Greetings NENSA community,


There was a sprinkle of magic in the air last weekend through circumstances none of us wished to encounter. What began with a lack of snowfall and a forecast more typical of early November resulted in an Eastern Cup relocation, something we have rarely had to do. Following a scramble of logistics and adjustments, we were rewarded with a major snowstorm and its associated challenges, not to mention a venue-closing propane leak. None of this felt evident at noontime on Saturday as our community arrived at Mt. Van Hoevenberg and over the course of two spectacular days of racing, thanks to the commitment and effort of all involved. Our athletes and families, coaches, event organizers and volunteers from Rikert Nordic Center, Frost Mountain Nordic, and Mt. Van Hoevenberg, officials, timers, announcer, NENSA staff, and even the U.S. Ski Team head coach brought a spirit of collaboration, dedication, and goodwill just perfect for the season. Sincere thanks to everyone who contributed to such a special Eastern Cup opener!


In this week’s edition of KickZone

  • Eastern Cup Opener recap
  • BKL Festival registration is open!
  • Popular Races in the coming weeks
  • NENSA membership
  • Scenes from the Community
  • Skirack/Patagonia: Banff Film Festival, January 26-28
  • Toko Newsletter


In the news

  • U.S. Ski & Snowboard: Diggins Wins, Becoming Most Decorated American Cross Country Skier in History
  • FasterSkier: US Tour de Ski 2022-23 Nominations


Sending wishes of joy, peace, good health, and adventure to you this holiday season and through the coming year!


Heidi, on behalf of all of us here at NENSA


Heidi Lange

Executive Director

New England Nordic Ski Association

heidi@nensa.net

www.NENSA.net

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Thank you!

Join or Renew

Memberships directly support all of our year-round programming,

backing us in our mission to nurture and sustain an active cross country ski

community for all ages and levels throughout the East. 

Thank you for taking a minute to join or renew your NENSA membership,

and for the important support that it provides!

Please join me in thanking and supporting our wonderful NENSA Sponsors 

for their generous contributions and the ongoing impact that they have on NENSA programming and cross country skiing in New England!

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NENSA News from the Field

Rikert Grand Prix at Mt Van Ho recap

Sanctioned races in the East started, thankfully, without-a-bang in Lake Placid, last weekend. There have been so many recent positive changes in the sport of USA cross country skiing — extensive club development, associated international success, elimination of fluorocarbons in the United States, and for the first time officially in Eastern events #equaldistance. However, the reality of climate change continues to play out, with the long term forecast of the East being, “warmer and wetter,” which set the stage for what we’ve now dubbed the Miracle on Snow.


While originally slated to be hosted at the Rikert Outdoor Center in Central Vermont, one week before the competition, the Jury and the venues of Rikert and Mt Van Hoevenberg made a nimble and collaborative decision to move the first Eastern Cup to Lake Placid. The decision was based on snowmaking windows and highlighted by the fact that there were less than eight kilometers of skiing on the entire East Coast at the time. There was no insight into the most beautiful snowstorm we have seen in the past few years. The decision was made with the mantra that we are all in this together...read much more, see photos, results, and updated rankings HERE.


THANK YOU TO OUR ASSOCIATE SPONSORS

2023 BKL Festival Registration is Open!

The Bill Koch Youth Ski League 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 4-5, 2023 on the beautiful trails at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Craftsbury, VT. The dedicated folks at Craftsbury are planning fun races and exciting activities with the theme North Woods in Winter! You can read all about the theme HERE.


Stay tuned to our website HERE for updates and full event details.

REGISTER

Popular Racing to Kick Off the New Year

Does all the recent snow fall have you itching to get on skis? Perhaps even eager to jump in a low key race? Some of our regional partners are hosting events that might check all of your boxes. JacksonXC celebrates the new year with the Jackson Jaunt – a choose your own pace and start time affair. Most years this event requires your classic boards to take a cruise through the scenic and undulating Wave trail and Eagle Mountain trails. The following Saturday the Haydock family host the 39th annual run of the Bogburn. This is a special event harkening to the early days of skiing in New England, where skiers traverse the woods of central Vermont on old school classic trails. The Gunstock Nordic Association hosts their annual race the next day. The smooth flowing terrain of their trails is an excellent way to get ease back into freestyle skiing. Not to mention they put on a killer lunch menu!


We know the weather can be a little iffy later this time of year. Please keep an eye on their event pages for any updates. These are the kind of events where memories are made. They allow us intimate experience with nature followed by social time with our community – undoubtedly this includes some good stories to share. So come out and kick off the New Year at some excellent Popular races, which include some cool prizes and raffle items.


Jackson Jaunt (classic) - January 1
The Bogburn (classic) - January 7
Gunstock Zak Cup (freestyle) - January 8

NENSA numbers are required for Club and Zak Cup scoring and

NENSA members receive a 20% discount on the entry fee using

the coupon code provided with membership signup/renewal. 

THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA CONTRIBUTING SPONSORS:

Reporting Misconduct and New QR Code for Reporting

Whether you are a coach, parent, volunteer, or athlete, we all play a role in providing a safe environment for the sports that we love. U.S. Ski & Snowboard  Athlete Safety policies, the SafeSport Code, and the U.S. Ski & Snowboard MAAPP help us support that culture of safety.  

  • If you witness or are aware of inappropriate behavior or misconduct - REPORT IT!
  • Reports may be made anonymously!
  • Child Abuse and Child Sexual Abuse – Report to law enforcement or child protective services in your jurisdiction immediately.
  • Reports to the Center - SafeSport hotline at 833-5US-SAFE (587-7233) or CLICK HERE to complete an online reporting form.
  • Reports to U.S. Ski & Snowboard - CLICK HERE


You may see QR codes posted at events this season. The QR codes open a page on www.usskiandsnowboard.org for quick links to reporting from your smartphone.


Thank you for your diligence in maintaining sport safety and protecting our athletes. 

Membership Renewal Reminder

It is time to renew NENSA memberships. NENSA membership is required for attendance at the BKL Festival, Eastern Cup, U16 and EHS Championship events, as well as for Junior National, Zak, and Club Cup rankings. NENSA members receive discounted entry fees to many of our events as well as exclusive offers from our sponsors that are constantly added and updated HERE. Membership directly supports our year-round programming, backing us in our mission to nurture and sustain an active cross country ski community for all ages and levels throughout the East. Thank you for taking a minute to tend to your renewal, and for the important support your membership provides!



Scenes from the NENSA Community

THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA SUPPORTING SPONSORS:

From our NENSA Partners

Latest Newsletter

CROSS COUNTRY

In The News:

Diggins Wins, Becoming Most Decorated American Cross Country Skier in History

December 18, 2022 | by Leann Bentley


On a beautiful bluebird day in Davos, Jessie Diggins claimed her 14th World Cup victory and made her mark in the history books by becoming the most decorated American cross country skier in history.


Standing atop the podium with Diggins was teammate Rosie Brennan, who was third, right behind Ingvlid Flugstad Oestberg of Norway. 


In the individual start race freestyle race, Diggins started in the 27th interval in a field of 49 skiers. Throughout the 20k, she never ventured far from third place, going between first and third through every kilometer marker, and ultimately winning the race once all skiers crossed the finish line. 


With her 14th World Cup victory, Diggins, a three-time Olympian, moved into second in the overall World Cup standings and continues to chase the overall World Cup title - the crystal globe, which she won in the 2021 season.


"Wow! What a day! Once again, super thank you to the team, we had some really awesome skis," Diggins told us. "I felt really good today. I was able to bounce back really well from the sprint day the day before and I felt like I could push really hard. I just raced as hard as I could until I got to the finish line, which was really cool. I was just trying to ski my own race and ski as smart and as powerful as I could. This win means a lot, as it breaks an American record for the number of World Cup wins which is super exciting and fun!"...read more HERE.



US Tour de Ski 2022-23 Nominations

December 21, 2022 | by Chris Grover


Dear Cross Country Community,


We are pleased to announce the USA Cross Country Team for World Cup Period 2 of the 2022-23 season...find the full list and information about the selection process HERE.


THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA OFFICIAL SUPPLIERS:

Upcoming Events

Full NENSA Calendar


DECEMBER

December 29: WinterKids Welcome to Winter - Auburn, ME


JANUARY

January 1: Jackson Jaunt - Jackson, NH

January 7: Bogburn Classic - Pomfret, VT

January 8: Gunstock Freestyle Zak Cup - Gilford, NH

January 14-15: Eastern Cup #2 and Bates Carnival - Rumford, ME

January 21: White Mountain Classic - Jackson, NH

January 21: The Seventh Annual Race for Snow - Weston, MA

January 22: Women’s XC Ski Day - Jackson, NH

January 28-29: Craftsbury Marathon Ski Festival - Craftsbury, VT

January 29: Prospect Sprints - Woodford, VT


FEBRUARY

February 4-5: Eastern Cup #3 - Waterville, ME

February 5: Caribou Bog Classic - Orono, ME

February 5: Concord-area Learn-to-Ski - Concord, NH

February 11: MNC Skiathlon - Huntington, VT

February 12: Flying Moose - Bethel, ME

February 12: GNA Paintball Biathlon - Gilford, NH

February 12: VT U16 & EHS Qualifier - Huntington, VT

February 18-19: Eastern Cup #4 - Dublin, NH

February 18: Hard'ack Challenge - St. Albans, VT

February 25: Washington's Birthday Race - Marlboro, VT

February 26: Stratton Terrain Challenge - Stratton, VT

February 26: Stowe Derby - Stowe, VT

February 26: Ski, Shoe & Fatbike to the Clouds - Gorham, NH


MARCH

March 4-5: New England BKL Festival - Craftsbury, VT

March 4: Maine EHS & U16 Qualifier - Rumford, ME

March 4: Rangeley Loppet & Burt Kettle Classic - Rangeley, ME

March 10-12: Eastern High School Championships - Rikert, VT

March 11: Long Hall Loppet - Jackson, NH

March 11-18: U.S. Junior Nationals - Fairbanks, AK

March 17-19: Eastern U16 Championships - Fort Kent, ME

March 22-26: Supertour Finals - Craftsbury VT

March 25: New England Club Relay Championships & End of Season Celebration - Craftsbury, VT


Link to our COVID Protocols HERE

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with NENSA as your beneficiary!

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!!
New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA)
49 Pineland Drive, Suite 301A
New Gloucester, ME 04260
Phone: 207-688-6503 www.NENSA.net

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