NENSA News

We are excited to share the Craftsbury Outdoor Center‘s 2023 BKL Festival logo and theme description with you all! The awesome logo was designed by the multitalented Craftsbury Ski Club coach, Jake Barton. We’ll continue to share Festival updates here in Breaking News, through our Trail Tales youth newsletter, and on social media (Facebook and Instagram). You can also keep tabs on the Festival website HERE. But for now, transport yourself to the snowy season by reading on…

North Woods in Winter: It’s early March. We’ve been blessed with one of our big March snowstorms and you’re stepping into your ski boots, ready to cruise through a silent winter woodland. The woods seem to be sleeping, just waiting for the first hints of spring. Perhaps on your ski you will duck beneath sap lines or navigate a trail closure due to logging. Were you ever curious about what’s happening out there as you ski through the stands of maple or groves of cedar and other softwoods?

Come with us on a trek through the North Woods in Winter this March as we highlight how, from sustainable forestry to maple sugaring, our northern forests are a fantastic recreational space and a vital working landscape.

We’ll be working with area maple producers and foresters to take you on a journey through this diverse and invaluable resource. We hope that when you leave us on Sunday afternoon, you’ll have a better understanding of how our forests are more than just trees, and how each of us can be better stewards of this landscape that we all enjoy. 

 

The Regional Development Group Camp (RDG) is a NENSA project and brainchild of the Athlete Development Committee coaches who designed this camp to complement the longstanding Regional Elite Group (REG) camp by expanding the number of athletes invited to attend summer regional development opportunities.

The 2022 RDG Camp was hosted by the Craftsbury Outdoor Center and wrapped up this past Sunday. This camp provided some of the East’s developing junior skiers with the opportunity to come together for three days of training, learning, and camaraderie. In addition to providing the obvious benefit of gathering motivated athletes in a shared setting, the camp offered high-level coaching at an excellent training venue as a means of introducing athletes to the next level of training and racing. Athletes challenged themselves with an agility course, double pole test, and distance workouts. They also had the opportunity to work on their technique, learn about healthy fueling habits for training and life, and hear about racing opportunities in college. And no summer camp would be complete without some fun, games, s’mores, and swimming!

Thank you to the Craftsbury Outdoor Center for hosting and helping organize this camp opportunity, and a big shoutout to the camp’s skilled coaches who joined us from the Craftsbury Ski Club, Kearsarge Nordic, Saint Michael’s College, and Paul Smith’s College.

A big thank you to all who participated in the Fourth Annual Roy-llerski and supported the Maine Outdoor Wellness Center! This event, created by Jenny Wilbraham, honors Maine skier Roy Varney by bringing together the cross country ski community and raising money for the Maine Outdoor Wellness Center. This Center was a dream of Roy’s, a place where he could continue to train for cross country skiing and biathlon year-round all while continuing to help out on the farm. The nonprofit Center, managed by Roy’s family and friends, seeks to preserve his memory by providing opportunities to access the outdoors for all Turner and surrounding residents of central Maine and New England. The Center plans to provide an extensive cross country trail system on its 300+ acre farm that can be utilized year-round for hiking, skiing, biking, and running. While this year’s Roy-llerski has come to completion, you can still support the Maine Outdoor Wellness Center by paying them a visit and/or making a donation here.

This year Roy-llerski raised close to $700. Folks participated in many forms from hiking to biking to rollerskiing, and we had 10 go-getters enter the Rockstar category and complete 71.19k in one effort!  To see how everyone stacked up in all the categories, visit the link below. And keep an eye on your mailbox as some lucky participants will get sweet prizes from the Maine Outdoor Wellness Center and LL Bean!  Thanks again to everyone who participated and we’ll see you next year!

RESULTS

Check out all the latest news in this week’s KickZone ~ Enjoy!    https://conta.cc/3OWigXL

John Caldwell Award:  One of NENSA’s finest traditions is presenting the John Caldwell Award.  This award annually recognizes a single individual, or entity, which embodies the spirit, dedication, innovation, and pride of John Caldwell. 

NENSA is thrilled to honor John Ogden and Ed Despard, from Bullitt Timing, with the John Caldwell Award this year, as they truly embody the spirit of this annual award.  

Ed and John, and the company they created – Bullitt Timing – has not only raised the bar for timing races – but surpassed it in all they have done to make timing fair, consistent, reliable, and accessible.

“It is with great pleasure that I can share a few ‘insider’ thoughts about Bullitt Timing, a very small company with a huge heart, endless energy and constant innovation.” says Mary Ann Levins, long-time NENSA event & timing support and race secretary.  “For decades, New England Nordic skiing has been well aware of John Ogden’s passion and enthusiasm for the sport, but what simmered under those wild wigs at the NEBKL Festivals was a man determined to solve some of the problems that plagued the quality of our events.”

Thus, Bullitt timing was born!  John’s ‘CAN DO’ energy now teamed with Ed Despard’s casually stunning abilities with computer software, hardware and basically anything to do with the tech aspects of event timing, put this little company on the fast track to becoming an indispensable part of New England Nordic ski racing.

These two men are the epitome of growth mindsets.  Spend five minutes in their Snap On tool truck retrofitted to be a timing brain trust and you will find that they are not resting on their accomplishments but rather talking about how they can be better; how they can offer more to the racers.  Always thinking, they brought on a third tech/timing savvy assistant, Steve Burt.  Steve brings a calm capability that really shines when things get ‘lively’.  If you have spent any time in a timing building (or truck), things can get ‘lively’.  These three men repeatedly produce a world class product and they do it with huge hearts and great passion.  Congratulations to Bullitt Timing on the well-deserved John Caldwell Award.  New England Nordic Skiing and the greater racing community are so fortunate that you decided to tirelessly invest your many talents in improving a critical component of our events.”

Kait Miller, NENSA Youth & Introductory Program Director shares –

“I’ve experienced what Bullitt Timing brings to an event from both the athlete and event organizer side. Bullitt entered the scene while I was still competing professionally, and they quickly raised the bar on event timing to a whole new level. Both as an athlete and an event organizer, having Bullitt at an event meant I did not have to worry about timing. I could lay my trust in them to provide timely and accurate seed lists, start lists, and results. It is so evident by the quality of their work and their constant innovation how much Ed and John care about the ski community. And while they are operating at a very high level, they are always open to feedback and are always looking for ways to improve what they do. At events, they are the first to arrive and the last to leave. And in addition to being master timers and data managers, Ed and John are also kind and fun humans and I’m grateful to work alongside them.” 

“Bullitt Timing really stepped onto the scene right about the time I joined NENSA,” says Justin Beckwith, NENSA’s Competitive Program Director.  “Besides bringing a whole gamut of new technology — John and Ed bring undeniable passion to all their pursuits.  They just love being a part of events.  The success of many of our new programs, specifically rollerskiing are in many ways possible because of our partnership.  Whether its data management, loaning equipment or helping with manual labor at events — Bullitt Timing has always been there for NENSA and the skiers of New England!” 

Ollie Burruss, Race Director at Craftsbury sums it up by adding –

“It’s hard for me to encapsulate how invaluable Bullitt Timing has been to racing at the Outdoor Center and in New England writ large. I had the honor of hiring John and Ed for what I believe was their first paid gig, an Eastern Cup Opener back in 2016. John was chatting with me in the timing shed when the race started, casually reaching back to click something on his laptop after the first racer left the gate without missing a beat in his story. Since then, Bullitt has joined us for Eastern Cups, Marathon Ski Festivals, and even the 2019 US Cross Country Championships. I honestly cannot imagine hosting a big race without them. Ed, John, Steve, Mary Anne, and everyone else who keeps Bullitt running (I see you Alex and Andrea!) have played an enormous role in raising the bar for competitive skiing nationwide, not just here in New England. Timing is a funny thing. Most of the time if you have to think much about the timing at a race, that’s a bad thing. I love that Bullitt is being recognized with this award and getting the shine they deserve, but I think the true marker of their success is how little racers, coaches, and fans have to think about them at a race. Just head to the live timing, check the results, and go on with your day. No fuss, just accurate information delivered by some of the loveliest folks in our community. “

BRAVO to Bullitt Timing, and to John Ogden and Ed Despard for your game changing addition to the New England ski community.  We here at NENSA are so proud to give you this award, as an entity which embodies the spirit, dedication, innovation, and pride of John Caldwell.  Congratulations!

NENSA is pleased to announce Ford Sayre as the 2022 NENSA Club of the Year.  Like NENSA, the driving force of their mission statement involves, “a life-long passion for skiing.”  Their cross country ski program is one of the most developed in New England – with options for Bill Koch, highly competitive juniors, and a Nordic Club for High School and adult skiers.  For many decades you would be hard pressed to attend a major event in the East without seeing skiers donning the blue and green of the Ford Sayre uniform (although their newest suit is a sharp dual-tone blue).

During the 2021-2022 season Ford Sayre scored the fifth most points in the NENSA Club Cup with participants in 15 of the 27 events that were scored!

With just a quick look at Ford Sayre’s website you can feel the deep history and support of the organization.  “Ford K. Sayre Memorial Ski Council serves skiers and children of the Upper Connecticut River Valley region of New Hampshire and Vermont. The Council traces its beginnings to Ford and Peggy Sayre, skiing pioneers who began offering skiing lessons to children in 1936. Since that time, the program has expanded to serve over 500 children every year, of all abilities and interests.”

“The Council currently offers Alpine, Nordic, and Ski Jumping and Ski Mo instructional programs.”

Each program offers year round training and event calendars, robust volunteerism, accessible venues, awesome coaches and opportunities for scholarship.

Hilary McNamee started working with Ford Sayre in 2011 and became the Head Nordic Coach in 2019.

“What’s most amazing to me is that it’s largely a volunteer-supported organization: There are only 2 full time employees and more than 130 parent and community volunteers supporting practices, staffing the board and running community events on and off the snow for our 350+ skiers. And that’s just our Nordic program — our Alpine, Jumping and SkiMo branches are thriving too!

Since we are on the border, we serve both New Hampshire and Vermont skiers. Which is neat for our Junior coaches who get exposure to both ski scenes. That being said, the early days of the pandemic were really challenging for us because our VT skiers couldn’t come to Oak Hill due to travel restrictions. But our community was committed to finding a way to unite — so, up to the hills of Norwich we went and we had a BALL!

That’s also the season we saw a huge jump in our numbers — this past season we had a 100 skier increase in K-8th over pre-pandemic. And I chalk that up to the commitment and passion of the community of volunteers: Families who joined because indoor activities were limited felt so welcomed that now they’re hooked! If you’re ever in Hanover on a winter Monday, it’s pretty magical to see 120 K-2nd graders flying around on Garipay Field!

Our Junior racing program places equal emphasis on personal and athletic development. It’s a lot of extra work, but we’re committed to traveling, lodging and cooking as a team at Eastern Cup weekends. It’s a great environment for team bonding and personal development — learning to cook, sharing pre-race jitters and post-race war stories, and all the subtleties of group-living. Traveling together also helps keep races accessible to skiers whose families can’t take them to every race weekend. It’s all so good and so special for kids to have this kind of experience with a group of similarly driven peers, independent of their parents.”

Lou Bregou, Ford Sayre Council Chair

“Ford Sayre is honored to be named the 2022 NENSA Club of the Year.  We have an 85 year tradition of building ski communities and instruction on snow that is only possible due to our awesome coaches and hundreds of volunteers.  NENSA is a wonderful partner that helps us achieve our mission to share the joy of nordic skiing at all ages and levels in our community.”

 

Jay Davis, BKL Head Coach

“I have coached K-12 Ford Sayre skiers over the last 24 years, and have been a close observer of the wonderful growth of both Ford Sayre and NENSA.  There is such a special commitment of NE clubs to developing a love of skiing in skiers of all ages.”

Tricia Groff, K-2nd Head Coach

“The Ford Sayre program is an integral piece of the Upper Valley lifestyle and I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of it. The entire community comes together to bring magic to this program and it transforms winter into the most wonderful season of the year for many area children.”

Fischer Sports has signed a three-year Associate Sponsorship with NENSA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 18, 2022

NENSA is thrilled to announce that our longtime sponsor, Fischer Sports, has upped their commitment to NENSA and our year round programing by increasing their annual support to the Associate Level, and signing a 3 year sponsorship agreement with us. 

This first year of increased financial support has enabled NENSA to purchase a trailer that will house and transport all our equipment to and from our NENSA events and programs. Making its debut last week at our NENSA Eastern Regional Elite Group (REG) Camp and the Lost Nation Roll & clinics in Craftsbury VT, the trailer has already been a game changer for both storage and protection of our rollerskis and ramps. 

Fischer Sports has been a huge supporter of our annual Women’s Day—supplying demo equipment to our participants for the day and swag for our raffle. We look forward to Fischer’s increased visibility and support at many of our events and races this coming season.

“Increasing our commitment to NENSA was an easy decision,” says Fischer Skis U.S. Nordic Director, Steve Reeder. “The support they provide to the New England skiing community is unrivaled, and we’re thrilled to help the organization with their year-round efforts to promote the sport.”

“NENSA has benefited from Fischer Sport’s support for many years. It was a pleasure to work with Steve and Brian on this new three-year sponsorship, comments Amie Smith, NENSA’s executive director.“The increased financial support to NENSA is so appreciated and needed! Our organization has been providing increased programming, events and race opportunities steadily over the past number of years, and this step up in sponsorship helps us meet that staffing and programming increase.” 

About Fischer Skis:

Fischer’s vision is to be the winter athlete’s brand of choice through outstanding products, created for everlasting moments and new levels of individual performance. The privately held company employs nearly 2000 individuals who all share a passion for and dedication to winter sports. Fischer Sports GmbH was founded in 1924 in Ried im Innkreis, Austria, where the global headquarters is still located. Manufacturing takes place there and in Ukraine. For more information, visit www.fischersports.com

About NENSA:

NENSA Vision and Mission Statement:

Be a vibrant cross country skiing organization that inspires and empowers lifelong learning, development and community-building through the sport of cross country skiing. Mission: Share the joy of gliding on snow through educational, recreational, introductory and competitive programs to nurture and sustain an active cross country ski community for all ages and levels throughout the East.

NENSA Statement of Purpose:

The New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA) is the umbrella organization for Nordic skiing events in the region. We are a member-supported service organization that promotes the culture of cross-country skiing by creating opportunities for youth, athletes, coaches, officials and skiers of all levels. NENSA provides the support structure necessary to bring cross-country skiers to their highest potential at regional, national and international events.

 

Friday, August 12, 2022 | RSU 26 in Orono, Maine 

If you’re an Orono-area middle or high school skier, come join NENSA and the Penobscot Valley Ski Club at Orono High School for some skills, drills, and games on rollerskis! All clinic participants can use NENSA’s Swenor Rollerskis, but remember to bring your own boots, poles, and helmet! We can accommodate SNS and Prolink/NNN bindings.

Schedule:

12:45pm: Gather and hand out equipment
1:00-3:00pm: Rollerski Clinic

Location:
Orono High School RSU 26 Parking Lot at 10 Goodridge Drive, Orono, Me 04473

Rollerski Clinic Description:
This two hour learn-to-rollerski clinic is open to skiers 12-18 years of age and their parents/caretakers/coaches. We will go over some basic skills in skate technique before focusing on agility and games.

Please direct any questions to [email protected] and [email protected].

The Eastern Regional Camp (REG) is always a highlight of the summer for coaches and athletes alike.  This years gathering was special as it was hosted over the Fourth of July — featured an open rollerski race, real snow to ski on, and an incredibly focused group of athletes and coaches.  We are so lucky to have the resource of the Craftsbury Outdoor Center and owe a huge thank you to Anna Schulz for her vision and organization.  While one component of the camp includes testing that can place athletes further on the US Ski Team pathway — the driving message was that this was a purposeful training camp with opportunities to work with new coaches and get to know athletes from other areas.

The first full day of camp included an open rollerski race that expanded the experience of a typical physical test.  Not only were the REG athletes competing amongst themselves, but there were other skiers in the field.  This included Elite skiers from the Green Racing Project and SMS T2 as well as local juniors and masters skiers.  The course featured two bicycle ramps, one right out of the start and another in the stadium that skiers navigated each lap.  While this wasn’t an agility race (or cross country cross “XCX”) the added benefit of the ramps challenges the the racers, while providing a fun component for skiers and spectators alike!  You can read more about the event, including results on Fasterskier.

There is probably no better recovery session for a rollerski race than playing on real snow!  It takes some serious planning and resources (hats off again to Craftsbury) to pull something like this off — but it’s a 10 out of 10 recommendation — and a lifetime memory for the athletes!

Day two started with an uphill run test that is used by the Craftsbury Green Racing Project.  The course is a little longer than usual REG tests at two miles and features more undulating terrain.  The camaraderie of the athletes was apparent from start to finish and again the focus was on making your own best effort.

For many years we have included an agility test as part of camp — however this year agility was incorporated as an educational and recovery session.  Camp was split into four groups with each group having 15 minutes to play and learn from each other while the others skied easy on the rest of the loop.  The course featured ramps, different cadenced slaloms, under gates, some grass skiing and two inflatable Cabot animals.  Several coaches found this session especially rewarding as the skiers naturally shared techniques and identified areas for future work.  Despite all the obstacles there wasn’t a skinned knee during any rollerski session — it really is impressive how comfortable our skiers have become throughout the last decade.  #skilikeanamerican is alive and well in the East!

 

That evening the athletes were treated to a nutrition talk with Megan Chacosky focusing on energy systems and the next day they had a workshop where Chacosky showed them how to create their own energy drinks.

As we look back on the 2022 Eastern Regional Camp we can be proud of the work that was done and the lessons we all learned.  A purposeful delegation of coaching roles provided increased collaboration and made for thoughtfully planned sessions.  Read on below to learn about the many athlete take-aways.  NENSA would like to thank all of the coaches who supported camp and we look forward to the RDG Camp happening at Craftsbury at the end of the month as well as the Eastern / Central U16 Camp at the beginning of August at the Green Mountain School.  We are also very fortunate for the support of the National Nordic Foundation and the US Ski Team.  The culture of cross country skiing is so strong right now.

Full Testing Results.

The Chummy Broomhall Award is given out every year to a volunteer who embodies the ethos of Chummy who was the Chisholm Ski Club leader for 70 plus years, a 2x Olympian, and builder of the Olympic race courses for Palisades Tahoe, Lake Placid, and Black Mountain. He embodied the spirit of being a volunteer generously giving his time and energy to generations of skiers. It is in this spirit that this award be in his honor for the unsung heroes of ski racing. We are thrilled to share with you all that Carol Van Dyke of Stowe, VT and the Stowe Nordic Club is the winner of the 2022 Chummy Broomhall Award. Carol has made seemingly endless volunteer contributions to the ski community and she has positively impacted so many with her hard work, dedication, and tenacious spirit.

Carol grew up in Stowe, Vermont and first tried cross country skiing in 1973 at the Trapp Family Lodge. Since then she has been the Event Director for many events at the Trapp Family Lodge including the 2007 Bill Koch Festival, NENSA Eastern High School Championships, many Eastern Cups and UVM Winter Carnivals, a Super Tour, and NCAA Championships. Carol has three kids who all went through the Stowe BKL program where Carol was a BKL leader from 1996 to 2002 also coaching NENSA’s very own Youth & Introductory Program Director. She’s a former president of the Stowe Nordic Club, and was the Stowe High School Nordic ski coach from 2001 to 2018. Carol served as President of the NENSA Board from 2016 to 2022, is a USSS Level 2 certified coach, and a Level 1 Technical Delegate. Carol is also a long time instructor for the New England Women’s XC Ski Day event and this past year when injury meant she couldn’t ski, she still showed up to help doing any and all tasks possible. 

Carol has volunteered countless hours of her time, energy, and expertise to the ski community. Long time race secretary and former Bill Koch League Committee Chair, Mary Anne Levins, shared, “What a joy to take a few moments to think about what Carol Van Dyke has done for NENSA and nordic skiing in the northeast over the last 2 decades. I met Carol on the NEBKL Committee and when she raised her hand to take on the NEBKL Festival in 2007, her life as a race director was launched. I know her best as a race director, though she has worn so many hats in the nordic community and has worn them stunningly well! Carol’s tireless attention to detail and her warmth and kindness to all people she comes in contact with has made for a perennially winning combination as a race director. Carol took her humble BKL Festival event director beginnings and quickly set a course for the top events. Along the way, she created a team of volunteers that could not and would not say no to her request for help. Whatever Carol seems to touch in NE nordic skiing, it blossoms. Our New England nordic community is so much richer in sport and community thanks in large part to Carol van Dyke. Cheers to you, Carol!”

Craftsbury Outdoor Center Director of Skiing, Ollie Burruss, wrote, “Carol Van Dyke is a race organizer’s dream volunteer. Whatever the event, whatever the need, Carol is there to offer her experience, her enthusiasm, and often her patience. From raising a family of racers to guiding the NENSA Board, Carol has seen every part of skiing in New England, all the while maintaining an indefatigable spirit and often throwing on a bib herself. Carol’s more recent forays into officiating have allowed her to turn that experience towards developing the next generation of racers, serving as a paragon of what it means to be truly immersed in making our ski community better. Bravo, Carol, and congrats.”

Stowe Nordic Club President George Jackman also had kind words to share about Carol saying, “Long before we became friends I knew Carol as one of the mainstays of nordic skiing in Stowe – if something was happening on skinny skis Carol was involved.  Her involvement spanned everything from decades serving on the Stowe Nordic Club board, to BKL, coaching the high school team, running Eastern Cup races, serving on the NENSA board, and more. Her knowledge, passion, and commitment have made a huge contribution to our sport.”

And NENSA’s outgoing Executive Director, Amie Smith, who has worked closely with Carol for many years shared the following, “Carol has given so much to our New England Ski Community over the years – in so many areas – including being a Race Director/Organizer, Volunteer, TD and being on our NENSA Board of Directors since 2009. This May, Carol ended a six year stint (two 3-year terms) as President. She did an amazing job leading our Board, and worked with me over the past six years to advance NENSA, including helping to write a new Strategic Plan for our organization. Carol chaired the Executive and the Board Development Committees, and has been an integral part of our Personnel Committee.  Even as Carol passed on the Board President baton, she continues as an incredibly valuable NENSA Board and committee member. We are lucky to have a person like Carol, who has given so much to our NENSA ski community through her various volunteer roles, to enhance and uplift our sport, and NENSA.”

We are so fortunate to have Carol in our ski community! She truly embodies the giving, selfless, and dedicated nature of Chummy and we are thrilled to honor her years of contributions with this award. Congratulations Carol!