EVERYONE:

1. Attendance form: do this each week. If your plans change, simply do it again and indicate it’s a redo so it catches our eyes - i.e., “Anna Schulz UPDATE” in the name section.

2. Training plan: still here - you gotta scroll down on that there page

3. Craftsbury Marathon complete! Thanks everyone who volunteered for your help, and congrats to everyone who raced!

4. Harvard Carnival/Craftsbury Eastern Cup here this weekend, Feb 2/3/4: it will be busy! Schedule for the weekend here. Take an extra close look at the weekend schedule because it’s pretty funky for some groups due to all the racing and lots of coaches being preoccupied with that.

5. CSC jackets: if you ordered a team jacket for rental or purchase and your size was out, the latest round is here. Talk to coaches to pick it up.

6. Slack: if you’re not on this, email jrskiing@craftsbury.com to get set up.
   

JUNIORS:

1. Mega shout-out to junior Amelia Cirosta, who crushed some races in Falun, Sweden last week!

2. We’re in the guts of racing season now. Prioritize sleeping, eating, hydrating, getting your school work done, and putting your phones away. The skiing part will fall into place if you do the rest of the stuff.

3. Thanks to all who volunteered this weekend: it was a mega help!

4. Eastern Cup this weekend: we have EC #3 @ Craftsbury this weekend! The Friday race is just for college kids so don’t worry about those. Don’t forget to register; leave us your skis ideally by Weds this week (skate only this time!); etc. Please read through the info packet here - that includes details about food and stuff too. NOTE that SkiReg has been throwing people for a loop recently so give yourselves some time to register.

5. Qualifier on Sunday 2/11: next up we have the VT U16/EHSC Qualifier @ Craftsbury. Register sooner rather than later to avoid price hikes!

6. Waxing fee for races: if you’re registered as a full-time junior, your waxing fee for Eastern Cups is included in the fee you paid. If you’re registered for fewer days, we charge you a waxing fee for Eastern Cups. This is $25/day and we will invoice you post-race. Everyone registered in our junior program, regardless of number of days, has waxing for the qualifier included as part of their program registration fee.

7. Listing your club: when you register for races, put your club as Craftsbury Ski Club. Don’t put down some other version of Craftsbury or omit the club. This (a) makes it easier on the timer; and (b) helps us accrue points as a club toward overall standings!

U14s:

1. The BKL Festival is coming! As U14s, you are still in BKL! Remember how fun the Festival was last year? This year the Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt., is hosting the very same event on March 2-3. Register here. Coaches are going to cheer, coach, and help wax skis. Discounted registration ends on February 9, and online registration closes on 2/17. A reminder that NENSA membership is required for participation at the Festival.

2. Wanna try out an Eastern Cup? Craftsbury is hosting an Eastern Cup the weekend of Feb 3rd/4th. These are the races that the juniors are always traveling all around to. If you think you might want to do that when you’re a junior, this is a great opportunity to test the waters. Info here. You’ll need a short-term US Ski & Snowboard license and if you have a NENSA license it makes it a little cheaper (and you need a NENSA license to do the BKL Festival anyway). Talk to coaches with questions.

3. BKL race on Sunday! That’s another racing option this weekend. Details here.

4. Looking ahead a weekend: next up, Sunday 2/11, we have the VT U16/EHSC Qualifier @ Craftsbury. Some of you are actually U16s (born in years 2008-2009), which means you have a shot at qualifying for the VT U16 team going to New Englands! Those of you who are younger than that can choose to do this as a practice race if you want.

BKL:

1. The BKL Festival is coming! Remember how fun the Festival was last year? This year the Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt., is hosting the very same event on March 2-3. Register here. Coaches are going to cheer, coach, and help wax skis. Discounted registration ends on February 9, and online registration closes on 2/17. A reminder that NENSA membership is required for participation at the Festival.

2. No practice Sunday. BUT see below…

3. BKL race on Sunday! Woot we’re hosting a race for y’all! Details here.

COMPETITIVE MASTERS:

1. Practice moved to Saturday this weekend. Sorry to keep jerking you around. We’re hosting a BKL race Sunday afternoon this weekend right during practice time!

INTERMEDIATE MASTERS:

1. Skate this week for both groups.

BEGINNER MASTERS:

1. Skate this week!

2. Coaches’ notes: If you need to rent gear from the TC come about 15 minutes early so you have time to get set up with gear by the lovely TC staff.  It's going to be great!

BIATHLON:

1. Weekday practices: We are back to outside practices for the weekday practices this week.  

2. Sunday: it’s another wild race weekend. Check the Sunday schedule carefully. We’ve done our best to schedule biathlon sessions to accommodate racing, but we just can’t quite make it work for everyone!

3. Upcoming races- lots of details here so read carefully.

   • Bayley-Hazen Biathlon Races- there are beginner-friendly home races on Feb 17 and March 17.  There are novice and expert categories. Go ahead and sign up if you are interested and do it early as we expect these to fill up. The novice race is appropriate for BKL Beginners and for anyone ages 9+ who has never tried biathlon before and would like to.  (Parents, that includes you!) The expert race category is appropriate for BKL experienced and our U14/Junior group.  If you are a junior racing in the expert category and not sure whether to try the kids division or the adult division, come talk to us. To sign up, check out the events listings on the Craftsbury website.  

   • Jericho Thursday Night Races- we are sending CSC coach support to Jericho on the week of Feb 8th.  We have a van reserved in case that is helpful for facilitating rides.  If you plan on coming, please email biathlon@craftsbury.com and let us know where you will be coming from and let us know if a ride would be helpful. To sign up, please follow the skireg link from Ethan Allen Biathlon Club's website.

   • Nationals in Fort Kent March 22-24. We will send coach support for those interested. You would need your own ride and lodging. Races happen Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (likely a sprint, pursuit and relay of some sort. There will be U13/15 categories included.

CATAMOUNTS:

1. Sunday is Day #2 of the Craftsbury Eastern Cup, which means another busy weekend at the Center. Come a little early if you want to watch mroe super speedy racing!

2. Skate this week! Don't forget to kick your kids out of the house during the week after school and encourage them to practice their snow plow.  We have some big adventures planned for the next few weeks, safe snow plowing speed is a MUST!

3. BKL race on Sunday! Woot we’re hosting a race for kids! BKL (the Bill Koch League) technically encompasses Catamounts, so this is for any Cats who want to race—BKL is everyone grades 8 and younger. Wanna race?! Talk to coaches with questions. Details here.

4. The BKL Festival is coming! Yes yes, you’re all BKLers! Did some of you go to the Festival last year? Wasn’t it fun?! This year the Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt., is hosting the very same event on March 2-3. Register here. Coaches are going to cheer, coach, and help wax skis. Discounted registration ends on February 9, and online registration closes on 2/17. A reminder that NENSA membership is required for participation at the Festival.

See you all this week!

-coaches