Sleepy Hollow Bill Koch League Junior Racers

PARTY PARTY!

2011-02-20T19:35:00.002-05:00

Our end of the season gathering will be a bonfire, sledding, edibles, and maybe even some skiing hosted by Peter, Paul, and Kerstin (many, many thanks!)

Date: Saturday March 5
Time: 2-5pm
Place: Peter's house, we'll let you know directions privately instead of posting on the blog

So mark your calendars. And stand by for how you can help as far as bringing treats and what not... Looking forward to seeing you all to celebrate a great season!

Last chance!

2011-02-18T21:36:00.001-05:00

Registration for the BKL Festival at Breadloaf closes tonight at midnight. We've got a good group going and welcome you to join us!!

http://www.skireg.com/events/register.asp?EventID=3183

Festival and party!

2011-02-16T17:56:00.006-05:00

(A picture from last Friday's practice...a little bit of sun in the eyes, but a great day!)

So we all survived yesterdays practice in the cold -- and hopefully you enjoyed the cookies at the end! We will have our last practice on Friday and you can choose to do whatever technique you want - yay! The season is coming to a close for us, which is really crazy as it seems to have gone by so quickly. The Bill Koch Festival is happening on the 26th and 27th where at least a handful of our skiers will be marching in the opening ceremonies, doing a relay as part of the Northwest Vermont Team and then participating in a classic race on Sunday.

Even if you are not going to the festival (although there is still time to sign up - http://www.skireg.com/events/register.asp?EventID=3183) I hope that you all will continue to ski while we have the snow for it and I encourage everyone to come party at our end of the season get together. We are looking at the weekend of March 5/6 for a party so get ready!! I will keep you updated on exact plans.

Below are some pictures from Sophie's dad Alan for us all to enjoy! My apologies for delayed posting.

Looking towards....

2011-02-10T18:52:00.002-05:00

...THE WEEKEND!

Race this weekend is at Sleepy Hollow! Lucky us! Great grooming, your home venue, nearby, and an early start. Your race starts at 10am and we should plan to get there at 8:45-9amish...be on the earlier side of that if you have waxable skis (remember to bring your skis without any kick wax on them, you want a clean kick zone!). You can be on the later side of that if you have waxless/fishscale skis.

Friday practice -- we will attempt to familiarize ourselves more with the course and you will have the option to ski with some of the Friday only BKL group and assist them with technique. Even if you are a new skier, you will have valuable tips for these guys, so don't worry! If you ski with one of the younger groups, they will just think it's cool to ski with you. We are classic skiing. Waxing is available at CVU after practice.

...THE END OF THE SEASON!
It's hard to believe, but the end of our season is coming soon. Hopefully if you are planning to do the BKL Festival you have already registered as I believe the price went up $10. As I stated before, if you definitely want to go, but it's a challenge financially, let me know so we can figure something out. Cost shouldn't hold you back! BKL Festival skiers will also need to make a team banner and get some "accessories" together to dress up a bit for the races. We've got to show our team spirit. Face paint? Headbands? Ribbons? Whatever you can think of. So those of you going, we will have to make a time to get together to make the banner. There may also be some BKL skiers from the Friday only group, so we'll have to get in touch with them as well.

Next week is actually our last week of official practice. The following week is school vacation. You are welcome to come ski and use your rental gear and all of that, but it's not official practice since we know so many of you will be off and busy doing other things.

We also need to think about an end of the season event...something similar to the potluck we did last season (yum!). There is a potential offer to do some skiing and partying at one of your homes, but I won't fully advertise that just yet. But know we won't be without and end of the season get together.

...AND LOOKING JUST A BIT BACK...
to last weekend's awesome race at the range. Results are here. You will have to find the race in the list there. Everyone did so well! Great racing and great turnout from our team. Mass starts can be tough physically and mentally and everyone handled it like a pro. I am trying to get you an attachment that I have for the Frost Mountain Nordic race at Breadloaf...they did just send me the results, but I don't know how to post a document here. Look for just an email (versus a blog post email). I also have some more parent pictures but don't have the time to get them up right now. Sorry.

Range racing and plans for next week...

2011-02-05T22:01:00.003-05:00

(pictures are from Gary, dad of Will S...I think you can see the beginnings(?) of our mass start mishap happening in there!)

Congrats to all who did such a wonderful job racing at the range today. The mass start went off well (for most of you!) and everyone was skiing really well from what I saw. Strong up the hills, great gliding in your diagonal stride and using your double pole effectively. Thanks so much to all the parents for help with waxing, cheering, and being photographers out on the course. Special thanks also to our injured skier who still came out to cheer - we loved having you there and can't wait til you're back on the trails! We had some great results - even the big win in the boys race and a super silver in the girls race - and certainly dominated as far as team size which is great to see. I remember being asked at the beginning of the season if there were team scores and, if there were team scores, we certainly would have won the team competition today!

Looking forward to next week, our next official team race is on Sunday February 13th at your home course of Sleepy Hollow. You guys will know the terrain well and really be able to show your stuff. We will be waxing people who need kick wax on their skis the morning of the race just like we did today -- PLEASE remember to come with clean kick zones/wax pockets so that we can easily apply the wax of the day. You can clean your kick zone on Friday at CVU where waxing will be available after practice if desired. We will meet at 9am for the race with 7th and 8th graders going off at 10am and 6th graders (racing with 5th graders as well) to follow just five minutes after.

On Thursday the 10th, there is an optional race hosted by Colchester, which is a ton of fun. It's the "Colchester Night Relays". It is a freestyle race on a 1.5km loop IN COSTUME. The way it usually works is that teams of two trade off tackling the course, but it appears that for middle schoolers, they are planning just a one loop mass start race, but of course IN COSTUME. I am trying to convince the Colchester coaches to either change up the middle school race so it is some sort of a relay or see if you guys can race in the JV race if desired. The JV race does two laps each so skier A goes, then skier B, then skier A, then skier B. So the second challenge with this race (aside from the fact that they are giving you such a short course and no relay aspect as I said above) is that I can't make it due to work because it is on a Thursday. So, I am looking for a PARENT TO VOLUNTEER to be the leader for this race. It shouldn't be hard since it is a skate race. The middle school race is supposed to start at 3:45pm at Colchester High School. There is no fee for this race. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE INTERESTED BY SENDING ME AN EMAIL BY WEDNESDAY MORNING. PLEASE SEND ME A MESSAGE AT MY EMAIL ADDRESS AND DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS MESSAGE AS IT WILL GO TO THE WHOLE GROUP. ANY PARENT WILLING TO VOLUNTEER SHOULD EMAIL ME AS WELL. THANKS!

Update on BKL Festival. Registration will INCREASE IN PRICE BY $10 on/after (not sure which one) THURSDAY FEBRUARY 10th, so register early. Those of you who are attending the festival will need to get together to make a team banner and figure out some type of dress up/uniform for our team. When you register, if you can remember to put NWVT (northwest vermont) for your district, that will help get you on the correct relay team.

I hope I have remembered everything. Skate practice again on Tuesday. Classic practice Friday (some of you will be helping with the younger/Friday only program BKL skiers).

Great job today!!!

New meeting time for race tomorrow

2011-02-04T17:07:00.001-05:00

Due to our efforts to coordinate with the arrival of the CVU team and our race wax, we are changing our arrival time at tomorrow's race at the range to 9:00am-9:15am. Your race will still start at 10am.

Apologies for late notice. No harm in getting there early of course to do a little skiing!

Race opportunity Saturday Feb 12th

2011-02-03T09:31:00.003-05:00

We will be racing on our home course at Sleepy Hollow on Sunday February 13th and therefore will not be going to this race on the 12th as a team, but if anyone has the desire to go, you are welcome to. If you do this race, it would also be expected that you are racing with the team on Sunday at Sleepy Hollow as well, so the Saturday race would be extra/in addition to the Sunday race.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12 ETHAN ALLEN BIATHLON RANGE, JERICHO
CLASSIC/FREESTYLE DUATHLON
(One classical leg, then one freestyle leg)
Registration 12:00-12:45
Lollipoppers, 1/2km classical @ 1:00 PM
* J2 & J3, 7th & 8th grade 4km @ 1:15
• J4, 5th & 6th grade 3km @ 1:45
• J5, 3rd & 4th grade 2km @ 2:15
• 1st & 2nd grade 2km @ 2:45
• girls start 1 minute after the boys in each age group
• SLING SHOT RELAYS @ 3:00
AWARDS, FOOD & HOT CHOCOLATE 3:30
$3 entry fee
Details on this special race format & competition venue are below.
If you need more information contact…
Murray Banks, 899-5415 murray@murraybanks.com
MORE DETAILS…
CLASSIC/FREESTYLE DUATHLON is an exciting race where skiers ski a short
fast classical technique leg, ski into the stadium transition area, change into skate
skis, then ski another short leg, skating. Most skiers use skate boots for both
techniques to speed up transitions. We have created a 1 km loop that laps
through the stadium several times to provide wicked exciting setup spectators!
AWARDS & REFRESHMENTS: ribbons for every skier and Mansfield Nordic
parents are renowned for their “high fiber, all protein” cookies and antioxidant
hot chocolate!
SLING SHOT RELAYS aren’t actually relays, but they are the
most exciting & fun skiing you will do… hint: it involves 2 skiers & 1
rope!
THE RANGE: The Ethan Allen Biathlon Range in Jericho is a world-class
training and racing facility run by the Vermont National Guard. The start/finish
will occur in the stadium with excellent visibility for spectators. A large heated
building will provide a warm place for changing & awards. SPEED LIMIT ON
POST IS 20 MPH
DIRECTIONS:
Once through the gate at the Vermont Natʼl Guard base, go1/2 mile then turn
right on Essayons Road (just past "Red House" on the left); continue up a long
hill to the end of road, approx 1 mile, to large parking lot on left. NOTE: In the
Google Map link below, Essayons Road is labeled as West Hill Road. Please
obey the posted base speed limit of 20 mph. There are many army personnel
walking on the roads as well as army vehicles. Drivers caught on radar speeding
will be asked to leave the base - They are very serious about this!
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&
geocode=&q=West+Hill+Road,+Jericho,+Chittenden,+Ve
rmont+05465&sll=44.471644,72.940979&sspn=0.017578,0
.03931&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=W+Hill+Rd,+Jericho,+Chitt
enden,+Vermont+05465&z=14

Plan for the weekend

2011-02-01T21:03:00.002-05:00

Just a quick reminder to NOT reply to the googlegroups email that sends you the blog update emails as that will be sent to the entire team - as I am sure you have seen that you are getting numerous emails from different team members. Oops! So a good rule to follow is that if what you are responding to is not directly addressing you and it is addressing the group, your reply will not go to my email address alone. So you are pretty much never responding to a blog post email. To reply to ME -- write to my email address which is andreallarosa at gmail dot com or there is also the shjrracers at gmail dot com which will get to me as well. Just don't write emails to the sleepyhollowjuniorracers at googlegroups email. Thanks! Sorry it is so confusing!

Thanks to everyone for getting back to me so quickly about racing at the Range this Saturday. I am really excited that we have so many of you racing. The more the merrier and it really creates for a great atmosphere. Since there are so many of us, and I do believe that we will have space to use in the Walker Building - although it will probably be pretty packed - I would encourage a parent or two to volunteer to bring/coordinate people to bring some post race snacks/food if people might hang out a little bit after the race and watch some of the highschoolers or even to just grab a quick and rewarding treat after working hard out on the trails. Even a few thermos' of hot chocolate are great to warm bodies and spirits!

We will want to meet there at 8:45-9ish since we will be racing at 10am. You can be more towards the later side of things if you have fishscales. It is another mass start race so last weekend was good practice! You will want to at least ski the course (which I did find out will be a 2 lap course) and then get in a good 5 minutes of hard skiing to wake up your muscles and lungs before getting out there for the real thing.

So we'll see you Friday for a classic practice and then we will be able to go to CVU to wax if desired. Remember, you are only waxing tips and tails -- do not wax your kick zone/wax pocket/fishscales. And make sure to remove all kick wax/sticky wax that is under foot before waxing your skis with the glide wax (the wax you melt on with the iron).

And, also, just keep me posted on who has registered for the BKL Festival. If you are bored and you don't know yet -- try to find out who Bill Koch is!

Enjoy the snow and hopefully your snow day!

Pictures from several races and NEED TO KNOW race participation.

2011-02-01T09:46:00.012-05:00

I NEED TO KNOW WHO IS RACING AT THE RANGE THIS SATURDAY. Our race goes off at 10am. I need to send in a running order since it is a middle school race so please let me know ASAP if you will be racing. There is no registration fee for this race and it should be great!

I ALSO NEED TO KNOW WHO IS PLANNING ON GOING TO THE BILL KOCH FESTIVAL AT BREADLOAF (same place as this past weekend's race) on February 26 and 27. I know it is the end of school vacation and some people have already said that they will be gone, so I need to know if there will even be a group of you interested in racing. There is a relay race on the 26th and a classic race on the 27th, also a dinner banquet on the 26th (I am not sure if there is an additional fee for the meal?!) Please let me know this as soon as possible too. There is a registration fee associated with this, which is $55. If participation will be limited due to financial constraints, please let me know so we can help you out! Info is here: http://bklfestival2011.org/

PHOTOS
Sorry for the delay in posting these photos. Thanks to parents for taking photos!
These are from the Frost Mountain Classic at Breadloaf. We also have ribbons for those who scooted out before the awards ceremony. Everyone skied so well!!! I was very impressed with you all. Your cheering and support for teammates was also great to see as I know it helps to get up those hills and across the line. Thanks for everyone being organized before the race, thanks to parents for ongoing support (thanks to Kerstin for her help waxing).

These are from Ben L's dad.

And these are from me...apologies to 6th grade racers and others I may have missed. I tried to take some video but that didn't quite work out, plus the audio is pretty much just me yelling...so I will have to perfect that for future races.

These are older pictures from the Mountain Top Paintball race. Apologies for the delay in posting.

These are from Gary, Dad of Will S and from Molly, Mom of Ben C. Thank you!

Updated schedule, info for NEXT WEEKEND's race

2011-01-27T17:18:00.002-05:00

Friday January 28th – practice - CLASSIC
Sunday January 30th – classic race at Breadloaf
Tuesday February 1st – practice - SKATE
Friday February 4th – practice - CLASSIC
Saturday February 5th – CLASSIC RACE AT THE RANGE IN JERICHO - ***NOTE THIS CHANGE!***
Tuesday February 8th – practice - SKATE
Thursday February 10th – optional freestyle relay race at Colchester
Friday February 11th – practice - CLASSIC
Sunday February 13th – classic race at Sleepy Hollow
Tuesday February 15th – practice - SKATE
Friday February 18th – practice - CLASSIC
Tuesday February 22nd – optional ski day
Friday February 25th – optional ski day
Saturday February 26th – Bill Koch Festival at Breadloaf!!!
Sunday February 27th – Bill Koch Festival at Breadloaf!!!

Please note the race change for the weekend of February 5th. We will not be racing at Trapps on February 6th, but instead will be racing on SATURDAY FEBRUARY 5th at the Ethan Allen Firing Range in Jericho. The race at Trapps is appearing to be very unorganized at this point and I know that people have Sunday commitments that can make participation difficult if things are not planned out well ahead of time. The race at the range is a great opportunity to race close to home with no entry fee and to be THE FIRST ONES TO RACE! It is a race with several high school teams and the middle school race is actually going first. Race time is 10am, we will want to be there by 8:40am if you have waxable skis to get your kick wax applied and then by 9:00am if you have fishscales. Hope this helps with planning and that the switch doesn't mess up too many schedules in the effort to accommodate other schedules.

This means that unless you decide to participate in the Colchester Relays, there won't be anymore skate races until the Festival. But don't worry, there will still be skate practices!

More race info for Frost Mountain!

2011-01-26T22:48:00.002-05:00

This Sunday's race is at the Rikert Ski Touring Center at Breadloaf, which is technically in Ripton, VT, but is right near Middlebury.

It is a classic race and the first races will go off at 12noon. These will be the little lollipopper races. I would like everyone to try to get to the race around 12 noon. I know this may seem early, but it is difficult to know when the older racers (you guys) will be going since the races will all be mass start and many of you will need your skis kick waxed (if you don't have fish scales) once we are at the race and I want you to have time to ski the wax in and see what you think so we can make adjustments before the race if needed. The 5th and 6th grade race is going to be around 3k and the 7th and 8th grade race is going to be around 4k. This is cool because it is the same place and supposedly the same courses that are going to be used for the BKL festival so you guys will all have a sneak preview and therefore a leg up on those coming from out of state for the festival!

There is no pre-registration and the cost of the race is $5.00.

See you Friday!

Paintball, next week, technique!

2011-01-22T18:31:00.003-05:00

PAINTBALL
Even with all the rearranging of schedules, the paintball biathlon went off without a hitch today and it was a great event. While we only had three participants, they really made a day of it with some impressive skiing and shooting. The course was three loops of about 1km each for our two 6th grade superstars and then our lone 8th grade wonder had a big (and hilly) field loop in addition to the three loops. Everyone went into the range 3 times where they shot fluorescent green and yellow paintballs at the targets and into the trees! The snow was cold and a little creaky, but all in all, it was a beautiful day and temps were kind to us. Thanks to families for making the trip and for some excellent efforts out on the trail. I will let you know when I get results with all the times and everything.

NEXT WEEK
We will be skate skiing on Tuesday. Practice will go til 5:30 for those wishing to stay late to work on technique.

We will be classic skiing on Friday in anticipation of our classic race at Breadloaf on Sunday January 30th. I have gotten as much info as I can on this race. It will be on the race courses that will be used for the Bill Koch Festival (see more info on the festival here) with lollipop (the younger kids) going off at noon and then the rest of the races to follow in order of grade. They did not give me approximate start times for these races, but they are going to be run as mass starts so everyone starts at once!

TECHNIQUE VIDEOS
*If you click the YOUTUBE button, you can watch them on youtube and it will be formatted a bit more nicely. Sorry!
We have talked a bit about double poling and practiced for a very short time during that "course"/loop we did the other day and at the beginning of practice on Friday, but I thought it would be helpful to find a video for you all. I think it's best to start doing your double poling without worrying about getting up on your toes. As you get more into it and more confident, using more power in your double poling, you will start to get onto your toes naturally. It is difficult to do it at the right time if you are consciously trying to get up onto your toes and then you end up wasting energy. Some of the explanation in the video is a bit much - you don't have to remember everything since they are going into super detail - but it is a good visual for sure. (Around the 3:30, you can also see a good comparison with kick double pole with the skier on the right.)

This video goes more into the kick double pole (they are calling it step double pole) that you might use when classic skiing.

We have also talked about step turns and keeping your feet active on downhills (picking your feet up, freeskating, however you want to do it and whatever best agrees with the terrain) so that you don't end up freezing up/getting stuck in one position and then having trouble making it around a corner and shooting into the trees. So check this out!

And, oh, those uphills. When skating, while you have more time on flats and slight uphills to gather yourself and glide, once you hit a hill, your skis don't want to glide very far. You compensate for that by picking up the pace/tempo/turnover of your skiing -- you make quicker steps -- you glide for a shorter amount of time and step more often. You may even do a bit of a hop to get yourself up the hill. Take a look here! The skiing doesn't actually start until 1:44 into the video. At 2:08 the second to last guy (in red and white stripes) and the last guy (#21) do the hoppy thing...then at 2:48 a bunch of them are doing it, but it helps to just watch one guy at a time and you can rewind and just keep your eye on one guy at a time...then at 3:25 the second guy is doing it more. They have great turnover and you can see how much they use V2 as well. It's a sprint race, though, so it's fast and tactical, but once again I think just having a visual helps.

But let's not forget about V2! Once again, balance is key in this part of cross country skiing. You want to be gliding on one ski and then poling "onto" the next ski. Your poling is independent of when your skis are hitting the ground (unlike V1 when your poling coincides with one of your skis hitting the ground - remember you have 3 (one ski, two poles) and then 1, 3 , 1). But in V2, you are already gliding on a ski...then your poles hit the ground...and then you glide onto the next ski. I really like the idea of double poling first and then starting to skate with your skis, just small steps to start, and then making bigger movements to help with the timing of the poling as seen in this handy video.

Here we go...WEEKEND PLANS

2011-01-21T12:34:00.003-05:00

Ok. So now that I have seen the updated race info for the paintball biathlon here is the scoop. We will be racing SATURDAY at Mountain Top. It doesn't appear that there are multiple practice times at the range as there were before. If you want to go early and practice at the range (shooting the paintball guns) it looks like you have to go early. It says bib pick up and practice range opens at 10:00am. Practice closes at 11:30. So, if you want to practice, your best bet is to get there at that time. Our team has two different start times depending on grade. If you are in 6th grade, your race starts at approximately 1pm. If you are in 7th or 8th grade, your race starts at approximately 2pm. So, if you are in 6th grade, we should plan on being there at 12NOON (or earlier if you are practicing - I will meet you at 12NOON though). If you are in 7th or 8th grade, I encourage you to come at 12NOON as well and we can cheer on teammates, but you should be there at 12:45 at the latest.

You will want to do a warmup that is approximately the length of the course. This is easy skiing, relaxed. Then you will do about 5 minutes of harder skiing, faster tempo, to get the heart rate up before you get on the start line. Then, you will do your race!! Go! Go! Go! And finish with at least a 10 minute cool down. This is also an easy relaxed pace.

Today - we will have practice and our special biathlon presentation. Waxing will be available at CVU immediately following practice. We will NOT stay late for technique. Sorry!

RACE MAY BE SATURDAY

2011-01-20T21:47:00.002-05:00

Thanks to parents for keeping me in the loop here. Since I myself was not registered, I did not get word of the paintball biathlon possibly being rescheduled for Saturday instead of Sunday. I had checked in with Molly and Sarah (cvu coach) and Andy (our race leader for the traditional BKL program at Sleepy Hollow) and we had determined that we didn't want you guys racing out there in the cold on Sunday so had made the decision that we were not going even though we hadn't heard from the actual race directors about plans. So I apologize for canceling our racing all together. Let's see what happens -- they say they will update the NENSA website here and let us know in the morning. It did say, however, in the email sent out to registrants that the racing would start at 11:30 on Saturday if they switched it for Saturday. That would be bumping everything back by two hours since originally they had lollipop racers starting at 9:30am. So, that would put you guys starting at 2pm and the range open for practice at 1:30pm, I would look for us to get there by 1pm.

Then, if they switch it to Saturday, the plan would go back to the original waxing at CVU after practice on Friday and we would NOT stay late and work on technique as was offered. Hope that makes sense. You can email ME with any questions. Don't email the list :o)

No race this weekend, practice plans for Friday

2011-01-20T16:52:00.002-05:00

We are not going to race at the paintball biathlon on Sunday due to cold temperatures. When looking at the BKL recommendations, it says that racing is not recommended at the temperatures we are expecting for Sunday. This is really a bummer as the paintball race has gotten such good reviews in the past and I was very excited for our group to get to experience it.

Fear not, we will have our biathlon presentation at practice tomorrow as planned. Perhaps we can have our own sort of biathlon later in the season - skiers, do you have any ideas??! We will NOT be waxing at CVU as planned since we will not be racing...but, I WILL STAY UNTIL AT LEAST 5:30pm TOMORROW TO WORK ON TECHNIQUE WITH ANYONE WHO IS INTERESTED. It is a skate practice, so if you want to work more on your skate technique and you have a ride arranged/parent permission to stay a bit later, you are welcome to stay and work on technique. I know some of you have been looking for more and I understand how difficult it is with our practices being so short!

No race on sunday due to expected cold temps.

2011-01-20T12:16:00.001-05:00

Race recap, next week's events, and some odds and ends...

2011-01-15T22:10:00.015-05:00

Here we go...this is a long post so sit back and relax:

1) Race recap
2) Next week's events
3) Odds and ends

1)RACE RECAP!

I have emailed the results as an attachment to the group so please refer to them there. Apologies for not being able to get them directly connected to the blog. Pictures above are from Kort (Ben L's dad - many thanks for those!) What great conditions (and hats!) we had today!!!

Thanks to all who came out to u32 for a great first race. A cold morning, but some high spirits and fast skiing for all. It is great to see first time racers out there going head to head with some of the more experienced skiers! We saw some great tempo on the hills - nice quick steps, excellent V1 technique even on the hills (!!) and strong V2 on the flats which is really impressive as this is pretty new for many of you. To see you all really go for it was great.

Special thanks to those of you who stayed and cheered for your teammates, which really means a lot. I apologize I wasn't able to get up to the finish for you all as it is nice to check in after the race and to see how things went before everyone jets. Cool downs are also good for your body before you go sit in the car, so let's keep that in mind for next time. I would also like us to help each other to formulate a pre-race and post-race plan. I will come with ideas and I hope you guys will think about what does and doesn't work for you or what tips you might be able to offer each other. We will come up with a team warm up and cool down strategy to use at our races.

As you look at the results, keep in mind that sometimes it seems like there is a big gap between times but it's a little deceiving since the middle school races don't have very many participants. If you look at the JV race results (you guys did the SAME course as the JV skiers) you'll see that you are all right in the mix of things and that EVERYONE actually skied faster than some high school JV racers. Pretty impressive since we have had so few practices to build skills. It is clear that even our newest skiers have a very strong foundation already as far as making it around the course efficiently! Our more experienced skiers also had some great performances and I hope you are inspired to keep improving especially as we will be attending some Bill Koch racers with more competitive fields in the coming weeks. Also know that the race distance of 2.6 miles was pretty close to the length (5k or 3.1miles) that the high school races usually are, so you definitely have something to be proud of!!

2) NEXT WEEK'S EVENTS
Tuesday we will be CLASSIC SKIING. Get ready for some no pole and double pole skiing. I will have the wax of the day out for you to apply yourself. If you are still unsure of how to do this, you may come up to the meadow for assistance as I will have wax there, but this is a really important thing for you to know if you've decided to use waxable skis. You will learn a lot from waxing your own skis and then going and skiing on them! Go for 3-4 thin layers. Chalk/crayon a layer of wax on and then use the cork for primarily long strokes to heat the wax up.

Friday we will be skate skiing in anticipation for our skate race on Sunday. We will also be having Travis, a very talented and experienced biathlete, coming as our special guest. Travis skied for GMVS during high school, trained at the range in Jericho, and has gone to many national and international biathlon competitions. He is currently at UVM and we are very fortunate to have him joining us. He will bring his rifle, unloaded, and will be doing a presentation for us before heading out to ski with the group. ****Parents, by bringing your skier to practice on Friday January 21st, you are giving permission for him/her to be at Sleepy Hollow and to participate in a presentation where there will be an unloaded rifle. Please be aware of this and let me know if there are any concerns.****

Friday evening skiers will be able to stop by CVU to wax their skis in preparation for Sunday's race. We provide all wax and supplies.

Sunday we have a race at Mountain Top this is the paintball biathlon. Race info here.
Note that start time for your race is 12noon. The range opens for practice at 11:30. I would like us to get there at 11am. Registration is a little more expensive for this race (typically BKL races are less than $5) due to the extra labor and supplies involved. You need to register online here.
They will then have your info to put into the starting list and you will need to pay with cash or check at the race. Registration NEEDS TO BE DONE BY WEDNESDAY JANUARY 19th!!! Don't know where Mountain Top is? Look here. If you click larger map it'll take you right to googlemaps and you can put your address in for directions.

View Larger Map

3) ODDS AND ENDS
Oh, the email list!!
--I understand the inconvenience of receiving emails that are intended for me but are mistakenly sent out to the entire team. I assure you that nobody is doing this on purpose. The challenge here is for people to remember that if you receive an email that is not speaking individually to you, it is coming from the group email address which is associated with this blog. At the end of the blog emails you will see a hyperlink in blue to the blog - if you click it you will end up at the blog and the actual blog post. The email sent to you is simply a copy/notification of the actual blog post. IF YOU RESPOND TO A BLOG POST/GROUP EMAIL, YOUR EMAIL WILL GO TO ALL TEAM MEMBERS. Very rarely would this be appropriate (maybe for a carpool!?). If you are ever wanting to send me an email - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE use my personal email address which is andreallarosa at gmail dot com. Just make sure that my address is the one in the "to:" field...
--The group email notification for blog posts was initiated due to parents expressing that it was difficult to remember to check the blog. If you would prefer NOT to get a notification when the blog is updated and would like to take on the responsibility of checking the blog yourself at whatever frequency you desire, I would be happy to take you off the group list. Just send me an email -- to my individual email address, of course :o) Really the whole purpose of the blog was to have everything in a central spot, where you could easily find previous announcements, see pictures, video, etc. and as a way to avoid sending out bunches of emails that clog inboxes, so I apologize that there has been difficulty with this for some.

Waxing
I strongly encourage you guys to wax your own skis. It is an important skill to know and something that will benefit you for your entire skiing life. It helps you to better understand how your skis work and to be fully involved in your racing experience. YOU are the one that makes your skis go fast, both by the efforts you personally put in through waxing and then when you are on snow. The opportunity for our group to wax at CVU is pretty amazing. Every skier can have their own bench and iron (note: an iron meant to be used for waxing skis, not the old clothes iron!). All the wax and supplies are there for you (brushes and scrapers of all kinds, wax remover, etc.) This is also a valuable opportunity for team building. While you are out in the woods, it can be a bit challenging to get to know each other, but while you're hanging in the wax room, it's easy to chat and learn from each other. So while it might be helpful for your parents to wax your skis if you've got lots of homework or you need to catch up on sleep, I hope that for at least a couple times this season you will come join us at CVU to wax with your teammates. I know it's an extra time commitment for parents, but I encourage you to carpool and remember the money you're saving on wax and the time you're saving on clean up!

Some more ideas for you all to ponder...
-handwarmers
-toe warmers
-clothes to change into after racing/practice so you don't get cold
-lobster gloves (great invention that's in between a mitten and a glove)
-bringing a snack to races - either pre race like a powerbar or gu type thing, banana, etc. and/or post race
-getting good sleep the night before the race AND the night before the night before
-having a balanced meal with carbs, protein, and you gotta have some fat the night before and for longer races, the night before the night before
-having a good breakfast that is once again some carbs, protein, fat...sometimes people come up with something that is always their pre-race meal - maybe it's oatmeal with milk, you can do a higher %milkfat to get a little fat in there, banana with peanut butter and toast, toast/english muffin with cheese , egg, and tomato, cottage cheese or yogurt with fruit and granola, just as some ideas...you don't want to be too full, but you want something for your body to put to use!
-stretching!!!

Great job today everyone. Race results and plan for the week to come later this evening once I get to the computer!

2011-01-15T17:33:00.002-05:00

Important! Race time change. meet at u 32 at 10: 30 if possible. Sorry to bump it earlier. just got an update from the race director

2011-01-13T15:53:00.002-05:00

Waxin', water, and updated schedule

2011-01-11T21:11:00.006-05:00

WAXING ANNOUNCEMENT FOR FRIDAY - Due to larger numbers of skiers racing this season (YAY!) we have more skiers waxing...quite understandable as we know everyone wants to be fast. It's also great because waxing is a really fun thing to do as a team and really adds to the social aspect of the team. So, to accommodate waxing, we will head to CVU to wax after practice on Friday for those skiers interested. It will allow us to use many more tables and irons and profiles than the minimal equipment at Sleepy Hollow. This will SAVE TIME for everyone as well. You will want to bring a change of clothes so that you can be in dry, warm clothes for waxing, and it would probably be a good idea to bring a snack. We will need parents to help drive. If there is a certain parent that you are ONLY allowed to travel with, please let me know and parents, inform your skier of this as well. If you can arrange carpools ahead of time that would be great as well so we can get skiers down to CVU.

ALSO - WATER BOTTLES --- BRING THEM TO PRACTICE!!! EVEN THOUGH IT IS COLD, YOU STILL NEED TO HYDRATE. No more eating snow :o) A regular water bottle is fine since we aren't out too long and you could always bring it to the meadow and then to wherever we might be doing other activities, but if someone wants to buy you a gift, it can be helpful to have a belt that holds a water bottle or even a belt that has a canteen-ish thing built in. Then it's on your body and at the ready. There are several different brands and they will probably look similar to these.

Please see the updated schedule below. Ski technique for each practice will be as written below if conditions permit, but be aware they may change.

Friday January 14th – practice - SKATE
Saturday January 15th – freestyle race, U-32
Tuesday January 18th – practice - CLASSIC
Friday January 21st – practice - SKATE
Sunday January 23rd – freestyle paintball biathlon race at Mountain Top
Tuesday January 25th – practice - SKATE
Friday January 28th – practice - CLASSIC
Sunday January 30th – classic race at Breadloaf
Tuesday February 1st – practice - SKATE
Friday February 4th – practice - CLASSIC/SKATE
Sunday February 6th – freestyle race at Trapps
Tuesday February 8th – practice - SKATE
Thursday February 10th – optional freestyle relay race at Colchester
Friday February 11th – practice - CLASSIC
Sunday February 13th – classic race at Sleepy Hollow
Tuesday February 15th – practice - SKATE
Friday February 18th – practice - CLASSIC
Tuesday February 22nd – optional ski day
Friday February 25th – optional ski day
Saturday February 26th – Bill Koch Festival at Breadloaf!!!
Sunday February 27th – Bill Koch Festival at Breadloaf!!!

Paintball Biathlon

2011-01-10T22:08:00.002-05:00

The paintball biathlon race is January 23rd (Sunday). I just found out that there is a registration deadline and that the fee is a little more than the usual BKL race, probably due to the extra effort with it being paintball and all. Skiers can also get a t-shirt if they register early enough. Registration is $15. You must register by the 19th and if you register by the 14th you get a t-shirt. The races for 5th/6th and 7th/8th graders start at 12noon. Practice for this group is 11:30. I would like us to meet there at 10:45. You register online here then pay the $15 as cash or check on race day.

Check out video here:

Classic practice and race update

2011-01-10T14:23:00.007-05:00

Tomorrow's practice will be classic. It will be great to change it up a bit. I heard good things about practice on Friday even with all the crowds. Thank you so much for parent help with all of that and for going out with different groups.

We will plan to skate ski on Friday in anticipation for our first race on Saturday. There is race info below and as you can see, the course is a little uncertain at this point. I am going to say we probably don't need skiers to get there until 11:30ish. It's really tough to gauge start times since we are completely dependent on how many high school skiers there are. Plan to bring some good warm up and cool down clothes, water, snack, and your team hat if you have one! PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOUR SKIER WILL NOT BE RACING THIS WEEKEND. FOR ANY NEW TEAM MEMBERS, IF YOU DO NOT FEEL READY TO RACE, PLEASE TALK TO ME AT PRACTICE. I WILL BE SENDING IN REGISTRATION WITH ALL OF OUR TEAM MEMBERS ON IT, so will need to know ASAP (let me know by Wednesday 1/12 at the latest please). Many thanks!

We will wax on Friday night at Sleepy Hollow. I am not sure how many skiers will be interested in waxing. This is not mandatory, but is something great to learn for future skiing and is expected at the high school level. It's also great for your skis and great for your speed. We will do an intro/mini clinic for those who have never waxed before.

Yes, I seem to be completely computer challenged. For some reason I can't get the text that I copied from the U-32 race email to show up in any color other than black so you can read the info I received on the race in the comment section below. That actually reminds me, if anyone, skiers or parents wants to comment on the blog, feel free. Skiers, if you have tips that might help your teammates, add them to the blog as a comment!

Tomorrow, this weekend, and next!

2011-01-06T18:34:00.004-05:00

TOMORROW: We are on for practice tomorrow even with the limited snow conditions. It will be very busy tomorrow - much crazier than when we were there on Tuesday. Why? Because the traditional Bill Koch program (50 more kids!) will be at Sleepy Hollow and things will be tight since our group can't really go ski off into the woods to get away from everyone. So please be flexible in dealing with the crowding and know that it will get better once we get more snow.

I also will NOT be there due to previously unforeseen issues with my job. I am very sorry to miss practice but will assure you that you will be in good hands. Marc, our new coach that you met on Tuesday, will be joined by George, who will also be joining us each week throughout the season and is an experienced skier and talented athlete. These guys will get you set.

It will be another skating practice since there aren't any tracks set. Please try to grab your nametag in the chaos or at least be kind in correcting coaches or helping coaches with your name...when in doubt, the name is probably Ben, right?! So meet up at the meadow at 3:45 ready to go. You will start with no pole skiing, so once you get up there, ditch the poles and get goin'. Your technique will thank you later!

THIS WEEKEND: We do not have a race scheduled for this weekend, but I have been informed about a race that is being thrown together at the Range on Saturday morning since so many of the high schools have now missed races with the poor snow conditions. You are welcome to participate in the middle school component of this race on your own. It is a skate race and will be mass start. Let me know if anyone is interested - just send me an email, and I'll get you more information from the CVU coach.

NEXT WEEKEND: As you know, we were trying to decide between racing at Colchester on Friday night or racing at U-32 on Saturday. We are not going to go to Colchester, but WE WILL BE GOING TO U32 ON SATURDAY THE 15TH (snow permitting). Once I found out timing for the Colchester race, I think we'll be cutting it too close for you guys to get out of school and make it out there only to be thrown on to the course without a warmup. Not a pleasant first race experience. I apologize for those with siblings who will be at Colchester. But perhaps this will help CVU siblings as they are going to U32?!

First practice a success!!!

2011-01-04T21:16:00.004-05:00

Thanks to all for a great first practice.

We started the afternoon up at Molly's Meadow where we did some no pole skiing and reviewed technique. Then we added our poles and did a little bit of skiing on the limited snow before an intense couple of rounds of Sharks and Minnows!! I unfortunately forgot to take pictures today as everyone could have seen the fancy new hats.

Looking forward to Friday when we'll be skating again and plan to go over a bit of V2 technique and get some more consistent skiing in! Friday we will also be joined by Colin (big Colin from last year - aka Colin Masseau) and George who has also agreed to help out so we'll have quite the team of coaches.

***I also just realized that when you "follow" the blog it doesn't mean that you get notified whenever there is a new blog post so it was still on you to check the blog regularly. My sincere apologies for that as I know it is a challenge to remember to check in your busy lives. I have now put all team email addresses under a google group so that you will get a notification when there is a new post to the blog so be on the lookout for those. If you would rather not get a notification/reminder or would prefer to get it at a different address, please let me know and I will remove this feature for you and you can check the blog on your own.

Snow conditions...change in plans: practice tuesday will be skating due to limited snow at sleepy hollow...

2011-01-02T17:37:00.001-05:00

First practice....

2010-12-27T19:38:00.002-05:00

....will be CLASSIC skiing! See you Tuesday January 4th. We will meet at 3:45pm up in Molly's Meadow. If your skis need wax (ie. if you DON'T have fish scales), I can help you with it before we go up to the meadow, or if I have already left, I will bring some with me or (if you know how to apply it already) you can also ask at the front desk and see if the box of training wax is in the lodge.

What to do on your winter break!

2010-12-20T09:53:00.004-05:00

If you are feeling a bit bored over vacation...start thinking skiing!!

Things you can do in the next two weeks:
(****these are just suggestions and videos are just for helpful hints if needed, watch videos at your own risk and do activities at your own risk :o) remember to start out slow! and my apologies that the videos aren't fitting quite right)

-go skiing!!

-other aerobic activity (go for a run, go snowshoeing, ride a bike, etc.)

-STRETCH!

-strengthen your legs - squats, lunges, etc.

-strengthen your core - sit ups, crunches, other ab exercises (no need to use any special machines or as seen on TV specials, you've got your body so use it! some of these in the video are pretty tricky, but if you want to give them a try, go for it!)

-strengthen your arms (while engaging your core) - push ups, triceps dips (you can use a bench, the edge of a chair, etc. and may do them with knees bent or with legs out balancing on your heels)

cyclocross nationals and article on SKIDA!

2010-12-13T17:47:00.004-05:00

Check this article to see how one of our skiers did at Cyclocross Nationals out in Oregon...hint, he did pretty darn well so you won't have to look very far down the results list before spotting his name. Very impressive and a big congratulations!!!

In the December 2010 issue of Vermont Sports there is an article on SKIDA, the company that we are getting our hats from this year!

Additional info for the upcoming season!

2010-12-08T21:02:00.003-05:00

Thanks to those who were able to make it to the parent meeting tonight. It was good to see familiar faces along with new ones!

There are a few things that I will be posting in one long post:

-health info
-schedule (this is the same as what was handed out at the parent meeting)
-How to Buy Nordic Equipment
-What to Wear Nordic Skiing
-NENSA website

Health info!
I forgot to talk about this tonight. Please let me know before the start of our season if your skier has any special medical or health concerns. It is very important to know if, for example, a skier has an inhaler, epipen, or other medications that they will be bringing with them to practice, or has particular dietary needs (sometimes I bring snacks), but this is certainly not a full list of things that could impact their ski experience. It is my goal that each skier has the opportunity to participate in all aspects of our program so please inform me of anything that would be helpful to know about your skier and how they can best be supported in pursuit of this goal.

Schedule
Please see the schedule for this season below. Practice runs from 3:45-4:45 (though sometimes we can be closer to 5 as it is hard to squeeze everything in) on Tuesdays and Fridays, though many Fridays will run longer if your skier wants to wax his/her skis before a race. If you already have a preference for what race the team should go to as far as January 14th or 15th, please let me know. As far as the races on February 4th at Sleepy Hollow or February 5th at Trapps, most likely we will do the Sleepy Hollow race as a team and skiers are certainly allowed to do the Trapps race independently if desired. The same is true for other Bill Koch races that we are not attending as a team as long as they don't conflict with our race schedule, so if you've got a racer that just can't get enough, go for it!

Tuesday January 4th – 1st practice
Friday January 7th – practice
Tuesday January 11th – practice
Friday January 14th – practice or freestyle race at Colchester*
Saturday January 15th – freestyle race, U-32*
Tuesday January 18th – practice
Friday January 21st – practice
Sunday January 23rd – freestyle paintball biathlon race at Mountain Top
Tuesday January 25th – practice
Friday January 28th – practice
Sunday January 30th – classic race at Breadloaf
Tuesday February 1st – practice
Friday February 4th – practice
Saturday February 5th – classic race at Sleepy Hollow**
Sunday February 6th – potential freestyle race at Trapps**
Tuesday February 8th – practice
Thursday February 10th – optional freestyle relay race at Colchester
Friday February 11th – practice
Sunday February 13th – classic race at Sleepy Hollow
Tuesday February 15th – practice
Friday February 18th – practice
Tuesday February 22nd – optional ski day***
Friday February 25th – optional ski day***
Saturday February 26th – Bill Koch Festival at Breadloaf!!!
Sunday February 27th – Bill Koch Festival at Breadloaf!!!

*TBD, team will decide to do freestyle race at Colchester Friday evening or go to U-32 on Saturday
**TBD, team will decide to do classic race at Sleepy Hollow on Saturday or freestyle race at Trapps on Sunday
***optional ski day due to school vacation week

How to Buy Nordic Equipment
As Sarah (CVU coach) mentioned, she has some handouts about selecting equipment that can be found HERE

What to Wear Nordic Skiing
The handout about clothing selection can be found HERE

NENSA
We also spoke briefly about the NENSA (New England Nordic Ski Association) website. THIS PAGE was also mentioned as a good resource for selecting equipment. The full NENSA website is HERE and there are several components including a kids/BKL section.

Parent Meeting Wednesday December 8th!

2010-12-06T21:23:00.003-05:00

Just a reminder to follow up on the emails that Molly at Sleepy Hollow has sent out. We are having a parent meeting for all Sleepy Hollow Bill Koch participants on Wednesday December 8 at 6:30pm in the CVU cafeteria. We will have a short meeting for Junior High Racer parents at the conclusion of the big group meeting.

We will go over schedule, expectations, and give the opportunity to order team hats for this year! Check out the picture...pretty snazzy! Hats are from Skida. If you can't make the meeting, shoot me an email if you are interested in hats!

Looking forward to seeing everyone!!!

Sleepy Hollow has 5k rolled for skating as of tonight --- let it snow!

Ski season already!?!

2010-09-27T21:55:00.004-04:00

Hope you've all had a great summer full of activity and that the school year has started well. I had the pleasure of seeing many of you at bike races (we've got some really fast riders on our team!), farmers markets (we've also got some really great bakers on our team!), and around town this summer!

Well, it's not quite ski season, but in Vermont it's time to at least start thinking about it. It's SKI SWAP season!!! Apologies for already missing the first one (South Burlington had theirs a couple days ago), but here is the list for those of you scouting new equipment for the upcoming season. I cannot guarantee the availability of nordic equipment at these sales or the quality (as with alpine stuff, it can be hit or miss), but Colchester is known for really good nordic stuff so it's a good one for anyone looking to get off the waxless skis or to update their collection. Cochrans is also well known. I am not sure about nordic stuff at Smuggs, but the sale has gotten really big at the fairgrounds in the last few years. I haven't been to Waitsfield in a while, but what I remember is that it was pretty limited on nordic.

Colchester High School Ski and Board Sale- Saturday, October 2nd 9am-4:30pm and Sunday 3rd 10am-2pm

Smuggs Ski Sale, Champlain Expo Sat Oct 9th, 9am-5pm and Sun Oct 10th, 10am-2pm

Cochrans Ski Sale, Saturday November 6th, 8am-4pm and Sunday November 7th, 10am-3pm, Camel’s Hump Middle School, Richmond, VT

Waitsfield Ski and Skate Sale, November 13th and 14th, Waitsfield Elementary School, Waitsfield, VT

So....now that you know when the sales are, what do you do? If you need help with equipment, please feel free to send me an email or give me a call and I can try to help steer you in the right direction. I may be able to come help you shop if we set up a meeting time for Colchester or Cochrans. So let me know. I do think that some waxable skis for some of our skiers would be a wise investment as far as classic skiing goes!

Looking forward to seeing you this winter! New info will be posted on the Sleepy Hollow webpage in the coming weeks and registration will be available then. In the meantime, if it is helpful for scheduling we will be having a team meeting at CVU in December (date is being confirmed) and the season will start with our first day at Sleepy Hollow on January 4th. Practice will go through February 18th but our grand finale will be the BKL Festival which is actually at Breadloaf in Middlebury this year (yay for a nearby location!) February 25-27 after school vacation. I will keep you posted as things evolve and season planning continues.

THANK YOU!

2010-03-04T12:23:00.002-05:00

Just a quick post in case anyone is still reading this. Our season came to a close with a great potluck dinner at Sleepy Hollow on Tuesday. I must say that you have all made the inaugural season of the Junior Race Program a great success. It went by quickly but that must have meant we were having fun! All of the skiers were absolutely wonderful to work with. The enthusiasm for being outside, being on the snow, and getting in some skiing was really remarkable - we had some tough spots there with bitter cold temps and lack of snow but everyone pulled through and stuck with it. Having parent and family involvement was another really positive aspect of the season. All of the efforts made by parents and siblings, all of the time put in, all of the driving, we thank you for your commitment to this program. Couldn't have done it without you! And thank you for the wonderful thank yous that you gave us! Your generosity and creativity (what a great ski!) is really appreciated. Until next season! Hopefully we'll see you out on the trails whether it be on skis, on foot, on wheels, etc. Please let me know how I can be of any assistance to you all in the off-season as your skiers continue on with their nordic endeavors wherever they may be!!

YUM YUM YUM

2010-02-26T18:35:00.002-05:00

Our end of the season potluck is on for Tuesday March 2nd at 5pm. You are welcome to partake in pre-potluck skiing on your own, but there will not be an organized practice as I will be inside prepping and hopefully doing whatever needs to be done so that our meal goes smoothly. There has been good response for RSVPs so far and it looks like we'll have a good group. Please continue to let me know if you will be attending or not and what you plan on bringing if you haven't already.

Lots of snow out there --- a bit heavy and somewhat challenging for the skinny skis to plow through, but, hey we take what we can get here in VT, right?! Great to see the few skiers who have been able to make it out during vacation week. I love the enthusiasm and have had a blast with this group.

Amazing! And...MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

2010-02-20T20:03:00.002-05:00

Today was great --- our skiers were so impressive. After seeing off our girls at the start, I didn't stick around for the boys and headed backwards out on the course. I stopped to cheer our skiers on at a pretty steep hill and was just blown away by the skill that these guys have. When it matters, they are all putting it down. Even if some of the other skiers may have been faster on the course overall, our skiers got up the hill a lot more smoothly and quickly than the rest of the field. Where everyone else seemed to be using herringbone up the hill, it was great to see Sleepy Hollow skiers standing up, gliding, and using their diagonal stride. I was so impressed! It was the start of school vacation and everyone had many other commitments preventing them from lingering around at the race, but the skiing that I saw was absolutely amazing and I want everyone to know it! What an awesome way to finish out our racing together -- and we were even joined by a couple skiers who hadn't raced yet this season and they looked incredible out there!!!

Also -- mark your calendars for a team potluck to conclude our season on March 2nd. That is a Tuesday and it will be at Sleepy Hollow. We will need people to sign up for an area of food that they will be bringing. I am going to check with Molly if we can use Sleepy Hollow dishes to reduce waste (I'll wash 'em with the fancy dishwasher when we are done -- I actually used to be the night innkeeper there, so it'll be just like old times!). Please send me an e-mail with what you would be willing to provide:
-drinks
-main dish
-salad/appetizer
-dessert
-other
Also - put in votes for the time for this thing -- I want to try to accommodate as many families as possible and I know it is town meeting day and then back to school in the morning, so we won't go too late, but if you have a preference for time let me know. 5pm?

Thanks for all the support from parents and families this season. I have really enjoyed having everyone in the program and sharing the sport of skiing with you guys!!

Don't forget - Tuesday and Friday this week will be our last two sessions. Skiers can pick skate or classic and we will meet at the usual time starting at 3:45pm.

Friday!

2010-02-18T15:37:00.002-05:00

It's almost school vacation for all our skiers! How exciting! Tomorrow we'll be classic skiing and will go from 3:45-4:45pm. Skiers who wish to wax their skis for Saturday's race may do so after practice - I don't know how long that will take so just a warning. The mention of going to CVU to wax has been complicated by the fact that CVU has a half day so we won't have anyone going to CVU and we will wax AT SLEEPY HOLLOW after practice if skiers want to.

Then, next week is our last week! Time flies!

Speed Skiers and Race Info!

2010-02-16T20:56:00.003-05:00

We had some speed skiing around a lovely oval of orange cones today --- we did a few relays inspired by all the speed skating we've been watching in the Olympics! We did a straight up "freeskate" relay (no poles) and then one that involved slalom, too! There were some messy handoffs in the tag zone, but I suppose with long skis on the feet that could be expected. All in all a good day -- nice snow and no injuries!

We'll be classic skiing on Friday in preparation for the race on Saturday. If there is interest - I can take a group to CVU to wax skis after practice and to check out their wax rooms -- fancy stuff!

We will meet at 9am at the range in Jericho for the race which starts at 10am. It is a 3km race. There will be heat and bathrooms available inside at the Walker Building and lots of times they have chili and stuff in there, too, but I am not sure about that this race.

Sounds like there will be many skiers missing during vacation week, but skiers can pick either skate or classic - whatever their hearts desire - on those days and we'll do some fun stuff.

As our season nears the end...

2010-02-14T12:28:00.003-05:00

...we've got lots of fun still to be had!!

We had a great day for our exciting mass start race at Sleepy Hollow this morning. While we didn't up our average skier attendance at this race (so sad! But, hey, more valentine's day chocolate for me since we had soooo much left over!), we had some great skiing and good team spirit. For all of our skiers who have not been racing with us, please know your presence is greatly desired - while on our cool down ski today, one of our racers said "Man, we really need to get more of our teammates to race with us!" I agree that it is very lonely out there for the few skiers that are attending races.

The race course was well tracked thanks to wonderful grooming by Eli and Dave Enman and the BKL race happened before the regular Ichabod's race so our skiers got FRESH tracks! As mentioned above there was a mass start with all BKL skiers but different grades cut off on different trails to complete their course. We had one skier who did the 5/6th grade course (Liberty Meadow to Lower Saddle) and then 4 who did the 7/8th grade course (Liberty Meadow, Lower Saddle, Sap Run, Eli's Escape to Upper Saddle) and although there were some challenges (as there always are, sometimes big, sometimes small) I think we had a successful day. The Valentine's chocolate that we all shared at the end probably helped the cause!

THE NEXT TWO WEEKS: So looking ahead our season is really nearing the end. It has gone by so quickly! We have our last scheduled race on Saturday at the Ethan Allen Firing Range in Jericho. This is a classic race at an excellent facility and everyone is expected to participate in this race as this finale is mandatory for our race program. Practice this week will consist of skating on Tuesday and classic on Friday in preparation for our race. We will race on Saturday and then the next week (our last week) we will allow for a choice of classic or skating both on Tuesday and Friday. Please let me know if your skier will be absent so I know what numbers to expect for practices - I know it is school break.

OTHER RACES: The BKL festival is in Maine that last weekend in February, but I have not heard of any interest for our group so we did not register. If there is a desire to do the Stowe Derby short course at a discounted rate, I need to know by tomorrow so that we can get info to the CVU coach in time (she is who will be able to register you at the discounted rate).

TEAM DINNER: If anyone would be interested in hosting a celebration team dinner, I am willing to arrange a date and time when we can use the inn and do a good old spaghetti dinner or some sort of pot luck to conclude our season as a group and to share a meal together. I would need probably two parent organizers to help with this so please let me know if you would like to volunteer.

Just in case you're up late...

2010-02-13T22:46:00.003-05:00

...and thinking about the race.

There has been a course change! See updated webpage here. 7th/8th graders are still at the 5k distance, but different trails, 5th/6th course is 2.5km and different trails as well. Check it out if you are having a sleepless night.

http://www.skisleepyhollow.com/skiing/ski-races/20-races

No waxing tonight

2010-02-12T10:01:00.003-05:00

In an effort to prevent our practice from going late into the night, I have decided that we will not wax tonight. I am hoping that we will have the whole team participating in the race on Sunday so that would just be too many people to wax and get home before midnight! I don't see waxing as a high priority for Sunday anyway since we are just racing for fun. We will do kick wax for those who need it on Sunday morning before the race.

See you all tonight! Practice will end at 5:30pm.

Let's get ready to race!

2010-02-10T18:02:00.004-05:00

Sounds like all went well yesterday and, for the most part, everyone has skied their respective race course for Sunday's Ichabod's Revenge! The race will be a classic race so we'll be classic skiing on Friday and have Elissa Rehm joining us to help us with technique and to chat about race prep and having a pre-race routine, etc. That'll be great with our entire team racing on Sunday!

Practice will begin at 3:45 as usual and we will probably ski til 5pm then go inside for some snacks/waxing/chat.

We'll try to make Sunday a great day for everyone with lots of encouragement, team spirit (if anyone wants to bring any eccentric accessories they are more than welcome!), maybe some posters/signs/pom poms if any of our parent support staff feel inclined, and some good eats as a post race treat. If anyone is willing to provide any of this for Sunday, please send me an email so I can know how much to expect and then what I should fill in with! Thanks so much for the wonderful continuous support from our ski families -- this program couldn't do it without you! Maybe we'll even have some parent racers on Sunday that WE can cheer on instead!

Trapps weekend and the week ahead...

2010-02-07T20:17:00.003-05:00

We had a great day at Trapps with our BKL race following some pretty impressive skiing by the collegiate skiers and Eastern Cup racers. Sleepy Hollow's own Eli Enman totally smoked the classic course and was chilling out eating triscuits after his race like the whole thing was no big deal. I guess after so many years of racing and so much success you get used to it!

A small turnout of 5 dedicated Sleepy Hollow Junior Racers toed the start line for a 2.5km skate race on the well groomed trails at Trapps. We had some strong skiing with our racers practicing their V2 and showing us some great tempo on the uphills. The mass starts proved to be a little tricky and some of our boys got blocked in behind the bunch for a while - they were being so polite!

After the race, older Colin and I met up at the Lake Champlain Chocolates store in Waterbury and just so happened to run into several of our racers -- we should have had a post race get together there!!! I guess smart minds think alike -- nothing better than some Vermont chocolate (and apparently some Vermont cheese for a couple of our racers) after being out on the snow.

This week:

Tuesday - Skate skiing!

Friday - Classic skiing! We will go til 5:30 - so 3:45-5:30pm for Friday's practice. We are hoping to get in some more technique work on our classic skis and we have Elissa Rehm coming as our special guest. Those skiers who want to wax their skis for Sunday will be able to do so as well (we will try to incorporate this within the 5:30 time frame for those skiers).

Sunday - Classic race at Sleepy Hollow! ALL OF OUR SKIERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO PARTICIPATE! We haven't had the participation that I was hoping for at our races so far this season and it would be great to have the rest of the team join our regulars for this race. This is a great race for you to get out there and try racing -- these are your home trails and the more people we have there, the more fun it will be. It's a totally low pressure race situation, it's not far to travel, and it's amongst all your BKL friends so I am expecting that the majority of our team members will make an effort to race. If you only do one race, make it this one! You've been putting in lots of time on your skis this year and it's time to see it all come together! You are on a Junior High Race team afterall :o)

Back on snow!

2010-02-03T09:11:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was actually a great practice back on the skis even with the icy surface beneath some pretty good grooming. We started off with a very popular game of limbo on skis - so popular that it was difficult to stop people from limboing so we could get on with the rest of our activities. We split into two groups. Luckily older Colin was there to help out and we had some parent assistance as well. One group went and did ridge road to bear claw with Colin and parents while another group went out with me for a liberty meadow and lower saddle ski. Many skiers were able to work with Colin on their V2 and V2 alternate techniques and others chose to play a game and try some one-ski balance activities. All in all, it was good to be back on the snow with everyone and we're looking forward to Friday.

The plan for Friday is to have some CVU skiers come lead some activities for us on skis. We'll be in groups and on our classic skis. If there are skiers who wish to skate ski in order to work on their V2/V2 alternate and technique stuff in preparation for the race this weekend, they may do so.

As far as the race. The race is a freestyle race at Trapps in Stowe. It's a big weekend there with an Eastern Cup race so there will be lots of fast skiers to watch. Definitely a good environment to check out technique and get some hints. Registration for the BKL race is from 1pm-2:15pm and there are age category wave starts beginning at 2:30pm. I would like for us to meet there at 1:30pm. Race distance is said to be about 2km. I will be wearing my green headband and hope that everyone who is racing will bring their head/armband as well so we can keep track of each other. Unfortunately, I haven't found the time to handsew the Sleepy Hollow Worms spandex suits that were enthusiastically requested at previous races...yet :o)

Waxing will be available on Friday after practice with tools, wax, and guidance provided so keep that in mind as far as pick up time if your skier will be racing and wants to wax at Sleepy Hollow. PLEASE E-MAIL ME ASAP IF YOUR SKIER WILL BE RACING AT TRAPPS ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON. I currently have three skiers interested - CS, CW, and BL - so you don't need to further notify me about that.

Practice this week!

2010-01-31T21:02:00.002-05:00

Apologies for any confusion and inconvenience that was caused by the cancellation of practice on Friday. This was a huge bummer for me as I was really excited to have a guest for the afternoon. It was just too cold and Molly decided to call it. I apologize that people were not notified with much advance notice. Apparently there was also a misunderstanding about what indoor facilities would be available to us for a potential indoor practice as there was actually a group that had the whole Inn rented out.

Anyway, let's look forward to this week and hopefully some good practice time together.

Tuesday - skate skiing

Friday - classic skiing (ski with a CVUer - we may participate in some cool activities led by CVU skiers) - and remember we do not have a special guest coming this day so we will have regular practice from 3:45-4:45pm.

Thanks for everyone's patience! Get pumped for Tuesday and being back on skis!!!

Weather tomorrow...

2010-01-28T20:50:00.003-05:00

I have seen NOAA listings for wind chill values as low as -23. I have said in the past that as tough Vermont skiers, we'll be out there in all conditions, but -23 might be a little much especially on less than ideal snow. We will not, however, cancel practice.

I think that doing activities as a team, no matter what they are, is valuable. After our circuits on Tuesday, we all sat around and stretched (some of us more than others!) and watched some old World Cup races with Bjorn Daehlie and Thomas Alsgaard (this video was also on while we were doing circuits so some stations like wall sit, tucks, sit ups, could watch while completing their tasks) and I think this was actually pretty fun for our skiers to be in a relaxing atmosphere together and not out moving on skis where it's difficult to carry on a conversation.

Anyway, with that said, we'll make the call about being outside tomorrow, but just a warning that we could end up inside doing some strength or other circuits, having a snack, maybe watching more race/instructional videos, and hanging with Jake, hearing what he has to say and seeing how well he fields questions from our curious skiers. We could also do a very short outdoor session with Jake and then do the remainder inside. So we'll see how it all pans out.

PRACTICE STILL ON, GUEST STILL COMING, ACTIVITY TO BE DETERMINED!

Guest change for Feb 5th and other notes

2010-01-28T19:12:00.002-05:00

Unfortunately, Jesse Downs will not be able to join us on Friday the 5th due to a big race that he has on Saturday the 6th. We are looking at new dates for his visit and I will keep you posted.

CURRENT UPCOMING GUEST SCHEDULE

Tomorrow (Friday) January 29th - Jake Hollenbach - practice 3:45-5:30
Friday February 12th - Elissa Rehm - practice 3:45-5:30

Also - I still have not received detailed information on the Eastern Cup BKL race at Trapps the weekend of the 6th and the 7th. I will let you know as soon as I have it. There is no racing for us this weekend, so enjoy the break!!

Still haven't heard back from Molly regarding tomorrow -- we're going to have to just go with the flow.

Practice tomorrow

2010-01-28T15:39:00.002-05:00

Looks like we're only going to have to endure the one day of off-ski practice this week. Although we had lots of fun doing a hill bounding routine and some circuits (anybody sore from their push ups, dips, sit ups, tucks, calf raises, lunges, wall sits, etc?) on Tuesday, we're getting on snow tomorrow.

I am still trying to figure out what technique, however. Snow cover leans us towards skating, but I had agreed to let Molly and the Friday BKL skiers use the rental skis (there is worry about enough skate rental equipment if both groups do skating on the same day) and that's why we had switched to classic previously. I am waiting for Molly to call me back and will post here as soon as I figure out what technique we should be doing. I know that she has said that her 5-8th graders can try skating tomorrow, so I think we're looking at classic, but I just want to confirm that. With all that said, if you have both sets of equipment (not a renter) and it is possible to bring both so that we have our bases covered, that would be great.

We will be having our guest, Jake Hollenbach so practice will go until 5:30pm.

PRACTICE TOMORROW (FRIDAY) - 3:45-5:30pm WITH GUEST JAKE HOLLENBACH
TECHNIQUE TO BE DETERMINED - IF YOU ARE ABLE TO BRING BOTH KINDS OF EQUIPMENT, PLEASE DO. THANK YOU!

Belated U32 race pictures

2010-01-25T21:55:00.006-05:00

Many thanks to Kristen Needham for these great pictures!! Maybe we should hire her as our official race photographer!

"DRY"land practice tomorrow & Stowe Derby

2010-01-25T19:35:00.003-05:00

We are going to do a dryland practice tomorrow, same place, same time. I was thinking of trying to get us to have practice at CVU, but as of now, we're going to be up at Sleepy Hollow. Please bring sneakers for outside and some indoor shoes as well.

Thanks for hanging in there....maybe part of our workout will be a snow dance!

Also - a quick note on the Stowe Derby. This is a great race on Sunday February 28th this year. I haven't discussed going to the BKL festival in Maine with any of the skiers yet, and from what I understand, going to the BKL festival is not something that Sleepy Hollow has done in the past. I am thinking that the Stowe Derby would be a great finale as an alternative to going all the way to Maine. There is a short course (6km) for the Derby that would be open to our skiers (you need to be 14 to do the long course, so I don't know how many of our group that includes). I have always known this race to be put on really well, both as a spectator and participant. I am also aware of a discounted race fee that is available to us, but skiers will need to let me know of their intent to race by February 15th. The short course fee is usually $25 so it would be less than that. I am definitely in favor of us attending this race. Please let me know your thoughts when you get a chance. You can copy and paste this to see the brochure - my apologies for not being savvy enough to figure out linking it - http://teammmsc.org/stowederby/DerbyBrochure2010.pdf

TECHNIQUE CHANGE FOR THIS WEEK

2010-01-25T08:59:00.003-05:00

We will be switching techniques this week. We were originally planning on doing classic tomorrow (Tuesday), but we are going to switch to skating. We were going to do skating on Friday, but we are going to switch to classic (if snow allows...skiers who do not rent skis - if it is possible for you to bring both sets of equipment then we'll have things covered).

So...

TUESDAY JANUARY 26th SKATING
FRIDAY JANUARY 29th CLASSIC

*Sleepy Hollow is currently closed as they are trying to preserve their base.

Eastern Cup at Trapps

2010-01-25T08:36:00.003-05:00

WE WILL GO AS A TEAM TO TRAPPS ON SATURDAY FEBRUARY 6th
WE WILL NOT GO TO THE COLCHESTER FREESTYLE RACE ON TUESDAY FEBRUARY 9th

Here is the schedule for Trapps on Saturday (I don't believe we have any J2's - the skier would have to be born in 1995/1994)
Saturday:
10:00 J2 Boys
10:30 J2 Girls & Women 5km
Noon Podium Ceremony: J2 Boys & Girls, Eastern Cup Women, EISA Women
12:15 Men 10km
2:00 Podium Ceremony: Eastern Cup Men, EISA Men
2:30 BKL Races: Freestyle (the other races are classic, but the BKL race is freestyle)

This is Sunday's schedule, but there is no BKL race.
Sunday: Freestyle
9:30 J2 Boys 5 km
10:00 J2 Girls 5Km
10:30 Women 10km
Noon Podium Ceremony: J2 Boys & Girls, Eastern Cup Women, EISA Women
12:15 Men 10km
2:00 Podium Ceremony: Eastern Cup Men, EISA Men

More race details to follow.

Upcoming events

2010-01-23T16:14:00.002-05:00

Here is what we've got lined up for the next few weeks. Guest speaker dates are being confirmed but not completely set in stone.

Tuesday Jan 26th classic practice

Friday Jan 29th skating practice with guest Jake Hollenbach.

Tuesday Feb 2nd practice

Friday Feb 5th practice with guest Jesse Downs.

Saturday Feb 6th/Sunday Feb 7th - NENSA Eastern Cup and UVM Carnival at Trapps. I have heard there are BKL races happening in conjunction with this. I would like for us to attend this race as a team but do not know which day the BKL races are. We are in the process of getting information and I will pass it on as soon as possible. There will be lots of great racing to watch this weekend, as well.

Tuesday Feb 9th practice (or race at Colchester Freestyle relays -- if we are able to go to the BKL race at Trapps, we will not do this race at Colchester)

Friday Feb 12th practice with guest Elissa Rehm.

Sunday Feb 14th Ichabod's Revenge classic race at Sleepy Hollow

Races! Races! Races!

2010-01-21T19:49:00.002-05:00

Lots of fun racing to check out this weekend!

There's the BKL race at Bolton on Saturday that all of our skiers are eligible to participate in as NENSA and BKL members. Check out the post below for more details.

If you're not into racing yourself, but want to check out some fast skiing, there is the St. Michael's College Carnival at Sleepy Hollow. This is Friday (tomorrow) and Saturday with numerous collegiate racers battling it out on the same trails that we ski each week. Pretty exciting to have this level of racing and be able to get up close and personal. Saturday is sure to be fast with relays included!

See you all tomorrow for some skate skiing.

Today and more info for Saturday...

2010-01-19T21:36:00.002-05:00

We had a little classic skiing scavenger hunt today which seemed to be enjoyed by all. In groups of 4 (well, they were supposed to be 4, but there was some inevitable mixing around), skiers combed Sleepy Hollow trails bringing back particular items (fallen twig on the side of the trail, snowball, leaf), looking for others (Eli's Escape trail sign, Fellowship of the Wheel trail marker, the number of doors on the round barn, Butternut Cabin), and even doing some activities along the way (doubling poling for 10 strokes on at least two sections of trail, using the herringbone technique up three hills, doing two step turns). By the end of the session, it seemed like most of the tasks were accomplished (there were even more than what is mentioned above!) and I witnessed some snowballs being used as ammunition on one of our ever helpful parents. I suppose I should have expected that after encouraging the making of such tempting items. Ow!!!

Looking towards this weekend. It seems like a few of our skiers will be heading to Bolton and more are welcome. I have confirmed that the use of Sleepy Hollow rental equipment at this race is possible and we can wax in the wax room Friday night. Please let me know if other skiers are interested in the race and what I can do to help support you all.

Coming soon are some great parent photos from the race. I'll post when I get a chance, so get ready!

Don't forget, Friday is a skate day.

BKL Race at Bolton Jan 23

2010-01-18T19:41:00.005-05:00

There is a pretty exciting sounding BKL race at Bolton this coming Saturday hosted by Mansfield Nordic. We were not planning on attending this race as a team (our next race is not until the weekend of February 6/7 if there is interest in racing at Trapps for the Eastern Cup, otherwise we are looking at freestyle relays on February 9th) and I just got the info on it, but skiers are encouraged to attend on their own if they would like. I can supply wax and help in the wax room on Friday after practice if desired. This would be a good opportunity for racers to work on their wax skills and it would be a small group with plenty of guidance as needed, so please let me know if there is interest.

They are calling the race a duathlon -- meaning that it has both classic and skating techniques. Skiers will do a classic loop then switch equipment and head out for a skate loop. Also advertised are great refreshments, awards, and a pool party. The cost is $6 and includes the pool party. Timing is as follows: Registration 10:30-11am, J2 & J3 (12-14 year old) 4km race at 11:15, J4 (10 & 11 year old) 11:45. There is also a lollipopper and J5 race. There are also slingshot relays (2 skiers and a rope) at 12:45, awards & refreshments at 1:15 and then the pool party at 1:30-2:00. Hey, wait a second...shouldn't that food come after the swimming?!

Here is contact info for the race:
Pat Harmeyer, marmotdude at aol dot com
Murray Banks, murray at murraybanks dot com

**For those of you who rent equipment from Sleepy Hollow, I will check with Molly about using the equipment for this race and will get back to you as soon as I can.

Long wait, great race!

2010-01-18T19:19:00.004-05:00

We had a lot of waiting around on Saturday, but the weather was nice and everyone was very patient. Although it was a confusing course (and when I contacted the race director about some of our girls going off course he said that even his top middle school girl had the same directional difficulties as did some from other teams, so we weren't the only ones), there was some really good skiing out there on some tough terrain. Steep downhills, steep uphills, flats where you had to maximize your efficiency, and apparently some rollers in the woods. Our skiers had no fear and mastered the course with some impressive skate skiing. Everyone is improving their timing and pole planting, really upping the tempo on the hills and getting in great rhythm. Some of you are really quite graceful!

Thanks to all the skiers and parents for their patience and help with getting our crew going and cheering them on. There is amazing team spirit on our team already and some requests for homemade spandex uniforms and a new team name of the Sleepy Hollow Worms. I guess those arm/headbands just don't cut it. We'll see what we can do for future races :o)

Here are some pictures. A few are actually from practice on Friday. I keep making it my goal to get some good shots, but then I get all distracted cheering and fumble with the camera, so I guess we'll just go with whatever we can get with my limited photography skills and poor multitasking abilities. If any parents have pictures they want to email to me, I can post them to the blog to share.

Race at U32 - arrival time

2010-01-15T10:20:00.003-05:00

Let's shoot for 10:00am as our arrival time at U32. We will be somewhere near the CVU team. I will try to have my fluorescent green headband on (those who raced last weekend will know what I am talking about). The race will actually start sending high school skiers out at 10am, however, so be aware that the parking lots will be full and we might have to work a bit to find a place to warm up as there will be racers on course. I know this isn't ideal, but I don't feel like it is reasonable for us to be there several hours before our middle school race start which follows all the other race starts. In contacting the race director, I got an answer of "probably 11:15 at the earliest" for when the middle school racers will go off. Hope this is somewhat helpful to people trying to plan their day. It really is right smack in the middle of your Saturday, but it's great to see dedication from skiers and parents making the trek and supporting our program!

V1 Technique

2010-01-15T09:33:00.003-05:00

This is the basic and most versatile skating technique that we introduced on Tuesday. The skating that they are doing out of the start is pretty exaggerated with such a high turnover and not very much glide, but this video has some good slow motion as well where you can really look at the compression that they are getting in their legs (bending knees, ankles, getting toes, knees and nose lined up over each ski) and how they get even lower on uphills. It's also good to notice their tight poling with poles/arms close to the body and poles being planted at an angle, not perpendicular to the snow for more efficient weight transfer (you put your poles in perpendicular to the ground and that's where your energy goes - into the ground! but you want it to keep moving you forward). Planting poles at an angle will make your arm strokes much more fluid and efficient.

Practice tomorrow - ski groups!

2010-01-14T19:23:00.005-05:00

Due to our increased skier numbers we are going to start dividing into groups for practice. We'll try this tomorrow and see how it goes. Groups are posted on here with skier initials.

BLUE GROUP
CS
CW
BL
PU
EN
MJ
SH

GREEN GROUP
AK
ESt
JR
NE
SP

YELLOW GROUP
KM
TB
KB
ESl

RED GROUP
KT
CA
ASt
MM
CM
CB
AH

The plan:
1. We will all meet in Molly's Meadow and do an activity while we wait for everyone to arrive. Then we will split into groups.
2. The YELLOW group and the GREEN group will stay with Andrea and Colin to do technique work. The RED group will go ski Upper Saddle - Sap Run and the BLUE group will go ski Zig Zag - Ridge Road.
3. The RED and BLUE groups will then meet with Andrea and Colin to do technique work. The YELLOW group will go ski Ridge Road - Bear Claw and the GREEN group will go ski Liberty Meadow - Lower Saddle.
4. We will meet all together for a quick game.
5. We will go inside for the wax clinic.

***These groups are subject to change with attendance, etc., but we are trying to be more organized for tomorrow. Parents on skis would be helpful to go out with these groups.

Practice today and race this weekend!

2010-01-12T21:41:00.002-05:00

Today was our first day skating. We had a huge group of skiers, so things were a little bit more chaotic than usual when I realized that all of us skiing as a big group out on the trails like the last practices wasn't going to happen. My apologies for that. Thank you to the parents that were there to help round up skiers and attempt to keep things organized.

Also a big thank you to Colin Masseau who was generous enough to come teach some skating basics with me. He enjoyed our group so much that he is interested helping us out some more this season when his schedule allows. This is great news as Colin is an excellent skier and comes from a skiing family (his father is the South Burlington High School coach and Colin and his brother were both great leaders on the CVU team when they were in high school) so he has lots to bring to the program.

We had a pretty successful day today although a bit disorganized. Our whole group did really well and even our first time skaters were getting the basic striding and pole timing down pretty well for the first day out. We reviewed some basics in the meadow and did some no pole skiing, which I have learned these guys aren't really fans of, but then got our poles and had a choice of skiing around a Lower Saddle-Tina Turner-Liberty Meadow loop or working on some more technique on Lower Saddle. Then we finished with a little downhill slalom course which helped us to work on snowplowing or step turning and keeping light on our feet while going downhill.

The U-32 race is going to be later than Sleepy Hollow was. The middle school start might not even be til 11:30am since they go after both the JV and Varsity high school skiers. I am double checking on estimates for start time and then will let you all know an arrival time for our group.

Friday will be skating again and don't forget the wax clinic!

No race fee for U32

2010-01-10T20:18:00.002-05:00

We are covered under CVU's race fees for the U32 race so that should make things a little easier for us all. No money needs to be collected and I will just send in a running order with the skiers who want to participate and that will take care of registration! I think there are going to be lots of schools at this race because it is so spectator friendly and they have advertised that they have a course that can handle lots of traffic if need be.

Skate race this coming weekend, Saturday Jan 16th

2010-01-10T11:39:00.004-05:00

We have a skate race coming up this Saturday at U32 in Montpelier. I may be able to drive a few skiers if needed. Please contact me about this. The race is right at the school - they've got a whole trail system right near the school so it's really spectator friendly. We'll be skating both Tuesday and Friday at practice in preparation for the race.

The Middle School race goes off after the High School race (versus how the middle schoolers went first yesterday), but immediately after - they do a running clock I believe. The course is about 2 miles...might sound like alot, but skating is generally faster than classic and everyone did really well with the distance yesterday.

If skiers/parents could let me know whether or not they will be attending this race via email ASAP that would be great. I do not think there will be a race fee for this one. If there is, it is only $3, but I am working on getting us in without a fee.

WAXING for this race: As this is a skate race, we will be glide waxing where we hot wax the entire base of the ski with an iron so that the wax soaks in and then we scrape off the excess wax with scraper and brush. We will have a wax clinic for this right at Sleepy Hollow on Friday after we ski and I hope that all skiers will be there regardless of whether or not they are racing on Saturday. It will be really beneficial for everyone to be there so that they know how to wax for future races and it will be beneficial for everyone's ski bases!

Ideally, every skier will have their skis waxed. Waxing, however, can be a long process. There is a wait time for wax to cool in between application and scraping of the wax. I am hoping that we can have multiple benches going so that we can get through as many skis as possible as a group. I am expecting that I will have to stay late and wax the remaining skis so if your skier does not get to wax their actual skis on Friday, I will do this for them and will bring their skis to the race for them on Saturday. As there is downtime when waxing, it would be helpful to bring some sort of activity, homework, something to do if necessary. I am going to see if I can get something set up so we can watch some world cup videos or some sort of ski videos as well because, really, who wants to do homework on a Friday.

WE WILL GO FROM 3:45pm to 5:45pm FOR PRACTICE ON FRIDAY JANUARY 15th.

Cross country skiing?

2010-01-10T11:02:00.004-05:00

We have several skiers who have already been working on some of their freestyle skills when we've had downtime...I had mentioned Andy Newell to you guys and here is a video of him on his cross country skis doing some stuff that is usually not considered cross country. Obviously this won't be the focus of our practices, but some of this stuff really does help you get comfortable on your skis and with balance, moving in space, weight transfer, etc. I do need to say, however, do not try this at home and WEAR A HELMET! (also, I didn't listen to the lyrics of this song very closely, so play at your own risk)

Newell X Ski from Andrew Newell on Vimeo.

Race day...

2010-01-10T10:44:00.004-05:00

We had an awesome first race. We had 4 in the boys race and 3 in the girls race and everyone did really well. It was a tough course with the big uphill on Ridge Road, some rolling terrain on Bear Claw and then a downhill on Potato Farmer into the uphill finish. Fortunately, we had skied each section of the race course in our practices already so the course was familiar.

We waxed up tips and tails with a little F4 rub on to maximize our glide and the trails had nicely set tracks among a few inches of fresh fluff. The skiers got out and did a little warm up on the course, made up some flashy armbands, and had a rousing game of Twister to get our stretching in (we even had a player lose a tooth, though, admittedly this was a tooth that was ready to come out and not due to any sort of wild game play).

After the race, we did a little ski on Liberty Meadow and up and down Tina Turner. Some of our skiers really took to the pow on that one and wanted to take several more runs!

I will send out results via e-mail or post them here when I get them!

Great job to all and thanks to parents for all the help :o)

Apologies for the not so good pictures - that's all we got before the camera froze/died.

Going to be a cold one!

2010-01-08T19:59:00.004-05:00

The view from Butternut Cabin taken when I was in high school and skied at Sleepy Hollow.

It's going to be cold at the race tomorrow -- I just saw a high of 11 degrees F for tomorrow with a wind chill of -8 degrees F from the NOAA. Hand warmers are great if you get cold easily and Dermatone (the stuff in the blue and yellow tub or tube) is good for protecting cheeks. I believe the round barn will be open for skiers to hang out in (the perfect location for our special activities!) so we'll have to stake out an area in there early. Waxing, however, will be outside under the pavilion.

See you in the morning :o)

Yay for day #2 and looking ahead...

2010-01-08T18:50:00.003-05:00

Another great day out on skis with the group. We went over a few classic ski technique tips in a true or false format. The group was right on and very good at sorting out what was true and false about classic skiing. Some of them we had to talk through a bit and think about, but overall, they've got great classic ski knowledge. Here is what we reviewed.

Glide wax gives you grip under your foot. FALSE
Your skis remain flat throughout classic striding. FALSE
Skate skiing is not allowed in classic races. TRUE
Shorten your stride when going uphill. TRUE
Shake your butt/swing your hips. TRUE
A slapping noise lets you know that you are dropping your foot early (TRUE), this is good. FALSE
Stand up when going down hills. FALSE
Transfer your weight fully onto each ski. TRUE
Keep your pole straps loose. FALSE
Lean forward into the hill. FALSE (A tricky one because that's what your body tends to want to do.)
Allow your weight to fall forward onto your poles when double poling. TRUE
Punch your kick zone/wax pocket intoo the snow with each stride. TRUE
If you are slipping on an uphill, try stepping out of the tracks. TRUE
Herringbone or duck walk techniques are helpful on steep downhills. FALSE
Keep your hands in front of you on downhills. TRUE
If a skier behind you yells "track" you should step out of the track so they can pass you. TRUE
The basics of classic skiing are kick and glide. TRUE

Tomorrow we have our first race. Very exciting!!! Once again, this is a classic race at Sleepy Hollow. We will meet around 8:30am. Race start for middle schoolers is 10am. We've got lots of stuff to do before the race - prepping our skis, a special warm up, and making our team armbands/headbands. I am not sure whether this will be a mass start or interval start, but we practiced our double pole starts in a relay format today, so we should be all set whatever the race start is like!

Today we also worked on some no pole skiing and some hills, both up and down! Everyone did very well and I am thrilled to have this group of great skiers.

Next week: skate/freestyle skiing! This is both Tuesday and Friday (with a wax clinic so practice will go late) and then we have a skate race hosted by U32 on Saturday. Scroll down in the blog to see the schedule of skate and classic practice days so you can be sure to have the right equipment. I will notify of technique changes as necessary.

Classic ski technique!

2010-01-05T20:32:00.004-05:00

Today we had great weather, great snow, and a great time. We started with some classic skiing basics - more to come as well - skied a little loop out Ridge Road and connected to Potato Farmer and then played some Sharks and Minnows on our skis!

Here is a video that has some helpful info on classic skiing. Some of the terms might be a little tough to grasp, but even just watching the skiers is helpful. We'll work more on this on Friday.

Tomorrow is our first day!

2010-01-04T16:55:00.002-05:00

Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow Tuesday January 5th for our first meeting! We'll start at 3:45pm and it's a classic ski day. We'll wax up (if needed - I myself will be on waxless - they are my favorite pair of skis!) and head up to the meadow to review some classic basics. We'll check out some trails and then do some ski games. Get all your stuff together tonight so you don't forget any gear!!! Make sure to bring water and layers of clothing!

Race entry fee

2010-01-04T16:53:00.002-05:00

There will be a $5 race entry fee for the race on Saturday the 9th which is paid to Sleepy Hollow as the race site. As I understand it, this is the normal fee that will be required for the other middle school races this season and will be paid to the individual sites. I do not know if this applies to Ichabod's Revenge on February 14th and I know that this does not apply to the NENSA races at Trapps on the 6/7 of February. Those will have different registrations altogether. If there is any issue with race affordability, please let me know and we can look into getting a scholarship together or some sort of financial assistance.

Wax clinic!

2010-01-02T21:09:00.002-05:00

Wax makes skis glide faster and grip better!

We'll review the basic concepts and tools of waxing on Friday January 15th, hopefully with a few guests from the CVU nordic team. For this practice, skiers should expect to stay late so practice will go from 3:45-5:30pm. Definitely bring clothes to change into after we ski. We have a skate race the following day, Saturday January 16th so we'll be waxing with those conditions in mind. At this point, practice and the wax clinic are planned to take place at Sleepy Hollow. I will update if this changes.

Our first race - January 9th!

2010-01-01T20:37:00.004-05:00

Our first race is coming up soon. It's on Saturday January 9th at Sleepy Hollow. The race is hosted by South Burlington High School and includes middle school and high school racers. Race start for middle schoolers (that's you!) is at 10am. I would like everyone to be at Sleepy Hollow at 8:30am. Parking is tight there so carpooling is recommended if possible.

There may be a $5 race entry fee. I am looking into this to be sure.

This is a classic race so we generally want to get to classic races and prepare earlier than a skate race due to waxing duties. While some skiers will have waxless skis (those with the fishscales on the bottom), I want to give enough time to wax up those who do not have waxless skis. It's good learning for all skiers. If skiers wish to glide wax their tips and tails, there is the opportunity for them to do this at CVU on Friday, the night before. This would be hot waxing the skis with an iron and then scraping and brushing it off. I do not see this as a priority for our first race, but will leave it open if there are skiers who already know how to wax and wish to do so. We will have a waxing clinic hopefully the second Friday of practice and for this first race, I will bring some F4 which is a glide wax that can be applied right before the race to tips and tails. If none of this makes sense to you and seems like a different language, whether parent or skier, that's totally fine. The program is here to develop this knowledge and it's not expected that you know about waxing at this point.

I will be asking skiers of their intent to race when we meet on Tuesday, but if skiers already know, it would be great to get their info so I can register them. I will need name and school. The middle school race is expected to be about 2.5km long.

If there are questions, as always, please let me know. We will go over more of what to bring to the race when we meet.

Here we go!!!

2009-12-28T19:39:00.002-05:00

Hello, Sleepy Hollow Bill Koch Junior Racers!

Our first meeting time is just around the corner - 3:45pm at Sleepy Hollow on Tuesday January 5th!

In lieu of a parent meeting I am going to use this as a forum to provide you with the basics of what you need to know for the start of the season.

PRACTICES:
Yes, the first day is Tuesday January 5th - This is the last day to get in payment/registration for the program, but in looking at the roster, I think we are in good shape with this group. I am going to plan on the first day being classic. We will be trying to alternate skating and classic practices, but may also change up according to races and, if necessary, weather conditions. I will notify of changes to the schedule via the blog and e-mail, other less crucial things, I'll just put on the blog so as to not clog your e-mail inbox.

Skiers should make sure they have all the necessities. Layers! Hats! Gloves or mittens! Skis! Boots! Poles! Snack! WATER! We will be moving, but may also be stopping to work on technique or may be doing drills where there is both active time and some down time, so layers are important. Skiers will probably want to change into street clothes before leaving practice and Sleepy Hollow has changing areas to do this so bring extra clothing. If your skier has any special health conditions - allergies, asthma, diabetes, etc. please remember that we are out in the elements, being active, and they should be bringing medications like inhalers, epi pens, glucose tabs, etc. for use if appropriate. Please contact me if there are any concerns.

On some Fridays, which are yet to be determined, but will be announced in advance, we will be having special guests or clinics where our session will go later. With only one hour and then accounting for time for everyone to get organized or waxed if it's a classic day, we will be pretty crunched for time if we want to do anything besides ski so I am planning for extra time so we can really address important topics properly - waxing, race prep, nutrition, training principles, etc. If this is a problem for people, please let me know. You can see our current guest list on the blog.

RACES:
As you know, we will be meeting twice a week - Tuesdays and Fridays. We will also have several races that are optional and that skiers may travel to and participate in as part of our team. Most are races that are put on by local high school ski teams so they are a high school race, but they have added middle school categories/races as well. I will have more information about these races as it becomes available and will get it out to you. From what I have heard, registration info is sent out about a week in advance, but certainly mark your calendars for races your skier would like to attend. At a race, I will be there for support and coaching - for classic races we will be waxing and this is something that I will do in conjunction with skiers and we are very fortunate to have access to race wax for those days.

THE BLOG:
I have never been a blogger before, but have known people who have been able to utilize blogs to track progress and share experiences from races and training with others. It is my hope that we can use the blog as a form of communication and to share what is going on in practices and races. It will also be a place for you to check if there is a question about scheduling, etc. as I will post there with updates. I will be looking for a note or permission slip from parents that allow their skier to be featured in the blog - I expect that we'll have pictures from practices, with special guests, and at races and that we'll have some race reports posted. I imagine that if parents have pictures they want to share of other skiers in the group, I can post those, too, and they can be distributed in that format. If there are questions about or problems with this, please let me know.

THE SCHEDULE:
This is our schedule thus far. As skiing can be determined by weather conditions, this schedule is subject to change as far as races and technique for the day goes. I do expect that we will practice in all weather, though, so our Tuesdays and Fridays most likely will not change unless driving conditions limit us.

Tuesday Jan 5 - classic
Friday Jan 8 - classic
*Saturday Jan 9, classic, SB at Sleepy Hollow
Tuesday Jan 12 - freestyle
Friday Jan 15 - freestyle
*Saturday Jan 16, freestyle, U32
Tuesday Jan 19 - classic
Friday Jan 22 - freestyle
Tuesday Jan 26 - classic
Friday Jan 29 - freestyle

Tuesday Feb 2 - classic
Friday Feb 5 - freestyle
*Sat/Sun Feb 6/7 NENSA at Trapps, J2 – some skiers may be of age to race, others encouraged to go watch! Most likely, I will not be providing race support and coaching at these races.
*Tuesday Feb 9, Colchester, freestyle
Friday Feb 12 -classic
*Sunday Feb 14, Ichabods Revenge, classic at Sleepy Hollow
Tuesday Feb 16 - freestyle
Friday Feb 19 - classic
*Saturday Feb 20, classic at the Range
Tuesday Feb 23 - freestyle
Friday Feb 26 - classic or freestyle choice

*Feb 27-28 Bill Koch Festival – Pineland Farms, ME

CARPOOLING:
While we have a much smaller group of skiers than the overarching Bill Koch program at Sleepy Hollow, carpooling may still be possible depending on where your skier is coming from and where they need to end up. If you are looking for carpooling, let me know - I can send an e-mail out and you can be contacted from that. Also, there are many more skiers who will be coming out to Sleepy Hollow after school on Fridays - carpooling with those skiers on Fridays is a good idea even if they aren't in the Junior Racer program as we will be ending at the same time (except for days where we are staying later for clinics/guests, etc. as mentioned above).

QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? ISSUES?
I am available for you and your skier to contact via e-mail and by phone. Also - if your skier has any health requirements or conditions that I should be aware of - allergies, asthma, diabetes, please let me know. I would like to have a plan in place with you should any emergency arise or if your skier needs help administering any medication on a regular basis.

Free free free!

2009-12-10T11:57:00.001-05:00

There's free rock skiing to be had at Sleepy Hollow!!! Woohooo -- check it out at: http://www.skisleepyhollow.com/skiing/conditions

New NENSA ski leasing program

2009-12-04T09:27:00.002-05:00

Let me know if you are interested so I can help you with the process. Also, don't forget the lease program right at SLEEPY HOLLOW! Very easy! This is copied and pasted from a NENSA e-mail below:

"NENSA launches Skis for Kids ski lease program

I am thrilled to announce that yesterday the NENSA board of directors approved and today we are announcing the NENSA Skis for Kids program. With $10,000 from our generous supporters at TD Bank and $30,000 from two close friends of NENSA, we have the necessary funds to launch a permanent and sustainable NENSA-operated lease program to provide skis for kids throughout the region.

How does it work? Youth club leaders can work with NENSA to arrange leases for their skiers and especially as a tool to recruit new families to the sport. Time and again we have heard that the barrier of purchasing new equipment is too huge for a family that does not even know if their kids will like to ski. With this program, the cost is $50 per year to get well-maintained (brand new this year!) skis, boots, poles, and bindings to use from December through March plus a wax starter kit from TOKO for each child to keep for those who get on board first.

Individual skiers who are members of NENSA BKL but do not have a club participating in the program may also lease by contacting skis@nensa.net. These skis will be shipped via UPS or may be picked up at nearby club drop-off events.

What type of equipment is available? For the littlest kids top quality waxless skis with NNN bindings and boots and OneWay poles are available. For the bigger kids, through 8th grade, very good combi boots and waxable skis are used. The level of skis would take a skier from their very beginning in the sport up to a reasonable level of BKL and middle school racing. Our goal is to get people started in the sport with some great stuff; our sincere hope that skiers will turn to local ski shops when they reach the racing level to want separate skate and classic equipment and other high-performance gear.

How to I get started? For now, please email Skis@nensa.net and cc: abby@nensa.net if you think your family or club would like to take part in the program. Please include an estimated number of sets and general age range. By next week, we will have our order forms ready to distribute more widely and fully launch the program. We expect to make our first round of deliveries before Christmas!

We realize it is a late start... but we are just too excited to wait on this until next year. Please considering scrambling with us to make this program a success and get more kids on skis. How about an ad in your local paper welcoming new members to your club? Or an email to a family friend or neighbor letting them know that their kids can now get access to skis through NENSA.

We also realize that you need more details from us. We will have those for you shortly. This news was too good to sit on, however, so I wanted to let you know today!"

Another guest!

2009-12-01T10:35:00.003-05:00

We are very fortunate that JAKE HOLLENBACH is also going to be involved with our program and offer his expertise to our skiers. Jake is a former CVU skier, who attended the University of Vermont, and has gone on to many athletic successes on his skis, on his bike, and on his feet. Jake has won the Stowe Derby and has been a top finisher at the Craftsbury Marathon and the Lake Placid Loppet. He has most recently been skiing for Alpina-Peltonen and the Northwest Vermont Nordic Ski Club. Jake is also a professional cyclist for Empire Cycling and, among many other great finishes, has won the downtown Burlington Criterium that is the grand finale of the Green Mountain Stage Race in our great state. Additionally, Jake is a talented runner who has run through college and continues to consistently impress with top results and fast running times.

Special guests!

2009-11-25T19:14:00.000-05:00

It is my hope that we'll have several special guests involved with the Junior Racer program this year. Guest skiers will most likely join us for a Friday session and not only ski with our group, but also discuss an important topic (nutrition, race day preparation, waxing, healthy choices, etc.) and answer questions. While we don't have all our guests for the season confirmed yet, here's a preview of the current status.

The current plan involves having a few CVU skiers to come help us with a wax demo on the basics of waxing and prepping skis. In addition, there may even be more than a few CVU skiers joining us for a "ski with a CVUer" day which would be a good opportunity for Junior Racers to ask a few questions and learn a bit about what it's like to ski on a high school team. We'll also be seeing a lot of high school racers at the races that we attend so that will be good exposure to the scene as well.

Another guest that we've already got confirmed is ELISSA REHM. Elissa is a former CVU skier who went on to ski for four years at Williams College in Williamstown, MA. She was a great leader on the CVU team during her very sucessful high school career and was a carnival skier at Williams so has put in many miles on the road and on her skis. She will traveling from Worcester, MA to be with us and is very excited to ski with members of our Junior Racer program and offer her expertise.

JESSE DOWNS is one of the top biathletes in the nation and we are very lucky that he has generously offered his time to come for a ski and chat with members of our Junior Racer program. Jesse is originally from New York state and skied for Northern Michigan University. Since then he has gone on to great success as a biathlete and races for the National Guard while living in Jericho, VT. He is a member of the Army World Class Athlete Program and is currently focused on securing a spot on the US Olympic team for 2010. Given this, his presence at one of our guest sessions is dependent on his extremely busy schedule over these next months. Even if we can't pin him down for a visit quite yet, we'll look forward to following his progress and wish him fast legs and steady arms for the upcoming season!

And....there are more guests in the works, so stay tuned!

Get your gear!

2009-11-25T18:40:00.000-05:00

Stopped by Skirack yesterday to check out the goods they've got in store for our Junior Racers! Kyle (he's a former CVU skier and big Sleepy Hollow supporter!) was there and ever so helpful. The Skirack will be offering our crew TEAM PRICING so if you need some gear, they are a great resource. You can check them out at www.skirack.com to browse a bit, but I definitely recommend going into the store to get fit. If you have any questions about equipment for this season, don't hesitate to get in touch with me!

As skiers are expected to be skiing both skate/freestyle and classic techniques in the Junior Racer program there might be new issues that arise when selecting gear. There are several options. For skis, there are combi skis (on which you can do both skate and classic techniques, but that, no surprise here, are not ideal for either type of skiing), skate skis, and classic skis. The Skirack has both junior and adult skis in stock with junior skis typically being appropriate for skiers under 100lbs (a lot of proper ski fitting has to do with weight). Bindings are bindings when it comes to the race-type bindings as there is no difference in junior versus adult there. Once again there is the combi concept and then skate and classic, so don't forget to factor in the price of multiple bindings if you are getting multiple skis. We'll be going over some of the basics of the differences in equipment and what characteristics make skis and bindings skate or classic specific when we meet, but, once again, let me know if you have questions.

There are also combi boots, skate boots, and classic boots. Here, the combi option actually does work well. I skied on combi boots for quite a while when I was starting out and the extra support that they offer (since you need more support for skating) was really a benefit and a comfort as far as keeping me on top of my classic skis and not so wobbly. Skate boots and classic boots do have certain features that make them better suited for their individual techniques, but with growing feet, I gladly endorse use of a combi boot to save money and keep things simple.

As far as poles go, there isn't really a combi option as pole length really influences efficiency and comfort in each technique. There has long been debate on proper pole length for both techniques and many reference points that have evaded true consensus. For our purposes, here are some general guidelines. You'll want a classic pole that goes to the armpit and a skate pole that hits between the chin and your lips. When starting out, better to go on the shorter side than longer, but also realize that most poles (depending on material) can be cut down to size if needed. There are also different straps for poles - there is the more traditional loop strap and then more of a racer strap which velcros around the hand for greater control.

I was given some price range info, which I am happy to supply if you contact me, but I also suggest going into the Skirack to get more accurate and specific pricing. Other area stores may also have appropriate equipment, but I don't know of their stock or pricing. I believe we are beyond the ski swap season by now, but those can be good options for equipment as well. There is also the rental program at Sleepy Hollow which is a great option for growing skiers!

***Please let me know as soon as possible if anyone is finding that obtaining equipment is a barrier to participation in the program so that we can find a solution early***

Looking ahead...

2009-11-24T11:09:00.000-05:00

There are big things coming down the line for the Sleepy Hollow BKL Junior Racers!

Rumor has it that we've already got some skiers signing up for the program and some good interest drumming up in the area for the program. Keep spreading the word and checking back here for updates!

As stated, the program will be meeting Tuesdays and Fridays in January and February so our first meeting is Tuesday January 5th.

The following schedule is a list of races that we may or may not elect to attend, but it will at least give you an idea of possible offerings for our races this coming season. These are high school races that have 'middle school' components as well. I have starred races with an * that I think may be good ones for us to go to as a group, but this is subject to change.

Saturday, January 9th, Sleepy Hollow hosted by South Burlington, Classic *
Wednesday, January 13th, Colchester, Freestyle
Saturday, January 16th, U32, Freestyle*
Thursday, February 4th, CollinsP, Freestyle Relays
Tuesday, February 9th, Colchester, Freestyle Relays*
Saturday, February 20th, Ethan Allen Range, Classic*

There is also a NENSA race at Trapps on February 6-7 which is open to J2 skiers, which may apply to some of our skiers (age 14-15 as of 12/31/09, born in 1994-1995). There is a classic 5k on Saturday the 6th and a freestyle 5k on Sunday the 7th.

The 2010 Bill Koch Youth Ski League Festival is in Pineland Farms, Maine, February 27-28!!!

Introducing the new...

2009-10-26T15:59:00.000-04:00

SLEEPY HOLLOW BILL KOCH LEAGUE JUNIOR RACER PROGRAM!!!

WHO: Nordic skiers in grades 6-8 who are able to or willing to learn to ski both classic and skate techniques. Skiers should have an interest in learning more about nordic racing in preparation for racing with a high school ski team or individually. Skiers MUST have a love for snow and an interest in getting outside for some great skiing adventures this season!

WHAT: A great opportunity to build skills and make skiing friends! Skiers will learn about race preparation and training, improve their ski technique on varied terrain and gain skills and self confidence to make healthy choices for skiing and for life. Some areas of training that will be included are poling techniques, skiing downhills and uphills, cornering, and utilizing flats efficiently. Skiers will also learn the basics of waxing skis and equipment selection for both classic and skating. We will review basic nutrition principles for racing and training and learn about race day preparation as well as what to expect when attending races. Coaching will also be provided at several junior high races in the area which skiers are encouraged to attend and participate in as part of the Junior Racer Program team.

WHEN: Tuesdays and Fridays in January and February, starting Tuesday, January 5th, 2010. The schedule will be 3:45-4:45 every Tuesday and Friday, though there will be extended sessions on some Fridays to allow time for guest speakers and/or clinics discussing some of the above topics.

WHERE: Sleepy Hollow Ski and Bike Center, 1805 Sherman Hollow Road, Huntington, Vermont www.skisleepyhollow.com

HOW: Participation in the Sleepy Hollow Bill Koch League costs $65 for the 2010 season and registration for the Junior Race Program is only an additional $50 for twice the number of ski sessions and coaching support. One parent volunteer will be needed to assist the program at each session. Registration is available at www.skisleepyhollow.com

COACHING: Andrea LaRosa is a former CVU skier, graduating in 2002, who went on to a very brief stint as a collegiate skier at Middlebury College before realizing that she really wanted to coach and taking a position as an assistant for the CVU Nordic team for the next three years. She also has experience coaching with the Vermont J2 Nordic team, as a junior high running camp coach, a Girls on the Run coach, and as a mentor for the Little Bellas mountain biking program for young girls. This is her first year coaching the Sleepy Hollow Bill Koch League Junior Racer Program.

Contact the Sleepy Hollow Bill Koch League Junior Racer Program at SHJrRacers at gmail dot com

How about the regular Bill Koch Youth Ski League program at Sleepy Hollow? That is also available this year for younger skiers and skiers not interested in learning about racing. Bill Koch is a program designed for kids ages 5-13 years old. We meet every Friday in January and February at 3:45 for some great ski technique, fun games and adventures on the trails at Sleepy Hollow. The Bill Koch program is designed to be parent run and emphasizes not only learning how to ski, but how to have fun doing it. We typically split up into groups based on age and ability and each group will go for a ski and then meet up for a fun activity at the end. We highly encourage parents with some skiing ability to help out with the program. Some kids become racers, others become back country skiers and all will come to appreciate a great ski on fresh powder! More info at: http://www.skisleepyhollow.com/skiing/bill-koch