Tour de Whiteface Landing

Today Teams Trailblazer and Grasshopper decided today to ditch the confines of the well manicured Mt. Van Ho and surge into the backcountry.

Destination Whiteface Landing.

Supplies Some lunches and stuff. I brought a whole bag of white chocolate Hershey bars, because I knew that the last thing kids would want upon arriving at the Landing would be soggy sandwiches. Good thinking, huh?

Intensity level What? This was a backcountry ski. We skied hard and rocked it. Intensity level... sheesh!

Fun times Yeah, we had fun times.

Nothing like a nice romp in the backcountry to get the blood pumpin'! We'll see you out there.

Caution Flying Children

Check out a nice article from local Biathlete phenom Haley Johnson. The article is mostly about biathlon, which we hear in Europe is almost as exciting as Monster Truck Rallies are in the United States, but we particularly liked this photo:

Skiing is cool! Good luck this season, Haley!

Coaches Double Pole

It was a boring day at the NYSEF office yesterday, so Coaches Bliss and McCahill decided to figure out who could double pole better on a treadmill.

Naturally, we decided to have a major Norwegian TV station cover the event. There was alot of inane chatter and nervous laughing, but after 30 seconds, Dave (right) came out just ahead of Evan, who fell (left). Turns out Evan had to pay Dave $20 for losing.

Get all the exciting NYSEF news here, folks.

Holiday Jumping Schedule

Hello Team Grasshop:

Santa has confirmed. All suits, boots and skis that were on your holiday wish lists are on track for Christmas delivery. Keep your eyes peeled underneath that tree! Assuming you're on the nice list.

Here's the jumping schedule for this week:

Mon: Off

Tues: XC 3:30-4:45 @ MVH

Wed: JUMP 3-5pm @ Jumps

Thurs: XC 9:30-11:30 @ MVH

JUMP 3-5pm @ Jumps

Fri: Eat some holiday cookies! Brace for Santa's arrival

Sat: See above regarding Santa's arrival

Sun: Bask in the glow of your new presents. Mail presents for coaches to NYSEF jump office!

Have a great holiday,

The NYSEF Coaching Staff

'Tis the Season for Giving

Hello Friends of the NYSEF Ski Jumping & Nordic Combined Community,

If you're reading this blog, chances are that you're fairly aware of the great start to the jumping season we've had at NYSEF. The K18 and 48 meter hills have been open for two weeks now, with big hills set to open in a few days. Some great natural snow and excellent snowmaking conditions have set up a great base for XC training and competition. Athletes are just now beginning preparation for the first big events of the season, with the New Year's Jump competitions just around the corner, and the first Junior Jump/NC meet in Andover just a week after.

With things getting into full swing, and with the Holidays here, you're likely scrambling just to start the Xmas shopping, wax some boards, hang out with the inlaws, and enjoy the best lunar eclipse since 1378. But it's also the season for giving. And we, the NYSEF Nordic & Jump staff, are asking you to consider a donation to NYSEF this holiday season.

If you're having trouble remembering what it is we do, check out our mission statement. But here's the long and short of it. We run affordable programs to help local kids excel at skiing. Why? Because they learn some amazing life skills along the way. Like how to be part of a team. How to set goals. How to compete, and to challenge themselves. How to be exceptional student-athletes, and ultimately become great individuals.

We tend to produce alot of this:

and this:

and last year, we think that we even helped to produce a little bit of this:

Your support to NYSEF goes directly towards funding the programs and coaching that shape great local athletes.

Donating is easy, just go the NYSEF homepage, and click the "Donate" button. Feel free to designate the use of your donation to the NYSEF program of your choice.

Thanks. Have a great holiday, and we'll see you out on the hill.

Casey, Margaret, Evan, Dave, Liz, and Pete

On the Purpose of Sport

Great article this morning on fasterskier.com about Bill Demong's tumultuous return to the World Cup. Forced to carry the stigma of being the defending Olympic Gold Medalist in Vancouver, Demong spent this summer remodeling his Park City home, and gettin' married to his long time girlfriend, Katie Kocyznski. Instead of plowing through intervals and OD rollerski intervals during July and August, Bill was puttin' up drywall.

Come September, he was back in the full swing of serious training. But the first competitions of the season provided a quick reality check. After placing 32nd, 36th, 45th and 38th in the opening events, Demong returned to Park City to take part in the second tier Continental Cups.

It's his experience with the sport combined with lessons learned from a near career-ending injury back in 2002 that are keeping Bill on track. In fact, it's his off-hill activites and life outside of Nordic Combined that allow him to stay focused, not judging himself on the successes or failures in sport:

“Before that [injury], after a race I’d leave the race course, and if I’d had good result, I was a good person, and if I’d had a bad race, I was a bad person and the time that I spent was wasted – it was really black and white,” he says. “Part of the reason able to improve is that I was able disconnect results as athlete and my self-confidence and my value as a person.”

In other words, to really succeed at your sport, you've got to learn to be more than your sport. Too often is the identity of an ambitious athlete defined by their win and loss record. Given a string of poor performances, injury, or illness, an athlete can quickly lose focus. And it doesn't take long for that sporting identity to be lost as well.

So what's the take home message? Make sure you're in your sport for the right reasons. Use it to make you a better individual. Use it to help you achieve goals and take risks that you otherwise wouldn't. Use it to forge relationships with teammates and coaches. But don't let yourself be tricked into thinking that you and others define yourself by your sport. Diversify yourself, and you'll be surprised at what you'll accomplish along the way!

Grasshoppers Are Awesome.

Well, the first week on snow is in the bag! Great work by all Grasshoppers on the jumping hill and XC tracks. It's going to be an outstanding winter by the look of things thus far.

Sadly, Mother Nature got the best of us for the Bill Koch rendition of the NYSEF Season Opener XC Race, but don't worry--there will be plenty of racing opportunities coming up.

Schedule will be as per the usual this week:

Mon Off

Tues XC 3:30-4:45 @Ski Jumps-- Upper Lot (Dryland!)

Wed JUMP 3-5 @ Jumps

Thurs XC 3:30-4:45 @MVH

Fri JUMP 3-5 @ Jumps

Sat XC 9:30-11:30 @MVH

JUMP 1-3 @ Jumps

Sun Off

Any questions? Give us a shout. See you tomorrow and think snowy, cold, thoughts!

Dave & Evan

COC Vikersund

Peter Frenette continues to show consistent jumps on the COC tour with another top 30 performance today. The first day in Vikersund Norway Peter placed 21st in a solid group of 72 jumpers. The rest of team USA failed to make the top 30 for the second round. Tomorrow is the second and final COC meet in Vikersund so we will keep you posted on results of our American boys!


Dave & Evan

COC Rovaniemi

It was a good start for the USA women's and men's team in Rovaniemi Finland today with Jessica Jerome winning the first competition of the season followed by Lindsey Van in 4th, Sarah Hendrickson 5th, Abby Hughes 14th, Alissa Johnson 18th, Avery Ardovino 30th, and LPs own Nina Lussi just missing the points in 32nd.




There was a large field for the men's class with 72 competing for points. The best American was NYSEF member Peter Frenette at 23rd with Nick Alexander just missing the top 30 in 32nd, Anders Johnson in 43rd and Mike Glasder in 59th.


Both the men and women have one more comp tomorrow so wish them luck and check back to see results!

Evan & Dave

Grasshopper Jumping Schedule: Dec 6-12

NYSEF hosted the New Hampshire High School Camp on the K18 this weekend. A great group of 20 highly motivated High School jumpers trained under the watchful eye of Coaches McCahill and Bliss on the perfectly buffed K18 meter hill. The recently rebuilt K18 skied great on opening weekend, and now that all the kinks are out, we're officially ready to begin on-snow Grasshopper jumping practice! Here's the weekly schedule:

Monday 12/6: Off

Tuesday 12/7:XC (See NYSEF XC Calendar for details)

Wednesday 12/8: Grasshopper Jumping Practice, 3-5pm

Thursday 12/9: XC (See NYSEF XC Calendar for details)

Friday 12/10: Grasshopper Jumping Practice, 3-5pm

Saturday 12/11: XC (See NYSEF XC Calendar for details)

Grasshopper Jumping Practice, 1-3pm

Sunday 12/12: Off

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Athletes in the Grasshopper Program may attend any 3 of the 6 weekly jumping/xc sessions.

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Don't forget to bring Travel Contracts, ESJ/NC Medical Releases & copies of health insurance cards if you haven't already!

Psyched? Good. So are we. See you out on the hill.

Coaches Bliss & McCahill