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From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.

Tag: Ray Broomhall

  • Soggy Sprint Set for Sunday in Rumford, With Video

    Soggy Sprint Set for Sunday in Rumford, With Video

    Athletes on the first first climb on the classic sprint course in Rumford. Photo, Win Goodbody.

    There will be racing in Rumford on Sunday, but it won’t be pretty.

    “It’s gonna be messy as hell,” said John Farra, the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association nordic director.

    The 2011 U.S. National Championships are set to get underway in one hour, after a long afternoon and evening of work by volunteers and organizers. The 1.4-kilometer classic course at Black Mountain is covered with snow, or a semblance of it – it’s clean in some places, while as of a few minutes ago, volunteers were still busy shoveling onto areas where dirt, rocks, and mud were showing.

    The best parts of the course are the start and finish, in the stadium area. There’s a significant dirty spot on the first downhill corner, and some bigger muddy areas towards the top of the course’s main climb, and on its ensuing descent. Chief of Course Ray Broomhall said that he’d have crews with shovels working throughout the day.

    Qualifying starts with the men at 10 a.m. We’ll have live updates on the Continental Cup blog, and on Twitter (@fasterskier). Video interviews with Broomhall and Fischer/Swix’s Chris Hall are below (we’re waiting for them to upload – they’ll be up soon), as well as a quick course overview.

    Start lists are available here.

    Results can be found here, when they are available.

  • Videos, Photos of Rumford Organizers and Race Course

    Videos, Photos of Rumford Organizers and Race Course

    Volunteers and race officials are scrambling to preserve what remains of the snow base in Rumford, Maine, with 16 hours to go before the first race of the 2011 U.S. National Championships.

    Sunday’s classic sprint should still go off as scheduled. But despite the best efforts of organizers, temperatures in 40’s on Saturday decimated the trails at Black Mountain of Maine.

    Late in the day, the 1.4-kilometer sprint course was a mix of clean, wet corn; soggy snow packed into ice; and messy sections where dirt, rocks, and even sticks had been mixed in.

    Roughly a dozen volunteers were out on course all afternoon, but by 4 pm, organizers had brought in a bucket loader with spotlights to continue work as darkness descended.

    The start and finish of the course, located in the stadium, are where snow conditions were best. But the top of the main climb, and the ensuing descent – both on a south-facing slope – need some work.

    FasterSkier caught up with Chief of Course Ray Broomhall to discuss the challenges his crew is facing, as well as Boulder Nordic Sport Race Service Director Eric Pepper to talk waxing. With snow conditions varying all throughout the course, service staffs will have their work cut out for them on Sunday.

    Check back later this evening for another update.

    The top of the main climb on the Rumford sprint course.
    Volunteers and race staff were busy moving snow onto bare and dirty spots. This is the top of the course's smaller climb.