The Pugcast is back for Davos, with special guest Craig Pepin! Some links to topics discussed:
Craftsbury Group Size
A note from Ollie at Craftsbury yesterday:
“[please] remind the MNC skiers that they have to ski in groups of 2 individuals from different households.”
It’s difficult to do this. We’ve all been apart for a very long time, and a snowmaking loop is a great place to see friends whether you planned to or not. But please, lets all try our hardest to respect rules and regulations that are in place for the safety of ourselves and those around us. Ski areas are working very hard to let us do what we love, and we’re indebted to them for operating at all this winter. Even moreso those ski areas up north where the natural snow hasn’t fallen.
It has been a tough year for all our age groups. It is made harder by seeing ski programs in neighboring states hold practices and timetrials where guidelines are very different only a border away. It is made much harder by seeing programs within Vermont travelling in vans together, training in groups together, in some cases holding training camps outside our state together, and seemingly treating winter like business-as-usual at times.
But our club is committed to following guidance and this is a responsibility shared by all of us. We cannot control what other programs do: we can only control our own behaviors and, as I’ve told many (and our Juniors most frequently) we will all appreciate the team we have and the time we have together much more once the world is back to normal.
Please stay vigilant.
-Adam
BKL Practices Vacation Week: NENSA BINGO!
Hi BKLers! We always suspend practices during December Vacation and this year will be the same. However, to give you some incentive to hop on your skis and get out there over the vacation, I am suggesting that everyone do NENSA’s BKL BINGO game! You can win a US Ski Team hat or a $20 LL Bean gift card! Read all the details and download your Vermont BINGO card here: BKL BINGO
Just some info on places to ski in the area:
Bolton– Adam groomed the 1 km loop on 12/18 and reports are that it is pretty good. You are welcome to go and ski it. Check the MNC website for latest conditions.
Sleepy Hollow– Their snowmaking loop is now about 600 m. long and they keep adding to it. It is great skiing! You can get a pass & sign in online. Check it out: Sleepy Hollow
Rikert– They got 10 inches in the last storm and almost everything is open! I skied here on Saturday and report that it was quite good. A few rocks in places, so if you have rock skis, opt for those. Passes and reservations needed: Rikert
Craftsbury– They have about 3 km of manmade skiing. They require reservations, passes and special bibs for the manmade loop. The last storm completely missed them.
Places to the South that got a lot of snow and are probably worth a day trip (be sure to check status on their webpages before going).
Woodstock Nordic, Mt. Top (Chittenden), Ole’s Cross-Country (Waitsfield), Strafford Nordic
Don’t Fear the Klister
We are reduced to skiing on snow loops this week, if you get lucky enough to be out skiing at all! Please always be aware of loop rules, reservations (if applicable) and crowd sizes.
That being said, we’re lucky to have excellent places like Sleepy and Craftsbury and Rikert who are making snow and, quite literally, making skiing happen right now.
This week will not only be pretty snowless, but also pretty cold. The combination of cold and manmade snow equals KLISTER. Many people mistake kickwax logic by assuming it is only related to temperature. Klister is for when it’s really warm out, right? Not quite!
Klister is for ice, harsh snow, and manmade snow, in addition to sloppy wet snow. Here in New England we see klister all the time, from the first races to the last. I am a big believer in “training on klister” and will often spend the first 30-40 minutes of a Junior practice furiously applying klister to skis in order to have our group spend time on this wax in the wide range of conditions we find it useful. You may have even seen some klister soup in action to get it on as many skis as possible:
Well, this week it is time for klister once again. For many of us, the first time this year! Although I must admit in my true love of klister I applied some Rossa Special last week for a night ski at Bolton…
While it might not be the most fun for everyone, I highly recommend you give it a try this week. Do not give up on classic skiing just because it’s icy out. If we all did this, nobody in New England would classic ski much at all! I encourage testing your klister skills and having a little fun (yes, it can be made fun) this week at least once.
When temps are in the teens and low 20s, it’s time for purple and blue klisters. Some of our favorites include:
Rex Purple
Start Purple
Rode Blue/Skare
Swix KX30
Start Blue
It is also important to have a binder klister. For training, the spray binders from Swix and Toko are easy to apply and use.
Here is a video below from Boulder Nordic Sport that does a great job of sharing some klister knowledge!
MNC and Out-of-State Racing
Race season is fast approaching, and events have begun to appear on the calendar across our region.
Every state has different guidelines and requirements related to COVID-19. In Vermont, our restrictions are quite hefty, and MNC is committed to abiding by these guidelines.
To that end, our club does not condone or support attending ski races outside of Vermont at this time (12/14/2020). While we’re hopeful that conditions with COVID-19 may improve with time and our ability to travel and compete will improve too, we need to remain diligent.
Leaving Vermont is reserved for “essential travel” and also requires quarantine upon re-entry, not to mention suggested quarantining prior to leaving Vermont as a precaution against bringing the virus to other places.
Furthermore, with the still-standing postponement of organized recreational activity we feel that we cannot effectively commit to the common race-day team support such as van transport, group wax support, and general gathering as a team.
Any racing done outside of Vermont is undertaken at the risk and decision of individuals.
We hope that we can return to more group training, competition, and interaction soon! Thank you for staying safe and healthy.
