Kait Miller

NENSA and The Maine Outdoor Wellness Center are thrilled to host the third annual Roy-llerski and Fundraiser this year during the month of July. The event, originally created by Jenny Wilbraham, was created in memory of Roy Varney to bring together the nordic community for support and to enjoy the sport they all shared.

This year, the event will be virtual again, but we encourage anyone that can participate with a group and make the most of it! Using the date of Roy’s passing (7/1/19), the challenge is to ski, run, or ride 71.19km OR for 71:19 (1h:11m:19s), spread over a couple of days,  weeks, or the entire month if need be. 

There is a $10 entry fee that will be donated to Maine Outdoor Wellness Center and there are ways you can make direct donations to the Maine Outdoor Wellness Center and even start an individual or team fundraising page through SkiReg.

REGISTER

Have fun, stay safe, and take the spirit of the journey with you!! Sharing photos or GPS tracks is highly encouraged.

Registrant Categories:

Rockstar: For those aiming to ski 71.19 in one shot – for time or challenge.
Speedy Repeater: Combine multiple skis to reach 71.19km.
Bill Koch/Recreational/Time Trial: Ski 7.119km non-stop or use the event as a time trial.
Art for Roy: Design the coolest fitness tracker art file to honor Roy! #forRoy
1:11:19: Ski as far as you can in 71 minutes and 19 seconds.

Prizes:

The first 10 registrants, 8 raffled registrants, and 2 randomly selected social promoters will win an event bag with swag from The MOWC and LL Bean. 

To qualify as a social promoter be sure to post your public photos of the event to Instagram or Facebook and tag @nensa_nordic and @theMOWC #Royllerski2021 #summernordic

Participation Data:

Enter your participant data HERE and check this page to see what other participants are up to.

Event Facebook Page coming soon!!

July 2, 2021 @ 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm | Register HERE!!

Join US Ski Team Coaches Matt Whitcomb and Kate (Barton) Johnson and Stratton Mountain School coach Alex Jospe for an afternoon technique clinic.  This clinic is a part of the new US Ski & Ski and Snowboard L100 Coaches Education program.  Come join leading regional coaches who will be certified as Coach Developers after this clinic and a week of coaching at the Eastern Regional Camp.  These Coach Developers will be the foundation of our U.S. Ski & Snowboard Coaches Education programs throughout the summer and fall.

This is a fantastic opportunity for all skiers to learn technique cues and get fired up for the upcoming training season.

We encourage coaches of all levels to come together for collaboration regardless of whether or not they are pursuing the US Ski & Snowboard certification.  There is always something to learn and Whitcomb, Johnson, and Jospe are adept at both teaching and inspiring.

Attendees should be prepared for a three hour clinic where they are encouraged to participate in both skate and classic drills on foot and rollerskis.  NENSA’s new fleet of Swenor rollerskis will be available for use and can be reserved at registration.  We will also introduce and share building concepts for agility ramps.  Justin Beckwith (NENSA) will lead this session.

Afterwards coaches will gather to share food, information, and socialize.

Click here to find out more information on US Ski & Snowboard Coaches Certification.

Price: $30 for NENSA members ($40 non-NENSA)*
*If you’ve never been a NENSA member you can sign up free for the first year here: https://nensa.net/joinrenew-membership/. Save $10 on clinic registration and get a full year of communication and member benefits!
Included: US Ski & Snowboard L100 technique clinic, flat bread pizza, option of using NENSA Swenor Rollerskis
Schedule: Friday July 2, 2021
2:00-5:00pm – Clinic (attendees will also have the ability to try the newest NENSA Agility Ramps)
5:30 pm – Meet at Big Slide Brewery for flatbread pizza

Link to 2020 Lost Nation Roll video recap

Our first event of the 2021 summer season is fast approaching and we’re excited to be partnering with the Craftsbury Outdoor Center to host a rollerski race, Learn-t0-Rollerski Clinic, and Drop-in Biathlon Clinic! The Lost Nation Roll is the first in our NENSA Rollerski Race Series and will be a freestyle, paired interval start race of either 5.6km (U16s), 11.2km (open skiers), or 7.5k (open intermediate skiers–no Dennis’s downhill). Registration is capped at 100 racers total.  Top 10 ranked open skiers of each gender will race on NENSA’s new fleet of Swenor Skate Long skis. Clinic details below.

REGISTER

Course Information

The race will be contested on the Outdoor Center’s paved rollerski loop. The loop has a figure 8 layout, meaning that the middle portion including Dino Hill will be skied twice per “lap.”

The U16 and open race course includes the challenging Dennis’s Nemesis downhill once per lap. If you are not comfortable on rollerskis, this may not be the right event for you. This downhill is high speed and includes an S-turn (or chicane) at the bottom. Please arrive early enough to preview the course. A course map is available for preview here.

The intermediate race course only uses the inner loop of our rollerski track, eliminating the challenging Dennis’s Downhill. If you are currently registered for the open race and want to switch to the intermediate race, email [email protected] and he will switch your registration free of charge.

Learn-to-Rollerski Clinic

Have you ever wanted to try rollerskiing?! Join NENSA’s Justin Beckwith and Kait Miller for an hourlong Learn-to-Rollerski clinic following the Lost Nation Roll race from 1:00-2:00pm. This instructional clinic is geared towards folks who have on-snow ski experience, but little to no rollerski experience and want to give classic roller skiing a try. All clinic participants will use NENSA’s brand new Swenor rollerskis, but remember to bring your own boots, poles, and helmet!! We can accommodate SNS and Prolink/NNN bindings. Register HERE ($25/person). Check out this informational video on rollerski equipment from the Craftsbury Outdoor Center.

Drop-in Biathlon Clinic

This Craftsbury Green Racing Project-led clinic also runs from 1:00-2:00pm and is geared towards experienced skiers and rollerskiers who want to try biathlon. No prior shooting experience necessary. This clinic is free and you’re welcome to just watch if you are not comfortable shooting.

Schedule:

8:30AM – Bib pick up and day-of-race registration opens (if numbers allow); course opens for warmup

9:25AM – Course closes to all racers.

9:30AM – U16 races start. 2 skiers every 30 seconds, mixed gender. Two 3.3km figure 8 laps for a total of 5.6km.

10:00AM – Open races start. 2 skiers every 30 seconds, mixed gender.

11:00AM – Intermediate race start. 2 skiers every 30 seconds, mixed gender. Only uses the inner loop of our rollerski track, eliminating the challenging Dennis’s Downhill.

11:30AM – Podium ceremony

1:00PM – Learn-to-Rollerski Clinic and Drop-in Biathlon Clinic

And just like that it’s June! But before we all get caught up in the summer hustle and bustle, we want to take a moment to reflect back on #25kinMay.

It was super inspiring to see folks of all ages and ability levels getting outside and being active. There were BKL skiers to masters skiers out there getting after it! By the numbers, 123 people covered 4,428k across 8 states and 2 countries. Most folks rollerskied, but we had a few bikers and runners mixing things up.

Three skiers in the “Keeping up with Beckwith” category covered over 250k with Erin Mahone-Moore topping the charts at 303k for women and Phil Lawson for men covering 586k with multiple modes. Joey Rouhana of Nonstop Nordic skied the fastest male 25k and Caitlin Patterson led the women in the Rockstar category. Rosalie Wilson of Ford Sayre and Patrick Coughlin of the Brunswick HS Ski Team skied the most kilometers in the Speedy Repeater Category clocking in 51.6k and 90.2k respectively. Congrats to everyone who participated!! You can check out the full 25k in May data sheet HERE.

We’ll be rolling out our category and raffle winners on social media in the coming days. They will be receiving snazzy new NENSA branded hats or LL Bean Gift Cards.

As NENSA looks forward we are seeking more ways to better support and engage skiers of all skill and experience levels. Stay tuned for our upcoming Rollerski Race Series release coming mid-June and be sure to check out our Learn to Rollerski page which we will be updating with opportunities as we finalize the summer schedule.

If you’re looking for more motivation to keep skiing in June join the our Associate Sponsor, Swix, for their Strava Challenge.  You can also look forward to the Roy-llerski, a memorial rollerski event for Roy Varney of Maine in July.

Event Facebook album  |  Video from Mohawk Trail High School Nordic

Our first ever NENSA Virtual Rollerski Event is back!!

While you might not be as isolated as you were a year ago — this month we again focus on returning to rollerskis!  We want you to challenge yourself and utilize rollerskis as a fun tool to access beautiful places!  More so we want to build the positive social energy of our summertime programs.  In 2020, many folks returned to rollerskiing or tried it for the first time due to the excitement around #25KinMay.  Over 200 people participated and we so loved sharing the stories from New England and beyond!

This year #25KinMay is free  – simply get out there and report your ski (or ski walk or bike) data to us here.  The event is for everyone and based primarily on participation.  There will be raffle prizes and awards for fast times, exceptional routes, and reporting.  The number one rule remains: BE SAFE out there.  Skiers must select terrain suitable for their skill level.

//Rollerski Safety Rules//

NENSA’s mission is to provide excitement to our broader cross country skiing community and continue the momentum of NENSA’s Rollerski Programming.   We look forward to unveiling our new fleet of Swenor skis in mid – May and a 2021 Rollerski Race Series in June! 

Recruit friends to join you – use #25KinMay for motivation to get rolling!  Let’s see if we can top the 13,126 kilometers we skied together in 2020!!

Entries can be submitted at any point between May 1st and May 31st.  NENSA will display and showcase activities throughout the challenge — videos and pictures are encouraged with each event submission as well as tagging @nensa_nordic and #25KinMay on your own socials.  Skiers can enter multiple times – and we’ll have an Ironman and Ironwoman award for those special endurance types!

Again there is no cost for #25KinMay
but we are encouraging membership by continuing the promotion we started last year
ALL NENSA MEMBERSHIPS (BKL, junior, adult & coach) 
in May are $25 ! ! ! 

As an added bonus each entry will receive one raffle ticket (two tickets if you have renewed your 2021-22 NENSA membership) towards a growing prize pool. Membership renewal HERE.

Our 2021 categories will be:

• Rockstar: For folks who want to ski the full 25km in one go.  Participants will be listed by pace per K.
• Speedy Repeater: For someone who wants to break up 25km into more manageable pieces. We’ll track your K’s through the month.
• My Own Pace or “Let’s Walk”: This is the touring class or for folks who might not be comfortable on rollerskis and want to ski walk (or bike).
• BKL: rollerski (ski walk or bike) 10k in May whether in one go or split up into multiple segments
• Keep Up With Beckwith: This category is geared towards masters skiers to keep pace with our Competitive Program Director as he challenges himself to 250km of skiing throughout the month

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRIES HERE
Be creative and share your story – the training season has begun – Let’s Have Fun!!

#25KinMay

Instagram | Facebook

Questions: [email protected]

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!

While there is no regional Eastern High School or U16 Championship event this year, it is still a special honor to qualify for your state team and today we want to acknowledge and celebrate the top athletes in Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire who trained hard, raced fast, and earned a spot on their state’s 2021 Easter High School or U16 team. A big thank you to all the state coaches and race organizers who made the state-based events happen during these challenging times.

To recap a little… Massachusetts kicked things off on February 13th with an under-the-lights 6k individual start skate race at the Leo J Martin Ski Track. Next up was Maine with a two day event taking place on February 27th and 28th. The Maine event featured boys on Saturday and girls on Sunday (split by region) and all skiers competed in a 5k individual start skate race followed by an XCX event. Vermont and New Hampshire wrapped things up this past weekend. Like Maine, New Hampshire’s event also offered two races with a classic individual start race shortly followed up by an XCX event. Vermont stuck to the single race format with boys on Saturday and girls on Sunday but they got creative and integrated some XCX features into their 5k individual start skate race.

View the links below for results and named teams. Please note that the qualification criteria was expanded this year (28 skiers per gender per team), teams are listed in alphabetical order, and all U16s are named to their state’s U16 Team even if they also qualified for their state’s Eastern High School Team. Congratulations to all! We wish those of you who are graduating high school the best of luck in your future endeavors and we hope to see you all ripping it up out there next winter.

2021 State Teams

Race Results:  MA | ME | NH | VT

Videos: NH XCX | VT Girls | VT Boys 

Photo Galleries: ME | VT Girls | VT Boys

Last Saturday New Hampshire hosted its Eastern State Champs event with a jam packed schedule featuring a total of 6 races! Each racer competed in two events: a 5k classic individual start distance race and a skate XCX race. A huge thank you to the Dublin School Nordic Center for hosting this fun day of racing. Also a big shoutout to all the volunteers and coaches that made this event possible. And last, but not least, congrats to all the racers! Below are links to results, video coverage, and the NH state teams.

Results:
U16 Women Classic  | U16 Women XCX | U16 Men Classic | U16 Men XCX
U18/20 Women Classic | U18/20 Women XCX | U18/20 Men Classic  | U18/20 Men XCX

Video Coverage:
U16 Women | U16 Men | U18/U20 Women | U18/U20 Men | XCX Races

State Teams:
U16 Women | U16 Men | EHS Women | EHS Men

This past weekend, Vermont hosted it’s NENSA Eastern State Champs event at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center. This 5k individual skate race, featuring some exciting XCX features, also doubled as Vermont’s Open Junior Championships. Congrats to all the racers and a big thank you to the staff, volunteers, and coaches that organized and supported this event. Below are the top-10 overall results and links to the official Vermont state teams.

1. Finn Sweet, Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club
2. Jack Young, Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club
3. Fin Bailey, SMS
4. Jack Lange, SMS
5. Mathias Boudreau-Golfman, SMS
6. Aidan Burt, GMVS
7. Tabor Greenberg, GMVS
8. Wyatt Teaford, SMS
9. David Shycon, SMS
10. Luke Rizio, Twin Valley Nordic

Boys’ Full Results | Boys’ Livestream | Boys U16 Team | Boys EHS Team

1. Ava Thurston, Mansfield Nordic Club
2. Rose Clayton, Mansfield Nordic Club
3. Camille Bolduc, Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club
4. Hattie Barker, Mansfield Nordic Club
5. Nina Seemann, Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club
6. Emma Strack, GMVS
7. Rebecca Cunningham, Mansfield Nordic Club
8. Charlotte Brown, GMVS
9. Emma Crum, Champlain Valley Union High School
10. Isabelle Serrano, Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club

Girls’ Full Results | Girls’ Livestream | Girls U16 Team | Girls EHS Team