Recap: EISA 2024 Harvard Carnival at Burke Mountain

Featured Image: EISA Harvard Alpine Carnival Credit: Stephen Cloutier

Slalom 

After an unexpected hiatus, the EISA season resumed on Saturday with the Harvard Carnival hosted by Burke Mountain. As is typically the case at Burke, the snow was rock solid and provided a fantastic day of racing. Somewhat unexpectedly, the sun appeared, shining on the bottom section of the hill for the first run before creeping up to hit the entire hill. 

ESPN covered the carnival with the race streaming on ESPN+, providing extra interest and pressure. Athletes rose to the occasion, eager to take the first step towards an NCAA qualification with a top-10 result. 

The men got the action underway as skiers attempted to fill the vacuum left by Mathias Tefre (UVM), who graduated last year. His teammate Declan McCormack carried the torch on run one, taking the lead all the way from bib 15. 

A duo of Dartmouth skiers was hot on his heels with Oliver Morgan and EISA skier of the week Dan Gillis. A lower start than usual off the Burke D-Bar led to a short course time, close to 40 seconds, and tight margins. The top 10 was separated by a second on the men’s side, with the flip being just 2.10 seconds off the leader. 

Despite the hard snow, the top of the field held its own against those from the back, with the notable exception of Lawton Jones (Saint Michael’s). Starting bib 63, Jones moved well into the flip 30. Nine different teams were represented in the top 30, showing the competitive team dynamics on the men’s side. 

The women were next, with the University of Vermont stamping their authority on the field. Allie Resnick (Dartmouth) was unfortunately absent from the race, but her absence opened the door for another racer. Justine Clement (University of Vermont) looked poised to fill the gap as she took the lead from bib 5. In second was Zoe Zimmermann (Dartmouth), and then three more girls followed from UVM: Hanna Larsson Nathhorst, Moa Clementson, and Cydnie Timmermann. 

On the second run, the men faced a challenging, tighter set that forced them to bring the A-game. Tucker Strauch from Colby, 30th on the first run and pushing out of the gate first, laid down a blistering second run that would move him up to 6th place. Matt Ryan from Harvard skied a solid race to finish the day in tenth and lead the Crimson. 

A mistake from Peder Nersnaes (University of New Hampshire), second at the Colby carnival, put him out of the running, but his teammates stepped up. His teammate, racing in the slalom leader bib, was Isac Hedstroem, who moved up slightly on the second run to finish in seventh. Hunter Brayton, the graduate transfer from Dartmouth, skied to fifth, and Hayden Dahl finished on the podium in third. 

Gillis, racing on his home hill, charged top to bottom, coming down in the lead and seeing off Morgan and McCormack to take the win and claim the slalom leader’s bib. Simon Strand (Saint Michael’s) moved up to second on the day, and Morgan rounded out the podium in third.

The women’s course had plenty of combinations, keeping the ladies on their toes. However, the top 5 athletes were reshuffled but kept the same skiers. Clement dominated again, with Larsson Nathhorst finishing second and Zimmerman skiing to third. 

Giant Slalom 

On Sunday, the snow remained rock solid as racers battled again on the Burke Training Hill. The surface was as good as it gets and provided an excellent opportunity for racers across the field. 

Harvard, the host of the event, set the course first and put down a fast, tight set requiring depth from top to bottom. Helene Kristoffersen from Saint Michael’s set the early pace, running with bib three. Her time looked sure to be the fastest on the run until Hannah Soria from Colby arced the top pitch in a way no other skier had to that point to take the lead by three-tenths. 

Jane Gutchess from Williams looked incredibly solid in her first run to finish in third; however, she was a distant seven-tenths behind Soria. Times were relatively tight behind Gutchess, with Hanna Larsson-Nathhorst (UVM) and Meagan Olsen (Colby) in fourth and fifth, respectively. 

As the women’s first run finished up, it was clear that the men would face some chatter. Despite the hard snow, some gates had developed bumps that would test the men’s field. 

Brad Underhill from Middlebury, wearing bib 1, benefited from the clean course but skied with precision top to bottom to lead the pack by half a second. Second place on the run was Nolan Sweeney from Colby, followed by Declan McCormack (UVM) and Bode Flanigan (BC), all within three-hundredths of a second of each other. 

The bottom half of the challenge proved too much for four skiers in the top 15, opening the door for anyone in the field to take advantage of the hard snow. A few skiers did just that, with four skiers with bibs higher than 50 making the flip 30. 

Middlebury got the opportunity to set on run two as Stever Bartlett delivered a rhythmic and flowy course. The women’s race was down to a battle between Kristoffersen and Soria, and they delivered an epic one. Kristoffersen was hunting for the win after a disappointing 13th at the Colby Carnival, and Soria was looking for her first collegiate win and podium. 

Ultimately, Soria’s skiing proved unbeatable as she extended her lead on Kristoffersen to win the day by half a second. 

Larsson-Nathhorst rounded out the women’s podium after Gutchess slipped to fifth on the second run. Fourth place went to Olsen, who won the second run and finished just two-hundredths off the podium. 

After a minor redress, the men wrapped up the Harvard Carnival. Given his advantage on the first run, the race was Underhill’s to lose, and he had no intention of doing so. He earned his first collegiate win, impressive after not qualifying for NCAA Championships a year ago. 

McCormack earned a valuable second place for the Catamounts, and Flanigan gave Boston College its first podium in years with a third-place finish. The men’s top-5 racers were rounded out by two first year racers, Sweeney and Aiden Robin (Saint Michael’s).

Looking Ahead 

On the team side, it was shockingly Colby in control as they won the women’s side ahead of the University of Vermont and finished second to Dartmouth on the men’s side. Combined with the Nordic teams, UVM was able to shake off the disappointment from the Colby Carnival to win the series. Dartmouth would have to settle for second place ahead of the Colby College Mules in third. 

After her win, Soria commented, “I’m super happy about the result and putting two runs together, but, most importantly, I am so stoked for the whole women’s and men’s teams.” Her win was the first from a Colby skier since Mardi Haskell won the Middlebury slalom in 2015. 

The attention of the league now turns to Dartmouth as they prepare for two GS races starting on Thursday and a Slalom on Sunday.