Congrads Grads!

Big going-ons in HURT country this weekend as the team prepares to send off its first group of graduating juniors from high school.  Several of these young men and women have been with HURT nordic since its humble beginnings (when they were forced into service by their parents) but have consistently raced in HURT green, lead their respective high school teams and become powerhouses in NY nordic community.

Congrats to Austin H, Brain H, Emma U, Ben A, Seth M. and 1/2 of Adam L as they celebrate their achievements and look forward to new adventures.  Everyone at HURT nordic wishes Brian and Austin the best of luck as they take their talents to the Maine Winter Sports Center to take the next step in their ski career, and to Adam Luban (skiing for NCAA powerhouse Middlebury) and Seth Mares (up in the U.P. of Michigan), and to Emma (at UNH)  and Ben (some wicked-smaaaart place) as they pursue their goals and find time for snow.

The HURT news team has been to all the graduation/awards ceremonies/recognition banquets/proms/parties/senior days and compiled a short visual approximation of everyones end of the school year.  The following link should sum up pretty much all the June happenings of our recent graduates:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ5pKg3B1ns

BEST OF LUCK TO YOU ALL!

Cool to see this......

turn into this. 

On to the SUMMER!  

Important news:

1) Sign up for HURT camp! Info is found here: http://www.hurtnordicskiing.com/images/generalcamp%20copy.pdf

 Sign up before June 28th so you can get in on the camp T-Shirt order

2) Team training for adults, juniors, W.I.N.O.S, hikers and any local skiers is on Monday nights at 6pm.  Check the HURT team calendar for details on location because we move around the area from week to week.  If you want to ski fast in the winter, put the time in now!  Join us!

3) Please support the Cole's Woods Investment Project!  We are trying to get a snowmaking system in the trails at Cole's Woods.  It would be awesome to have consistent snow on our home course!  

Support the cause here: http://www.razoo.com/story/Cole-S-Woods-Investment-Project.  If you donate before July 4th, you are entered into a community raffle for some great vacation prizes.  https://www.facebook.com/events/387121071393115/

HAPPY SUMMER FROM HURT NORDIC!

Odd Oddsmakers Odds - "Springtime-Funtime-Fundraising-Edition"

HURT nordic is lucky to be a club team that draws some of the best regional high school talent from area schools.  Despite their loyalty for the high school nordic teams they represent, the HURT juniors know how to support each other and the ski for the green and red standard of HURT nation.

However...there is a fierce off-season competition brewing in Section 2 that just may pit friend-against-friend, neighbor-against-neighbor, and skier-against-skier.

Nope.....not early season time trails.

It's a fundraising competition to raise money to put a loop of snowmaking in the Glens Falls trail system known as Cole's Woods.  The great folks at the Sportspage and Inside Edge have put together a great ski prize package for the Section 2 high school program that can have the highest fundraising average before August 1st.   It's a big prize with a lot more that off-season bragging rights. (although that is worth a lot too!)

Nobody likes off-season competition more than our resident odd-oddsmaker..... he has spent a few seconds analyzing the team statistics and fundraising potential and come up with predictions that are 100% guaranteed to have a slim chance at being right...

Saratoga Nordic: The Blue Streaks lost some senior power to graduation and a lot of their success rides on whether they want to leave a legacy of success.  HURT up-an-comers Adam Marino and Patrick Broderick anchor the returning squad and collegiate bound Seth Mares and Maine Winter Sports biathlete Brian Halligan create a formidable foursome that bring experience and passion for nordic skiing.

Odds of Winning - 7:1 Look for a fast start to their fundraising campaign... but terrible summer traffic in Saratoga and Halligan's inexperience with a stick shift will prevent them from canvasing lots of ground.



Shen Nordic:  Young, enthusiastic and heavily represented by HURT nordic will help this team and nordic community raise some good money for snow guns.  However, Coach PK is heading up this operation and he has a tendency to get distracted by shiny-bicycle-related objects in the summertime.  We'll see if the Ducli, Huneck brothers, Chrzan brothers and Owen Putnam can rally support for a ski trail system that is 9 northway exits away.

Odds of Winning - 5:1 Lots of enthusiasm. Bikes are fun! Shiny! hehe!



Queensbury Nordic: Could be a tough group to contend with.  It would be a hometown course.  It's a nordic loving community and that might be the right recipe for success.  However, Queensbury could be hampered by the droves of kids that are on the roster that could weigh down the team average.  Coach Bob Underwood has so many kids he doesn't even know how many athletes he's got.  Betting folk need to hope he can get the word out to enough kids that they can keep that team average up.

Odds of Winning - 7:2 Modified skiers count too. doh!


Scotia/Glenville and Guilderland: Moderately large size teams, passionate skiers. Good team Leadership from Matt Forshey and co (Scotia) and several dynamic coaches. This could be the winning ticket.  However....miles make it a tough bet.  Will the Scotia and Guilderland community be galvanized enough to raise money for snowmaking not exactly in their back yard, or their neighbors backyard, or their neighbors, neighbors, neighbors, backyard? Maybe they will raise enough money to put a one stop electric tram from Guilderland and Scotia to Glens Falls?

Odds of Winning - 12:1 "MIND THE GAP!"


Johnstown/Johnsburg/Mayfield/Lake George/Canjo/Glens Falls: Small school + big effort = WINNERS! All these schools have a real shot at unseating the section 2 big schools by taking advantage of that ever important team AVERAGE.  A couple big donations from these nordic skiers could leave the big programs scratching their heads.  Look for some surprising results from these teams. Glens Falls HS has some added incentive!

Odds of Winning - 4:1


SPA CATHOLIC : MAJOR DARK HORSE!  1 skier. How much money can one modified skier raise?

Odds of Winning - 3:1 Fortunately for you, he is distracted by baseball.  

Good Luck to all the High School skiers as they try to change the landscape of Nordic Skiing in new York State.  HISTORY IS ON THE LINE!!

May Day

Whether you are a gardener, activist demonstrator, or nordic skier May 1st is a big day on your calendar.  It is the Official-Unofficial-Day-To-Start-Off-Season-Nordic-Training-Or-At-Least-Thinking-About-Maybe-Doing-It-Sometime.

In honor of OUDTSOSNTOALTAMDIS, we have checked in with some of the HURT nordic ballers to see how they are kicking things off.

Ed Luban and MDH haven't even put storage wax on their skis yet (in fact they still may be going out to Osceola) but they did not let May Day get away without snapping into their Xcelerator bindings...

The Duclos Sisters (WAAHT!  They grew another one?!) went out to run a half marathon in Rochester this past week.  Well...one ran and the other two got their heart rate up to 115 just from cheering.  But rumor has it....Ducli-numero-tres may be joining a growing HURT laydz group and will be ready for some summer training.

And then of course....this happened.  We aren't quite sure what exactly this is.... but we suspect it is some kind of plyometrics.  Secret training developed by Emma Underwood, Austin Huneck and Brian Halligan.....

There have been some questions raised about Brian's technique......

Keep in mind that H.U.R.T Camp this year will be held again this July.  We will be having two camp options.

1) If you are 15-18 yrs old (or turning 15 this summer) you can do the overnight camp at Camp Meadowbrook from July 15-20th (Mon-Sat)

2) If you are younger than 14yrs we will have a DAY CAMP

on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (19th-21st). Older beginning skiers are welcome to attend this as well.

More details will be forthcoming about these camp options.  Stay Tuned to HURT media for details. 

HAPPY MAY DAY! 

Skiers are silly in the Spring

What do you get when you mix March 30th, sunshine, crust skiing, small furry animals and a few rolls of duct tape?  Why the EASTER SCRAMBLE of course!

In what hopefully will become a annual event, HURT nordic unveiled (or would that be "unbonneted") its first ever free, fun family costumed ski event at Saratoga Biathlon Club.  It was the first race in a series of Saturday spring time events at the Saratoga Biathlon club that included a biathlon TT, a "Learn to Biathlon" session and a BBQ picnic.  What a day it was!

The racing was fun and fierce and some huge deductions were made as skiers racers showed up in some great Easter themed outfits.  It was a learning experience for some as it was quickly realized that skiing with a basket is hard, but keeping eggs in your basket was even harder!  Some great engineering was seen on the trail!  When all the math was done and the deductions were tabulated the results showed some surprising upsets!

1) Austin Huneck - 6:11
2) Eric Seyse - 8:21
3) Dave PK - 8:31
4) Aaron Huneck - 8:55
5) Ben Anderson - 8:59
6) Seth Mares - 9:17
7) Matt Tornianen - 9:19
8) Brian Halligan - 9:22
9 Tim Huneck - 9:54
10) Owen Putnam - 11:06
11) Patrick Broderick - 11:17
12 Jan Mares - 11:26
13) Brian Chrzan - 12:15
14) Matt Forshey - 13:01
15) Chris and Ana Y - tandem - 14:22
16) Darryl - 14:27
17) Mikey Halligan 16:19
18) Curt Schreiner 16:49
19) John Schreiner 17:56
20) Eric Schreiner 19:54
21) Deb Nordyke 23:46
22) Katrin 23:55
23) Fraz Haas - 24:24
24) Gabriella and Felicity - 33:20
25) Rachel Yarsevich - 35:57
26) Gina Huneck - 36:07
27) Eric Hamilton - 42:03
28) Jackson Koziol - 44:45
29) Travis Koziol - 46:55

The pictures from the day tell the story so much better than any words on this blog.  This was a ton of fun and you will want to plan to join us next year for this end of season party!

They took away his chainsaw and gave him a gun....with a safety on it. 

Mikey Halligan protecting those eggs!

look at those massive biceps

Tandem winners Chris and Ana!

Great Learn to Biathlon fun!

Fun for Everyone!

Drafting off the cotton tails

He may have caught that rabbit in the woods

By far the best costume of the day by JAN MARES!

Easter Scramble Update

H.U.R.T is still going to hold the first ever EASTER SCRAMBLE fun ski event on March 30th despite warming weather and snow loss this week.  We will not be having the event at Queensbury School trails as they no longer can provide a good loop for skiing.  We will be moving the race to the Saratoga Biathlon Club in Day, NY.  Curt has generously offered us the use of his trail system and will have it nicely groomed for us on Saturday morning.  The Event is FREE and will be 5K for all participants.  The race will begin at 10am and shortly afterward there will be a biathlon time trial event that interested athletes can participate in (Not part of the Easter Scramble).

A few special notes about the race:

-It will be a 5K freestyle, mass start race.  One loop.

-On the loop there will be four baskets with Easter Eggs.  You can collect up to 3 eggs max. at each basket.  (total eggs....12 max.)

-No egg carrying device (bag, case, box etc.) is allowed EXCEPT an Easter basket.   If you don't have a basket you have to put them in a pocket or in your lycra somehow.

-If you do ski with an Easter basket you get a 4 minute deduction off your final lap time.
-Inside the eggs there will be time deduction (or a few with time additions!) but you are not allowed to open your eggs on course.  You don't have to take eggs, or you can limit your consumption to less than 12.  The more you take, the bigger chance you have of a time addition!

-You will get additional 1 minute time deduction for every piece of "Easter" themed clothing (ie. Easter bonnets, Easter bunny ears, fancy white gloves, pastel colored dresses) you wear during the race.  Dave will serve as judge as to whether your clothing is "Easter themed".  No protests will be accepted after his ruling.....No Brian, your white ski gloves don't count.

-Wear your craziest, most colorful lycra possible.  Interesting and creative garment combinations are encouraged.

After the event we will be attempting to win $4,000.00 worth of Rudy Project Gear by participating in a HURT Harlem Shake video.  Yes.....the world does indeed need more harlem shake videos. :/ Please bring any gear that you have that is from Rudy Project.  Brian Halligan, Seth Mares and Austin Huneck will be directing the video effort and we need as many interesting costumes and gear as we can find. HURT loves Rudy and Rudy loves HURT so lets give them our best SHAKE!

Easter Scramble

What Puxsutawney Phil forgot to say was...."early Spring is gonna have SWEET SKIING"!! We've got snow, so let's have some fun!

HURT will be hosting the first ever Easter Scramble family fun ski day.  This is not a sanctioned race, there is no cost, it is just fun with friends on snow....(ski at your own risk)  Some come on out and have a blast!  Here is how the event will work....

-You will ski the 5K race course at Queensbury elementary school. It will be a mass start freestyle race and as you are skiing you will pass four locations on course that will have a basket full of easter eggs.  You don't have to stop if you don't want to, but if you do, you can pick up some eggs that can give you valuable time deductions at the finish.  You can take up to 3 eggs at each basket, but the more you take, the more you have to carry.  You must carry your eggs around the course in some way.  if you bring your own Easter basket and manage to carry your eggs in the basket around the course you will automatically take 4 minutes off your time.  Here is the twist.....the time deductions in the eggs will vary in length...and a few will be time additions! you won't know until you cross the finish line and open your eggs!

Winner will enjoy a Easter treat!

See you Saturday March 30th!

2013 NYSSRA Champs....the Florida Marlins?

From New York to New Hampshire it was a BIG weekend for the HURT nordic skiers. This past weekend saw HURT beat back a tough, determined and very capable group of blood thirsty skiers from Peru to nab their 4th consecutive NYSSRA club championship title.  The winning combination of age group winners, diversity in ages, and many dedicated racers could not be undone but the surging evil empire.  HURT was able to ski away with 8 titles on the day.  Thanks to everyone who skied for the big green machine this winter and racked up club points.  Every point was needed!

Season winners were in doubt until Saturdays 20K freestyle and HURT managed to win some big uncontested age categories to win the day.  Hats off to Peru for placing a large number of skiers in the top 10 overall.  Once again, haunted by a lack of diversity, they were unable to ski away with the banner.  DPK, Austin H. and Matt T. did just enough to hold back the great black tide. (Watch out  though...they are working on tapping into the 50-70 yr old female metal-head population for next year )

Congrats to all the 2013 NYSSRA Nordic NY State XC Champions:


Overall Men: Tim Donohue (M3M)
Overall Women: Janet Findlay (Peru Nordic - M6F)
Overall Junior Men: Adam Chrzan (HURT Nordic - J2M)
Overall Junior Women: Natalie Howk (J2F)

J1M: Austin Huneck (HURT)
OJM: Brett Schlesier (HURT)
SRM: Jon Santor (Peru Nordic)
SRM: Kirsten Domas (Peru Nordic)
M1M; David Paarlberg-Kvam (HURT)
M2F: Karen Febey
M3M: Matthew Tornianen (HURT)
M4M: Mike Wynn (Peru Nordic)
M5M: Stan Hatch (Peru Nordic)
M5F: Cindy Gretzinger (Syracuse Biathlon)
M6M: Joe Korzenecki (Peru Nordic)
M7M: Ed Luban (HURT)
M8M: Eric Hamilton (HURT)
M9M: Matti Tornianen (HURT)


It was not all champagne and smiles for HURT nation as Director Koziol was informed that big changes could change the landscape of NYSSRA club skiing in 2014.  These rumors have already raised questions about HURT's ability to manage a 5th title.

The HRT TMZ team was on hand to capture, spread and stoke the flames of the swirling rumors....

1.) Rumors are swirling the forming of a new NYSSRA club, "Adirondack Vauhti", will steal 3 major HURT points earners as well as stake claim on geographical territory once seen as a HURT stronghold.  The loss of Matt Tornianen, Brett Schlesier, Matti Tornianen will subtract major points from HURT's M3, SR, and M9 totals.  Eric Brower looks to augment this group and aid in bringing top talent from Mayfield and Johnstown.

2.)  Director Koziol's leadership is coming under attack after this round of defections. Is HURT just another Florida Marlins team that is looking to sell of top talent after winning a championship? Does the Director look to bank a large sum from this deal? Is he stashing carbonlites?

3.) Has the Director's inability to get a team to win the relay crown raised doubts about his competency? Will it be his undoing?

4.) Peru nordic may have found the secret to developing top young talent that would score major points in the youth categories previously DOMINATED by HURT nordic.  They have employed the "Hansel and Gretel" technique to lure the north country youths into their ranks.

Is this the end?

HURT TMZ will be on hand to handle all rumors and off-season deals.  It is only two days after the end of the season and already things are heating up (besides the weather) !

In related news....HURT hopes to stem the tide by working with top developing talent. Already great progress has been made and it was on display in Holderness, NH as HURT sent 5 top J2 skiers to battle against New England's finest.  Top ten finishes were the name of the game as Matt Forshey and Sarah Duclos led the way for NY.   Aaron Huneck, Amy Duclos and Owen Putnam skied really well and gained lots of great experience.  Here are a few of our favorite pics from the weekend. More will be up on our facebook page.  (Thanks Mary!)

Sun and Smiles

Sarah skis to a top 10!

Owen gets out quick!

"I wasn't doing this in Prague"