On these pages you will find the latest news
releases, memos to participants and other news of interest to all people
interested in the world of snowshoe racing
2/22/06 No Snow Worries Here
2/22/06 BORAD Nomination
1/30/06 Mid-season Report
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Ramsau Austria: Two New York State athletes recently traveled to Ramsau am Dachstein outside of Salzburg Austria to compete in the first ever Atlas Snowshoes Dachstein Xtreme World Snowshoe Racing Championships. The 7.8km snowshoe race, which took place at altitudes approaching 10,000 feet on the Dachstein Glacier, was shortened to 6.8km in length due to extremely heavy recent snowfall and subsequent avalanche risks. Aaron Robertson of Rouses Point NY and the current US Men’s National Snowshoe Champion along with Rebecca Harman of Wilseyville NY, both U.S. Snowshoe Association and Empire State Snowshoe Racing Association members, competed in the event which also attracted athletes from Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Finland. Harman, a many time New York Empire State Winter Games Snowshoe Champion, ran to a second place finish garnering the United States’ first World Snowshoe Championships Silver Medal. Robertson, also a frequent Empire State Winter Games Snowshoe Champion, after recovering from a stress fracture earlier in the season, ran strongly to take 6th place in the Men’s event. The dominant Italian men’s team swept the medals. Results of the top three and U.S. athletes were as follows; Women Place Name Country Time
Men
In the wake of their World Championship success, Harman will be competing in a 50km Trail Race in Maryland this weekend, while Robertson ventures to Bolton Valley Vermont to defend his National Men’s title at the 2006 U.S. National Snowshoe Championships. For more information, go to www.snowshoeracing.com. |
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ATTENTION - All USSSA members who have qualified to participate in the 2006 U.S. National Snowshoe Championships…… It has been an 'odd' winter. Some places that normally receive plenty of snow, have received very little or none! While other places that have been struggling to get snow the past few seasons, got plenty! Some of our USSSA regional qualifying events had to be cancelled. While others were changed to footraces. All due to the lack of sustained cold weather and snow. WORRY NOT!!!!! If you have qualified to participate in the 2006 U.S. National Snowshoe Championships at the Bolton Valley Resort in Bolton Valley Vermont next month, DO NOT for one second consider not coming because of a worry about lack of snow! There will be plenty of snow! The Bolton Valley Resort is situated in just a way that they get snow earlier, keep it longer and get more of it than most anywhere in the Northeast/New England! It is going to be a great Championship weekend! The Bolton Valley Resort is situated a short and easy 30 minute drive from Burlington Vermont. Vermont's 'Queen City' features the nearest major airport. Thrifty Rental Cars has provided discounted rates for rental cars to our members coming in for the Nationals. Call them to make your arrangements. The Resort is offering reasonably priced rooms right there so you can rise in the morning and hit the trails, or the ski slopes (if you're so inclined), with no delay or worries! Call the Resort to reserve your room today! After an invigorating day in the beautiful Vermont outdoors, enjoy a refreshing swim in their Sports Centers' indoor pool. Or, perhaps you'd prefer to soak in the hot tub or relax in the sauna. It's all right there. Friday March 24th will kick off the Championship Weekend with Athlete Registration/Check-In and Course Preview from 2-5pm that afternoon. The Junior National 5km, Senior National 10km and Citizen's 5km racecourses will be marked and open for inspection. As of 2/22/06, there are 33 pre-registered athletes who have made sure they won't miss out on all the snowshoe fun! Saturday March 25th will feature the Junior National 5km, Senior National 10km, Atlas Snowshoes Citizen's 5km and Kahtoola Kid's Kilo events. The Citizen's and Kid's Kilo event are open to athletes of all ages and abilities. Only the Junior 5km and Senior 10km National Championship events require that athletes have 'qualified' through a regional event. All other Championship Weekend events are 'open' to the public! There will be a professional photographer on hand taking photos all day. Also, Insight Media will be on site video recording the action to air later on a cable sports show entitled Rad X Sports. Saturday evening will feature the first USSSA Athletes' Banquet. This buffet style meal is free to all registered athletes. Guests may purchase meal tickets also. But, we are hoping to have an accurate 'head count' prior to that weekend so the Resort can be sure to have enough food on hand. We are asking all participants to register early so we can get that head count. If you anticipate driving in just for the day and registering on site, please drop the Sports Director an email to let him know you will be attending and how many in your party expect to eat (email snowshoeguy@yahoo.com). This would assist us greatly. Later Saturday evening, the USSSA will host it's annual Members Meeting. It will certainly have been a busy day! But, we're not quite done yet! Sunday March 26th will provide another exciting day of snowshoe fun. The Eastern Mountain Sports 4 x 2.5km Snowshoe Team Relay will start things off. This exciting event features 4 person teams with each athlete running 2.5km. Teams will be broken down into three age groups based on the average age of the four team members, i.e. Junior Boys and Girls (average age of 19 and under), Open Men and Women (average age of 20-39 yrs.) and Master Men and Women (average age of 40+ yrs.). This is an 'open' event, so bring your running buddies! Maybe running on snowshoes isn't for you. That's fine! Exel Sports USA will be there to conduct a Nordic Snowshoe Walking Clinic. This activity is sweeping the World as the latest winter fitness activity, walking on snowshoes using trekking poles. After a 45 minute to one hour free clinic, participate in our first-ever Exel Sports 5km Nordic Snowshoe Trek over the beautiful trails of the Bolton Valley Nordic Center. What a great way to polish off an incredible weekend! So, don't wait! Pre-register today! You may not have snow where you live, but Bolton Valley will have plenty when it counts! That's March 24th-26th, 2006 at the US Snowshoe Association's Sixth Annual United States National Snowshoe Championships! Check out all the event information, access entry forms, see who else has qualified from twenty different U.S. States, so far, all at www.snowshoeracing.com. Or call 518-643-8806 with your questions or email them to snowshoeguy@yahoo.com. You don't want to miss this one! The 2007 Nationals will once again resume their regional rotation across the Country by moving onto the North Central region.
See you in Vermont!!!
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Press Release 1/31/06: Well! Here we are at the end of a busy month of January. We have reached the mid-point of the 2006 U.S. National Snowshoe Championship Series. Nine of the twenty regional events have been completed. An additional two events were cancelled due to lack of snow. There are still ten events to go, one of which is a replacement event for one that was cancelled earlier. USSSA Membership is on record pace. As of the latest Membership Report (1/30/06 am), there are 181 members registered with the USSSA this season. There are already 172 athletes eligible to compete at the 2006 National Snowshoe Championships in Bolton Valley Vermont. So, the USSSA is on pace for a record-breaking season! Here is a brief breakdown of the regional events that have been conducted thus far….
The ten events yet to take place are in Alaska, Massachusetts, Iowa, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Montana, California, Minnesota, Colorado and Alaska. At this point in time, we also have ten international athletes who have qualified to participate in the 2006 US Nationals in VT. Nine of those ten athletes are from Southeastern Canada, just across the border from northern New York and Vermont. The tenth athlete is from Mexico! New in 2006, International athletes will continue to compete alongside the US athletes but will not displace American athletes. They will be competing in their own International division where the top 5 International Men and Women will be recognized with awards. There is the outside chance that a small team of athletes may attend from Finland. Snowshoe racing traditions date back as far as 150 years in the northern New England and southeastern Canada region. So, it comes as no surprise that our friends from 'north of the border' are so interested in this Sport. We are pleased to announce that the USSSA will conduct its first-ever Athletes' Banquet at the Nationals on Saturday evening. This buffet style meal will feature pasta dishes and a vegetarian option for those athletes so inclined. Non-athletes will be able to purchase a meal ticket so they can enjoy the meal as well. For participating athletes, this meal comes as part of your entry fee, which will remain the same as last years' Nationals in Alaska! The 2006 Nationals will also feature a number of our sponsors presenting at an Expo. Thus far, Kahtoola Traction Devices, New England Overshoes Co., perhaps Columbia Sportswear, Aruba Sport Eyewear and Atlas Snowshoe representatives will be present. Our race raffle will thus far feature prizes from Columbia Sportswear, Aruba Sport Eyewear, a pair of TSL Snowshoes, and NEOS. Many other prizes are expected to be collected. So, we hope to see you at the beautiful Bolton Valley Resort in Vermont in late March for all the exciting action, on the snow and off! Lastly, as per a recent USSSA BORAD decision, any member of the 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 U.S. National Snowshoe Team may now gain automatic eligibility to participate in the 2006 US National Snowshoe Championships. Former and 2005 Team members must be current USSSA members, but need not qualify by participating in a regional event. Obviously, these athletes have confirmed their status in the Sport and their inclusion in the National Championships will only serve to make the fields more competitive and the events more exciting! One can re-visit the USSSA website to ascertain who were members of the 2002-2005 US National Snowshoe Teams. The latest word from the Bolton Valley Resort (1/30/06 afternoon) was that they received over thirty inches of fresh powder last week, while the rest of the northeast was getting rain and unseasonably warm temperatures. Check out the Resort at www.boltonvalley.com. If you are looking to make room reservations, you must phone your reservation in. Do not attempt to lock in a reservation on-line. Go to the "Championships Update" page on the USSSA website for instructions.
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Team USA captures International Division of 2006 European Snowshoe Championships in Italy! A team of fifteen U.S. snowshoe athletes recently traveled to Fondo Italy to compete in the Fourth Annual European Snowshoe Championships during the prestigious 33rd Annual La Ciaspolada Snowshoe Race in the shadows of the Austrian Alps. Team USA, comprised of four members of the U.S. National Snowshoe Team and eleven other US Snowshoe Association members, under the direction of Team Coach Mark Elmore of Peru, NY, toed the starting line of the 7km snowshoe race with over 700 athletes from Italy, France, Morocco, Austria, Finland, Germany, Romania and Poland. An additional 6000 plus participants competed in the non-competitive division, making this the largest snowshoe race in the world. Leading Team USA to the International Title, i.e. the best non-Italian team, was Greg Hexum of Minnesota. Hexum completed his tour of the course in 32:02.3 finishing in 33rd place. Giuliano Battocletti of Team Italy won the event in an outstanding time of 27:42.7. He was followed by Claudio Cassi (Italy) in second and Marco Agostini (Italy) in third place. Right behind Hexum was Vermonter Mark Churchill in 36th place in 32:23.1. National Snowshoe Team members Jesse Haynes of CA and Charlie Wertheim of CO placed 50th and 52nd in 33:42.7 and 33:59.8 respectively. Rounding out the scoring for Team USA was National Junior Team member Zachary Rivers of Rochester, NY. The talented fifteen year old placed an incredible 80th in 36:34.6. Also competing for Team USA were;
In the women's field, USSSA Membership Chairperson and National Women's Team member Cindy Brochman of MN, led the charge with her 18th place finish in 42:36.8. Cristina Scolari of Italy took the Championship title with her 34:29.6. She was followed closely by fellow Italians Maria Grazia Roberti in second and the 2005 champion Asha Tonolini in third place. Mary Fagan of Vermont, competing in her first Ciaspolada, finished in 26th place in 45:29.6. Cazenovia NY resident Chary Griffin completed the Team USA scoring with her 59th place finish in 1:03.11.2. Completing the Team USA squad was Charla Bikman of NY who participated in the Non-Competitive division. The trip to Europe for these Championships was coordinated by the United States Snowshoe Association of Corinth, NY and also included day trips to Innsbruck Austria and Venice Italy. Next up are the 2006 U.S. National Snowshoe Championship Series Regional Qualifier events culminating in the Sixth Annual National Snowshoe Championships on March 24th-26th, 2006 at the Bolton Valley Resort in Bolton Valley Vermont. For more information on these events visit the USSSA's website at www.snowshoeracing.com.
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