The Bogburn 2025
The Bogburn
1/4/2025
Report # 297
The Bogburn was held today in wintery conditions at Rikert Outdoor Center in Ripton. The annual rite of winter has relocated from the Bogburn Homestead as it has outgrown the capacity of the Haydock trail network, and lean snow winters have made solidifying the course that much more difficult. While the old Bogburn course was a fixture of the winter race circuit and provided a major component of the character of the race, Rikert has stepped up to preserve what makes the Bogburn the Bogburn and delivered a family-oriented event that challenged all racers to push themselves to the limit and then some!
We had a major snowmelt in the week leading up to the race. Rikert has been maintaining their snowmaking loop, but even that has taken a major hit. There was hope that a major snow event on Thursday would restore the excellent early-season conditions we have been enjoying, but the snow missed much of Vermont, and Ripton mostly experienced rain. Justin Beckwith published a promo showing skiing was good on what they had for snow and assured the region that the race was going to happen. In a follow-up, the conditions and wax strategy from a high school race on Friday were shared, and it looked like conditions would mostly be a firm granular surface.
Skiers were surprised as they approached the Bread Loaf Campus to find an abundance of fresh powder. Once again, I should have stuck with my wax recommendation made on Wednesday but I had prepped my skis for using klister based on the information provided. Fortunately, I did not bring my klister skis and only had a binder on. Participants prepped their skis with various working options, from Rode Skare covered to Oslo to the old favorite Extra Blue. One of the collegiate coaches was stripping blue klister off the skis and sending their athletes out on blue hard wax. NWVE tested several things, and many opted for a mixed blue wax with a hard blue wax as the top coat. So, the M16 covered with Guru Blue, with a little Extra Blue underfoot, was on several of our skis and working great.
The race course was on the first loop of the Tormondsen Family Race Course. On the 1.5km lap, skiers started in the stadium and proceeded down the hill, crossing the forest service road and then up the first major climb on the course. After the climb, skiers navigated the S-turns back down the hill, going right and skiing the Old Stump Thumb of the race loop before re-crossing the road, going over a bridge, and back up the hill to the stadium. In the stadium was a 180-degree turn to send athletes back out on the course. Skiers were to complete six laps, which ended up being just shy of a 10km race.
At 1:00 p.m., racing was underway. Skiers were grouped by age, with the Senior Men heading out first. The Senior Women were next, followed by the Masters Men and Women. The Junior Boys and Girls were at the end of the start order. It was a fifteen-second interval start, and the course got busy quickly. Having all the mixed starts so close together made for some interesting dynamics. I got to ski with Camille and Jessica at different points in the race. Something that has not happened in several years.
Thomas Clayton (NWVE) was the club's first starter. He got underway among some quick skiers and lapped through as Camille Bolduc (UVM) and Emma Page (UVM) were getting started. The motivation kept Thomas on his toes as he heard constant cheers for the UVM skiers, who kept the gap close. Chris Burnham was the next NWVE starter. Chris had to rely on skiers on different laps for company. There was plenty of that for everyone on the course; he was always skiing along with someone as he looped around the course.
Andre’ Bolduc NWVE opted for a classic race today. He followed a wave of Senior Women in the start order. His goals were to stay composed and in control, coming off a week of having a cold. He met his goals and had a solid finish. Andre’ quickly exited to go back-country skiing in Brandon Gap while in the neighborhood. Next on course for the club was Tyler Magnan (NWVE). Tyler was matched up well, chasing Nate Laber (MNC) and Patrick Campbell (Mad River BKL Dad). Tyler ran into an issue with a pole mechanical with his grip twisting. After fiddling with his basket for a minute, he figured out the problem and restarted the race at the top of the first hill. He set out to make up the time, which was difficult to do on this course. Things went well initially, but there was a price to pay for the effort later in the race.
I was the next NWVE starter. I was chasing a ghost, as the skier in front of me was a no-show. I also had Justin Freeman (Unattached) directly behind me. I decided to see if I could hold Justin off down the first hill and across the road, which I did successfully! Not long after, Justin passed me on the climb, and not long after that, he did it again in about the same exact place. I guess we were skiing consistently. Scott Magnan (NWVE) started a minute back from me, with Eric Tremble (NWVE) right behind. Scott kept touching up his wax before the race and finally settled after changing things and ending up with something that at least looked faster. Scott raced hard in the first half of the race, closing considerably on me but not making much more ground in the second half. Eric had company with Andrew Gardner (Frost Mountain), who was in his first race in 6 years. Andrew and Eric went back and forth a bit, but Eric had the advantage at the finish line.
Jonathan Rodd (NWVE) also had a ghost to chase, but again had plenty of company on course. He pulled away from those behind him in the start order and picked up a few skiers ahead of him. Jonathan had a little traffic at the finish and crossed the line with a good sprint. Jessica Bolduc (NWVE) started at the front of the Master Women’s wave. Jessica began catching skiers right away; however, Jessie Donovan (Frost Mountain) cruised by midway through the first lap. She was followed closely by Sarah Pribram (NWVE), who loved everything about the race.
Sarah also had the biggest NWVE fan on course giving her special attention. Eric Darling (NWVE) is recovering from eye surgery but made the trip to help wax skis and encourage all the racers. Sarah has been doing her own Tour de Ski, completing four races since the BFA Alumni Citizens race. Jessica skied fairly evenly and ended up third for Master Women. Sarah was second for Masters and won her age group!
Eli Enman (NWVE) and Jud Hartmann (NWVE) made the last-minute decision to take advantage of the excellent conditions. Eli set out quickly, skiing through much of the field. He looked extra fast as he was fresh when many of the other racers in his league were halfway through their race. No matter, Eli offered encouragement as he went by and took second place behind Justin Freeman for the Master Men. Jud has had a little more early skiing than usual and was happy to have solid kick during the race. He was also happy to be mixed among the many laps with skiers of all abilities. He had a good objective to work on, chasing down Kim Moody (Schussveiren/Drifter). Jud also got the biggest cheers for winning the M10 Division at the awards ceremony. The race was top-loaded with top senior athletes who were impressed with the dedication of the Master Skiers.
All of the skiers were pleased with the race. The course was challenging, and the first lap felt much different than the last. While the course was crowded, there was good respect for each other. Skiers mostly made room for everyone, and those with a few more training hours worked around those with more career hours. There were very few tracking instances, with the most difficult section of the course having three lanes. The more technical sections held up, and skiers of differing abilities could choose their preferred line without impeding others.
There was a fun awards ceremony after the race, and age group winners took home a warm Rikert hat. We talked about the differences between the old Bogburn versus the new Bogburn. While there is no comparison between the courses, the true nature of the race has carried over with all the talent digging deep and beyond their limits, recovering and leaving with a smile. Children played after their races in the morning and cheered while their parents raced in the afternoon. There were great matchups throughout the day, and everyone left grateful for the race and plotting for next year. Just the way the Bogburn has always been!
Damian
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