A storm system descended on Sunday River today for the slalom races of the Bates Carnival. A wintry mix—mostly sleet, with a bit of rain and a bit of snow—greeted racers preparing for their fourth EISA competition, threatening to coat goggles and skis alike with a thin layer of ice. Thankfully for the skiers keen on making some serious arcs down Monday Mourning, the soft and sugary snow on top gave way to a serious surface underneath. Coaches and athletes alike murmured about the quality of the snow—even after the league’s best had hammered down the mountain, a groove had hardly developed by the end of the two runs.
UVM, Middlebury, and Dartmouth men continued having a good season with each getting a racer on the podium. In addition, UVM and Middlebury had two skiers in the top 10. Dartmouth snuck in three. Senior Kipling Weisel, a Bay Area native, knifed his way into third place with the second fastest first run (53.24 seconds) and seventh fastest second (58.26). Middlebury’s Tim Gavett skied the fourth fastest first run (53.61) and second fastest first run (57.41) to get second place. UVM’s ace freshman Jagge Lindstoel, meanwhile, continued honing his icy consistency with the first place first and second runs (52.82 and 57.33 seconds, respectively) nabbing a well-deserved first place finish.
Over on the women’s course, Middlebury junior Lucia Bailey made some clean arcs to grab the fifth fastest first run (53.18 seconds), fourth fastest second run (56.71) and ultimately third place. UNH powerhouse (or should I say woodhouse) Emma Woodhouse grabbed her third podium of the season with a second-place finish. Woodhouse skied the fastest first run (52.73 seconds) and second fastest second run (56.69). Williams got its first podium of the season after an outstanding win from junior Madeleine Dekko, who ripped out a second place first run (52.78) and the world’s fastest second run (56.57).
Tomorrow, the league returns to the River to assess the damage from a late afternoon and evening of heavy snowfall and race some killer GS.