Spotlight on Katie Bono

Forget a bib number. Skier Katie Bono might be better off pinning a sign on her racing uniform saying, "Don't try this at home."

After three seasons that didn't turn out the way she hoped, the senior from Minnesota is enjoying a breakout year on the trails with the Dartmouth cross country ski team. She was ranked third in the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association in both the classic and freestyle techniques after two carnivals.

At least partially responsible for her success this winter: a regimen few coaches would probably endorse, although Dartmouth coach Cami Thompson is on board with it.

To better understand how Bono got where she is today consider where she came from. A former Alpine skier who got talked into running cross country in junior high school and from there into Nordic skiing, she was a Minnesota state champion at Convent of the Visitation School. When it came time to choose a college, Dartmouth's engineering program and success on the snow drew the Junior Olympian to Hanover.

Although a bout with Physics 13 steered her out of engineering and into geology, she's never looked back. Not even after a challenging freshman year on the snow begat what she considered a difficult sophomore year, which in turn begat a junior season that left her questioning herself.

"I got here as a freshman and it was pretty tough with the academics and being away from my family," she offers. "I was pretty stressed out and then I got sick with what I think was bronchitis.

"I ended up racing and training with it, and that really messed me up for the spring and summer. I had OK results, but I sort of felt like I was dying when I was racing."

That feeling extended over the next two years.

"At the time I probably didn't think I felt that bad," she says, "but in comparison to how I am now, the difference is pretty dramatic."

The turnaround came after a junior season that again didn't turn out the way she hoped.

"It was kind of frustrating, but by the end of last year I came to terms with it," she says. "I felt like I didn't have anything to lose."

Which is why she felt free to embark on that different kind of training regimen. Make that non-training regimen.

It started when she cut back on ski-specific workouts last spring because of a heavy course load. When she needed a break she indulged in her new love of mountain climbing. She discovered the intensity and focus needed on a rock face helped clear her mind. At the same time the physical challenges of climbing were enhancing upper body development, core strength, balance and body awareness

"I don't know how that translates into skiing," she says, "but I think it's helped a lot."

She also did a cross-country skier's version of a walkabout, spending a month doing a geology field program in Argentina instead of typical dry-land workouts. "It was pretty intense, so I didn't get much training done," she says, "but I was hiking around."

She'll admit now to some concerns about where her fitness level would be when she started working out with her teammates again. The news was good.

"I went home in June for a couple weeks and did a triathlon," she says. "I did pretty well, which was a surprise because I hadn't really trained much. I was hopeful, but then it was like five weeks of doing nothing in Argentina.

"When I got back I was keeping up in the first workout. I was thinking, 'This could be good.' "

In fact, her unorthodox regimen was much better than good according to her coach.

"For her it was the right thing," said Thompson. "She's always done the training and worked hard, but by taking some time off and getting into mountain climbing it's really given her the confidence - and strength - to be successful. She knows she can do things that she may not have known she could do before."

That includes how to take care of her body.

"I've been super careful this fall," Bono said. "If I feel sick instead of taking one day off, I'll take a couple. I have a big base of training and I've come to realize that if I take a couple days off it's not going to make me slow."

Bono is optimistic that Dartmouth can maintain its strong start in the EISA season and that she will continue to enjoy the kind of success she has had. But however it plays out, after she finishes her senior thesis on volcanic osmium and the hydrologic cycle she will spend time climbing and snowboarding in the Canadian Rockies this June before seeing where skiing can take her over the next couple of years. Only then will she start to think about putting her geology degree to work.

Thompson is confident that Bono's future is bright.

"When she came here as a freshman she had been relatively successful for someone who hadn't done it for very long," she says. "So she has some innate toughness and ability to race hard. Now she has a better sense of how to stay healthy. When she gains strength and isn't distracted by so many other things she has a chance to find out just how good she can be."