A New Start

Whelp...We've been a little "blog-silent" these days.

It turns out that Saturday afternoons playing with wooden trains, riding a scooter in the driveway, and doing myriad toddler/5year old parenting tasks doesn't make for as epic blog posts as rollerski adventures, mountain-bike odysseys, or 5 hour ridge runs.

Either that or there was already such a glut of parenting blogs
that when I tried to post something, the internet broke.

Anyway...we haven't had much from the HRT Newsroom lately. BUT!! NOW!!! WE!! ARE!!! BACK!!!

And just in time for ski season.

Here is the quick and dirty...(I think I hear one of my kids crying...or on fire...or maybe wants a snack)



1) Thanksgiving camp is at Gore this weekend for juniors. But that also means you can ski at the Ski Bowl. You should. Check it out.


2) The NYSSRA season opens on December 7th and 8th.  Gore Ski Bowl (does not include the A climb). Check out details here and register on Ski Reg. http://www.hurtnordicskiing.com/events.html


3) HURT now offers three options for youth instruction. Glens Falls, NY, Greenfield, NY and now DORSET, VT.  Yup....crossed the border and invaded New England. Check it out here. http://www.hurtnordicskiing.com/bkysl.html The Dorset program starts up on December 18th. Check out the registration forms linked on the website and sign your kiddos up for one of the two sessions.

My kids will be there....assuming they aren't on fire.

I will be there....assuming that I get them a snack before they gut me.

Adios.

Champs and Champions

Two weekends of events to cap off the NYSSRA race season and two of the finest weeks on snow!  March 2nd brought a last ditch effort by HURT masters to rally a NYSSRA club points championship from the jaws of defeat...but it was not to be.  Despite the strong racing from Ed Luban, Alyson Chapman, Tim Huneck, Greg Stevens, Philip Matthews, Anna Yarsevich, Jan Mares,  Eric Hamilton, DPK, Chris Yarsevich and T. Koziol... HURT fell short against the Vauhti masses and math. It was however, an amazing day with good fun and good friends.  Props to Glenville ADK Vauhti for garnering the membership turnout, snatching the relay victory, and overall championship.

The night relay format offered racers something new and introduced many folks to a sweet old-school community downhill place that now features "nordic nights".  Be sure you check out Maple Ridge.  folks in the Albany/Schenectady area need to know about this place!

The Relay Crew!

With another championship narrowly missed, all eyes are focused on HURT's future ballers.  Bring on the 2019 Bill Koch Festival! Gorgeous bluebird skiing on March 9th and fresh fluffy snow on March 10th made for some of the best weekend skiing all winter. And kids and parents from around the state were treated to another new area venue.  Brookhaven Golf Club and The Town of Greenfield have been working hard to make their town park a real nordic destination and these two days of skiing have a LOT of people sold on and excited about the future of this venue.   

Here are a few of  the many pics from the weekend! Stumble over to the social media land for the full scene.

Hitting the candy bags hard on the scavenger hunt ski

Laughter, or leaving it all on the course...you decide. 

JJPK laying out her race plan for the Lollipop division for papa. 

"I would like a lemon one!" 

Bill Koch joined in on the Koching 

Coach Chris herding

One, two, three everybody point!

Winter is going strong and the snowpack will make for great skiing for the next month.  We may not have any events left on the calendar but skiing in the near future looks bright and the future of skiing in our area looks even brighter. 

Just an opportunity

A letter from a HURT guy.

In a span of 9 days I got to see the full span of the nordic community that reaches into HURT country. As someone who is geographically removed form its epicenter it was quite a thing to see.
First, was the annual Mega-Relay at Garnet Hill ski center. It is truly amazing to think how this event has blossomed from humble beginnings (cut short from 8 hours to 6 hours mid-race in year one!...shout out to those folks that remember that day! woot!) to an 80+ strong race field that sits as a high mark for many citizen skiers. 

photo cred: stolen from Peter Minde's blog

One of the coolest things about this event is that it is a day for the Masters-Masters to shine.  Once your laps start counting as 1.5 or even 2 you are hot commodity for a team and those slick U18/U20/SR/M1/M2's start looking like major liabilities for squads looking to leave with the tasty prize packs. This year added the competitive and growing mini-junior component of the HURT club.  I don't know how many nordic 6 hour relay competitions that go from U6 to M9 there are, but HURT country might have the biggest.    

Honestly though, the greatest thing about this event is that it is an opportunity. An opportunity to access nordic sport at any level, at any age, at any ability, with your friends and community members. It is an opportunity to ski 60K, or do 6 x 4K @ L4, or to ski 4K and hang out in the pub all afternoon.  HURT has always been about creating opportunities and this is a real showcase of that.

This past weekend...a whole new community came to play in the snowy playground of HURT country.  Our JNQ weekend brought out the best of the best junior talent from all around NYS and even those Green Mountain PUGS from Mansfield country. woof! woof!

Thanks for traveling over to our show!

     

It was an opportunity for a whole different slice of the nordic community.  The driven. The passionate. The focused compteitor. With lactate searing through the body these 500+ skiers came to the hardest course in the area...and then stayed for racing in some of the hardest storm conditions I have ever seen.  (yep...that snowstorm) A HARDY bunch to be sure.  But the amazing thing was just how determined folks were to be there, to race, and to give it their best shot.  They just wanted an opportunity.   

visual approximation of the race course.   

Three weeks from now HURT will be looking to bring both of these parts of our nordic community together. In honor of a man who was all about providing opportunities.  A year ago marks the passing of dear friend, father, and supporter of all things nordic, Nino Manzella.  

While not an avid racer himself, he found the love for this sport by providing opportunities for his kids and their friends to excel and it is our goal to carry on that tradition with the Nino Manzella Memorial HURTathon.  Come to Gore on February 10th.  You want a tough race? We have it for you.  Looking to score points for your own ski club? Yep. Are you a BKYSL youngster? We have you covered.  Are you a citizen skier looking for a personal challenge without the "A" climb or the "S" turn? We have that too.  

We would love to see you there.And all the profits will go to provide opportunities for our youngest skiers and provide financial support to our Mid-A juniors pursuing their passion in far-flung locations.  Let's bring together the full span of the nordic community in HURT country. It would make Nino smile. 

Register here: https://www.skireg.com/hurt-athon

-DPK