Doherty, Schneider show good results on U.S. Telemark team

Whitefish-based U.S. Telemark National team skiers Maggie Doherty and Cole Schneider posted impressive results Jan. 12 in the season’s first race in Vail, Colo.

In her first race since the 2011 National Championships as the result of an injury last season, Doherty took second place in the Vail Sprint Classic. Schneider just missed the podium and finished the race in fourth place.

Doherty and Schneider, who were married this past September in Glacier National Park, will travel to Gunstock, N.H., in early February for a race series and then to Steamboat Springs for the 2013 National Championships, Feb. 22-24.

Zoë Taylor of Steamboat Springs, Colo., won the women’s expert division in Vail. Taylor won the women’s 2012 National Championship and is the first U.S. woman in more than a decade to stand atop the podium at a FIS World Cup race.

For the men, Steamboat Springs team members stacked the podium with Jeffrey Gay in first, Charlie Dresen in second, and in third, Tanner Visnick. Dresen won the 2012 men’s national title.

The Vail Mountain School telemark team hosted the race on Golden Peak at Vail Resort. In addition to members of the U.S. Telemark National, Regional and Development teams, participants from the Vail Mountain School Telemark team, Crested Butte Telemark team and Telluride Telemark team competed in subzero temperatures for a two-run event that included a Nordic style jump, two Reipelykkje turns, and a skate section.

“The Vail race is great introduction to racing for many of the young Telemark teams in Colorado who explore all aspects of Telemark skiing,” said Russ Hobbs, President of the U.S. Telemark Ski Association. “This race developed last year as part of our goal to reach out to young Telemark skiers and expose them to racing as one aspect of telemark skiing. The U.S. Team members were able to spend time with the newer racers to provide racing tips and to demonstrate the sport at a high level.”