Greetings NENSA community,

Our NENSA Board meets twice annually.  At our fall meeting last weekend in Stowe, as we reviewed our strategic plan, progress, and priorities, the first snowflakes of the season fell.  It seemed a good omen.

With snowy conditions upon us, we are finally turning the page…but not before officially wrapping up our rollerski season with recaps of our fall instructional programs, our final race on Mt. Greylock, and the awarding of the series masters and college champions.

At the same time, we are proud to announce our 2022-23 Popular Series!  It’s a full schedule of events that promises festivity, community, and the opportunity for personal challenge of whatever sort you wish.

In addition, registration for one of our most popular events, NENSA Women’s Day, opened this week and our Nordic Rocks programs are benefitting from a novel binding upgrade, making skiing more accessible to a few thousand children in New England elementary schools.

In this week’s edition of KickZone

• Recap of NENSA's 2022 Fall Learn to Rollerski clinics
• Mt. Greylock Hill Climb recap
• 2022-23 Popular Series announced
• Registration is open for Women's Day
• 2022 Allagash Masters
• 2022 College Rollerski Cup
• Nordic Rocks equipment upgrade
• NENSA membership
• Scenes from the Community
• All About Ski Preparation podcast from Toko

In the news

• FasterSkier: Viewing Cross-Country and Biathlon in the United States
• NNF: In Inaugural Talk, Dr. Stephen Seiler Illuminates how Skiers are Training (and how they will be soon)

With snow on the ground and so much on the horizon, I hope you are finding your scrapers and checking your equipment.  I look forward to seeing you soon!

All my best,

Heidi

Heidi Lange

Executive Director

New England Nordic Ski Association

heidi@nensa.net

www.NENSA.net

Thank you!

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!

As we close out the rollerski season and start our snow dances, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on our fall Learn-to-Rollerski gatherings and share some photos and videos with you all. This fall we were grateful to connect with a whole variety of wonderful people across the East and share the joy of rollerskiing and being outside. Read the full article HERE

We’ve been extremely fortunate with the weather for Mt. Greylock Hill Climb rollerski race for two years in a row. The event is possible because of the partnership of Massachusetts Department Conservation and Recreation and the volunteers of the Berkshire Nordic Club. The Climb ascends eight miles to the highest point in the Bay State, winding through undulating terrain in boreal forest, making it an ideal venue for cross country skiers. This year saw the largest participation to date and with 114 finishers it was our largest rollerski race of 2022...Read the full story, see results, and many more photos HERE.

How fitting to be introducing the 2022-2023 NENSA Popular Race Series on the first snow of the year! There are 25 events on the calendar, which include 17 Zak Cups and seven marathons — all 25 events (and the eight Eastern Cup races) will be scored to season-long Club Cup standings. Popular races are intended to be inclusive events, with options for all skiers from the most competitive to those who might be just exploring the sport. NENSA is working with event organizers to make your experience the best it can be, from registration and promotion, to course prep, results and awards. As we continue to emerge from a pandemic climate venues are encouraged to bring back some of the festive touches that make a race experience — including music, food and robust award ceremonies.

NENSA is pleased to announce that we will have more automated scoring of both Zak and Club Cup throughout the winter and that NENSA members will receive discounted entry at many of the events. We hope individuals will consider renewing memberships early and that clubs will check in (preston@nensa.net) and make sure their NENSA Club Membership is current. Both of these steps insure that event timers and NENSA staff will have the best data possible, which allows us to provide the best product. Read more about the series, scoring and participation challenges, and why - no matter your experience or goals - you might like to join us this winter HERE.

Women’s XC Ski Day registration is open!!! We are excited to share that this year’s event will be held at JacksonXC in Jackson, NH. They hosted back in 2016 and we are looking forward to being back on their mountainside 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. Like the Alaskans’ original event, Women’s XC Ski Day chooses a non-profit women’s organization to benefit, and gathers as many participants as it can for a day of cross country skiing which includes lunch and a raffle. The highlight of the day is learn-to-ski clinics with women instructors; the emphasis being on relaxed, fun learning in a supportive and encouraging environment. All ability, skill, and experience levels are welcome. In addition to this event being open to all women, we also encourage and support the participation of nonbinary people who are comfortable in a space that centers the experience of women. NENSA hopes that Women’s XC Ski Day helps bring more folx together to enjoy this wonderful sport...read the full story and find complete event information HERE

We are proud to introduce your 2022 Allagash Masters. Sproule Love (Manhattan Nordic / Ski Lynx) and Rosalie Wilson (Ford Sayre) were at the top of the class based on their best two of three finishes during the hill climbs during the years Rollerski series!

With snow blanketing most of the region we are excited to announce that Paul Smith’s is the winner of the 2022 NENSA College Rollerski Cup.

Originally awarded in 2018 to UVM and 2019 to Colby the Series highlights participation by awarding World Cup points to all collegiate skiers in the top 30 in the Open classes at our rollerski events.

This year the Bobcats participated in the Keys / Climb to the Castle in Lake Placid and the FreeFall in Jericho. Paul Smith’s location in the Adirondacks makes for a spectacular venue for developing athletes competing in cross country skiing, biathlon and Nordic jumping. Congrats to the Bobcats and best of luck with your winter season!

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. 

We’re so impressed with the snow boot bindings that the skilled folks at Lost Nation Research and Development have designed and produced for the Nordic Rocks program! Working with local engineers has allowed for a quick feedback loop and efficient testing of prototypes, and the folks at Lost Nation R&D have gone above and beyond with the thought they have put into this project and it shows in the quality of the binding they have generated. These bindings are sturdy, easy-to-use, and adjust to fit anywhere from a kindergartener’s foot to a full grown adult foot in a massive snow boot! We’re also incredibly grateful to have Madshus supplying high quality skis for this program.

NENSA’s Nordic Rocks program is generously funded by the Share Winter Foundation and the Killington World Cup Foundation and was developed to introduce children in grades K-6 to the excitement of cross country skiing during the school day with the overarching goal of providing all children with an opportunity to ski. 

While we are cannot accept any additional new schools for the 2022-23 season, we can add you to our school waitlist for the 2023-24 season if your elementary school is interested in joining the program. Read more HERE

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!

THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA SUPPORTING SPONSORS:

Especially now there are more forms of race wax than ever including buff on block, pastes, hot waxes, powders, and liquids. Ian Harvey gives his thoughts on how to manage and prioritize these forms for best results and predictability in this podcast. 

Viewing Cross-Country and Biathlon in the United States

November 15, 2022 | by Ken Roth

This season’s cross-country and biathlon World Cup races promise to be some of the most exciting in recent years; however, this season also presents dramatic changes in how American fans will be able to—or unable to—watch races. The new season will be quite different from what we’ve come to expect in seasons past. NBC’s coverage is gone; it will be replaced by a combination of paid streaming services and accessing European coverage.

There will no longer be coverage of cross-country events through NBC or any of its platforms. Fortunately, coverage of World Cup races held in Europe will be available on Ski and Snowboard Live—specifically, https://usskiandsnowboard.org/latest - allowing access that’s searchable for any cross-country World Cup race. U.S. Ski and Snowboard has told FasterSkier to expect commentary with these broadcasts.

The bad news related to viewing options for European races is that viewers will need to pay in order to watch. There will be several payment options:

There will be a monthly all access pass ($15.99/month) which provides full viewing of all sports on the channel. If you watch more than the Nordic sports, this will be your choice.

For cross-country only fans, there will be a “Monthly Discipline Pass.” While this may sound like some type of high school program for misbehaving students, it’s actually a platform that allows viewers to enjoy all coverage in the sport of their choice ($8.99/month). If there’s one race in particular you want to watch, you pay $1.99 for any single event.

For complete details, visit U.S. Ski and Snowboard’s site at: https://usskiandsnowboard.org/news/how-watch-2022-23-world-cup-events

Read more, including how to view Biathlon events HERE

In Inaugural Talk, Dr. Stephen Seiler Illuminates how Skiers are Training (and how they will be soon)

November 14, 2022 | by Ben Theyerl

NNF’s speaker series kicked-off on Friday with Dr. Stephen Seiler, an American physiologist with an outsized role in coining the methods and nomenclature in use across the sport of nordic skiing– from “polarized training” to the “80%-20%” intensity breakdown. Throughout the talk, Seiler demonstrated a keen sense that his audience – some one-hundred and twenty on zoom call, with many more registrants waiting for the recording afterwards (now in your inbox if you registered!) – was current with the basic architecture of his ideas. As a result, Dr. Seiler focused more on pushing and pulling on the assumptions and practices that have resulted in the everyday use of his academic work, which resulted in a deeply interesting talk that alluded to how skiers came to train the way they train, and developments in research that will change training soon...read the full story HERE.

THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA OFFICIAL SUPPLIERS:

Designed by NENSA's very own Youth & Introductory Program Director. Cost is $25 per hat (includes shipping and handling). All proceeds go to supporting NENSA's community-based programming and events.