Young racers in the Mount Mansfield Ski Club’s 75th annual Sugar Slalom last weekend at Spruce Peak will certainly not remember knee-deep ruts on courses, despite bags and bags of salt, as has sometimes been the case in years past.
The MMSC website bills the event as “a celebration of spring on skis.” and invites competitors to “dress up in costumes best representing our theme, a Spring Celebration.”
However, instead of spring, the under-8s and under-10s who raced in their first Sugar Slalom will probably plan to make sure they have really sharp edges for future Sugar Slaloms. The winter that never ends continued its grip on the racing season, as the race billed as “a celebration of the arrival of spring and the tapping of maple trees” featured midseason, rock-hard conditions. As a result, some young racers were sliding around more than they anticipated as they navigated the red or blue dual course.
Certainly, no one minded that the weekend didn’t feature spring rains, thunder and lightning, or spring snowstorms that some Sugar Slaloms have delivered. The top-seeded men, whose bibs started at 360, may have missed that kind of warm, rut-producing, spring day from a nostalgia standpoint. However, from a pure racing standpoint, the snow conditions were just the way skilled racers like it.
Many of the top-seeded men made the trek back from Saturday’s spring FIS series at Sunday River in Maine. The first page of the results on Sunday — with a few flipped placings — looked pretty similar from the FIS results on Saturday.
Robby Kelley decided he owed his allegiance to MMSC both days of the weekend — a wise decision, as he swept the top spot both days on the men’s side.
Robby’s Redneck Racing teammates, Andrew McNealus and Tucker Marshall, split their weekend between Sunday River and Stowe, with McNealus picking up a second in the FIS race on Saturday and a sixth in the Sugar Slalom on Sunday. Marshall picked up a 12th at Sunday River and a fourth at Stowe. University of Vermont racers filled in the other top slots on the men’s side on Sunday, with Sandy Vietze and Griffin Brown picking up second and third, respectively.
Kelley may have also wanted to be around both days to get his fill of sap in the troughs at the bottom of the course that created the sticky treat of sugar-on-snow, one of many famous Sugar Slalom traditions. Thankfully, there have been enough warm days and cold nights to get some sap running.
Slopeside Syrup, a venture by some of Kelley’s immediate and extended family members, sold syrup and boiled the sap for the traditional sugar-on-snow treat that sits in troughs just below the finish. The rest of the tradition includes barrels of pickles and doughnuts to offset the incredible sweetness of the sticky treat. All could be washed down by some Cold Hollow cider.
Costume choices
Midwinter snow conditions didn’t dampen the racers’ enthusiasm for costume-wearing, either, although the weather may have contributed to jeans and flannel shirts being the uniform of choice for at least half of the top-seeded men. Some cows made an appearance and Kelley was resplendent as a giraffe. “Old school” one-piece suits were also a popular choice.
Middlebury College women placed first and third, with Mary Sackbauer, who recently competed in the NCAAs at Whiteface, taking the top spot and Linley Shaw, daughter of Stowe native Tiger Shaw, taking third.
The college girls got a run for their money from some youngsters, as Holderness skier Alexa Dennis finished second and MMSC junior racer Rachel Smith put together two solid runs to finish fourth.
This spring rite of passage is truly an event. Tucker Marshall, when asked how he finished said, “Maybe top five, not top three,” and then added, “It is really the event more than the results” at this race. Perhaps winter will take notice now that this rite is over and spring will finally get in through the door.
Sunday River results
While much of the fun was happening at the Sugar Slalom, older boys were unable to attend due to the end of the year Eastern Cup Finals held in Sunday River. Colby Jordan, Grant Gutstein and Trent Gutstein attended the series for the Mount Mansfield Ski Club.
As in the women’s race at Stowe, the men’s series included a number of U.S. Ski Team members, including Tim Jitloff, Andrew Weibrecht and Marco Sullivan.
MMSC men held their own against the stiff competition, especially in the super-G races, when Colby Jordan pulled in 18th and Trent Gutstein 29th.
To cap off his strong season, Gutstein was able to grab two additional top-30 finishes in each of the giant slalom races.
Tucker Marshall and Phil Schoepke contributed to this article. See race results here.
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