2026 Summer JNT Recap
With school starting and Summer Junior Nordic Team (JNT) programming coming to a close, we wanted to take a moment to look back on what was a fantastic summer of training. There’s a common saying in the ski-world that “skiers are made in the summer”, and we think we made some pretty good skiers this summer!
There were a total of 34 athletes, which meant everyone had at least a couple of training partners to pair up with, faster athletes to look up to, and younger athletes to give advice to–the more the merrier! Each week, the athletes had the following training opportunities:
Monday: Rest day
Tuesday: On-foot in the morning and strength in the afternoon
Wednesday: Rollerski
Thursday: Choose your adventure
Friday: Strength
Saturday or Sunday: Overdistance
Running intervals in Pine Park. Riding in the van after a long ski. Matching outfits, matching technique.
The summer kicked off with our annual Home Camp, a weekend of training, classroom sessions, and team bonding based here in the Upper Valley. Camp started on Thursday evening with Ford Sayre Alpine Coach Kate Anderson joining to lead a strength session in our Clubhouse weightroom at Oak Hill. A pizza dinner and ice cream sundaes followed. Friday morning, the athletes completed a skate rollerski with older athletes skiing from Mullherrin Farm Road to Goose Pond Road and then towards Dogford and younger athletes making the loop around Dogford. After the ski, we met in Welly’s Lodge at Oak Hill to review technique video from the session. In the afternoon, there were classroom presentations on Physiology and Training Principles, and athletes got set up in Training Peaks in order to keep training logs. The day wrapped up with a short run and foot-agility relays. On Saturday morning, the athletes met at the Ompompanoosuc Boat Launch and classic rollerskied north on Route 132 into Strafford. Some even continued on to finish at the top of Brook Road. Back in South Strafford at Barrett Memorial Hall, Jim Ryan of Upper Valley Yoga led us through an hour of yoga before we took a break for lunch in the Pocket Park. After lunch, Dr. J.T. Craig presented on the Science of Recovery and Sleep, and then we finished the day with a trail run, speedball in the park, and a swim in the river. On Sunday, the athletes capped off camp with a long point-to-point run on the Appalachian Trail from Norwich to Pomfret.
Enjoying the view of South Strafford during our afternoon run at Home Camp.
Between Home Camp and the end of July, we fell into the routine of our normal weekly schedule before making our way to the Loon Mountain area for a joint Mountain Camp with Mansfield Nordic Club (MNC) and Holderness Nordic Club. Camp started off Thursday afternoon with a run in the mountains to shake out the travel. After running, we were treated to dinner by the MNC athletes, which we drove up the Kanc Highway to eat with a view. Friday morning, we all met up for some uphill classic L3 intervals. Starting from the Village of Loon Mountain, the athletes climbed up Route 112 with younger athletes doing 2 x 18 minutes and older athletes doing 2 x 24 min. In the afternoon, we made our way to the Holderness gym for strength before a backyard BBQ dinner and craftime. Saturday was a big day, as we did a long run on Franconia Ridge in the morning and then rallied for an easy technique-focused classic rollerski in the afternoon. Camp wrapped up on Sunday with an overdistance ski-run-ski combo workout. We started by skating up to Waterville Valley, where we switched to running shoes for a trail run, and then finished by putting our skis back on to ski back down to the start. The weekend finished up with a more-than-deserved swim before making our way back home. Mountain Camp is always one of the best parts of the summer and getting to collaborate with MNC and Holderness made this year’s edition extra special!
Uphill classic intervals from Loon Mountain. A clear day on Franconia Ridge.
Time to eat! Fun adventure.
Other highlights included additional yoga sessions with Jim in Welly’s Lodge, a ski-run combo workout in South Strafford followed by a BBQ lunch, taking part in two Thetford Fun Runs, racing at the VT Overland, our annual completion of the Presidential Traverse, and a potluck to celebrate the end of summer. As we move into fall, many of the athletes will transition to competing in cross country or soccer for their high school, and those not will continue to train with Ford Sayre in our Fall JNT program until we all get back together in November for Winter JNT and an exciting season of racing. Thanks for following along!
At the finish of VT Overland. About to summit Mount Jefferson with Mount Madison in the background.
End-of-summer Potluck. Yoga with Jim in Welly’s Lodge. BBQ lunch in South Strafford at Hilary’s home.