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We want to take a moment to reflect on and celebrate the milestone Olympic performances of Ben and Julia, two athletes whose entire journeys have centered in New England.

There’s nothing special in the water in Southern Vermont. There is something special though.

First, there were hairies, sand skiing, and the emergence of a new discipline. Then there was a kindred spirit who took the jumps at BKL practice to new levels, created meaningful connections wherever he went, and did backflips off of World Cup and Olympic podiums.

In between, there was a community championed by visionaries: Bill Koch himself, Sverre Caldwell, John Ogden, just to name a few.

All over 50 years and leading up to the second ever individual Olympic medal for the United States…from one small community tucked in the forests of Southern Vermont.

And on that same day, his SMST2 teammate and lifelong New Englander Julia Kern delivered a standout performance of her own, skiing into the final alongside the strongest sprinters in the world.

While their paths have converged in Stratton, Julia’s roots are urban. Her development as an elite athlete in a place with fewer natural winter resources speaks to the very strengths she brings to the world stage: grit, adaptability, and relentless determination. It also reflects the dedication and ingenuity of a different kind of New England community, one just as committed to building champions.

No matter where I go, the New England ski community remains a core part of who I am. I couldn’t imagine a more special community to grow up in—or a more welcoming one to come back to.
– Julia

For those who know Ben and Julia personally, their success comes as no surprise. But watching them represent the U.S. and New England on the world’s biggest stage yesterday was truly something special.

Congratulations, Ben and Julia! We couldn’t be more proud.

As the Eastern Cup season approaches its finale, we want to welcome everyone in on the unique tradition and atmosphere of racing in New England! Sunday at the Oak Hill Fischer Eastern Cup will be our second annual Eastern Cup “Try-It” Day featuring an introductory race offering inclusive of wax and coach support.

Introductory Category (non-scored U16/U18/U20 Races): The introductory category, available both Saturday (Feb 14) and Sunday (Feb 15), is designed to help 7-8th graders and high school racers extend their season, get ready for NENSA Eastern High School and U16 Championships, and join in on the Eastern Cup! No USSS or FIS license required. Skiers will start alongside the USSS-sanctioned field, but results will be within a “Introductory” class awarded 3 deep in all gender classifications at the Eastern Cup podium ceremony.

Try-It Day: On Sunday, there will be a “Try-It” opportunity for athlete wax support, coach support, and coach development for coaches interested in learning more about waxing at the Eastern Cup level. NENSA is excited to partner with Caldwell Sport for the ski and wax support portion of our “Try-It” offering. Wax support registration deadline is the same as the event registration deadline: Wednesday, February 11th at 7:30pm. There is no cost for this offering but folks do need to register.

Coaches: Designed for coaches seeking a development opportunity to support their skiers on race day, coaches will use wax supplied by Caldwell sport and will work in conjunction with NENSA staff as part of a neutral service team to prepare their athlete’s skis on Sunday, February 15th for the 5k skate race. 

Interested coaches should register by the February 11 deadline above in order for NENSA and Caldwell Sport to facilitate the ski service team and gather data on athlete skis.

Coaches will work with NENSA staff as a team through all aspects of race-day ski service, including:

• Ski selection and race-day ski fleet management.
• Glide, kick, and structure testing processes and practices.
• Glide and kick selection and application.
• Managing race-day timelines.

Athletes: Independent athletes can register for the wax service in order to receive full ski service for Sunday’s race (they do not need to have a coach registered). Athletes can also join NENSA staff for a course preview and race warm up guidance.

For race and registration details please go HERE.

The Snowflake is a symbol wherever they fall. In their simplest form, they’ve been etched into almost every winter culture at any point in human history. Interlocked lines, leading to more interlocked lines, interlaced into a crystal symbolizing the airy peace of a cold winter’s day. The complex image of a snowflake though – all their fractal beauty – is tied to a very specific place: New England.

Starting in 1885, a Vermonter named Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley started pointing the then-nascent technology of photography towards snowflakes – thousands of them – he collected on his Jericho farm. Bentley was trying to unwind a very New England-y observation; that all snow isn’t the same. Fresh snow is airy. Re-frozen snow after a thaw is hard and packed. Most New Englanders concerned with this observation now just test klister and hard wax and call it good.

Bentley though, stuck to scientific aims. That is, until, he inadvertently uncovered the crystalline intricacies contained in snowflakes. His photography would become a pop-hit, with individual snowflake crystals running in newspapers, in collected books, and becoming the basis for the snowflake as a visual tome. Meanwhile, his scientific work on snowflakes ended up leading to a less-than-definitive morphology. He drove towards a conclusion which has become a popular notion, that “no two snowflakes are alike.”

This realization imbued the snowflake as a symbol with even more beauty. Out of the cold, dead of winter, nature couldn’t help but create. In each snowflake, there was a new mishmash, and a new world.

When the New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA) incorporated in 1995, its first Program Director Zach Caldwell had to design a logo. So, he went with a snowflake. Zach was probably not consciously inspired by his fellow Vermonter’s century old legacy – being as smart as Zach is though, he very well could have been – but he did land on an image drawn from a lasting power, and one which had it too.

In between bannered block lettering on top and bottom, a six-point snowflake was chosen. In snowflake classifications, this is a “stellar dendrite,” which fall in very cold, humid conditions – a classic snowflake, for a classic New England snow. To fill it, Zach emplaced the outline of the Norwegian legend Oddvar Bra (of breaking his pole fame) in full classic stride from the cover of one of his uncle John Caldwell’s The Cross Country Skiing Book editions.

The decision to fill the snowflake with one of Norway’s all time great skiers was pertinent to much of NENSA’s early programming. John Caldwell, who had led the movement to start the organization, had started the practice of hosting clinics with his connections from the nordic countries dating back to his days as the US Olympic coach in the 1960s and 1970s. When John dreamt about what he wanted the New England ski community to shoot for in developing its skiers, he realized that it looked a lot like the Norwegians and Swedes which were dominating the sport back then even more so than they do today. So, he continued to bring them in. For early NENSA coaches’ clinics, for races, and simply to keep skiers from Falmouth connected to skiers from Falun around their love for the sport. The aim was to fill a class of experts in the New England community which it hadn’t quite yet filled on its own.

Zach, for his part, liked the aesthetic of the Bra in full classic stride. So, using the edition of Adobe Illustrator which came on Windows 95, he drew up the NENSA logo.

The humble NENSA snowflake has endured as NENSA’s world became crystalized with its own connections. The snowflake began appearing on the New England Junior Nationals Team suits and then multiplied and multiplied. It spread on gifts given out at Eastern High School and J2 Championships, and at NENSA Women’s Day. It became the first little team crest that thousands of Bill Koch Leaguers wore on their jackets. It adorned Olympians way before their Olympic dreams could crystalize.

What began as a couple of branches has laced together into a small world. A community which matched the tenor of the beauty found in a snowflake. Nordic skiers couldn’t help but fill the dark dead of winter with light, life, and the warmth of human souls pointed in the same direction. They created their unique snowflake. Created NENSA.

Last year, as part of NENSA’s thirtieth anniversary, we asked the community to vote on a special logo to celebrate our world. Charlotte Ogden of Bivo submitted eight designs. The overwhelming favorite in the community captured John Caldwell’s Granddaughter Sophie Caldwell-Hamilton, by parts an Olympian, World Cup Champion, former Stratton Mountain School T2, Dartmouth and Stratton Mountain School standout, and current Program Director at the Aspen Valley Ski Club (AVSC). Sophie was captured in full classic stride. Her technique looked punchier than the long-gaited extended arm of the original logo. And though it wasn’t intentional, a slight illusion on the eyes led to debates on whether she was striding towards you in her silhouette, or striding on to some hill, just out of frame.

As NENSA’s thirtieth wound down late last Fall, the NENSA Staff started to ponder where the Sophie logo would go. And, after some small considerations, the notion was raised – why doesn’t it just stay? Wouldn’t it make sense to have a NENSA skier in the NENSA logo?

The plan was floated by the NENSA Board of Directors at our Fall Meeting. A question on whether there were any objections met with an awkward silence which lasted just long enough that it was up to NENSA’s last remaining founding board member Peter Hendel to break it up with some humor – “wait, I’m just remembering, I think that old guy on the logo was me!”

The second snowflake in the NENSA collection then, is here to stay. We are proud to put a NENSA skier at the heart of NENSA. From Caldwell to Carnivals to competing at the world stage, Sophie grew up here, and then did it all. We think its reflective of a community which has dared to grow, expand, and lace its own crystalline, unique beauty. And one that like all snowflakes is fractal inward and outward. In each New England skier’s accomplishment, there’s the bit that belongs to me and you. In one skier, we see a reflection of the racers, coaches, families and friends which make NENSA, NENSA.

Snowflake Bentley’s collection of snowflake photography is housed in his hometown of Jericho. We’re proud though, that of all the snowflakes that aren’t alike, perhaps the most visible snowflake image in a Vermont winter is the NENSA snowflake – displayed on a BKLer at Prospect, a racer at Craftsbury, or anywhere in between.

After the post was live, Zach Caldwell shared the following:

“The original was from a picture of Odvar Braa skiing in Putney when he visited with Magne Myrmo back in the early 70s. It was chosen purely for the classic aesthetic – at the time there weren’t endless photos available online, and this one was in one of uncle John’s books, on my bookshelf, next to my computer. I scanned the photo and made the outline in Adobe Illustrator, and I also built the snowflake in illustrator (and yes, I knew that it was a stellar dentrite, but again it was designed for its classic aesthetic more than its meteorological significance).

At any rate – that was all a very long time ago, and it’s so cool to see Sophie’s silhouette in the middle of that snowflake now!“

The organization that governs Nordic ski events in New England said the sport is growing in popularity, including among young athletes who look up to cross-country skiing superstar Jessie Diggins.

NBC5 | Jack Thurston

LYME, N.H. —The organization that governs Nordic ski events in New England said it is seeing considerable growth in interest in the sport. The executive director of NENSA, the New England Nordic Ski Association, was a guest on this week’s episode of NBC5 In Depth.

“The sport of cross-country skiing is much younger than alpine skiing in America, I think it’s fair to say,” said Heidi Lange of NENSA. “But we are seeing incredible growth and success at all levels.”

On the Jan. 4 episode of NBC5 In Depth, Lange said the fame and success of Jessie Diggins, who won three Olympic medals in cross-country skiing and an array of other championships, has helped attract young athletes to the sport.

“We see a lot of glitter at our races,” Lange said, referring to how Diggins popularized wearing glitter on her face during competitions. “We see kids embracing that joy and the sportsmanship that she emulates. And it goes deeper than that, of course. Jessie is an incredible mentor and role model in so many ways. She’s so willing to be open and vulnerable and very transparent about her journey, not just celebrating the successes, but sharing what she’s experiencing through challenges and struggles. And I think that has had a very powerful influence on skiers as they’re developing and navigating what are hopefully long journeys in the sport.”

Lange told NBC5 In Depth that over the past two Olympic cycles, 50% of U.S. Olympic team members in Nordic skiing had an affiliation with a New England program. She went on to say that a closer examination of the numbers revealed that 30% of that population grew up in NENSA’s youth and junior programming in New England.

“We’re incredibly proud of that,” Lange said. “It’s early to say yet for this year, but trends are tracking in a similar fashion.”

Lange provided other encouraging signs for the future of the sport in the NBC5 In Depth interview. She also discussed advancements in snowmaking technology for Nordic ski areas, and offered recommendations of what fans of the Olympics should watch for in the Nordic competitions at the upcoming Winter Games.

The video atop this article has the full interview with NENSA’s Heidi Lange that aired on the Jan. 4 episode of NBC5 In Depth.