Greetings NENSA Community!

Our 2019 NENSA online Auction ends at 8pm TONIGHT!!
Go to: www.32auctions.com/nensa2019 to check out all the wonderful items, with a few new items just added today!! Thanks so much for supporting NENSA with this important online annual fundraiser. Please share this 32auctions link with friends and family ~ the more folks who know about our auction, and who bid, can help support NENSA, and all our programing!

NENSA is thrilled to announce our newest NENSA Supporting Sponsor ~ SIDAS, your footwear company. They are a long standing French company, who have recently expanded to the US. Check out three of their great items in our NENSA Auction: merino wool insulating insoles, a boot dryer and sanitizer, and a heated vest to keep you warm when watching all the races this winter!

Check out what's in this weeks issue in the boxes below:
  • The NENSA Auction! We have so many amazing items available this year!
  • Our Eastern Cup Primer
  • Early bird pricing for Sugarloaf EC Opener through 12/5 (go to SkiReg.com)
  • BKL Festival Registration is OPEN - for participants and volunteers
  • Women's Day Registration is OPEN
  • Updates from our NENSA sponsors and supporters including Barney Hodges as new director of Rikert Nordic Center, U.S. Ski & Snowboard pre WC and WC race updates from Sophie, Jessie, Catlin and Sadie (FIRST EVER American woman to wear the yellow leader bib!!!)
  • NENSA's 2019-20 Wax Policy
  • SafeSport Information
  • NENSA's Calendar of Events!

See you out on a snowy trail soon!
Best,
Amie

Amie W. Smith
Executive Director
New England Nordic Ski Association
Amie@nensa.net

Be sure to follow us on fb, Twitter and on Instagram @nensa_nordic
NENSA News from the Field
Highlights and Notes from NENSA and the Nordic World
NENSA Announces our GET SKIING
FREE Membership
for First Time Members
2019-2020 NENSA  GETSKIING  MEMBERSHIP: FREE!!!!
Good for First-Time NENSA Members only
Yes, you heard that correctly ~ we want everyone to  GET SKIING , so we are offering anyone, of any age ~ Youth, juniors, seniors, masters, parents, grandparents, a FREE membership to NENSA  (if you have never been a NENSA member before) . This is a great way to try our NENSA programing this coming season and join in all the summer, fall and winter fun! You can try out that rollerski race, BKL program, an Eastern Cup race, a Citizen’s race or a coaching clinic, and your NENSA membership is FREE! 
Click here to   JOIN NENSA TODAY
If you are already a NENSA member ~ THANK YOU! Click here to  RENEW   your membership today. June is the official start of our new membership year, so take a few minutes to renew, or join for free, and GET SKIING today!
Our NENSA online Auction Ends at 8pm TONIGHT!
Here is a preview of just a few of the AWESOME items
we have for you this year!
  • Just added TODAY ~ A massage from Nordic Massage & Wellness at GMVS
  • Trail passes to Trapps XC, Eastman XC (with rentals!), and Bretton Woods XC
  • A round of golf for two, with cart, at Eastman in NH
  • One month of personal coaching from Carly Wynn!
  • Salomon Prolink Pursuit boots ~ perfect for coaches (and others!)
  • An Olympic Polo Team USA baseball cap
  • VT Wide Plank flooring for a room in your house!
  • Ciclismo Classico - Taste of Tuscany Bike Tour
  • Salomon S/Lab Classic Prolink boots
  • Rossignol Gear bags for your boots/gear and skis
  • A set of Nokian Tyres!
  • Trapp Family Lodge 2 night get-a-way
  • Kennebec Cheese
  • Hosmer Wine
  • Concept2 ~ ERG of your choice!
  • LL Bean duffel
  • Highland Lodge 2 night get-a-way
  • Jessie Diggins Olympic autographed posters
  • Craftsbury Outdoor Center family membership and one-night get-a-way
  • SKIDA gift pack of a hat, neckwarmer and headband in their latest fabrics
  • UnTapped sample packs - waffels, fuel and drink mixes, and, an UnTapped SKIDA headband
  • Gift Certificates from New Balance, Marathon Sports, Salt Hill Pub, Three Tomatoes Trattoria, Heartbreak Hill Running, Didrik, LL Bean....and more
  • Laughing Moon Chocolates gift basket
  • Blueberry Hill Inn overnight and breakfast
  • AND SO MUCH MORE!!!
New England Bill Koch League Festival Registration is OPEN
We’re excited to announce that registration is now open for the 2020 edition of the New England Bill Koch League Festival! The festival is the marquee event of the New England BKL season, featuring two days full of fun for skiers from all over the region.
Great Glen Trails Outdoor Center and the Great Glen BKL will be our hosts for the weekend and they are hard at work putting together an awesome weekend of skiing! The festival will feature a parade, mini marathon, obstacle course, bump jump presented by New England Ski Jumping Nordic Combined, radar speed runs, and biathlon opportunities from Jackson Biathlon. racers can take part in a Saturday morning freestyle relay and the Sunday morning individual classic races.
The festival theme is Super Ski Heroes! We can’t wait to see what costumes you all have in store for the weekend.
For more information and to register, follow the link below to SkiReg
Great Glen has also put out the call for festival volunteers. There are plenty of ways to help out at the festival if you are a parent! To sign up as a volunteer, follow the link below and fill out the survey.
NENSA's 2020 Eastern Cup Primer
NENSA is proud to highlight the 2020 Eastern Cup Series after a snowy start to winter across New England!
In just three weeks the East’s premier race circuit kicks off at Sugarloaf, Maine for the first time since 2006. Sugarloaf is opening for skiing this week and excited to put on an innovative event that will honor the life of Roy Varney. The second Eastern Cup — The 2020 Lost Nation Cup — is combined with the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Super Tour Series in Craftsbury, Vermont January 25th & 26th. This unique opportunity combines the highest level regional and national series with the University of Vermont Carnival. On February 8th & 9th the Series visits Rumford, Maine for the Chisholm Eastern Cup and Bates Carnival. Again the combination of an EISA event and the top regional field ensures inspired competition. Eastern Cup Finals will be hosted in New Hampshire by the Dublin and Holderness School February 15th & 16th. On Saturday the exciting Dublin Double will offer two fast paced freestyle events with a 3km and 1.5km aimed to boost New England athletes into post season racing. The Series, including Junior National team selection concludes Sunday at the Cheri Walsh Memorial where skiers will experience the classic trails of the Holderness School.
Link to full story, registration, calendar, formats, and lots more HERE

Sugarloa f (photo @flyingpoint)
NENSA's Women's Day Registration is OPEN
Save the Date: Bethel Village Trails at The Bethel Inn, Bethel, ME, February 23, 2020

Link to more info and registration page click HERE
NENSA WAXING POLICY
2019-2020 SKI SEASON
Mission Statement:  NENSA is committed to making safe and supportive competitive events for all cross country skiers. Concerns about fluorinated waxes have emerged from three schools of thought: the health implications of exposure, the environmental effects involved with the raw materials in many of the wax products, and the competitive advantage certain clubs may gain due to the perceived complexities of available products. NENSA would like to address these issues and help reduce the dependence on fluorinated waxes through education and waxing guidelines.
It is important to note that the wax industry will shift as the international market responds to mounting regulation of ingredients in Europe. We hope our stance will promote a healthy environment for athletes, technicians, spectators and New England venues. These policies are based on trust and NENSA cannot enforce compliance.

Click HERE to see our NENSA Wax Policy for the 2019-20 Season
SafeSport Program
U.S. Ski & Snowboard, our National Governing Body (NGB) requires the following individuals complete training provided by the U.S. Center for SafeSport:

Individuals associated with Member Clubs (that means any NENSA club)

  • Adult athlete members of Member Clubs, except Short Term Athlete Members due to their limited participation and Master Athletes who do not i) have regular contact with minor athletes or ii) have authority over minor athletes
  • Adult members (who are not athletes) of Member Clubs who i) have regular contact with athletes, or ii) have authority over athletes
  • Employees and Board Members of Member Clubs
  • Individuals providing services to Member Clubs, including but not limited to contractors, volunteers, interns, who i) have regular contact with athletes or ii) have authority over athletes
  • More info here: https://usskiandsnowboard.org/safesport-athlete-safety/safesport-training

NENSA urges ALL New England coaches, parent volunteers, venue volunteers and anyone working with youth to take the SafeSport on-line course and get certified. NENSA requires this of all our staff and volunteer coaches and wax techs at JN's and REG Camps. Please take time this season to be sure all your club volunteers and coaches are SafeSport certified. Do it today. Go to: https://www.safesport.org

Further information on SafeSport, and important updates made as of 4/15/19 to the SafeSport Program, can be found on our NENSA website HERE
E xciting News from our Partners:
Daily summaries from pre WC
and the First WC Races in Finland
November 22: Caldwell Third in Norwegian National Race
The Davis Cross Country National Team Program is competing in a three-day Norwegian National race in Beitostølen, Norway, in preparation for next weekend's FIS Cross Country World Cup opener in Ruka, Finland. In Friday's 1.2k classic sprint, Sophie Caldwell led the U.S. Cross Country Team with a third-place finish.

"I was really happy with the race today," Caldwell told FasterSkier.com. "I really didn't know what to expect going into it, but I felt really good and any day on the podium is a good day!"

November 22: Diggins, Maubet-Bjornsen Top Five at Beitostoelen Classic
Jessie Diggins was fourth, and teammate Sadie Maubet-Bjornsen was fifth in a 10k classic at a Norweigan National race in Beitostolen Saturday, the second of three World Cup tuneup races the Davis Cross Country National Team Program are participating in this weekend.
Rosie Brennan was ninth, Rosie Frankowski was 22nd and Caitlin Patterson was 23rd. In the men’s 15k classic, David Norris was the top American in 36th, followed by Erik Bjornsen in 54th, Kyle Bratrud in 73rd and Scott Patterson in 94th.
The team wraps up the weekend Sunday with a 10k freestyle for the women, and a 15k freestyle for the men. The World Cup season kicks off Friday in Ruka, Finland, with a classic sprint.

November 24: Patterson 13th in Final World Cup Tune Up Race
Caitlin Patterson led the Davis Cross Country National Team Program, finishing 13th in a 10k freestyle at a Norwegian National race in Beitostolen Sunday. Julia Kern was 21st, and Rosie Frankowski was 40th. In the men's 15k freestyle, David Norris was 34th, and Scott Patterson was 48th.
The 2019-20 FIS Cross Country World Cup season kicks off Friday in Ruka, Finland, with a classic sprint.

November 30: Maubet Bjornsen First American Woman to Lead Cross Country World Cup!!!!
Sadie Maubet Bjornsen finished fourth in today’s 10k classic in the three-day Ruka mini-tour and became the first American woman ever to wear the overall FIS Cross Cross Country World Cup leader’s bib(!!!!!!)

“Another dream day here in Ruka, just barely missing the podium by one second,” Sadie said. “No regrets though, because I gave it my all today. I have always loved the courses here in Finland, but it just feels like things came together for me. I managed to pace myself well, which was important after yesterday’s hard effort. On top of that, I once again had awesome skis out there to work with!” ...READ MORE (including a great VIDEO on how she did it!!)

December 1: Diggins Third-Fastest Time of the Day in Ruka
Jessie Diggins posted the third-fastest time of the day to lead the way for the Davis U.S. Cross Country National Team Program in the 10k freestyle pursuit, the final stage of the Ruka Triple mini-tour Sunday in Finland. 

“Any day I can land a (time of the day) podium is a great day, so I’m really happy with how it went,” Jessie said. “I just went out charging as hard as I could today, looking to hunt people down and skied without putting any pressure on myself. It was cold out there, but having grown up in Minnesota…I just loved that and felt right at home!” ...READ MORE
New Manager, Barney Hodges, Oversees Growth at Rikert Nordic
RIPTON — In February 2013 work to install snowmaking at Middlebury College’s Rikert Nordic Center was completed.
Before then, Mike Hussey, general manager of the two Middlebury College ski areas, said Rikert opened about 70 days a winter and attracted about 5,000 visitors a year.
But by 2018 Hussey estimated about 15,000 skiers annually made use of the Nordic center’s 55 kilometers of Ripton trails, and those skiers enjoyed an average of 140 days of skiing. Rikert, at the college’s Bread Loaf Campus, also hosts major regional championships every year.
And now Hussey said Rikert has made another move he believes will help the Nordic center take a step forward — hiring Cornwall resident, 1992 Middlebury College All-American Nordic skier, and longtime youth coach and Bill Koch League organizer Barney Hodges as its assistant director.
The decision means Hussey will spend more time at the college’s nearby Snow Bowl, while Hodges will oversee Rikert’s operations — and help chart its future.
Hussey said it’s a perfect match.
“We’re really excited about Barney taking over the reins,” Hussey said. “Being that he’s right out of town here and that he’s put so much energy into the local pieces adds a fantastic element.”
Link to full story in the Addison County Independent HERE
Middlebury College alum and Cornwall orchardists Barney Hodges plans to increase skier visits to the Rikert Nordic Center in his new position as the assistant director of the college-owned Ripton facility. He has a love for and extensive background in Nordic skiing. (Independent photo/Andy Kirkaldy)
Upcoming Events
A Look Ahead at the NENSA Calendar
Upcoming NENSA Events: