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Lake Placid / Lactic Acid

By on 23 September, 2025 in Junior Blog

There’s nothing like a good team race weekend adventure!

Bright sun, cool nights, and warm days made for one of the most spectacular Climb to the Castle weekends ever over in Lake Placid. Juniors, Masters, and Pro Team athletes all represented MNC across two events: a skate sprint at the rollerski track on Saturday, and a hillclimb up the Whiteface toll road on Sunday.

The club had almost 20 competitors, taking the non-existent title of “most participants” at the races. You know what hurts? That there weren’t more teams taking advantage of this great series of events. I said it last time we were here, and I’ll say it again now (but a bit more up front).

Where was the UVM and St Mikes teams, just a ferry ride across the lake?

Where was the Middlebury team, one short drive over the Crown Point bridge away?

What about the Clarkson and SLU teams, who call this location “home” for their races in the winter?

It was pretty disappointing to not see competitive, motivated teams from nearby showing up. A great opportunity to bring our sport and athletes together was missed, in my view. But enough negativity! I just had to get that out of the way first…

Our sprint morning got underway with a qualifying round that saw everyone giving it their all, even though everyone would get to race the heats. In the top heats were Colin Freed (racing against folks like Ben Ogden and Remi Drolet) and Mia Gorman (racing against folks like Jessie Diggins and Julia Kern). Silvester and Molly, MNC skiers getting acquainted with New England by way of Utah and Idaho, were also stacked against older, tough competition in the 2nd men’s and women’s heats.

New MNC skier Elsa Futch on the chase!

Our U16 boys ended up having many battles between them, with newly-minted U18 skier James Langan looking the best he ever has in a sprint race. Most everyone skied UP or stayed steady during the race, rather than getting knocked down. In these races, winning your heat moved you “up” a bracket, finishing in the middle kept you in the same lane, and finishing at the back meant a drop down. No matter what, everyone was racing in 3 heats.

Pro Team skier Conner Roberts pushing hard

A post-race congrats from Jessie Diggins

Colin skied his way to 3rd overall, and in the women’s race Mia fought against Jessie Diggins, Julia Kern, and Shilo Rosseau (a Canadian World Cup biathlete) to hang just behind them in each heat en route to 4th overall and 1st Junior.

 

After the races were over, the day was still young! It was only just after lunchtime and the sun was shining, so we headed into town to be tourists for a bit. Crepes and ice cream were consumed, bobsleds were tested out, and everyone got to relax a little. We also coordinated with some other club friends to plan for the busy day ahead…

With a large yard at one of the AirBnB houses, a fire pit, and a lot of frozen pizzas we managed to get together the Juniors, the Pro Team athletes who were competing over the weekend, and some friends-of-MNC all in one place for some dinner and stories.

It wasn’t long before the alarms were set for 5:30AM though, because the next morning would involve skiing up a mountain!

The race up the Whiteface toll road, is often cold. It’s frequently cloudy or foggy. It’s occasionally snowy or at least frosty. It’s most certainly always windy…but not 2025!

It was a second glorious day in a row for the climb, and even biking down from the top to capture the race on film (as Perry and I did) didn’t result in frozen fingers or toes.

We didn’t capture many photos, but you can check out some videos here:

Short course

Men’s race

Women’s race

The Pugs took the top spot in all the Junior categories! Isaiah, Jorgen and Gabe went 1-2-3 in the men’s short course, while Mia took the win in the women’s category. For the Juniors it was Silvester on top in 4th overall, with Henry in 3rd. Elsa matched that 4th overall in the women’s race behind Jessie, Julia and Shilo, and was the top Junior followed closely by Astrid in 2nd! Without any photos from the race (too much filming) these podium shots will have to suffice!

Every skier got some good experiences out of the weekend. Sophia (from Illinois) was amazed at what ridiculous things New England skiers will put themselves through, Reese took charge of the camera to capture many of the cool photos from the sprint race. MNC masters like Owen, Michael, Ace, and Ford Sayre/MNC/All-Around Masters motivator Rose took on the climb like total champs!

Next up in Lake Placid will be the US National Championships, followed by the World Cup! You can get your tickets at the link here!

U16 men

Junior men

Junior women

U16 women

Thank you Sara!

By on 8 September, 2025 in Junior Blog, Masters Blog

In ski club terms, 10 years is certainly an “era” if not longer. With coaches in our sport often cycling through new roles, following the coaching path to different locations, or embarking on careers in other fields, it’s extremely rare to see a decade of leadership.

But an era definitely ended today, as Coach Sara heads off to Alaska to explore a career as a physical therapist.

Where do you begin? The fact that Sara was still finishing-up college when we started coaching at MNC together, and now many of our athletes we coached initially as middle schoolers are now out of college themselves? The fact that in those early days, Sara had no car and would take the bus from Burlington to Essex with all her rollerski stuff, and meet me at the bus station where we’d drive up to the Range together?

Those were the days of no wax trailer, no test skis, no vans, no summer training camps, very few athletes qualifying for race trips, only a handful of athletes signed up at all…when you look back, a lot has happened in the past 10 years with this club. It would most definitely not have all happened without Sara’s input.

Sara is the most kind and generous person I’ve ever met. I think the most angry or grumpy I’ve seen her was on a hellish trip back from Fort Kent late in the night, where Sara was driven to the point of absolute madness for someone as calm and reserved as her, represented by *gasp* drinking a RedBull to keep going! There’s way more to that story, just as there’s way more to many stories that are too long and winding to describe here.

I hope to write a book someday, and the experiences Sara and I had while watching and taking part in this club’s growth are going to be central themes…it’s a huge jump into the unknown for me now, because even when I was just starting in my role here, Sara was right there starting on her coaching path too.

In reality, I’ve never been in a leadership role WITHOUT Sara alongside me, and that’s very daunting. Even if she didn’t directly spell these things out to me, there’s a lot I’ve learned from Sara:

  • You can be frustrated, but you don’t have to be active about it!
  • Being attentive and keeping your eyes and ears out at all times is important with a large group
  • Be organized, keep track of things, and use lists and spreadsheets to your advantage
  • Make time for enjoying personal things you prefer, especially when you’re on a cold trip in the dead of winter

Anyone who has met or worked with Sara can attest that there’s nobody more approachable, kind, and helpful! What’s next for the club without Sara? I’m not sure…but what’s next for Sara? Great things, no doubt!

 

Climb to the Castle Weekend Trip (Juniors)

By on 8 September, 2025 in Junior Blog

Rollerski racing is a great time, and one of the bigger (and more famous) weekends of rollerski events is happening in Lake Placid once again.

The Keys/Climb to the Castle races involve a skate sprint on the rollerski track in Lake Placid on Saturday, September 20th, followed by a hillclimb race up the Whiteface Memorial Toll Road on Sunday, September 21st.

For the MNC Juniors, this also means a race trip weekend! We have lodging in Keene, NY just down the road from the races, and are looking forward to a weekend on the road…we’ll depart on Friday afternoon and catch the sunset in the Adirondacks, wake up and take a quick trip up the hill to the skate sprint, and compete in the first day’s events.

Then we’ll be able to spend some time in town, check out some local spots, get an afternoon recovery session in, and cook dinner before resting-up for the next day.

On Sunday we’re only a short drive away from the start of race #2! Note that it’s also feasible to do a hike up Whiteface from one of the main trailheads if you’d prefer that to a rollerski race. We will all meet at the summit together!

The MNC team trip includes travel, meals, and lodging (note we’re seeking some additional drivers and/or may do some carpooling) and you can sign up below. The team trip does not include registration for the events themselves, which is handled through SkiReg.

Team Trip: Climb to the Castle Weekend

Keys to the Castle (Saturday Sprint) Reg

Climb to the Castle (Hillclimb) Reg

 Keys to the Castle sprint race!

Stonegrinding Fall ’25

By on 1 September, 2025 in BKL Race Blog, Junior Blog, Masters Blog

The calendar turning to September means it’s time to think about stonegrinding and preparing our skis for the coming winter. Each year, we bring a batch of skis down to Putney where Caldwell Sport tunes them into the best possible version of their shiny, speedy selves!

When should you get your skis ground?

  • If you compete regularly on the Eastern Cup, you should be getting your skis ground each year unless they are a very condition-specific pair that didn’t get used much. Eastern Cup skis end up seeing a lot of use, abuse, hot irons, and mass starts…What’s more, the margins get smaller every year due to the rising level of competition in New England. This is a great problem to have as a competitive region, but it also means that we can’t cut corners on ski selection and stonegrinding. When in doubt, grind your skis!
  • If you are a Masters skier who only breaks out the race skis for a few events a year, you are probably fine doing a stonegrind every other season. Keep in mind that a stonegrind effectively returns a ski base to “new” condition, and is a lot cheaper than a brand new pair of skis (by a factor of over 10 in many cases!)
  • If you are a BKL skier, don’t worry about stonegrinding your skis…chances are, you’ll outgrow them soon enough, and we should all be focused on keeping the sport as accessible and budget-conscious as possible for our younger athletes.The one exception at the BKL level is if you are a middle school racer and you find yourself with a pair of skis handed down from a Junior, picked up at a ski swap, or purchased secondhand online. In this case, stonegrinding makes a ski much easier to wax and take care of, as well as making them faster and more enjoyable to ski on. If you can find an old pair of race skis for a great deal, and put a stonegrind on them for under $100, you’ve got a screamin’ good situation!

Our yearly signup form for stonegrinding can be found below. Please fill out this form with your pairs, and communicate with Coach Adam about a dropoff time/date/location that works for both parties.

We’d like to get all skis delivered and complete intake by Tuesday, September 30th

Stonegrind Form

Letter to the MNC Community

By on 1 September, 2025 in Uncategorized

Dear Mansfield Nordic Community,

Though ski season may seem far away, Mansfield Nordic is already planning for another busy winter. We want to share some updates for the 2025/2026 season that include program fees, memberships, and our access to the trails at the Range.

Program Price Increases

We have spent the last year looking closely at our club finances and have determined the need to increase fees. Keeping our costs low over many years has led us to a place where we are not keeping pace with the cost of living in Vermont for paid staff. Our goal is to meet the rising costs of increased operational expenses, travel expenses, and investment in staff.

Changes to program fees will be reflected starting with fall and winter programs this year. Most BKL and Masters programs will see an increase of 10%. Junior programs will increase more to keep in line with coaching and operational costs. We have always, and will continue to, prioritize keeping costs as low as possible to allow every person the chance to experience the magic of nordic skiing with friends in Vermont.

Commitment to Scholarships and Fundraising

Each year our fundraising efforts are focused on raising money for our scholarship fund and to help support operations. We hope any family who sees these program fee increases as a barrier to participation will apply for scholarship funds to help themselves or their children continue to participate.

Membership and Program Signups

You will notice some changes to our membership process soon. Starting in the spring of 2026 our membership renewal will take place in May each year. We hope this will make program registration easier because you will already have your membership renewed ahead of winter program registration.

We also plan to improve our membership and program registration platform as we work to upgrade our website in the coming year.

Your Mansfield Nordic Club membership supports the behind-the-scenes work, operational costs, administrative expenses, special events and includes things like:

  • Wax and equipment for training and racing
  • Coordination of apparel ordering and distribution
  • Club insurance
  • MNC website and communication tools
  • Club membership in local, regional, and national ski associations
  • End of season party for members

The 25-26 Membership renewal page is now live (click). Please consider going and renewing your membership ahead of program sign ups coming soon.

Ski Locations and Contingency Plans

For yet another season, we are planning winter programs without access to the Range due to ongoing construction projects. These projects will improve the facility, but currently there is no power to the trail lights and logging operations along the trails are slated to start once the leaves fall.

This means BKL and Afternoon Masters will primarily use the trails at Tomasi Meadow for practice. We are working with the Town of Underhill to install lights identical to the trail lights at Bolton a few years ago. Last winter we had amazing good fortune with ample snowfall and cold weather.

We recognize that we may not get so lucky two years in a row! In that vein, we are working on contingency planning for low/no snow days at Tomasi. Please consider filling out the survey at the link below to inform us of the most viable low snow contingency plans for you or your children.

BKL/Masters Contingency Plan Survey

We expect evening Masters programming and Junior programming to look a lot like last winter, primarily using Sleepy Hollow for weekday practices and moving around a bit on weekends to take advantage of other locations.

Thank you for reading through this. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions. We can’t wait to ski with you again soon!

Adam Terko, Head Coach

Liz Hollenbach, Head BKL Coach

Mansfield Nordic Club Board of Directors

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