Mansfield Nordic Club
Ski coaching, training and playing in the shadow of Mt Mansfield for all ages and abilities
Check out Meredith’s GoFundMe page for Junior Nationals, and consider supporting her on this awesome trip! The expense of the trip is quite high, but it’s an incredible opportunity that athletes from across the country strive for each season. It’s a huge honor to compete for Team New England and any support that helps athletes like Meredith is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
We had bright sun and amazing conditions for this year’s MNC Skiathlon! Racers from lollipop age to seasoned Masters all competed on Sunday in one of the club’s premier events. The day began frigid, but the clear skies and abundant sun warmed things up and the atmosphere was fun and exciting. Icy klister and fast snow were the conditions on-hand, and our racers all did great.
7th/8th grade girls heading out on course
Thanks so much to our great events supporters: Skirack, Toko, Rossignol, and of course Craftsbury for putting together an immaculate venue as always. We also had an army of MNC volunteer making sure things ran smoothly! Whether in the timing booth, the registration table, or on the snow, our club pulled off another successful day.
Carl showing the Lollipop skiers the way!
Mike and Kort racing up the steep Chip Hill
Results can be viewed HERE
Photos (including above) from Dave Priganc can be viewed HERE.
Photos (from Paul Bierman) can be viewed HERE.
If this wax recommendation looks similar to the Bogburn earlier this year…that’s because conditions will be very similar! Temps will be cold overnight (below zero), and combined with new snow this week that means harder glidewax and green and blue kickwaxes.
Glide Wax
It is important, in cold snow, to have “hardened” bases. Putting a few layers of green or blue glide wax in your skis (as opposed to just one) will make the base noticeably more shiny and harder, which keeps it faster when the snow crystals are new and sharp.
-Begin by “hardening” your glide zones with 2 layers of CH4, CH5, Toko NF Blue, or your favorite colder glide wax. Scrape and brush between layers.
-Final layer is a blue glide wax of your choice: Toko NF/LF/HF Blue, Swix CH/LF/HF 5 or 6, Holmenkol Racing Mix Cold, etc
-Scrape off and brush VERY thoroughly! If you have a nylon or horsehair brush, polish back and forth until the bases have a nice shine
Kick Wax
A binder will be important for this race. To watch a video on how to best apply a hardwax binder, see the embedded clips on the bottom of this page.
One of the best and easiest binders to use is Toko Base Green. Toko Base Green is unavailable in the US this year, so if you are looking for other options you can try other green kickwaxes such as Swix V30. At Skirack you will also find a Start brand hardwax binder for sale!
-Begin by roughening up your (cleaned) kick zone, and ironing in a THIN base binder
-Feel free to check-in with MNC coaches on race day, but to start with kick a good bet is three or four thin layers of Toko Blue, Swix VR40, or other blue hardwax, covered with one or two layers of Toko X-Cold, Swix V30, or other green hardwax.
Dylan Torizzo on the course.
It is always a treat to race on the beautiful trails at Rikert Touring Center and this past Saturday was no exception. Conditions were perfect and the course was well marked for both the BKL and Citizens races. It was a bit on the cold side (single digits), but the lack of wind made it very tolerable.
Kate and Ryley show us one of the most important pre-race rituals: getting your face glitter on!
Everyone agreed that the race courses were very challenging. The race was held on Rikert’s homologated course which was made for Division I college races. The uphills are substantial and the downhills are fast with lots of turns. Our MNC skiers definitely rose to the challenge, conquering the uphills and ripping the downhills! Congratulations to Ryley, Astrid, Ripley, Tessa, Kate, Pippa, Niko, Dylan, Gillian, Esther, Julia, Virginia, Mia and Carl who all looked strong and did a great job racing.
Special kudos to Astrid Longstreth and Ripley Boyden (above) who both did their first race for the year- way to go guys!
Congratulations to Kate, Niko and Esther who all won their age class races!
Riley, Kate and Pippa getting ready for the start.
Special “Shout-out” to Pippa who decided that her race goal was to put on a surge up the last hill and sprint to the finish. Holy cow, did she stick it! She was in fifth place at the bottom of the hill, turned on the steam, and finished in third! Way to go girl!
Just before the Citizen’s race, the Ford Sayer Chicken Race got going. Most of us Citizen Skiers had to miss it because we were warming up, but I heard that skiers had to don chicken suits and race to collect eggs- what a hoot!
The MNC Masters had a strong showing in the 10 km Citizen’s Race and may of them proved they could hold their own skiing against the young and the fastest. The race started in one big mass start: U16’s, Seniors, Masters, Women and Men. Coaches Rosemary, Tom Thurston and Emilie Dillar all raced along with MNC Masters Steve Crafts, Mike Millar, Michael Gaughan, Michael Coleman, Andres Torrizo, Joanne Hanowski and Jim Fredericks. Many of the kids stayed to cheer us on and just as we finished, the snow started falling. Results below.
Click through to check snow conditions at Tomasi Meadow (Underhill) and the Range (Jericho). These conditions are submitted by on-the-ground reports and are as current as possible. Read More about “Snow Conditions”…
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”…