This past winter, young skiers all across the east from Buffalo, NY to Waterville, ME participated in NENSA’s XC Ski Bingo game completing activities ranging from night skiing to backcountry skiing to obstacle course skiing. Each state had a unique card and forty-seven skiers completed at least one full row of their state’s Bingo card collectively skiing at 43 different ski areas! In this especially challenging year, the smiles and stories shared by participants were inspiring and heartwarming, and we are so impressed with how many young people got outside to play on their skis! The creativity and enthusiasm you all brought to this game was contagious.
I’ll let some of the comments and stories we received from players and their families speak for themselves:
“Best ski of the year so far was skiing to the high point with BKL friends. It was fun and crazy skiing down!”
“I liked skiing up all the hills so I could go fast down the hills at Great Glen.”
“I like going down the big hill at Great Brook Farm!”
“We loved skiing as a family.”
“I skied the longest race I’ve ever done by far a 22+k. There was so much climbing in the Long Haul Loppet up at Jackson. I skied to the high point at Jackson twice.”
“I convinced my whole family to get season passes so we could all ski as much as possible this winter! I’m going to learn how to skate ski!”
“Bingo’s very fun! It makes skiing more fun and it’s already fun.”
“I got to ski across the road to the other side of the Rusty Nail Trail! I used my duck walk like I do uphill.”
“The backcountry ski in Grafton was a lot of fun and the slalom ski activity at the base of Mt. Abram during break was awesome.”
Night skiing was an unexpected hit:
“We did not expect to enjoy night skiing but did it just for bingo and had a great time! It also started snowing during our night ski visit which made it extra pretty!”
“My favorite thing is night skiing!”
“Night skiing was fun. Very icy, but super bright full moon. Made up ice cream and put it in the ice cream maker while we were out. Perfect pineapple ice cream when we got home!”
“Bingo encouraged Matt to try new things (like night skiing – a fun family activity!)”
We are grateful to the families and ski centers that supported participants in their many activities. And last, but not least, a big thank you to our partner LL Bean for the fantastic Bingo raffle prizes!
Click HERE for an album with more Bingo photos to see what the players have been up to all winter and happy spring!
