Mackenzie Rizio

Over the last eight years, NENSA’s Nordic Rocks program has introduced thousands of children in the Northeast to the joy of cross country skiing with their teachers and classmates, and shared the health and lifestyle benefits associated with exercise and outdoor fun.

Generously funded by the Share Winter Foundation and the Killington World Cup Foundation, the overarching goal of this program is to provide all children with an opportunity to ski.

Beyond a structured and fun introduction, another key aim of this program has always been to identify and facilitate connections between school programs and nearby youth programs in order to provide a pathway and the support necessary for ongoing participation in the sport. In Putney last week, thanks to the vision and energy of community members, a new Nordic Rocks program was launched and a partnership formed with the local club.

Last week, NENSA delivered a brand new set of Nordic Rocks skis and helped lead the first PE classes at a new Nordic Rocks programs in Putney, VT. An hour later, many children were back on skis in a nearby field at the local Bill Koch League practice.

Both club practice and PE class featured kids having fun on skis, trying a new activity, and expanding their skiing skills. Programming in Putney was inspired by a key volunteer with the vision and the interest in providing opportunities to all youth in the community at school and beyond.

A big thank you to the Share Winter Foundation and Killington World Cup Foundation for funding the Nordic Rocks program and helping us to share the joy of gliding on snow with thousands of children each year.

While we cannot accept any additional new Nordic Rocks schools for the 2023-24 season, our waitlist is open for the 2024-25 season:

Snow is falling all over New England, and our NENSA Nordic Rocks skis are enroute to their new homes in schools in Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York. This year, NENSA is thrilled to share that we are nearly doubling our program to include a total of 47 new and returning schools, and serving 6,090 children. Check out the below video that highlights the impact the NENSA Nordic Rocks program has on the schools that are enrolled.

We are especially excited to announce a fresh, all new injected-molded binding design for this year from Lost Nation R&D, for mounting on Madshus skis. Stay tuned, we will be sharing the thought behind the innovative design by Lost Nation R&D soon!

A big thank you to the Share Winter Foundation and Killington World Cup Foundation for funding this program and helping us get more children outside on skis.

While we cannot accept any additional new schools for the 2023-24 season, we can add you to our school waitlist for the 2024-25 season if your school is interested in joining the program.

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.

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.

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.