Greetings NENSA Community,

The Craftsbury openers last weekend featured open fields that brought skiers together across age, experience and gender. We celebrate these opportunities for all that they offer: the development of skill and of community alike. Coupled with the Quarry Rd. opener the previous weekend, the stage has officially been set for a spirited, inclusive and fun season. 

In this context, we are so grateful to Kathy Maddock and Kevin Lee for generously sharing their experience (below) in supporting high school skiers, accompanied by their wise insights that hold relevance at any level of sport. 

Thank you to the organizing committees of all our season openers, including this week’s Eastern Cup, and a special appreciation to Kevin and Kathy for helping us to launch a 2023-24 winter season with an emphasis on sport culture and community development.

#SkiingBetterTogether!

In this week’s KickZone

• Rodrigues Sprints & Kendall Memorial Recap
• High School Racing Q&A with Kevin Lee and Kathy Maddock
• Roy Varney EC Parking / Shuttle Update
• Killington World Cup Foundation Highlights Grant Program Accomplishments and NENSA Nordic Rocks
• NENSA Launches Event Volunteer Tool
• Joe Miller honored by MIAA
• Red Bench - One on One with John Caldwell
• Nordic Team Solutions – Virtual Technique Talk
• NENSA Women's Day 2024
• NENSA Membership
• NENSA Winter Events Poster
• Scenes from the Community

From Our Partners

• L.L. Bean: Maine Outdoor Film Festival
• Garnet Hill Lodge: Special offer for NENSA members
• Toko Newsletter

In The News

• Nordic Insights: Party in the U.S.A.: JC Schoonmaker Crushes Östersund Classic Sprint in 3rd, Ben Ogden 4th
• Nordic Insights: John Steel Hagenbuch Leads U.S. in Career-Best 13th in 10km Skate; Amundsen Fastest Norwegian Man
• FasterSkier: Great Day for USA! Schoonmaker Podiums in Classic Sprint, Ogden Fourth

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!

Skiers from all over New England, New York, Eastern Canada, and beyond gathered over the weekend at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center for this year’s running of the Rodrigues Sprints and Kendall Memorial. Late Autumn was generous in Northern Vermont this year, with enough natural snow to open many kilometers of trails at Craftsbury – giving skiers an exciting return to ski season!

With very few exceptions, there is no on-site parking at Quarry Road Trails on Saturday and Sunday for the Eastern Cup.

NENSA is so grateful to Killington World Cup Foundation for their support of our Nordic Rocks program, a low-barrier program developed to introduce a new generation of children in grades K-6 to the excitement found in the sport of cross country skiing.

Thank you KWCF for all that you do to create lifelong participants by increasing access to winter sports in the Northeast!

NENSA Event Organizers are doing a wonderful job hosting events, often with crews of dedicated volunteers they have grown to rely upon year-in and year-out. In response to interest from event organizers and community members, and to better share and promote opportunities for community engagement, NENSA is sharing a new signup tool and opportunity for our community this season.

In case you missed last Thursday’s Red Bench with John Caldwell, the “father” of cross country skiing in the United States, the video is now available on the Vermont Ski & Snowboard Museum YouTube Channel.

THANK YOU TO OUR SILVER SPONSORS

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

Date: Thursday, December 14, 2023

Time: doors at 5:30 PM, films start at 6:30 PM

Location: The State Theatre, Portland Maine

Ticket Info:

Advance Tickets: Adults: $15 (+ Service Fee), buy online Here.

Advance Tickets: Adults: $15, Under 18: $10, purchase in-person with no fees at STATE THEATRE BOX OFFICE (open Fridays 10am-5pm and 1 hour before any show)

Day-Of Tickets: Adults: $20. Under 18: $15

Group Pricing: For groups of six or more CLICK HERE

Lodging Offer for NENSA Members

NENSA members receive free 20% discount off standard published rates from Jan 2 through Jan 18 and during all of March.

Contact Garnet Hill Lodge, provide your 2023-24 NENSA membership number to make a reservation, and present your valid NENSA member card (you receive this on your confirmation email after renewing or joining NENSA) when checking in.

Skida Announces Long-term Partnership with U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team

Skida and the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team are proud to announce a multi-year partnership, extending through the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. As part of the partnership, Skida and U.S. Ski & Snowboard are launching a co-branded line of hats, neck warmers and headbands.

Skida has also long been connected to U.S. Ski & Snowboard through Skida’s Athlete Collaboration Program, supporting multiple U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes for several years, including Paula Moltzan and Ryan Cochran-Siegle of the Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team, Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team athlete Julia Kern and Hannah Soar of the Stifel U.S. Freestyle Ski Team moguls team. 

Skida and U.S. Ski & Snowboard are excited to bring this partnership to the next level with Skida as an official licensee, as well as teaming up to design an exclusive line of co-branded hats, neck warmers and athletic headbands featuring a deep blue and red print called ‘Pinnacle.’

Party in the U.S.A.: JC Schoonmaker Crushes Östersund Classic Sprint in 3rd, Ben Ogden 4th

by Nordic Insights | December 9, 2023

Fewer years ago than you may realize, since everyone involved in this story is still just 23, a young man named JC Schoonmaker was finishing high school at North Tahoe High and trying to find a home for college skiing. He hoped to join rising star Ben Ogden on the other side of the country at the University of Vermont, but recruiting is an inexact science, his potential was perhaps not as apparent as Ogden’s at the time, and the kid from Tahoe ended up taking his talents north to the University of Alaska Anchorage, where he happily skied for all four years. The two men would finish first and third at 2022 NCAA Championships, Ogden 13 seconds ahead after 20km of racing.

That was then. This is now. Saturday morning in the classic sprint in Östersund, in the third weekend of the 2023/2024 World Cup season, Schoonmaker and Ogden skied alongside each other all day. They were third and fifth in the qual, which presaged some darn good things for the day for the Americans and their skis. They were first and second in their quarterfinals, then first and second again in their semifinal. And when they lined up to start the sprint final they were by definition among the top six athletes, already a career highlight for both men no matter what happened over the next three minutes.

Reader, they were not just happy to be there. Three minutes later, Schoonmaker crossed the line in third, after taking it to Klæbo in a gutsy performance. Ogden was close behind in fourth. From Tahoe to Anchorage or from Landgrove, Vermont, to Burlington, Vermont, there’s a lot of different ways to get to the top. And both men arrived there Saturday with a bang. And some tears. For them, and for pretty much everyone who watched.

John Steel Hagenbuch Leads U.S. in Career-Best 13th in 10km Skate; Amundsen Fastest Norwegian Man

by Nordic Insights | December 10, 2023

Some things don’t change at the top of the results sheet for a men’s World Cup distance race ca. 2023: Harald Østberg Amundsen came into this race weekend in Östersund, Sweden, leading the men’s overall standings; Amundsen left Östersund leading the standings. Norway came into Östersund having won the approximately one zillion last men’s distance races; make it a zillion and one now after Amundsen’s victory in Sunday’s 10km skate. Plus ça change.

But if you look farther down — not even that much farther down! — then things start to get pretty exciting pretty quickly. John Steel Hagenbuch came into Östersund with an old World Cup career best of 45th. He leaves with a new World Cup career best of 13th. What a difference a week makes.

Great Day for USA! Schoonmaker Podiums in Classic Sprint, Ogden Fourth

by Ken Roth | December 9, 2023

In what has already been an action packed season; it’s hard to believe that this is only week three of the World Cup season. This weekend’s venue is Oestersund, Sweden where the Classic Sprint competitions were held. The question going into the men’s race was whether Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo’s (NOR) return to the World Cup circuit, after a brief hiatus to deal with Covid, would also mark his return to Sprint domination. Two weeks ago, in Ruka, he finished third in the Classic Sprint—his worst Sprint finish since 2018—a red flag that something wasn’t right.

JC Schoonmaker (USA) had a breakout day reaching the podium for the first time. The American took third place. (Photo: NordicFocus)

America’s hopes were riding on Ben Ogden and JC Schoonmaker. Ogden had finished 11th in the Classic Sprint two weeks ago, and hopes for him were high. Ogden has thrilled fans with many exciting races, but team USA was hoping that he would be able to find a way to the final round. To do that, he would need to break through a field with eight Norwegian contenders having advanced beyond the qualifying round. JC Schoonmaker would also carry the American hopes into the finals.

It ended up being a great day for team USA. In the finals it was Klaebo first, Erik Valnes (NOR) in second and JC Schoonmaker (USA) taking third with his first ever World Cup podium. Ben Ogden finished fourth. Other American finishers were Gus Schumacher 39th, Zanden McMullen 43rd, Luke Jager 52nd, Kevin Bolger 59th, and Will Koch 68th.

THANK YOU TO OUR OFFICIAL SUPPLIERS

New England Nordic Ski Association

P.O. Box 97

Lyme, NH 03768

Phone: 802-331-0762