We are pleased to inform you that Adam Terko has been named the 2017 NENSA Coach of the Year. Adam joined MNC in 2015 as our Head Coach/Executive director and from the first day has embraced and embodied the core values of our club; Excellence, Passion and Fun.
Through his tremendous level of dedication, passion and playfulness he has made significant contributions to our athletes, our club as well as the local and regional ski community.
We as a club are extremely thankful to have Adam, and are proud that NENSA has chosen to honor him. Congratulations Adam for this outstanding achievement!
Yesterday afternoon a large group of skiers emerged out of vehicles in the Richmond park and ride, with a waterfall of rollerskis, poles, shoes, and backpacks cascading out of the car doors along with them. After four days of dodging thunderstorms, ticks, tornadoes (for real) and more, everyone emerged with some great training behind them.
We stayed in a large condo in North Conway, and had great access to all sorts of trails and roads nearby. Although it’s quite a tourist trap complete with tacky gift shops and a million different ways to make a dime off of the White Mountains, North Conway is a great place to have a training camp. Short drives to all sorts of adventures, ample options for large-group lodging, an alpine mountain for ski bounding just down the road, and a Hannaford a stoplight or two away.
After unpacking our gear and checking the radar, we headed out for the first workout of the trip: a low-key hike up Kearsarge North mountain. Though it wasn’t sunny, we did get in a view at the top and got to check out a sweet fire tower.
Atop Kearsarge North, before we met up with Charlie and Timmy
Once we returned to the condo we got started on dinner, welcomed Charlie and Timmy, and began looking at the radar for the next day.
Pugs making sure to refuel for the training ahead
Friday was our hardest training day, and a few sessions that everyone who attended the first Mountain Camp had been talking about for about 365 days: The Kanc Roll and the bounding intervals. In the morning, the group toured the scenic Kancamagus highway by double poling to the top of the pass over the course of about 2-2.5 hours. The road starts gradual and flat along the nearby river before really spiking up at the end for more good views and a rewarding accomplishment.
The older, pink-shirted men’s group which you may have heard referred to as “Men-N-C”
Magda, Ali, Sammie, and Henry near the summit. Not a bad road to ski!
Made it!
The thunderstorms held off in the afternoon, but the humidity did not as we headed back out the door for a now-legendary workout: the Mountain Camp Bounding Intervals. Last year’s edition was held at Attitash, and this year we went right own the street to Cranmore. After a warmup jog and mobility, we did 2×5 min L3 skiwalking to get our climbing legs moving. From there it was on to 10×2 minutes of all-out uphill power!
Last year I inadvertently started the tradition of making a speech before the harder section so I once again tried to motivate the crew to dig deeper than ever. What was really interesting this year was that I felt like less of a loud, aggressive speech was needed. In fact, that was the theme of my speech: everyone in this club has done such a good job of supporting each other, and even moreso over this very week of Mountain Camp, that I only need to encourage and facilitate that support rather than force it or demand it.
Each night, Ben L had us go around the table and share a “high point” of the day and give a “kudos” to someone else, after which everyone would give a round of applause. That’s the sort of thing Sara or I could have sat everyone down and instigated, but it happened organically from the group and it happened every night, and even as everyone got out into the parking lot on the last day.
That’s not to say my talking points didn’t get heated at times…and I’ll leave it at this: we’ve been getting buzz as “up-and-comers” in the ski world, and this year we’re poised to show everyone that we’re done with the “coming-up” part. As I phrased it, “it’s time to be the club other people try to come up TO!”
And with that we were off up the mountain. Sweaty and gross, we only got one photo thanks to the kindness of the summit lift attendant. I think the fatigue is plenty evident:
Not only can you see the fatigue, you can almost see the humidity hanging thick in the air
On Saturday it may have seemed like a reprieve to have only one session, but when it’s a 5-hour loop that leads to the top of Mt Washington and back, it carries the weight of a few training days. On the way up we found SNOW in Tuckerman Ravine, and even passed two guys hiking in with skis to get their monthly turns in since it was July 1.
Snow in July!
Top of the cog railway above the clouds at the summit
We once again managed to hit the weather perfectly, getting a view at the top before only getting engulfed in rain during the last hour of the hike down. After we got back it was time for some much-needed rest. With tornado warnings on the radio and buzzing on all of our phones, we figured it would be a fine afternoon for some ice cream. We put on our rain gear and headed across the street to Lickety Spliz ice cream shop and had the place to ourselves given the forecast.
On our final day, we woke up and did an immaculate cleaning job to get the condo in better shape than we found it. But we weren’t done training! Like last year, we made a trip up to Santa’s Village for an out-and-back rollerski on a nearby country road the wound its way toward Lancaster. Different groups skied for varying amounts depending on how they were feeling, from 1:15 all the way up to about 2 hours. It was a nice sunny day and everyone put in a great final workout. After the camp, as Ben’s watch showed, it’s time for a lighter week!
Time for some recovery
It’s worth noting that a few of these workouts were the same ones as last year. Everyone crushed these particular workouts faster and with better technique than last year. We’ve got veteran skiers taking new strides, younger skiers embracing the sport and training lifestyle like never before, and even new friends from Brattleboro who we were psyched to have along (thanks Sam and Henry!). Already looking forward to Mountain Camp 2018!
Note: since my computer is not having success uploading photos I am going to stick to video for this post. Sorry!
The Pugs are rolling! We started off the first week of summer training with some reintroduction to rollerskiing, some new strength training concepts and exercises, and the infamous double pole test. We saw some big efforts in the tests, and a lot of skiers were putting up great times even though it’s our first real week at the Range. What gives?
Basically, the thought is that because everyone is doing SO MUCH double poling this year, the strength is carrying over to the spring and summer with greater ease. Lots of great progress that compounds year after year is what we’re going for in anything ski-related, after all.
In the morning session we have some new and returning test-takers, and in the PM session a few more arrived to give the test ago, including Greg who was just 1 second shy of the course record. We’ll have to see how Greg stacks up tomorrow against the rest of the New England REG kids when they do their own double pole test!
Here is some video from the day taken by coach Laurel. As you can imagine, setting this test up is a little complicated but we’ve got a good system…Adam and Sara sync watches. Adam starts the test with a head start to get to the top and record times. Sara sends the skiers off based on the start list, and then starts herself. Laurel picked out a spot to film on a flatter transition. So somehow between 3 coaches we have a nice official timing crew and videographer!
Here is the Test Archive, including times from this recent event
Special note: the MNC Annual Fund rolls on! Check it out HERE.
Thanks to the Henry/Solow family this past weekend, MNC kicked off summer with a longstanding tradition: our hike, bike, and potluck. Two group met on Saturday morning, either hiking up Camel’s Hump or riding their bikes up to the top of App Gap from Hinesburg.
Here’s the hiking group getting ready to set off…
…and here are some speedy bikers
Of course, we had to get to the top of our respective climbs to earn the food back at the house…here are some photos from the endurance activities in action.
Gavin scoping out the trail as the fog burns off on a sunny day
The top of the Gap, with clear skies and sun
Some of the Juniors taking stock of the trails and roads they’ll be training on this summer
Thanks to immaculate timing, both the biking group and hiking group ended up returning to Hinesburg at about the same time. We met up with some club members who stopped in for just the potluck, so our numbers grew even more. Many were thankful for a dip in the pond, and everyone got to take in some great food and company. It’s looking like a great summer ahead!
Officially launched last week in the Eblast and on the MNC homepage, the month of June is all about the 2017 MNC Annual Fund!
This year we are going online with the fund, which makes it easier than ever to donate AND allows us to involve club members in some cool new ways.
You may have already noticed our first giveaway, where we chose two contributors from June 1 – June 5 to receive MNC long-sleeve t-shirts. Congrats to Jim and Renate who were randomly selected as the first winners! Be sure to follow the ‘updates’ tab of the Annual Fund page to stay abreast of news and giveaways.
If you are interested in contributing (as we hope you are!) we are rolling right into our next giveaway: 2 prize packs from our friends at Skirack. The prizes will be picked up tomorrow and we’ll include a photo on the Annual Fund webpage, as well as here, to let you know what these prizes entail.
We’ll again pick two winners of the prize packs, this time selecting any contributors from June 6 to June 12 (5pm) and again announcing the winners on the website, Eblast, and Annual Fund page.
A huge benefit of this online platform is the ability to quickly and easily share the campaign. We encourage you to share our fund with friends, family, co-workers, and more. Even if someone may not ski or know the club, we hope they might be interested in contributing to support our programs and the joy of skiing we strive to share. Thanks!
