Blog | Mansfield Nordic Club

Masters Training Start-Up 12/05: What You Need to Know!

By Rosemary Shea-Cobb on 3 December, 2023 in Masters Blog

How to Get to the Range: Directions

* You will need to show your Driver’s License at the gate. When asked, you are with “MNC”.

*It’s important to go no more than 25Mph on the base. They do check speed & give out tickets!

Where to Park:

Please park in the big lot on the left just before the Grooming shed. If you can see the trails, range and Walker Building, you’ve gone a bit too far.

Lights & Trails :

The trails are lighted, but the parking lot is not. Bring a headlamp! Please do not go anywhere else on the Range. They do not want us walking or running on the roads. We only have permission to use the trails.

Walker Building:

A path leads from the parking lot through a tunnel to the trails and the Walker Building. The building is heated with wood stoves (we make the fires) and has bathrooms. You are welcome to leave your stuff inside here. On classic days, we usually apply kick wax inside the building and often coaches will just leave the wax of the day out on a wax bench.

How do I Find out Practice Plans?

Plans are posted on the Masters Training Doc, usually on Sunday night (sometimes Monday if it’s been a busy weekend!).

Masters Training Plan

If practice is cancelled, we will post it on the Training Doc and probably somewhere you can easily see on the website. It’s a great idea to get in the habit of checking the training doc before you venture out to practice.

We usually only cancel practice if the weather is quite bad (raining), road conditions are too treacherous, or if the National Guard needs to close for some reason.

BKL Info Dec 4-10 and Sub-Groups

By Liz Hollenbach on 3 December, 2023 in BKL Race Blog, BKL Training Schedule

Find your child’s Sub-group & coach info here: BKL Sub-Groups

Please make note of your child’s coach’s contact info. Let coaches know if your child will be absent. If it is last minute, please text Coach Liz (802-922-1843).

*Remember that groups are not static and we may switch kids if we find they would benefit from being in a different group.

Practice Plans will be posted on Sunday nights or Monday mornings on this site (BKL Schedule).

Please check the website for any last minute changes, especially this time of year or if the weather looks bad. I will post a change by 2 pm the day of.

If you expressed interest in doing a volunteer job at practice- I’m working on it and will send an email.

Practice Plans Dec 5 & 7

It’s our first week of practice. We’ll be at the Range doing games, fun dryland activities, hiking and running. We will meet our groups in front of the Walker Building.

Bring your drivers license to check in at the front gate at the Range as MNC.

Written directions to get to the Range and Range directions from the MNC Website

Tuesday: Penguins, Jack Rabbits, Arctic Foxes and Racers

Location: The Range for dryland practice

Gear: wear running shoes or sneakers and dress in layers (if it’s cold and wet penguins might want to wear boots)

Racers: bring classic or bounding poles (all other groups no poles)

Devos: with the Juniors, check the Junior training plan

Thursday: Jack Rabbits, Arctic Foxes, Racers and Devos

This is a good time to label all the ski equipment with a piece of masking tape and name and show your child how to tell which ones belong to them.

Location: The Range

Jack Rabbits + Arctic Foxes: dryland practice, bring classic ski poles and wear sneakers or winter boots (label ski poles with child’s name)

Racers + Devos: bring skate skis and sneakers and classic or bounding poles (we will have to see if they get any more snow pushed out)

Saturday: Racers Practice 10:00-11:30am at Sleepy Hollow. Classic- bring both waxable and no-wax (if you have them). It is supposed to warm up on Saturday, so we are anticipating warm hard wax or klister. Coach Kristen will meet the group for waxing under the pavilion (next to the round barn) between 9:50 and 10am.

Sleepy has the 400m snow making loop with Acadia Mania added on.

Upcoming Events

MNC BKL Season Opener Race

We’re hosting a BKL race at Craftsbury on Saturday, December 16th for any BKL kids interested in racing. Race Info Flyer

Eastern Cup Primer

By Adam Terko on 27 November, 2023 in Junior Blog, Uncategorized

Looking to find out more info about the Eastern Cups this year?

Curious how things will look from the MNC side of things?

Trying to navigate which licenses and memberships to get?

Want to sign up for the food table and contribute tasty snacks on race day?

All of this and more can be found in the 2023/2024 MNC Eastern Cup Primer! It’s time to get excited for race season!

MNC Eastern Cup Primer 23/24

BKL Info November 27-December 3

By Liz Hollenbach on 27 November, 2023 in BKL Race Blog, BKL Training Schedule

Trying out new ski equipment at Sleepy Hollow.

It is starting to feel like winter and we are looking forward to the start of practices.

BKL Parent Meeting Tuesday, November 28th at 7pm

Our annual Parent Meeting is virtual and everyone is encouraged to join. In case you missed the meeting here is a link to the presentation.

Sub Groups

Please fill out this form to help place your child in a fitting sub-group. Groups are flexible, but it’s nice to get an idea of your child’s experience before we start. One for each child. Skiers in the Racers and Devos groups don’t need to fill out this form. Link to BKL Sub Groups Form

Start Date

Racers will start with a practice on snow December 2, 10am-11:30am at Craftsbury skate technique.

Devos are also practicing on snow December 2 at Craftsbury with Coach Kristen.

All other groups start on Tuesday, December 5. Location is TBD, depending on snow. Tuesday/Thursday Practices are from 3:45pm-5:15pm

Wheels to skis

By Adam Terko on 21 November, 2023 in Junior Blog

In years past, November was nearly a full month of grueling workouts in cold rain and sleet. Bounding in a snowstorm, rollerskiing in full winter gear, and training inside when the outdoors were too slippery…part of the reason New England skiers were tougher than the competition was a November full of challenges.

Don’t get me wrong, we are still absolutely the toughest skiers out there (personal opinion)! But a combination of global warming and snowmaking seems to have shortened our window of really brutal workouts. The temps stay manageable deeper into the fall season, making for comfortable (and safe) running and rollerskiing. Is this good for our planet in the big picture? Certainly not. But it has made a noticeable change to training as I think back to years (and decades) past.

To counteract the drought of early snowfall, ski areas have gotten more and more advanced with snowmaking or snow-saving techniques. With their big pit of last year’s snow stored over the summer, it’s pretty much a given that there will be SOME sort of skiing during the week of Thanksgiving at Craftsbury.

So instead of slugging along in the sleet and snow on rollerskis or on foot, we’ve been granted a reprieve from the worst of November for a few seasons in a row now. The training stays comfortable for longer, and yet we also have more security of early snow to ski on. Is that really the best thing? Are we losing something quintessentially “New England” that builds character and hardiness? Probably. But even more concerning is the fact that this weather seems to be only trending warmer. The current “window” of November is in a sweet spot for the dryland-to-on-snow transition, but there is a limit to everything. Even now, snowmaking opportunities with cold air are scattered throughout warmer and rainier days.

Is there a call to action here? Well for one thing, we live in a part of the world with lots of awareness of rising temperatures and ways to get involved. It’s easier to motivate for nearly anything when you are directly affected.

To zoom in much closer, we should all be very grateful and thankful to the hardworking ski areas, grooming staff, and snowmakers who are always working harder than they need to in order to give us more snow than nature is providing. Be sure to let them know how much you appreciate their work! Donate a little extra to a ski area when you buy your season pass, bake some cookies or buy a cup of coffee for these folks, and if nothing else give a wave and a big “thank you” when you see them!

Here’s a short video from our first ski of the winter. Thanks to Sleepy Hollow for creating a pretty sweet 120m loop of groomed snow!