Mansfield Nordic Club
Ski coaching, training and playing in the shadow of Mt Mansfield for all ages and abilities
It was a lovely fall day on Saturday for the Southridge Timetrial, one of our common yearly rollerski get-togethers! A collection of both Masters and Juniors partook in the competition, making for a fun and competitive mass start. You can check out some media below!
MNC and NENSA held the first edition (or at least “new version”) of the FreeFall on Sunday. This was billed Burlington’s Rollerski Festival and we hope that with a successful and fun proof-of-concept this year we can grow things in years to come!
The hub was an awesome location: the back parking lot of the Burton factory store in the south end of the city. The trees were turning bright colors, the sun was out, and a fast and flowy course was laid for some sprint racing.
The course looped around two separate lots, with a few slaloms and lots of curves and high speed. As close to an F1 street track as you can get for rollerskiing! After a qualifying round, skiers raced in heats of three. Because we used a court-style format, everyone got to race three rounds: win your heat and move up, finish in the middle and retain your bracket position, finish 3rd and jump down to the next heat.
Fall rollerskiing at its finest
While there may have only been 15 competitors, those were some speedy and capable skiers! The day ended with awards from MNC, NENSA and Skirack, some pizza and cookies, and good vibes.
But a festival isn’t just for racing! Not long after the competition portion ended, the games and toys were brought out! Lots of young rollerskiers got to try their skills and learn about the sport with NENSA’s Swenor fleet, and the parking lot was taken-over in a totally different way.
While the kids were skiing around, playing games, getting facepaint, and enjoying the company of a rollerskiing cow (thanks Hanna!) the Masters group ski also took off for a trip down the bike path. The sun was still shining, and the path was abuzz with bikers and runners all enjoying the cool recreation opportunity Burlington offers.
This event wasn’t as large as we’d hoped it would be this year, but the seed has been planted. Thanks so much to our volunteers, NENSA, Skirack, Burton, and Burlington itself for a really fun time!
FreeFall Event Photos: BKL/Masters
FreeFall Event Photos: Sprint Race
September is well underway, and it’s time for the annual ski grinding action!
MNC delivers skis to Caldwell Sport in Putney for stonegrinding.
What is stonegrinding? Put simply, stonegrinding removes an incredibly thin top layer of your ski base while also applying a new pattern. This is all done with an incredibly-expensive, finely-tuned machine using special stones, depths, speeds, and pressures. If it sounds complicated, that’s because it is! But you only need to know the outcome, which is that a freshly stoneground ski will:
-Be much much easier to wax because the base will be flat and even. This means it will be faster
-Hold wax better due to this even distribution of material and opened “pores” that were previously damaged by heat from irons or corks
-Repel moisture better with a new pattern and structure
Most skiers only assume that stonegrinding “gets the scratches out” and while this is true for very minor dings and blemishes, stonegrinding won’t necessarily make a base look perfectly new. And more often than not, it isn’t the scratches that are slowing your ski down: it’s all those passes with an iron, all that dirt that you can’t see in the base, and all the uneven rises and falls at a minuscule level from repeated use and abuse.
With the transition to non-fluoro racing, flat bases and fast bases have never been more critical.
Here is a simple rule:
If your skis have not been stoneground and you have raced on them for two years in a row, they should probably get ground before this season. Even if they do not have scratches, they are likely to have thermal damage and wear. This is ESPECIALLY true for race skis, which have likely seen a lot of action from hot irons and roto-implements used in racing.
Our coaches have some detailed knowledge of Junior skis from the past race season, so if you are a Junior and are interested to know if you’d benefit from some stonegrinding please reach out. Masters, don’t hesitate to reach out either!
So, how does this all work?
1) Fill out the form below to indicate # of pairs, grind options, and personal info by SEPTEMBER 30th
2) Deliver skis to Adam any time before SEPTEMBER 30th (reach out to coordinate a drop-off), or stop by the MNCC on Wednesday evenings between 5 and 8pm to drop-off at our headquarters!
3) Adam will drive skis down to Caldwell Sport, and pick them up when done (usually before Thanksgiving)
4) Individuals will be billed by the club and can submit payment via all our usual means (online form, or check made out to MNC)
5) Stonegrind cost includes rate for grinding, plus transport of skis to/from Putney and the involved labor/admin steps. Individual grinds from Caldwell Sport are $100/pair, but with a batch of skis from our club there should be a discount. The more skis we bring, the bigger the discount!
Skis will be returned to owners upon receiving payment
Need some suggestions for grinds? Zach helped lay out his best options for various numbers of skis and I have utilized that info on the form. If you only have one skate or classic pair, for example, chose the “Universal” option. Most of us, if we have a 2nd pair of either skate or classic, are utilizing a specific “warm” pair which is also an option to select.
Looking for used skis, or looking to part with skis or gear? Mark your calendars for the MNC Ski and Gear Swap on October 12 (dropoff) and 13th (swap)
A typical MNC batch lined-up for loading and delivery in Adam’s garage!
Training for skiing can sometimes be complicated…heart rate zones, anaerobic thresholds, progressive overload, super-compensation…there’s a lot of research you can do.
But sometimes training for skiing can be simple. For example, it doesn’t hurt to ski a lot if you want to become a better skier.
That’s what we do at the end of most summers, for at least 4 years now, with the Rollathon. This “event” started in 2021 to cap off a summer of training. Actually, it began in the spring of 2021 at Craftsbury with an on-snow version that finished-off a Covid-stricken year of isolated racing and training.
The premise is really simple…we park in Ferrisburgh and set up the tent with lots of snacks and chairs. There’s a 20km loop from that spot, on pretty gentle terrain. You can ski a lap or two, and come back to the tent for a break or fuel. Or, you can take a shortcut that divides the bigger loop in half. It’s really the perfect spot!
We’ve tried to emphasize that just because 100 kilometers was the original goal way back when, this doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone HAS to ski that far. Hence the name “Rollathon” as opposed to the distance being in the title. There are a lot of distances under 60+ miles that are still quite lengthy for anyone to ski!
This year, the event also took place a bit later in the season. We have done this in the past with the MNC University group and before some of our college-bound athletes leave, but this year we skied a bit further into the school year. I had envisioned this making for cooler weather, but I was wrong! With no clouds and temps warming fast, we all set out together at 9AM for what would be, for some, an affair that went until the sun was setting.
Juniors rolling out, while some MNC Masters get ready to begin their ski in the background!
With fall sports underway, the group size was definitely smaller than past iterations of this ski. But several had competed in running races and soccer games just the day before, and were more than eager to click into skis for a different type of endeavor.
It was also really nice to see a lot of the team together in one place, reinforcing some of the aspects that last week’s blog post put into the conversation. Turns out when you put a lot of people in one place and challenge them to do something difficult, all sorts of great things happen. Conversations pop up between skiers who don’t connect typically. Skiers match the technique (for many kilometers) of skiers they usually only get to ski for seconds at a time with on a rollerski track.
In the end some skiers headed home around lunch, while others stayed longer and took a few more balanced breaks while still rolling through the kilometers. As I referenced in a follow-up email, this ski is not necessarily all about the physical challenge…it takes a special willpower to finish a 20km loop, know how far you’ve done, take a metaphorical (or literal) gulp, and decide to push off and head out for another lap. That kind of thing is important in life sometimes, and skiers seem uniquely up to the challenge more often than not.
We are excited to have a new parka on offer for this season from the awesome outdoor company Maloja! Check out more info below. You can also learn visit the MNC Club Apparel page to see this information beyond just a blog post.
This season MNC is offering Maloja parkas for athletes and families. These items are available in adult sizing only. They are well-made, offered at an excellent price, and look great! Once purchased, we will have MNC logos added. This will be an additional $20-30 per jacket.
To ensure the greatest sizing availability, orders must be received into the form below (also on club registration page) by September 15th.
There are two parkas available:
Please review the sizing charts at the link below. For the most accurate sizing, you can visit the Maloja store on the Mountain Road in Stowe. Again, orders must be placed by September 15th. Team jacket orders are FINAL SALE.
The Mansfield Nordic Community Center (MNCC) is our club’s resource for strength training, events, meetings, and more! But how do you get there, and where do you park? Read More about “Parking at the MNCC”…
Join us on Sunday, December 15th at Craftsbury for our Masters Mini Camp. We’ll work on both skate and classic, gather for lunch, and review video and talk technique! Read More about “Masters Mini Camp @ Craftsbury”…
Masters athletes…are you looking to build strength and train with friends and teammates? Join us at the Mansfield Nordic Community Center on Wednesday nights! Read More about “Masters Strength @ The MNCC”…