Up and Coming

With the club race season officially underway, and the local high school race circus reeved up to full steam, it is a good time to take a look at what is up and coming.  In an effort to bring some much needed excitement to the blog-o-shere universe we here at the HRT Newsroom has spent all our war chest cash to hire a new dynamic creative director, media specialist and 3D graphics guru (only recently rejected from CNN) to bring you a brand new blog and ski media segment called...

UP AND COMING*

*TM

So here is the down and dirty:

1) Great club races are up and coming to a course near you.  This Saturday NYSEF is hosting their season opener at Mt. Van Hovenberg where the conditions are PRIMO.  Worth any price of entry to ski on these amazing December conditions.  Get there.  Score points for HURT and have a blast. https://www.skireg.com/nysef-season-opener0 Look for more events up-an-coming here: http://nyssranordic.org/  

2) Maybe you are an up-an-coming ski racer? If you are looking for a fun spin on ski racing or ski training, or if you are looking to enter the scene without the pressure of a full race....check out this fun event by our Vauhti frenemies.  https://www.skireg.com/ghn-fun-do

3) Up-an-coming in HURT nation - Y'all may have glanced over the results the 300+ racers that skied during the Saturday of the North Creek Nordic Fest. But did you really look?  You may remember the name Grace Mattern who tore through NYS from Rochester last season.  And you may remember the name Bailey Gengel who rose to local fame last year as well.  But what about that name 4 seconds off Grace-pace! Boom! Maddi isn't just up-an-coming, she's here. And flying the green and white of HURT.  This guy has some adjustments to make. 

4) Up-an-coming from HURT nation - One of our all-time favorite inventions is coming up on January 12th. THE MEGA-RELAY!!!!  Woot Woot! The most fun you can have with your best buds on skis is the Mega-Relay.  So much skiing, so many K's, and this year we have some fun competitive wrinkles to get you math-ologists really thinking about the best team strategy to win the coveted prize packages.  Here are the new race details...

The HURT Mega-Relay is 6 hour team relay event.  Teams of 3-8 skiers will compete to see how many laps of the 5K race loop can be completed in the 6 hour event time.  This is a fun, exciting, and challenging race format that is great for all abilities.  

If you are ages 13-15, each loop you ski will count as 1.5 for your team.  

If you are older than 45, each loop you ski will count as 1.5 as well. 

If you are older than 65 your loops count x 2! 

*New this year* racers ages 12-and-under can ski laps simultaneously together and all count. So if you have five kochers ski one lap together that would automatically count as 5 laps.  Team rosters must remain under 8 racers. 

All other competitors will have their loops count as 1.  

Hope to see you up and out on skis in the next few weeks! 

Thanks x 10

Since some of the dedicated readers of this blog are planning (as I am) to mitigate 10% of your fall training with extra pieces of pecan pie tomorrow, I thought I might offer 10 reasons to be thankful during the upcoming 2018-19 ski season.  Perhaps it will motivate you to shake off the gravy-induced malaise on Friday morning as you clip into your ski bindings...

Which brings us to number 1...

1) No-vem-freaking-ber!!  Has there been a November so awesome for the East? I mean ever? Cro-Magnon scientific records dating back to the Pleistocene Epoch show that there was only one other time where there was this much great skiing so early.*  Those in HURT-nation that want future Novembers to be so awesome should remember they need to pack up the Executive Director and ship him out to the sub-tropical Mid-West until mid-December so he can bathe in his own tears while all-y'all pile on the early K's. **sob**

*debatable. less-than-accurate. 

2) Snow-making - In the last few years we have seen some serious infrastructure built to help our sport.  When this club began...there was bupkis.  Gore now basically guarantees Thanksgiving skiing and VanHo promises all the snow-cones you can eat as you calculate those fitbit laps.  It is AMAZING.  A huge thank you to all the folks that make those efforts possible.

3) Groomers - Come on.  Toast these hearty blokes this Thanksgiving.  From Crandall Park, to Queensbury, to Brookhaven, To Garnet, To Gore, to VanHo and all the other efforts in between.  It is  frigid work...let's make sure it isn't thankless

4) Kiddos - a new chapter of HURT-nation has opened in the last couple years as some of our club founders find Bill-Koch-aged skiers now hanging around their houses eating their food.  Thanks to some great leadership and creativity, Greenfield and Glens Falls are sporting droves of youngins ripping on skis.  And this year we get to show it all off at the Bill Koch Festival in March.  Be there for this one.  It will be a blast.

5) Aiming high - It is worth mentioning how awesome it is to have true nordic vision at the Gore Nordic Center.  They didn't just blast in a snowmobile loop like so many downhill venues around the country.  They SENT IT. Jerry glasses and all. There are not many places in the East (no, country) that can boast a FIS world-cup level homologated race course.  If you are an athlete in this area that wants to chase the dream, the course is laid out for you.  You should come share in the vision at our JNQ weekend in January.

6) Mega Laps - In the last few years Garnet Hill has come to play.  Massive improvements up there and a welcoming staff makes it a regional treasure.  All natural, yes...but keeps and gets snow when others miss out.  Conditions almost never disappoint.  The have welcomed us year after year for our fan-favorite MEGA relay and we look forward to seeing them again and thanking them for their effort.  Mark your calendars.

7) The Stuff - We have such great sponsors of this club.  Tokous.com has opened their warehouse of awesome and given us deep team discounts (If you haven't spent time here....you should).  Barkeater Chocolates keeps us feeling guilty.  Sportspage continually helps bring us the best at low-cost. Stewarts loves or juniors and kiddos. Polar and Rudy are all about the SWAG.  They help make our events great and skiers loving it.

8) The Snow - Keep the winters white.  Advocate and care for the environment.  Push and pressure everyone you know to do they same.  I am thankful for each flake and each voice in that chorus.

9) The Families - We have had many "first-families" in our decade and will have many more to come.  Whether or not your name is Yarsevich, Huneck, Beyerbach, Dixon, Duclos, O'Brien, Manzella, Halligan, Chrzan, Tomb, Luban, Blood, Underwood, Bordeau, Mares, Frielinghaus, D-H or P-K (and so so so many more) we have been lucky to have many incredible families bring their passion and enthusiasm to this team.  While we will be hosting our 2nd annual "Nino Manzella memorial Hurtathon" this year, and it will once again be a celebration of his memory, that event is really about the families that make skiing in our area so great.  You will be glad to make this a stop on your race calendar. 

10) You - and your ability to read.  Thanks to your literacy you can handle these long winded ramblings.  Thanks to all of you from all of us (...100's and 100's of us) that work in the HRT newsroom.

-Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.



Hope you can make it to Nordic Fest!

A Decade and A Nation

 Over the last 10 years HURT has grown from a quartet of semi-delusional wannabe nordies to a hundred-strong community with skiers of all ages from under-2 to over-70.  Each year that we have been around has been a little different. Friend groups come and go. Events come and go. (how many of you remember the Cloppet?...or the West Mountain uphill ski race?) Races change and grow.  But through it all has been our mission to bring people together who love nordic skiing.

Even if you don't live in HURT-country anymore, or your life has a little less ski racing than it used to, we consider you part of HURT-nation and now we finally have a way to show it off...to show you off.

And 'yall can get PAY-YED!

This fall we are unveiling a new Training Leader Incentive Program.  It is all outlined here: http://www.hurtnordicskiing.com/incentive-program.html  but basically it goes like this...you are active with a small group, you share, you tag, you collect. USSA, Mt. Borah and Stewarts Shops are our first three companies featured in this program and are providing some sweet swag. (**update 10/24....we have more! Barkeater Chocolates, TokoUS.com Rudy Project!)

Too bad we didn't have this program back then....good points here for sure. 

So you might wonder who is this program for?

-Perhaps you have moved to train with a group of buds in another region but still yearn for the Green and Gray buff of HURT nation?...Train, Tag, Win.  You are HURT-nation.

 -Let's say you are a matriculated college student with little-to-no spending cash since last weekend's "study hour" and you really need some Stewarts gas for your 1992 Toyota Corolla.... Grab your housemates and go for a "run"....Train, Tag, Win. You are HURT-nation.

-Perhaps you are pushing a double baby stroller these days and you really could use a new pair of USSA mid-weight training pants.  Grab your parent-group and.....Train, Tag, Win.  You are HURT-nation.

-You're retired and you and your bridge club have plans to crush the M10 competition at the Sapporo International Ski Marathon.  You might as well get our free stuff too....Train, Tag, Win. You are HURT-nation.

-Maybe you are studying abroad in some Denmarkian location and you and your new commrades decide to take a set of communal bikes instead of the government subsidized solar-powered-silent-speed-train....That's training. tag it. Win it.  We will even pay for shipping. And send you a jar of our jealousy and sadness. 

-Perhaps you are a freshman in northern NY and you thought it was gonna be awesome being so close to the Adirondacks but then you realize all too late that all Potsdam really has is potatoes and apple trees.  Live the nordic dream and Train. Tag. Win.

-Perhaps you just live and breathe to get that 45 minute head-lamp rollerski, in the cold November rain after work.  Blackmail some friends and Train. Tag. Win.

Alright...you get the point.  This program is for everyone with a HURT connection.  We want to show how our club skis-like-an-American. We do it many ways.  Fast. Slow. Young. Old. Early. Late. Often. Seldom. 

Skiing like an American is more than just pre-Olympic dreamers thrashing the pavement.  It is our families, friends and community getting out to enjoy the outside, vitality and the nordic lifestyle.  We hope you have fun with it!

See you on the medias.

A new model

July brings the reinvented HURT summer program and here is the skinny on what you need to know about our upcoming scheduled training sessions.

-Mondays are for training together -

If you are a member of HURT nation you are invited to our Monday "Strength and Speed" sessions.  These practices will be hosted by Coach Steve Tomb or a guest coach.  These practices will include a dryland component and a rollerski component for those equipped with skis.  They are open to all ages and levels and athletes are invited to take the skills and drills that are presented by our coaches and apply them at a comfortable level.  This is for athletes with basic, bronze, silver and gold membership.  You must be a NYSSRA member to attend a club training session.

-Thursdays and mini-camps  -

If you are a member of the Silver race team (silver or gold level membership) you are invited to attend Thursday night rollerski sessions with our HURT development coach Aaron Huneck.  You are also invited to participate in our 3 "mini-camps".  Coach Huneck and Coach DPK will host the first camp is this weekend (held locally) and the next two will move around NYS to take advantage of training opportunities with other NY nordic clubs.  Athletes should be NYSSRA members to participate at this level.

July is here.  We hope you are ready to jump on in.

       

One Skier

For long-time followers of HURT-nation and readers of this blog, the name "Brian Halligan" garners thoughts that hearken back to a time when a young U16 scamp zipped around nordic trails with friends Austin Huneck and Adam Luban....the original junior juggernaut that launched HURT to the world stage.

For those friends and families who have been with us for the last five years or so, the name Brian Halligan, is synonymous with top talent from HURT nation competing at world junior biathlon and on the cusp of USA Biathlon glory.

Those new to the game know Brian Halligan as a dedicated, passionate, and talented junior coach that continually aims to instill knowledge and passion for everything nordic in others.

Oh yeah.....and he's nordic media mogul  and exporter of the nordic lifestyle. 


In looking back through the HURT archives you would be hard-pressed to find one HURT skier more central to it's success, development, and current place in the NYS skiing landscape.

One skier really can do an awful lot.  It is with great pleasure that we watch Brian take on his next adventure as he moves to California to serve as Biathlon Program Director for the Auburn Ski Club.  We will miss his energy, his leadership, and seeing him zip by in a race.  All of HURT nation wishes him the best of luck.

On a personal note....Perhaps the finest thing about Brian's decade of involvement with the Hudson United Racing Team is that he has shown the limitless capacity to reinvent his involvement with the club and limitless capacity to creatively share his love of this sport.  In my view, everyone in HURT nation has this capacity and that is what makes us work.  Involvement and participation may wax and wane: juniors become collegiate-pop-ins, collegiate skiers become citizen racers, racers become parents, and parents become coaches, coaches become skiers again... the power of reinvention is what drives the HURT engine.

It is with this idea in mind, that I am happy to announce that our new Junior Program Director will be Aaron Huneck.  Yes...that Aaron Huneck.  The original Director. The Dictator-n-Chief....newly crowned Shenendehowa Nordic coach and adventure sport guru.

We look forward to working with Aaron and we know our juniors will too.

Bring the HURT Brian.  Bring the HURT Aaron.
             

         

Lemonade from Lemons

Sometimes opportunity can blossom from the seed of disappointment. Any long-time competitive athlete has a story that can relate to that adage.

As it turns out, the same is true for organizers. 

The HRT Newsroom regrets to inform all of HURT nation that  the 2018 HURT Junior Summer Development Camp will be cancelled.  Due to many conflicts, the staff is unable to comfortably support the expected number of athletes and won't be able to provide them with high caliber camp experience that has become a marker of our event the last 7 years.  

  

Despite this very disappointing news, The Hudson United Racing Team has aims to still provide a quality summer training structure for committed and interested junior athletes. Instead of HURT camp, the HURT coaches have built a complete summer full of training opportunities that should provide even better continuity of training and better athlete development.   We urge junior athletes to take a careful look at the options available for HURT Silver team membership.  They should  take a look at our training schedule here as  summer plans are made. Know that specific details on ALL training sessions will be made in June.   

We sincerely hope to bring the HURT summer camp back in 2019 and are already looking to secure our staff and dates now.   

It is HURT's aim to make this summer full of lemonade.

HURT Summer?

Having finished scraping ice off my car and preparing my skis for my ski tomorrow, I guess now is a good time to fill you in on the new and improved summer offerings, and adjusted member benefits  from HURT.  According to our intense analysis of data that has been collected over thousands of years we can say with slightly greater than 51% certainty that Spring will arrive and Summer will follow it.  So here it goes....


HURT CAMP:  This year we are changing things up a bit for HURT camp.  Instead of a 6 day camp at the end of July, we are offering a 4 day camp at the beginning of July.  Camp will run from July 9th to the 12th at Camp Meadowbrook in Queensbury.  We are excited to add Mr. Tim Whiton, head coach of the University of Maine at Presque Isle, to our coaching roster and looking to bring you 4 days of intense work and nordic specific training.  Registration is open now: https://www.skireg.com/hurt-nordic-junior-development-camp and the camp will close at 40 participants.  We do expect it to sell out, so register today.

MINI CAMPS:  We have shortened and earlified(?) HURT camp to allow for two additional 3-day mini camps for those in in the HURT silver team program.  Check the calendar here: http://www.hurtnordicskiing.com/schedule.html to see the preliminary dates for those camps.  Our goal is to hold one of these camps out in western NY to co-mingle and co-train with our nordic mates at RNR and the other mini-camp will be held either in Lake Placid to train with NYSEF or in Vermont to train with our pug friends at Mansfield Nordic.  Stay tuned for details and sign up for the silver program to take part of this training opportunity.  This mini-camp will be a great way to continue the hard work of HURT camp through the whole summer into the start of your school year.

Speaking of "Silver team"...you may be wondering...what is that? 

HURT has levels of participation. Basic. Bronze. Silver. Gold.

Here is what they are and who they are for.

Basic: For an annual membership of $5.00 you can sell your soul to HURT nation. You are on the team.  You can order gear at wicked discount prices.  Sportspage will hook you up.  You score points for us in club races when you ski for HURT.  Anyone and Everyone should be a basic member.

Bronze: Your soul is sold.  And you get a training plan.  All for $80.00. You will receive a generic 6 month off-season training plan (May-October) or (June-November) made appropriate for your age.   
As a Bronze member, you are welcome to attend our "Strength and Speed" training sessions on Monday evenings with Coach Tomb.  Here at these practices you will do contained drills on rollerskis, and have strength circuits and full-body training from our development coaches. We recommend this training for young and old, beginner and experienced skiers.  We feel if you are an aspiring middle-school skier or high school skier we highly recommend this level for you.  If you are a Open/Master skier looking for a little structure this is a good one for you, too.

Silver: Soul, yes, we have it. Hours of your life too.  You get a training plan and a tailored strength program.  And the opportunity to train twice a week with dedicated juniors like yourself. And technique coaching.  All for $180.00.  As a Silver member you can do the Strength and Speed sessions as well as Thursday night technique coaching in July and August.  And the mini-camps.  We recommend this for experienced juniors with lofty goals.

Anyone who has purchased the Silver or Gold training program for the summer of 2018 before June 1st will receive the "HURT" edition of our best selling sunglasses; the Competition Pro.  glasses free of charge courtesy of Kick Zone Media

Gold: one-one coaching, goal setting, testing and training.  All the benefits of the silver crew too.

Anyone who has purchased the Silver or Gold training program for the summer of 2018 before June 1st will receive the "HURT" edition of our best selling sunglasses; the Competition Pro.  glasses free of charge courtesy of Kick Zone Media

 

To sign up for camp, or any of these membership opportunities please visit our website: http://www.hurtnordicskiing.com/membership.html  

You never know

I think I had just finished toddling around on a pair of "World Tour" fishscales  when someone sent me the preview of "Generation X-Ski" in 2002. A video made by some hot-shot a couple years my junior named Andy Newell.  Long before youtube and insta-tweets, and long before I knew my proper way around a nordic race.

I watched it over and over again.

And I was seething mad.

And immediately infatuated.

Infatuated with a sport that was made to look so badass, so hard, and so fun. This moment was my fall down the rabbit hole into the nordic lifestyle. Then came the videos; The world cup races; The dry-land drills; The camps; The training logs; The clinics; The long snowy drives to races; The cars-driven-into-snow-banks at races; The lost keys in the snow at races; The bitter cold races; The slushy puddle races; The hours of school skipped; The hours of work skipped; The coaching clinics; The wax clinics; The club teams; The amateur videos; The nonsense blogging;  Pinching pennies for skis; sacrificing beer money for better boots; buying stiffer poles than I really need. And nothing has changed since then.  And I still want more.

And I was seething mad because I was 20-something-whatever watching a younger genius on skis and I felt liked if only I had found this awesome sport earlier in my life, I would have been truly great. okay fine... pretty good at it. but still.  Thanks Obama. **

**for the record ... this was long before Obama.  It was more like "thanks mom and dad for knowing nothing about nordic racing." or "thanks, high school coaches for not knowing anything about real nordic racing and training". Either way....a truly childish and excuse-filled sentiment.        

So what is this rambling all about?  Two of my personal nordic giants are stepping away from The US Ski Team. Kikkan Randall with her unapologetic style and awe-inspiring strength, and the afore-mentioned Andy Newell.  Both are turning a page on great and inspiring careers and...

...they have no idea that they had any effect on me.

The real message here is for the young kids who read this.  You never know who is watching you.  It may be a young BKYSL skier who you share a passing hi-five with. Or a peer who sees you training insanely hard. Or a wannabe adult who admires your sportsmanship and selflessness around a teammate.  Inspiration is funny like that.  Sometimes you inspire someone you know and work closely with. And other times it is from someone who sees a glimpse of you from Alaska.  So for all the "real_nordic_skiers", "unreal_nordic_skiers", "surreal_nordic_skiers", and "fake_nordic_skiers"...keep doing what you do and be as creative, fun, unapologetic and awesome as you can.

You never know who is watching you send it.

Thanks Andy and Kikkan. 

March FTW

So the NYSSRA points series didn't exactly end up the way HURT nation had hoped, but that doesn't mean that the ski season slunk away into a miserable-mud-fest-of-an-unskiable-and-unbikable-March as many of us had feared and anticipated. Quite the contrary.  Has there ever been a better March of skiing? I mean....ever?

From our extensive (3 minute) research the only potential candidate for better skiing in March was 1899 and Fischer's "carbonlite" game was not on point according to Thorleif Haug. And waxing technology was still in the "bear-grease" phase of development.

Anyway.

March. For. The. Win.


HURT athletes and coaches jumped in to the resurgent winter with the U16 Championships at Gore.  With a small but feisty group of HURT and non-HURT juniors, coach Brian Halligan and DPK shepherded the up-an-comers to some podium spots and top tens.  HURT U16's included Sam Bordeau, Lucas Jenkin, and Paul Lindsay; and they were joined with Saranac Lake skiers, LP skiers and a troupe from Rochester.  It was awesome to get to know everyone.  The three days were jam packed with a 5K freestyle, 5K classic, 1.5K "skier-cross" and mixed relay. Racing at Gore was at its finest. For the coaches, it wasn't always pretty, with quick moving temps, snow squalls and track variations, but everyone came away with big successes and big lessons...

When all else fails...spread it thin to win.

New York can own the top step...

Small is good, bigger is better (next year!)...

Relays rock at all levels...

and Gore can put on a show!

This past weekend, Coach Halligan led the biggest NY team in many years to Rumford, ME for the Eastern High School Championships.  The best of the best from NY stacked this event and skiers came back from JN's in Utah looking to bring a major finish to the NY race season.  A huge thank you to all the coaches and parents that helped NY get SOOOO close to fielding a full team of 48.  Once again, NY found podium spots and top 10's in a race field that undoubtably sported some future Olympians.  Brian Beyerbach, Alex Fragomeni, Mikey Halligan, Lucas Jenkin, and Bryce Beyerbach, Emily Atamanchuk and Annalise Beyerbach all went out from HURT country and the pictures tell a tale of racing at its fiercest and finest.  

Not to be totally outdone by motivated juniors...some HURT Masters, alumni, and friends, got in on some Loppet action in Lake Placid.  It is yet to be determined if they were there for the competition or the beer and fried chicken served afterwards.  Sightings were made of Pete Pedrotty, Chris Lamothe, Bernadette O'Brien, Richard and Sherry Dixon, DPK and Brian Chrzan at varying speeds, techniques and times throughout the morning.  Thanks to some handy pack placement and internet thievery (thanks Mt. VanHovenberg and SMS) we have these pictures for you to enjoy...

25K and 50K skiers started together which made from some interesting pacing.  Here is DPK employing the "well here is this talented SMS junior doing half of my distance, so let's go at this pace" strategy. 

Still employed at Russian Hill.  

Great fun and great chicken was had by some.  

Winter is going to be here for a few more weeks.  Even when snow leaves your yard you should remember that the great venues in our area are flush with the white stuff, and the mountains are buried.  And they will be through the end of the month.  We know many of your non-skiing friends, loved ones and social media acquaintances are hating it and potentially you.  But come May, you will be dreaming of this March.

Have fun.

On paper

On paper, most connoisseurs of world cup skiing would not pick Jessie Diggins to overtake Stina Nilsson in a 100 meter drag race at the end of a sprint.

On paper, most folks in Section 2 would not have picked the 2018 Section champion to be someone other than Emily Atamanchuk or Anna Weidman.

On paper, the only winter sport that Dave PK should ever beat Brian Halligan in is competitive ice-checkers (maybe).

On paper, HURT nordic should never lose a club points series to the much smaller GVH-ADK Vauhti team.

Nordic skiing isn't done on paper.


And because you actually have to show up in this sport, we learned a few things: thanks to the unrelenting grit and dogged determination of the US women a new era of nordic skiing is born in the U.S.A, and the name Bailey Gengel is particularly interesting at the State Meet next week, and DPK can wax a real pair of boards for slush-mush conditions, and the once-deemed unbeatable HURT nation can lose a points series, if they don't show up.

First non-HURT club champs since 2009 #tipofthehat

You have to show up.  There are no "givens" in this sport.

There is no "given" that kickzone media's speed rankings determine the results at States.

There is no "given" that the next ski race will even happen.

There is no "given" that snow today will be around tomorrow.

There is no "given" that NY will always have a citizen nordic series.

There is no "given" that NY will come in last at Eastern High School Championship and U16's and that Vermont will always walk away with the regional titles.


This sport thrives when folks show up.  It thrives when they step out the door and clip in to their touring skis. It thrives when they encourage their kids to go to park and play around in the dwindling snow piles.  It thrives when folks like the Schreiners manage to piece together a race course after a massive thaw.  It thrives when folks volunteer at ski races to help time, record bibs, register, monitor course or sort prizes. And it thrives when folks show up to race, not because they are in prime shape to win, but because there is strength, camaraderie and community in numbers.

Winter racing may be over for most....or we may get one last blast.  But if you have a chance to be on that U16 team, or EHSC team, or ski in Spring race, or get out in the back country...we hope that you decide to show up.

There is a new era in U.S. Nordic.  and we want to see it thrive.

From the desk of Captain Obvious

Caption Obvious filed the following report with the HRT Newsroom....

"This Junior Team from HURT Nordic is super awesome and we are crazy proud of how hard they have worked." - C.O.

HURT Nordic is sending a host of talent to the Mid-A team for this year's Junior Nationals in SoHo.  Many others will be skiing for the NY team at the Eastern High School Championships and U16 Championships.  A shout out of all the names include: Brian Beyerbach, Michael Halligan, Dan Manzella, Seamus Tomb, Alex Fragomeni, Ava Anderson, Emily Atamanchuk, Anna Wiedmann, Annalise Beyerbach, Lucas Jenkin, Sam Bordeau, Bryce Beyerbach. 

Many Thanks go out to the great group of parents that support the goals and dreams of these kids and for shlepping them to-and-fro with ample nourishment and moral support.

And a special shout out to Coach Brian Halligan who has managed the lions-share of the Junior effort.  And to the crack wax team both in Lake Placid and Rochester.   

Extra special thanks to Suzanne Tomb who ushered Directesses 2 around the course after she finished testing top coats and tongue-testing the Rochester start line gatorade....which allowed DPK a chance to focus for a few minutes on making some fast boards. 

Race teams nominations, links to final points standings and trip registration info can be found here: http://nyssranordic.org/2018/02/03/qualified-athletes-for-jns-ehsc-and-u16-championships/

And the winner is....

...we can't decide.

HURT nordic had some serious contenders for MVP this past weekend and the HRTnews room and group of social media posting elves need your help in picking the winner.  A case can be made for the following contenders...


1) "Brangelina" was taken so I guess we are going to have to call them "Brattamanchukbach"? Anyway....they are HURT nordic's powerhouse-couple and a couple of powerhouses.  These two tore up Lake Placid on Saturday and Sunday's JNQ's and netted top podium spots...forever having their names etched in Harry Eldridge lore.

2) For those of you that weren't there and missed it...with 45 minutes left in the Mega-Relay, Rachel Yarsevich rolled into Garnet Hill with two kids under 7 needing to get dressed for winter, bearing homemade baked goods, amidst a chorus of "are you gonna ski?" queries and...as cool and calm as Yankee's stud Ardolis Chapman...she got two kids winter-ready, skied a lap, (with time to spare) and turned certain defeat into stunning comeback in the Mixed Relay division of the Mega Relay.  The late arrival snatched a full sweep from the bloody jaws of Peru Nordic who dominated the Men's and Women's division races.  If that isn't MVP worthy, I don't know what is. 

3) She has brought loads of championship gene contributions to the HURT team and now she snaps killer photos.  Her photography jumps off the screen and....I am just gonna say it....damn, she just makes us look good!!! Kristin Halligan and her growing photo business are now on hand to show you the best of our team in true MVP style.  Check out her stuff and use her for all you snazzy photo needs!

So there are our top three nominations for weekend MVP.  What's your vote? Do you have another nominee?  How about those coaches stuck in the trenches battling changing conditions and icing kick wax on Saturday?  Should they get the nod?  How about an MVP for "resilience" in our athletes who battled it out for precious JN points when the going got tough?  How about a vote for coaches Huneck and Halligan for getting the waxing done, and using "coaches training" to post strong results on Sunday? How about Chris Y and DPK who removed toppled trees and blow-down from Garnet Hill early on Saturday? How about the US postal service for getting top quality waxes from far flung locations to HURT coaches on a short notice?

A lot of work goes into making the wheels of the HURT machine run smooth.  From organizing and running the events, supporting athletes, driving, feeding, cheering, and making the photo memories look so good.  

A big thanks from the S.M.E.T (social media elves team) goes out to all those who had a hand in making this weekend great in HURT country.

A Rikert "warm-up" with JNQ's coming

59 degrees at 10pm Friday...8 degrees Saturday morning...1 on Sunday

Pouring rain Friday...sleet Friday night...snow Saturday...blue skis Sunday

This past weekend had it ALL for the intrepid crew who went out to Rikert for the tune-up races before the next two weekends of JN qualifying. Coach Halligan and PK battled 25 mph wind gusts, ice rain and tricky snow to give the crew slick and kickable boards during the classic sprints on Saturday and inhaled enough cold flouro powder on Sunday to last them at least a couple days. 

The pics from Kristen Halligan on Sunday show the scene.  Side note - Does any nordic skier's mom make them look as good as Kristen makes Mikey look? She takes some seriously good pictures.  #putthatinyourmothersdaycardmikey

Bryce in action

Frago gettin' after it

Brian Beyerbach skiing to 21st on Sunday

Other swaths of HURT nation spent Sunday at Saratoga Biathon Club for a skiathlon on firm fast conditions.  Chris Y, Tim H, Greg S, Eric H and Tyler K laid it down for the HURT squad and kept pace in the NYSSRA points series.  With home-race advantage at the Mega-Relay next Saturday and big junior weekends in Lake Placid and Rochester coming up, HURT looks poised to once again stamp their dominance in the NYSSRA points competition. 

A great week of weather is coming with snow in the forecast and real nice skiing temps on the weekend.  We hope you get in some of the action this weekend!

Out of the deep freeze, into the heat.

The race season is heating up just as the temps get a major bump.  Now that you have crawled out of fetal position after skiing in the -36F temps of the weekend, take a look at the upcoming events (and event changes) that January has in store for you.

This weekend you've got three great options for racing. Rikert is hosting two days of NENSA Eastern Cup action with a classic sprint on Satuday and freestyle 5K/10K on Sunday.  HURT coaches will be on hand to wax world class boards. 

The weekend also features two great NYSSRA events at Saratoga Biathlon club: The Shenendehowa Classic race and the GHN-ADK skiathlon.  Both should be stellar races and details and registration can be found on skireg. 

So....either book a place in Middlebury, VT or head over to Day, NY this weekend.  The racing will be stellar. 

And plan on spending the evening on your ical....

Here is what's comin'

JNQ, JNQ, JNQ, JNQ.....and Mega racing at Garnet Hill.

Lake Placid and Rochester are hosting back-to-back JNQ weekends for juniors looking to make their way to Soho for JN's, Maine for EHSC, or Gore for U16's.  The race will be fast and furious as Mid-A has never looked so deep and stacked with podium potential.  With the Gore cancellations the JN qualification route has changed. Be sure you read here to know what is going on. Again, HURT coaches will have your back for fast boards so if you are a junior looking for support, reach out to us. 

For those less JN inclined.....we have you covered too. 

Saturday, January 20th we are hosting the fan-favorite MEGA-RELAY at Garnet Hill.  Garnet Hill has never been better and new ownership has the place vying for the top destination in the region for great skiing.  If you haven't been there recently, shame. on. you. Make up for it by spending a day at the Mega-Relay.  It is also the race with the race with killer prize packs that will feature Barkeater Chocolate and Nut butters from Vermont Peanut Butter Co. As well as adult-gatorades, snacks, desserts, ski items and gift certificates. 

The HURT Laydz have yet to lose, or be challenged in the Women's division.  Will this be the year?

Saturday, January 27th come on back to Garnet Hill.  Barkeater Chocolates and HURT Nordic are bringing you the Garnet Hill Pursuit Race. Join us on January 27th for a continuous pursuit nordic ski race. The race will be a mass start race beginning with a 4.5K Classic loop followed by a 4.5K freestyle loop. The race will begin at 9:30 from the Ski Lodge. Following the conclusion of the race we there will be a 2.5K Bill Koch Youth Ski League Race. Plan to stay all afternoon for some great skiing and fine refreshments in the Garnet Hill Lodge. Garnet Hill Lodge will provide a host of prizes for race participants and great food items as well.
A 3k Try-it citizens open race is FREE with purchase of a day pass or your season pass. Competitors will Walk away with great prizes from Barkeater Chocolates in North Creek as well as other great prizes from the companies that sponsor and support HURT.

And that takes you to February.

So you will be busy.

See you there!