WINDSOR, Colo. — The high school Nordic ski season is officially underway as the Poudre School District ski team hosted their first-ever Showdown at Hoedown Hill.
“This is probably the first time a CHSAA-sanctioned high school ski race has been held down on the front range and we hope it's going to be around,” head Poudre ski coach Kyle Steitz explained.
What is Nordic skiing? It’s much more complicated than cross-country. It's distance, downhill, sharps turns, and a brutal uphill climb.
“I will die on the Hill that Nordic skiing is the hardest sport out there mentally, physically, and emotionally," Coach Steitz expressed. "When you put in the endurance piece, the strength piece, the mental toughness piece, the cold the elements, the altitude, it takes the whole body. There's nothing else like it.”
Poudre and Hoedown Hill played host to Nederland and Evergreen high schools for the first time in a “grueling” three-lap regional as Poudre’s Cade Shortridge won the boys’ race with over a minute to spare.
“This course had a lot of tight corners and just straight uphill and straight downhill," Shortridge said. A lot of the other courses we raced have a bit mellower downhills, mellower climbs, and a lot more flats in there, especially this course but it's all worth it. It's super fun.”
On the girls' side, Fort Collins junior Ellayna Potter broke away in the final downhill stretch to take home first. She said she was thankful she didn’t have to travel to the mountains to do so.
“This is just crazy," Potter said. "We've never had this much snow close to home and it's just really awesome to host a real race. It's definitely different than where we're used to skiing and everyone else too but it's really exciting.”
PSD ski will next compete in the Skiathlon at Tennesse Pass Nordic Center Friday, hosted by Lake County High School.
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