County Skiers Hit the Trails For The First Day of Practice

Caribou, Maine (WAGM) -Winter sports are underway all throughout the county and another was added Monday, as it was the skiers turns to grab their skis and gear and hit the trails.

Lydia Streinz:” I’m excited, I’m glad were finally able to practice and I’m really glad we have snow, it’s always great when you get to start the season on snow”.

When it comes to Skiing, weather is always a factor, and with the early snow we have accumulated compared to teams down south, it can actually become an advantage.

George Ferland: " Just having the snow right now, getting in some of those base practices on snow, getting into the rhythm of it. Being able to practice your balance on snow, get the feel of your skis, being able to compensate and balance on that different kind of terrain that you’re not use to or haven’t been on in over eight months, is really beneficial to our team, and helps us a lot when we get into later races because we had more time on the snow then other, more advanced teams”.

Most of the athletes on this team are transitioning from warmer weather sports like soccer and baseball to colder weather sports, like skiing

Lydia Streinz: " Actually I give the kids a training plan a couple weeks in advance, just working on distance so that their; one if their coming off a cross country season, their resting from that because that’s a lot of racing. and then if they’re not, their building an endurance base, so we just do a lot of easy distance, the focus is on moving the whole time, not stopping, skiing consistently "

George Ferland: " Making the transition between cross country in the fall, and skiing in the winter can sometimes be difficult in the way your muscles work through those tasks. You know, you’re using a lot of the exact same muscles, but you’re using them in different ways that they haven’t been used before, so they get fatigued very easily, so even if you are a very proficient athlete, it’s very easy for you to get fatigued”.

It’s important to start off on the right note, and Ferland says there is a lot to look forward to this year

George Ferland: “One of the things I am definitely looking forward to is the fact that we have states in the county in Fort Kent, it’s a great course, absolutely love that course, it’s the fast course most of the time. It really gives us an advantage over some of the other schools that ski on relatively harder courses then we do.

And with the first practice of the season finally here, the countdown has started toward the beginning of the season as this year, county skiers this year will try to give it their all as they compete and try to take home the Class B Alpine Championships and Nordic Ski Championships being held in the County in 2023.

Jonathon Eigenmann, Newssource sports.

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