Championship Events

Perhaps the best word on last weekend’s World Cup Finals in Lake Placid comes from the archetype for New England sport valedictories: upon watching watching Ted Williams’ last at bat for the Red Sox improbably sail into the right field bleachers down at Fenway Park, John Updike wrote that it was, “such a perfect fusion of expectation, intention, and execution, that already it felt a little unreal in my head.”

And so, we bid Jessie Diggins adieu.

Much has and is going to be made of the mass from this past weekend, the throngs swelling to 35,000 people as the world of Cross Country Skiing centered its gravity in New England’s left field, the Adirondacks playing Green Monster on a sublime scale.

The unexpected sensation of attending the World Cup Finals though, was that it felt in our ballpark. After all the bluster when Friday came, it was just another day at the races, and especially given the blizzard, one which seemed to befit the long winded tale of this good winter in New England. There was the milled anticipation and purpose of the Technical Delegates who serve our community all winter. A couple of the same early-rising coaches taking their laps out on the test track. The Stratton Mountain School Juniors took on the unexpectedly serious task of forerunning under their coach Alex Jospe, and then Craftsbury kids, NYSEF kids, Ford Sayre, EMXC and more too, trotted around a course they already knew well. Whispers of next generation inspiration simmered throughout the entire weekend, on terrain parks, and in starting blocks, as the familiar juniors of New England skiing organized their younger peers, and brought it all to joyful boil in sending Jessie off with poise, grace, and glitter.

Across all assortment of media, the final word on this past weekend seems left in simple, if not vague terms: something special happened. Yet, at NENSA, we can’t help but think of how that seems an odd praise to heap on a scene that seemed so typical throughout our winter here in New England, if only turned up a few notches. The disparate groups which needed to pull together pulled together, and the love of skiing imparted was one which came with the intrepid amalgamation imparted by you, in your clubs, with your skiers, in every forest corner and field around New England.

In the famous lede to that Updike essay on Ted Williams, he writes that “Fenway Park, in Boston, is a lyric little bandbox of a ballpark.” Looking out on the scene from the NENSA tent this weekend, we couldn’t help but catch a glimpse of all the unique nooks and crannies of our New England nordic ski community, and it all sang true.

One More Lap

Friday at World Cup Finals honored the past, and as part of that celebration, ORDA and NENSA invited Olympic Alumni to gather to ski One Last Lap together following the awards ceremony. Over 30 Olympians made the trip to Lake Placid with some folks coming in from as far away as Alaska. With recent milestones, including NENSA’s 30th anniversary, the passing of a 50-year Olympic medal baton, saying goodbye to John Caldwell, and honoring Jessie’s remarkable career, gathering at Mt. Van Hoevenberg was a truly special opportunity to celebrate the legacy of U.S. skiing and the people who shaped this sport and this community. 

Terrain Park & Expo

We had the pleasure of running a youth terrain park from Friday through Sunday, creating a colorful space for young skiers to play and challenge themselves. The park featured a range of obstacles and elements, including the popular Fischer Bean Bag Biathlon station, and a fleet of NENSA Nordic Rocks skis that allowed participants to jump in using their snow boots. Between races, a steady stream of kids made their way through the course, building skills while having fun.

Just a few feet away, World Cup athletes and coaches were testing skis on their official loop, offering a unique side-by-side glimpse of developing and elite talent in action. Many spectators gathered early each morning to watch the testing, adding to the excited buzz around the venue.

One of the weekend’s standout moments came when current World Cup athletes stopped by to try the terrain park themselves. A special thank you to our Junior Volunteers for encouraging Sweden’s Johanna Hagström to take a lap. She went on to place 5th in the Skate Sprint the following day, and we like to think her terrain park warm-up played a small part.

Just a short distance away, the NENSA tent was a hub of activity all weekend. We are grateful to our Board of Directors and club partners for bringing creativity and energy to the space. EMXC hosted sign making on Friday and flag making on Sunday, along with glitter and hair tinsel. GMVS led a “write your favorite World Cup athlete” station on Saturday morning, while SMS offered a wooden medallion design station, along with temporary tattoos and more glitter. It is safe to say that Jessie Diggins–inspired cheek glitter has become a staple of race day.

Throughout the weekend, visitors could collect trading cards featuring New England athletes Ben Ogden, Bill Koch, Julia Kern, and Jack Young, contribute to a sticker design contest celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Bill Koch League, and enter a raffle for a 1980 Olympic poster generously provided by Fischer, with proceeds supporting NENSA. The vendor expo remained lively all weekend, and we were thrilled to connect with many of our partners and supporters.

Future Stars Sprint

Following the conclusion of the World Cup Finals sprint on Saturday afternoon, we hosted the World Cup Future Stars Sprint, welcoming nearly 300 skiers in grades 5 through 8 from across New England and beyond. This exhibition-style event took place just after the day’s awards, giving young athletes an unforgettable opportunity to step up to the official World Cup Sprint lanes, just like the racers they watch all winter long and earlier that day.

The energy was high as each heat brought athletes onto the course, many experiencing a World Cup course for the very first time. We are especially grateful to our Junior Volunteers, who skied alongside participants and helped create a supportive and exciting environment on course.

A highlight of the event came when Julia Kern (SMST2/US Ski Team) surprised a group of 5th graders by joining them on the start line and culminated in a final lunge over the line. 

Lollipoppers to Olympians: A Celebration of New England Skiing

Following the Future Stars Sprint, SMS, SMST2, Bivo & NENSA were thrilled to host a celebration of the journey of New England athletes and the communities, clubs, coaches, schools, and partners who helped them grow from their earliest days on snow as lollipoppers to the world stage as Olympians. 

Led by Master of Ceremonies and 4-time SMST2 Olympian Andy Newell, young skiers got to meet with Olympic silver medalists Bill Koch and Ben Ogden as well as New England Olympians Julia Kern and Jack Young. Bivo facilitated skier interviews with the Olympians and SMS and SMST2 concluded the event with a celebratory photo. 

One Last Lap

At the conclusion of the final event at this year’s World Cup, the Women’s 20K Freestyle, NENSA rallied kids representing twenty states and three Canadian provinces to share a last lap with retiring World Cup athletes. Over 650 kids, from 1st graders to high school seniors, along with over thirty volunteers, convened in the biathlon range before skiing en masse into the stadium. It was quite an impressive showing. Jessie Diggins’ jaw dropped as she took in the sight. She then led out the group, with Federico Pellegrino and Nadine Fähndrich joining in the fun. Along the stadium loop, kids peeled off onto the outside of the trail so that when Jessie skied the stadium lap again, she skied through a tunnel of her biggest fans, all cheering and holding up their ski poles in salute. With tears in her eyes, she skied one last lap, into the arms of her family and into retirement. 

Acknowledgements

To return to our Fenway metaphor one more time, NENSA was all over the park last weekend. Whether you were behind home plate, up in the nosebleeds, or up to bat (now batting for the Red Sox and the USA, Bennnnnn Ogden!), we want to thank you for coming out. A survey of NENSA’s contributions at the World Cup, though, shows just like anything us humans do together, it takes everything that we can do just to make one thing – a ski race – happen. Here’s a catalogue of just a few of your efforts from the weekend we’re grateful for:

The East’s legion of technical delegates and officials – from Ollie Burruss setting the course on course and off, to the all-star technique control teams of Amie Smith and Carol Van Dyke, Ted Hall and Peter Reynolds, Fred Bailey, Eric Hanson and Rick Costanza and many more. If all the World (Cup’s) a stage, than Kevin Lee and Chris Naimie are not just merely players in getting the stadium set up everyday (and our hope is that, good ol’ retired English teacher that he is, Kevin catches our Shakespeare riff there). All the previous led by Al Serrano, and orchestrated by Kris Cheney Seymour and their team at ORDA.

We couldn’t have orchestrated the youth of New England, or the world, without the contributions of our New England junior skiers, who brought as unique of skills as the snowflakes on their Junior Nationals jackets. Leigh Niedeck and James Langan kept the terrain park and the dream to #skilikeanAmerican alive all weekend, and even got a couple of Swedish superstars to hop right in. Acadia Enman and Astrid Longstreth were there to ski, to help kids put on skis, and to lead them on skis all weekend. Matias Citarella and the McIntosh siblings Beth and Matthew were the flag bearers to lead Jessie Diggins into her last lap. The Stratton Mountain School juniors foreran, and kept on running to help us all weekend. Up and down the line, there were many more junior and senior athletes who came out to the sport that they’re just a little further into their journeys on than their BKLers.

One of the joys of our weekend was seeing everyone take on slightly different roles than what we know them in all winter. Coaches like Brandon Herhusky became postmasters for fan mail on its way to the World Cup athletes. Matt Boobar and Alex Jospe conducted the orchestra of forerunners. Ed Despard did some very Ed things (I.T. and electrical work that it’s better we just leave him to doing), Hans Albee and Koren Coughlin pitched in with the all hand’s on deck approach we see at Quarry Road every time we get uptah Maine. Board members Sarah Houlton, Ellen Chandler, Allie Walton, Kate Koch, David Dethier and more presided over the tent all weekend. Chris City’s Red Sox hat reminded everyone that this is the New England Nordic Ski Association. Katharine Ogden made the cards traded throughout the weekend, and made sure to catch her brother racing too!

Finally, we would be remiss if we didn’t capture the reunion of NENSA alumni, past and present, from across the country. In the wake of John Caldwell’s passing, there was no better tribute than to put his vision, in all its generations, on snow in one place for one weekend. Among these legends, we’re thankful to Andy Newell for guiding reflections at our event Saturday. Ben Ogden, Julia Kern, and Jack Young for taking time out of their busy race schedule to sign autographs and offer their thoughts on growing up skiing in the East. To all the Olympians who participated in the legend lap on Friday, and then to the legends, like Sverre Caldwell, who saw our future stars sprint race on Saturday, and decided to hop right back into helping coach. And finally, among the masses this weekend, you’d be forgiven for forgetting that this is a sport built on quiet moments of reflection in the woods gliding along, and the quiet, strong connections forged there. On Friday, following the One More Lap event, Bill Koch found his old competitor Thomas Wassberg, and they went for a ski. Amid a weekend showcasing the grandiose procession that international cross country skiing can be, it seemed poignant that the man who lit the spark of inspiration for New England and for America, kept the love of cross country skiing close to the ground.