Sunday marked a big end-of-summer feat, as 27 of our Junior and Collegiate athletes descended upon the quiet roads of Ferrisburgh for a 100km rollerski.
Across the fresh pavement by Kingsland Bay and around toward the outskirts of Vergennes and back on a 20km loop, the crew skied around, and around, and around until ticking off all 100km! The general timeframe ended up being about 6 to 6.5 hours of on-time.
This is a huge feat…big skis like this have become increasingly popular after COVID led pro skiers in Norway to end their summer and winter seasons with epic distances. But is it possible that this was the biggest collection of Junior skiers completing 100k? I’m not sure…but let’s just say that an impressive crew hit those roads yesterday.
When we did this ski in the spring at Craftsbury, the conditions turned from ice to slush and we had to absolutely slog through the final 65 kilometers. There were a lot of stops, sitting in chairs, and questioning our life choices. This time, the sun got a little bit toasty, but the skis didn’t slow down and the loop was very flat. The kilometers clicked-by as the crew was laughing and vlogging and downing some snacks on the move.
At the end of the ski we made sure to grab some ice cream as the temps were about 80, although we were all a little bummed that the McDonalds right across the street was closed because at 75km a bunch of us decided that McFlurrys would be our best post-ski option. To the Jolley station it was, where we also stocked up on recovery chocolate milk.
Soon most of the team starts pre-season for fall sports like XC running and soccer…it’s always a bit of a sad time to see such team camaraderie go in different directions with the onset of other obligations (oh yeah, there’s school classes somewhere in there too). But more than ever I think this crew is excited to find ways to keep working together, be it morning sessions, weekend adventures, or just staying in touch while we all keep preparing for winter.
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