Lack of natural snow, freeze-thaw cycle lead to changes at next weekend’s Henchey Memorial Eastern Cup Opener.
The race jury at for next weekend’s Henchey Memorial Eastern Cup, with consultation from NENSA’s Athlete Development Committee, has made the decision to change next weekend’s races to the following:
- Saturday December 21st, 2024 – Classic Sprint.
- Sunday December 22nd, 2024 – Freestyle Individual Start 10 k/5 k U16s.
The impetus of this proposal is to prioritize having a high-quality race opportunity given the snow conditions available at Craftsbury Outdoor Center. The race jury has made the informed decision that the best format to run a dual race weekend would include utilizing the core man-made snow loop at Craftsbury to sprint on Saturday, with the mutualistic outcome being the best chance to run a high-quality individual skate start 10 k/5 k on Sunday.
Updated Racer Information: Detailed Schedule and More Info
The tentative updates in the detailed schedule are available in the Henchey Memorial Eastern Cup Race Packet: HERE
More information, including final courses and updates on team information including testing areas will be announced later next week.
Snow Conditions at Craftsbury Outdoor Center One Week Out from the Henchey Memorial
The week proceeding this decision was a wild one in the New England skies. Last weekend’s Rodrigues Sprints and Kendall Memorial Classic took place amid new snowfall and near frigid temperatures (evidence in our recap, HERE). However, a mid-week storm dropped around 2 inches of rain on the course. Typical of the COC, there was extraordinary collective efforts to mitigate the losses on the 2.5 k course Tuesday, with rowers, skiers, farmers, and anyone in the vicinity of Craftsbury Common pitching in to shovel snow onto the course.
A post-storm evaluation of the planned 2.5 k course Friday showed a course depth of ~4-5in throughout. The core man-made loop (the course from last weekend’s Rodrigues Sprints) has more pronounced depth, and also has a greater possibility to continue to make snow on through next week.
Another thaw is in the cards for Monday and Tuesday next week, including a ~0.25in of rain on Tuesday. After that, things get cold and there is the potential of snow on Thursday-Friday. Craftsbury is hosting US Biathlon Trials starting Tuesday through Friday, meaning there will be prior race traffic to manage before producing a finalized Eastern Cup course for next weekend’s races.
Official training opportunities Friday will be adjusted based on these Biathlon Trials, but a reminder from the organizers that there will be no skiing after dark in order to prepare the track for the Eastern Cup.
“I Already Registered, do I need to do anything?” Answers.
If you already registered for next weekend, your registration will carry through by the day you registered. In other words, if you registered for Saturday, you are still registered for Saturday. If you registered for Sunday, you are still registered for Sunday.
The SkiReg has been changed to reflect the format you are now registered for, a Sprint on Saturday, and a skate distance race on Sunday.
NENSA’s scratch policy and late registration policy remains in place (found here). If you would like to scratch and receive a refund, you must make that change on SkiReg by registration close on Wednesday December 18th at 7:30pm.
You can check your registration on the “Who’s Registered?” Page: HERE
Does this still count for JNs Qualifying, FIS Points, USSS Points?
In short, Yes. The format changes are being made with considerations for the entire Eastern Cup season.
Pending final approval from sanctioning bodies, the Henchey Memorial will still be:
- A New England Junior Nationals Qualifier (JNQ).
- FIS-sanctioned.
- USSS-sanctioned (except Introductory categories).
A note that this will have the net effect of an added FIS-sanctioned sprint race to the Eastern race calendar.
Expanded Head-to-Head Heats for Saturday Classic Sprints
Towards recognizing that this change could potentially mean a lost head-to-head racing opportunity for some skiers, NENSA and COC are going to pilot expanded junior heat opportunities in Saturday’s Classic Sprint. The qualifier will run as normal, with the following heat opportunities following:
- Open Heats – 30 skiers of any age group, normal timed elimination rounds.
- Junior Heats (U18/U20) – full 30 skier round run as a normal elimination.
- U16 Heats – 18 skier elimination rounds.
Eastern Cup Schedule Changes
Towards producing a fair, competitively-diverse series, NENSA will be making the following change to the Roy Varney Memorial Eastern Cup at Quarry Road February 1st-2nd, 2025:
- Saturday February 1st, 2025 – Classic Mass Start 10 k/5 k U16s.
This will preserve the posted and planned distance and sprint mix being used in the Eastern Cup JNQ process (see rules here). NENSA is especially grateful to the organizers at Quarry Road for their flexibility in this change.
A Collective Thank You!
NENSA thanks all involved for the considerable thought and experience that has gone into making the Eastern Cup flexible to the realities of the winter so far in New England. Likewise, we’re thankful to all competitors, coaches, and supporters who are adaptable to these changes. We fervently believe that the ability of New England racers to adjust and adapt is a net benefit to athlete development, even if it is incurred by forces beyond our control.
We’re looking forward to seeing everyone next weekend in Craftsbury.
In the meantime, think snow!
