New England Nordic Ski Association

The Home of Cross Country Skiing in New England

Mackenzie Rizio

XC Ski and Snacks

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JacksonXC was the host of the 3rd event in the Community Tours and Event Series. It was a bright, beautiful day for a round-trip tour to Jackson’s Cocoa Cabin. Our participants ranged in experience and age, from a first-time cross country skier all the way to an EISA skiing alum, now mother to some young XC skiing enthusiasts. The group met at the touring center and then started out towards the Cocoa cabin. We glided through the woods, chatting and exchanging our favorite riddles.

We were greeted at the Cocoa cabin with rice krispie treats, hot chocolate, and marshmallows for roasting over the fire. Due to some dietary restrictions, a few participants carried in their own snacks. The future of snacks is bright, these kids were prepared!

After our winter picnic, we were off on our way back to the touring center for more snacks! Ellen C. was awaiting our arrival with pretzels and mustard to roast over the fire at the center.

See “Nordic Tracks: What can a Nordic ski club do for the community?” by Sally McMurdo, Conway Daily Sun, for more coverage of this fun event.

The next event in our Community Tours & Events Series is the Tour De Stowe, on January 20th at Trapp Family Lodge.

WinterKids: Welcome to Winter Event Recap

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NENSA was thrilled to collaborate with WinterKids on their Welcome to Winter event last week at Lost Valley Ski Area in Auburn, ME! WinterKids helps children develop healthy lifelong habits through education and fun, outdoor winter activity by creating opportunities for children to be active, vibrant and healthy in the outdoors. Their Welcome to Winter event is an annual celebration of fun ways to stay active in winter. Originally created to welcome new Mainers to winter, the event has expanded to allow all members of the community to come and try out healthy ways to remain active outdoors during the winter months. This free event offered a chance to try snowshoeing, cross country and downhill skiing, snowboarding, tubing, snow sculpting, and more while enjoying hot chocolate and s’mores. 

NENSA ran a cross-country skiing station with a fleet of snowboot binding skis from our Nordic Rocks program (courtesy of Madshus, Lost Nation R&D, the Share Winter Foundation, and the Killington World Cup Foundation). It was awesome to see so many young people trying new winter activities and having fun outside in the snow, in spite of the challenging early winter conditions on the day of the event. We were thrilled to also connect with our long time sponsor and supporter, LL Bean, who was running the snowshoe station next door.

WinterKids is doing truly outstanding work getting kids outside and active during the long Maine winter, and we’re grateful to collaborate with them in working towards our overlapping missions! Check out their website HERE to learn more about what they do.

2024 BKL Festival Registration is Open!

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The Bill Koch Youth Ski League Festival is the marquee event of the Bill Koch Youth Ski League. This fun annual Festival features races as well as a wide variety of exciting non-competitive winter activities for skiers of all skill and ability levels from kindergarten up to 8th grade!

Event Registration Options

Nordic Adventure Entry (non-timed events): Includes the parade, Press Forward mini-marathon, Untapped terrain park, laser biathlon with US Biathletes, Build a Quinzee, Storybook Ski, Glitter Station, an autograph session with Bill Koch, and more. For Grades K-8.

**Nordic Adventure events are included with race entry (details below)**

Lollipop Race Entry: Includes the mass start untimed lollipop race and the Nordic Adventure activities. For Grades K-2.

**Children Grade 2 and younger can sign up as Lollipop participants or if they are in 1st or 2nd grade and wish to participate in the 1k pair start race and relay race, they can sign up for the Grades 1&2 Race Category (details below).**

Race Entry Grades 1-8: Includes the Saturday GMVS Classic relay race (which is a paired team race), the Sunday pair/individual start freestyle race (finish order posted and awards for all grades, times only included for Grades 5-8, pair start for Grades 1-6, individual start for Grades 7&8), and all Nordic Adventure activities.

Registration HERE

** Please note there is a $15 price increase for all race categories on February 10th **

All registration categories include an event t-shirt and you can pick your size during checkout. Participants who register on or before January 17th are guaranteed a festival t-shirt. 

Stay tuned to our website HERE for updates and full event details.

Fourth Edition of Ski Bingo starts this Friday, December 1st.

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NENSA is excited to be offering two versions of XC Ski Bingo for the 2023-24 season! This will be the fourth year of Youth XC Ski Bingo  for anyone UNDER 14 years of age, and the second year of Junior & Adult Bingo  for people 14 and OLDER! The goal of this virtual game is to help inspire people of all ages and skill levels to get outside, enjoy the winter world on skis, engage with others who also like to ski, and explore new places.

Every player who completes Bingo gets a rainbow NENSA sticker and each Bingo line completed gets players a raffle entry. At the end of  every month we will raffle off some fun items from our sponsors!

New this year, NENSA will be honoring the youth Club with the highest level of participation with a special shoutout at the conclusion of the season! Read on for more info and get playing!

Youth XC Ski Bingo

For skiers UNDER 14 years of age! Download and print your own Youth XC Ski Bingo Card HERE and be sure to fill out the BINGO ENTRY FORM when you finish. Activity descriptions included in the Bingo card download.

Rules of the Game:

  1. Must be under 14 years of age to play. Game runs from December 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024.
  2. Get “Bingo” by completing the activities and skiing in the states in a full row, column, or diagonal.
  3. Mark your Bingo card as you complete squares. Remember to take at least one activity photo or a picture of you where you skied!
  4. Fill out the XC Ski Bingo entry form HERE! You’ll include your activity or ski location photo and a picture of your marked Bingo card.
  5. Get outside and HAVE FUN!!!
  6. Direct any questions to mackenzie@nensa.net.

Junior & Adult XC Ski Bingo

For skiers 14 and OLDER! Download and print your own Junior & Adult 2022-23 Bingo Card HERE and be sure to fill out the BINGO ENTRY FORM when you finish. Activity descriptions included in the Bingo card download.

Rules of the Game:

  1. Must be 14 years of age or older to play. Game runs from December 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024.
  2. Get “Bingo” by completing the activities and skiing in the states in a full row, column, or diagonal.
  3. Mark your Bingo card as you complete squares. Remember to take at least one activity photo or a picture of you where you skied!
  4. Fill out the XC Ski Bingo entry form HERE! You’ll include your activity or ski location photo and a picture of your marked Bingo card.
  5. Get outside and HAVE FUN!!!
  6. Direct any questions to mackenzie@nensa.net.

NENSA running XC Station at WinterKids “Welcome To Winter” 2023 Event

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NENSA is thrilled to be collaborating with WinterKids on their Welcome to Winter event on December 28th at Lost Valley Ski Area in Auburn, ME! WinterKids helps children develop healthy lifelong habits through education and fun, outdoor winter activity by creating opportunities for children to be active, vibrant and healthy in the outdoors. Their Welcome to Winter event is an annual celebration of fun ways to stay active in winter. Originally created to welcome new Mainers to winter, the event has expanded to allow all members of the community to come and try out healthy ways to remain active outdoors during the winter months. This free event offers a chance to try snowshoeing, cross country and downhill skiing, snowboarding, tubing, snow sculpting, and more while enjoying hot chocolate and s’mores. There will also be fun “out-DOOR” prizes, and a sled giveaway.

NENSA will be heading up the cross-country ski station so be sure to stop by, say hi, and giving skiing a try! Learn more HERE.

Thank you to our valued NENSA Partners