Basecamp podcast: Racing to Wachusett Mountain

The Wachusett Mountain racing League welcomes some 500 skiers every racing evening (Wachusett Mountain)

Four decades strong, the Wachusett Mountain Race League remains a weekly gathering of a Massachusetts skiing community. 

“It reminded me of how I started,” former pro skier Noelle Lyons, who is a Wachusett league participant, said. “It’s just like you remember, like, I’ve never lost the love of skiing. I’ ve skied all my life and regardless of if I competed, I wasn’t one of those competitors that didn’t want to keep doing it. I wanted to stay connected to the community.” 

Lyons, an alum of the U.S. Ski team, an NCAA All-American, World Extreme champion, and 24 Hours of Aspen participant, joined New England Ski Journal Basecamp podcast to discuss the Wachusett racing league. Chris Stimpson, public relations manager for Wachusett Mountain and Pete Marson, pace-setter and coach for the race league, also joined Basecamp hosts Eric Wilbur and Mike Specian to discuss what makes racing at Wachusett a cherished event. 

“I can tell you it is just about getting out there in, in the middle of the week, and taking a bunch of turns,” Stimpson said. “We have people from all over the place come in and compete every night of the week. And then they all hang out in the bar afterwards and have a great time.” 

Listen: 

Highlights from this edition of the Basecamp podcast: 

On what being a participant in the race league is like: 

Lyons: Their [Wachusett] motto is, “You don’t have to be fast to have fun.” I think that’s the bottom line of skiing…you just forget all the other stuff and you’re throwing your skis down the fall line, having fun and going around the gates.Then, at the end, you’re all celebrating the fact that you’re on that course, you’re next to each other, and you’re not afraid. You’re just going for it.

On what Wachusett’s snowmaking means for the league: 

Marston: You’ve got someone like Noel that has extreme racing experience in the highest levels. And then you have people that have never really raced before and are beginner skiers. So, thankfully, the conditions here are such that we have great access to personnel that help us set fencing, help us get everything ready for the race hill, and timing as well. The timing is the key part of it. You have really smart minds that can put all that together and we, we’re not patching things together.