It was a chilly day, but the sun was out for our annual Skiathlon, one of our primary events of the winter. Once again held at Sleepy Hollow, this course featured great grooming, a fun series of bumps and jumps, and lots of racers of all ages.
The best athletes in the world in all the different winter sport disciplines come together once every four years to compete in the Olympics. We get to watch all these awesome winter sporting events that we don’t normally don’t see very often on regular TV. It helps to know when to watch and how to watch so you don’t miss your favorite events. Here are some links:
Remember, you can find the latest info on Masters training (technique, location, quick summary) at the Masters Training Doc! Even despite the cold we had some great sessions last week. Here is a clip of the Black Group working on a little hop skating technique.
Coming up this week we have a bit more cold weather, but we’re prepared (and acclimated) at this point. Of note, a few of the trails across the road leading to the alpine hill (did you know there was an alpine hill at the Range?) are groomed, and can be accessed by taking a left near the bottom of Pit loop. These trails are all natural snow and there are a few sticks here and there, but otherwise great conditions. Remember that these trails do not have lights, so headlamps are needed if you are venturing after dark.
The MNC Skiathlon is on Sunday, February 13th this year! Join us for the big race that WE host every year, with races for all ages and abilities!
The BKL races are a main highlight, but with Zak Cup and Club Cup points up for grabs the Popular/Citizen races should certainly be a draw for adults. There is even a “what the heck” race for first-time racers and low-key fun competition!
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact organizer Christine Massey (Christine.Massey@uvm.edu) to help out.
Registration can be found at the link below on SkiReg:
It was a great Sunday for racing! According to a NENSA post, between the three large citizen/popular races on the schedule in New England this Sunday, a total of over 600 skiers were registered to compete! That’s an awesome stat and a real reason why our part of the country has such a strong skiing culture.
MNC members were mostly split between the two Vermont-based events: The Silver Fox Trot at Riker, and the Craftsbury Scramble at (of course) Craftsbury.
The Silver Fox featured a big BKL field, and races from lollipop competitions all the way to middle school and open races where Juniors and Masters went head-to-head. The bright sun and fast snowmaking loop meant for speedy racing and fun challenging corners.
Start of one of the BKL races at the Silver Fox
Our middle school contingent was well represented by skiers like Brooke, Jonah, Matias, and Dylan. Here’s a short clip of them in action.
The biggest mass start of the day was the Open/Citizen’s race, where a large group of MNC Juniors and Masters took part. Unlike an Eastern Cup, this was self-seeded and so even arriving to the start 5 minutes early was a bit too late for most of the Juniors (and their unaware coach Adam) and so starting near the back made for an extra fun challenge. Mass starts at Rikert are notoriously sketchy (a wide field that narrows quite rapidly, with large trees acting as guard rails) but this provided extra practice for bigger races! The crew skied great, and it is so fun to have races with everyone competing. Special shoutout to MNC’s southernmost racer Dave Johnstone who made the trip up from the Brattleboro area to fly the club colors.
Up north of Rikert, the MNC skiers were teaming up for a partnered relay featuring jumps, bumps and obstacles.
With a slate of funny and clever team names, it’s hard to tell just what kind of MNC speed was in the mix, but we are aware that the team Last One Fast One, comprised of Sara Falconer and Michael Gaughan, took a podium and some great points! Congrats to that quick duo,
Results for the open mied scramble can be found here, and the main page of Webscorer has links to other categories too!
Most of the Juniors will have a week off from NENSA racing before really hitting a big slate of competitions for the rest of the winter. Masters have options ranging from the White Mountain Classic, to the Gunstock Freestyle or Prospect Sprints. Check out the NENSA calendar for links!
