Blog | Mansfield Nordic Club

Become a BKL Ski Coach!

By Rosemary Shea-Cobb on 21 October, 2021 in BKL Jackrabbits, BKL Race Blog, BKL Training Schedule, Junior Blog, Masters Blog

Coach Emily with the Arctic Foxes.

Do you know how to skate ski in addition to classic? Do you enjoy spending time with kids? Consider becoming a BKL Ski Coach with MNC! We currently need a few more coaches for our Jack Rabbits and Arctic Foxes programs. Coaching these kids is quite fun; you will learn a lot more about skiing, get great exercise every week, and give back to your ski community.

We teach our coaches how to teach skiing, and our coaches are provided detailed lesson plans to help guide every practice. To thank you for your coaching, MNC provides you with a credit that you can use towards any MNC program. In addition, you get an MNC coaching jacket and free Range access any time MNC is present.

MNC BKL programs take place at the Camp Ethan Allen Training Site (The Range) in Jericho on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Practice begins at 3:45 and ends at 5:15, with coaches ideally arriving at 3:30 or earlier.

If you are interested in coaching and would like to learn more, please contact Rosemary Shea-Cobb at:

sheacobb19@gmail.com.

Thanks!

The opening parade

Winter Program Registration

By Adam Terko on 11 October, 2021 in BKL Race Blog, Junior Blog, Masters Blog, Uncategorized

Our BKL, Juniors, and Masters registration is now live and we are excited to announce the return of training to the Camp Ethan Allen Training Site (“The Range”) in Jericho. Please be aware that due to the National Guard instituting a daily per person usage fee, the MNC program fees have increased to cover these costs.

You can use the links below to register for Winter ’21/’22 programming.

Tuesday / Thursday Times

BKL Skiing: 3:45-5:15PM

Junior Skiing: 4:00-6:00PM

Masters Early Session: 4:00-5:30PM

Masters Evening Session: 6:00-7:30PM

Other Locations

Junior training on non-Range days will most likely take place at Sleepy Hollow, and a season pass there is recommended if you are not already purchasing one through a high school team. Early season skiing is most consistent at Craftsbury, and given the frequency of trips, races, and events at that location a season pass to Craftsbury is generally recommended.

Masters and BKL ski sessions not at the Range are also most likely to take place at Craftsbury on the weekend!

Racing Notes

Junior racers, please take a look at the Eastern Cup Primer for some notes on racing and travel this season.

Masters, whether you are an experienced racer or interested in competing in your first race, we are encouraging Masters to come race with us! Our club has an active group of racing masters competing at all levels, distances, speed and abilities. Races are going on every weekend during the ski season. If you are interested in being part of the fun, email Karen kalence@comcast.net to get on the racing masters list. You will receive mid-week email updates on race entry and course details, meeting places, carpooling etc.

Swenor/Start/Bliz Discounts

By Adam Terko on 11 October, 2021 in BKL Race Blog, Junior Blog, Masters Blog

Now is the time!

A special note to MNC members: don’t forget that with the discount code “MNC2021” you can receive 30% off anything on EnjoyWinter.com

Did you know that with every use of this code, MNC receives 10% of your purchase price to spend on wax and tools for the race season? With fall here and winter around the corner, we are getting ready to order the wax and tools. If you are in the market for some new sunglasses, Start waxes, or other great products from EnjoyWinter, this is the time to order!

Some of our favorite items:

Bliz Matrix glasses are the number 1 shade of the MNC team…easy to spot these glasses all over the ski trails

Start Oslo kickwax possibly our most-used kickwax on the Eastern Cup…the solution to crazy New England wax weather

Swenor rollerski tips finding tips for rollerskiing has been tough with supply issues this year, and here is one source

Eastern Cup Primer: What does the season look like?

By Adam Terko on 10 October, 2021 in Junior Blog

Where are the Eastern Cups? Will we take a van to them? Is there lodging? What is this whole “Junior Nationals” thing?

Hopefully some questions are answered in this year’s Eastern Cup Primer:

EC Primer 21/22

You can also find direct links to some NENSA info pages below. Please note, this is the season for renewing your US Ski and Snowboard Membership (a “competitor” membership is required to score points, get ranked, and get seeded for Eastern Cup events). It’s also the time to renew your NENSA license which is required for any Eastern Cup!

US Ski and Snowboard

(select Mansfield Nordic Club as your club!)

NENSA Membership

Eastern Cup Websites

Eastern HS Champs Page

U16 Championship Page

Climb to the Castle 2021

By Adam Terko on 4 October, 2021 in Junior Blog, Masters Blog

After a 1-year COVID hiatus, the Climb to the Castle rollerski race returned! A group of MNC Junior and Masters raced 5 miles straight up the mountain road on Sunday amid a foggy backdrop with views of the actual height only occasionally popping through the dense cover.

This race is quite unique…I like to think it is one of the most beneficial rollerski races in a different way than most. It’s the least like a race we do in the winter, with no downhills and almost no technical terrain.

However, it can be quite tactical on a skier-to-skier level. Drafting can be huge on a windy day (which was not the conditions this year, thankfully) but even just matching a competitor stride-for-stride can be really key and a good learning experience.

The day prior to this race, Coach Sara and I were attending some US Ski and Snowboard conference events. In one presentation, US Ski Team coach Bryan Fish remarked on the +/- 5% concept…that being able to ski with someone means you’re likely in the range of either 5% faster or 5% slower than them. Any greater difference than that and you’ll likely pull away, or get dropped, as the case may be. With 77 competitors and relatively big waves of 15 people (our first “mass start” ski race since spring 2020!) there was ample passing, dropping, and skiing in packs or pairs.

That means lots of learning opportunities, tactical analysis, and even some serious technical analysis as skiers found what components of their strength, body position, or aerobic capacity broke down at certain points. And believe me, at 5 miles uphill it breaks down even for the winners, World Cup and Olympic regulars like Caitlin Patterson and Jake Brown.

But beyond the racing, it was yet again another reminder of how fun team trips, big races, and exciting adventures can be. With the help of spraypainted shiny helmets, the MNC crew couldn’t NOT bring home the gold.

NENSA Recap

Results

(including both Juniors and Masters podiums for MNC! Or MSN, if you are Virginia Cobb)