Minnesota’s miniscule snow totals have put a crimp into things for the Bengals boys and girls teams. The lack of pure powder has them obsessing over the weather forecast. “Oh yeah, every single day,” said Nathan Taylor, who skis for the Blaine boys team. “One of the first things I do is open that weather app up and see what we’re looking like for the next couple days.”
“I just kind of look at it as another challenge that we have to overcome,” said Andy Schwen, the Bengals boys and girls coach. “We’re just trying to stay positive and keep training and hope that we’ll have real snow before February.”
Schwen is in his 11th season with the Bengals and has never seen a winter with less snow than this one.
Said Schwen: “This is for sure the worst start that we’ve had.”
Real stuff better than flake flakes
Blaine and other prep teams have been saved by Elm Creek, where the ability to make snow allows the athletes to have meets at the park. But the fake flakes are not nearly as good as the real stuff.
“The snow isn’t what you would consider to be normal snow,” Taylor said. “It has more of a fluffy consistency. It doesn’t melt as well and it can be more abrasive to our wax while we’re skiing. It’s not the perfect conditions you would hope for while you’re skiing.”
“It’s a little challenging skiing on fake snow…” said Lylah Carlson who skis for the Bengals girls team. “I’m so glad that we have snow that we can actually ski on. If we didn’t, it would be very boring.”
Because there is hardly any snow, the Bengals are training on exercise bikes and roller skis this season.
“It’s a little bit harder for me at least,” said Evan Koerber, from the Blaine boys team. “It’s not as effortless as being on snow. You feel the conditions a little bit more. If it’s rainy it’s not like you can really go do it. You really feel the leaves and sticks on the ground.”
Said Carlson: “When you practice roller skiing the skis aren’t as long as when I’m on actual skis, so when I first went on snow the skis felt so long.”
“We started the season off by doing roller skiing which is like we’re skiing, but we just have wheels and the skis are a little bit shorter,” Taylor said. “We’ve been doing those workouts at Bunker behind the high school. The team has been getting into really good shape because of that.”
“It could possibly never snow”
Roller skis are a good option but not as safe as snow.
“It is a little scary too because downhill intersections or stop signs or pavement itself is not super friendly compared to snow,” Schwen said.
The Bengals know they have no control over the weather. They can hope for a blizzard but realize there is no guarantee that is going to happen soon.
“I almost try to not look to many days out in hopes that maybe I’ll be surprised,” Schwen said. “But a few times I’ll peak 10 days out and I think there’s a little depression that kind of comes in with that. It has that feel like it could possibly never snow. I don’t know.”
