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This upcoming weekend, the best biathletes in the country will converge in Jericho for the National Rollerski Biathlon Championships!

These races take place on Friday (4th), Saturday (5th) and Sunday (6th) and more info will be available on the Ethan Allen Biathlon Club website: eabiathlon.org

Some of our MNC athletes will be competing in Junior and Masters races, and you can cheer them on! Similarly, EABC is often seeking volunteers so please don’t hesitate to reach out to them if you’re interested in helping with these races. Good luck to all the competitors!

After a successful first summer of introducing some learn-to-rollerski clinics in 2022, these are BACK for 2023!

If you’d like to learn how to rollerski in a car-free, low-stress environment, this clinic is your opportunity. We’ll meet at the Williston Village Community Park (behind WCS and Dorothy Alling Memorial Library) and ski on the paved bike paths in this area.

While some may choose to ski out to longer and more varied roads, this is not mandatory, and the entire experience can take place free of cars and other hazards.

What: Introductory learn-to-rollerski clinic

Where/When: Williston Village Community Park, 2-3pm

Technique: Skate

What ages: Any age welcome!

Do I need rollerskis? Nope! We will have skate rollerskis to try, but if you have your own please bring them. On the RSVP form you’ll see a section to mark your binding type

Do I need poles? Yes. Winter poles will work, and having rollerski tips is great but not fully necessary for this clinic

Do I need boots? Yes. Your winter skate boots are great!

What do I wear? Typically, the same thing you’d wear to go out for a run or bike ride. High visibility shirt is recommended, though we will also have reflective vests on-hand. Don’t forget a helmet!

There is no fee for this event, but we ask that you RSVP (below) to give a heads-up of expected numbers of participants. Donations to MNC are always greatly appreciated 🙂 

Clinic RSVP

We had a great turnout and a lot of fun at this year’s first Learn-To-Rollerski clinic in Williston! 13 young skiers took part, and it was great to see a “dad squad” get out for a group ski while we were underway.

Several in this crew had never rollerskied before, and everyone was able to confidently get around the 1km loop at the Village Community Park (WCS) by the end of our day. A pretty sizeable chunk of skiers even ventured safely out into the neighborhoods for a quick trip around some familiar cul-de-sac pavement.

It’s always tricky to know just how to approach a group rollerski lesson…the ability levels do vary quite a bit, even among those who have never rollerskied before. That’s because balance, confidence, and spatial awareness play such a huge role in what we do, and those things can range on a wide spectrum before even clicking into a pair of bindings.

To that end, the focus usually follows a consistent pattern…start off skis, work on body position, and incorporate some bands to get the muscles warmed up.

Next, progress to skis but no poles yet! It’s time to work on general movement, turning, and importantly how to slow down and stop.

Then the distance can be extended, still without poles for a time. Poles can be added gradually after this, with a focus on V1 since it less balance-dictated than V2.

It was great to have a handful of Juniors with us to help coach, since this meant we could divide up groups a bit based on ability. Thanks to Anders, Niko, and Taylor for helping out! All-in-all, the progression mentioned above doesn’t sound too different than a regular MNC Juniors training session, albeit just on a slightly different scale. Proof that there really isn’t any magic after all.

We’ll be having another clinic like this on Saturday, July 29th so keep an eye on this site for more info!