ASF-2011-01

More documents

Recommendations

Info

10 Adirondack Sports & Fitness www.WinAFreeKayak.com ATHLETE PROFILE hen speedskater Petra Acker was Wyoung and attending morning sessions at the Knickerbacker Arena in Troy, her grandfather, himself an accomplished skater, would time her. “Opa, I know I can go faster!” the young Petra would exclaim. That is a phrase she can use again and again. The spirit to aim for a faster time has stayed with her since she started skating as a seven-year-old with her grandfather to fulfill her home school physical education requirement. Petra Acker’s grandfather is Howard Ganong, who has earned five National titles and two North American championships as a master’s skater. Petra and her family had returned from Africa, where her father was rebuilding an orphanage for Good Samaritan, a Christian relief organization. When she returned and entered the New York school system, she had to complete physical education units each year. Enter a grandfather with blades on his feet. After a couple of years of skating to keep physically fit with family, she realized it was more than just dodge ball for gym class... It was something more exciting. Jim “Casey” Wager, who had been coaching young skating athletes for many years, entered the picture. He coached her by starting with the basics – a teaching method that has made him the primary coach for young athletes in the region. After graduating, so to speak, from Casey’s developmental work in the morning, nine-year-old Petra started training with Capital District Speedskating Club, who used the ice at the Knickerbacker Arena for Monday night practices. Age: 17 Family: Parents, Don and Cindy Acker Hometown: Clifton Park Primary Sport: Long Track Speedskating Secondary Sport: Short Track Speedskating Other Interests: Ballroom Dancing, Singing and Acting Petra Acker by Janit Stahl The foundation built by Casey has remained with Petra, who began her competitive career, expanded her training to include the Tuesday and Thursday night practices with the Saratoga Winter Club, one of the most successful short track speedskating teams in the country. “I think ever since I was little I was very competitive... I’m an only child too... I like to be with my friends and other people, but I am used to driving myself,” Petra says of her ability to stay focused in this sport where technical accuracy and extreme discipline are required for success. While she was skating at Knickerbacker, Paul Marchese, the technical advisor for the 2002 Olympic speedskating squad and coach of 2010 long track Olympian Trevor Marsicano from Ballston Spa was on the ice, “But he was working with the faster kids, like Trevor,” says Petra. Just a couple years later, Petra became “One of the faster kids.” She entered and won several of the regional races for speedskating in Rochester, Syracuse, Walpole (Mass.) and Newburgh – all part of the circuit familiar to skating families. These races are short track on 111-meter ice hockey rink. She liked the excitement and speed of the sport, which is entirely different not only in theory but by competitive standards than long track skating. The International Skating Union treats the short track and long track versions as entirely different sports – those who watched the Olympics in Vancouver can relate. The 400-meter oval long track races are match races with two skaters going head-to-head to get the best time. Short track is like roller derby with five skaters jockeying for position and close physical contact. It was a distinction that was becoming clearer to Petra as she trained and raced short track and long track in the past four years. She won the ladies division at the annual Jack Shea Sprints in Lake Placid on the Olympic Speedskating Oval for three years (’08, ’09, ‘10) locally, and took her talent to US Junior Long Track National Championship in Milwaukee for two years (’09 and ‘10), and earned first and second in her category. She was concurrently racing American Cup and US Junior Short Track championships. It was a lot of wear and tear on her body, one that was growing. The lanky girl was becoming a willowy young lady. And most short track speedskaters are not that tall (think fivefoot, eight-inch Apolo Anton Ohno). Petra is built more like the Dutch athletes that dominate the long track in international competition. “This is my first year just skating long track,” Petra says. “I started doing long track four years ago and I wanted to stay in short track, but Junior Worlds were the same weekend so I had to decide,” she explains. “It is difficult to switch back and forth.” “I think it fits my personality,” she asserts, of long track-style racing. “It is not as stressful,” says the teenager with an easy smile and a relaxed personality. In 2009, she was a member of the Junior World long track team that competed in Zakopane, Poland, and competed in the Junior World Cup in Calgary, earning a podium spot with a bronze in the 1,000 meters. Petra won the 2011 US All-Around Speedskating Championship on Dec. 31 in Kearns, Utah. She took first-place in the 5,000-meter race (7:47.26, a PR), fourth in the 1,500-meter race (2:03.49, a PR), and fifth in the 500-meter race (41.39). She clinched the title when point leader Jilleanne Rookard skipped the 5,000- meter race. This year, Petra still has to qualify to be on the Junior Worlds team at a Petit Ice Arena meet in Milwaukee, which was the training ice for the 2010 Olympic team. If she qualifies in February she goes to the Junior World Championships in Finland, and a Junior World Cup in the Netherlands. “Next year, after high school graduation, I will be moving to Salt Lake City or Milwaukee to train,” the senior says. Her mother, Cindy, feels her competitive edge comes from understanding her God-given talent, and being driven by the responsibility for her potential to be realized. “In some ways it was very easy to have her at home. She always worked to complete her schoolwork and was even more driven when compared to her home school co-op classmates (at Grace Fellowship Church in Latham). Other than that, she is a diva a bit... She gets really tired from training,” says Cindy Acker. The family has gone on several missions, including spending last summer in Haiti. Petra brought along one of her greatest competitors in the sport, speedskater Rebecca Byrud. Ultimately she wants to be a child psychologist with the organization Love 146, a non-profit who rescues young women brought into the world of child prostitution. “Petra always knows it is not about just her, she has a lot to give,” says her mother. Although she has a serious and compassionate side, evident in her mission and social work, Petra has a lot of fun too. One of her favorite past times is ballroom dancing. She dances at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Latham, but this Ginger Rogers has some world-class dancing legs! In the immediate future, Petra is preparing for National Junior team qualification meet in Milwaukee. Ultimately, her goal is the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Three years and lots of travel in between, but she is up for it. “I love to travel!” Janit Stahl (janitstahl@gmail.com) is a Greenfield Center freelance writer. Her daughter Greta is a speedskater in the Saratoga Winter Club.
www.AdkSports.com JANUARY 2011 11 SNOWSHOEING & CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING Explore a New Winter Loop at For many years, Chase Lake in northern Fulton County has been a quiet, little-known place. The trail was once used by snowmobiles, but today the few people who go there do so under their own power. With its lean-to, easy trail, and fine views of a mountain named simply the Pinnacle, Chase Lake would seem to have all the ingredients of a popular destination. Nevertheless, the DEC reported a few years ago that an average of 100 people visited the lake annually. This may change, however. In the fall of 2010, a DEC crew built a new lean-to on the lake’s north shore that is far superior to the old site, which was located near a corner of the shoreline that was blocked by alders. The new site comes with a better view of the lake, and it is reached by such an easy hike that it is sure to become a favorite. Further, the creation of the new leanto also required the cutting of a new trail. Therefore from a single trailhead you can now reach Chase Lake in two ways – the original trail to the old lean-to site, and the new spur to the new site. Few people will choose to do both routes in the summer, but in the winter when the lake is securely frozen snowshoers and cross-country skiers can now make an exceptional route. HOW TO GET THERE From Northville, follow NY Route 30 north for about three miles, where Benson Road bears left. Benson Road leads in 11.7 miles to Pinnacle Road, a right turn that is also marked by a sign for the Adirondack Beagle and Hare Club. Drive to the end of Pinnacle Road, 2.6 miles away. THE TRAIL From the end of Pinnacle Road, follow the marked trail that leads off to the right. The trail was designed to circumvent Chase Lake VIEW OF PINNACLE MOUNTAIN FROM CHASE LAKE. THE NEW LEAN-TO WITH FINE VIEWS OF PINNACLE AND CHASE. PHOTOS BY BILL INGERSOLL by Bill Ingersoll private land. It essentially parallels the boundary, leading north of east around a knoll, and then cutting southeast through a deep ravine. Beyond, you are so close to the private parcel that you can clearly see the difference between the cut-over forest and the mature stand on state land. After walking for 1.1 miles, you intercept the original trail and bear left to follow it. You are now on what appears to be an old woods road, following beside a wide draw that is unusual in its straight course and unchanging dimensions. Indeed much of the remaining hike to the lake passes through remarkably non-hilly terrain – a rare pause in the mountainous Adirondack landscape. At 1.8 miles you reach the new fork in the trail, marked by prominent trail signs. The original trail to the old lean-to site bears right, and the new trail continues straight ahead. The people who are mostly here to see the new lean-to will be invariably drawn in that direction. But if you can muster some patience, I recommend heading to the old site first and crossing the ice to the new site. The views will reveal themselves more favorably in this direction. So, turning right, the trail dips to cross a small stream and eventually resumes its east-northeast course to the old leanto site near the south end of the lake, 2.6 miles from Pinnacle Road. This site was not particularly well-suited to allow its guests to consider the scenic charms of Chase Lake, and this was likely why it left a bland impression with so many of its visitors. It is now a perfectly functional tent site, though it is hard to imagine that many people will prefer this spot over the new lean-to. To complete the loop, continue through the alders to the open expanse of the frozen lake. While the western shore is hemmed in with extensive marshlands, the eastern shore has a number of rocky points, each one capped with a scenic tent site. They are in a prime position to take in the view of the Pinnacle, with the reddish-colored cliffs draped across the northern shoulder of the mountain. For the few people who take the time to cross to this shore in winter, Chase Lake takes on a whole new dynamic. The new lean-to site is very visible on the north shore, thanks in part to a questionable amount of tree cutting. Unlike many newer lean-tos, this one is located a comfortable distance from the lake’s edge and features fine views. It is just a 0.5-mile trek across the pond from the old site to the new site. To complete the loop, look for the new marked trail leading west-southwest from the shelter, quickly leaving the shore of the pond. It cuts across a low hill and comes to a small creek with rocky banks. You cross this creek at 0.5-mile, and without a bridge it could be a tricky crossing during a thaw. Otherwise, it is an easy hike for the next 0.5-mile back to the junction to close the loop, and then for the last 1.8 miles you are following your tracks back to Pinnacle Road. The total distance of 5.9 miles will require about three hours of walking time, not counting breaks and additional explorations. Bill Ingersoll of Barneveld is publisher of the Discover the Adirondacks guidebook series (hiketheadirondacks.com) and author of Snowshoe Routes: Adirondacks & Catskills (Mountaineers). For more on this region, consult Discover the Southern Adirondacks and Snowshoe Routes: Adirondacks and Catskills. The new Shadow Catch it if you can! placidboats.com • 263 Station St, Lake Placid • 518-524-2949 2123 Central Ave (Rte 5), Colonie 4.25 miles west of Northway Exit 2W (518) 346-3180 • OneWithWater.com Seek Adventure – Make Tracks Cross-Country Skis & Snowshoes for Trails & Backcountry Including Metal Edge Skis & 3-Pin Bindings! Great Selection of Canoes, Kayaks & Accessories! Dagger • Bell • Swift • Wilderness Systems Perception • Mad River Discover Inlet, NY And all the beauty that surrounds us Free Cross-country Ski & Snowshoe Trails. Free Ice Skating Rink with Warming Hut. Free Sledding Hill. Great Food , Cozy Accommod ations, Groomed Snowmobile Tra ils, Fun for the W hole Family For maps & more: Inlet Area Information Office 1-866-GO INLET www.inletny.com
Page 1 and 2: Skiing | Running | Hiking | Biking
Page 3 and 4: www.AdkSports.com JANUARY 2011 3 Th
Page 5 and 6: www.AdkSports.com JANUARY 2011 5 Sk
Page 7 and 8: www.AdkSports.com JANUARY 2011 7 HA
Page 9: www.AdkSports.com JANUARY 2011 9 RU
Page 13 and 14: 12 Adirondack Sports & Fitness FROM
Page 15 and 16: 14 Adirondack Sports & Fitness RACE
Page 21: 20 Adirondack Sports & Fitness FOOT

ASF-2011-01

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?