By: Sophie McClelland, NYSEF Nordic Coach

Every year the New England Ski community and beyond gets together to celebrate youth skiing. The New England Bill Koch Festival is known as a weekend of organized chaos with races and lots of fun and games. It is always a highlight of the season for many young NYSEF athletes.

This year the festival was held in Bethel, Maine. The forecast of arctic weather, with cold temperatures and high winds, forced the venue to be moved from Gould Academy to Pine Hills. Despite the elements and the logistics, the NYSEF Nordic athletes proved to be a hardy bunch. They put on their racing bibs and glitter and hit the trails.

Highlights from the weekend of included: glitter, relay tag-offs, tubing, fat biking, sock basketball match-ups, the array of colorful capes, superhero athletes, awesome parents, blueberry soup and all sorts of good snacks!

Great racing by NYSEF athletes: Brian Brady (U10), Lilly Rother (U12), Maisie Crane (U12), Ellie Evans (U12), Owen Keal (U12), Reuben Bernstein (U14), Evan Brenner (U14), Adrian Hayden (U14), Van Ledger (U14), Lars Kroes (U14), Marli Damp (U14)

Click here for results and photos

Go fast Marli!