Long time coming: Ski community celebrates hard work with Colony Invite

PALMER — When Palmer junior Anne Woodings took off at the Colony Cross-Country Ski Invitational on Friday, she was breaking through more than just cold air and snow. She was breaking through nearly 50 years of her family’s skiing hopes in the Valley.

Teams from throughout Region III made the trek up to Government Peak to compete in the first large-scale event to grace the Mat-Su Borough’s new Nordic ski trails this weekend.

Woodings’ grandmother, Helen Woodings, was among the first to pioneer cross-country skiing in the Valley. Now, more than half a decade later, she is overcome with pride in watching her granddaughter ski on brand new, easily accessible, first-class ski trails.

The cross-country skiing season is the longest season of any high school sport. During the course of a long Alaska winter, skiers have lots of time to improve their technique or get in better shape for faster times. This is vital to the success of the sport, which welcomes large numbers of newcomers every year.

“I think most of our varsity team this year are new to the sport,” said Palmer junior Kiersten Johnson. “At the beginning of the year there was a lot of separation, but now we all finish within just a few minutes of each other.”

Johnson comes from a skiing family. Every year her winter weekends are spent traveling to ski meets to compete. The Moose graduated 20 from their ski team last year, diminishing much of their varsity squad. But with new skiers coming out every year, there was not much panic about who would fill the void. Skiing itself offers a different atmosphere than most traditional sports. Often times the finisher who comes in last will get a more raucous cheer than the one who came in first. Spectators are not piled in bleachers, but spread throughout the course bundled up fighting the same cold weather as the athletes.

After fresh snow on Friday and -10 degree temperatures on Saturday, the wax worry was mostly thrown out, according to Ed Strabel, a local cross-country skiing authority. The cold made for what he describes as slow snow.

“Oh, it’s not that bad,” Johnson said. “I’ve skied in a lot colder.”

The new ski trails at Government Peak have been a long time coming. Most Valley teams have to make the drive up to Hatcher Pass each day for practice, where they compete for snow with snowmachiners. This battle is not a new one, but the new trails at Government Peak bring consistency to skiers throughout the Valley.

Helen Woodings, who turns 83 next month, braves the cold to watch her granddaughter Anne, and is happy to do it. Woodings started skiing in the Valley 50 years ago and is delighted to see the new trails being put to good use.

“Every year I sent my daughters to Skyview, Homer, Fairbanks. All this time we’ve been arguing about designating motorized and non-motorized. Finally it’s our turn!” Woodings said.

Helen Woodings arrived in the Valley in 1953. Working as a teacher, she and her husband started the first ski classes in Hatcher Pass.

“We went in for a three-day clinic at UAA and learned how to ski. Well, of course then we had to have a place to ski. I still have my husband’s old skis. They are nicked with an axe, because he used to ski with a ski pole in one hand and an axe In another as he cleared trail,” Woodings said.

As the sport grew, Hatcher Pass became an increasingly important and controversial area for skiers. The Woodings’ were focused on saving trails, but did not worry about non-motorized designations.

“Anchorage people would say, just get the trails saved, we’ll designate later. When we first started the biathaletes from UAA or UAF this was the first place they could ski in October. So they built that beautiful loop that you still use today,” Woodings said.

As is still the case, the next obstacle was the goal of a downhill ski slope. The popularity of the Alyeska ski area drew Valley skiers to believe they could enjoy the same thing.

“We started talking of an alpine slope because we have snow equal to Alyeska. We sort of wasted 30 years as putting alpine skiing as the target. My daughters and their friends wanted to go downhill skiing. Cross-country skiing was the step child, you have to work at that,” Woodings said.

Woodings is happy to see the materialization of the new Government Peak ski trails. She believes that cross-country skiing is ideal for Valley families. “All of my children could ski because that’s what we could afford to do. I think it’s the perfect sport. We had it all right here.”

This weekend is not the first ski race held at Government Peak, but it is the first large-scale meet that the trails have seen.

“We’ve got quite a bit of community support. It’s great for recreational skiers and it’s a good race course. The kids really love it,” Strabel said.

The trail offers a race advantage for Valley skiers, who are usually at a disadvantage of knowing the course when they travel.

“I think it’s skiing pretty fast because we’re used to it. It’s nice to have a home course,” said Johnson.

Nearly 200 athletes competed this past weekend. Dozens of parent volunteers and spectators helped with the race and got to see the first taste of race day at the Government Peak ski trails, which should become a staple for Valley skiers for many years to come.

Colony Cross-Country

Ski Invite

Friday and Saturday, Government Peak Nordic Trails

Boys team scores:

1. Kenai, 3 hours, 6 minutes, 7 seconds; 2. Colony, 3:07:009; 3. Soldotna 3:07:49; 4. Grace Christian, 3:07:55; 5. Palmer, 3:25:00; 6. Homer, 3:25:08; 7. Skyview, 3:38:57.

Boys combined times:

1. Daniel Serventi, Gra, 41:33; 2. Dillon Jensen, Sol, 42:37; 3. Travis Cooper, 43:03; 4. John Snelders, 43:27; 5. Luke McLaughlin, Gra, 43:29; 6. Brian Rowe, Hom, 44:39; 7. Brandon Schafer, Col, 45:35; 8. Colton Diehl, Sol, 46:15; 9. Lyon Kopsack, Col, 46:19; 10. Jordan Theisen, Ken, 46:23; 11. Darien Sinnett, Col, 46:25; 12. Joe Bressler, Ken, 47:28; 13. Ghen Sasakura, Hom, 47:54; 14. Tobin Sworts, Pal, 48:13; 15. Leo Jaschek, Col, 48:18; 16. Nick Harrison, Col, 48:31; 17. Olan Danielson, Ken, 49:11; 18. Andrew Nelson, Col, 49:16; 19. Tanner Best, Sol, 49:27; 20. Joe Rife, Sol, 49:28; 21. Fox Michaud, Ken, 50:00; 22. James Butler, Ken, 50:13; 23. Jake Gilman, Ken, 50:53; 24. Sky Schlung, Sky, 50:59; 25. Sergei Wegner, Val, 51:00. 26. Jake Worsfold, Hom, 51:36; 27. Andrew Eller, Gra, 51:44; 28. John Cosgrave, Gra, 51:49; 29. James Lynn, Pal, 51:52; 30. David Banse, Pal, 51:59; 31. Miles Knotek, Sew, 52:12; 32. Ivan-David Isaacs, Gra, 52:38; 33. Zach Marsh, Pal, 52:54; 34. Kyle Austin, Sky, 53:44; 35. Jack Scribner, Val, 54:41; 36. Jeremiah Hudson, Sky, 55:58; 37. David Bell, Pal, 56:59; 38. Neillan Alcantra, Pal, 57:03; 39. Sterling Stasak, Sky, 58:26; 40. Brenner Musgrave, Sky, 59:19; 41. Skyler Diehl, Sol, 59:26; 42. Daniel Lewis, Sol, 59:34.

Girls team scores:

1. Grace, 2:21:36; 2. Colony, 2:26:05; 3. Soldotna, 2:27:19; 4. Kenai, 2:32:14; 5. Palmer, 2:37:39.

Girls combined scores:

1. Sadie Fox, Sol, 32:04; 2. Anna Trujillo, Gra, 32:05; 3. Claire Trujillo, Gra, 33:18; 4. Barae Hirsch, Hom, 34:30; 5. Hannah Pothast, Sol, 35:08; 6. Greta Jenkins, Col, 35:14; 7. Emily Merioles, Val, 35:34; 8. Aspen Daigle, Hom, 36:01; 9. Kirsten Nyquist, Ken, 36:20; 10. Bailey Meier, Col, 36:44; 11. Tatjana Nyquist, Col, 36:46; 12. Tracie Haan, Col, 37:17; 13. Lindsey, Kromrey, Sew, 37:23; 14. Kiersten Johnson, Pal, 37:34; 15. Casey Neill, Sky, 37:45; 16. Stephanie Allen, Val, 37:45; 17. Mikaela Salzetti, Ken, 37:55; 18. Beverly Schindler, Ken, 38:07; 19. Anne Woodings, Pal, 38:35; 20. Katya Jenkins, Col, 39:02; 21. Maya Tso-Wu, Gra, 39:05; 22. Danielle McCormick, Sol, 39:47; 23. Rachel Ellert, Hom, 39:51; 24. Taylor Gilmore, Sol, 40:16; 25. Lindsay Floyd, Ken, 40:20. 26. M.E. Meyerhofer, Col, 40:33; 27. Morgen Lundin, Pal, 40:42; 28. Annbjoerg Bakken, Ken, 41:09; 29. Madison Nelson, Sol, 41:13; 30. Olivia Hutchings, Sol, 41:30; 31. Eva Bingham, Pal, 41:42; 32. Xochi Harbison, Sol, 41:46; 33. Megan Lasselle, Pal, 42:50; 34. Brittany Hollers, Sky, 45:04.