by Aims Coney
At the biannual US Ski-Orienteering Championship held the weekend of March 10-12 in Presque Isle, Maine, NEOC scored more points than any other club and brought home the coveted Perm Cup for the first time. Led by Tom Jahn in M80 and NEOC founder Hans Bengtsson in M70, the Trolls edged CSU and other powerhouse teams on a weekend when the snow was fast and sugary in northern Maine but everywhere else in New England was bare.
The site was Aroostook County’s Nordic Heritage Center, a marvelous network of groomed skating lanes spilling down three sides of a hill and laced with nearly infinite snowshoe connectors. Just three weeks earlier the Heritage Center had hosted a World Cup biathlon event, which filled the hotels in northeastern Maine while replenishing the Center’s bank account. Here and there remnants of the World Cup reminded us of the recent excitement- the long row of waxing rooms, each marked with a Nordic country’s name and flag, the new press box towering over the shooting range and the frames for sponsor banners at every turn in perfect angles to be captured from the copious TV camera platforms. The world’s glory had left and we were its heirs.
Three perfect days of ski-o were arranged by meet director Ken Walker, IOF Consultant Jim Arsenault, course setter Greg Walker and technical whiz Ed Despard. The Heritage Center’s trails are all twists and switchbacks and so with the addition of a few groomed cut-throughs, it was a perfect venue.
The Perm Cup
In 1991 three orienteers from Perm, the 3rd largest city in Russia by area, visited the US. They brought a brass samovar, painted over in gaudy floral colors with Russian and orienteering flags and couple of 90s-era skier logos. To finance their return trip, they sold the samovar here and the buyer donated it to O-USA to be awarded to the highest scoring club at the US Ski-O Championships.
Larry Berman, as O-USA ski-o chair, calculates the team points and awards the Perm Cup. In addition, Berman Orienteering donates stipends to the top scoring clubs to further develop ski-o.
This year’s point scoring involved logarithms because Larry said it would help the clubs with the smaller teams. Yet somehow NEOC had a large contingent and still won.
The Perm Cup and Me
I first saw the Perm Cup 20 years ago at a ski-o nationals when it was awarded by Sara Mae and Larry Berman. What a garish trophy I thought. And, I didn’t get then that Perm was a city in Russia, I just thought the name was because trophy was Permanent. NEOC didn’t win it then and never did despite lots of trying. UNO, CNYO, BAOC, CSU and other clubs all were honored over the years but it was never NEOC’s turn.
Two years, the interval between US Ski-O Champs, is a long time, and each time I’d forget about the Perm Cup until Larry Berman awarded it again. And, NEOC never won. I’d always thought we’d put on a good showing, for example the year we had 10 NEOCers in California and somehow lost to CSU. So, as Larry started announcing the scoring I really wanted NEOC to win. He listed the scored in ascending order and with each club he named that wasn’t NEOC, our chances got better and then, YES!
Of course the person to accept the cup was Hans and he trooped to the front for a picture with our trophy. I assumed it would go to his mantelpiece for the next two years. A few minutes later however during the individual awards I heard Hans whisper, “can you take this to Massachusetts and pass it along?” So this meant I’d have the coveted Perm Cup in my possession, at least for a while.
After the awards I still had my boots on and wanted to ski a little more so Terry agreed to meet me at the end of the entrance road. I had a wonderful time on the snow, particularly because I knew as soon as we headed south there’d be no more. But as I was climbing the Over the Mountain trail I realized I’d forgotten to put the Perm Cup in our car. Terry and I met as planned and then we returned to the Heritage Center to learn the Perm Cup was already gone with Larry and Sara Mae.
So we began the long trip home without the cup, first down route 1 to Houlton and then south on I-95. About 2 and a half hours later we caught up to the Berman’s car, easily identified by its I Skied Mt Weston sticker. We pulled abreast to catch Larry’s eye and signaled using wild hand waving to get off at the next exit. We thought they’d agreed but instead they cruised on while we got stuck at an exit ramp traffic light for two minutes. About 25 minutes later we caught them again and this time they stopped. The Perm Cup was transferred to my car and on we went.
Now, that I had it, what to do?
One of sport’s most famous trophies is the Stanley Cup, currently awarded to the winning team in the annual US professional hockey tournament. The history, incidents and traditions of the Stanley Cup have become even dazzling than the battered silver cup itself. My favorite is that every member of the team gets the Cup for a day- to show off and pose for pictures at their high school or college, to take it to church or a bar for selfies, it’s the player’s decision.
Posing with The Perm Cup
So, let’s all of NEOC celebrate our victory by Posing with The Perm Cup. The Perm Cup will be on display during NEOC’s Troll Cup and at occasional future local meets. Bring your camera and take a selfie or pose with the whole family. Amaze others with your offhand knowledge of Perm, Russia. And, if you see one of the NEOCers who brought the Perm Cup home, shake their hand: Tom Jahn, Hans Bengtsson, Jeff Saeger, Judy Karpinski, Terry Myers Coney and the weakest link, yours truly.