All are welcome. Please pass along this information to anyone wanting to attend Tom’s memorial service. Thank you.
NENSA News
Tom Kendall Memorial
Our community is heartbroken by the loss of Tom Kendall.
“The Kendall family is organizing a service for Tom at the Dartmouth Skiway Sunday afternoon September 29th. If you would like to join us, please send an email to [email protected] or add your name at the link below if you’d like to attend. I’m just starting to gather names from the ski community and our list keeps getting bigger… such a wonderful, caring community.
Feel free to pass this information along — it would be a huge help to me, and I’m sure I won’t think of everyone.”
https://docs.google.com/
Adirondack Rollerski Mini Tour: Doubleday, and Climb To The Castle
The New York Ski Educational Foundation (NYSEF), the New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA), the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) and High Peaks Cyclery (HPC) invite athletes, friends, family and fans to a Rollerski race weekend in Lake Placid, NY.
This is the second event of the NENSA / HPC Rollerski Series, following the sensational App Gap Challenge at Mad River Glen on August 3rd. We are expecting a great turn-out of athletes from across the region, including the U.S. Biathlon Team for this mini tour.
On Saturday, September 14th the 2nd annual Lake Placid Doubleday will consist of a 3 kilometer prologue with an interval start, followed by a 1.5 kilometer cross-country ski cross (XCX) preliminary sprint. The Doubleday will begin at 9:00AM with an Athlete Safety Meeting and the Course-Opening for Inspection.
Results from the Doubleday, will determine the starting order for day two of the event which is the legendary Climb to the Castle (C2C).
NEW this year – High Peaks Cyclery will be hosting the C2C pre-registration / bib pickup from 6:00PM-8:00PM on Saturday night at their store in Lake Placid. Come get your bib early and socialize! Join us for smores, beverages and make new friends!
On Sunday, September 15th, the Climb to the Castle freestyle race will begin at 8:00AM. The course will start at the Whiteface toll booth, climbing for approximately 5 miles with an average 8% grade up the Memorial Highway to the summit of Whiteface Mountain – New York’s 5th highest peak with an elevation of 4,867 feet.
Registration is OPEN on SkiReg.
Rollerski Agility Tour
Last week, NENSA’s rollerski agility ramps were a playground for over 200 individual skiers. From their home in Warren, Vermont the ramps flew south to Dublin, NH then on to Stratton, VT before making their way back north to Hanover, NH. The ramps’ creator, Competitive Program Director Justin Beckwith, traveled with them in the back of a pickup truck – spreading the fun and challenging style of agility skiing with him as we went.
The first ramps were built by Justin in August of 2018, as part of an effort to create a new breed of agility course that flowed well and let skiers experience new and challenging obstacles. Prior to the ramps, many agility courses were starting to include more jumping and dropping off of obstacles, while exciting, it had the potential to damage equipment and create sore knees. With the smooth and fast nature of the ramps, skiers learn many fundamental skills, perhaps most importantly how to pressure a ski in the push phase.
On Thursday August 15 (one year and eight days after their creation) the ramps showed up in the newly repaved Sun Bowl parking lot at the Stratton Resort. Shortly after their arrival 60 BKL aged skiers from SMS BKL camp showed up on skis or in vans. Justin led the skiers through a progression to build comfort and awareness on the ramps before turning the skiers loose to play.
That same afternoon after the SMS BKL session, Justin traveled to the Dublin School to pick up a ramp that the Dublin XC junior camp skiers had been making use of all week – jumping, flowing and flying through the smooth rollers.
Back in Stratton on Friday four groups of skiers were rotated through the agility course (included the first run of both bicycle ramps put end to end, a #megaramp of almost 70 feet) during the SMS Junior Camp. The final stop of this rollerski agility mini tour was Hanover, NH where Ford Sayre rallied skiers from their BKL, junior, and masters programs. They were joined by members of Dartmouth’s nordic team, as well as Hanover High School team members and parents.
You are never too old or too young to try something new. Many of the skiers who played on the ramps last week were doing so for the very first time. We had skiers on the ramps ranging from 7 years old up through 60+ years old!
The next opportunity to ski the ramps as part of an agility course will be September 14-15 in Lake Placid, as part of the Adirondack Rollerski Mini Tour. After that the ramps will make their way to New Gloucester, ME for the Maine Event on October 27.
Boston Globe Article 8/9/19: Cross-Country Ski Stars Encourage the Next Generation
Hot off the press from the Boston Globe today! A great article on the Stratton T2 Team’s visit to Boston this past week and inspiring the next generation of cross country skiers! Enjoy!
Boston Globe Article 8/9/19: Cross-Country Ski Stars Encourage the Next Generation