Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Steamboat Springs Nordic skiers logged high finishes last weekend, taking advantage of a last-second switch that left them racing on home snow.

With inadequate snow cover available at the weekend’s planned venue in Summit County, the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club and the Steamboat Ski Touring Center stepped up to play host to two days of racing for OJ to J4 athletes.

“So much effort was put forth by volunteers to cover existing open trails with snow from the sides,” Steamboat Springs Nordic ski coach Brian Tate wrote in an email. “Thursday brought heavy winds, which knocked down at least five trees and scoured the snow on the trails. Our work was cut out for us, literally.”

That work paid off as young local athletes showed well in the early-season event.

Lars Hannah earned second-place finishes in his skate and classic ski races. Max Scrimgeour won his Saturday J1 skate race, and Charlie Van Thaden and Haley Piske each were on the podium twice in the OJ division. Emily Hannah and Mary O’Connell each got a first and a second place, swapping with each other in the J1 division. Lucy Newman was third behind those two in the Sunday classic race.

J3 racer Anna Burkholder logged two wins on the weekend. Evan Barbier and Tyler Terranova went 1-2 in both races at the J3 boys event, and Tyler Scholl and Sven Tate did the same for the J4 boys division.

“With hard work from the groomers and some help from new snow, conditions became better each day,” Tate wrote. “It was a community effort. The visiting teams were very thankful for the opportunity to race and, in some cases, the opportunity to ski on snow.”