Two Bozeman seniors with the Bridger Ski Foundation Nordic Comp team just traveled to Sweden with a group of U18 skiers selected to represent the U.S. at the Nordic Nations Cup in Falun, Sweden. BSF’s Natalie Nicholas and Cole Bothner both had outstanding racing at U.S. Nationals in Utah in early January, qualifying them for this special trip for 12 skiers, which was organized by the National Nordic Foundation to give up-and-coming junior skiers the experience of traveling and racing abroad.
Brutally cold weather canceled one day of racing completely, and also caused sprint heats to be canceled after the qualifications. But when it warmed up for the 10km classic race, the U18 women from the USA had an impressive showing with five skiers in the top 12, with Nicholas claiming that 12th spot on Falun’s challenging World Cup course with brutal hill climbs. Fellow Montana, Maeve Ingelfinger of Glacier Nordic Club, led the U.S. team in 4th, with Ally Wheeler (formerly of Bozeman & BSF, now with Casper Nordic in Wyoming) in 10th. Cole Bothner had a strong 35th finish in the men’s 10K.
Nicholas said, "Falun is an iconic world cup venue, and getting to ski on the courses that world cup skiers do was an amazing learning experience. The courses are very challenging with technical downhills and grinding uphills making the racing exciting. With the cold temps, we didn’t get in as many races as expected, but the races we did do were good."
“It was a super amazing opportunity to ski at an international level and get a taste of a higher level of competition,” said Cole. I really enjoyed skiing with athletes from all across the nation as one team.”
Parent Brian Bothner, who was on site for the trip, reported that “The group is clearly having fun together and the coaches are wonderful.”
Natalie Nicholas noted that, "Not only was racing an incredible opportunity, but meeting new coaches and friends was just as amazing. When not skiing, I spent a lot of time with my teammates, exploring Falun and Stockholm, and enjoying Swedish food. This trip made me fall in love with the sport of skiing even more, and motivates me for what I can do in the future! Also, I want to thank NNF for their sponsorship of this trip, because it was made possible by them!"
