March 15th Grooming Report
Crust Cruising Moose!
You know that when a moose can cruise over the top of the snow, leaving hardly a track, that spring has arrived in the Nordic world. Warm days and cool nights lead to wildly varying conditions throughout the day. We still have plenty of good skiing yet to go, you just need to make sure to time your ski so that you get just what you want.
The image above shows some of the glazed conditions that were prevailing early this morning. Fortunately our Husky has been hard at it, pulverizing that shiny snow into some pretty good skiing conditions. Nearly every trail received at least one pass today with Armin’s, Moose Loop, Olympic and the fields receiving multiple passes. Almost all sunny classic tracks were reset while on some of the shadier trails; priority was given to widening skate lanes. All in all skiing should work fine today; just remember to be a little more cognizant of what the weather’s been doing lately when you plan your ski.
Finally, we’ve discussed the successes of our skiers at nationals on this grooming report and the following excerpt has been widely distributed on social media, but in case you’ve not seen it, congratulations once again to our JHSC Nordic skiers for such an amazing season!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 14, 2022 / Jackson, WY
Jackson Hole Ski & Snowboard Club (JHSC) Nordic student-athletes competed at the 2022 Junior National Cross-Country Ski Championships in Minneapolis, MN from March 7-12, 2022. JHSC sent a club-record 14 student-athletes to compete in four races: a Freestyle Individual Start distance, a Classic Sprint, a Classic Mass Start, and a Freestyle Mixed Relay.
Memorable performances include U16 student-athletes Lena Poduska and Lucas Wilmot, who both skied to three top-10 finished in the individual events and a top-10 finish in the relay. U18 student-athlete, Kate Brigham earned a 2nd place finish in the Classic Sprint and 10th in the Classic Mass Start. JHSC Alum and University of Denver student-athlete Elijah Weenig had three consecutive top-10 finishes, including 4th in the Freestyle Individual Start, while also pacing his team to 3rd in the Freestyle Mixed Relay.
In addition to these outstanding performances, six other JHSC student-athletes placed in the top 30 over the course of the week and therefore scored points for the club standings. Altogether the results of all 14 student-athletes propelled JHSC to 5th place in the Junior National Cross-Country Ski Championships Club standings.
"We are extremely proud of all the JHSC Nordic student-athletes who competed in Junior Nationals this week. These performances are the culmination of countless hours of training and preparation over many years," says Nordic Program Director and Head Coach, Will Wicherski. "Being one of the top five Nordic club programs in the country is a fantastic achievement and is proof of the growth and progress JHSC has made from top to bottom. These great performances by JHSC student-athletes were made possible by the support of teammates, coaches, Club staff, volunteers, and the entire Jackson Hole community."
The JHSC Nordic program continues with practice this week but will soon enter the off-season and give student-athletes and coaches some well-deserved rest before starting back up in May.
2022 JHSC Junior National Team Members
Left to right - Back row: Mason Wheeler, Sydney Wilmot, Kate Brigham, Lucas Wilmot, Bridger Stiles, Elijah Weenig, Will Johnson, Peter Warner, Coach - Luna Wasson Front row: Head Coach - Will Wicherski, Nate Streubel, Colton Petsch, Natalie O’Brien, Lena Poduska, Elsie Hall, Jacob Collins
Groomer’s choice for today is to enjoy some spring skiing.
