More Festival Photos

Clyde Malhatra and Zach Wilkerson

L to R:  Kim Callahan, Linda Punderson and Maggie passing out hot cocoa
at Robert Frost's cabin.  Kim even recited poetry.  This was
a stop on a 10K loop for the Bill Koch kids and
their families.  The skiing was beautiful!

L to R:  Keith Wilkerson and Nick Wilkerson minutes after Nick's race.

L to R:  Barney Hodges and Sam Hodges.

What would we have done without Donald Remeniak (far right) and his help
 in feeding all the little hungry squirrels, mice, raccoons and bears.  Cam (far left)
and Anders (middle) shift from waxing 170 pairs of skis to
flipping (and eating) a few burgers.

Circle-Of-Life of Skiers

Below is a letter that Cam MacKuglar, our Frost Mountain Nordic coach, sent out today to his high schoolers, college kid and masters.  We thought you would enjoy it, too.  Cam waxed over 170 pairs of BKL skis this past weekend with the help of Anders Meyers. Wow!

Hey Frosties,

Firstly a huge thanks to all of you who helped out at the Festival this past week! I know that I had a ton of fun (despite only being in the background on tv and thus ruining my future movie-stardom), and it was really awesome to see how huge the sport is now! 525 registrants, insaaaane!!! I think the coolest part of the festival, for me at least, was really seeing and appreciating the circle-of-life (cue Elton John) of skiers and alums of the BKYL. You had a Middlebury College Ski Team captain organizing the event, ex US team coaches waxing and coaching, an Olympic silver medalist cheering on his son, foreign Olympians waxing up a storm, national champions forerunning, even the volunteers at the finish were NCAA all-americans and ex US team members!! That right there is a testimony to the sport, but also to the characters that it creates. These ex athletes and coaches have been on tv, raced internationally, competed in Olympics, nationals, college, and all enthusiastically volunteered to help usher the next generation of racers into the spotlight. That was really cool.

Tiger Zach Wilkerson

So with the festival behind us we're now in our own competition time! States, Loppets, World Masters, Eastern Highschools... you get the picture. This is how this week is going to break down: (remember that we're tapering right now, so I give you coaches' permission to put your feet up on your desks, take the elevator, and drive to the road to get your mail... the goal is to rest and be super recovered for your big races)

Thanks again so much for you all being total rockstars this past weekend and helping out, although I do have one question- who helped Zach write his name on his bib? 

Cheers!

Cam

A good guess is that there were over 1,000 pairs of skis!

Individual Races and Painted Faces

This article was first posted on Nensa.net

UPDATE: Results added.  Stellar individual races at the 2011 TD Bank Bill Koch Festival wrapped up a very successful weekend for the Frost Mountain Crew in Ripton, Vermont.

Link to Results: 

Grades 1-2

Grades 3-4 Girls

Grades 3-4 Boys

Grades 5-6 Girls

Grades 5-6 Boys

Grades 7-8 Girls

Grades 7-8 Boys

What an amazing weekend - and the weather was no slouch, either! For day-2 of the TD Bank BKL Festival, Mother Winter brought low temps and fresh snow at night, and the grooming team at Rikert Touring Center delivered beautiful, packed powder tracks all day. For today's individual classic races, the waxing was easy - your choice of just-north-of Extra Blue for kick wax - and the lanes were lined with super fans.

Local photographer Pam Quinn captured the faces and scenery throughout the weekend. Visit her collection here.

The photos below were taken with a GoPro camera hidden in the fur of a festival fox.

 Isabelle Serrano sporting aerodynamic butterfly face paint and feathers, awaiting the race start.

Superfans line the lap lane to cheer on their favorite animals.

Disco Dog adds some pep to the final climb into the stadium.

Grade 1-2 skiers learn the fast-paced nature of a 15-second interval start.

Building a ski jump overlooking the Breadloaf Campus and site of the BKL Festival stadium.

Getting lined up for the start of a high-speed chase of Bucky Beaver and Disco Dog.

Lollipoppers gather mid-day to take a celebratory tour around the main field against a backdrop of cheering spectators.

Caden Cote watches on as Sam Hodges hands out lollipops to the eager finishers.

The picturesque yellow buildings of the Breadloaf Campus and Rikert Touring Center.

Taking a short break for chili bowls and apple cider in the lunch barn.

Read more…

Fox, Squirrel, and Mice in Ripton, Vermont for Racing & Fun!

This post first appeared on Nensa.

by BKL Alum Jake Whitcomb (a.k.a Bucky Beaver from New Haven) who attended the 2011 TD Bank BKL Festival today at the Rikert Touring Center in Ripton, Vermont.

Saturday, February 26, 2011 - Ripton, Vermont: Under snow-covered trees amidst skiers, parents, and volunteers of all ages in woodland creature-themed attire, athletes aged 5 to 13 descended upon Rikert Ski Touring Center in Ripton, Vermont today for the annual Bill Koch Cross-Country Ski Festival. The annual event brings youth skiers in New England a weekend of championship races as well as non-competitive open activities for families and festival-goers. With the close of the opening day's events, 515 registered racers had competed in a mixed-age relay race and an adventurous tour around Rikert's beautiful trail network, making for the most attended BKYL Festival to date.

The festival is rooted in the philosophy that cross-country ski racing with friends is both competitive and fun, explained Bill Koch, the 1978 Olympic silver medalist from Peru, Vermont-namesake and inspiration for the youth league. "Racing comes and goes, but skiing stays forever." This year's BKYL Festival brings a unique theme and the tradition of over 100 volunteers and organizers coming together to encourage courteous competition - faster racers that call "track" are given the right of way - and an event that celebrates the participation of all - from Olympic hopefuls to first-year participants.

To embody this year's theme, "Skiing by the Woods on a Snowy Day," racers and festival goers alike will be greeted all weekend with activities ranging from an opening parade (see video: http://gallery.me.com/maxkcobb#100368), to event videos at the local high-school awards banquet, a ski terrain park, a ‘mini-marathon' by poet Robert Frost's former summer residence, an animal-costume themed ski loop, and over 30 attending ski clubs from Madawasaka, Maine, to Rochester, New York, to Bedford, Massachusetts. There were the Berkshire Trails ‘Beavers' from western Massachusetts, a family of skunks, bears, moose, birds, canines and critters of all kinds.

For full results of the day's races see the NENSA website: http://nensa.net/news/index.php?id=4643

Here are some more pictures of the day: http://quinnpics.smugmug.com/

The following photos are from a GoPro camera that Abby Weissman was wearing today at the Festival. Fun! 

Porcupine Alley!

Dani LeBlanc (GMVS skier) paints faces!

Festival organizers enjoying the sun in a rare quiet moment.
L to R:  Amelia Ingersoll, Bruce Ingersoll, Barney Hodges and Chris Hodges

Eastern Ski Jumping set up a jumping site on the hill!

Malcom and Nina Badger enjoying some time between races.

Author and a family of skunks from Mountain Top.

Read more…

Snowy Animals Parade

 The TD North Bill Koch Festival kicked off today with the Snowy Animals Parade.

Frost Mountain Nordic BKL leading the parade.

Mike Hussey 

Abby Weissman

Sam the squirrel

Little skunk

Let the Festival Begin

Tomorrow begins the 2011 TD North Bill Koch Festival. The theme this year is stopping by the woods on a snowy evening. Chipmunk, bear, mice, skunks, bears, porcupines, badgers and moose, who are really children, ages 6-13 on skis, will kick off the Festival in the Animals Parade on Saturday morning.  Here is a preview of what else is to come:

Bear Den Trail
Kids are asked to visit the Bear Den and to pretend to live in a den and eat a little bear food while they are getting ready to wake up to those long spring days!  The Bear Den trail is a short loop in the woods adjacent to the main field and there will other forest animals waking up along the way.

Mini-Marathon
The mini-marathon or Forest Animal Cruise, as we've dubbed it, will be open all day Saturday and Sunday.  The tour will take a child along Breadloaf's beautiful trails with a stop at the Robert Frost Cabin, which was Frost's summer poetry writing spot.  Along the way the child will play a poetry game and see and read about some of the interesting natural features of our forest.   Between 2 pm and 4 pm on Saturday, there will be hot chocolate at the Robert Frost Cabin, the halfway point of the tour!

Individual and Relay Races
There will be a skate relay race and classic individual race.
There will be food!  Wholesome, locally made vegetarian soups, chowders, chili, brownies, Rice Krispie treats, cookies, muffins as well as coffee, tea, lemonade and hot chocolate we be for sale at the race site.  Sunrise Orchard apples and cider will be on hand and hot dogs, sausages and veggies burgers will be on the grill.  Pricing will be reasonable.

Ski Jumping Demonstration
Coaches and athletes from Eastern Ski Jumping will be on hand to help kids try out the mini-jump that they have set up.  Stop by and see them and give it a shot!

Terrain Park
Check out the terrain park for some fun with jumps and obstacles!

Sit-Skiers Fly Through Hill and Gale

Ten sit-skiers braved the wind and cold to compete in Frost Mountain's second annual carnival adaptive race.  The 3k course took the skiers around the stadium field in sometimes white-out conditions, then up and over Battell and back into the field for a final lap.  It was a tough course, in tough conditions, yet everyone powered up the hills and negotiated the downhill turns with finesse.  At the end of the day, last year's winners, Brian Genovese and Alicia Dana, members of UNH's Northeast Passage,  took home the vaunted first place maple syrup prize.   Frosties were out in full-force to guide the sit-skiers as they made their way around the course, assisted by members of the MUHS nordic team.  The grooming crew, led by Michael Hussey, did a fantastic job in difficult conditions, as did the timers, sprinting over from the sprint action across the road as soon as the men's college race was over.  Thanks to everyone who helped, and to the Rikert staff and to Middlebury's Andrew Gardner and Patty Ross for including FMN adaptive in the carnival mix.  For more photos, check out our album.