The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Three skiers on pace to qualify
The Crested Butte Nordic Team (CBNT) just finished up two weekends of racing in a row and has one more Junior National Qualifier left this weekend in Minturn. Based on results from the past two weeks, three CBNT skiers should be making the trip to Stowe, Vermont for Junior Nationals the first weekend in March.
They opened the final stretch at the end of January with a Junior National Qualifier event in Steamboat Springs. Six CBNT athletes made the trip to Steamboat, with Forrest Smith and Kai Sherman stepping onto the podium to represent the CBNT.
The weekend of racing opened on Saturday, January 31 with classic races. Smith put down a solid result the first day, placing fourth among the U18 racers. Sherman had the top result among CBNT U16 skiers, taking fourth in his race followed by Aiden Truettner in seventh, Woody Martineau in 10th and Benjamin Swift in 12th. Ian Eldridge was the lone young gun for Crested Butte, placing 12th in the U14 age class.
“Aiden’s classic effort helped solidify his status for Junior Nationals and Woody had his best result of the season,” says CBNT head coach Austin Ross.
The team turned it on the following day in the skate event with Smith and Sherman posting podium results, finishing second and third in their respective age classes.
“Forrest and Kai had a really good races,” says Ross. “Forrest has been struggling in the skate and it was sort of a breakthrough for him. Kai is finding his form and to be on the podium is solid but he’s capable of more.”
Martineau finished the U16 skate race in ninth, Truettner placed 11th and Swift closed the weekend with a 16th-place finish, while Eldridge skated to another 12th-place result.
The team then headed to Soldier Hollow, Utah for a Super Qualifier weekend February 7-8. The event draws junior Nordic skiers from throughout the west to the former winter Olympic venue and gives skiers some insight into how they stack up against a larger pool of skiers.
The CBNT had a mixed bag of results, and experiences, with equipment issues and prolific crashes causing some havoc among the team.
The weekend opened with the sprint classic, a series of high-intensity sprint heats with a couple of skiers from each heat advancing through the day. Making an already intense format even more so, the weather was balmy and the snow was a mix of manmade and natural mush. Teams were scrambling to find the right wax for classic skiing, while some opted for klister, others opted to go without wax, or “zero” wax, sanding the kick zone of their skis to gain some purchase while still providing glide.
Both Smith and Sherman were leading the way in their quarterfinal heat, only to fall from contention after crashing mid-race. Sherman finished the day 12th out of 92 racers, second among his Rocky Mountain Division peers, and Smith placed 30th out of 107.
“I think Kai had a chance at winning it all,” says Ross. “It was tough but the good news is he was skiing really well.”
The rest of the team had a variety of results over the day but all looked strong against the Rocky Mountain Division skiers.
“There were some high points and some low points on the classic day,” says Ross.
The team had a similar experience on the second day in Utah during their skate races. Some lost pole baskets, some crashed and some had great results compared to their region, and the team is now looking to finish strong this weekend in Minturn at the last JNQ of the season.
“I’m excited to see how we do in Minturn,” says Ross. “I’m really optimistic. I think we’ll see some positive results.”
While Smith and Sherman are in for Junior Nationals, Truettner remains on the bubble but Ross expects him to officially earn his bid to Junior Nationals with his races in Minturn.
