March 14, 2012 (Craftsbury Common, Vermont) – Like most of New England and the country, Craftsbury has seen unseasonably warm temperatures over the last week. Similar weather is forecast for this week, as well as into the extended forecast. We’ve had great skiing to date at Craftsbury, including outlying trails without man-made snow — but we are well aware that most of the natural snow in the area will likely be gone at the end of this week, if the temps come even close to the forecasted highs. So we wanted to give you an update on the steps we are taking to ensure a quality race course for the last week of March.

Throughout Saturday we moved approximately 300 truckloads of snow onto our most defensible course, should we not be able to make use of the planned 3.75k. This loop is the one our staff decided was most likely to retain snow given the extended forecast of 60 degree days and barely freezing nights. The loop stretches for about 2.5k, and while it is not our recently homologated 3.75k course, includes the main fields, the homologated sprint course, and 2 B level climbs.

We have also retained two large piles of man-made snow in the stadium areas that can be moved on to the longer loop if cold temperatures and favorable forecasts return. If they do not, these piles will be used to patch and improve the 2.5k loop.

Our cards are in many respects laid on the table. If we’re not able to use the 3.75k homologated loop, we’ve built up a 30” base on the 2.5k loop and believe we can host all of the events on this course. Now we will wait and see what happens with this warm weather over the next week. You can continually find information about conditions and grooming reports at the Craftsbury Nordic Center Website.

Additionally, click HERE to a slide show from Saturday, which will give you a glimpse into what we are doing here to ensure quality racing conditions for SuperTour Finals and Long Distance Nationals.

The Craftsbury Outdoor Center is absolutely committed to making these races happen; despite the warm weather we’ve been dealt. Let’s all hope the weather returns to more normal conditions for March in New England, which could easily include a good dump of snow. Stay tuned to this website for updates, and plan on seeing you in two weeks.

Junior Race Information

As has been the case with the past several SuperTour Finals and Long Distance Nationals, we will offer two specific options for OJ and younger skiers to compete within the sprints and long distance event amongst their age-mates.

Junior Sprint Heats, Semis & Finals – Tuesday, March 27, 2012
For those juniors not making the top 30 in the regular open heats, we will run special junior semis and finals after the open bracket is completed. As usual, USSA and FIS points will be based on the qualifier – there will be no separate points generated for juniors. No USSA or FIS license is required to participate in the SuperTour Finals, and this is the same for any junior participants. However, unlicensed juniors will be seeded at the end of the field for the qualifier, and will not receive any points. Registration will be through the same skireg.com category as the rest of open SuperTour participants – use the one SuperTour race option.

Long Distance Nationals – Friday and Saturday, March 30-31, 2012
We will offer a shorter distance race as part of Nationals for juniors, approximately 15k for the women and 20k for the men. Juniors will start their races at the same time as the 50k and 30k, with juniors seeded throughout the chevron. While the junior race will start simultaneously to the open event, this will be a separate race from the senior event and USSA points will be awarded within this category as a standalone event.

No USSA or FIS license is necessary to participate in the junior distance race; however, athletes without either license will be seeded by order of registration at the back of the chevron and will NOT be eligible for points. Registration for the junior event at distance Nationals will be a separate item at skireg.com.

It is worth noting that interested juniors can compete in the open 30/50k races if they wish. In that case, they will need either a USSA or FIS license, just like the rest of the competitors. You can find full information on licensure requirements HERE.

Hope you’ll join us in these great events!