Nick Crawford '09

Nick Crawford was Captain of the ski team my Freshman year of college.  He was a great inspiration to me.   I'm working his old job in Fairbanks, AK now, and his old athletes, now my athletes, still talk about how much they liked him:

Hi All,

I had meant to type up this post a month ago but it had gotten away from me, so here it is now.  It’s really not that interesting compared to Spencer killing a deer on his rollerskis or anything Marren is doing right now in New Zealand, but I’m grateful for Bowdoin Nordic for connecting me to these awesome people who actually do neat things.  Also big thanks to Chris Sanville for putting together this site.

Mid Summer 2012

I walked out the door with my bright orange boots (Rossignol), neon green shirt (Brooks reflective shirt), neon green rollerskis (Marwe) and neon green poles (One Way).  If this alone didn’t make me look like a complete idiot, it was confirmed by the fact that I was going for a ski in the middle of the summer in the middle of the desert at about 97 degrees.  This might be more justifiable if I was training to make the national team after graduating as an All American skier from a prestigious D1 college program, but I’m not.  I’m a 25 year old Bowdoin College ski team alum who, if I’m lucky, will compete in one or two citizen races next winter.  I don’t even qualify as a master blaster because I’m not obsessive over my own athletic results and unlike most master blasters, I frequently train at a pace other than threshold.

The only reason why I go rollerskiing is because I love the sport of cross country skiing and as a professional coach I try and share that passion with junior skiers.  A big part of my love for the sport comes from my time on the Bowdoin Nordic Team.  I don’t think I would still be involved in the sport were it not for the great time I had on the team.  Whether it was riding in the van to Pineland or Thanksgiving dinner in Quebec or even pounding out intervals on the Brunswick bike path for the seventh time in a month I really enjoyed the company and environment of the team.  I also learned a ton during my time on the Bowdoin Nordic team and unlike my geology degree, I’m putting that knowledge to work every day.  I would like to give a quick thank you to the two head coaches and four assistant coaches I had while at Bowdoin: Marty Hall, Nathan Alsobrook, Adam St Piere, Oliver Burress, Wyatt Dumas and Ezra Hart for their countless hours of assistance and toil with little in the way of fame and glory from me for their efforts. 

Another reason why I love Nordic skiing and continue to work for minimal pay as a coach is that it has allowed me to travel to some really neat places.  Some of the places like the Hardwick motel outside of Crafstburry, VT or the Linnell Motel in Rumford, I traveled to while actually with the team I would not add to your bucket list, but others have been much more interesting.  Skiing brought me to the future site of Bowdoin’s Elite Summer Training Location, the Snow Farm in New Zealand, the homeland of Matt Bowers and Elissa Rodman in Colorado, located at about 40,000 feet above sea level, and even to the quite pleasant urban ski trails at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis.  In pursuit of coaching I also moved to Fairbanks, AK and coached both juniors and caribou while trying to stay warm at 40 degrees below zero.

And now I had settled in the ultimate Nordic skiing destination: Boise, ID.  If you ever find yourself racing at Bogus Basin (the local ski area), you’re probably not at the right venue but let me know you’re in town anyhow.  More likely you will be driving by on I-84 and looking for a place to crash for the night but I’ve got you covered there as well.

See you on the trails!

Nick Crawford ‘09