NCAA® Nordic Skiing Championships

Antje Maempel and Vegard Kjoelhamar win 15K and 20K Freestyle events in final day of NCAA® Skiing Championships. University of Denver takes home the National Championship.
Antje Maempel • University of Denver	Vegard Kjoelhamar • University of Colorado
University of Denver • NCAA National Champions Photos by

Chisholm Ski Club and Black Mountain of Maine hosted the 2009 NCAA® Nordic Skiing Championships on March 12 and 14th, presented by Bates College. The Alpine events were held at Sunday River, while Black Mountain was the site of the 5 and 10K Nordic Classical and the 15 and 20 Mass Start Freestyle races.

As part of the festivities surrounding this significant national sporting event, the seven surviving members of the 1952 United States Olympic Nordic Ski Team, came back to the River Valley where their 1952 Olympic journey began. A luncheon was held in their honor at 1:00 PM on Thursday, March 12 in the Black Mountain of Maine Museum room, following the first Nordic race of the NCAA® Championships.

In 1951, Lake Placid was to be the location for the U.S. Olympic Nordic Ski Team trials, but the weather had other ideas. Significant snow had, as it had the previous year, missed the upstate New York region. Maine, once again, had snow and it had the Chisholm Ski Club which had hosted the 1950 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships after Lake Placid had been denied the snow it needed to run that event. The trials were moved to Rumford and training for the team was also carried out here.

The team members were brought together by Vermont Nordic skiing legend, John Caldwell with help from Rumford, Maine's two-time Olympian, Wendall "Chummy" Broomhall, who is overseeing preparations for the NCAA® competitions.

The 1952 U.S. Nordic Olympic team had competitors in both "Nordic Combined", which includes cross-country along with ski jumping, and "Special Nordic", which was solely cross-country skiing. Although no medals were won, the team returned home having earned the respect of the world in an area of ski competition dominated by the Europeans.

Pictured above, in front of their Olympic housing complex in Oslo, Norway are, left-to-right, Wendall "Chummy" Broomhall from Rumford, Maine (Special Nordic), John Caldwell from Putney, Vermont (Nordic Combined), the team's coach, Leif Odemark from Sweden and Sun Valley/Ketchum Idaho (deceased), Paul Wegeman, from Steamboat Springs, Colorado (Nordic Combined), George Hovland from Duluth, Minnesota (Special Nordic), Bob Pidacks from Rumford, Maine (Special Nordic) (deceased), John Burton from Minnetonka, Minnesota (Special Nordic), Ted Farwell from Steamboat Springs, Colorado (Nordic Combined), and Tom Jacobs from Glens Falls, New York (Nordic Combined).

Who were the members of the 1952 U.S. Olympic Nordic Ski Team...?

Wendall "Chummy" Broomhall served in the 10 th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army during World War II. Returning from the war, Chummy was on the U.S. Ski Team from 1947through 1954, competing in both the 1948 and 1952 Winter Olympic Games. Broomhall is credited with bringing machine grooming to Nordic competition bringing this innovation to the 1960 Winter Olympic Games in Squaw Valley where he was the course co-designer, Chief of Race and Chief of Course. Chummy was involved in designing the courses at Lake Placid and served as an official there for the 1980 Olympics and at numerous other international and national events. Also to his credit is the coaching of three Olympic skiers, including the late Bob Pidacks who was part of the 1952 team being celebrated. Broomhall donated 300 acres to Black Mountain of Maine which he and the Chisholm Ski Club have developed to be some of the finest Nordic race trails in North America.   For recognition of all he has done for the sport, Chummy was inducted to the National Ski Hall of Fame in 1981. Generosity and commitment to his family, to his community and to the sport of Nordic racing are the hallmarks of Chummy Broomhall's life which continue to this day.

John Caldwell skied for Dartmouth College in Alpine, Nordic and ski jumping and competed in the Nordic Combined events on the 1952 U.S. Winter Olympic team at Oslo.   John served as coach at the Putney School from around 1955 until 1989, mentoring a list of some of the most important Nordic racers ever fielded from the United States including Larry Damon, Mike Gallagher, Ned Gillette, Bob Gray, Bill Koch, Martha Rockwell, and his five children including his oldest son, Tim.   Caldwell also served as coach of the U.S. Cross Country Ski Teams, the U.S. Olympic Nordic Ski Teams and World Championship Nordic Ski Teams from 1965 until 1972.   In 1984, he was the coach of the U.S. Olympic Cross-Country team at the Sarajevo Olympics and the U.S. FIS Cross-Country team in 1989.   John is also a noted writer on Nordic skiing.

Paul Wegeman strapped on his first set of boards at age three and began his racing career early in life. Paul skied for Western State College and the University of Denver and won both divisional and national collegiate championships including the four-way (including slalom, downhill, cross-country and jumping) Skimeister title at the 1951 Dartmouth Winter Carnival and four-way collegiate championships in 1951, 1953, 1954, and 1955.   Wegeman was a member of the 1950 World Nordic Championship Team and the 1952 Olympic team. Paul , always an all-around athlete, earned a regional Golden Gloves light-heavyweight championship in the 1940s and loved tennis. Later in life he also acquired a passion for mountain biking. After his racing career, Paul went on to instruct at Vail/Broadmoor Ski Area in Colorado Springs. Through his work on behalf of his home community, Wegeman is credited with making a significant contribution to the awareness and popularity of Steamboat Springs.

George Hovland began skiing at age two, starting on homemade wood skis. George won the 1943 Minnesota State High School Championship, including jumping, slalom, downhill and cross-country...winning both slalom and cross-country outright. After serving in the Navy during World War II, Hovland attended the University of Minnesota where he met future 1952 Olympic teammate and Minneapolis/St. Paul skiing legend, John Burton and took third in the 1946 National Nordic Combined competition. After college, George went to Minnesota's Lutsen Mountain and was invited by a USSA National Ski Team official to try out for the National Alpine. George asked to try out for the National Nordic team instead. Hovland traveled to Sun Valley where he trained with Olympic coach, Leif Odemark. The winter of 1950-1951 he attended the national team trials in Rumford, Maine and was named to the U.S. Nordic Combined team and was named to the 1952 U.S. Olympic Nordic Ski Team. Following his Olympic experience, George went on to be four times Central USSA four-event champion. Won his age group in Birkebeiner (Nordic Marathon) events ten times, was the national age group champion for NASTAR six times and was the first non-European to complete the Swedish 90 kilometer Vasaloppet. Hovland has been deeply involved in nearly every ski area in and around the Duluth area and has created the Snowflake Nordic Ski Center where he has become a mentor to hundreds of local young skiers.

Bob Pidacks (deceased) began competing as a sophomore at the Stephens High School in Rumford.   He entered the University of Maine in 1947 to study forestry and in 1950 returned to training and competition. He captained U of Maine the ski team in 1951 and although his experience was limited to two years, he amassed a significant series of outstanding results. The Olympic Trials were held on Pidack's home course in Rumford and he was in top form from the season's competitions. Bob's time at the trials bested National Combined Champion Ted Farwell by 21 seconds, landing Pidacks in the top position on the cross country squad for the 1952 U.S. Olympic Team, where he joined his coach and fellow Chisholm Ski Club member, Chummy Broomhall. After being named to the Olympic Team Bob graduated from college and entered the U.S. Army. He was given leave to train and compete in the Oslo games where he completed the 18 kilometer course 14 minutes faster than his trial time for a 69th place. Following the Olympics, Pidacks competed in numerous races before returning to the Army. Returning to the states from his hitch in Korea, Bob was named to the 1954 FIS Team. Pidacks declined an invitation to tryout for the 1956 Olympics citing family and career obligations, but his involvement in Nordic skiing competition continued as he worked with the junior program in Rumford for ten years. Bob was inducted into the University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Maine Ski Hall of Fame in 2005.

John Burton has always been sports fanatic. Tennis, hockey, sailing, skating, fly fishing, inline skating and running with 50 marathons and three 50K runs to his credit. Burton's favorite sport, however, is cross-country skiing. John enrolled at Harvard in 1940 where he was rewarded with a most-valuable-player award in hockey. Burton served in the Navy then went in law school at the University of Minnesota where he became a member of the ski club. After a successful Nordic race against the University of Wisconsin at Madison, he entered the National Championship in Cross Country skiing and Nordic Combined in Duluth. He placed sixth. Burton resolved to join the U.S. Ski Team as soon as he graduated from law school. Because of advice of other competitors that he had to have an established record in Nordic racing to be considered, he and Fred Lang, an exceptional alpine skier, embarked on a ski racing road trip to the Rockies and the West Coast. John's efforts earned him one of 16 positions on the 1950 U.S. Ski Team. A year later Burton found himself on the 1952 U.S. Olympic Nordic Ski Team. After the 1952 Olympics, John and his wife, Janette, taught ski classes for 10 years, laying out trails before county trails existed.   John and Janette raised five children, and he worked in the investment field, and in the banking. Burton taught history and English at Blake School, a well-known prep school in Minneapolis, where he also coached hockey and tennis.

Ted Farwell was born in Massachusetts and began skiing when he was two. Ted organized his high school ski team and later skied for Syracuse University in 1949 and 1950. After graduating, Farwell served in the Air Force as a Drill and Physical Training Instructor, Aviation Cadet & Helicopter Pilot from 1951to 1957. After moving to Colorado, Farwell began Nordic Combined and Cross-country skiing competitively. Farwell skied for the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club and Denver University from 1957-59. Ted was a member of the U.S. States Olympic teams in 1952, 1956, and 1960.   Ted also collected the NCAA Nordic Championship and was named to the Collegiate All American Ski Team in 1959. At the 1952 Winter Games in Oslo, Norway, he placed 11th in the Nordic Combined, a record that still holds as the highest finish for a native-born American. After graduating, Farwell joined the New Hampshire Army National Guard as a dual-rated pilot until moving back to Colorado in 1968. Ted's association with skiing broadened after his competition career. Farwell became a highly sought-after consultant planner, and appraiser to ski area developers. Farwell is noted for conducting the first economic study of the ski industry, and is credited for developing the procedures and format for the Annual Economic Analysis of North American Ski Areas. Ted was slated to be the Technical Director for the Olympic Winter Games scheduled for Denver in 1976 which was voted down. Called back too frequently from retirement, Ted opened Winterstar Valuations, Inc. as the latest re-incarnation of his Ski Resort consulting, planning and appraisal career.

Tom Jacobs competed at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, where he finished 21st in the Nordic Combined event and 66th in the 18 km cross country skiing event. Following the Olympics Jacobs went on to a successful career as coach for Colorado University's ski team. Tom was the Executive Director from 1956 through1957 for the National Ski Association, now the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA). Returning to upstate New York in the 1960's, Tom and his wife, Marilyn opened Reliable Racing Supply in Glens Falls, which is credited as being the first mail-order ski race equipment supplier. The company became, and continues to be, a leading international supplier of innovative alpine and Nordic race products which have enhanced safety, organizer efficiency and competitor performance for all forms of Nordic skiing, Alpine skiing and snowboard competition. One such innovation Jacobs brought to market was the articulating slalom pole first used in World Cup racing in 1980 another was the first Nordic ski boot & binding system with a heel locator. Tom was also the first U.S. manufacturer of roller skis and the first to offer affordable recreational race timing systems for use at resorts. Jacobs opened the West Mountain Ski School in 1961 and started the Southern Adirondack Junior Racing League in 1963. Tom led the effort to establish the Cowles Woods public trail system near Glens Falls which was the first lighted Nordic ski touring area in North America. Jacobs was inducted into the U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 2008.

Class A and C State Championships

Chisholm Ski Club and Black Mountain of Maine will be co-hosting the Maine State Class A and C Skiing Championships with Sunday River Ski Resort from Monday, February 16th through Saturday, February 21st. The Alpine events will be at Sunday River, while Black Mountain will be the site of the 5K Nordic Freestyle and Classical races. For more infomation, visit our 2009 State Skiing Championship page.

Mountain Valley Conference Championships

Chisholm Ski Club and Black Mountain of Maine will be hosting day 2 of the MVC Skiing Championships on Saturday, February 7th with Slalom competition at 9:00 am and the Classical races starting at 2:00 pm. For more detailed information on the championships, visit our MVC Championship page.

2009 Super Tour Classic Sprint

New England skiers will have a chance to test themselves against some of the best skiers in the country today, February 4th. with the inclusion of USSA Super Tour Events taking place in the East this winter! The first race kicks off in Rumford, ME with a Classic sprint. 10:00 AM all men, followed by all women, 12:30 PM. Official heats for top 30 overall men; top 30 overall women. View Course Map
Registration: Registration: $35 entry fee. $10.00 penalty for late registration. Deadline mail (postmarked by) Saturday January 31st; Online by Monday February 2nd at 5 PM. Mail to: Chisholm Ski Club, P.O. Box 616, Rumford, Maine, 04276.
Contact:Roger Arsenault 207-357-3719, cecfuel@roadrunner.com

2009 Sassi Classical

The 2009 Sassi Classical was held on Saturday, January 31st, at Black Mountain. This was a chance for Skiers in grades 12 and under from across the State to come together in one great event with a course and venue prepared to a National level. This is the premier event of the season and a great preparation for the State Nordic meet.

Maine Junior II team were chosen from the day's race results. Those named to the team must be prepared to pay the team leader if intending to go. (JII - born 1993 or 1994)

Bates Carnival

The 2009 Bates Carnival came to Black Mountain with a series of nordic events this past weekend. Bates, a member of the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association, hosted the Alpine events at Sunday River in Bethel. On Friday, January 23rd, the Men's 10K Classical was held, followed by the Women's 5K Classical. For race results, click here.

Junior Sassi

The Junior Sassi Races, a classical race for middle school aged students, was held at Black Mountain on January 26th. For results and podium photos, click here.

If your school is interested in competing in one of our middle school or high school races, contact Bob Arsenault at chisholmski@gmail.com

To view our complete race schedule, click here.