Blog | Mansfield Nordic Club

Updated: BKL Info Dec 1-7 and The Ski Season is Here!

By Liz Hollenbach on 30 November, 2025 in BKL Training Schedule

Happy Ski Season! We are so excited to see everyone tomorrow.

Wednesday Update- There is just enough snow at Tomasi to ski tomorrow. So we’re going to Classic ski. See all the details below.

Find your child’s sub-group & coach info here: BKL Sub-Groups

Please make note of your child’s coach’s contact info. Let coaches know if your child will be late or absent. If it is last minute, please text Coach Liz (802-922-1843).

Monday 12/1 at 7pm is our virtual Parent Info Meeting. Please check your email for the meeting link.

Thursday 12/4: JackRabbits, Arctic Foxes, Racers and Devos
Location and Time : Tomasi Meadow, Underhill Center from 3:45-5:15
Details: Classic Skiing for all groups. There is thin cover at Tomasi and the trail is groomed. There is not enough snow yet to set tracks. Bring rock skis if you have them. We’ll have a wax bench setup in the parking lot with kick wax available – come 15 minutes early if you would like to wax. If you want to wax at home it looks like it will be in the mid teens and new snow, so try something like a few layers of Swix blue or extra blue.

Groups will meet down on snow at the parking lot trail head (same spot as last year). Coaches will be wearing name tags and have signs for each group – JackRabbits, Arctic Foxes and Racers/Devos.

Wear your headlamp or zip it inside a jacket pocket. The temp is predicted to be chilly and drop during practice. Coach Jake says to come over dressed (with layers) and make sure everyone has a big healthy snack before practice. Tonight is a great time to double check equipment – check out the pro tips below.

Saturday 12/6: Racers and Devos
Location and Time: Craftsbury at 11am (meet outside the lodge in the upper stadium)
Details: We’ll skate ski. There is a biathlon race in the morning, so we’ll ski after the race.

Pro tips to help you get equipment ready for ski practice:

Practice putting on ski pole straps – Bring your poles inside, put on the gloves or mittens you plan to wear to skiing. Test that ski pole straps are secure. They should be loose enough to slide hand through easily over mittens/gloves, but snug enough so if you let go of the pole grip, it stays close to your hand. Make sure kids know how to put on their own poles and practice putting on poles in the living room.
Practice putting on your skis. Bring your skis into the living room. Put on your ski boots ski boots and set skis right down on the carpet. Practice opening the bindings and putting boots into the bindings.
Label all equipment, so kids and coaches can find the name easily (skis and poles especially). It doesn’t have to be anything fancy- masking tape and sharpie work great.

Stowe Nordic BUS to the World Cup!

By Adam Terko on 17 November, 2025 in Masters Blog

The Nordic World Cup is making a stop at Lake Placid in March!

The Stifel Lake Placid Finals, a COOP FIS Cross Country World Cup is happening March 19–22, 2026 at Mt Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, NY. Experience four unforgettable days of world-class racing as the world’s top athletes push the limits on the trails of the Adirondacks. This historic event marks the culmination of the international cross-country skiing season—and you can be there to witness it all.

If we have enough interest, Stowe Nordic is planning to organize a bus to the Sprint Event (Saturday March 21st). Cost for the bus would be $50 (plus driver’s tip). You’d also have to buy your own ticket for the event (General Admission $10-20 or VIP ticket $140). We’d leave in the morning and return home after the event.

If you are interested in joining us, please email Jean Kissner – jeankissner4@gmail.com. before December 1. Tickets will sell out, so we want to confirm by December if we have enough interest for the bus.

Trotting in the SNOW

By Adam Terko on 17 November, 2025 in BKL Jackrabbits, BKL Race Blog, Junior Blog, Masters Blog

The Tomasi Meadow trot took place yesterday in quite a bit of snow…in fact, marks were still evident along the sides of the course from where the snowmobile had already groomed the trails this season! A late-week meltdown and rainstorm meant our organizing committee brainstorms about how to handle the weather (make it a ski event? a hybrid run/ski race?) were moot, as a hearty group of runners took to the start line!

A little snow was not about to slow down skiers of all ages from getting it done, and two laps of the winding Tomasi course later the mud had settled and everyone gathered for a great raffle with lots of local prizes and contributions. A big thanks to Peter and Nancy Davis for putting together much of the background of this event, Christine Massey for leading the volunteer contingent, Eric Tremble for timing, and the Town of Underhill for collaborating with the club to make the most of this amazing outdoor space.

Jake Hollenbach pushing up the hill AND having fun!

Just 24 hours removed from the race and we’re looking at about 8 inches of fresh snow in Underhill, with more still falling! As things get groomed-up, remember that you can check the Tomasi Meadow conditions report for updates…it’s linked below as well as right on the bottom of the MNC homepage. Results are below, too:

Tomasi Meadow Trot ’25 Results

Tomasi Snow Report

Tomasi ’25 Photo Album

See you all next year for Tomasi Trot 2026!

Junior Start-Of-Season Checklist

By Adam Terko on 14 November, 2025 in Junior Blog

We have some early snow, which is awesome! But regardless when the snow hits, it’s always easy to fall one step behind on the little things that make it easier to get on snow…here’s a checklist to review, covering some common “situations” that we’d love to avoid:

Bindings on skis

Do all your skis that you plan to use have bindings? Or, if you use plate bindings and are swapping between pairs, are you comfortable doing so? There’s nothing worse than realizing 5 minutes before you head out the door that you can’t attach your boots to your skis.

Poles with snow tips

As the snow gets deeper, rollerski tips don’t work so well. Make sure that the poles that you’re skiing on have the right tips for the job! Yes, this can be a pain if you rollerski/snow ski on the same poles, but it is worth the extra 5-10 minutes of hassle up-front.

Waxed skis…yes, even rock skis!

Maybe even moreso rock skis. Early season skiing is often a battle against icing/clumping, because the ground underneath the snow is not fully frozen. This applies to skate skis, too! You won’t believe how much more of an impact waxed vs unwaxed skis can make in the early season…putting training wax on your rock skis this time of year equals a better increase in glide than putting race wax on your top skis in the mid-winter.

I highly recommend putting a true, ironed layer of glidewax into your skis every once in a while. This will do the best job at making spray waxes be more effective and last longer with each application.

The right clothes and layers (during)

On ski trails we often aren’t as concerned about hi-viz clothing. But our focus shifts to the right layers for warmth and performance. Wool is best, with a shell over top! Keep in mind it can be tricky when we are warming up, then shedding layers to go fast, then putting clothes back on when we’re done pushing hard.

This applies to gloves and hats as well. One good rule to live by is “no headbands under 20F”…time for hats at that point. With gloves and mittens it’s always better to be too warm than too cold.

The right clothes (after)

Do not, under any circumstances, underestimate the value of the “after-shirt” for training days. Even if it’s just the shirt you wore to school that day, taking off your wet/sweaty ski clothes and putting at least a dry shirt on can be CRITICAL to staying healthy, if not just outright comfortable.

Snacks, hydration, refueling

Mid-afternoon is a hard time for the body to train, being distant from lunch and distant until dinner. Please try to have a pre-training snack! After our workouts, having carbs and protein is equally important for recovery and health.

Hydration is also harder when skiing, because even though we work just as hard, you often are not hot and dripping with sweat like the other seasons…so hydration isn’t on the forefront. You’ve always gotta hydrate, though!

Bivo x Chloe!

By Adam Terko on 13 November, 2025 in Uncategorized

MNC Pro Team athlete Chloe Levins recently dropped her official Bivo bottle!

One of our favorite local companies, Bivo was founded by former UVM skier Carina Hamel, who also helped out coaching MNC summer athletes during her time in college. Bivo’s innovative bottles are a hit in the world of outdoor recreation and training, and you can see them popping up in stores all over Vermont and beyond.

This custom collab bottle focuses on inspiring and meaningful quotes. If you know Chloe, you’re aware of how positive and inspiring she already is, so this is obviously a natural choice for a custom collaboration.

A portion of each bottle sale helps Chloe fund her pursuit of success on the international stage, so if you’re looking for a great holiday gift this is the perfect thing.

Pro-order yours from Bivo below, and watch Chloe in the opening IBU World Cup races on November 29th!

Chloe Levins Bivo Collab