Hanover High sophomore Caleb Zuckerman earned the opportunity of a lifetime when he competed in the Nordic Junior World Ski Championships earlier this month in Zakopane, Poland, as a member of the U.S. Nordic Combined team.
Zuckerman has competed with the Upper Valley’s Ford Sayre Ski Council since he was in first grade and quickly fell in love with both cross country skiing and ski jumping, so the opportunity to do both was too good to pass up. He helped Team USA place seventh in the Normal Hill/4-by-3.75-kilometer mixed team competition and eighth in the Normal Hill/4-by-5K event.
The Valley News caught up with Zuckerman to hear about his experience in Poland. This interview has been lightly condensed and edited for clarity and brevity.
Valley News: How much of a time commitment has competitive skiing been for you?
Caleb Zuckerman: It definitely takes a lot of time for me. I have missed a little over a month of school this year, similar to the past couple of years. I probably have over 500 hours of training every year.
VN: How did this particular opportunity come about, and how were you able to qualify?
Zuckerman: There are three qualifying events here in the U.S. There’s one in Steamboat Springs, Colo.; one in Lake Placid, N.Y.; and one in Eau Claire, Wis. They take your finish times at the end of the Nordic race and they add them all together, and the lowest times qualify for the Junior Worlds. Coming into this year, I wasn’t quite sure if I was going to qualify or not, but the competition season started out and I was doing fairly well. I was quite surprised that the opportunity was there for me this year.
VN: How do the Nordic combined races work?
Zuckerman: It’s cross country skiing and ski jumping. We have the ski jumping event first, and they calculate the points for that, and they start the Nordic (ski) race later that day. They stagger the start based on how many points you have from the jumping.
VN: What was it like traveling with the rest of Team USA?
Zuckerman: This was my first time traveling internationally to compete, so it was pretty exciting. I was in Europe for three weeks traveling with the Junior Worlds team. I didn’t really spend much time anywhere but the ski jumps and the hotel, so I didn’t have much time to explore. But it was exciting. I competed in both team events. I came in as the alternate, so I wasn’t sure if I was going to have a start or not, but I had two starts in both team events.
VN: Did the war in Ukraine, right next door to Poland, impact your travels or raise any concern?
Zuckerman: It seemed fairly safe at the time to be in that area. I’m sure it was being monitored, but I don’t think there was much of a concern.
VN: What kind of support did you get back home from your family, friends and teachers?
Zuckerman: Everyone was super-supportive. Teachers were really helpful, and that support allows me to continue to pursue this. I’m able to do some work while I’m traveling because of a lot of it’s online, and my teachers are super-understanding. They can adapt assignments for me. It’s worked out pretty well.
VN: What have you been reflecting on since you got back, and what did you learn about yourself through this experience?
Zuckerman: It’s a great opportunity for me to start competing at a higher level internationally. There are a lot of areas for me to grow in terms of my skiing ability, and it gave me more motivation to keep going and keep working. I hope to stick at it for as long as I can. It’s a cool part of my life that I really enjoy.
Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at brosenberg@vnews.com or 603-727-3302.