Courtesy of Charles Swabey

Emma Crum ’26 and the Bowdoin Nordic Ski team reached new heights at the St. Lawrence Carnival as Crum skated past the competition and became the first Polar Bear to win an Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA) race in Bowdoin history.

Crum spent the first three laps of the hour-long 20k race gaining on her competition, notably Dartmouth skier Ava Thurston, before closing the gap in the fourth. Crum and Thurston battled for the top spot in that final lap with Crum ultimately flying down the final downhill and securing the win by a single second.

“With some of the races, people start individually,… but in the really long 20k everyone starts at the same time. So you know where you are in the race,” Crum said. “I knew I was in second for a long time.… Then, I passed [Thurston], and then I knew I was in first, but she was right behind me. So it was a fight all the way to the finish.”

After finishing her first race of the season not only with an individual victory but also the first EISA race win for the College, Crum received a hearty congratulations from Thurston.

“We’re really good friends. We skied for the same club team in high school…. She’s one of the people that has been skiing her whole life, and everyone knows who she is in the whole ski world,” Crum said. “She just knew that it was a really big deal for me, and she knew it was my first win.”

The supportive community of skiing—not just within the team but between the competitors—is what Crum loves the most about the sport. The same teams showing up at each competition means most skiers know each other well, and Crum’s race against Thurston is the perfect example.

“That’s my favorite part of skiing, just being part of a very small, tight-knit community where, for example, girls on other teams have also loved that I won and loved that Bowdoin won,” Crum said. “It was really nice.”

Crum first hit the slopes in the ninth grade, having never skied before. Her parents said she had to commit to a winter sport, and she chose Nordic skiing over indoor track. Crum shared how her late beginning to a sport many of her competitors started much younger caused serious frustration.

“Once I started getting into it, it felt frustrating, because a lot of my friends who were really good, I just wasn’t as good as them,” Crum said.

Despite the early difficulties, Crum carried on and continued to get better. In fact, she attributes her continuous improvement throughout her collegiate career to her delayed start. She believes it’s helped her avoid the almost inevitable burnout that many collegiate athletes experience.

“[Skiing] is a combination of all the endurance and pain of running along with a bunch of technical skill, which makes it really hard,” Crum said. “But, I think because I started late, my technique has gotten a lot better, so that helps me continue.”

Crum’s teammates have contributed to her passion for the sport as well. Even though skiing is a highly individualized sport, the small team is supportive and well connected with each other, through knowing which races their teammates prefer and keeping track of each other’s personal bests.

Off the slopes, Crum spoke about the team’s annual traditions, especially over winter break when they return early to train for the season ahead.

“We do a date night where we all dress up together, and we get to go out to a restaurant or order other food. This year, we had it on the top floor of [Massachusetts] Hall. We had a whole big dinner. And then we [went] and [watched] a movie together,” Crum said. “[This year], we watched ‘Peanut Butter Falcon.’”

Four more carnivals are left in the season, with the team attending the Saint Michael’s Carnival this weekend. Crum is excited for the chance to race again and to keep improving.

“We have a 10k race, which are my favorite races…. I’m excited, ” Crum said. “It’s two days of races, and so we leave on Thursday, race on Friday, race on Saturday [and] come home Saturday night. So, it’s a big end to the week.”