Right below the parking lot for Mad River Glen on Tuesday August 2nd, groups of rollerskiers began to group up on the side of the road. Spotting them wasn’t difficult. Bright skis, bright shirts, and bright smiles, all lent to the air that these people just might love what they do. In fact, they did. This was an extraordinarly talented group, convened from across Vermont, New England, and well beyond. The US Ski Team, Stratton Mountain School, U16 skiers from New England and the Midwest, and the members of Team Birkie were all set to do a rollerski time trial up the road climbing over the Appalachain Gap in Waitsfield, Vermont.
The average gradient for this time trial; a cool 8.1% over 1100ft of elevation. Those figures couldn’t dampen the mood of the skiers gathered as they sensed that this was one of those experiences you get in Nordic skiing that only comes because this is the Nordic ski community. Promising young U16 skiers did the same race and course as a 3-time Olympic Medalist, and then later got to see those medals as she – Jessie Diggins – talked through how she’d gone from their shoes to hers.
There to capture the action was Reese Brown, who sent along these photos of a cool Tuesday afternoon up in the Green Mountains.
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