Lodging details can be found here for the 2024 BKYSL Festival.
**Lodging at The Breadloaf Inn is close to capacity. For any further questions, email (rikertnordiccenter@middlebury.
Kait Miller · ·
Lodging details can be found here for the 2024 BKYSL Festival.
**Lodging at The Breadloaf Inn is close to capacity. For any further questions, email (rikertnordiccenter@middlebury.
Justin Beckwith · ·
Spring and the new training season are in full swing across the East. Based on previous year’s feedback and a desire to spice up the fourth edition of this community activating event — #25KinMay will be condensed into the final week of May. Starting on May 25th we encourage you to get out and safely enjoy rollerskiing as you ease into more specific training.
Categories:
– Best Video — Grab some friends and get creative. Please choose music suitable for all ages. Videos should be under 60 seconds.
– Best Image — Rollerskiing can take you to inspiring places, from mountainous terrain to the spectacle of your local green space. Capture unique lighting, settings or people in your images.
– Roll to Snow (or Water) — It’s getting harder to find white stuff, but there are still patches in the high reaches of ski areas, your local ice rink. Use your creativity and remember water is snow in another form.
– Members 25 — Any NENSA member who reports a 25km ski.
Rules:
– Check your equipment.
– Get out there and ski.
– Take photos and video (make your edit).
– Make sure tag NENSA and include #25kinmay (email outside content to [email protected]).
Prizes:
NENSA staff will vote on winners from each category — winners will receive our 2023-2024 Rollerski Season Trucker hat. “Members 25” will include a raffle for a night at the Trapp Family Lodge.
NENSA will share your content on our social feeds Instagram | Facebook and highlight top submissions in KickZone and nensa.net
History and Spirit of #25KinMay:
This is the event that gets people thinking about rolling every spring. Originally a way for the community to share activity during the pandemic, it has developed into a way to shift the paradigm of rollerski from being just a training mechanism. It’s a time to reach out to friends or connect with new ones to plan an adventure. Ever see a road that was just calling for a ski? Or maybe there is a bike path that you had always wanted to check out. We want you to challenge yourself and utilize rollerskis as a fun tool and build the social energy of our summertime programs. We love the stories we’ve shared for the past three years!
#25KinMay is free – simply get out there and report your ski to us via Social Media (or email). The event is for everyone and based primarily on participation and this year, creativity! Please add descriptors to your routes, challenges and successes.
The number one rule remains: BE SAFE out there. Skiers must select terrain suitable for their skill level.
NENSA’s mission is to provide excitement to our broader cross country skiing community and continue the momentum of NENSA’s Rollerski Programming. We look forward to unveiling our 2023 Rollerski Race Series this month and visiting clubs throughout the East this summer!
Recruit friends to join you – use #25KinMay for motivation to get rolling!
Kait Miller · ·
NENSA is excited to share that in addition to our race support model, we are now also offering noncompetitive recreational event support for ski clinics and touring events. Whether you want to host a learn-to-ski day for people who’ve never skied before or you want to offer a recreational ski tour adventure with food stops along the way, NENSA is happy to help. Interest in cross country skiing is growing and there are many people who want to try our awesome sport and/or grow their skills. In addition to bolstering your own ski community, recreational events such as ski clinics and tours also bring in new people who will return to your venue for years to come.
NENSA is looking for venues/clubs interested in growing recreational offerings in our region. Our goal for 2023-24 will be to incentivize participation through shared experiences and adventures all across our region. Venues interested in having their event supported by NENSA should complete the bid form HERE by July 15th. Early submissions are encouraged so we can help shape a calendar that minimizes event overlap.
$2 headtax/registrant NENSA Event Contributions & Responsibilities:
$5 headtax/registrant NENSA Event Contributions & Responsibilities:p
Venue/host Responsibilities:
Additional information, including a sample ski clinic info sheet, available HERE.
Questions? Email [email protected].
Kait Miller · ·
NENSA is excited to share that the 2024 Women’s XC Ski Day will be hosted at Inland Woods + Trails (formerly Bethel Village Trails) in collaboration with Bethel Resort & Suites (formerly the Bethel Inn) in Bethel, Maine on Sunday, January 28th. In addition to hosting a small Women’s XC Ski Day during the first pandemic winter in 2021, Inland Woods + Trails also hosted the full event in 2020 and we looking to returning to this beautiful venue.
The 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.
Full event details to follow this fall. Registration will open November 15th. Stay tuned to our event webpage HERE and sign up for our newsletter HERE for updates.
Justin Beckwith · ·
Link to David’s Video Challenge from May 2020
By David Northcott
This spring, I had the privilege of attending Junior Nationals for the first time as a member of Team New England. This has been a primary goal of mine for the last two years, and the experience was every bit as amazing as I had hoped! Through all the fun, I also gained an important perspective on my training and racing. My experience at JN’s taught me valuable lessons that I hope to take forward through my skiing career.
My earliest winter memories are on skis. I was skiing from the time I could walk and it’s always been a huge part of my identity. I competed in my first BKL race at two years old on homemade wooden skis that my dad made for me for my first birthday. My parents are coaches and I spent every winter afternoon at their practices for as long as I can remember. Growing up, I chased a crew of older, super fast, and super fun teammates in the Putney BKL program and absolutely fell in love with ski racing. We were taught how to work hard and to play even harder. I owe so much to my Putney coaches!
One year ago, at the end of the 2022 season, I felt incredibly motivated after just missing a spot on the JN team as a first-year U16. I put in a lot of focus over the summer, and it paid off! My Eastern Cup season went about as well as it could have; I was on form for the majority of the qualifying races. Going into the season my results goal had been to get the #1 New England U16 seed, and I was able to meet this goal. Coming off a successful winter, I left for JNs in Fairbanks with high hopes for both the trip and the racing. The trip didn’t disappoint and was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had. Traveling as a team really added to the fun, and spending a week in Alaska with a bunch of my friends was a blast. Beyond that, I realized there is something very special about racing at such a high-level event. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to pull together the races I knew were available for me to get; it wasn’t a disaster, but my performances left a lot to be desired. What bothered me the most wasn’t the actual results, but the fact that I could tell I just wasn’t racing to my full potential.
One of the surprising and meaningful parts of this experience was the amount of support I received from my local community. It got me thinking about how much goes into pursuing high-level skiing. It’s not only my own time and energy but also the investment from my parents, coaches, and the amazing crew at NENSA who made the JN trip and much of our race season possible. On top of that, it was humbling to see how many of the people in my local community were interested and excited about my season. I really appreciated it, and it was incredible to have so much support. However, it added something I didn’t foresee; for the first time I felt pressure outside of my own ambitions. To clarify, this pressure wasn’t from anyone other than myself. I began to feel like I owed results to those who supported me. The expectations of high-stakes racing made it a lot harder to race with clarity than I expected.
Following the Alaska trip, I was asked to put together a slideshow of my BKL to JN’s progression for a presentation to my local BKL group. In my time spent searching through old pictures and results, I thought it was cool to see how many of the people who raced in Fairbanks with me have been racing alongside me since first grade. Even more interestingly, many of these people, now some of the fastest in New England, have not always been dominant. This made me think about my Nationals experience and draw some connections. In the moment, failing to meet my goals at JN’s felt really difficult. However, improvement is not always linear and there will always be ebbs and flows along the way. Looking at those old results reminded me that for most of us, race results are only a part of the story. It can be really easy to get stuck on results and feel like a set of sub-par performances will continue indefinitely. I felt this in Alaska and I came away pretty discouraged and unconfident about my abilities. However, after a few weeks of reflection and making the BKL presentation, it occurred to me that this is really not that much different from the results I have had my whole life. Some good, some bad, some I was proud of, and some that left me disappointed. I would have been psyched to crush the big races at the end of the season, of course, but I know now that I can use the disappointment to garner a ton of motivation to get after it this summer.
I really appreciate the opportunity I had this year to be part of such a great team. I am also very appreciative of the opportunity to now be pursuing the sport I have loved my whole life at a high level. I want to strive to use all the generosity from others to motivate, rather than turn the goodwill into unhelpful pressure. I am ready to pick up the pieces of races lost, find inspiration in setting new goals, work hard, and thoroughly enjoy my skiing friends and incredible support network. I’m super hyped to get to work this summer and excited to come back next year stronger, faster, and more experienced!