We have opened our Podiumwear storefront for another round of orders. This is your LAST CHANCE to order a race suit, warmup jacket, training pants, or MNC hat!
Please go to the following storefront:
Use the password mncround2 (no caps) to enter the storefront and place your orders.
Our friends at Ski Rack in Burlington usually have a great supply of wax & waxing tools. Remember that MNC members get 15% off all Nordic items at Ski Rack!
Ski Touring Centers that have a ski shop usually sell wax as well.
MNC is doing a team TOKO order- we get a great discount and it’s a great time to get everything you need including wax benches and irons. TOKO ORDERS ARE DUE DEC.3, 2021! Get the order form & info HERE.
There are lots of online shops. Just make sure you know what you are looking for because it can be overwhelming! (Feel free to email a coach for help!)
1) Kick or “grip” waxes in a range of temperatures. I suggest getting Toko Red, Toko Yellow & Toko Blue “Grip” wax. Toko waxes have been working really well at Bolton and their 3 wax system is probably the simplest out of all the wax companies.
2) A cork. These come in natural cork and synthetic. I like the synthetic better because they create more friction and heat and since we are waxing outside, this is helpful.
3) A putty knife or a plastic scraper. You will use this to scrape off the old wax.
4) Wax remover & paper towels. You will use this when you really want to clean your skis well, when we use sticky warmer waxes or if we ever use klister.
Here is a really good video that shows you how to kick wax skis & how to clean the wax off them after you ski:
*Note: You do not have to clean your skis with wax remover every time you ski. If we have only used waxes for below 30 F, you will be fine if you just scrape off most of the old wax with your scraper.
Universal Spray or Liquid Rub-on
No grip wax needed. It’s great to have a universal spray or liquid rub-on for no-wax skis: Maxi-glide, TOKO Easy Grip & Glide, SWIX F-4. Apply this every couple of weeks or more often and your skis will just glide and work better. It is especially good when the temperatures get to 32F and the snow gets sticky. You can apply to the entire length of the ski.
For Skin Skis:
Skin Cleaner- This will just keep your skins working better. Use about every fourth time you ski.
Universal Spray or Liquid Rub-on (see above). For the tips & tails only (not the skins)
The bases of your skis get dried out and that makes your skis S-L-O-W, especially in cold weather. The bases need to be waxed routinely. Either when the temperatures change or about every other time you ski on those skis.
There are now two ways of waxing: hot wax and liquid paraffin. Hot waxing needs to be done at least annually, more often if your child skis a lot and even more often if your child is racing. If you rented skis, they come hot waxed and you can get by with just Liquid Paraffins that are easier to apply and require less equipment. So here is how to do both:
Like kick wax, they come in different colors for different temperatures. New this year (2021), they also come in different degrees of price/performance. For BKL, we only use Base Performance waxes for BKL (they are the cheapest). Again, TOKO has the simplest system with just three different waxes. They are a little more expensive than hot waxes, but you don’t need all the equipment that it takes to apply hot wax. The temperatures that they are good for are printed on the wax can.
What you will need:
Here’s a How To: Liquid Paraffin Application
You can set your ski up on the backs of two chairs to apply the paraffin.
If your child races or really skis a lot, you will want to hot wax their skis to help maintain the bases and keep them running fast. It’s a bit of an investment in all the equipment but well worth it if your family has a lot of skis and racing in high school is on the horizon.
You will need:
Here is a great how-to video from our friends in Craftsbury: Hot Waxing Basics
Still have questions? Ask a coach or email Coach Rosemary: sheacobb19@gmail.com
Check out this video and link to help support MNC alum Bill Harmeyer on his professional skiing journey! Many of our skiers enjoy following Bill’s adventures on his vlog, and nothing is more inspiring than knowing a local athlete (who learned to ski with Mansfield and spent all four years of his high school career training and racing with MNC) can make it to the biggest stages in the sport! What’s more, Bill is often visible at summer training or mid-season events talking or skiing with our athletes. Go Bill!
Bill in 2015!
It is that time of year again! Order your Toko items up to December 3rd and receive an awesome discount! Here’s how:
You can now find signups for our Eastern Cup team trips at the MNC Registration page. A few notes on these team trips:
This season MNC will offer three “team trip” options for Eastern Cups. The team has grown and grown each year, and it has gotten harder and harder to handle the logistics of all athletes at all events. In some cases, clubs will avoid team trips entirely (for example, Craftsbury expects their athletes to handle lodging, meals, travel on their own). Other teams will only travel as a team (for example, SMS will house and transport all of their athletes to races and handle meals too).
MNC operates in a bit of a hybrid model. This year, we will offer team trips that include:
Note that these team trips do NOT include wax/race support fees, which are handled separately for all athletes.
These “team trips” will have space for 10 athletes…this is a number that is manageable for the van (which allows some seats taken out to fit personal gear, as well as 1-2 seats for coaches in addition to Adam) as well as a manageable number of athletes for coaches to facilitate in addition to other coaching duties on race weekend.
In the interest of reducing complications, these trips are an all-or-nothing situation. It’s too complicated to involve, for example:
The exception to this is team meeting/team activity time, which takes place the night before each race. The more of the team we can get in one place, the better in terms of having our pre-race meeting and group team building activity. Parents and skiers attending race weekends separate from team trips are still of course encouraged to stay at the same hotel(s)!
Preliminary schedule and costs for 2021/2022 Includes all travel, lodging, and meals
Eastern Cup #1, Waterville ME
Holiday Inn Express, Waterville
$319 team trip
Eastern Cup #2, Lake Placid NY
Rental house, near venue
$249 team trip
Eastern Cup #3, Craftsbury VT
No team trip
Eastern Cup #4, Dublin NH
Rental house, Bennington NH
$189 team trip
How do I get my skis ready? What is “race support”?
Race support fees can be paid as one up-front cost (for those planning to attend all EC races) or can be paid per-weekend. These costs go toward a lot of factors: mainly, compensation for coaches who are testing skis, waxing skis, helping organize and facilitate a race weekend, wax trailer costs, and more. In fact, the smallest portion of the race support fee is the physical wax itself, however those costs are certainly not insignificant.
Racers typically drop skis off with Adam on Wednesday or Thursday. EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: please drop off skis CLEAN and SCRAPED/BRUSHED whether skate or classic. Clearly label kick zones, and put your NAME on all your skis with permanent marker!
Click through to check snow conditions at Tomasi Meadow in Underhill. Submitted by on-the-ground reports, as current as possible. Read More about “Snow Conditions”…
Our summer training is OPEN for 2026! Come join us as we work to improve and grow as skiers. Summer kickoff BBQ on June 20th! Read More about “Summer”…
A piece sharing memories and photos of MNC’s dynamic and inspiring founder, Murray Banks, who passed in February 2026 Read More about “Tighten Your Boots: A Murray Banks Remembrance”…