Clear and cool today for the first cross country ski race in the season of COVID, the New England Nordic Ski Association’s Lost Nation Roll at Craftsbury, VT, Outdoor Center. There was Lysol to disinfect the roller skis, which were shared; interval starts; masks everywhere; no spectators; smooth skiing on the new asphalt track; and no crashes in the race. Roller skis are the training and racing method of choice before snow arrives. Olympic gold medalist Jessie Diggins, below, won the women’s 5.6-k event. Above, Katharine Ogden of Stratton Mountain’s SMST2, takes the main downhill. For those unfamiliar with roller skis, they have no brakes, go fast and require a lot of skill to use. In this case, all the roller skis were the same brand with the same wheels and bearings to be sure the skiers are evenly matched. Although racers did not wear masks to race, most had them around their necks for quick use, and they were required everywhere else.
November turned to winter in a hurry: snow, skiing and temperatures one night near zero. Both photos, early season skiers at Craftsbury Outdoor Center, VT, USA.
The 2019 U.S. Paralympics Nordic Nationals brought paralympic athletes from around the country to the Craftsbury, VT, Outdoor Center in January. It is always great to see the strength of mind, body and spirit these athletes — who compete despite impairments that range from partial paralysis to diminished sight — put into the competition. Top, Dan Cnossen, an Annapolis graduate and Navy SEAL who lost his legs to an IED in Afghanistan, competes on his sit-ski. Below, Greg Durso makes it up a hill with help from his coach; Joy Rondeau tucks and concentrates on a downhill; Dan Cnossen’s prosthetic legs; New Hampshire’s Nick Fairall, a former international ski jumper who lost the use of his legs after a jumping fall. 
After a long cloudy day, the sun came out and the kids started jumping off the mini-mountain of manmade snow at the Craftsbury, VT, Outdoor Center last weekend. The guy on the bottom started out facing the other direction and in this series is en route to a 360.
Kaitlynn Miller (Elmore, VT) and Kelsey Phinney (Sun Valley, Idaho) hug after Miller won the SuperTour sprint race in Craftsbury, VT, Friday. Earlier in the week, Miller was named to the US Olympic team along with six other cross-country or biathlon skiers from the Craftsbury Green Racing Project. Below, the sartorial splendor of Jack Schrupp of the Williams College Purple Cows; Forrest Mahlen (Alaska Pacific University), the winner of the men’s race; and Miller, all in the sprint qualifier.
