Facing another warm and wet winter, Concord High’s Nordic ski team continues to adapt

Concord Nordic skier Phoebe Dater-Roberts balances on a small mound of snow as she warms up during practice.

Concord Nordic skier Phoebe Dater-Roberts balances on a small mound of snow as she warms up during practice.

Members of the Concord Nordic Ski team run among the scattered snow piles along the sidewalk of Auburn Street in Concord on Friday. Team members split up and did an hour run to train for upcoming meets.

Members of the Concord Nordic Ski team run among the scattered snow piles along the sidewalk of Auburn Street in Concord on Friday. Team members split up and did an hour run to train for upcoming meets. GEOFF FORESTER / Monitor staff

Nordic ski team captain Chloe Gudas (center) leads the team in a crab walk with bands as the members warm up in the Concord High parking lot before going a 45-minute run on Friday.

Nordic ski team captain Chloe Gudas (center) leads the team in a crab walk with bands as the members warm up in the Concord High parking lot before going a 45-minute run on Friday. GEOFF FORESTERMonitor staff

By ERIC RYNSTON-LOBEL

Monitor staff

Published: 01-15-2024 7:00 PM

It’s no secret that Nordic skiing has become more difficult in the Concord area than ever before. It’s also no secret why.

Warmer temperatures mean less snow and more rain, like just last week when Concord received over eight inches of snow on Jan. 7 but saw it washed away with heavy rain two days later.

The Concord High Nordic ski team has already had one event canceled, though it’s generally still been able to practice outdoors. About three times a week, the Crimson Tide will travel up to Proctor Academy or Holderness School, where snowmaking equipment allows the student-athletes to stay on their skis.

They also had their annual four-day ski camp in Craftsbury, Vt., over the holiday break, providing another chance to gain valuable reps outdoors.

In other words, the opportunities to ski outdoors still exist, but it’s required more travel and a little more advance planning.

“I’ve seen the changes,” Concord head coach Erin Waters said. “I know a lot of teams are really struggling. I think there’s this mentality that we know that it’s going to be really hard to find snow every year. It’s sort of what we expect at this point.”

Beaver Meadow Golf Course is the preferred location for high school practices, but without snowmaking equipment yet, opportunities to ski — like last Monday or Tuesday — there are fewer and further between.

Adding snowmaking and lights is the next phase in the local nonprofit Ski the Beav’s quest to expand opportunities for cross country skiing in Concord, but that could still take several years to come together.

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And as Waters explained, it is becoming increasingly challenging to not have snowmaking and still have reliable chances to ski.

“It does seem like that’s the direction we’re heading right now,” she said of the reliance on snowmaking.

One positive of the sport’s evolution she added, though, is that the team has more time for dry-land training and weightlifting, which has helped the skiers better prepare themselves for when they do eventually hit the snow.

“There are things you can do dry-land training that are sometimes more valuable than being on snow itself, because it’s really hard to get the fundamentals of skiing without having some strength and some idea of technique and general body positioning,” she said. “I’m not saying I would love the entire season to be like that, but we can make a lot of progress with our athletes bounding, roller skiing and weightlifting.”

There’s nothing that replaces the experience of competing outside on what feels like endless trails of snow, but these changes represent the stark reality the sport faces.

Nordic skiing has already evolved in recent years — and will continue to do so in future years — but Waters said it’s all happened without any abrupt or major changes. Rather, they’re mostly reacting and doing the best they can to deal with these obstacles as they come.

“I think that it’s something that we’ve been doing for years now kind of quietly, and I think it’s just a continuation of that,” she said of the sport’s evolution. “I don’t think we’re suddenly going to completely do an overhaul. I think we’re going to continue to change and adapt (during) the year that we’re given. We kind of have to take it year by year.”