Blog | Mansfield Nordic Club

BKL Practice 3/14 & 3/16- Last Week

By Rosemary Shea-Cobb on 12 March, 2023 in BKL Training Schedule

Tuesday, 3/14, Everyone Classic, Penguins’ Last Day

A Leprauchan came and hid some things for BKL kids to find! Let’s just say, these are funny looking shamrocks! But then again, you never should trust a leprauchan! We will go for a tour and hunt down those items and may the luck of the Irish be with us all!

Penguins will also do a hunt, play some games and have a little last day celebration.

Thursday, 3/16. Skate. Awards day for Jack Rabbits, Arctic Foxes, Racers & Devos

It’s our last day of BKL for the season. We will play some games and then do our end of season Awards (4:45 pm).

Parents: Does anyone have a metal, transportable fire pit they can bring for Thursday and set-up? Email me at sheacobb19@gmail.com. I have some bags of marshmallows and I thought it would be fun for the kids to roast them today. There is firewood at the Range but not a lot of kindling.

*There is a possibility that the Range may be open for open skiing on 3/21 & 3/23. Open skiing means that you can bring your kids and ski with them that day (kids may not ski un-accompanied). Keep an eye on our website & the e-blast for news of this.

Relay Championships team interest

By Adam Terko on 8 March, 2023 in Masters Blog

Craftsbury is hosting the Supertour Finals/Spring National Championships this year. At the end of March, some of the best racers in the country will be in our area to race for National titles…but WE can race too!

There is not only a Club Relay National Championship, which we’re looking to field a competitive team for, but the Open Club Relays which we would love to have many teams of Mastesr and Juniors competing in!

You can read some more details on the dates and signups for this event at the Craftsbury event page and the SkiReg event page but you may also be wondering how MNC is going about sorting all of our many awesome racers into teams…don’t worry, as we have created a helpful spreadsheet to start the process! Click below to submit some contact info, age group details, preferred technique, etc.

We will be in touch closer to the relays as we put together teams for this cool event. We hope many MNC skiers will take part!

Club Relay Interest Form

Save The Date(s): Junior Summer Camps

By Adam Terko on 7 March, 2023 in Junior Blog

As the season is winding down and plans are being formed by families, we wanted to share the tentative camp dates and locations for our 2023 summer programming.

Keep in mind there are NO registration pages yet for these camps, and we have some processes coming out about how to sign up for these trips (which can often fill up and leave us with waiting lists).

Mountain Camp

North Conway, NH

July 5-9 (Wednesday – Sunday)

(Rising U18 and older. Rising 2nd year U16 by coach permission)

Mini Mountain Camp

Ludlow, VT (Okemo Mtn)

July 20-23 (Friday – Sunday)

(Rising first- and second-year U16 athletes)

Rocky Mountain Camp

Park City, UT

August 13-21

(Rising U18 and older. Rising 2nd year U16 by coach permission)

Virginia at Youth World Championships

By Adam Terko on 7 March, 2023 in Junior Blog

Virginia Cobb is partway through her race series at the IBU Youth World Championships in Kazakhstan! So far she’s competed in a mixed relay, an individual event, and a women’s 3-person team relay.

If you’re willing to wake up around 2AM in the morning, you can catch these races streaming live on the Eurovision channel here. You can also download the IBU app for really easy access to details…it’s a great program and you can even select certain athletes to track and follow along as they race!

Good luck Virginia and Team USA!

BKL Fest. Is. Awesome.

By Adam Terko on 7 March, 2023 in BKL Jackrabbits, BKL Race Blog, BKL Training Schedule

Marshmallow roasting in Reid’s stove

Not many places can do it like New England can! The BKL Festival was an amazing experience this year, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to say it may possibly be the best event on skis in the country. There was a snowstorm dropping plenty of new snow on an already-good base, perfect temps in the upper-20s, bright sun on Sunday, an impeccable venue with the perfect layout for hosting, and 600+ young skiers all taking it in.

We’re often used to Craftsbury utilizing their deep resources of lodging, snowmaking, grooming, buildings (“campus”), and extensive trails to put on the highest quality races around. But when all of those resources are leveraged toward a giant party on skis it’s quite the scene.

In fact, it reminds me of our weekly BKL practices at MNC, but on an hugely expansive scale. Games? Activities? Jumps? Races? Maple Syrup? Nature experiences? Radar speed trap? Parade? Often on a weekly basis the trails at the Range are abuzz with different groups of kids playing and cruising around on skis.

This festival was no different, and my challenge for future years is for more of our own members to get out and experience the vibe of this thing! There was plenty to do for families and skiers alike, and racing isn’t even a prerequisite to participation or enjoyment.

You can check out some great photos from the event, spanning all the age groups and various activities/race happening all weekend, via Phillip Belena’s album here. If you choose to buy a print, 25% of proceeds will go to NENSA! Here’s a couple “action shots” from MNC’s end:

Astrid in the 7/8 classic race!

Isaiah in the classic race

It doesn’t matter if it’s a race or a casual ski…if you see a tutu on the trails, you KNOW it’s Bella!

Be sure to keep an eye on the NENSA calendar and announcements from them, and MNC, as the location and details for next year’s festival come out! Here’s a great video recap from NENSA themselves: