The Nordic Skiing Blog

The Battle of Saratoga

Posted on by Peter Minde

My alarm goes off Saturday morning at zero dark thirty. It’s the day of the New York State Ski Racing Association (NYSSRA) Championships distance race. The Battle of Saratoga will be re-enacted at the Saratoga Biathlon Club, on the shores of the Great Sacandaga Lake.

Pre-race photo by Tom Moffett

For a change, I was prepared for early departure. The ski prep was straightforward. I’d made a breakfast and a lunch the day before. All I had to do was get dressed, shave, slurp coffee and make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything. You haven’t lived ’til you’ve driven 260 miles and realized you left your ski boots at home.

Peru Nordic teammate Stan arrived from Philadelphia around 5 AM. Within 15 minutes, we were headed towards super slab.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Nordic Skiing9 Comments

Trapp Family Lodge: Return to the Hills

Posted on by Peter Minde

The day after the Craftsbury Marathon, I drove to Trapp Family Lodge for a recovery ski. I hadn’t been there in 15 years.

Yes, that Trapp Family. The hills are alive, sweet vocal harmonies, cavorting in alpine meadows, and all that. After fleeing Austria, the von Trapp Family settled in Stowe, VT, buying a substantial piece of land and opening their first guest house in 1950.

Trapp Family Lodge

In 1968, the Trapp Family Lodge opened a cross-country ski center. According to their website, it was “the first of its kind in North America.” Mohonk Mountain House began offering ski tours to their guests in the 1930s, but they didn’t — and still don’t, to my knowledge — have a lodge for day guests.

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Tagged: Nordic Skiing, VT11 Comments

Notchview: The Usual Suspects

Posted on by Peter Minde

At zero dark thirty on Sunday, I left NJ for Notchview Reservation in Windsor, Massachusetts. The mission: rendezvous with the usual suspects.

In Pittsfield, I stopped for breakfast at Otto’s, across from the Berkshire County courthouse. Who ever heard of a Cuban omelet? It was tasty as well as novel, and the coffee was good. Then I set out for Notchview. Although I’ve skied there a half dozen times over the years, the last few miles are always a bit sketchy. “Hmmm, I think I turn right here.”

It’s a long gradual climb through Dalton to Windsor. Situated atop a plateau, Notchview is 50 miles southeast of Vermont’s Prospect Mountain, and 200 feet lower in elevation. The two ski centers share similar weather patterns.

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Tagged: MA, Nordic Skiing7 Comments