It is ski swap season…in fact, a few have already passed us by! Finding some real gems at a local ski swap is one of the joys of the sport…
prized hot pink and neon boards from the Colchester ski swap of 2006
If you were not aware, MNC has it’s own “Gear Swap” page…check it out HERE! You can find this page at the very top of the MNC homeage.
The club is happy to work with individuals who have gear they are looking to sell, and equally happy to help set up skiers with the right used equipment. If you are interested in donating or selling gear, please contact Karen at kalence@comcast.net.
As the weather turns cold, also be sure to check out local ski swaps, many of which are fundraisers for schools or local ski clubs and programs just like MNC! A listing can be found on the Ski Maven website by clicking HERE.
MNC welcomes all members (or all potential MNC members!) to join us at the Underhill Town Hall on November 7th for our first-ever Annual Meeting. Highlights include a group run, dinner, and silent auction, along with presentations from Mansfield Nordic leaders and coaches. The keynote speaker will be Pavel Cenkl, a Vermont teacher, coach and ultrarunner. Pavel will share stories and images from Climate Run: Iceland – an epic solo run.
To RSVP and to Sign-Up for the Potluck see our Calendar Entry.
That was one heck of a fun training session! This evening we got together with skiers from GMVS, St Mikes and the UVM Club Team for a sprint showdown under the lights of the Range. The light was fading during qualification and by the time quarterfinals rolled around it was pure darkness aside from the trail of lights winding up and down the hill loop of the course.
Materials for the race: leaf blower, clipboard, cones, waterbelt full of chalk (not pictured: semi-functional cap gun)
With some creative heat structures many athletes were able to race against each other, and each racer got to do a qualifier and three full heats (a quarterfinal, semifinal and final). With four to a heat on the rollerski loop things got close at times, but that’s what makes races like these such good prep. Amazingly, no broken equipment or falls!
MNC represented well with Will Solow tying for a win in the qualifier alongside Torin LaLiberte from SMC. In the A-Final, Will took the victory ahead of another SMC skier, Matt Doyle. Will’s time in the final was the fastest individual lap of the day in any heat or qualifier, so to be able to ski that fast at the END of the race is certainly a great sign of fitness! Gotta also give a shoutout to Charlie Cobb who double-poled the whole thing…qualifier and every heat. Charlie is working around shin splints and has no choice but to get his DP on and the progress and strength gains have been huge.
At the end of the race we celebrated with some pizza in the Walker building! Very fun session and great to have some new faces out to hammer with…each of the coaches even got at least one lap of racing in (or in Katrina’s case, the whole event!). Gary Solow was taking some high quality photos and I will update this post with them (and a link to more, maybe) as they come online. For now here is a link to the results and some video Kai shot from the qualifier. It wasn’t quite dark yet but you can tell from the grainy footage that it was getting there. In the video description (click to visit it on Youtube) you’ll find a start list to see who is who!
Multiple awesome weather phenomena in the same week: double rainbow at the Range on Thursday and the first snow of the year at Bolton on Saturday!
You could get pretty metaphorical here and explain that this rapid shift in weather is akin to the transitions skiers go through every season. I’m not sure if a scientist would agree, but I think snow has a distinct smell. You notice it the first time you walk out to your car when snow if falling and dusting the ground. Travel mug of coffee and duffel bag of ski gear in hand, brushing flakes aside and unlocking your car door in the snow for the first time each year is a true turning point that heightens all your senses: winter is on its way. Not just in the chilly air or the pumpkin lattes, but honestly here showing its face.
We ran our Bolton uphill test on Saturday. With a rampaging flood of sickness, schoolwork, travel and school breaks going on, we only had four hearty souls (plus one coach, one parent, one injured athlete and one pug) making the journey to the summit on a blustery, frigid day that featured slick rocks, snow on the ground and a wintry mix assaulting from above. Results and the historical archive can be found HERE (play around with the bottom tabs to see individual days and athlete-specific records).
Lisa Burt got photos of each runner in action! From L-R Coach Adam, Andre, Greg, Ben C, Ben L
Happy with the effort and the snow! Kai came along and got in some ski-waking..he even brought skis but there wasn’t quite enough snow…yet
MNC mascot Tyke showing how to dress for training in rough weather!
We capped of the week with a rollerski on the bike path in Burlington, followed by our annual Fischer Fit Night at Skirack. Thanks to everyone who came out to that cool event! Things are just getting started in our busy autumn schedule and more dates and events will come up fast. This Tuesday (tomorrow!) we will be hosting a Co-op TT at the Range: skate sprint under the lights! See this SK Sprint TT Flyer for details. Should be another great chance to hammer with our friends at GMVS, along with participation from St Mikes and some UVM Club skiers as well. The more the merrier!
We took an extremely fun field trip to the Mad River today…rallying in the valley and up over App Gap to our friends at GMVS! The first order of business was to gather up with the new GMVS coaches Kat Howe and Garrott Kuzzy (hey, that name sounds familiar??) for a lo-down on the course and races: 10km and 5km mass start races on East Warren road. (results at the bottom of this post)
When the morning fog lifted we were greeted with an awesome fall day with great foliage and even some frost and ice on the mountaintops.
5km racers just after the gun goes off! Yes, Ben is on classic gear…he double-poled the whole 5km including the Plunkton hill!
Will, Elliot and Forrest out of the gate!
Here’s a short clip of the 10km men…I was very excited about the skiing and also about the scenery as you can tell!
A nice handy tailwind allowed for some very fast times, and all three of the 10k boys posted some of the faster times ever for the course! Kat and I only got to witness the start and finish, but Garrott (in van #2) saw the battle unfolding. He said it was an impressive display of smart, aggressive skiing: lead changes, quick little breakaways and re-connections and great head-to-head racing for the whole 10km!
In the 5km, Greg stuck to his pre-race plan: go out hard and push the whole way. He threw down a blistering race in just over 13 minutes and came across the line looking strong. Greg has put in some great training this summer and was slamming his poles down into the pavement with some jackhammer forces! Andre hung tough and tried to latch on to Greg for the first section of the course, ending up with a really strong performance for his first-ever rollerski race. Just like Greg, Andre is still a U16 and is going to turn some heads this season!
Andre rounding the turn…possibly hitting 40mph
Due to nerve injuries that are still getting diagnosed, Ben C has been classic skiing and double poling all summer. He definitely put that to the test today as he double poled the entire course…tough stuff. It takes a lot of perseverance to only be able to ski one technique but the payoff has been big gains in strength, power and technique!
Due to XC running season and SAT exams, the MNC female contingent was unable to make it. Coach Sara jumped in to double the women’s field size and had a great race…there are rumors she may put Alaska behind her and roll VT-style to jump in some Eastern Cups this winter!
Happy gang at the finish…never forget the flag!
Heading back to base…and spotting some frost on the top of the mountains!
After a cooldown both groups enjoyed some large burritos, cokes and mingling at the Mad Taco in Waitsfield…a classic apres-ski joint if I have ever seen one. All in all it was a pretty great lunch…Greg limited himself to one soda, Kai learned what cilantro was and nobody burned their faces off with hot sauce.
A burrito from the Mad Taco
After parting ways with GMVS we saddled up for another adventure. The Gumbies were finishing off a week of intensity but we were after volume, and we weren’t just about to drive all the way to Waitsfield for a rollerski hammerfest and some mexican food! On Garrott and Forrest’s advice we headed up to Blueberry Lake for some light distance training.
I went out for a mountain bike ride with Kai and Greg, while Sara explored the same trails on foot with Andre and Ben. Great trails with only a few Jerry’s in the way to inhibit maximum speed and gnar on the downhills!
Greg shreds so hard he can bike on water!
Happy group after session number two…coach is too tired to keep his eyes open?
What started as a frigid morning turned into a spectacular fall day in the mountains. Adventures like this are a great way to make the most out of the incredible terrain (and friends/competitors/teammates) we are surrounded by. Here in VT we are lucky to have ski clubs and training partners around every corner, so it’s easy to coordinate and get groups together for collaborations like this. Plans are already in the works for our next rendezvous with the GMVS crew…discussions of a rollerski sprint race under the lights at the Range were tossed around…stay tuned!
Parting shot: Kai and Sara ice their legs in Blueberry Lake under the watch of the green mountains!
