Courtesy of Katie Swabey

Last weekend, the Nordic skiing team competed in the Dartmouth Carnival on the same hilly course the NCAA Championship will be hosted on in early March. In Friday’s seven-and-a-half kilometer individual race, Emma Crum ’26 placed second with a time of 24:31 and Jori Grialou ’26 finished ninth with 25:31, and in Saturday’s 20k mass start, Crum and Grialou placed 5th and 15th, respectively. On the men’s side, Adam Carlisle ’25 finished in 8th for the men’s 20k race and William Riley ’27  finished in the top 20.

“It’s always a cool atmosphere [at Dartmouth],” Riley said. “The carnivals in general are a super fun circuit of people, so it’s really a good time.”

The Dartmouth course proved challenging yet exciting according to Grialou.

“There are a lot of hills on the course, and it just made it fun and dynamic,” Grialou said. “Also, it was exciting because you got to ski with a lot of other people and just try to race against them and stick with anyone.”

However, the Bowdoin team was prepared for the conditions and the competition.

“A lot of the fitness base we build for 20K races comes from doing long weeks of training in the summer,” Riley said. “Along with general training on Tuesdays, we have a pretty hard workout that kind of sharpens us up. Thursday, we did a pre-race, which involves getting our heart rate up, doing a little bit of intensity.”

Despite the general training during the week, both individual and mass start races require unique strategies.

“I do a lot of thinking about how to ski the course, especially for the 20k mass start. I was trying to think about my strategy, when I might want to make a move to drop the people that I was skiing with or when I would try to tuck in behind someone and get in their draft,” Crum said.

In particular, this past weekend’s mass start began differently than other races.

“It started out a lot slower, maybe no one particularly wanted to lead or make a breakaway. But because of all the hills there, it definitely felt like you were working hard,” Grialou said. “Also, [in a mass start], you just have to contend with a lot more people around you. Sometimes there is breaking of poles and a lot more crashes. You’re also just pushing yourself as hard as you can.”

However, the individual start requires a different set of skills and mindset when approaching the course.

“[The] individual start is a lot more focused on what you’re doing and focused on your pacing, because you’re not trying to stick with your close competitors the whole time,” Grialou said.

The Bowdoin team was able to execute these strategies and transform them into positive results.

“There were a lot of PRs on Friday, so it felt good going into Saturday with some wind behind our sails,” Riley said. “People are really excited to have these opportunities to race.”

Team spirits and cheer were high throughout the carnival, which Riley attributed to the coaches’ high energy and enthusiasm.

“Our coaches, both [Head Coach] Nathan [Alsobrook] and [Assistant Coach] Leslie [Krichko] are really important to our program and are both wonderful coaches and great people that look out for us,” Riley said.

On top of the support system the coaches provide, past Bowdoin skiers also bring enthusiasm to cheer their former team on.

“We had a lot of our alumni that graduated last year [at Dartmouth], so that was super fun. There was a lot of cheering going on on the course,” Grialou said.

After the races concluded, the entire league came together for a fun afternoon to celebrate.

“All the teams were assigned to another team, and you created a Valentine to give to that team,” Crum said. “Our women’s team did couples yoga with the Colby men’s team. We made up all these very difficult yoga poses, which was very funny.”

The team now looks to compete in the Middlebury Carnival next weekend hosted at the Rikert Outdoor Center with hopes still set on reaching the NCAA Championship in early March.

“We have the potential to send a bunch of people to NCAAs, which I’m really excited about. It’s always an overarching goal of our whole season,” Crum said. “That’s something that we’ve been working towards, and it’s nice to see a lot of progress being made.”

Last weekend, the Nordic skiing team competed in the Dartmouth Carnival on the same hilly course the NCAA Championship will be hosted on in early March. In Friday’s seven-and-a-half kilometer individual race, Emma Crum ’26 placed second with a time of 24:31 and Jori Grialou ’26 finished ninth with 25:31, and in Saturday’s 20k mass start, Crum and Grialou placed 5th and 15th, respectively. On the men’s side, Adam Carlisle ’25 finished in 8th for the men’s 20k race and William Riley ’27  finished in the top 20.

“It’s always a cool atmosphere [at Dartmouth],” Riley said. “The carnivals in general are a super fun circuit of people, so it’s really a good time.”

The Dartmouth course proved challenging yet exciting according to Grialou.

“There are a lot of hills on the course, and it just made it fun and dynamic,” Grialou said. “Also, it was exciting because you got to ski with a lot of other people and just try to race against them and stick with anyone.”

However, the Bowdoin team was prepared for the conditions and the competition.

“A lot of the fitness base we build for 20K races comes from doing long weeks of training in the summer,” Riley said. “Along with general training on Tuesdays, we have a pretty hard workout that kind of sharpens us up. Thursday, we did a pre-race, which involves getting our heart rate up, doing a little bit of intensity.”

Despite the general training during the week, both individual and mass start races require unique strategies.

“I do a lot of thinking about how to ski the course, especially for the 20k mass start. I was trying to think about my strategy, when I might want to make a move to drop the people that I was skiing with or when I would try to tuck in behind someone and get in their draft,” Crum said.

In particular, this past weekend’s mass start began differently than other races.

“It started out a lot slower, maybe no one particularly wanted to lead or make a breakaway. But because of all the hills there, it definitely felt like you were working hard,” Grialou said. “Also, [in a mass start], you just have to contend with a lot more people around you. Sometimes there is breaking of poles and a lot more crashes. You’re also just pushing yourself as hard as you can.”

However, the individual start requires a different set of skills and mindset when approaching the course.

“[The] individual start is a lot more focused on what you’re doing and focused on your pacing, because you’re not trying to stick with your close competitors the whole time,” Grialou said.

The Bowdoin team was able to execute these strategies and transform them into positive results.

“There were a lot of PRs on Friday, so it felt good going into Saturday with some wind behind our sails,” Riley said. “People are really excited to have these opportunities to race.”

Team spirits and cheer were high throughout the carnival, which Riley attributed to the coaches’ high energy and enthusiasm.

“Our coaches, both [Head Coach] Nathan [Alsobrook] and [Assistant Coach] Leslie [Krichko] are really important to our program and are both wonderful coaches and great people that look out for us,” Riley said.

On top of the support system the coaches provide, past Bowdoin skiers also bring enthusiasm to cheer their former team on.

“We had a lot of our alumni that graduated last year [at Dartmouth], so that was super fun. There was a lot of cheering going on on the course,” Grialou said.

After the races concluded, the entire league came together for a fun afternoon to celebrate.

“All the teams were assigned to another team, and you created a Valentine to give to that team,” Crum said. “Our women’s team did couples yoga with the Colby men’s team. We made up all these very difficult yoga poses, which was very funny.”

The team now looks to compete in the Middlebury Carnival next weekend hosted at the Rikert Outdoor Center with hopes still set on reaching the NCAA Championship in early March.

“We have the potential to send a bunch of people to NCAAs, which I’m really excited about. It’s always an overarching goal of our whole season,” Crum said. “That’s something that we’ve been working towards, and it’s nice to see a lot of progress being made.”