Durango native Logan Moore was introduced to skiing in a way that would’ve likely upset his teachers.
“The reason I started skiing was all my friends from middle school at Needham would miss school and I wanted to miss school too so I decided I wanted to ski,” Moore said.
It seems like the decision to skip school paid off as Moore is now a top collegiate Nordic skier at Middlebury College in Vermont. Moore is taking his talents to Planica, Slovenia to compete in the 2024 FIS World Junior and Under-23 Ski Championships between Monday and Feb. 11.
Moore will race in the 20-kilometer mass start and the 10-kilometer individual start for the United States as one of five collegiate men.
“This is my first time,” Moore said. “I’m really excited. I’ve never shot for one of these trips ever just because I didn’t think I could make it. This year I got a really lucky opportunity to train with the SMS T2 team out of Stratton Mountain, Vermont. I had a change in my vision and a change in my goals. I decided to shoot for this for one of my opportunities for the year. I trained really hard and I’m stoked I performed well a couple of weeks ago.”
Moore qualified after a strong finish at the U.S. Nationals in Midway, Utah. Each race had a points system and he qualified by having more points than other U-23s.
After he began skiing with his friends, it wasn’t long before Moore started to race and he really enjoyed it.
He competed in his first big race when he was 12. Moore trained with the Durango Nordic Ski Club and trained at Hillcrest Golf Club when it was groomed.
The Durango native realized he could take his Nordic skills to the collegiate level after he competed in the junior nationals in Midway and finished third in a race.
Moore then looked east for an opportunity to ski in college.
“I looked at all the schools that had ski programs and decided that I wanted a chance to compete in the NCAAs all four years,” Moore said. “So I decided I didn’t want to go to any west coast schools and I heard really good things about the Carnival circuit. I toured a few schools out east with nordic programs and I liked the Middlebury team’s culture, atmosphere and coaches the best so that’s where I decided I wanted to go.”
Moore is currently a junior at Middlebury where he is studying biochemistry and psychology. He wants to be an All-American following nationals, which be held in Steamboat Springs this season.
Before that, Moore is ready to compete for a top-20 finish in both of his races. He likes the mass starts because they’re fun and he gets to know where he is. The individual start is more of a mental race.
“I don’t really want to come in with a whole lot of expectations,” Moore said. “I find that coming in as an underdog with the attitude of nothing to lose creates some pretty solid results for me.”
Moore will be competing in the 20K mass start race on Thursday and the 10K classic individual two days after.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
