September 03, 2010 – Skiers racers around Bennington and Putney, Vermont, during the 1960s had many great role models like Trina Hosmer to look up to. Always smiling and encouraging, Hosmer was a vibrant source of encouragement for us kids. She went on to become a groundbreaking skier in the early days of the US women’s program, and has lived the sport with great joy. Competitive – you bet – but when the racing bibs came off, she is always promoting the sport to everyone who was interested. Hosmer was born in Watertown, NY, and is now 65 years-old. For more than 30 years she was a statistical software consultant at University of Massachusetts. Hosmer and her husband Dave, have enjoyed a lifetime together on skis and both have enriched the sport. We caught up with Hosmer to talk about her career and her thoughts on the current racing scene.
Trina Hosmer: While attending UVM for graduate school, I met my future husband Dave who was captain of the UVM Ski Team. This was in 1966 when a few (very few) women were beginning to xc ski race starting at the back of the pack in open races. Dave was very supportive in teaching me how to xc ski and getting me to enter the races. In fact the whole UVM Men’s Team couldn’t have been more supportive in helping me get started with this great sport.
Tell us about your formative years in Putney?
TH: The very first time I xc skied was in Putney. I was taken along by the men’s team to a 50K race to be their support person and driver. Dave brought some equipment for me but I insisted I would just sit in car, jump out and feed when they came by and then drive them home. However, after watching skiers on the warm up oval track for a short while, I became intrigued by the motion (kick, then glide) and decided to try it. Well, three hours later I was still going around and around the oval track, and completely forgot about feeding the guys but did drive them home.
The sport captivated you from the start?
TH: Yes, from my first attempt at kicking and gliding I became totally captivated by the motion. From watching the other skiers I knew what I had to do but trying to do it was so frustrating. However, in those three hours I had some moments where I knew it was happening so I just wanted to keep perfecting the motion so it happened all the time. Well, it’s 44 years later and I am still trying to perfect that motion so I never stumble or bumble. What a lifetime challenge!
TH: I started xc skiing in 1966 and was on the first international Women’s US Ski Team in 1970. Needless to say I was pretty green and certainly hadn’t perfected the kick and glide seeing how I am still working on it 44 years later. So although I enjoyed the experience (especially the fact that I got to ski so much with so many great skiers) I was very intimidated, especially by the Russian women.
Martha Rockwell was the leader of the women’s squad then – tell us how you worked together?
TH: Martha is one of the most interesting people I know and she tells a great story. I enjoyed being around her and admired her work ethic and ability to totally commit. In ways I think we complimented each other. She was totally focused on skiing (her life, her job) whereas I had a husband and a job back in Seattle when I wasn’t traveling with the US ski team. Martha only lives around 35 miles from me now. We probably only get together 2-3 times a year but it is always just like I saw her yesterday. We always have so much to talk and laugh about. She is one of my lifetime friends.
What role did John Caldwell (JC) play in your skiing?
TH: When I made the team in 1970 that was going to compete in the Nordic World Championships in Vysocke Tatry, Czechoslovakia, I was an outsider. We were living in Seattle at the time where Dave was attending graduate school at U. of Washington. I had come back East by myself to try out for this team. Without the help of the Alaska contingent (especially Anne and her mother Tay Thomas) who adopted me and took me around to the races, and JC who gave me a great deal of skiing support, I would never have made the team. I will always be grateful to JC and also to his wife, Heper, who were so supportive of my skiing in those early years.
What role did your husband Dave play in your skiing, then and now?
TH: If it wasn’t for Dave, I would never have been a xc ski racer. As I said previously, he introduced me to the sport, taught me how to xc ski and always encouraged me to keep at it. Then when I became a mother and still working full time (although no longer on the US Ski Team), he always helped out with child care and house chores so we could continue training and skiing together
Were you always a focused athlete, wanting to go faster all the time?
TH: I think anyone who competes at the Olympic level has to be driven. It takes a huge time commitment, focus and sacrifice.
TH: I certainly don’t have any great results from international competition to brag about. For me the best of times was when we traveled to Scandinavia for competitions and I got to ski for hours in the woods on groomed tracks that were just everywhere .
And the worst of times?
TH: The first competition in the 1972 Olympics. First of all, in 1972 we were still skiing on wood skis and most likely you only had one good pair of skis and possibly a crummy pair for backups. The day before my first race in Sapporo, Japan (Olympics in 1972) while out skiing the course for a final inspection, I fell on one of the long down hills and broke my only pair of good skis. I was heart broken, panicked and made a very bad choice to race the next day on a pair of my teammates skis instead of my crummy pair of backups. My teammate was taller and about 20 pounds heavier so needless to say the skis were not right for me. As soon as the gun went off and I started to ski, I realized what a bad choice I had made but I was stuck. I finished the race but very poorly. It was such a disappointment to ski so poorly when I knew it was my own doing.
What were the 1972 Olympic Games in Sapporo like?
TH: Other than the incident above I really enjoyed the Olympics Games. The thrill of being part of such a big international event is hard to describe, marching in opening ceremonies, living in the Olympics village, eating and conversing with athletes from around the world, attending sporting events, etc. It was the thrill of a life time and memories forever.
What can we learn from that era?
TH: Simple is better. Everyone was still an amateur at this time so the pressure to perform was only brought on by yourself. Now the focus seems to be on advertising and making money. The true joy of competing just so you can do your best is gone.
Tell us what it was like to be on the USA women’s team in your era?
TH: First of all I always felt totally supported by the men’s team and not put down because we were females. However, to be on the first USA Women’s team and competing internationally was very intimidating. The women from the “iron curtain countries” such as Russia, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, etc. were so powerful and dominating that I felt like a high school skier. I remember starting the relay for the World Championships in Vysocke Tatry, Czechoslovakia in 1970 and being in the way of a Bulgarian skier who then proceeded to just push me into the ditch on side of track. I started to yell “You can’t do that” but quickly realized she was long gone and I better get going to. So I certainly didn’t have a lot of confidence but realized what a fantastic opportunity I had to get better by skiing with the best skiers in the world. They always say you are only as good as your competition, so there I was with the best.
What do you think of the level of American women’s racing now?
TH: In the sprints and 5K, the US is certainly in the mix (i.e. Kikkan Randall). We need to improve in the longer races. Week after week the European’s are banging heads against each other, but because of the distance from Europe and the cost of competing there, this is very difficult for Americans. We need more exposure to high level competition. We just don’t have enough good skiers in N. American to bring the cream to the top. The Alpine skiers are in Europe for every World Cup and their B and C skiers are over there competing on the Europa Cup level. It is not enough to send just a few elite skiers to Europe for a few races, we need to send a team of skiers to compete if not on the World Cup level than at least on the level below for the whole series. But this requires money and the US Ski Team just does not have the funding. The other problem with US women’s racing, is it takes years to develop a distance skier and many more of our women than men quit the sport after post college because of lack of support. We need to have many more programs in the US like the Green Team in Craftsbury, VT that support athletes so they can continue to train and compete in the most critical years of their racing career.
TH: Kikkan is a sprinter and she’s in the mix. Her commitment and longevity to the sport is paying off. I believe that because we now role models such as Kikkan, the women’s program will get stronger. Certainly the success of Becky Scott has elevated the Canadian women’s team.
What were your views on the Olympics in Vancouver and the level of competition?
TH: We were in Sweden (competing at the World Masters) while the Olympics in Vancouver were happening and the coverage of xc skiing was incredible. The athletes are so much more fit than in my days so the competition is at a whole other level. I was totally blown away by the speed that Petter Northug could generate when he needed to beat someone to the finish line. Then skiing 50K in two hours, how is that possible?
Who are among your role models in sport?
TH: All the men in the 90-plus age category at the World Master competitions who hop up on the stage to get their awards. I certainly hope that I am still skiing and racing when I’m at that age.
Tell us about your master racing career.
TH: Master racing is just fantastic because while competing you are dead serious, but when it’s over it’s about socializing. Cross-country skiers are not only some of the fittest people in the country but also the most interesting. Dave and I just enjoy hanging out with other xc skiers and hiking, biking, roller skiing and doing other activities with them.
How has all the racing you’ve done enhanced your life?
TH: It has kept me incredibly healthy because if you race then you must train. However, I don’t consider my regular skiing as training because I have no weekly plan and only do what my spirit moves me to do. I am sure I could be better if I had schedule but that’s not what it is about for me now. It’s about staying healthy, active and enjoying life.
How many hours do you think you train these days?
TH: My husband Dave says he only sees me in lycra and pajamas but that is because some days I do what I call Trina’s Triathalon – I will either hike, bike, ski, roller ski or run, then play some tennis and then do yoga. So I am active many hours of the day but I am not sure you would call it training.
What’s your favourite Book?
TH: Currently, I loved “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and the whole Steig Larsson series.
What is your current frame of mind?
TH: Life couldn’t be better. I have a great family, my health and now the time and freedom to pursue my passion for perfecting the art of kick, then glide.