A fine prelude to the 2006 Winter Olympics at nearby Torino, this year's Masters World Championships cross-country ski event took place in the picturesque Ayas Valley of the western Alps, north of Torino.
Over 1,100 athletes from 24 countries converged on the sleepy, 900-person Italian mountain village of Brusson for the 2006 Masters Worlds, held from Feb. 4-11. There was a sizable Ketchum contingent among the 130 U.S. skiers at worlds.
And the Wood River Valley did quite well. At the final medal ceremonies, Ketchum headed home with 15 medals—four apiece captured by Jon Engen and Gabriele Andersen, three by Del Pletcher, and two apiece by Muffy Ritz and Norm Clark.
The 15 medals won by the Ketchum skiers represented the biggest haul of all 42 medals won by Americans at the World Games.
Though the Ayas Valley with its views of the Monte Rosa glacier and the backside of The Matterhorn was almost bare of snow this year, the ski courses at Brusson were immaculately prepared with a mixture of man-made and natural snow.
Eight portable snow guns, similar to those used on Dollar Mountain, had carpeted the valley floor by the time the competitors arrived. Course preparations were excellent, helped by favorable weather—sunny days with overnight freezing that preserved the snow for skiing.
The level of competition was high, with Russia fielding over 200 athletes and Italy contributing many. The standard of skiing was so high that 86 male teams and 25 female teams were put together for relays. You could enter three individual races and a relay, so you could earn a maximum four medals for the week.
Perhaps the most inspiring performances came in the relays. The U.S. quartet of Sun Valley's Gabriele Andersen, Trina Hosmer, Dagmar Eriksson and Elisabeth Schluter won the gold medal by over seven minutes over Russia in the Ladies-over-60 4x5-kilometer relay.
Andersen also captured individual gold medals in the Class F7 (ages 60-64) 10k freestyle and 15k classic. She earned the bronze in 30k freestyle. Winning golds in 15k freestyle and 10k classic was Trina Hosmer of Pelham, Mass., a member of the first-ever U.S. Olympic Nordic women's team in 1972 who is a board member of the Maine Winter Sports Center.
Jon Engen, making his fifth visit to the Masters World Championships, was a member of the Men's 45-49 relay that earned a bronze medal behind Russia and Italy in a highly-contested Class M4 event. His teammates were Milan Baic, David Edic and David MacLean.
Engen also grabbed M4 gold medals in 30k freestyle and 45k freestyle along with a silver medal in 10k freestyle. Del Pletcher of Ketchum captured gold medals in M7 (60-64) 10k freestyle and 30k skate events to go with his silver in 15k freestyle.
Muffy Ritz, competing in the tough F4 (45-49) class, was a silver medalist in 30k freestyle and a bronze medalist in 15k freestyle.
Great Britain's Norm Clark of Ketchum, competing in his sixth Masters World Championships, also medaled twice in M10 (75-79).
Clark won a bronze medal in the 10k freestyle event. And, on his 77th birthday, Clark earned another bronze medal in the 15k freestyle event—a race made all the more remarkable because the first seven finishers in M10 came home within three minutes of each other, very, very tight for the age group.
Engen commented that top American honors should have gone to Sun Valley's Aimee Frenette.
Frenette stopped during her 30k event to give CPR to a Norwegian M9 (70-74) skier who had fallen on the course. A nurse by profession, Frenette kept up the procedure until additional help arrived. Unfortunately, the man died of cardiac arrest, but Aimee did her best.
Besides the Ketchum skiers and Hosmer, other U.S. medal winners were Dagmar Eriksson, Bert Larsson, Elisabeth Schluter, Richard and Ann Mize, Ginny Price, Gretchen Lindren, Sarah Martin, Meg Heerdt, Erica Monahan, Maggie Fillmore, Milan Baic, David MacLean and David Edic.
The next Masters World Championships will be in Finland in 2007, then they come to McCall, Idaho in 2008. Representatives from McCall were on hard at Brusson, Italy to observe, make a presentation to national team captains and develop plans for their own event.
"CREATING CHAMPIONS"
The U.S. Ski Team has produced a book entitled "Creating Champions," that is being used to raise money to try to raise interest levels in developing U.S. Nordic athletes.
Much of the content is pictorial, from the camera of assistant U.S. Nordic Ski Team coach Pete Vordenberg. It is edited by Norm Clark of Ketchum. Copies and information can be obtained from usskiteam.com.
Jon Engen races to the gold in Italy. Courtesy photo
