the night. The Cochran's being ever innovative fired up their groomer, loaded athletes into the cage on the front and pulled athletes behind with a rope and we had a successful night thanks to their determination to host their race. We had athletes have some quality runs and post some solid results, including the top 3 U18 finishers.

Cochran's Holiday Night SL, December 27th

Alita Rogers - 4th, 1st for U18's

Courtney Hayden - 6th

Kelsey Chenoweth - 9th, 2nd for U18's

Elly Bengtsson - 11th, 3rd for U18's

Emma Sahn - 17th

Lucy Merriam - 21st

Molly Danzig - 23rd

Caroline Armbruster - 29th

Ingrid Klinkenberg (U16) - 30th

Sandra Schoepke (U16) - 33rd

Sarah Reilly - 35th

Denali Balser - 36th

Katelyn O'Toole (U16) - 37th

Neza Stefanic - 43rd

Bryce Zicarelli (U16) - 45th

Eliza McKown (U16) - 49th

A great race in some challenging conditions!

We also are on Main Street now! Following break and the Cochran's Holiday SL, we spent the morning putting up B-Net on Main Street. It seemed to be done in record time, taking us just a little over 2 hours to complete the job, thanks to all of the athletes for helping! This gave the athlete the opportunity to get on their GS skis and do some free skiing in a safe venue. Today we attempted to train GS...however Mother Nature had other ideas giving us high winds, some serious snow drifts, and a very non-productive morning. We will be returning to Main Street tomorrow for GS training, then to SL for the MMSC Cruise into the New Year Race, then back to Main Street in the afternoon for an afternoon session. Below are a few pictures from the morning of fencing...