DAY2
After a couple of days falling back to NASTAR gold status, I started
to whittle my handicap down to platinum range. I also inevitably
started to meet some of NASTAR’s friendly community.
Victoria Doering, who races for Hidden Valley Ski area outside St. Louis, came
to Copper to train for her first NASTAR Nationals. She teamed up with Copper
Masters coach Matt Fox (left) for some pointers. Victoria told me her favorite
thing about NASTAR was “having fun and going down the course.” Her goal for
Nationals was a top-five finish in her 11 to 12-year-old bronze division. She went on
to take first place over at Winter Park.
I noticed Les Herstik’s good form in
the racecourse and his Down Under
accent in the start area — he raced
on the Australian national team
and even competed in the Olympic
Winter Games. Herstik was about
to compete at NASTAR as part of
three generations of skiing, with
his son, Aiden (right), and father,
Gus. “I’d obviously like to win it,
but in platinum class that’s tough,”
said Les of NASTAR Nationals. “You
take it as it goes, have a good time
and enjoy the competition and
camaraderie. To see 90-year-olds
racing at the same time as five year
olds: that’s magic.”
