At the start of Rikert’s 50th season, there’s no was way to set the tone than tending to the legacy of what Rikert has always meant for skiing in New England: top tier racing which welcomes everyone on in.
Through the vast changes in the sport of skiing, in New England, and in the New England ski community, the farm-turned-ski center has always seemed to reach for the more timeless aspects of nordic ski racing. The individual joy of a community gathered, a winter here, and always new skiers chasing their dreams in the sport, it’s all you can ask for from the pretty little campus, tucked in a valley among the ancient Green Mountains.
Season, opened!
Saturday – Rodrigues Sprints Race
Half the world away in Switzerland on Saturday morning, two Vermonters skied their way into a World Cup sprint final. Jack Young, in 4th place, and Ben Ogden in 5th, both marked their capstone push through to the Final with deft awareness of where and how they wanted to ski in a high speed pack and come out on top. Jack Young distinctly took a tact on a corner that was tripping up nearly everyone, including Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, on his way to the Final.
So, how were those back at home getting the next generation of Vermonters, New New Hampshirites, Mainers, and Bay Staters (Mass, you folks need a new demonym) to do the same?
Make sure that the Sprint Finals at home included more skiers than ever before!
This year’s Rodrigues Sprints marked the American debut of a format adapted form Norway’s Junior National competition, in which 50 skiers advanced to open heats, and skied in 10 skier, 5×2 row mass starts throughout the whole day.
The details on it are all here.
The Rodrigues Sprints were a test event for the format, with the use of it scheduled to be at the Henchey Memorial Fischer Eastern Cup in February.
(Note: the Cheri Walsh this week will use the traditional 30 skier format for Open and Junior Heats)
So, how did it play out? Well, there were hard starts off the Rikert line to reach the first corner in a front row position. There was tactical holding back to mitigate the chaos. Constructive feedback that it was chaotic, and positive feedback that it was…chaotic.
Through it all, it was still racing. With the whole community together, on course, in a true Jim Rodrigues-oriented way. The University of Vermont Catamounts scored dual victories: with Kristin Maltun Helland taking the Womens win over 2nd and 3rd plac Middlebury College teammates Quincy Massey-Bierman and Shea Brams, respectively, and Fin Bailey taking the win over two Canadians, 2nd place Justin Boudreau (CNEPH), and 3rd place Thierry Olivier (Club Nordique Mte. Ste. Anne).
The discussion and feedback on how the sprint was raced more indicates that, in some sense, it was a success. It forced skiers to think differently, react differently, streched and played on the notions of how the sprint racing format, now just maturing in its inclusion in the sport, can be toyed with to help skiers dynamically improve in it.
We’re proud of our long tradition of innovation as a community, and whether ephemeral or the wave of the future, giving something new a try to stress different aspects of the sport is one which is always worth the time and effort to bring to the racing community.
Sunday – Kendall Memorial Classic Race
After something new on Saturday, racers got to bask in the traditional, classic community-style of racing with the 7.5k Kendall Memorial Classic race on Sunday at Rikert.
A typical early winter 2025-26 “cold and kind of windy definitely winter day,” as the refrain has been around New England, played host to a wonderful beginning of the season, with juniors, seniors, and masters all taking to the Rikert course for some of their first real efforts of the season.
In the Womens race, Middlebury’s Mica Bodkins took the win over 2nd place Kristin Maltun Helland (UVM), with Shea Brams joining her winning teammate in 3rd place. The Mens race saw Thierry Olivier (Mte. Ste. Anne) take the win over teammate Raymond Albert in 2nd place, with Fin Bailey in 3rd place.
In the U16 Boys Mansfield Nordic took the top two spots with 1st) Jorgen Pirrung, and 2nd) Isaiah Bowen, with 3rd) Antoine Fontaine (Orford). The U16 Girls also saw a win for MNC with 1st) Mia Gorman, with Green Mountain Valley School rounding out the podium with 2nd) Kendal Bowen, and 3rd) Genevieve Graves.
A full slew of Senior and Masters skiers kept the racing for all ages, with Justin Freeman (Independent) taking the top Masters honors for Men, while Jessie Donovan (Independent) took the top Masters honor in the Womens race.
Sights and Scenes
A light snow seemed to linger throughout the weekend at this year’s Opener races. It kept the fuel for excitement which this snowy early winter has brought present throughout the weekend. When the skies cleared away on Sunday afternoon to reveal a snow-capped Breadloaf, in all its glory, it re-upped the smile on everyone’s faces from the reunion the weekend meant for the ski community.
After a summer, the Fall, and a great early winter, we were all back together, doing what Rikert has done for 50 years: bring some joy to a tight-knit community, where each and everyone loves ski racing.
Results and Rankings
NENSA Results | Results on Bullitt Timing
NENSA Zak and Club Cup Rankings
Preliminary NENSA Rankings for the weekend are updated by 12pm Tuesday on the NENSA Rankings Page. A 48 hour protest period is open until 12pm Thursday. There will be no retroactive scoring of races after this period and rankings are considered final.
