The Great Caribou Bog Classic 2025
The Great Caribou Bog Classic Marathon
2/8/2025
The Great Caribou Bog Classic Ski Race was held today at the Caribou Bog Outdoor Center in Orono, Maine. Race Director Dan Baumert (Penobscot Valley Ski Club) pulled together an excellent event enjoyed by many from the skiing community. Skiers from several states, colleges, and clubs converged on the most remote event on the calendar and were treated to a race that had something for everyone! Junior to M12! NWVE dispatched their two most steadfast skiers to the event Cipperly Good and Damian Bolduc. The travel to Orono was a bit out of the way, but having made the trip via crashing at a friend's house Friday night, brought to mind the memories that keep the thrill of the sport alive and well within me. The venue was a lot of fun, and I look forward to visiting it again.
I consider myself a connoisseur of Great Races. There is the Great Race I live for, held in St. Albans on the 4th of July weekend, the other Great Race in Auburn, NY, the Winter Great Race, also in Auburn, not to mention, I believe I have a Great Little City Race shirt from the late 1980’s. In all of these, I have had winning success of some sort. I am sure there have been others, but if they have lapsed in my memory, they must not have lived up to their name. Of course, I am getting older and have done thousands of races, so who knows? But as I drove the many hours to Orono, I contemplated the greatness of this race and where it would stand among the others as they have set a really high bar.
I arrived at the ski center and was welcomed by friendly volunteers who helped me park my car. They wanted to maximize the parking lot and were squeezing the cars in. The lodge was a new building that invited people in with memorabilia of the center's storied history and the dedicated work of its members and volunteers continuously improving it. I performed my kicking the snow wax test, and there was no evidence of the possible mixed precipitation. At registration, I was informed that the trail had been groomed after the temperatures had dropped, the snow had cooled, and the tracks were in excellent condition. I went to wax my skis in the wax room and chatted with Ollie Swabey (Bowdoin) and Francis Tafton (Bowdoin) while they prepped their skis.
Cipperly Good (NWVE) met me in the parking lot and told me where I could test my skis. My testing went well, and I was initially very pleased with my skis. I used the NWVE Recommendation, alternating Guru Blue and Violet. Cipperly went with Swix Extra Blue, Ollie and Francis were only doing the 10km race and were not as concerned about the upper range, so they went with Rode Blue Multigrade. I finished getting ready, and Cipperly showed me the way to the start. I was informed that the trail gets narrow in places.
The snow was fresh from this week's storms. The grooming was done with a tracked side-by-side pulling a Tidd. Much of the course was double-tracked, with some narrower sections reduced to a single track. The conditions conjured memories of Dickinson’s, Hazen’s, and even the Bogburn Homestead. However, the course in Orono was much flatter than in any of these places. Perhaps Hard’ack would be the best comparison. The sun was out, with temperatures in the low twenties. There was a significant northwest wind that could be felt on much of the course.
The race course started on the Veazie Railroad Bed Trail, which was utilized at different points throughout the race. After about a half kilometer, skiers turned onto the Dump Trail, then crossed Taylor Road and climbed and descended Newman Hill. They returned to Veazie for a bit and then skied the major climb of the loop, Double Track into the Caribou Trail, which climbed Bangor Hill. Skiers then returned to Veazie down Beaver Trail and Heron Loop. They then did a long out and back on the Kirkland Connector before returning to Veazie for a long drive back to the lap finish area. Skiers did one, two, or three laps to complete the 11, 22, or 33km race, respectively.
Thirty-eight skiers gathered for the combined mass start, and soon we were off. Ollie Swabey (Bowdoin) and Francis Trafton (Bowdoin) took an early lead and won the men’s and women’s 11km events, respectively. Ollie commanded quite a lead while Francis was just out of reach of the lead 33km pack. Gabriel Perkins (Colby), Greg Harkey (Penobscot Valley Ski Club), and I chased the speedy 11km skiers. Long-time teammates Victor Golovkin (Freedom Trail) and Michael Melnikov (Freedom Trail) worked together along with some of the racers in the shorter distances. Bruce Katz (Unattached) and Cipperly Good (NWVE) played cat and mouse with Cipperly climbing and descending quicker than Bruce, but he had the advantage on the flats. Ellen Mallory (Unattached) watched Cipperly with hopes that she was only doing one lap. Eddie Nachemie (Unattached) was excited to have the Great Caribou Bog be his first race!
There was attrition in the initial field with each lap as skiers competing in their respective distances finished the race. The elite 33km pack held together for most of the race. Gabriel Perkins (Bowdoin) was in it to win it early on. Greg Harkey (PVSC) and I took a more calculated approach. In the first lap, I could tell that my skis were slower in the soft tracks, but I was confident that they would improve as the tracks got skied in. I also noticed that I was easily gaining ground on the climbs. I stayed close and, on each of the remaining laps, moved to overtake, striding up Bangor Hill. I caught Greg on lap two and got by, but Gabriel cranked it up a bit, and we raced hard for the second half of the second lap. I made a move to pass, starting the third lap, but Gabriel did not allow it. Gabriel skipped the feed station, and I knew I was going to get him in the final lap. I waited until the climb again and decided to commit to the win. I set about trying to put a minute on Gabriel, and as I passed, I could tell he was going anaerobic after his long effort to shake me off over the previous 5km.
Michael Melnikov (FTN) broke away from Victor Golovkin (FTN) on the second lap. Michael looked strong heading out on the Kirkland Trail moving more freely than Victor. Bruce Katz (Unattached) also made a decisive attack to double pole away from Cipperly Good (NWVE). Ellen Mallory (Unattached) hoped that Cipperly was only doing two laps at this point. The hope strategy did not work, and Cipperly made the turn for lap three. Ellen continued to ski hard. The third lap in a race like this tends to be lonely as racers spread out and transition to survival mode. Wyatt Williams (Unattached) caught Cipperly giving her a little push at a critical point in the race.
After taking the lead, I kept my pace high and told myself that good skiing would win the race. I tried not to make any mistakes and kept the tempo going. Gabriel kept pushing but could not overcome the distance I made on the Bangor Hill Climb. Bruce kept increasing his effort and pulled Victor into sight. Cipperly used the draft from Wyatt to distance herself from Ellen enough to hold her off to the finish. Eddie Nachamie (Unattached) was all smiles as he completed his first race!
Even though it was a smaller field, there was a lot of racing all the way to the finish line. I crossed, relieved that Gabriel did not get a second wind, and challenged me on the long drive to the finish line. Cipperly held off Ellen for the women’s win. NWVE swept the podium at the awards ceremony!
Dan Baumert gave a nice summary of the race and the events to come at the outdoor center. He thanked all the participants and was pleased with how close the racing was. He talked up the sponsors, one of which I visited before heading to recover with some family for the Flying Moose Classic. Dan also spoke about the different NENSA Race Series. Finally, he emphasized the origin of some of the
prizes, which were made from old-growth hemlock trestle pilings that had been harvested, rescued, preserved, and repurposed from the land we raced on.
So, we must return to our initial question: Is the Great Caribou Bog a Great Race? NWVE members have had mixed experiences here from the onset of the event, with Tim Cowan (NWVE) experiencing a tough defeat at the final road crossing. While I was concerned about the same fate, I channeled Brendan Barden's (NWVE) plan to jump the road crossings in the Craftsbury point-to-point, even though my skis never leave the ground together. Cipperly has had good results, defending her title as Women’s Champion! The trails and venue have been improved significantly since the 1980s, including road crossing shoveling (no jump necessary), and the new lodge will serve the community in many ways. The volunteers are enthusiastic about stewarding the land and preserving and improving its utilization. So, indeed, the Great Caribou Bog is a Great Race!
Damian
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