Author Archive | Liz Hollenbach

It’s going to be chilly at practice this week, with temps in the mid to low 20s.  Wear extra layers and consider hand/toe warmers.

BKL Sub-Groups | Parent Volunteer signup sheet | BKL Season Long Schedule

Tuesday: Penguins, Jack Rabbits, Arctic Foxes & Racers – Practice is ON for today, drive safe.
Location: The Range
Details: Classic for all groups, Devos check out the Junior training plan
*Penguins- Tuesday is ski with a Stuffed Animal Day. Bring a stuffie from home and tuck it in your pocket, jacket or a small backpack. (We’ll have a few to share in case you forget.)

Practice Waxing Info: Temps in the low 20s and new snow. It will be be in the range of Swix blue or extra blue. If you have waxable classic skis you can wax at home or meet at the wax bench outside the Walker Building 10 minutes before practice. If you have wax on your skis from last week or the Bogburn it would be good to take that off before adding the kick wax of the day.

Thursday: Jack Rabbits, Arctic Foxes, Racers & Devos

Location: The Range

Details:  Skate

Saturday: Racers Practice at Sleepy Hollow. We’ll meet at 11am for a classic ski tour.

Sunday: Devos racing at the Lake Placid Eastern Cup- Info on the Junior training plan

Photos | Results

After a quick morning phone call with the race director, we confirmed conditions were good in Warren, there was no wind and the race was on. The gusty winds and rain on the west side of the Green Mountains made us second guess bringing the tent and fire pit. But Justin was confident it would all work out. It did rain most of the afternoon, so we were all very glad to have tent space to stay dry and a fire to warm our fingers.

The Mad River Ramble hosted by Mad River BKL is a great community race and for the second year in a row the races took place at Blueberry Lake XC Center in Warren, VT. The trails were well covered by natural snow and the conditions were wet and soft. It was a good race for spectators and parents crisscrossed the fields to cheer on foot and skis.

The afternoon started off with the lollipop races- cousins Johannes Hollenbach and Daisy Tremble both loved the classic race and were rewarded with a cookie at the finish line.

Johannes and Red racing to the finish line!

Nora Johnson and Ollie Laber raced in the Grade 1/2  classic race. The 1km course was one loop of the field. Nora had a quick recovery after getting tripped up in the start and skied a great race. She reported her favorite part of the race was the “downhills”. Ollie worked hard and did a lot of double polling to keep his speed on the soft, slow downhills.

Ollie getting ready for the downhill!

Nora cruising down the tracks.

Bella Altadonna, Mazzy Merritt and Oliver Tremble all started together in the Grade 3/4 skate race. Their course did two laps around the 1km field loop. Bella and Mazzy skied much of the race with eyesight of each other, powered up the final hill and finished in a small group of racers just 4 seconds apart.  Oliver skied most of the race going back and forth with a Ford Sayer skier and crossed the line a skis length ahead.

Oliver and ski friends on the start line.

Finn Laber raced the 3km Grade 5/6 race. Finn skied hard the whole way and had an amazing kick up the last hill and into the finish.

Finn skiing strong up  the last hill.

By the time Oakley Crawford started in the Grade 7/8 race the rain had turned to snow.  Oakely skied a great race with some tricky trail conditions on the narrow 4k course through woods and fields.

Oakley coming out of the double pole zone at the start.

Thanks to everyone that came out to the race despite the weather.  The Mad River Ramble was a fun event! Nice work MNC BKL!

If you would like to share photos please email them to bkl@mansfieldnordic.org

*If your family is interested in coming to check out a weekend ski race with MNC please be in touch. They are fun family ski events open to all MNC BKL kids. More info on upcoming events-  BKL Events

Bella and Mazzy getting psyched on the start line!

It looks like some unpredictable weather and wind this week, please check back before heading out for practice. We’ll post any changes by 2pm on practice day.

Thursday 1/11 update: Practice is on, we’ll be skate skiing today at the Range.

Tuesday 1/9 update: Practice is on, come a few minutes early if you can and all BKL groups are going to finish at 5pm today.

BKL Sub-Groups | Parent Volunteer signup sheet | BKL Season Long Schedule

Meeting up with ski groups – Please help your child get their equipment on if needed and make sure they know their group meeting spot.
Penguins- in front of the Walker Building
Jack Rabbits- at the Penalty Loop
Arctic Foxes- in the Stadium across from the penalty loop
Racers- in the Stadium in front of the timing building

Bring a Water Bottle! As we start to ski more at practice we thought it would be a good time to mention that lots of kids are working hard and getting thirsty at practice. If you have some type of little waist pack, water bottle holder or camel back at home it would be a great way to carry water while skiing. These don’t have to be fancy, just secure around the waist and hold a bottle. You can also bring a full water bottle or little thermos and leave it at the edge of the trail near the metal fence below the Walker Building.

MNC BKL T-Shirts- Thanks to some friends of the program we have new t-shirts for everyone in the program. We have lots of Penguin shirts to hand out this week and if your child doesn’t have a shirt yet or needs to swap size please check in with us in the Walker Building at the end of practice on Tuesday. We have some youth medium, youth large and an adult small for swapping.

Tuesday: Penguins, Jack Rabbits, Arctic Foxes & Racers
Location: The Range
Details: Classic for all groups, Devos check out the Junior training doc

Practice Waxing Info: Temps around 30 and new snow. Toko red and yellow range. If you have waxable classic skis you can wax at home or meet at the wax bench outside the Walker Building 10 minutes before practice..  If you raced this weekend or have wax from skiing last week we can put the wax of the day right on top of that wax.

Thursday: Jack Rabbits, Arctic Foxes, Racers & Devos
Location: The Range
Details:  Skate

Saturday– *The race is on! Race organizers report that, ” we have excellent skiing in the Valley. Really psyched for it!” *

This weekend is the Mad River Ramble BKL Race and Fun! It was originally scheduled for Sunday 1/14, but they have moved it to Saturday 1/13 in the afternoon. Families can sign up racers, then pay by cash or check at the race. Online registration closes Friday 1/12 at 9pm. Day of race registration is available and closes 1 hour before each race start.

All BKL skiers that want to race are invited to come. Feel free to reach out to Coach Liz with any questions.

Depending on the weather we’re hoping to bring a fire pit and have families bring s’mores ingredients (more info later this week).

Mad River BKL Race Info and Reg

Let us know you are planning to race: MNC Racer sign-up list

Photos | Results

Mia cruising out of the start!

After several major meltdowns and unseasonably warm weather in the past few weeks skiers from around New England gathered for the Bogburn on January 6th. Miraculously the Rikert Nordic Center put together a 1.5km snow making loop that included open fields and woods. And it was a great spectator course, BKL racers were cheered on throughout the course by family and teammates.

This year was the biggest in the Bogburn’s 35 year history. There were 263 total racers for BKL, Juniors and Open racers.

The traditional slate of BKL in the morning followed by Open and Junior races in the afternoon created a fun race day for the whole club! MNC had racers in every category. Masters and Junior racers were just arriving to wax skis and warmup as the BKL Awards were happening. And some BKL skiers stayed on to cheer for the afternoon races.

Coaches cheering for Silas up the last hill.

We had sixteen BKL racers from lollipop to Grade 7/8. The morning started with Grade 1/2 and Grade 3/4 all racing together on 1 lap of the race course. The 15 second individual starts created a long lineup of kids at the start line on the far side of the stadium. Grade 5/6 were next and raced 2 laps of the 1.5k course and in quick succession the Grade 7/8 skiers were underway for 3 laps on course. There was lots of lapping and passing on the double tracked course due to the short start interval and number of racers. Skiers had to dodge a big snow making ice flow on the second downhill that crossed much of the trail and we heard about several close calls.

The last BKL race of the day was possibly the most anticipated. A dozen lollipop skiers kicked and gilded their way to a gummy bear treat at the finish line.

Mazzy striding through the open field.

Course conditions were expected to be klister for the snow making loop and the coaches were glad to have some last minute intel from the MNC Juniors that had races at Rikert the day before for the Tour de Chad high school race. The kick wax report came in that it was hard wax conditions! Everyone was able to find a wax they liked for the race.

Congratulations to Mansfield Nordic Club skiers Claire Dolbec (lollipop), Daisy Tremble (lollipop), Margo Dillon (1/2), Rory Dolbec (1/2), Ollie Laber (1/2), Bella Altadonna (3/4), Rory Dillon (3/4), Mazzy Merritt (3/4), Oliver Tremble (3/4), Finn Laber (5/6), Kaisa Weaver (5/6), Isaiah Bowen (7/8), Mia Gorman (7/8), Ansel Sprague (7/8), Silas Weaver (7/8) and Liam Vile (7/8).

Thanks to all the parents and everyone that helped with waxing, course previews and getting kids to the start line! It was fun to watch everyone race at the Bogburn! Nice work MNC BKL!

Kaisa at the finish line!

Happy New Year! We have confirmed details for this week and will be skiing at the Range both days.  Details below.  The Range has made some snow and there is a ski loop.

The Bogburn Race is this Saturday, January 6th and all BKL skiers that want to race are invited to come.  Feel free to reach out  to Coach Liz with any questions. More info linked below.

The New England BKL Festival Registration is open and this year’s Fest is at Rikert, Ripton, VT hosted by Frost Mtn Nordic. It’s a fun weekend of ski activities and races. More Info

BKL Sub-Groups

Parent Volunteer signup sheet

Tuesday: Penguins, Jack Rabbits, Arctic Foxes & Racers

Location: The Range

Details: Skate  (Penguins Classic), Devos check out the Junior training doc

Thursday: Jack Rabbits, Arctic Foxes, Racers & Devos

Location: The Range

Details:  Classic

Practice Waxing Info: If you have waxable classic skis you can either wax at home or meet at the wax bench outside in front of the Walker Building. Please come 10 minutes early for waxing.  If you plan to wax at practice  make sure any old kick wax is cleaned off (by putty knife or wax remover). It looks like it will be machine made snow and 31 degrees. A warm hard wax (toko yellow) or klister.

Saturday: Bogburn Ski Race at Rikert in Ripton

The Bogburn is on.  Online registration closes Friday, Jan 5th at 5pm

Classic Technique

Registration Info | Race Info

Let us know you are planning to race: MNC Racer sign-up list