Charlie Bencze of Tupper Lake took a five day trip to Utah to participate in the Soldier Hollow Super JNQ on January 29 and 30th. The largest race for juniors in the lower 48 states, this race included all the best of the west! Intermountain, Rocky Mountain, PNSA, Far West, High Plains and Mid-Atlantic were represented in the field with a total of 642 entrants! The Olympic Venue at Soldier Hollow is at 6600 feet above sea level, making it one of the highest places to race within the altitude limit in the world. Traveling across the country from near sea level and racing at this altitude is no small feat!
Greeting Charlie and helping him in his racing was Swix Nordic Tech Bill Brooker and two NYSSRA Olympians, Laurie Humbert(Grover)and Billy Demong. It was an Adirondack reunion for the four!
Charlie arrived Tuesday night and relaxed most of Wednesday before going to Mountain Dell to ski in the afternoon. There he was introduced to Laurie’s adult training group and skied the trails some of which were used for the World Cup Nordic Races in the late 1980’s. Afterwards he enjoyed a relaxed dinner of Adirondack fare (smoked brook trout, wild turkey and venison) at Laurie’s house in the company of Billy Demong. Many tales of junior racing in the Adirondacks were shared!
Thursday gave Charlie his first taste of the trails at Soldier Hollow and a feel for the altitude. During training he was given advice on the race course by Rick Kapala (Sun Valley Ski Education) and Ben Husaby (Olympian and Mount Bachelor Performance). Charlie was paying attention as his results the next two days would prove! After a few pickups at race speed to get a feel for the altitude, Charlie was ready for Friday’s race.
Friday morning the venue was cloaked in fog. This is when very cold air gets trapped in the hollow below warmer air. It was freestyle sprint day and Charlie was trying to make the top 30 in the Qualifier out of 162 J1/OJ boys. Bill Brooker of Swix was able to find good glide with temps near -10 degrees C for Charlie’s skis and Charlie’s racing ability got him to qualify for the heats in 17th place. Charlie next needed to get thru the quarter finals where he sometimes has trouble. His pole was stepped on early and he spun out placing him in 5th in the heat of 6. He didn’t panic and was able to glide to 2nd riding fast skis down the back stretch and powering into the finish. In the semi-finals while making a great move on the uphill before the long downhill he missed a pole and sprawled. He was able to recover again and advance to the B-final. The altitude and heats started to take their toll on Charlie as he finished 12th overall! This is an outstanding finish considering the altitude, travel, number of heats and Charlie’s age. During the races we were asked (as Charlie’s performance was turning heads!) what we were waxing by Ben Husaby and my answer was Cera 7BS. He said that’s what they were using, I replied “Yeah but you don’t have Charlie Bencze riding on the tops!” Final wax as the sun was shining was HFBW6, Super Cera powder covered by Cera 7BS buffed and Cera Rocket spray buffed. Ask Chuck if they were fast J!
1 Charlie in start gate for sprint qualifier
Saturday arrived with the same temps as Friday for the Classic mass start for U-23 skiers at 12:30. The course was three loops of the Olympic 5km with the fabled Hermode’s Hill included. Charlie spent the morning chilling out in the lodge in the company of Billy Demong and Laurie Humbert sharing stories of the Adirondacks and skiing. It was great for those two Olympians to spend some time with Charlie and I am sure that it inspired him to race well! Billy even delayed an interview with the NY Times to watch and cheer Charlie on! Another Olympian Caitlin Compton (an athlete Laurie has been mentoring) also took time from her cool down to cheer on Charlie! The mass start had over 160 racers! Charlie stuck to his game plan that he had gone over with Laurie and Billy. It was to crawl a lap, run a lap and then race the final lap. With skis that were kicking well and gliding fast, Charlie was able to execute his race plan to perfection and skied to 21st place overall as a first year J1! This is an incredible result considering his age, the altitude and his performance in the sprints the previous day! I think it was having 3 Olympians on course cheering for him that really helped! A final cool down lap in the sunshine with a knee deep powder ski down the mountain side ended the day perfectly for Charlie!
2 Charlie pauses for a pic with Billy Demong before the start of the classic 15km
The following day I dropped Charlie off at the airport to fly home in the darkness of the early morning. He was great to have as a guest, a testimony to his family and Nordic skiing and I was sad to see him leave. I know though that soon we will all get together again and it will be as if we never were apart as that is the wonder of being a Nordic skier from the Adirondacks!
3 Laurie in the frosty morning helping coach Charlie.
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