Greetings NENSA Community,

We were touched by the support and generosity of our community on GivingTuesday. Funds raised by NENSA back us every day in our mission to share the joy of gliding on snow by creating opportunities for all…young and young-at-heart, novice and world class. We could not do what we do without your support and we thank you, sincerely, for championing our cause!

NENSA’s annual winter auction closes in just 3 days. It has been a joy to see the engagement of our community in this fundraiser through item donations and bidding activity. There is a bit of time left and many wonderful items awaiting opening bids. All proceeds directly support NENSA staffing and programming and reduce financial barriers to participation by keeping membership and event fees as low as possible.

In this week’s KickZone

• 2023 NENSA Auction Coming to a Close
• Event Organizer and TD Seminar Registration Deadline Friday
• Skiing Better Together: 2023-2024 Popular Race Preview
• Dec. 1 Deadline for Coach Applications: Junior Nationals, World Junior and U23 Championships
• 2023-24 Ski BINGO Launches Dec. 1
• NENSA XC Station at WinterKids “Welcome To Winter” 2023 Event
• NENSA Launches New Community Tours & Events Series
• NENSA Women's Day 2024
• NENSA Membership
• NENSA Winter Events Poster
• Scenes from the Community

From Our Partners

• Salomon: Behind the Scenes in Ruka
• Craftsbury Demo Day and Early Season Lodging Offer for NENSA Members
• Toko Newsletter: Wax Decisions, Availability Update, Toko Gloves
• NENSA Members Save: Best Nordic Ski Great Escapes

In The News

• Ben Ogden Behind the Scenes in Ruka
• Nordic Insights: Jessie Diggins Second, Rosie Brennan Third, in Memorable Day in Ruka 20km Skate
• FasterSkier: Epic Day in Ruka. Diggins Second, Brennan Third in 20 k Freestyle
• FasterSkier: Jessie Diggins - Health and Happiness in the Season Ahead
• NNF Thanks Ski Community for Helping Drive for 25 Reach Goal, Raising Over $125,000

I hope your Thanksgiving holiday was adventurous and restorative!

All my best,

Heidi

Heidi Lange

Executive Director

New England Nordic Ski Association

heidi@nensa.net

www.nensa.net

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!

NENSA's Annual Auction closes Sunday at 9:00 P.M!

With just 3 days remaining, be sure to visit the link and place your bids. There are so many unique and one-of-a-kind donations, wonderful stays for a unique getaway, and special gifts for someone on your list.

We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to all of our sponsors and supporters for generous contributions and bids. All proceeds directly support our year-round staffing and programming and keep membership and entry fees as low as possible. Thank you!

NENSA's Annual Fall Event Organizer & TD Seminar will be hosted by the Holderness School this weekend.

Venues that are hosting an Eastern Cup, the Bill Koch Festival, U16s or Eastern High School Championships are required to send their Chief of Competition and one other representative (ideally the Race Secretary). Popular Series/Zak Cup/Club Cup hosts are not required to attend, but are strongly encouraged. Coaches are also encouraged to join and learn about the latest changes that impact them and their athletes as well growing relationships with event organizers and TDs. Each year we strive to add more meaningful subject matter and activities to the seminar. Topics range from event setup & procedures to rules updates. Highlights of the seminar include group work activities to build knowledge and better race jury relationships as well as video review of rules infractions from the previous season, and networking opportunities.  

NENSA is excited to be offering two versions of XC Ski Bingo for the 2023-24 season! This will be the fourth year of Youth XC Ski Bingo for anyone UNDER 14 years of age, and the second year of Junior & Adult Bingo for people 14 and OLDER! The goal of this virtual game is to help inspire people of all ages and skill levels to get outside, enjoy the winter world on skis, engage with others who also like to ski, and explore new places.

Every player who completes Bingo gets a rainbow NENSA sticker and each Bingo line completed gets players a raffle entry. At the end of every month we will raffle off some fun items from our sponsors!

New this year, NENSA will be honoring the youth Club with the highest level of participation with a special shoutout at the conclusion of the season! Read on for more info and get playing!

NENSA is thrilled to be collaborating with WinterKids on their Welcome to Winter event on December 28th at Lost Valley Ski Area in Auburn, ME! WinterKids helps children develop healthy lifelong habits through education and fun, outdoor winter activity by creating opportunities for children to be active, vibrant and healthy in the outdoors. Their Welcome to Winter event is an annual celebration of fun ways to stay active in winter.

THANK YOU TO OUR SILVER SPONSORS

NENSA is thrilled to launch a new series of community programs this season that includes opportunities across our region ranging from instructional clinics to adventure and touring formats. These events are family friendly and are for anyone who is looking for non-competitive fun in the snow! 

NENSA memberships expire on April 30 and must be renewed annually. Now is a perfect time to check your membership status and take care of your renewal as various announcements of a fun and full winter season are being rolled out!

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!

NENSA membership provides...

• Access to Eastern Cup, Bill Koch Festival, and U16 and Eastern High School Championship events
• Education at Eastern Coaches Conferences and TD/Event Organizer Seminars
• Eligibility for the NENSA Development and Elite Teams and the New England Junior National Team
• Discounted entry to NENSA events
• Scoring and ranking in our Eastern Cup, Popular, and Rollerski series
• NENSA Kickzone and Trail Tales youth newsletter subscriptions
• Exclusive discounts and special offers from NENSA sponsors, continually updated on the Member Benefits page
• Access to the NENSA Gear Swap

U.S. Ski & Snowboard works to provide a safe environment in which athletes can train and compete, free from abuse and inappropriate behavior. Please review U.S. Ski & Snowboard's Athlete Safety policies, the SafeSport Code, and the Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies and join us in sustaining a culture of safety.

If you are an athlete who has experienced inappropriate behavior or know of an athlete who has experienced inappropriate behavior, report a concern:

The U.S. Center for SafeSport

Hotline:  833-587-7233

Report:  CLICK HERE

U.S. Ski & Snowboard

Report: CLICK HERE

We all are part of promoting a culture of safety through education, listening, and speaking up.

THANK YOU TO OUR BRONZE SPONSORS

ON-SNOW EQUIPMENT DEMO DAY

Saturday, December 2, 2023

9:00 AM 3:00 PM

The annual industry demo day is back! Join us on Saturday, December 2nd to check out the latest in ski product from industry leaders like Fischer, Salomon, Atomic, Rossignol, and Madshus, along with retailers like SkiRack and Caldwell Sport. Skis, boots, and poles will be available to demo on our snowmaking loop (and whatever natural snow might be available). 

Early season lodging offer for NENSA members

Available November 26-December 7

Sunday-Thursday evenings

Call COC and provide your 2023-24 NENSA Membership number for special rates.

Welcome to Best Nordic Ski Great Escapes, a new quality travel resort guide for cross-country ski lovers the world over who are eager for travel, adventure, romance, and to explore nature. Featuring many top spots across Canada and the USA, there’s a great selection of venues with fabulous coverage of trails, lodging, dining, events, attractions etc. along with superb photos. A must for all passionate and committed x-c skiers this one-of-a-kind travel guide is a great partner to help you plan your next great escape.

Take advantage of our NENSA 30% discount and pay only $6.95 (reg. $9.95).

Jessie Diggins Second, Rosie Brennan Third, in Memorable Day in Ruka 20km Skate

by Nordic Insights | November 26, 2023

Jessie Diggins didn’t have all her poles or gloves. Rosie Brennan didn’t have all her energy. But after 55 minutes of cutthroat racing they both ended up in the same place: on the podium of the 20-kilometer mass start skate race in Ruka. 

It was cold in Finland on Sunday morning, cold and fast. Athletes covered eight laps of a 2.5-kilometer course, with steep climbs and long downhills. Through the first two laps there was scant separation, with the top 28 women still within 10 seconds of the lead, and more athletes than that still all skiing together.

Epic Day in Ruka. Diggins Second, Brennan Third in 20 k Freestyle

by Ken Roth | Nobember 26, 2023

It was an epic day of racing in Ruka, Finland where the women closed out their racing with the 20 kilometer mass start freestyle. The American squad was hoping that Jessie Diggins could repeat the magic she displayed in Davos, Switzerland last year where she won the only women’s 20 kilometer freestyle mass start event of the year and went on to finish second in the distance crystal globe competition. Rosie Brennan (USA) finished third that day. Today the question surrounding Brennan was whether she could sustain her energy after her emotional podium finish yesterday. Sweden was hoping its star-studded team could dominate as they did at times last year. Finland was counting on the home field advantage propeling Kerttu Niskanen, last year’s distance cup winner, to the front. But none of the pre-race prognostications could prepare fans for what they were about to witness.

Jessie Diggins: Health and Happiness in the Season Ahead

by John Teaford | November 21, 2023

For American fans of cross-country skiing, Jessie Diggins is definitely the voice of our sport. Following a 2023 season that saw her crowned World Champion in 10k—and finishing second overall in the season-long FIS World Cup—she returned to training and preparing for the season to come; but things didn’t go exactly as planned. Recently, Diggins sat down for a scheduled media interview to discuss her relapse into an eating disorder from which she’d been in recovery for many years. Pressure, expectation, image, aspiration: all can combine to test the mental health of even the strongest among us. Jessie Diggins discusses it all willingly and openly.

“I’m going to assume that a lot of the questions will be around my mental health,” she began. “Mental health is physical health; so, eating disorders are not a behavioral choice. It’s mental health . . . and it’s important that we can talk about mental health . . . I want athletes to feel they can talk about this with their coaches the way that I’ve been able to talk to my coaches.”

“We’re all human, and we’re all doing the best we can, every single day. So, this season, I’m focusing on just doing my best . . . taking it one day at a time, one race at a time.”

NNF Thanks Ski Community for Helping Drive for 25 Reach Goal, Raising Over $125,000

by Ben Theyerl | November 30, 2023

Dear US Ski Community,

Each year, the Drive for 25 starts with a simple, but profound idea; that a community crossing a continent can pull together to support its best ideals and determine the brightest version of its own future.

At the end of this year’s Drive for 25, we’re taken over by gratitude by the commitment to that idea. With $116,810 raised as of Thursday morning from 1226 mail-in and online donations, we’ve gone beyond the finish line, and kept on kicking into the winter ahead. The fundraising push from Monday through the end of Tuesday also unlocked a matching grant of $10,000, which will add to the raised total to put over $125,000 towards funding our work at the National Nordic Foundation this season and beyond.

When this total is combined with an NNF Board of Directors Drive that raised an additional $100,000 this year, we’re grateful that the ski community has powered us towards fully funding our Pillar Projects, fielding the most talented developing American athletes no matter their background under the banner of Team USA at the World Cup, Junior World Ski Championships, U18 Nordic Nation’s Cup, OPA Cup, and beyond. The D25 success also allows us to continue to expand our development programming elsewhere, funding the Trail to Gold Coaching Grant for women coaches from across the country to join the US Ski Team on the World Cup, and growing the number of athletes that our off-season training camps and trips can serve.

US Ski Team Head Coach and NNF Board Member Matt Whitcomb, who is currently on the World Cup in Europe, had this to say on the overwhelming display of generosity during the D25: “Thank you to anyone who ever gave a little or a lot to this wonderful sport in our country. Our community is clearly very strong, and there is no doubt that the excitement of this grassroots movement helped push Rosie and Jessie to the podium in the World Cup last weekend. They fared less-well in our team bowling session tonight, but I’d recommend you tune in for the races this weekend!”

At the core of NNF is a collective belief that US Skiing is capable of creating an athlete development system capable of competing against any nation on Earth. The Drive for 25 continues to offer the best distillation of what is behind that belief—thousands of skiers and supporters, working in concert for a sport and a community that they love. Thank you for being part of it.

Sincerely,

The National Nordic Foundation: Yuriy Gustev (Board Chairman), Reese Brown, Sophie Caldwell Hamilton, Joey Caterinichio, Erika Flowers, Dave Jarrett, Gus Kaeding, Laura McCabe, Thomas Pearce, Kikkan Randall, Ben Theyerl, Matt Whitcomb.

THANK YOU TO OUR OFFICIAL SUPPLIERS

New England Nordic Ski Association

P.O. Box 97

Lyme, NH 03768

Phone: 802-331-0762