Greetings NENSA Community!

A HUGE THANK YOU to all our 2019 NENSA Auction bidders, winners, sponsors and supporters! With your help NENSA raised $17,045 in this years Auction (wow!), which in turn supports all our great NENSA programing for you and our New England community! THANK YOU!

Check out what's in this weeks issue in the boxes below:
  • Important information from U.S. Ski & Snowboard on Membership and participating in any U.S. Ski & Snowboard sanctioned event (including our NENSA Eastern Cup Series)
  • Recap of our first two Popular Races of the season held last weekend - at Quarry Road in Maine and at the Dublin School in NH
  • Get excited ~ PR for our upcoming Sugarloaf Eastern Cup Opener ~ just a week away...
  • Recap of last weekends World Cup races, including an individual & a team podium!!
  • Salomon has a new S/LAB select program
  • A listing of our NENSA sponsors and supporters who helped make this years Auctions such a huge success!
  • BKL Festival Registration is OPEN
  • Women's Day Registration is OPEN
  • 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
Super Important Information from U.S. Ski & Snowboard on Membership and Participating in any U.S. Ski & Snowboard Sanctioned Event
U.S. Ski & Snowboard is asking NENSA to help them pass on this information to your athletes, coaches, industry colleagues, and wax technicians here in New England:
 
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS TO ACQUIRE ON-COURSE CREDENTIALS:
U.S. Ski & Snowboard is requiring that our cross country community coaches, wax technicians, officials, and industry service personnel have a minimum of a U.S. Ski & Snowboard “Volunteer membership” to acquire credentials at any U.S. Ski & Snowboard sanctioned event. We have been lenient this fall since these requirements from US Congress and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) to all Olympic sports are new policies. However, these requirements will be fully implemented at U.S. National Championships in Houghton, MI this January 2020, and any U.S. Ski & Snowboard event or USA FIS event thereafter.
 
U.S. Ski & Snowboard has taken a strong stand on athlete safety. They are requiring any adult athlete, coach, official, wax technician, or ski industry service personnel taking part in a U.S. Ski & Snowboard sanctioned event to maintain an active U.S. Ski & Snowboard membership.  An active U.S. Ski & Snowboard membership for individuals over 18 years of age requires passing a background screen and successfully completing SafeSport training. 
 
A credentialed bib at sanctioned events provides coaches, technicians, and industry support with access on course. Coaches, officials, industry personnel, and wax technicians must be ACTIVE members. PENDING memberships will not be accepted. 
 
Pending Memberships:
Any coach, official, industry service personnel, or team technician MUST have an ACTIVE membership.  Athletes with PENDING background screens but have completed SafeSport Training must have initiated their background screen 21 days prior to competition.  Please note that TODAY is 21 days prior to the first U.S. National Championship race.  US citizens are passing backgrounds screens in 2-3 days as a point of reference.

Lots more info HERE - regarding Foreign Athletes and Foreign Coaches, or athletes and coaches form other NGB's participating in a U.S. Ski & Snowboard sanctioned event.
 
Please help US Ski & Snowboard share this information to your athletes and XC colleagues. Their main method of communication for all important Cross Country updates is their Cross Country U.S. Ski & Snowboard member mass email that Adam St. Pierre (U.S. Ski & Snowboard XC Coordinator) has been routinely sending out information. The information in this email will be sent out in that mass email list this week.
 
Alan Serrano (U.S. Ski & Snowboard Cross Country Official’s Coordinator: allanjserrano@gmail.com ) or Bryan Fish (Cross Country Sport Development Manager: bryan.fish@usskiandsnowboard.org ) can answer questions pertaining to membership details. Or please reach out directly to Membership Services at:
U.S. Ski and Snowboard Member Services 
Phone: 435.647.2666

FYI:
  • The Volunteer Membership can be found here:
  • To buy or renew a USSS membership go here: https://my.ussa.org/membership/start
  • Background screen takes 5 minutes to input personal information to NCSI (National Center for Safety Initiatives).
  • SafeSport Training include 3 modules (Mandatory Reporting, Sexual Misconduct Awareness Education & Emotional and Physical Misconduct). Completion takes an average 2.5 hrs. SafeSport training fulfillment is updated to all USA summer and winter NGB’s daily.  
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!
THANK YOU to all our wonderful Sponsors and Supporters
of our Annual NENSA online Auction!
We could not do this without your support!
  • Nokian Tyres
  • SWIX
  • LL Bean
  • Salomon
  • Rossignol
  • Concept2
  • Craftsbury Outdoor Center
  • VT Wide Plank Flooring
  • SIDAS, your footwear com
  • Trapp Family Lodge
  • UnTapped Maple
  • SKIDA headwear
  • Elaine Franz Witten, sculptor
  • Ciclismo Classico Bike Tours
  • Mary & Chris Osgood
  • Highland Lodge of Vermont
  • Blueberry Hill Inn
  • Kennebec Cheese
  • Hosmer Wine
  • The Loppet Foundation
  • John Atwood, artist
  • Laughing Moon Chocolates
  • Jackson XC, Bretton Woods XC, King Pine XC & Eastman XC
  • Nordic Massage & Wellness
  • SkiRack Burlington
  • Coaches Nathan Alsobrook, Colin Rodgers, Kris Freeman & Carley Wynn
  • Marathon Sports, New Balance, Didriks, Teddie Peanut Butter, Salt Hill Pub, Three Tomatoes Trattoria, Heartbreak Hill, Akers Ski
  • And the NENSA Board and staff for all their wonderful offerings too!
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.
Sugarloaf Eastern Cup Opener
to Honor Roy Varney
CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine – The Sugarloaf Outdoor Center will be the hub of New England Nordic ski racing when the New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA) hosts its Eastern Cup Opener, December 21-22, 2019.

The NENSA Eastern Cup is the premier Nordic racing circuit in New England, drawing elite skiers from the eastern United States and Canada, and is a qualifying event for the Junior National Championships. This year’s Eastern Cup Opener will be held in memory of Roy Varney, a State Champion Nordic skier from Turner, ME, who passed away in July 2019.

The race is expected to draw 300-400 racers from throughout New England and Eastern Canada, including a large contingent of Maine athletes. All registration fees for Maine racers will be matched with a donation from an anonymous donor to the Roy Varney Memorial Fund.

“This event is truly an exciting opportunity for us to showcase the amazing Sugarloaf Outdoor Center facility to the best Nordic skiers in New England, and pay tribute to Roy at the same time,” Race Director Brenna Herridge said.

This will be the first NENSA event hosted at the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center since 2006.

Link to full story HERE
Link to NENSA's Eastern Cup Primer HERE
Sugarloa f (photo @flyingpoint)
And we’re off!
Two awesome open races took place this weekend in Dublin, New Hampshire and Waterville, Maine. Both events were designed to be a low key and cater to a wide range of abilities — however both inclusive events included lots of talented skiing. As we head into our popular race season (Zak and Club Cup) we want to highlight the community vibe of these events. Get to the races and you’ll have a good time! Click here for full story
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:
World Cup Races Last Weekend in Norway ~ U.S. Women Podium Both Days!
December 7: Diggins Second, Maubet Bjornsen Eighth in Lillehammer Skiathlon
Jessie Diggins finished second in the 15k skiathlon, tying a career-best World Cup result, to lead the Davis U.S. Cross Country National Team Program in Lillehammer, Norway, Sunday. Sadie Maubet Bjornsen was eighth, and Rosie Brennan was 16th.

“I felt great today, and was listening to my body and adjusting my pacing the whole way,” Jessie said. “It feels awesome to know I’m in good shape and that my technique is continuing to improve!”

December 8: USA Second in Lillehammer Team Relay
The U.S. Cross Country Team of Sophie Caldwell, Sadie Maubet Bjornsen, Rosie Brennan and Jessie Diggins battled to a second-place finish in Sunday’s FIS Cross Country World Cup 4x5k team relay in Lillehammer, Norway. 

“It is always an incredible day when we land on the podium as a team,” Sadie said. “Putting four perfect legs together is a huge achievement, which is why winning a team medal is so special. I am really proud of all the girls today. It has been a few years since our group has stood on the podium for the 4x5km relay, so we were quite excited!” ...READ MOR E (and a video!)
Jessie crossed the finish line on Saturday for her second place finish!
Sophie and Jessie celebrate after their team podium (with Sadie and Rosie) on Sunday
Salomon S/LAB Select Program Takes World Cup Nordic Service To The Masses
Ogden, UT, December 10, 2019 — Salomon Nordic unveils the new S/LAB Select Program, a new retailer re-order program that will provide North American retailers with quick access to hand-picked World Cup skis. In addition, Salomon appoints Josh Korn to the newly created position of S/Lab Select Concierge, responsible for managing the Salomon Nordic S/LAB Select Program for the 2019/20 season.

“Salomon is constantly striving to better serve our consumers, and with the new S/LAB Select Program we will be able to offer the same level of service to our retailers as we offer to our World Cup athletes,” says Robert Lazzaroni, Salomon’s Nordic regional commercial manager for the Americas. “In his appointment to lead the program, Josh Korn brings extensive experience with the Salomon brand and product line, as well as high-level race service. He will be key as we roll out this program offering best-in-class service to our Nordic retailers and consumers.”

Korn, a lifelong Nordic skier and racer, has been part of the Salomon family for the past 13 years as an athlete, ambassador and employee. Korn previously worked with Salomon as endurance marketing manager for the Americas and most recently served as product development manager at Ragnar Relay Series. Korn brings extensive race and athlete management experience, as well as Salomon brand expertise to the S/LAB Select Program.

“As a lifelong fan of Salomon, I have been fortunate to observe the brand’s growth and evolution of its World Cup-level product offerings,” says Korn. “The new S/LAB Select Program will provide retailers with the same level of care that is provided to our World Cup Race Team. Retailers will be able to place an order and receive hand-selected World Cup skis ground to a skier’s particular snow conditions within a few days. This program will be a great asset to our trusted retailers and consumers as our Salomon Nordic program continues to grow within North America.”

The S/Lab Select Program will be executed out of the Salomon Warehouse in Ogden, Utah, and will run now through February. For more information on the program please reach out to Andre Watt at Andre.watt@salomon.com.

About Salomon: Born in the French Alps in 1947, Salomon is committed to pushing the boundaries of mountain sports through the creation of innovative equipment that allows people to play, progress and challenge themselves in their chosen outdoor sports. The company produces and sells premium footwear, winter sports and mountaineering equipment, hiking equipment, and apparel specifically designed for all of those disciplines. Products are developed in the company’s Annecy Design Center, where engineers, designers and athletes collaborate to create innovative solutions that continually improve the outdoor experiences of those who see nature as a vast playground. salomon.com
Josh Korn to the newly created position of S/Lab Select Concierge, responsible
 for managing the Salomon Nordic S/LAB Select Program for the 2019/20 season.
  • Check out our New Website 
  • Team Pricing Extended and still in effect until Christmas
  • Nordic Ski Wear by Craft, Swix, Bjorn Daehlie, Maloja, Rossignol and Patagonia 
  • Free Shipping on $100 or more
Upcoming Events
A Look Ahead at the NENSA Calendar
Upcoming NENSA Events: