Crested Butte Nordic Team hosts National Qualifier race

“It was huge”

Two weeks ago, the Nordic ski races scheduled for Crested Butte December 17-18 hung in the balance. It’s no secret that the snow has been scant over the past month. But these races were going to be big. They would be the first official Junior National Qualifier (JNQ) races of the season for Rocky Mountain Nordic, and Crested Butte had not hosted a JNQ weekend since 2009.
On Friday, December 9, Crested Butte Nordic Team (CBNT) head coach Duncan Callahan had to make a decision. With other venues in the state ready to go, Callahan admits he was on the fence and was leaning toward allowing the races to be held elsewhere.
That is until his assistant coach spoke up.
“I have to credit Emma (Lohr],” says Callahan. “She really put the bug in my ear to do it here.”
The decision was made and the challenge was on. With more than 200 Nordic racers signed up for the JNQ, it was go time.
The community, the Crested Butte Nordic Center staff and the Crested Butte Nordic Council all jumped in a week prior to the race to make it happen. Thanks to the efforts of 35 volunteer shovelers, a bobcat snow blower from JCI and the track setting crew of Dean Davis and Kort Snyder, a 2.8-kilometer-long course was set on the bench.
“It was huge,” says Callahan. “Getting that many people engaged seven days before the event made it possible to pull it off.”
 Furthermore, it wasn’t just any course but rather a course that had competitors of all ages and abilities gasping for air and feeling the burn.
“That course was definitely not an easy course and I’m proud to say that,” says Callahan. “It was more reminiscent of East Coast skiing, off-camber, steep and really challenging both technically and physically.”
With the work done and the track set, it was go time for our local contingent of Crested Butte Nordic Team racers as well as some first time racers.
“We had 10 first-time racers out there, which was awesome,” says Callahan. “It was great having them all out there.”
With CBNT’s top skier, J1 racer Ian Boucher, still hampered by injury, the door was left open for J2 rising star Prawit Durgan to take the spotlight.
Durgan stepped up to the challenge, posting a time of 15:52 to take second place in the six-kilometer skate race on Saturday and a third-place finish in the six-kilometer classic race on Sunday, with a time of 16:53.
“Prawit is killing it,” says Callahan. “He’s on tap for Junior Nationals.”
J2 CBNT skier Forest Smith has finally climbed out of a two-week illness and is primed to climb the racing ranks for his bid to Junior Nationals.
Smith placed fourth in both the skate and classic races with times of 16:20 and 17:09 and will build on those results with a bump in his training now that he is healthy.
“He put out two solid races, considering he’s been sick,” says Callahan. “I expect his improvement curve will be through the roof.”
Meanwhile, second-year J3 skier Kai Sherman spent the weekend crushing his competition, winning both the three-kilometer skate and the three-kilometer classic races easily.
“It was the best skiing I’ve seen out of him ever,” says Callahan.
J1 athlete Sophia Deer finished 15th in the skate race with a time of 21:55 and 17th in the classic race with a time of 23:25. Her teammate Sara Sherman recovered from Saturday to rally to an 18th-place finish in the classic race with a time of 23:25.8, right behind Deer.
“Sara skied a great race on Sunday—really good mental comeback from Saturday,” says Callahan.
The team has four weeks before they line up for their next JNQ race in Steamboat January 13-14. Until then, Boucher will continue to mend and cross train while the others hit the trails and take their talents to the citizen’s race series.