NENSA News

Mother Nature may not be cooperating in the snow department right now, but the New England skiing community is finding fun ways to share their excitement for winter. We have three great events on the calendar this weekend, with something for everyone – whether it be a guided hike and evening around a fire pit or racing for all ages on fantastic snowmaking loops in classic and freestyle formats. Gather your family or friends and enjoy the weekend’s adventures!

Moonlit Guided Walk in the Woods

Carter’s XC Ski center is hosting a Moonlit guided tour. Learn about the history of the area, observe native plants and animal tracks, and discover more information about nordic skiing, outdoor recreation and more. After the guided tour there will a bonfire and snacks at various rates provided by a local chef. This is part of NENSA’s 2023-24 Community Tours & Events.

Bogburn Classic

This long running event will be hosted at the Rikert Nordic Center on artificial snow. This is a relaxed interval start classic race and it is part of the NENSA Zak Cup and Club Cup Series. The tradition of BKL racing and rewarding all age classes will continue in the honor of Bob Haydock. Ribbons for BKL, Skida hats for winners.

Gunstock Freestyle

Taking place on Sunday, this is low key interval start freestyle race. This event is part of the NENSA Zak Cup and Club Cup Series. The Gunstock Nordic Ski Association will be hosting this event at the Holderness School on a 1.4km artificial snow loop.

In the weeks leading up to the Roy Varney Eastern Cup Memorial all was cool and collected — allowing for the organizing committee to focus on creating an exceptional event. Despite one, (five inches of rain) weather event, it seemed like Quarry Road Trail had cracked the code of community, volunteerism, and creating artificial snow — and indeed they have. However, for the fourth week in a row, a wet and warm storm cycle ravaged the East the evening after Sunday’s events, damaging not just Quarry Road’s race track — but threatening roadways and communities across our region. Hard work makes good luck — how more properly could we summarize the 2023 Roy Varney Memorial Eastern Cup. #forroy

How exciting to start the Eastern Cup season with a classic sprint! Clubs and skiers, with varied amounts of on-snow preparation, showed not only the technical skill of skiing needed to compete, but more importantly, the mantra of having fun with the process. The 2023 Varney attracted record participation with nearly 300 finishers each day. The field, fueled by a strong collegiate presence, was exceptionally strong, yet there was an air of levity and excitement — especially for young skiers — as we all reunited with peers for the first time this season.

Throughout the day 30 heats were conducted allowing for spectacular racing with moves being made on Hero’s Hill and the flats near the finish alike. It was comforting to see fast skis and good kick were readily available in the fluoro free era — techs and teams are encouraged to simplify their approaches to waxing and ski preparation. This seemed to be the case this weekend with most coaches out on course rather than over focus on the wax bench.

Classic Sprint
Open Women:
1. Lucinda Anderson – UNH
2. Jordan Grialou – Bowdoin
3. Amelia Tucker – Dartmouth

Open Men:
1. Tabor Greenberg – GMVS
2. Benon Battebo – UVM
3. Joe Graziadei – GMVS

Full Results
Individual Sprint Podiums
Rankings

NENSA and Bullitt Timing have been making concerted efforts to efficiently update not only the Junior Ranking List (which serves as the qualification for the New England Junior National Team and other development opportunities), but also the Overall Club Cup scoring — which encapsulate all open NENSA competitions and the Eastern Cup Team Score — which represents specific Team and age group placings at EC races.

Eleven teams have competed in five or more (of the seven) races on our calendar! That shows depth of the club structures in New England, but also how lucky we are to have fired off seven events at the beginning of winter without a weather glitch. As we head towards the end of 2023 one race remains (the Jackson Jaunt) which will be hosted at JacksonXC on New Years Eve day. At this point it is Mansfield Nordic Club out in front with a 191 point lead over the Green Mountain Valley School.

After the races on Saturday, the Ski Club and Trails, organized a meticulous preparation for Sunday’s Freestyle races. The Open courses brought new terrain into play that had yet to see final grooming after Herculean Quarry efforts in the proceeding week. There was also tying together of old and new artificial snow. Consistent temperatures and hard work made for a fantastic surface that was both easy to hold an edge on and fast!

Flying Point Road Photos
Sam Geissinger Photos: Day 1, Day 2

Anyone in attendance will likely remember Michael Collin’s voice — but undoubtably the feel of the festival atmosphere he helped create with upbeat tunes and stories, all while honoring the memory of Roy Varney so wonderfully.

Acclaimed music, commentary — and easy shuttle access — set the stage for a exceptional Freestyle races on Sunday. All skiers utilized three laps races with the U16’s covering 5km while the Open competitors raced 7.5km. These multi-lap races maximize cheering and spectating opportunities and Quarry Road provided corridors and welcomed access throughout the trail system. Participants were also encouraged to utilize a warmup track with awesome terrain features, which was utilitarian but also heartwarming to see youth, families and racers getting light over rollers. Adding to the festive scene clubs to set up ever evolving tailgate camps near team trailers and wax benches.

Freestyle 7.5km
Open Women:
1. Lucinda Anderson – UNH
2. Hattie Barker – UNH
3. Amelia Tucker – Dartmouth

Open Men:
1. Jack Lange – Dartmouth
2. Tabor Greenberg – GMVS
3. Joe Graziadei – GMVS

Individual Sprint Podiums

NENSA is thrilled by the continued development of Quarry Road Trails and the Quarry Road Ski Club — just before the Eastern Cup we received an exciting Press Release which will reward and continue to bolster the developments of the venue and opportunities for cross country skiing in Maine.

Merry Christmas all — look forward to seeing you out there!

We had some really crazy weather Sunday and Monday! JacksonXC ‘s snowpack was hard hit along with most of the rest of New England. Fortunately JacksonXC invested in snowmaking last season and plans to have a loop opened later this week on the Wentworth Golf Course trails. They will host the Jackson Jaunt on this loop early in the morning on December 31st. This chill interval start race event will be in classic style for the first time in several years. Ring in the New Year with some fun ski racing and camaraderie at JacksonXC!

The XC Ski and Snacks Tour at JacksonXC is postponed until sometime later this season – stay tuned for a new date.

NENSA trustees and the Ogden family are thrilled to announce the endowment of NENSA’s youth programming position, the John Ogden Youth & Introductory Program Director.

He believed that teaching kids how to love sport was infinitely more important than teaching them to excel. His goal was always to develop happy, healthy humans rather than elite athletes. Even so, he ended up fostering an environment within his own home club and throughout NENSA that boasts a community encompassing everyone from top-level Olympic skiers to the thousands of New England kids who try skiing for the first time each winter through NENSA’s Nordic Rocks Program.

Through a named, endowed position, we wish to honor John, to keep his insight and vision interwoven in our programming, and to secure the future of NENSA by supporting the growth of our Youth & Introductory programs. The John Ogden Youth and Introductory Programming Director staff position at NENSA will be partially funded through a permanent endowment in John’s name. 

We are so grateful to this community and to the Ogden family for their ongoing support and guidance as we work to capture John’s energy and passion, ensuring it remains at the center of our work as an organization. 

Thank You!

Much gratitude and art, photo, and video credits to (in the order included):
John Ogden Youth & Introductory Program Director Mackenzie Rizio, Steve Fuller,
Tamra Mooney, Grant and Jill Braddish, Heather Mooney,
Heidi Lange, Alex Jospe, and Tim Van Orden.

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.