NENSA News

NENSA looks forward to kicking off our summer camps for 2024, the first of which gets started at the end of this month! Read more to hear about the philosophy behind our summer camp development opportunities, and this years’ locations, coaching staff and nominee lists.

Eastern Regional Elite Group Camp
University of Vermont, June 29th-July 3rd

The Eastern Regional Elite Group Camp (REG) is a part of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard pipeline and a vital program for athlete development for the East.  Eastern REG is typically held during the last week of June / early July with the goal of inspiring the top junior skiers from our region through training, education and camaraderie. Besides the obvious benefit of gathering our best athletes in a shared setting, we strive to offer the highest level of coaching at excellent training venues as a means of introducing athletes to the next level of training and competition. 

From this year’s head coach, Brandon Herhusky, “The work and dedication required to reach this level of our sport is no small feat and should be celebrated. This camp is a staple of the NENSA summer calendar and a crucial development opportunity for US Ski and Snowboard. Our nation’s large geographical area poses a challenge to us as a ski nation, which is why camps like REG that allow our best young athletes to come together and learn from one another are so important.

This camp should be viewed as an opportunity to learn and grow as an athlete. It is our hope as coaches that you leave camp with a few new ideas regarding your training that you can bring home and share with your club teammates. It is also a perfect opportunity to make new friendships and grow old ones within the ski community. I would encourage you all to branch out and connect with as many people as possible at camp. You never know who may be your future teammate on the collegiate or World Cup circuit!”

2024 REG Coaching Staff:

• Brandon Herhusky (UVM)
• Bryan Fish (US Ski and Snowboard)
• Ben Theyerl (NENSA)
• Cami Thompson (Dartmouth)
• Stephen Monsulick (Williams)
• Audrey Mangan (Craftsbury)
• Avery Ellis (EMXC)

2024 REG Athlete Nomination List

Regional Development Group Camp
Craftsbury Outdoor Center, July 5th-7th

The Regional Development Group (RDG) camp is a NENSA project that provides New England’s developing junior skiers with the opportunity to come together for several days of training, learning, and camaraderie. In addition to providing the obvious benefit of gathering motivated athletes in a shared setting, we strive to offer high-level coaching at excellent training venues as a means of introducing athletes to the next level of training and racing. RDG camp is meant to complement the longstanding Regional Elite Group (REG) camp and expand the number of athletes invited to attend summer regional development opportunities. 

2024 RDG Coaching Staff:

• Anna Schulz (Craftsbury)
• Mackenzie Rizio (NENSA)
• Annika Martell (Williams)
• Erin Waters (Concord High School)
• John Thompson (Paul Smith’s College)
• Chris Stock (EMXC)

2024 RDG Athlete Nomination List

Camp Criteria Information

NENSA is thrilled to introduce incoming Competitive Program Director, Ben Theyerl.

Ben comes to NENSA with strong connections to New England, coaching and community leadership experience, and broad perspectives about sport and athlete development.

A Wisconsin native, Ben connected with the culture and tradition of skiing in the Central region while growing up. He attended Colby College where he studied English, Education, and Environmental Studies and was a member of the Nordic Ski Team. In the years since, Ben has been based in Colorado where he has grown and developed the program at Crested Butte Nordic, provided regional leadership on the board of Rocky Mountain Nordic, and supported U.S. Ski & Snowboard development projects. Along with this regional engagement, Ben has made significant contributions to the broader ski community as an Associate Editor at FasterSkier and Communications Associate with the National Nordic Foundation.

Heidi Lange, Executive Director, is delighted to welcome Ben to the team at NENSA. “Whether engaging with Ben in conversation or through his reporting, his love of sport shines through. Ben thinks critically and holistically about the development of athletes, sport, and communities. The leadership he brings to NENSA is rooted in his experience and insights into our sport at the local, regional, and national levels. Ben brings the passion, organization, communication, creativity, and vision necessary to lead NENSA’s competitive programs and athletes.”

Ben shares, “In the past few years working in skiing I’ve found myself coming back to the refrain of “what is NENSA doing?” which just makes me excited to actively contribute to what I see as an exemplary, and transformative, ski community in New England. I’m also looking forward to working with a lot of old friends, and developing relationships with people I’ve really admired for years as an athlete, coach, and part of the ski community.”

Long-time NENSA Board member Kate Koch reflects, “Ben will bring so much to his role as NENSA’s Competitive Programs Director; he has experienced New England and other divisions, competed, coached, written for Fasterskier, and served our larger ski community through his work with NNF. I know his curiosity and creativity will spark his efforts as Ben jumps into NENSA and continues to build our XC community.”

“Out of a lot of ski memories, I always land back on the American Birkebeiner Trail near where I grew up in Wisconsin,” Ben recalls. “When I was about 12 years old there was a race at “OO” that I did, and then afterwards, my Dad raised the idea of skiing all the way to the Old Telemark Lodge in Cable with a family friend of ours, Tom Meyer.”

“The 20 k up to Telemark was the longest ski of my life at that point, and I just remember it for many of the reasons I uniquely love skiing. The way my Dad and Tom seemed to know everyone out on the trail, the beauty of the Northwoods, and the novel idea that you could race and then just keep doing the sport afterwards, that there was no final whistle or anything. It was the ground from which my love for the sport has grown out of – pushing yourself alongside great people in some of the most beautiful places in the world!”

The Competitive Program Director at NENSA is responsible for overseeing all aspects of NENSA’s competitive programs. This includes managing the Eastern Cup Race Series, Rollerski Series, Zak/Marathon Series, New England Junior National Team, NENSA Elite and Development Teams, and the Eastern Regional Elite Group camp. The CPD advances NENSA’s athlete and coach development pipeline and philosophy by creating resources and implementing development projects.

Ben will be relocating to New England in June and will begin work at NENSA on June 24. 

Ben concludes by reflecting, “I think we’re uniquely in a time when every year has seemed more exciting than the last for American skiing, and with the latest “BIG” development being a Lake Placid World Cup in 2026, I think the next year is going to be a great opportunity to start focusing a lot of the great energy in US Skiing towards the East and all the great things it has to offer ahead of us welcoming the world in 2026.” 

This past winter, skiers all across the northeast participated in NENSA’s fourth annual virtual XC Ski Bingo game completing activities ranging from creating obstacle courses to gliding contests to trying another winter sport.  Participants could get Bingo by completing a row or column of activities and this year we also offered a Bingo card for adults and juniors for the second year! This winter there were a total of 27 participants in 5 states (NH, VT, ME, MA, NY) at 33 different trail areas. Collectively, participants also attended 19 NENSA Events this season. The pictures and tales from participants was encouraging, despite a challenging winter weather-wise. Below are some stories and photo memories from the participants themselves:

“I love our Maine ski community! I’ve made so many friends all over the state, and it’s great to cheer everyone on at races- like we’re all on the same ski team:)”

“I went on a treasure hunt ski with my Maine West BKL friends. We found donuts and chocolate in the woods!”

“I broke my leg, so I spent a lot of time mastering the sit ski”

“I set some big goals this season and NENSA events helped me train to win MJSL STATES!!! XC skiing is amazing and I made so many new ski friends this year!“

“It was super fun!”

“Despite the difficult snow conditions this winter, Sleepy Hollow has done a fantastic job providing skiing opportunities. We took advantage of some nice natural snow and we were was motivated to “Ski to the high point” to finish Bingo, despite the frigid temperatures! We had a fantastic full moon night ski at Sleepy Hollow and some fun BKL sessions this year. A little more snow would be great for February so we can enjoy the races and try out some new ski areas!”

“Building ski jumps and going off are no joke.”

“Don’t ever let your big brother talk you into testing out the ski jump you built first.”

“My friend launched herself flailing into the air trying to do a double pole start!”

“Challenged to skate ski backwards!”

“Lots of fun time with friends“

Junior athletes named to the NENSA Elite/Devo teams will receive the first invitations to the Eastern Regional Camp (REG) to be held June 29th-July 3rd at the University of Vermont. NENSA is also working on Regional Development Group Camp (RDG) invitations that will go out on Thursday, May 2nd after the REG camp attendees are finalized. This year, we will also be naming 20 alternates for REG (10 Men and 10 Women) in the case that invited athletes decline their spots.

Our NENSA Summer Camps are a great stepping stone for coach development. Any US Ski and Snowboard certified coaches who have interest in supporting either REG or RDG please fill out this short application. Reach out to [email protected] with any questions.

REG Invitees (Mid-Atlantic nominations to come)

This year, athletes that are initially invited are asked to accept or decline their REG camp nominations by Thursday, April 25th. At that time, alternates will be contacted in the order they appear by NENSA staff and will be allowed to accept or decline the invitation to REG on Wednesday, May 1st.

In order to accept or decline your REG camp nomination, please fill out THIS registration form.

“Junior Nationals represented an awesome opportunity for New England athletes to show what they do best, sometimes in crazy snow conditions that may have deterred other regions from even putting skis on. From prank wars to podiums, it was a week filled with fast skiing, supportive teammates, and the occasional surprise lobster-in-a-bathtub..!” – Adam Terko, Mansfield Nordic Club

The US Ski and Snowboard Junior Nationals is one of our annual highlights here at NENSA, and this year’s event was no different. Our Junior athletes have worked incredibly hard to qualify and be named to the New England Junior National team to represent our division in the week-long, four race series. The 2024 edition of the event was special, and not just because we increased our Alaska Cup winning streak to sixteen out of the last twenty years of competition. Racing returned to an Eastern venue for the first time since 2017 meaning that not one skier named to the trip this year has ever been able to showcase their skills in front of a home crowd like this at this event before in their careers. Because the event was only driving distance, many parents, coaches, family members and New England skiing fans flocked to Lake Placid to cheer the athletes on.

Collectively, New England athletes claimed 68 All-American finishes, 27 podium finishes, and 12 National Championship titles. New England defended the Alaska Cup with a total of 1,212 points, a 315 point lead over the runners up, the Intermountain division. These statistics are impressive, but the real magic was in all of the special moments sprinkled throughout the week. Numerous personal bests, long-term goals achieved, the perseverance of every New England athlete through some quintessential March weather, a 1-4th place podium sweep with some of your best friends and long-time training partners are just a few examples. But don’t take it from me, hear directly from our fabulous volunteer staff about their experience below:

“I was so impressed with our skiers’ ability to handle whatever the week threw at them with grace and resilience. Outside of our incredible wax techs, the U18 girls experienced the most race-day whiplash of anyone on the day the organizers delayed the mass start classic indefinitely due to icy conditions. But here they are, having finally raced, wanting to stay at the venue even longer to cheer on their friends in the U20 women’s event.” – Audrey Mangan, Craftsbury

“Championship weeks are about performing under pressure. It was awesome to watch the age group coaches working with their athletes to help each of them get ready to do just that. I saw lots of great coaching and I know it helped so many skiers to bring their best. I was grateful to have a chance to put some of my experience to work in support of New England and NENSA, which have been such huge part of my athletic and professional career in skiing. And above all, it was really fun!” – Chris City

“We are so lucky in New England to have such a collaborative and welcoming team environment!” – Alex Jospe, Stratton Mountain School

“My role as an Age Group Coach consisted of a variety of athlete focused duties. Each day I would support the 11 athletes within my cohort by doing everything from driving the group to the venue, meeting individually to plan race strategy, leading group meetings, building team culture, and providing assistance and encouragement on course during races. An additional part of the trip all coaches help extensively with is ski preparation. Our eight person wax staff tests wax pairings round the clock to work to make skis function optimally at each moment of the day and in all conditions – ultimately this means that there are over 1000 pairs of skis to wax over the course of the week!” -Evan Kendall, Dublin School

Some of our wax staff hard at work throughout the week and some outside of the box thinking on how to reheat pizza. (Ruth Krebs and NENSA photos)

“It was an honor to be a member of the coaching staff for JNs this season. A big highlight for me was watching the dominant performance from the New England U20 boys in the 15k classic mass start going 1,2,3,4 in a warm and grueling race.” – Andy Rightmire, Ford Sayre

“First, I would like to thank NENSA for the opportunity to coach at JNs this year as the U20 women’s coach.  It was an incredible honor to work with such an amazing group of young, talented skiers.  Day after day, they fought through ever-changing conditions on one of the most challenging courses out there.  All the while, they brought the passion and dedication needed to excel in one of the toughest sports in the world.  Once again, these champions achieved greatness, and did it with style and while having fun!” – Rob Rothe

“Thinking back to JNs, I have a few moments that stand out to me as my time as an age group coach. The U16 girls gave it their all over the four races, throughout challenging conditions, and had many exciting finishes and podiums. Beyond the racing component of the week, it was incredibly rewarding to watch them come together as a team to support each other. Some highlights include rainbow loom bracelet making, a pancake cook-off with the U16 boys, and skiing their cool-downs as a group on training days and for their post-race cool-down.” -Mia Shifrin, Gould Academy

There are so many amazing photos from the event, relive the excitement by checking them out:

• Charles Swabey photos
• Mark Tarmy Photos
• Phil Belena Photos

Bullitt Timing Results

Junior Nationals Event Video by Ruth Krebs

Big thanks to all of our NENSA sponsors that help us support this group of athletes each year- especially Salomon, Fischer, Nordic Skater, LLBean, and Swix, who helped us with a one-year-only special edition race suit for the event!