The US Cross Country Ski National Championships are taking place in Lake Placid, New York this week. By their very nature, a National Championships capture the imagination. A whole continent’s worth of competitive skiers who practice the sport of skiing in wildly different contexts all converging on one particular place to chase outsized, even Olympic, dreams. This year’s Nationals have only amplified the premise. There are nearly over 700 skiers competing in Lake Placid this week. The number is an order bigger than Nationals has ever seen before. It is, in fact, the largest US National Championships ever, right here in the Northeast.
US Skiing isn’t that big of a game in town. But had this Nationals been a music act booked at the Village Vanguard down in New York though, it may have had to be re-scheduled into the Beacon Theater. There are certainly healthy signs of growth.
Much of our community is rightly focused on the Junior, College, and Senior racing happening at US Nationals. Turning away from the fact that scale of racing is happening in our backyard is hard. However, a look below that big flower of US Skiing shows that its the grassroots it all is sprouting from. So, back across Lake Champlain, NENSA community members ages 4-94 were practicing the love and passion for the winter and the sport of skiing which has made it so that when the country gathers in the East to race, it does so on an order of magnitude which represents the best of us all skiing better, together.
From “Homestead” races to a community racing for the community, it was a wonderful weekend of community racing showing that in New England, and in the Northeast, the grassroots of cross-country skiing are continuing to sprout.
Saturday – Race for Warmth at Craftsbury Outdoor Center, Vermont
The inaugural running of the Craftsbury Outdoor Center’s Race for Warmth marked a chilly, fun, and fast morning of racing to benefit the Northeast Kingdom Community Action’s Warmth Fund, with over 100 BKLers, Masters, and Juniors in between joining in on the first race of 2026!
The success is an auspicious sign for community racing for a good cause in the heart of winter, and we’ll look forward to adding the event to the community race calendar in susequent seasons!
Sunday – Bogburn Classic at Rikert Outdoor Center, Ripton, Vermont
Recap Excerpt from Damian Bolduc, Northwest Vermont Endurance, NENSA Masters Committee Chair
“The Bogburn is a throwback to what racing was in the good old days to many of New England’s hearty Master Skiers. The only way to truly understand the Bogburn is to ski the Bogburn. The race has different meanings to different athletes, and the defining elements are unique to each individual. At a New Year’s Party earlier in the week, one familiar with the race expressed perpetual frustration, while another, John Brodhead, said the Bogburn was the highlight of the season. Personally, I understand both points of view, but I have come to respect and revere the event, even though many years ago my initial reaction was the same as most others: “Never AGAIN!” Yet, in a short time, the race leaves you begging for more. And everyone returns the following year to try to improve.
The Bogburn was the last major homestead race on the NENSA Calendar historically…”
Sunday – Gunstock Freestyle Race at Gunstock Nordic Association, Gilford, New Hampshire
Finally, Eastern New Englanders gathered in Gilford, as the Gunstock Freestyle race returned to its home venue after a year away at Holderness. The report from GNA was that this was a source of joy for participants, and bodes well a winter full of great ski conditions across New England so far.
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.
