Morton Honors Friend and Teammate Peter Hale

SEELEY LAKE – Seeley Lake Regional Outdoor Center for Kinetic Sports (ROCKS) hosted its fourth annual Peter Hale Memorial Race Saturday, Feb. 4 at the Rich Ranch. Among the 60 participants was two-time Olympian and Olympic Coach John Morton.

On Friday evening before the race, Morton shared stories from his time with the Olympic team as a participant and coach. He also provided information about his involvement in the Seeley Lake Nordic Trails development.

Morton represented the United States on the USA Biathlon Team in the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo, Japan and 1976 Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. He was the USA Ski Team coach and team leader from 1976-2002. He is also the founder of Morton Trails who designed the trails that Seeley Lake ROCKS has proposed at Fawn Creek.

One of the stories Morton told was about his teammate and friend Peter Hale at the 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France. Hale was a waxing technician for the USA Ski Team.

This was the first Olympic Games after the Soviet Union collapsed and several of the smaller republics had become independant states. Some of the Baltic States including Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia appealed to the Olympic committee to participate under their own flags. The requested was granted, however, they did not have any support.

"They were just scrambling. Some of them didn't even have uniforms," said Morton.

Morton said they had their waxing trailer set up by the trails that were used for both the cross country and biathlon events. Fluorocarbon waxes were just starting to make their way into the racing world and made a significant difference on skis especially in warm conditions.

"It wasn't more than half an hour before the [50K race] start, this guy comes running up to our trailer, still don't know why he picked us except we didn't look too busy. He had a pair of skis and in really broken English said he was the coach from the Estonian team. They had one athlete in the men's 50K. He basically said we do not have any wax that will work in this snow condition," said Morton.

Morton explained that waxing is a part of the game of ski racing. It would have been perfectly legitimate to refuse his request because the USA Team had four racers in the 50K event.

"I looked over at Peter Hale who had his waxing apron on and he sort of looked back at me and we both looked at this desperate coach with these skis. I kind of nodded at Peter and he said, 'Give me the skis.' He took them into the wax trailer and the coach was anxious and nervous. I said, 'Relax. They will be good skis. Just tell your athlete to warm up and we will get you the skis as soon as they are ready.' He was so grateful."

Morton said Hale finished waxing the skis and ran them down to the start for the racer. While Morton doesn't remember the exact time or where the racer placed he said, "I do know he beat all four Americans."

The athlete and the coach came back to the waxing trailer after the race. The athlete said it was his PR [personal record] for the 50K.

"To race your best at the Olympics is a big deal," said Morton.

Morton continued after getting choked up, "The coach said it was the best result for anyone from Estonia for that Olympic Games to that point. That's all because of the person that Peter Hale was."

Morton talked about what it means for a course to be homologated. The International Ski Federation established general guidelines for the design and construction for cross country race courses. He said that the standards are guidelines for people who don't know how cross country skiing should feel.

While some of the guidelines dealt with safety, more recently the guidelines have been focused on wider trails to accommodate mass starts, location and extent of the climbs.

"Wherever you go in the world, if you are a world cup racer, you aren't blindsided by some horrendous hill that you've never trained for or weren't prepared for," said Morton.

Morton said that Seeley Lake has a "remarkable amount of potential for Nordic skiing and this is at a time when the traditional Nordic Ski Centers are challenged by primarily climate change."

He said if there was a homologated course in Seeley Lake, athletes are going to want to come here to train because it will be the same level of challenge and feel that they will find anywhere in Europe. Second, local skiers will be prepared for whatever they see, wherever they go to compete around the world.

John Elliot has designed ski trails in Anchorage, Alaska and worked on the bid for the ski trails at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic games. He also designed the Seeley Creek Nordic trails.

"When I realized [Elliot] was responsible for these trails [in Seeley Lake] I thought, that's why they ski so well. They are fun, they are challenging but they are not crippling. It's a wonderful mix," said Morton. "You can go out and ski those trails at a comfortable pace and have a wonderful experience. But if you are a promising young racer, if you go out there and go hard or do intervals on a loop, you will be as challenged as you will be anywhere. We strive to design trails like John Elliot."

Peter Hale Memorial Race

The course for the Peter Hale Race was designed to include a part of the Ovando to Seeley Lake course from the early years of the OSCR when Hale raced. This year the 22 kilometer (K) course did not include the challenging loop with 1,200 feet of elevation gain. That part of the course requires the Seeley Lake Driftriders' piston bully groomer, which broke down on Thursday.

The course was redesigned Friday to an out and back using Cottonwood Lakes Road.

"This made it a 23.5K so it gave racers a few extra kilometers for free," said Race Director Noah Brautigam.

Brautigam is from Salt Lake City, Utah and works with Morton. When asked if he would be the race director the Peter Hale race, he said he was happy to help out and was thankful for all the local support to help to run the race.

Brautigam credits Seeley Lake Nordic Club groomers Chris Lorentz and Bruce Rieman for all their hard work and dedication grooming late into the night and early Saturday morning. They put in the skate and classic track with around six inches of fresh snow that fell overnight.

"They got the course into great shape," said Brautigam. "I think the skiing is really good and people are having a great time."

Tim Swanberg from Ovando won the men's 22K skate with a time of 1:26:40. He was just behind Missoula's Kellie Carim who was the overall winner with a time of 1:26:08.

Ovando's Madeline Swanberg finished fifth for the women in the 22K skate race with a time of 1:46:37.

Seeley Lake Nordic Team's Owen Hoag was the only Seeley Lake racer in the 22K skate. He was the youngest racer in the 22K at 12-years-old and finished in 1:52:28, in 11th place for the men's skate.

Seeley Lake's Mike McGrew was the only local to participate in the 22K Classic race. He finished fifth for the men with a time of 1:59:00.

In the men's 10K skate race, Klayton Kovach with the Seeley Lake Nordic Team placed third overall with a time of 38:27.

In the women's 10K skate, Ovando's Zia Kloetzel skated in second for the women with a time of 42:35. Seeley Lake Nordic Team members Sadie Smith came in third with a time of 43:28 followed by her teammate Macy Williams who finished fourth with a time of 58:14.

For full results visit https://my.racewire.com/results/33064

Morton said, "I know that Peter would be thrilled with what has taken place in his memory and in his honor."

Brautigam added, "It's a great community and the race is a great tribute to Peter Hale who was such a generous, fun person. I think this event has great potential to grow."