Mansfield Nordic Club

Rick involved in one of many tests last year

I get questions pretty frequently about non-fluoro wax, as the market and available products change quite frequently. There are new options coming out every week it seems, and many of them remain untested. However, thanks to the excellent coaching and tech team members on the MNC squad, we spent a LOT of time last year learning about and testing products.

If you ever pulled up early to an MNC ski day and noticed a pile of 12 identical Rossignol skate skis lying on the snow, you may have recognized this as one of our many head-to-head tests pitting new products against each other. You can read a little bit about what we were finding out last year at this post.

Publications and institutions like Caldwell Sport and BNS have some handy charts for products across different temp and snowtype ranges. When Mike Millar sent me the idea of creating our own, I figured it would be a useful (and fun, I won’t lie) project. I will continue to try and update this chart as we test more and more fluoro free products! I will also try my best to create a kickwax and klister version at some point.

A lot of pieces really came together this weekend to begin the final preparations and put a stamp of completion on the lighted loop at Bolton. A heroic effort by Green Mountain Electrical Supply crew (and MNC skiers and parents) Nate Laber and Lionel Welch involving a full day of work on both Saturday and Sunday, plus a final push of MNC volunteer hours and crework Sunday means the Picnic loop now has:

• More than 30 LED lights, shining 5500 lumens of power onto the trail at night
• A control panel and 8000w generator powering the lights whenever needed
• 1,300 lbs of industrial-grade wiring, fully metal and PVC-clad for snow and weather protection
• 4 bridges spanning previous washouts and allowing low-snow grooming and skiing
• Immensely-improved side drainage ditching to keep water off the trail
• Over 5 new sections of culvert and piping diverting runoff under key segments
• Full raking, mowing, and weedwhacking for an ideal low-snow grooming and skiing surface

On Sunday afternoon, we turned on the generator and the lights for the first time. Our target for a “ribbon cutting” and official evening lighting will be this coming Sunday. We’re ahead of schedule to complete everything before Thanksgiving week, which is incredible. As I said to many of the volunteers the other day, this is one of the fastest progressions of “idea to reality” this club has ever seen. That it all occurred in a busy time of year, amidst a pandemic, is almost unbelievable.

The best news is that it will benefit not only our programming, but the entire Nordic community. In a year without the Range and Sleepy Hollow previously offering some of the only lighted after school/after work skiing in Chittenden County, this project will offer more space for groups, more potential for skiable early-season snow, and more venues for potential racing.

We are incredible indebted to Nate Laber and Lionel Welch. This can’t be overstated. Not only did these two put in countless hours of personal and company time to make this project happen, they have acquired thousands and thousands of dollars worth of equipment as donations and write-offs that keep this project feasible for a club like ours. If you see Nate or Lionel on the trails this winter, please stop to give them some thanks. We’ll also find a way to recognize them more formally soon!

You can find an updated album of trail work and infrastructure upgrades HERE

You can find photos from our first real ski days on the loop HERE

Some serious wire, 1,300 lbs worth. Took about 10 of us to pull it through the woods to connect the lights!

Nate making the actual connections, hooking up the lights into the main large cable

Lionel connecting up the control panel: along with the generator next to it, this is the hub from which all the magic happens

Another day’s work done…