February 18, 2013 (Waterville, ME) – Team efforts, tricky waxing, tempestuous winds, and a technical course were the trademarks of the final TD Bank Eastern Cup held at Quarry Road in Waterville, Maine.

The first team effort was that of Augusta Trails and the Quarry Road Recreation Area partnering to move the race from its scheduled location at Bond Brook in Augusta to neighboring Waterville and the Quarry Road Trails. Thanks to those teams of volunteers who made the events possible.

Despite a change in venue due to low snow, the Bond Brook Eastern Cup went full steam ahead today. Relocated to the Quarry Road Recreation area, athletes had the chance to ski on a challenging FIS homologated race course that was new to most.

Julia Kern, CSU, made a move on the final uphill before the stadium, to open a gap on Katherine Ogden, SMS, and Leah Brams, CSU. Katherine and Leah managed to close up the gap heading into the stadium, but some confusion ensued within the lap and finishing lanes, which led to a shuffling of the finish order. Julia took top spot, followed by Leah, then Sonya Jampel of Newton, MA in third.

In the J2 Boys division, Koby Gordon, SMS, skied a very strong race finishing 1st. Zane Feilds, Woodstock, VT came in 2nd and Gavin McEwen, CSU, rounded out the podium in 3rd.

The snow kept falling making conditions very slow for the open races -combined with the tough climbs, skiers definitely knew they had raced today In the women’s 10km mass start, Heidi Halvorsen, GMVS, also opened up a gap in the final kilometers, only to see Hannah Benson, Mt Washington Nordic, and Cate Brams, CSU, closing in fast at the finish. Heidi held them off though to take the win over Hannah with Cate in 3rd.

The final race of the day was the mens 15km mass start. Three laps of the grueling course took its toll on many of the skiers but Welly Ramsey, MWSC, made it look easy. Welly broke away early and stayed away finishing in convincing style. Alex Schulz, Dartmouth, and Justin Freeman, Holderness Nordic, hung tough for 2nd and 3rd places.

The racing continues on Day 2 with a freestyle interval start at 10 AM with the J2 boys starting off the activities.

Day 2
Day Two was a test of mettle given the cold temps and sharp winds that buffeted the racers throughout the day. Competition was strong as J2, J1 and OJ athletes raced for their final chance at points needed to qualify for New England’s Junior National Team. Junior National rankings will be available here at 1:00pm Monday.

The tough conditions were no match for the Campridge Sports Union athletes who had a banner day on Saturday and took five of the top six spots in the women’s freestyle race on Sunday. Maddy Pheifer of Green Mountain Valley School spoiled the podium sweep skiing into second place splitting CSU’s Leah (3rd) and Cate Brams, the eventual winner.

Stratton Mountain School’s Koby Gordon completed another weekend sweep, winning both J2 Boys races ahead of Zane Fields of Woodstock Nordic who took second both Saturday and Sunday. Nathaniel Kuzio of Mansfield Nordic took third on Sunday.

In the men’s field, Bred Bedart took top honors ahead of biathlete Raleigh Goessling of Maine Winter Sports Center in second and in third, Jack Schrupp of Gunstock Nordic.

Full results HERE.

November 29, 2012 (New Gloucester, ME) – Signing on as an official supplier of the New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA), Concept2 will continue their long-standing support of NENSA and the key Eastern Cup, Marathon, and Zak Cup race series. Concept2 will also support NENSA’s 2013 TD Bank Eastern High School Championships and Bill Koch League Festival. As part of the sponsorship, Concept2 offers NENSA members special pricing on their SkiErg products, and continues as a resource for NENSA’s coaches education program.

“Concept2 is known for their innovative approach to product development and their SkiErg products have become important tools for coaches and programs implementing accurate and measurable specific strength training and testing,” said NENSA Executive Director, Zach Stegeman. “Concept2’s commitment to innovation is matched by their dedication to supporting programs for the good of their sports, and NENSA is proud to partner with Concept2 and their SkiErg brand for another season.”

“Concept2 Is excited to be supporting NENSA in bringing the sport of Nordic skiing to New Englanders of all ages and abilities,” said Concept2 co-owner Judy Geer. “Numerous C2 parents and children have participated in NENSA programs, from Bill Koch League to Eastern Cup racing to Junior Nationals. Though rowing is still our favorite summer sport, Nordic skiing is our favorite winter sport!”

November 08, 2012 – The TD Bank Marathon Series is comprised of five cross country skiing events across New England with distances ranging from 21k to 50k. Skiers of all skill levels are invited to participate; these events are fun for the elite racer as well as the recreational touring skier. Come and enjoy some of the finest skiing in New England!

Join in the TD Bank NENSA Marathon Series and test your endurance! Those skiers who participate in the timed class of 4 out of 5 events will receive a special Marathon Challenger Award! It doesn’t matter what distance you ski, just that you get out to enjoy these events. Awards will be presented at the Sugarloaf Ski Marathon in March. Hope to see you out there!

To see information about the five events in the series, click HERE.

May 01, 2012 – This year more than ever, NENSA members have stepped up to support xc skiing in New England! Every donation made a huge difference — the large and small ones, the first and last — just as importantly as the money contributed is that the way this drive puts on display the enthusiasm that we all have for skiing and for NENSA. It is never easy to keep things growing and moving forward in a small organization like NENSA, but a successful drive like this sure makes it easier.

On a personal note, today is my final day as Executive Director. Zach Stegeman gets started tomorrow and I hope you will all give him a warm welcome and help support him with as much positive energy and enthusiasm as you have supported my efforts over the past eleven years with NENSA. – Pat Cote, Executive Director

April 23, 2012 – NENSA is pleased to announce Justin Beckwith as our 2012 New England Coach of the Year! Justin has been quietly managing the Green Mountain Valley School Nordic Program for several years now. He has coached GMVS athletes through successful junior careers and instills a love of skiing and outdoor adventure into them as well. A world class athlete himself, he knows what it takes to be a student of the sport and his program ensures that there is enough of a challenge intermixed with plenty of fun!

Justin wrote via email: “I’ve been really lucky to work with an impressive group of skiers over the past six years here in Waitsfield. My goal as a coach is to make all around skiers and expose kids to adventures that create a passion for sport and competition. Pursuing your dreams as a ski racer is an ultimate adventure and it is inspiring to help kids follow that path. It has been awesome to watch our alums continue to ski and improve in college and beyond.

We’ve had five Junior National Champs and three athletes placed on the J1 Team since I’ve been at the Green Mountain Valley School. We are really excited about our summer training programs with athletes like Tim Reynolds, David Sinclair, Dylan Grald and Heidi Halvorsen leading guests from throughout New England.”

Justin has been coaching at GMVS for 6 years, was J1 Scando trip leader in 2009, World Junior Coach in 2012 and the New England Team Wax Tech 2009-2012. For four straight years in a row, Justin has also managed the production of 55- 65 pairs of skis per race at Junior Nationals- this is no easy feat to keep the New England train rolling! His calmness through the inevitable storms of wax testing and making the right calls, consistently put out the best skis on the best skiers day in and day out during a busy week.

Through all of this he stresses the team effort to make New England such a great ski community. In true spirit, Justin recaps his season on a recent blog post:

“Thanks for helping make this winter a success for New England– the enthusiasm of the Nordic Community in our region overshadowed any lack of snow. It was a huge year of successes for Eastern Skiers from the BKL level, at Junior Nationals and NCAA’s. I’m proud to be a part of this energy and I look forward to collaborating with many of you in the future.”

We congratulate Justin and wish him much success as he continues to educate and challenge his skiers to even more success in the future.

Coach of the year award history
– 2012 – Justin Beckwith
– 2011 – Sverre Caldwell
– 2010 – Pepa Milochoeva
– 2009 – Matt Boobar
– 2008 – Eileen Carey
– 2007 – Rob Bradlee

Donations Double-Matched – $10,000 Bonus
Another donor has stepped in to add to the challenge we announced on Friday. Instead of being matched $1 to $1, all donations to the Annual Fund are now matched with $2 for every $1 donated.

Your $10 donation becomes $30 to NENSA… your $50 donation becomes $150… And if we meet the $5,000 match (we’ve raised $2,005 toward it so far) then the new donor will also give a $10,000 bonus to the annual fund. Please be part of helping us reach this goal and earn this very important contribution to NENSA. I can’t think of a better way for our members to welcome our new Executive Director than with the energy and momentum that a successful annual fund can provide. And successfully meeting this match will mean that we’ll surpass our Annual Fund goal and have an opportunity, like last year, for our Board of Directors to designate even more funding to some of your favorite programs like the Athlete Fund and Skis for Kids.

So, please take advantage of the match today! Every dollar becomes three! How often do we have an opportunity like this?

Please donate today and help spread the word to your friends; we NEED your help to meet this challenge! And donating online will take just 5 minutes. Please help us reach the goal and continue to bring wonderful winter memories to New England families.

Click HERE to Donate.

April 19, 2012 – Just like skiing well in one of our Marathon Series events, we’ve gotten off to a solid start with our Annual Fund drive and sailed through the first two laps. And now we face just $10K to the finish line. Can you help us get there?

And just like skiing in a race, there are lots of reasons to doubt ourselves. Can we make it? What if the challenge is too great?

And just like with 10K to go in a race, it is time to focus on the goal and do everything we can to reach the finish.

As I am sure you have heard, NENSA starts with a new Executive Director on May 1 and there’s no better way to help Zach Stegeman get started than with a successful annual fund drive.

We have 10K to go and I know we can make it, but we definitely need your help to meet this challenge. Gifts of any size are valued, just as we value your participation in our clinics, clubs, camps, and races all season long.

Please donate today; we NEED your help to meet this challenge!

Click HERE to Donate.

Thanks to NENSA’s Major Sponsors: TD Bank, L.L. Bean, Swix.

April 02, 2012 – Attention Race Organizers: If you are interested in submitting a bid for a 2012-2013 NENSA event (TD Bank Eastern Cup and Championship events), a bid packet will be available online at www.nensa.net at the end of April. Please contact Janice Sibilia at janice@nensa.net with any questions or if you would like a packet emailed to you.

November 01, 2011 – The surprise October snow is a great reminder that winter is almost here and we need your help to make it a great one…. Remember, the NENSA Fall Online Auction kicks off today!

Here are just a few of the 58 items featured:
– A VBT European Bike Tour
– A handmade queen-sized folk art bed
– A team photoshoot by FlyingPointRoad.com
– 2 Southwest Airlines $500 gift cards
– US Ski Team and Olympic clothing donated by New Englanders on the team (Liz Stephen, Ida Sargent, Kris Freeman, Andy Newell, and Skyler Davis)
– A Concept2 SkiErg
– College team gear
– Ski ties
– Posters
– Wax
– Rollerskis by Swenor
– A complete Rossignol Xium set-up
– Swix star poles
– Entry fee, food, and lodging for two at the Craftsbury Marathon
– A Golden Eagle Resort stay,
– and so many more great items!
and so much more!

As you’ll quickly see, the auction has a lot to offer both skiers and non-skiers, so please email your friends and post a link on your Facebook page… help spread the word! Click HERE for info.

Bidding is now open!

Skis for Kids
As of today, orders are shipping. We expect to sell out early this year so please get organized and submit your order soon. www.nensa.net/skis

May 13, 2011 – Applications are now being accepted for four coaching intern positions for the 2nd annual USSA National J2 Talent ID Camp. All travel and on site expenses will be covered for these positions. Coaching interns will help head coaches supervise daily scheduling for the skiers, help manage workouts and gain valuable experience towards a post-college coaching career. Applicants should have strong skiing backgrounds, good communication skills, blend enthusiasm with maturity and be willing to work as a part of team of a staff.

Coaching interns will need to be USSA licensed coaches. Camp runs from Aug 1-8th and staff should plan on arriving on the 31st.

Application HERE. (PDF)

Please submit cover letter and application to Janice Sibilia at janice@nensa.net or fax to (845)-896-0148 no later than May 30th.

May 11, 2011 – Each spring NENSA recognizes an outstanding coach who has made a difference in not only the sport of cross country skiing, but in the lives of the people around them. This year NENSA is pleased to announce Sverre Caldwell, Head Nordic Coach at Stratton Mountain School as our 2011 Coach of the year! Most recently, Sverre has led his group of athletes to multiple medals at this years Junior National’s; In addition to individual top placings, they also won the girls and boys and overall for the Roger Weston Award and the boys and girls and overall Club award!

Sverre’s talents go beyond getting results though, to fulfill an even greater role in the lives of his charges. The wisdom Sverre brings from being immersed in the sport for a long time aids his athletes in every sapect of their lives. He has run the gamut from coaching youngsters all the way up through the National and Olympic team skiers -but has always returned to his true love of coaching juniors. If you had the chance to see his presentation at last years NENSA symposium, then you are aware of the SMS philosophy of “Cradle to Grave”. A unique name but one that captures the philosoply fabulously! He has found a way to motivate all of these age groups, keep them returning home to mentor up and coming skiers, and teaches them the importance of giving back to the sport.

Sverre’s consistency has led to this impressive achievement: He has had a gold medal winner at Junior National’s for the past 15 consecutive years and consistently puts SMS kids onto the Jr and U23 world championship teams. Andy Newell, SMS alum and current USST member sums it up best: “I think Sverre is the greatest coach because he combines experience and leadership with a laid back fun coaching style. Over the years he’s be so successful because he’s always willing to learn and try new things, but at the same time sticks to basics of simple training plans and hard work.” NENSA is proud to present this very deserving coach, with our Coach of the Year award.

April 27, 2011 – We have met the 2011 Annual Fund Goal, but with 5 days left, a new donor has stepped forward with a really exciting offer: “Every dollar NENSA raises from this point through the drive’s end on Saturday at midnight we will match by depositing $1 each into the Skis for Kids ski lease program and NENSA’s new Athlete Support Fund… we will match up to $10,000 in additional gifts to bring our total to $20,000.”

What is the Skis for Kids program? It offers low-cost lease of skis, boots, and poles to any skier in the region. It has helped get entire clubs started and receives universal praise from club leaders and individuals who have used it.

What is the Athlete Support Fund? It is a fund with a current balance of $5000 that starting this coming season will be available to help support athletes based on dedication to the sport and financial need for training and competition opportunities. There are no admin fees taken from this account and 100% of deposits to this account will go directly to supporting athletes.

There has never been a better time to give to NENSA!

And even if you have already given to this year’s drive, now is the time to consider a second gift. A $50 gift will support NENSA, buy a pair of kids skis, and, give $50 of support directly to an athlete. Wow!

Link HERE to Donate Now or check on progress… (all dollars over $25,000 are toward this match!)

March 23, 2011 – You’ve supported us all winter long by participating in NENSA events and sharing your love of skiing with those around you, now is your chance to contribute to NENSA financially, to help provide us with the platform to get even better as we move forward.

Make a Donation and check on our drive’s progress HERE.

Create Your Own Fundraising Page for NENSA to encourage your friends to contribute HERE.

We’ve had a wonderful winter. We’ve set records for membership again this year, with growth of at least 5% (numbers are still coming in!) had great snow throughout the region once it got started, and enjoyed wonderful events at fantastic venues all winter long. Now is our chance to say thank you for being a part of it and to ask you to support both the current work of NENSA and build a strong foundation for its future growth.

What does the future hold? Short-term, I envision full funding for New England qualifiers to J1, World Junior, and U23 trip. I also see further expansion of our successful ski lease program that helps get kids and families on skis for the first time. And, yes, it means continual improvement of our core programs like the TD Bank Eastern Cup Series, BKL Festival, Championship events, Gaining the Edge Clinics, Kids Ski Days, and more… Longer term, a strong financial foundation gives us the strength to spot and seize opportunities for new programs and avenues to enhance our mission. In summary, the Annual Fund Drive is important and your contribution matters!

What will it take to reach our goals? A big part of it is the continuous support of our major sponsors like TD Bank, LL Bean, and Trapp Family Lodge, but in recent years our Annual Fund has grown… and grown… and is now a critical component of our success. Donate $5 or donate $500 if you can… NENSA is doing well, we are strong, but we need your continued support to continue to serve the xc skiing community.

Follow us, and this annual fund drive at www.twitter.com/nensa

March 07, 2011 (Rossland, BC) – Dave Wood was Canada’s most successful National Team cross-country ski coach, with career highlights including Beckie Scott’s legendary Olympic pursuit gold in 2002, Sara Renner’s sprint bronze at the Nordic World Championships in 2005, Chandra Crawford’s sprint gold in 2006 in Torino, and nine top-10’s at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Wood spent 18 years with Cross Country Canada (CCC) and lead the program for 12 of those years. He resigned in May 2010 and is still very much involved with skiing, currently coaching the Black Jack Ski Club in Rossland, B.C. He talked with SkiTrax’s Marty Hall about his new New Nordic Academy program.

It’s been 9 months since your departure from the Canadian National Team, what’s been happening with you and your career – bring us up to speed?
Dave Wood: In the spring I began working with the Black Jack Ski Club in Rossland, BC. The program here has younger skiers ages 13 to 17, all in high school. We have an ideal natural environment for Cross country skiers in Rossland.

Most of the training can be completed “out the door”. We have to travel for Roller skiing to find different terrain, but we have everything from flatter gentle terrain to long continuous uphills (10 to 25 km). The trails are superb and with the Red Mountain alpine area only 15 minutes running from town we can do as much ski simulation on foot as one can stand!

The program had a couple of training camps in the summer, the Haig Glacier, and a dryland camp in the Bow Valley. This is an opportunity to begin to introduce these skiers to training at altitude. We began skiing in Early November up at the Paulson trails (local). There are 3 areas for Cross Country here, and the Paulson trails (maintained by the Castlegar club) have snow a little earlier than Black Jack.

I went to Boston in September for a NENSA seminar. I made a presentation and sat in on the rest of seminar. Always good to get into other areas. As well I went to a COC function (Olympic Excellence series) for summer sports in November.

The club hosted a very successful NorAm in December. I did not have involvement with the event, except I worked with the club to build a better sprint course. The tracks and the event were well received.

The club and the Red Mountain Academy are joining forces to create an educational component to our Nordic Program. Al Fisher (Racing Program Director) and I initiated this in the spring and over the summer when we hammered out the details. At the end it has been Wannes Luppens (Club President), Al Fisher and I that are spearheading this initiative.

Now we are into the racing season and going full blast. Life in Rossland right now is being very good to Coach Dave Wood!

I hear you’re announcing a new high school aged skiing program at one of the best training and skiing locales in North America – tell us more about the Red Mountain Academy and its new educational component for your Nordic Program.
DW: The Red Mountain Academy (RMA) has been in operation for many years. It began as an academy program with the Red Mountain Racers (Alpine racing) and over time has expanded. The cooperation with the Black Jack Cross Country ski club was initiated this spring and we finalized the association this past fall with a three pronged program. Read more about the Academy here: www.redskiacademy.com

With the Home Stay Plan athletes that are not local in Rossland are placed with families in Rossland. We also have service providers such as physiotherapy, mental training, etc.

The home stay is organized and delivered through the administration end of the academy program. The athletes stay with families in the area. There is an education for the home stay families with respect to the nutritional needs of the athlete. The cost for this is $750/month, which includes some of the travelling needs. With their application to academy the process for home stay is initiated.

Another component of this program is transportation to and from the training venue to the school. In Rossland you can walk from “home” to school

The Educational Component of the Academy is delivered at Rossland Senior Secondary school. This will provide the athletes with a flexible academic schedule that allows time for proper training and competition programs. Read more about RMA here: www.rss.sd20.bc.ca

The third component of the program is the Training and Competition Program that is managed and delivered by myself. I have several coaches and experts who are assisting me in the Black Jack Racing team. We provide an intensive, individualized training and preparation programs.

Athletes in the academy program will train alongside the athletes training with the Club Program. Currently we have athletes from Rossland, Nelson, and Trail that work with the Black Jack Racing Team.

General program for 2011/12
– May 1 is the training year start
– Will plan for a spring snow camp where it can happen, likely Vernon, however we can do it here in some years
– June is dryland, going into the local mountain trails as the snow melts
– July will have a week at the Haig glacier
– August will have two weeks in the Bow Valley with two trips to the Haig glacier
– Fall camp with altitude. Most likely the Bow Valley if the stored snow works out
– December NorAms
– World Junior trials
– National Champs
– Other racing as is available

In Rossland we enjoy the perfect natural environment for developing Cross Country Ski Racers. We have an extensive network of trails and paths that are ideal for running and ski simulation on foot. As well we have mountain trails that are up to 2200 meters in elevation.

This means we can train between 400 meters and 2200 meters, an ideal situation for altitude training and lower elevation for speed work. We have long continuous roller ski climbs, up to 25 km, or we can have gentle rolling terrain to roller ski on. A lot of this roller ski terrain has very limited traffic.

We have access to a rubber surface running track in Warfield (6km away), an aquatic center in Trail (10 km), gyms in Rossland, and the alpine area (Red Resort) is about 5km from town, a perfect distance for warm up for a hill session. This is as good as it gets for dry land training!

We have three areas where we can ski. The Black Jack Club (www.skiblackjack.ca) is about a 10 min drive from anywhere in Rossland. The club has about 30 km of trails that are groomed daily by one of the two Pisten Bulleys the club owns. The normal season at Black Jack would be December to April. There is a biathlon facility up the highway from Black Jack. There is a 5km loop with the shorter tracks inside the 5 km track. The biathlon facility is about 300 meters higher than Black Jack, and gets earlier snow (2 to 3 weeks) and the snow lasts much longer in the spring. Finally the Castlegar ski club operates a trail system at the Paulson Summit. This is about a 30 min drive from Rossland, and it is also higher (about 1500 meters) so it is another option for early skiing

We can offer a training environment that is very high quality and lets the athletes maximize their training time do to the proximity of all training venues.

Dave, I think that wraps it up for any young teenage skier it doesn’t get any better. Sort of a home away from home feeling with the Home Stay Program and one of the best facilities and training centered programs you could want to be involved with – how do I sign up?
DW: Contact Kristi Calder at kristi@redskiacademy.com for information on the overall program. I can be contacted at davidwood53@gmail.com or 250-521-0223 for specifics on all aspects of the programs

February 25, 2011 (Rossland, BC) – Dave Wood was Canada’s most successful National Team cross-country ski coach, with career highlights including Beckie Scott’s legendary Olympic pursuit gold in 2002, Sara Renner’s sprint bronze at the Nordic World Championships in 2005, Chandra Crawford’s sprint gold in 2006 in Torino, and nine top-10’s at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Wood spent 18 years with Cross Country Canada (CCC) and lead the program for 12 of those years. He resigned in May 2010 and  is still very much involved with skiing, currently coaching the Black Jack Ski Club in Rossland, B.C. He talked with SkiTrax’s Marty Hall about his new New Nordic Academy program.

It’s been 9 months since your departure from the Canadian National Team, what’s been happening with you and your career – bring us up to speed?
Dave Wood: In the spring I began working with the Black Jack Ski Club in Rossland, BC. The program here has younger skiers ages 13 to 17, all in high school. We have an ideal natural environment for Cross country skiers in Rossland.

Most of the training can be completed “out the door”. We have to travel for Roller skiing to find different terrain, but we have everything from flatter gentle terrain to long continuous uphills (10 to 25 km). The trails are superb and with the Red Mountain alpine area only 15 minutes running from town we can do as much ski simulation on foot as one can stand!

The program had a couple of training camps in the summer, the Haig Glacier, and a dryland camp in the Bow Valley. This is an opportunity to begin to introduce these skiers to training at altitude. We began skiing in Early November up at the Paulson trails (local). There are 3 areas for Cross Country here, and the Paulson trails (maintained by the Castlegar club) have snow a little earlier than Black Jack.

I went to Boston in September for a NENSA seminar. I made a presentation and sat in on the rest of seminar. Always good to get into other areas. As well I went to a COC function (Olympic Excellence series) for summer sports in November.

The club hosted a very successful NorAm in December. I did not have involvement with the event, except I worked with the club to build a better sprint course. The tracks and the event were well received.

The club and the Red Mountain Academy are joining forces to create an educational component to our Nordic Program. Al Fisher (Racing Program Director) and I initiated this in the spring and over the summer when we hammered out the details. At the end it has been Wannes Luppens (Club President), Al Fisher and I that are spearheading this initiative.

Now we are into the racing season and going full blast. Life in Rossland right now is being very good to Coach Dave Wood!

I hear you’re announcing a new high school aged skiing program at one of the best training and skiing locales in North America – tell us more about the Red Mountain Academy and its new educational component for your Nordic Program.
DW: The Red Mountain Academy (RMA) has been in operation for many years. It began as an academy program with the Red Mountain Racers (Alpine racing) and over time has expanded. The cooperation with the Black Jack Cross Country ski club was initiated this spring and we finalized the association this past fall with a three pronged program. Read more about the Academy here: www.redskiacademy.com

With the Home Stay Plan athletes that are not local in Rossland are placed with families in Rossland. We also have service providers such as physiotherapy, mental training, etc.

The home stay is organized and delivered through the administration end of the academy program. The athletes stay with families in the area. There is an education for the home stay families with respect to the nutritional needs of the athlete. The cost for this is $750/month, which includes some of the travelling needs. With their application to academy the process for home stay is initiated.

Another component of this program is transportation to and from the training venue to the school. In Rossland you can walk from “home” to school

The Educational Component of the Academy is delivered at Rossland Senior Secondary school. This will provide the athletes with a flexible academic schedule that allows time for proper training and competition programs. Read more about RMA here: www.rss.sd20.bc.ca

The third component of the program is the Training and Competition Program that is managed and delivered by myself. I have several coaches and experts who are assisting me in the Black Jack Racing team. We provide an intensive, individualized training and preparation programs.

Athletes in the academy program will train alongside the athletes training with the Club Program. Currently we have athletes from Rossland, Nelson, and Trail that work with the Black Jack Racing Team.

General program for 2011/12
– May 1 is the training year start
– Will plan for a spring snow camp where it can happen, likely Vernon, however we can do it here in some years
– June is dryland, going into the local mountain trails as the snow melts
– July will have a week at the Haig glacier
– August will have two weeks in the Bow Valley with two trips to the Haig glacier
– Fall camp with altitude. Most likely the Bow Valley if the stored snow works out
– December NorAms
– World Junior trials
– National Champs
– Other racing as is available

In Rossland we enjoy the perfect natural environment for developing Cross Country Ski Racers. We have an extensive network of trails and paths that are ideal for running and ski simulation on foot. As well we have mountain trails that are up to 2200 meters in elevation.

This means we can train between 400 meters and 2200 meters, an ideal situation for altitude training and lower elevation for speed work. We have long continuous roller ski climbs, up to 25 km, or we can have gentle rolling terrain to roller ski on. A lot of this roller ski terrain has very limited traffic.

We have access to a rubber surface running track in Warfield (6km away), an aquatic center in Trail (10 km), gyms in Rossland, and the alpine area (Red Resort) is about 5km from town, a perfect distance for warm up for a hill session. This is as good as it gets for dry land training!

We have three areas where we can ski. The Black Jack Club (www.skiblackjack.ca) is about a 10 min drive from anywhere in Rossland. The club has about 30 km of trails that are groomed daily by one of the two Pisten Bulleys the club owns. The normal season at Black Jack would be December to April. There is a biathlon facility up the highway from Black Jack. There is a 5km loop with the shorter tracks inside the 5 km track. The biathlon facility is about 300 meters higher than Black Jack, and gets earlier snow (2 to 3 weeks) and the snow lasts much longer in the spring. Finally the Castlegar ski club operates a trail system at the Paulson Summit. This is about a 30 min drive from Rossland, and it is also higher (about 1500 meters) so it is another option for early skiing

We can offer a training environment that is very high quality and lets the athletes maximize their training time do to the proximity of all training venues.

Dave, I think that wraps it up for any young teenage skier it doesn’t get any better. Sort of a home away from home feeling with the Home Stay Program and one of the best facilities and training centered programs you could want to be involved with – how do I sign up?
DW:

February 21, 2011 (Plymouth, NH) – Even though Patrick O’Brien and Corey Stock fell just short of victory in today’s TD Bank Cheri Walsh Memorial, they each grabbed enough points with their 2nd place finishes to win the 2011 TD Bank Eastern Cup title. Stock’s victory is especially remarkable considering that she did not return to the race course until the final weekend of January because of injury.

Craftsbury Green Racing Project skiers were stacked at the top of the results sheet today and Hannah Dreissigacker started it all off with her 10-second victory in the women’s 5K. Stock (CSU / Lincoln, MA) was second with Heather Mooney (SMS / Peru, VT) another 10 seconds back in third. Heidi Halvorsen (GMVS / Waitsfield, VT) was the top J2, finishing an impressive 6th overall. Hannah Benson (MWN / Jackson, NH) was 10th overall and the second J2, with overal J2 leader Cate Brams just a few seconds back in 13th overall.

Former Olympian, now school teacher Justin Freeman (New Hampton, NH) showed his strength in the classic technique and won the men’s 10K. He was followed closely by a trio of Craftsbury GRP skiers: O’Brien, Tim Reynolds, and Dylan McGuffin. The race’s top junior was David Sinclair.

For J2 Boys, season-long leader Tyler Foulkes (SMS / Jamaica, VT) won over Jack Schrupp (Gunstock / Gilford, NH) and Hamish McEwen (CSU / Weston, MA.)

At the conclusion of today’s events, the 2011 New England Junior Olympic Team was named in front of a packed crowd at the Holderness School auditorium. The team will head to Minneapolis, Minnesota in two weeks to defend its two-year hold on the Alaska Cup awarded to the nations strongest regional team. The TD Bank Eastern Cup series this season featured the presence of Olympians like Justin Freeman, top collegiate skiers from the east, and incredible competition for all ages; with these races behind them, the New England JO Team skiers are well-prepared for the competition they will face in Minneapolis. They are also well-guided by trip leader Janice Sibilia and head coach Matt Boobar.

Link to all TD Bank Eastern Cup Finals results HERE.

Link to final Junior Olympic Qualifier Standings, Final Eastern Cup Standings, and more HERE.

January 29, 2011 – NENSA played a critical role in the development of this new split and race timing app for iOS devices (designed for iPod Touch and iPhone… works on iPad). We started the process about one year ago partnering with Fasterskier.com and FlyingPointRoad.com. After finally finding a developer (who now actually owns the app with a share of revenue coming to the original partners) and working through the fairly complex logic involved in a good split and race timing system, the app is now released in the iTunes app store.

I tested the app at US Nationals, the Colby College Carnival, and it has now been used to run two time trials for the Central Maine Ski Club BKL group. All, I can say is that if you are a coach trying to do splits, a parent trying to figure out who’s doing well in an interval start race, a youth leader or anyone trying to time or do split timing you will love this app. While it is not robust enough to be a FIS-homologated timer, it will work for just about anything else!

We’ve tested battery life in the bitter cold, covered with a plastic bag during a driving snowstorm, and run it through all kinds of different scenarios including the 6-lap US Nationals races (it automatically handles laps!). We are in love with the app and know that you will love it too…

So, buy the app now and be ready for me to post specially formatted start lists for this weekend’s Eastern Cup so you can give it a try. We’ll also be sure that start lists are available for EISA collegiate races and will produce formatted start lists at the request of any race director on the NENSA Calendar!

Learn more at www.racesplitter.com or HERE or buy directly the iTunes store for $24.99 HERE.

December 14, 2010 (Bolton, VT) – Over 100 hearty souls enjoyed epic conditions to kick off the season – high winds, continuous snow fall on top of the solid groomed base made for an abrupt kick start to racing. It was a great mix of the old along with many new faces. Last year’s club champions NWVT are racing under a new name this season – NWVE or Northwest Vermont Endurance – but the results were much the same. They took control of the club series with a dominating team victory on their home course at Bolton Valley.

Individually, it was the Caitlin Patterson of UVM and Patrick O’brien of Craftsbury Green Racing Project who earned commanding victories over strong fields that included Craftsbury GRP members, the UVM Ski Team and many others.

Note that this race, and all TD Bank Citizen Series events, will be scored to the NENSA points list. This will not impact JO Team scoring, but will allow more athletes to earn points for seeding at Eastern Cup and placement on the end-of-season NENSA Development Teams.

Full results HERE.

NENSA Points Standings HERE.

Check out more photos of the Bolton Season Opener and first race in the TD Bank Citizen Series HERE.