Mansfield Nordic Club
Ski coaching, training and playing in the shadow of Mt Mansfield for all ages and abilities
While Arctic Foxes and Racers searched for a Treasure Box in Richmond this past week, Penguins and Jack Rabbits were encouraged to go for a hunt on the Honey Hollow Trail to find Penny the Penguin. A couple of you found her too! Penny left her spot on the HH Trail today for a well-earned rest but she will be back. Who knows where she’ll turn up next?
Bella found Penny!
Oliver and Finn found Penny too!
Ansel Sprague did last week’s Equipment Race and posted an impressive time of 35.77 seconds! Although his father feels there is room for improvement, I would be thrilled if all my skiers could get their equipment on that fast! Great job Ansel!
Any other Equipment Race times out there? Send them in so I can give kids a “shout-out”!
This week, Ansel took on the Agility Challenge in his local park, including a helicopter spin (pictured above) and a playground zipline. Check out his video below. Looks like fun!
Even in 2020, it’s rare to be rollerskiing through mid-December. But that’s what we’ve got right now! It has been impressive to see all the kilometers logged by MNC folks for the NENSA December Club KM Challenge.
During the challenge, and as we’ve spent more time separated from one another, the daylight factor has become REAL. The other day I went for a solo rollerski and started at 3pm. By the time I ended my ski just one hour later, it was getting dark. Too dark for me to feel safe even though I had a bright yellow shirt and blinking light on my waterbelt.
Through Strava and various user submissions I’ve kept a light glancing tab on what time of day folks are out skiing. Please make sure to always wear bright clothing! If you have one, a blinking or even just static small light is advised. You can get these at a lot of local hardware stores.
Keep in mind the interview with Sun Valley’s Rick Kappala that was referenced in an earlier blog post…the most visible our sport is to the “real world” is not where we are skiing at isolated cross country ski centers in the winter…it’s when we’re rollerskiing in public. Be visible to cars, choose your routes carefully, and take a look at the time of day. At this point, it’s not recommended to be rollerskiing later than 4pm.
For another reference, please see this Fasterskier/USST article on Rollerski Safety Best Practices.
Thanks!
MNC members…whether you’re a BKL skier, Junior, or Master, December is off to a busy start with NENSA’s big Club Kilometer Challenge!
Whether rollerskiing or snow skiing, you can add kilometers to our club total in the pursuit of a big WIN and putting us closer to defending the Club Cup, which we won last year. This year, the winning club wins an amazing $5,000 from the Hall Mark of Excellence award! This is an amazing prize, and a not-so-small amount of support in a year where finances for clubs everywhere are taking a hit. Oh, and did we mention that the real win is getting so many people out to ski? As one of the largest clubs in New England, we’re in a great spot to log tons of kilometers getting outside this month!
Currently, Craftsbury holds the lead in the Club Cup in part thanks to their large Junior and Elite participation in the two rollerski races held this summer and fall. However, just like last year our Masters are poised to play a huge role as NO other club has as much fun rollerskiing and putting together snow skis like our group.
Our BKL skiers may not be heading out the door for a 50km ski, but with so many young athletes in our group a whole bunch of ski days can add up kilometers fast!
Our Juniors ski and rollerski quite a bit, and once they start logging these kilometers (*nudge nudge Juniors*) we will continue to have our totals boosted.
How can you participate? Simple track your skiing and rollerskiing, and upload as often as you can! Click the link below to be taken to our simple form…with only a few taps you can submit your data and be added to the total. Bookmark this link for easy post-ski uploads, and find it also on the Masters and Junior Docs as well as the MNC Homepage.
As of Monday afternoon, December 7th, MNC members have already logged 1500km!!
Club Kilometer Challenge Submission
BREAKING NEWS
NENSA has unveiled the December Club Kilometer Challenge!
This is a great opportunity for our club members to:
What do you need to do?
It’s simple! We have tried to make it as user-friendly and easy as possible to submit your data…no hassles with sending Strava files, no headaches with various logins and passwords…just click the link below and submit your kilometers skied.
You can do this daily (right after a ski) or at the end of a week (just list the various locations you skied and add up the total kilometers). The form is designed to be simple and smartphone-friendly. It is also linked on the Junior and Masters training docs, as well as the MNC homepage!
Help us win the challenge, win the Club Cup (again!) and score some prize money for the club! Any ages count toward scoring, and this is not about racing. Any ski counts!
Check out the current total MNC kilometer distance HERE
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”…