After a surprise Saturday off due to weather conditions (cold, cold, and colder) the skiers of the EISA returned to Sugarloaf for the second day of the 2022 Colby Carnival. While the temperature remained below zero for the better part of the morning, that famously frigid breeze that tends to wrap its way around the Loaf was largely absent.
Today brought some world class slalom, with racers launching themselves straight from the start onto the formidable Cribworks pitch of Narrow Gauge. The hill and the course proved challenging for the field, with a grand total of 56 skiers (30 women, 26 men) failing to finish their first or second runs.
The University of Vermont continued their domination from Friday, with 3 skiers in the top 10 (2 in the top 3) in the women's field and 2 in the men's field (both in the top 3). In addition, Justine Clement and Mathias Tefre--two standout Catamount athletes--both came down in fifth after their first runs but DNF'd on their second.
The University of New Hampshire also had quite a day, taking advantage of the challenging hill to rip their way to an incredibly strong finish with two women and three men in the top 10 of their respective fields. Dartmouth also performed well, with two women and three men in the top 10.
Here is a breakdown of the top skiers today:
On the women's side, Caroline Jones of UVM skied into third place with the fastest first run in the field and the ninth fastest second run. The Middlebury Panthers staked their claim on the second step of the podium with a lightning pair of runs from Lucia Bailey (the second and fourth fastest, respectively). Finally, Moa Clementson of UVM skied her way to a third place first run and first place second run, fast enough to win the whole thing.
For the men, Declan McCormick--also of UVM--got off to a slower start with an eleventh place first run before finding an entirely new gear on the absolute Autobahn of a second set to grab the fastest second run and an overall third place finish. William Bruneau-Bouchard, of UNH, had the second fastest first run and the sixth fastest second run, launching himself past McCormick and into second place. Joachim Jagge Lindstoel, apparently Scandinavia's fastest export since the Volvo S60 Polestar, kept up his winning streak with the fastest first run (by 0.9 seconds) and the second fastest second run (McCormick really let 'em run).
It was an exciting weekend for the EISA, and athletes and coaches alike expressed their joy to be back on the carnival circuit. I caught up with Abby Copeland, Middlebury's Assistant Alpine Coach, at the end of the day to see how the Panthers felt coming out of the first race weekend of the season (Midd's Lucia Bailey came in 2nd today, and Michel Macedo came in 9th). Coach Copeland stressed that, while "slalom can be a challenging discipline with a lot of variables," the weekend as a whole was sick--in addition to the above slalom results, three Middlebury women and two men skied into the top 10 in GS--and the competition environment of the carnivals just can't be beat. Middlebury, like most of the EISA schools, was not able to compete last year in the circuit because of COVID restrictions.
Skiers continued to bring their A-game to Sunday's slalom, and it seems as though this will be a season like no other!
