Greetings NENSA Community ~
With just two days left in 2021 we would love you to consider NENSA in your year-end charitable giving. NENSA works year-round to create incredible races and events for folks of all abilities across the Eastern region and we all thank you for supporting the non-profit that supports everything cross country skiing! We have some nice incentive gifts including our new (arriving early January!) NENSA custom print SKIDA alpine hats and fleece neck warmers. Click HERE to donate to NENSA today.
It was great to be back to more "normal" Eastern Cup racing with the Roy Varner Eastern Cup Opener held the weekend of December 18-19. With 300 racers each day this was the first large race hosted in New England since the pandemic began. Skiers came from all across the Eastern Region with some guests from afar. Read the full story in the box below.
Up next ~ the NENSA Popular Series moves to Jackson, NH for the Jackson Jaunt this Sunday January 2nd, followed by the Bogburn on January 8th. Be sure to check out the NENSA calendar listings for January at the bottom of this eNewsletter. We have 15 different races and/or events happening over all 5 weekends in January in VT, MA, ME, NH and NY. These include 12 different Popular/Citizen races (including 3 days of Marathon racing), 2 days of Eastern Cup/Supertour races and one amazing NENSA Women's Day event. There is literally something out there for everyone, and that's just the month of January!
Registration is OPEN for the March 2022 BKL Festival - see box below and there is still time to register for our NENSA Women's Day to be held at the Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton VT on Sunday January 23rd.
Here is what we have for you in this edition of KickZone:
- Year End Giving HERE ~ help support all our great NENSA programming!
- Recap of the Roy Varner Eastern Cup race weekend
- Registration is open for the 2022 BKL Festival!
- NENSA's BKL BINGO is open for the season
- Check out our NENSA Popular Race Poster below ~ for fun events for all skiers!
- Registration Open for 2022 Women’s Day at Rikert Nordic Center 1/23/22
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From our Partners & In the News: From U.S. Ski & Snowboard ~ Dresden WC Sprint weekend Recap (including Diggins & Kern 2nd in team sprint!) and first two stages of the Tour de Ski (including Jessie winning stage 1!); from Salomon a podcast "From Sweden, With Love"
Thank you to all our NENSA Sponsors ~ they are such a HUGE part of our NENSA programming continued success, and we so appreciate all their support. I want to be sure we all acknowledge the businesses who support us and cross country skiing!
Best,
Amie
Amie Witten Smith
Executive Director
New England Nordic Ski Association
Amie@nensa.net
GIVING: DONATE to NENSA today, and thank you!
MEMBERSHIP: RENEW or JOIN today, and thank you!
Please take a few minutes to do that and support the organization that supports XC skiing here in New England, and beyond! NENSA is here for you, running programing for you, our ski community ~ we need your support this year, more than ever!
Be sure to follow us on fb, Twitter and on Instagram @nensa_nordic
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NENSA News from the Field
Highlights and Notes from NENSA and the Nordic World
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Nationally sanctioned races start off at the Roy Varney Eastern Cup
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Day 1: Freestyle Sprint
Saturday we kicked off NENSA’s Eastern Cup Series at the Quarry Road Trails with freestyle sprints. In the last two weeks the snowmaking crew continued their hard efforts to provide a challenging sprint loop, plus a 500m warmup loop. A slightly shorter course made for some blistering fast times, with the open men’s qualifier being won in 2:14; the top woman was not far behind with a time of 2:45.
After qualifying in the morning, the open men’s and women’s heats got underway at noon. Followed by the U18/U20 and U16 age group heats. The theme of the afternoon was movement – no lead or position in the heats were safe. Sugary, but fast snow made drafting and choice of line more important than normal. Heat after heat spectators and coaches cheered on their athletes as positions changed and early leads faded. It made for some very dramatic and exciting races!
“This event on this course is my favorite of the whole season – I’ve been looking forward to it all year!” – Avery Ellis.
Many racers shared her enthusiasm. It was especially noticeable when skiers who had completed qualifying, walked back by the start area and very excitedly told their teammates: “You have to hammer, it’s so short and so fast,” with big smiles on their faces. For most this was the largest ski race they have been in since March of 2020, with just shy of 300 races in the sprint!
The women’s heats were controlled from the front by Dartmouth’s Callie Young, whose high tempo couldn’t be matched. She was followed by strong performances from Ava Thurston of Mansfield Nordic (2nd) and Avery Ellis of Middlebury (3rd).
Daniel Streinz of NMU put on quite a show in the men’s heats. In the final, he comfortably cruised across the finish line gapping the remaining competitors. Behind him, Stratton skiers Fin Bailey and Will Koch battled it out to the line, with Bailey out lunging Koch for second and third.
...read the full race weekend story HERE including Day 2 interval classic lots of photos, videos, results & rankings
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Maine skiers sharing the stoke with Ellis Slover – there were 65 competitors from Maine in the event. Photo Beckwith.
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Daniel Streinz of Hershey, Maine skiing the fastest time of the day in the sprint qualification. Photo @flyingpoint
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Will Koch bounding up Hero’s Hill en route to a victory in the 10km race Sunday
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THANK YOU TO OUR ASSOCIATE SPONSORS
L.L.Bean and SWIX & Salomon!
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Striding into the Future:
Winter Competitions 2022
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NENSA would like to highlight that Club Cup Standings will include all Popular and Eastern Cup races for the winter of 2021-2022. The goal is to bring the entire community together across our competitive programming and provide an overall ranking of Club participation and performance. Eastern Cups will also be scored as individual events...click HERE for the full story
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THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA CONTRIBUTING SPONSORS:
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2022 BKL Festival Registration is Open!
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The New England Bill Koch Youth Ski League (NEBKYSL) Festival is the marquee event of the
Bill Koch Youth Ski League. This fun annual festival features races as well as a wide variety of exciting non-competitive winter activities for skiers of all skill and ability levels from kindergarten up to 8th grade!
This year’s Festival will be held March 5-6, 2022 on the beautiful trails at Quarry Road in Waterville, Maine. The dedicated folks at Quarry Road are planning fun races and exciting activities with the theme Soar Over Snow!
...click HERE full information on the Festival and to Register
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2021-22 BKL XC Ski Bingo
is in full swing!
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NENSA is psyched to be offering a new version of Bingo for the 2021-22 season!! Download and print your own 2021-22 Bingo Card and be sure to fill out the BINGO ENTRY FORM when you finish. Activity descriptions included in the Bingo card download.
Rules of the Game:
- Must be under 14 years of age to play. Game runs from December 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.
- Get “Bingo” by completing the activities and skiing in the states in a full row, column, or diagonal.
- Mark your Bingo card as you complete squares. Remember to take at least one activity photo or a picture of you where you skied!
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Fill out the Bingo entry form HERE once you’ve completed Bingo. You’ll include your activity or ski location photo and a picture of your marked Bingo card.
- Get outside and HAVE FUN!!!
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Direct any questions to kait@nensa.net.
What can you win?
Every player who completes Bingo gets a rainbow NENSA sticker. Each Bingo line completed gets players a raffle entry. At the end of every month we will raffle off NENSA monogrammed LL Bean flannel shirts and gift cards! You can get a bonus raffle point if you do any of the activities in costume.
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THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA SUPPORTING SPONSORS:
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Registration Open for 2022 Women’s Day at Rikert Nordic Center ~
Sunday January 23, 2022
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Women’s Day registration is open!!! We are excited to announce that this year’s event will be held at Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, VT. They hosted back in 2015 and we are looking forward to being back on their beautiful trails.
New England Women’s XC Ski Day was started in 2002 by former Olympian Trina Hosmer of Stowe, VT. Trina was inspired by her “sisters in skiing” in Anchorage, Alaska, who started the Alaska Ski for Women in 1997. The highlight of the day is learn-to-ski clinics with self-identified women instructors; the emphasis being on relaxed, fun learning with other self-identified women. Registration includes cross-country ski clinics, wax demonstrations, a fantastic prize drawing, a fabulous lunch, and a donation to our benefit organization
This year our benefit organization is Stride, an organization whose mission is to remove barriers to entry and get girls in the game and on the trails by providing mentorship, gear, and learning opportunities to young female athletes in Vermont. If you would like to make a donation to the organization, you can do so through registration. You can also pre-order this year’s official Women’s Day Skida hat!
Please click HERE for the Women’s XC Ski Day Page on the NENSA website for full details on lodging, rentals, and clinic information.
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IN THE NEWS:
World Cup Recaps
December 18
Halvorsen Career-Best Seventh in Dresden World Cup Sprint
Hannah Halvorsen posted a career-best World Cup result, finishing seventh, to lead six Davis U.S. Cross Country Team athletes into the top 30 at the FIS Cross Country World Cup freestyle sprint in Dresden, Germany, Saturday. Jessie Diggins was eighth, Hailey Swirbul was 16th, and Julia Kern was 22nd. In the men’s freestyle sprint, JC Schoonmaker was ninth, and Logan Hanneman finished 30th. ...READ MORE
December 19
Kern, Diggins Rally For Second In Dresden Team Sprint
Julia Kern and Jessie Diggins rallied from a couple of early-race falls to finish second in the FIS Cross Country World Cup freestyle team sprint in Dresden, Germany, Sunday. ...READ MORE / WATCH
December 29
Diggins Wins Stage 1 Sprint, Kern Fourth At Tour De Ski
Jessie Diggins kicked off the FIS Tour de Ski in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, with a victory in Tuesday’s freestyle sprint, leading five of her Davis U.S. Cross Country Teammates into the top 29, including Julia Kern, who just missed the podium in fourth.
“I'm so proud of our team,” Diggins said following her 12th career World Cup victory. “(We) had really amazing skis…they were flying out there and we had a great day as a team.” ...READ MORE
December 29
Diggins 16th, Swirbul 18th in Wet, Snowy Tour de Ski Stage 2
On a day with heavy, wet snow falling, the classic Lenzerheide, Switzerland track presented challenging conditions throughout the day as Jessie Diggins led the way with a 16th-place result in Stage 2 of the FIS Tour de Ski. Hailey Swirbul was close behind in 18th, and for the men, Gus Schumacher was 38th. ...READ MORE
Live SuperTour Streaming
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Jessie Diggins wins the stage 1 sprint of the Tour de Ski in Lenzerheide, Switzerland on Tuesday, Dec. 28. Mathilde Myhrvold of Norway in second and Anamarija Lampic in third. www.nordicfocus.com. © Modica/NordicFocus.
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From Sweden, With Love
(with Maja Dahlqvist and Kevin Bolger)
Listen in to the FIS Cross Country World Cup’s most thrilling international ski racing couple, Maja Dahlqvist and Kevin Bolger explain what it takes to pull off the kind of relationship they have, how it affects them as athletes, and what they bring to each other’s lives.
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THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA OFFICIAL SUPPLIERS:
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Upcoming Events
A Look Ahead at the NENSA Calendar
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Full NENSA.net Calendar Listing HERE
Link to our COVID Protocols HERE
Link to our NENSA Equality & Diversity Policy HERE
Link to our Health & Nutrition Resources Page HERE
Link to our NENSA Inclusivity Resource List HERE
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If you already shop Amazon ~ please link to Amazon Smile
with NENSA as your beneficiary!
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Did you know that NENSA could benefit from the Amazon purchases you are already making??! Please link your Amazon account to Amazon SMILE (with /smile) and choose NENSA as your non-profit beneficiary! All the purchases everyone is already making, all add up, and we would love to be able to benefit from that! Thank you!!
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New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA)
49 Pineland Drive, Suite 301A
New Gloucester, ME 04260
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