Author Archive | Liz Hollenbach

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

Tuesday: Penguins, Jack Rabbits, Arctic Foxes & Racers
Climbing Day at MetroRock 

Update 10am Tuesday- We are going to keep MetroRock as an option for this afternoon. MMUUSD closed for the day and lots of places are still flooded. Please do not feel any pressure to come to ski practice today- especially if travel is not safe from your house or kid care plans are complicated. But if you need an activity for the afternoon come on over.

With all the rain we are going to go to Plan B for Tuesday practice this week. We often do a Metrorock BKL Day when we have bad weather. It is always a lot of fun!

Details: We are getting a discounted rate: $20 includes day pass, shoes, and a harness. Parents need to come in, sign the waiver, pay and get your child set up. We will have a few coaches around, but it would help to have a few extra parents stay.  To expedite things, sign the waiver before hand: Metrorock Waiver

Time: Normal time 3:45-5:15, but feel free to stay longer with a parent present.

Metrorock Location: 320 Sunderland Way, Essex Junction

Directions: Turn into the Lowe’s parking lot off Susie Wilson Rd. Drive through the front of the Lowe’s parking lot and all the way around to the back. You will see MetroRock on the left.

Website: MetroRock

***UPDATED Location and Plan***

Thursday: Jack Rabbits, Arctic Foxes, Racers & Devos

11am Thurs update: BKL is on for the Range today. Dress warm, it’s chilly out there.  Other MNC groups are practicing at alternate locations.

Location: The Range

Technique: Skate Skiing for all groups. (If you don’t have skate skis yet, classic will work too.)

Details: With no snow on the horizon we thought it would be fun to have one last on snow practice before vacation. To celebrate the winter Solstice we are going to do a Solstice Ski followed by hot chocolate. We are all going to ski the same loop and kids can ski in groups with friends and coaches. Everyone counts their own laps. How many laps can you ski? We’ll have an inner stadium/range loop and the outer sprint loop.

Parent Volunteers and Hot Chocolate Supplies Needed: We need a few supplies and a couple parents to help make hot chocolate. Sign Up Here

BKL Vacation Break- 12/22/23 – 1/1/24

Want to ski over break? Try Ski Bingo created by NENSA (New England Nordic Ski Association). It’s a fun Ski Bingo Game that is available for any BKL Skiers. It’s a great way to do some skiing over vacation and on weekends.   More Info and Rules  | Youth Bingo Card | Junior & Adult Bingo Card

See everyone on 1/2/24 at the Range!

Gabriel, Finn and Kaisa on the start line for the 5/6 race.

With spring conditions in the air and on the ground MNC hosted a fun BKL Race at Craftsbury on Saturday, December 16. Skiers joined us from half a dozen BKL Clubs in VT and NH including Craftsbury, Ford Sayre, Frost Mountain, GMVS, Mad River and U-32.

Thank you to the good folks at Craftsbury that helped put the race on. A huge thank you to all our parent volunteer and families.

Full Results Here

Many racers came early to take advantage of some skiing before the race, while others zipped in at the last moment and still got to the start line in plenty of time.

Conditions were a bit icy in the morning and Craftsbury groomed the race courses just before the start and the conditions were fast. We shared the stadium with the Biathlon races that took place earlier in the morning and used the same fancy finish line!  Lollipop racers skied around the upper field and behind the Event Garage before heading back to the finish line by the solar panels.. All the other races went out towards Murphy’s Field. The Grade 1/2 race had a gradual downhill along the side of the field before heading back in on Round-a-bit. The Grade 3/4 course went around Murphy’s Field and back on Round-a-bit. The 5/6 course did Duck Pond counter clockwise, dodging a few bare spots with pine needles showing through. The 7/8  racers did a 4k course that started with a loop around Murphy’s Field and then Duck Pond before heading straight in on Round-a-bit.

Congratulations to Mansfield Nordic Club skiers Daisy Tremble (lollipop), Johannes Hollenbach (lollipop), Tanner Magnan (lollipop), Nathaniel Schroeter (lollipop), Margo Dillon (1/2), Ollie Laber (1/2), Mazzy Merritt (3/4), Oliver Tremble (3/4), Rory Dillon (3/4), Kaisa Weaver (5/6), Finn Laber (5/6), Gabriel Schroeter (5/6), Fiona Repp (7/8), Isaiah Bowen (7/8), Silas Weaver (7/8), Liam Vile (7/8), Oakley Crawford (7/8) and Ansel Sprague (7/8).

It was fun to watch everyone race today in our first race of the season! Great job!

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