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From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.

Tag: Holderness

  • Holderness School Seeks Nordic Program Director

    Holderness School Seeks Nordic Program Director

    Nordic Program Director

    or Assistant Director (experience dependent)

     

    Job Description

    Holderness School seeks a full-time Nordic Program Director to promote passion and spirit for the sport of Nordic skiing. Reporting to the Holderness School Snow Sports Director, Ben Drummond, this position contributes to the overall success of the school’s on-snow programs. The role is responsible for managing the newly homologated Davis Cross Country Ski Trails, with coaching, instructing, recruiting, and building the ski community at Holderness.

     

    Holderness School occupies an important place in the New England Nordic skiing community through its history of instruction and competition, its updated facilities, and its long commitment to junior athlete development. US Ski & Snowboard has named Holderness School a USSS Gold-certified club and a high-performance center, the highest honor awarded to an affiliated ski program. Gold-certified clubs possess a heightened level of accountability to maintain and build upon areas of both strength and improvement, to ensure the longevity and stability of the organization, and to help, through feedback and observation, to grow the cumulative strength of clubs throughout regions and across the country.

     

    Overview

    Located amid the lakes and mountains of central New Hampshire, Holderness School is a traditional co-ed independent secondary school, serving grades 9-12. Holderness strives to strike a balance in fostering the resources of the mind, body, and spirit: the mind through a challenging college preparatory curriculum; the body through outdoor activities and required interscholastic athletics; and the spirit through school and community service and affiliation with the Episcopal Church. Holderness remains, by choice, a small school where everybody plays an important role and where students, faculty, and staff maintain close personal relationships.

     

    Diversity Mission Statement

    Holderness School is committed to being a community that celebrates and supports diversity in its many forms because multiple perspectives and experiences are vital to educational excellence and strengthening our community. Diversity refers to the human facets of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, and socioeconomic status. Holderness strives to create opportunities for cooperation, broaden the educational experience of all students, and enrich the lives of all community members.

    Essential Duties and Responsibilities

    Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

    • Recruit, develop, mentor, and coach the Holderness School Nordic Ski Team.
    • Collaborate with Head Coach Pat Casey to develop and implement a training and competition plan for the Holderness Nordic team and Holderness Nordic Club Eastern Cup Skiers.
    • Collaborate with the Director of Facilities, CFO, and the snowmaking team on snowmaking schedule, quality, depth, and grooming.
    • Schedule, plan, coordinate, and host large events such as the Lakes Region independent school league, the state-wide Coaches Series, and the New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA) Eastern Cup races and Championship Events.
    • Develop, maintain, and communicate training records, race schedules, skier goal sheets, and end-of-season skier evaluations to parents and skiers. Review the evaluation with every athlete and parent to ensure complete understanding.
    • Ensure skier safety.
    • Participate in three on-campus student-focused weekends per year, facilitating weekend activities for students.
    • Coach one Fall or Spring season of sports or activities.
    • Be available for race duties at race venues. Attend required department meetings and regular meetings with the Director of Snow Sports.
    • Plan and participate in travel and coach at Lakes Region and NENSA competitions across the Northeast; national and international travel if athletes qualify for national or international championship races.
    • Oversee club activities including marketing, membership, trail access, and annual club activities, including Bill Koch Youth Program and Holderness Middle School Team.
    • Promote the development of character, community, and curiosity in all dealings with students. Support the mission and philosophy of Holderness School by acting as a positive contributor to the school community, actively participating in the school’s life as a role model of appropriate behavior with students, parents, colleagues, and other members of the school community, and enforcing school rules.
    • Pursue opportunities for professional growth on an annual basis.
    • Other duties as assigned.

    Qualifications
    • Interest in and demonstrated skill working with adolescents.
    • Knowledge of ski training and technique.
    • Bachelor’s degree required.
    • Ability to connect with junior racers.
    • Ability to collaborate and work as part of a team.
    • A commitment to an inclusive community; experience or interest in integrating diversity, equity and inclusion into the curriculum is essential.
    • Ability to make contributions to the School outside of snow sports, including athletics, extra-curricular programs, and residential programming.
    • Valid Driver’s License and clean driving record.

    The Process

    If interested in this position, please send a resume and letter of interest to holderness-employment@holderness.org.

    Application material received before April 1, 2025, will be given priority consideration.

    Holderness School offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes health, dental, vision, life insurance, generous retirement match, tuition remission for dependents, professional development opportunities, use of grounds and facilities, and meals when school is in session for you and your family. This is a year-round position.

    All employment is contingent upon the successful completion of a criminal background check.

    Holderness School is an equal opportunity employer and will not discriminate or tolerate discrimination against any employee or applicant in any manner prohibited by law.

  • I Believe In Kick Wax

    I Believe In Kick Wax

    Holdernsess School skier Haley Mahar wrote and recorded an essay for a composition class. Titled “I Believe in Kickwax,” Haley’s piece details a skier’s relationship with her wax.

    Haley Mahar (Holderness School).

    Audio Recording:

    [podcast]http://images.fasterskier.com/2011/08/This-I-Believe.mp3[/podcast]

    Written Essay:

    I believe in kick wax. Any Nordic skier who has ever skied competitively will tell you that classic skiing without kick wax gives you four times the workout, ten times the frustration, and a few dirty looks and a suggestion to clean out your mouth. The majority of society already struggles to grasp why anyone would voluntarily try to ski UP a hill in freezing temperatures when you could just as easily ride up and ski down. Then, if you start to complain about your wax job, the looks get stranger.  Still, any Nordic nerd will tell you that nothing is better than fast snow and good wax. When a skier gets into a rhythm of syncopated breathing and the fwish of the skis across the snow, the exhaustion and physical rigor of a Nordic skiing lifestyle becomes worth it. It’s a love hate relationship, but through thick and thin, I believe in kick wax.

    For the people out there who enjoy spending time in the warm indoors and NOT skiing up hills in freezing cold temperatures, you probably have no idea what kick wax is. You probably don’t care. Classic skiing looks a lot like running on skis, and for recreational enthusiasts, it doesn’t get more complex than that. But for racers, the application of the correct kick wax is crucial. Classic skiing without kick wax is like trying to write without a pen. So, you have to put faith in it.

    When I was in seventh grade and first learned to ski, I was magnetically attracted to skate skiing. Skating wasn’t that hard- the motions were the same as ice-skating, something I was already familiar with. But classic skiing was all technique. You had to know how to position your legs, your hips, your arms, your feet, your shoulders even, to align perfectly in a balanced position above a sliding piece of plastic. You had to get the perfect pop that made your wax stick and then your ski glide. I didn’t have the patience for it. I wiggled around on my classic skis, stabbed my poles into the ground in attempt at balance, and whined my way down the tracks. Needless to say, my strategy didn’t work out very well. So, I had to learn how to trust my kick wax.

    Since snow is a perpetually morphing substance, different conditions call for different wax. When the snow is between ten and twenty degrees, we layer on extra blue. If the temperature is hovering around freezing, skis are slathered with green and purple rodie. Anything above freezing is usually treated with klister, a substance that sticks to anything and everything. Literally, I mean everything. I won’t lie, kick wax, especially klister, can be hard to deal with. Yet there always comes that point in a race, heading up the last hill, when your legs are about to collapse underneath you and you’re not sure if your wax has completely worn off from the abrasive snow. Your face is cold, your chest is burning, and nothing, NOTHING, sounds better than stopping. At that point, the only two things out on the course are you and your wax. Either you’re going to work together, or you’re not. At the end of the race, when you cross the finish line, you trusted it or you didn’t; you either believed in it or you didn’t; and for the sake of sanity, I’ve found that it’s always better to just put your trust in the kick.

    Haley Mahar is from Williamstown, MA and is entering her senior year at Holderness School in Holderness, NH where she plays soccer, lacrosse and skis under former USST development coach Pat Casey.  “I Believe in Kick Wax” was an assignment for her AP Comp class in the spring of 2011. Submissions to FasterSkier are always welcome. If you have written or recorded a piece that you think would be of interest, don’t hesitate to send it along.