March 29, 2006 – Well, the 2006 United States National Snowshoe Championships are in the book! Building upon successful past Championships, these were the biggest and, arguably, the best yet! One hundred and seventy six of the most competitive snowshoe athletes in the country traveled to the Bolton Valley Resort in Bolton Valley Vermont to compete for National Championship Titles, 2006 National Team berths and age group honors. Athletes representing twenty different U.S. States were joined by international athletes from Canada, France and Mexico to challenge the demanding Junior 5km and Senior 10km courses over the trails of the Bolton Valley Resort Nordic Center.

In addition to the National Championship 5km and 10km events, a Citizen’s 5km (27 participants), Kid’s Kilo (12 participants) and Championship Banquet (over 170 participants) were also conducted on Saturday, while the 4 x 2.05km Snowshoe Team Relay (13 teams with 52 participants) capped off the weekend’s activities on Sunday. In all, more than 230 athletes took part in the weekend’s events! Another event record!!!

Many sponsors attended the events. The weekend featured displays and demos by U.S. National Championship Program Presenting Sponsors; Atlas Snowshoes, Kahtoola Traction Devices and Eastern Mountain Sports. Also in attendance were National Snowshoe Team footwear outfitter New England Overshoes from nearby Burlington Vermont. Onion River Sports of Montpelier VT, Dion Snowshoes of Readsboro VT and on Sunday, Exel Sports U.S. of Georgia VT, who attended to provide a free Nordic Snowshoe Walking Clinic, were also present. The USSSA wishes to thank all sponsors who supported the newly expanded U.S. National Championship Program this past season. Supporting the event, some providing items for the prize raffle, but not physically present, were Crescentmoon Snowshoes, Columbia Sportswear, Vermont Sports Council, Vermont Sports Magazine, Pepsi-Cola of Burlington, Thrifty Car Rentals, Powersox and the Vermont State Tourism Agency. The Bolton Valley Resort played the role of perfect hosts, right down to providing enough snow to get the job done! While so many other parts of the country, especially in the Northeast, saw a lack of snow this season. Bolton Valley came through in the clutch! With three feet of snow falling in the ten days preceding the Championships, the trails were in the best shape possible, given the crazy winter weather this season.

The 2007 National Championships move onto the North Central region next season at a site yet to be announced. Whoever hosts next season will have another tough task to follow this year’s Championship event! But, we said the same thing after the 2005 Championship in Anchorage Alaska! Many thanks to the Bolton Valley Resort, all our generous USSSA sponsors and our loyal USSSA members! You made the 2005-2006 season our best ever!

Event Results

2006 Junior Girl’s 5km National Team
(Top 3)
1st Anna Leib Colorado 24:15
2nd Johanna Ludington Vermont 25:33
3rd Erika Gates New York 27:39

2006 Junior Boy’s 5km National Team
(Top 3)
1st Christian Thompson New York 20:16
2nd Jason Ayr Massachusetts 20:24
3rd Mike Geary New York 20:27

2006 Senior Women’s 10km National Team
(Top 5)
1st Kasie Enman Vermont 53:07
2nd Kelli Lusk Massachusetts 54:43
3rd Laura Wheatley Colorado 55:34
4th Sarah Raitter Colorado 56:08
5th Cindy Brochman Minnesota 57:10

2006 Senior Men’s 10km National Team
(Top 5)
1st Greg Hexum Minnesota 42:42
2nd Paul Low Massachusetts 43:11
3rd Bill Raitter Colorado 43:52
4th Rich Bolt New Hampshire 44:13
5th Mark Churchill Vermont 45:09

International Men’s Division

1st Antonio Holguin MEXICO 46:21
2nd Christian Vachon CANADA 46:28
3rd Jimmy Gobeil CANADA 47:05
4th Martin Ladouceur CANADA 48:45
5th Jean-Nicolas Duval CANADA 50:17

International Women’s Division

1st Sarah Montgomery CANADA 1:01.28
2nd Maya Siriwardana FRANCE 1:15.02
3rd Jessica Coll CANADA 1:16.33






Participation in the National Champs. Events by State/Country

1. New York 67 participants
2. Massachusetts 32 “
3. Vermont 15
4. Colorado 10
CANADA 10
5. Minnesota 7
6. Wisconsin 5
7. Connecticut 5
8. New Hampshire 4
9. Iowa 3
10. California 3
11. Pennsylvania 3
12. Michigan 2
MEXICO 1
13. Maine 1
14. Montana 1
15. Alaska 1
16. Utah 1
17. Wyoming 1
18. Texas 1
19. Oregon 1
20. Florida 1
FRANCE 1