Despite the downright frigid temperatures hovering over New England skiers of all ages enjoyed excellent conditions over the holiday period. This weekend our Zak Cup races resume with two events on Sunday the 7th, the Stowe Nordic Crosscut 10km and the Gunstock January Thaw 12km/8km (moved from Saturday due to predicted cold temps). You can find out more about those races, including registration, by searching our Calendar of Events and learn more about the entire series by looking at the Zak Cup page. Registration for all events are done through SkiReg.com

Read a fun article about “Why Master Skiers Need to Stay in the Game,” by Damian Bolduc of Northwest Vermont Endurance.

NENSA is excited to work with amazing venues throughout the region to put on this robust series of citizen races. The Zak Cup was designed to promote masters skiing and highlight the top skiers in all age groups (Master 1 – Master 12) for their season long efforts. Skiers (current NENSA members) who place in the top fifteen of their respective age groups earn points which accumulate throughout the season. Scoring will be updated to our Rankings Page in a timely fashion so skiers can see how they stack up against their competition. Detailed information about Zak Scoring can be found here.

NENSA also scores all Zak Cup races for Club Cup scoring. Club Cup scoring was designed to promote participation and any skier who designates themselves with their active NENSA club at registration will score points for their club, regardless if they are NENSA members or not. Club Cup scoring includes all age groups from U16 through Masters 12 with a premium for being in the top-10, with all skiers 11 and on earning one point. Further clarification is available here.

There are two unique Club events within the Zak Cup Series, the 1 Day Club Championships (1DCC) held in Jackson, New Hampshire (15th year) and a relatively new race, the New England Club Relay Championships (2nd year) which is held at Craftsbury, Vermont. The 1DCC is an individual race that was designed designed to award age-adjusted skiing excellence across age categories. The sum of the top 4 men and top 3 women placements in separate age categories determine the 1DCC winning club. Skiers in this event are also scored to Zak and Club Cup points individually. The New England Club Relay allows clubs six different options to compose a relay team by combining a broad range of ages into single sex, or mixed teams. Each team will accumulate World Cup points for their club which are combined to crown the top club of the day. This race will also be scored for Club Cup points for those teams that are designated as current NENSA clubs at registration. More information about the scoring of both of these events is found here.

If you are interested in being a part of all this Zak Cup excitement please make sure your NENSA memberships are current before registering for any races. If you want your club to be represented please make sure your club is active for the 2018 season. When registering on SkiReg for races, make sure your NENSA number is entered and select your club from the dropdown menu. With those two steps you are well on your way to a great season of scored racing!

Please direct any membership questions to [email protected] and any scoring questions to [email protected].

We look forward to seeing you out on the track!!