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Mahtomedi Nordic Ski Suits -- The Story
How many years have you been racing in that cool MHS Nordic ski suit and never realized that all those gold and white symbols on that royal blue background meant something? Former MHS Nordic skier Kelly Roberts returned to Mahtomedi Nordic as a coach and tells us the story of the MHS Nordic racing suit...
Back in 1996, when I was a freshman on the MHS Nordic Team, there were no ski team suits. We racers wore whatever we pulled from the drawer at home--sweats, jeans, windpants--not exactly the most efficent racing outfits. At the Holiday Relays of 1996, the girls B team--made up of first year, freshman skiers--wore old ski suits donated by Pam Weier from her many years of racing. The B team finished ahead of the A team, who still wore sweats. From this race on everyone sported an old race suit in fear of being beat.
Since the suits seemed to work, MHS skier Marcel Kadera-Redman and Nordic team coach, Everett Meyers, decided to design ski suits for the Mahtomedi team. The design of our suits was inspired by the Norwegian national team's suits. We wanted the force of one of the fastest ski teams in the world riding on our backs! Four years later the Mahtomedi girls, outfitted in our blue and gold ski suits, gave the Stillwater girls a scare, finishing just two points behind them in Sections.
In the beginning, we had to purchase our own suits. Then in the late 1990s, a ski team friend generously donated 20 suits to the team. These are the one-piece suits still in use. MHS and ski team funds helped purchase additional two-piece suits around 2005. Now it's required by the Minnesota State High School League for varsity skiers to wear school-issued racing uniforms.
So, take a close look at that suit. See those parallel lines with dots? They are classic tracks with pole marks made from a skier striding. The white parallel lines with no dots show a classic track made by a skier zooming downhill. The short double dashes with dots are classic herringbone with pole marks as a skier goes up hill. The yellow triangles represent the hills we love to go up and down.
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Mahtomedi Nordic Ski Capes -- Thanks, Grandma!
Imagine life at the start or finish line before the invention of ski capes. We nearly froze. We used big down coats and blankets, but in 1997 things improved. Danielle Walsh's grandma sewed our amazing Mahtomedi ski capes: four blue ones and four gold. Danielle Walsh is a 1998 Mahtomedi graduate who skied all through high school. The concept caught on and ski capes are now used by many of the ski teams in our conference, section and even state. Those fleece lined, wind-resistant, hooded capes with big Mahtomedi letters on the back have warmed many skiers throughout the years. Thanks, Grandma!
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Nordic terms
The word "ski" has found it's way into English from the Old Norse language skith, a stick of wood, and the first practitioners were most likely the inhabitants of northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Gliding on skis over deep snow has been practiced for thousands of years. Long wooden planks gave the Scandinavians the mobility they needed to travel, hunt, and survive the long cold winters near the Arctic Circle. In contrast the skis today are high-tech, carbon-light improvements over the original design, but the concept is still the same. Two wooden planks under a bundle of human energy, skill, and stamina.
Since the 1980's, "Nordic" or "Cross Country" Skiing consists of two styles, one the traditional diagonal stride or "classic style", and the second "freestyle" which incorporates the "skating" technique. The skate division was created because the technique is significantly faster. In order to continue the tradition of the classical diagonal stride technique, the World Cup racing season is evenly divided between classic and freestyle events.
We take pride in our school, our team, and the long tradition of Nordic ski. If you are a student at Mahtomedi High School, come join us. Parents, come cheer on the racers at the upcoming events. We look forward to seeing you soon!
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Practice day for the
Mahtomedi Ski Team
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