This story by Patrick Billow was first published in the Stowe Reporter on Feb. 20
When it comes to this weekend’s Stowe Derby, a historic Nordic ski race from the top of Mount Mansfield to the village, most competitors have a good crash story.
For Cap Chenoweth, the race starter who has competed in the event 34 times, his big crash came in the 1970s, during the resurgence of the race after a several-year hiatus.
With blue jeans and a few days of Nordic skiing under his belt, he came out of the gate too fast, picking up speed on those skinny skis with each switchback on Toll Road. At the critical junction where the course crossed the Little River, he found himself face first in frigid water, his blue jeans saturated and the course only halfway complete.
“You get better over the years,” Chenoweth said, “but it’s definitely humbling the first time around.”
The Derby — held this Sunday, Feb. 23 — one of the longest running Nordic ski races in the country, is turning 80 this year, although it hasn’t run consistently over those eight decades. The event has been canceled for weather and there was a long hiatus in the late 60s and early 70s.
The event was conceived by four Stowe skiers who were cutting brush on Nosedive in 1945, according to notes from Mike Leach, a Mount Mansfield Ski Club historian.
Legend has it the skiers were lamenting a lack of exciting Nordic races in the Northeast while chopping brush, and wanting to breathe new life into the sport, they dreamt up a daunting race from the top of Mount Mansfield into town.
In hold-my-beer fashion, two of the dreamers, Sepp Ruschp and Erling Strom, kicked off the event that winter, racing on Nordic skis down Mount Mansfield and pushing themselves another six miles into town once the slope ran out. Ruschp won and an iconic race was born.
The race exploded in popularity in the 70s after the hiatus, with as many as 800 people competing some years, according to Chenoweth.
“What was beautiful about it was all kinds of locals did it, all kinds of families,” Chenoweth said. There were stations set up along the course serving wine, cheese, beer, water and cider and a good mix of fun-loving and competitive participants.
The Derby became more competitive in the 80s, Chenoweth said. Skiers ditched the blue jeans for speed suits and strategy became the name of the game. It now attracts serious Nordic skiers from across the globe.
There are very few rules for the Derby and different types of skis are allowed. Most competitors use skate skis, with some racing classic skis and very few strapping into Alpine skis for the event. The debate over which skis are fastest rages on.
George Tormey, a local ski coach, became one of the first people to use Alpine skis for the race in the 80s. The idea is Alpine skiers can easily lose the pack on Toll Road, but those six miles into town with locked heals can be a slog.
Still, some have bought into Tormey’s strategy, including Dustin Martin, a Mount Mansfield Academy instructor who this year will resurrect the Alpine skis for the first time in several years.
“We’re headed back to our roots with some Alpine versus cross-country skiing,” Devon Laidman, race event manager for Mount Mansfield Academy, which organizes the event, said. “It’ll be fun to watch Dustin fly down toll road, and then to watch him skate into town.”
Laidman said more than 120 people are signed up for the Derby right now, although she expects closer to 250 on race day as skiers sign up last minute.
With bountiful snow this season, the course will extend the full distance from the top of Mount Mansfield to the Stowe Community Church in the village. This has not always been the case over the last decade as poor snow has led to truncated courses and canceled events.
Laidman said crews will begin grooming the course soon. Essentially, the course connects Toll Road to the Stowe Recreation Path. The river crossings were eliminated over the years because Chenoweth wasn’t the only one to get wet mid race.
Chenoweth said he’s excited to have good snow this year, and as he looks to the future of the event, he hopes it shifts back to a wine, cheese and blue jeans type of event. Competition is good, he said, but he wants to see more families and the crowds of old return.
For now, he has some advice for anyone new to the Derby this year:
“Take it easy on the downhill,” he said. “It makes sense to ski Toll Road at a speed you can control without crashing, because once you crash, it takes a lot of time and energy to get back up. You’re home free if you make it on Toll Road.”
