Adirondack Sports December 2020

10 Adirondack Sports
ATHLETE PROFILE
● ROCKY RIDGE PEAK.
● CASCADE MOUNTAIN.
Raquelle and
Bernie Landa
Daughter and Dad
Dynamic Duo
FAMILY: Bernie, 48; Cheryl, 48;
Raquelle, 12; Reed, 10
RESIDENCE: Clifton Park
PROFESSION: Bernie, Systems Engineering
Technology Leader at GE
Renewables – Wind; Cheryl,
Physical Therapist at Eddy Visiting
Nurse & Rehab Association
SPORTS: Hiking, Skiing, Mountain
Biking, Swimming, Triathlon
● 2019 LAKE
PLACID LOPPET.
By Linda Waxman Finkle
Raquelle Landa is not your average
12-year-old. As one of the youngest
in Shenendehowa Nordic Club’s
“Wall of Fame,” she’s used to exceling in
sports, academic endeavors, and in other
activities as well. Maybe that’s why no one
in her family questioned her becoming an
Adirondack 46er. And why her dad, Bernie,
jumped at the chance to pursue this goal
with his daughter during the early Covid
days of 2020, finishing in one season by
summiting Mount Marcy at the end of
October.
The family had heard about the Bill Koch
Youth Ski League from friends who participated
in Massachusetts. At the 1976 Winter
Olympics, ‘Kochie’ won the silver medal
in the 30K cross-country skiing event, the
first American to win a medal in international
competition; years later, he captured
the World Cup title, and championed the
skate-skiing technique. A Google search
revealed that there was a BKYSL in Clifton
Park through the Shenendehowa Nordic
Club, which, since 1985, has supported
cross-country skiing in southern Saratoga
County, grooming trails in two town parks
and on the Shen campus, offering beginner
lessons, and boosting the Shenendehowa
High/Middle School Nordic ski teams.
But let’s return to March, when all four
Landas – mom Cheryl, Bernie, Raquelle, and
10-year-old brother Reed – were spending
more time than usual in the Adirondacks
due to the pandemic and fully remote learning.
As a family who mountain biked and
skied together, they didn’t hesitate to put on
their winter traction devices and begin with
a hike up Mt. Jo, and at the end of March,
climbed Cascade and Porter, their first High
Peaks – mountains with shorter round-trip
distances. After a few more climbs in April,
when the mountains were still icy and
covered in snow, Bernie and Raquelle
set the goal of becoming Adirondack
46ers. And, over the next month, the
Landas continued hiking as a family,
but more often than not, it was
just dad and daughter who set out
in the early morning hours. “We’re
very similar,” offers Bernie. “We’d
never had the opportunity to spend
this much time together one-onone,
and we’re both organized,
prepared, and not intimidated by
challenges.”
Hailing from a family of sheep
ranchers in Idaho, Bernie, an engineer,
spent much of his youth assisting with the
livestock operation, and hiking was another
way to enjoy the outdoors. He’d always
wanted to do the 50 High Peaks throughout
the U.S., and has already completed about a
dozen. He’s also a triathlete, mountain biker
and cross-country skier, competing in the
Lake Placid Loppet 25K or 50K cross-country
ski race for many years. Cheryl, a physical
therapist, who’s also very active and did
a lot of hiking in the Berkshires after college,
had both kids out on skis and bikes at very
young ages. “Raquelle’s brave and adventurous,
driven and mentally tough,” Cheryl
says admiringly. “She is very proud of this
accomplishment.”
On May 16th Raquelle and her father
set out for an epic hike in the Dix Range.
It was clearly going to be a long day when
they realized the approach hike to the base
of the first climb already had been six miles.
Raquelle had her courage tested at the
Macomb scramble where the trail was a mixture
of seasons: ice sheets, mud from snow
run off, and granite scree left behind from
winter snow slides. “I was totally freaked
out,” Raquelle said, “but I pushed on and
my dad encouraged me to put one foot in
front of the other.” After a four-peak series
in the Dix Range, the descent was on the
Lillian Brook Trail where Raquelle said she
basically “checked out from exhaustion,” but
dug deep to find the strength to keep going.
The Dix Range made for a memorable hike
and an unspoken level of trust and determination
for these hiking companions.
When ascending the rock face of
Gothics, she was nervous about falling, and
on the same day, around Upper Wolf Jaw,
they ran out of water, with no stream in sight
for quite a while. A little over a week later,
they were out on the Seward Range, her least
favorite of all, with another long walk to the
base, constant rain, and a 10:30pm return to
their campsite.
Her dad didn’t care for that weekend
either. “When we got caught in the dark in
thunderstorms, and were soaked and worn
out, I wondered if we should throw in the
towel,” Bernie remembers. “Going every
weekend, I felt it in my knees, and it started to
become job-like. Then Raquelle said, ‘Dad,
it’s going to be okay.’ We were in mud up to
our knees, and had two handfuls of trail mix
to eat before falling asleep. But the next day,
● NEAR INDIAN FALLS.
the sky cleared, and we were both in better
spirits. She never showed that she was terrified,
and I didn’t expect that. She taught me
the value of patience and awareness.” With
the benefit of hindsight, he would plan differently
next time, and spend multiple nights
in the backcountry, affording easier access
to distant peaks.
A seventh grader at Shenendehowa’s
Gowana Middle School, Raquelle plays the
flute in the school band, is on the Capital
District YMCA swim team, and is working
hard on her Silver Award in Girl Scouts,
focusing on decreasing plastic pollution by
convincing restaurants to cut down on plastic
usage. In several accelerated classes, her
favorite subjects are math, and now English
as well, and she hopes to become an elementary
school teacher. “I can comprehend
topics easily and then share that with others.