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Women’s XC Ski Day registration is open!!! We are excited to share that this year’s event will be held at Inland Woods + Trails in Bethel, Maine.

New England Women’s XC Ski Day was started in 2002 by former Olympian Trina Hosmer of Stowe, VT. Trina was inspired by her “Sisters in Skiing” in Anchorage, Alaska, who started the Alaska Ski for Women in 1997. Like the Alaskans’ original event, Women’s XC Ski Day chooses a non-profit women’s organization to benefit, and gathers as many participants as it can for a day of cross country skiing which includes lunch and a raffle. The highlight of the day is learn-to-ski clinics with women instructors; the emphasis being on relaxed, fun learning in a supportive and encouraging environment. All ability, skill, and experience levels are welcome. In addition to this event being open to all women, we also encourage and support the participation of nonbinary people who are comfortable in a space that centers the experience of women. NENSA hopes that Women’s XC Ski Day helps bring more folx together to enjoy this wonderful sport.

Registration includes cross-country ski clinics, wax demonstrations, a fantastic prize drawing, a tasty lunch, and a donation to our benefit organization (see below).

This year’s event is raising money for Safe Voices which is a non-profit organization that currently operates the only shelter and support services for victims of domestic violence and sex trafficking and exploitation in Androscoggin, Franklin, and Oxford counties of Maine. Our offices provide one-on-one safety planning, support groups, information and referral, court advocacy, transportation and accommodation for shelter, community education, and professional trainings. If you would like to make an additional donation to the organization, you can do so through registration. You can also pre-order this year’s official Women’s Day Skida hat!

Please click HERE for the Women’s XC Ski Day Page on the NENSA website for full details on lodging, rentals, and clinic information.

Get the feel for Women’s XC Ski Day by watching last year’s video recap!

NENSA is pleased to share that our Annual Fall Event Organizer & TD Seminar will be hosted by the Holderness School on the weekend of December 2 & 3.  Plymouth, NH is only a few minutes away from campus and should provide plenty of opportunities for housing options.  Click HERE for registration information on this year’s seminar.

Venues that are hosting an Eastern Cup, the Bill Koch Festival, U16s or Eastern High School Championships are required to send their Chief of Competition and one other representative (ideally the Race Secretary). Popular Series/Zak Cup/Club Cup hosts are not required to attend, but are strongly encouraged. Coaches are also encouraged to join and learn about the latest changes that impact them and their athletes as well growing relationships with event organizers and TDs.  Each year we strive to add more meaningful subject matter and activities to the seminar.  Topics range from event setup & procedures to rules updates.  Highlights of the seminar include group work activities to build knowledge and better race jury relationships as well as video review of rules infractions from the previous season, and networking opportunities.  

The finalized agenda and other pertinent event information will be emailed out to registered participants the week prior to the event.  Other useful reference information can be found on the Event Organizer and Officials pages on our website.

Cultural development of sport has always been and continues to be a guiding principle for the work we do at NENSA. This culture is rooted in introductory and community programs that cultivate an engaged and vibrant community.

NENSA is thrilled to launch a new series of community programs this season that includes opportunities across our region ranging from instructional clinics to adventure and touring formats. These events are family friendly and are for anyone who is looking for non-competitive fun in the snow! Our goal is to support a welcoming, engaged, and diverse community and to promote the health and lifestyle benefits of cross-country skiing through a wider range of shared experiences.

More information on this new series can be found HERE.

Check out our 2023-24 Community Tours and Events poster, below:

The Mt. Greylock Hill Climb serves both as a celebration of the rollerski season and a marker of the transition to winter — which almost came to quickly (for the event) this year. 2023 marked the third edition of NENSA’s involvement with the competition, which utilizes a beautiful eight mile stretch of toll road rising from Lanesborough, Massachusetts to the highest point in the state. Fueled by increasing local participation, this years event was the largest to date with 138 skiers.

Competitors came from every state in the East, including many junior clubs, three college teams and our largest masters field of the year. NENSA’s involvement in the event was based on the vision of Joe Bazzano from Lenox High School. Hilary Greene and the Berkshire Nordic Ski Club have a long history of using Greylock as a training ground, and provide an incredible volunteer base to make the event run smoothly. We are grateful for the support of the Massachusetts DCR and their rangers who make this event possible. We also owe a huge shout out to Bread Euphoria — who’s tasty pastries and bagels fueled competitors at the summit, along with their bread which pairs so nicely with Cabot podium cheese!

Results

The Hill Climb offers something for everyone, with both a long course (eight miles) and short course (four miles). The race is primarily a classic affair, but there are options for freestyle technique. The long course utilizes five person wave starts with competitors seeded by points rather than gender. The short course is an interval start. Perhaps one of the coolest conversations around the finish was how many folks improved upon their times from the previous year!

Quincy Donley of Harvard catches her breath after the finish. Donley topped the women’s field with a time of 56:16 — almost exactly seven minutes fast than her 2022 effort where she finished eleventh!

Podium Pictures

Canadian and Harvard super star Remi Drolet made this grueling climb look like fun! This photo shows Drolet nearing the top of the mountain nearly two minutes ahead of the next competitor — clearly with more in the tank. Drolet’s time was 43:54, within the same minute of the course record set by Ian Torchia in 2021 of 43:11.

Charles Swabey Photos

NENSA Photos

For many competitors this was their first ski competition of the year and Greylock is a perfect way to get excited for the winter season. NENSA is so excited to see the growth of skiing in Western Massachusetts and share the Berkshire Mountains with the broader community.

College Cup Standings
Bowdoin College will be taking home the NENSA College Cup for the 2023 season with strong showings at the Good Times Roll and the Maine Event. Paul Smith’s College, the 2022 winner was the second team with participation in three events.

Open Rankings

Open rankings reflect strong participation numbers throughout the season with 60 skiers competing in two or more races. 188 skiers were a part of the 2023 Series.

Masters Hill Climber Standings

Mt. Greylock was the final event of the Masters Hill Climber Series. Forty-six masters participated in at least one event. Jessie Donavan (GMVS) and Tim Van Orden (Prospect Mountain Ski Club) are your 2023 NENSA Rollerski Hill Climbers. The Series criteria adds together each athletes two best finishes, with the lowest total being the winner.

Donavan, M4, skied both Climb to the Castle and Greylock and was the fastest woman in each event for masters — she was also 13th and seventh overall in those races. Van Orden, M5, was the top master at the Climb and second at Greylock, finishing 15th and 39th overall respectively.

It was fantastic to see so many masters skiers out on course throughout the summer and Greylock drew in the most of any event with 26 finishers!

1) Jessie Donavan – GMVS – M4
2) Kathy Maddock – Dublin XC – M4
T3) Rosalie Wilson – Ford Sayre – M4
T3) Kathy Schwenk – Knewhcs – M7
T3) Jennifer Mygatt – M3

Jessie Donavan striding to victory.

1) Tim Van Orden – Prospect Mountain Ski Club – M5
2) Robert Knapp – EMXC – M6
3) Landon Vom Steeg – Ford Sayre – M3
4) Scott Brown – Cayuga Nordic Ski Club – M6
T5) Peter Alden – Ford Sayre – M5
T5) Matt Bellizzi – Rochester Nordic Racing – M4

Tim Van Orden nearing the top of Mt. Greylock

by GRACE CASTONGUAY

I spent the past month in Utah training and prepping for the U.S. Biathlon International Team trials held at Soldier Hollow this past week. Here’s how it went!

Running up Clayton Peak 

I let excitement get the best of me in my first week. Having spent two summers training in Utah, I was eager to hit up all my favorite rollerski routes and runs, despite the altitude taking it out of me. Week one highlights included skiing through the changing leaves up Guardsman’s Pass, testing the new pavement on the Soldier Hollow roller-loop, scrambling up Clayton Peak from the Blood Lake Trail, and enjoying the long downhill on my recovery classic ski up Emigration Canyon. New England autumn is certainly charming, but don’t underestimate the changing seasons in Utah. The Aspen trees burst into a golden yellow a few days after my arrival and lit up the mountains. 

Entering week two, more teams and athletes started to arrive and it was time to start dialing in a bit more on race prep. Early, sleepy mornings at the biathlon range were made pleasant by the sight of familiar faces. The U.S. biathlon community is a very small one at that, but spreads across the entire country. It feels like a little reunion every time we all come together for a training camp or race weekend. It was nice to connect with friends and teammates that I had raced with this past winter on the IBU Cup and trained with this summer at Craftsbury during my time as a U23 with the Green Racing Project. 

As the third week loomed, it was time to start focusing on feeling dialed for the racing that would take place later that week. We did some fun group shooting exercises early in the week, such as a “slow mass start,” where everyone skis range loops easy so that we can come into the range all at once and shoot head-to-head. With the first races being Friday, Thursday was pre-race. My pre-race motto is “short and sweet.” I try to get in and out of the range in less than an hour and a half, do just enough shooting to feel primed and confident and just enough skiing to wake the muscles and the lungs up. 

Friday was a 7.5k sprint (two shooting stages). Because this race is so short, shooting can feel extra important because you have less time to “ski off” any bad shooting stages. Warming up, I reflected on what I had visualized last night before going to sleep: coming into the range poised and confident, hitting all my targets one at a time. 

Hermodes warmly greeted us on our first lap of the race. For anyone who hasn’t skied at Soldier Hollow, Hermodes is an infamous hill that goes straight up and completely unforgiving. It’s nearly impossible to ski in L1 up it, so I avoid it on easy skis almost always. Thankfully, I was greeted by a slew of friends, coaches, and teammates lining the hill. Their encouragement gave me the boost I needed. 

On the start line for the sprint race!

I finished the day in 5th place. Despite cleaning the prone stage (not missing any targets), I let the voice in my head get the best of me in the standing stage and my excitement from cleaning the last stage caused me miss three targets. 

Going into the 10k mass start on Saturday, I was excited. I rarely get to race biathlon mass starts, and was really looking forward to how much fun it is to ski as a big group, jump back and forth with people, and race with the added pressure of true head to head competition. I went out skiing moderate, trying not to get caught up in someone else’s pace. Skiing within myself, and after only missing one target each stage for the first three shootings, I found myself coming into the last stage of shooting in 3rd place with a solid lead. All I had to do was hit my last 5 targets and bring it home. Entering the range, I tried to swat invasive thoughts of how awesome it would be to snag a podium that day. Concentrating so extremely hard on how badly I needed to hit the targets actually caused me to ditch my typical process and cadence, and I missed four. I’ve learned this lesson before, but the four penalty laps I had to ski reminded me that biathlon doesn’t like it when you’re needy and that the targets don’t owe you anything. I skied in the final lap with a friend, ending up in 7th place for the day. The aftertaste of a potential podium still hung in my head. Each race is a learning experience, and I clearly need to work on getting a control on my excited thoughts in the last shooting stages! 

Starting the mass start! 

It was bittersweet to say goodbye to beautiful Utah, but I am looking forward to a few weeks back at home in Vermont before heading to Finland in November for the U.S. World Cup Selection pre-camp! And more exciting, my new fleet of Salomon skis will be meeting me there with fresh USBA grinds! I can’t wait to take the rockets out for a spin on snow, and so soon! 

-GRACE