Letters from NJ@KT Camp 2024 – Happy Sunday!
Greetings Parents and Friends,
We kicked off 2024’s NJ@KT Camp this afternoon and are super stoked to share the first edition of our letters from camp blog with you. Tremendous thanks to Associate League Director Mary Beth Van Wart, and our Interim Camp Director, Stephen Kravchuck, for all of their hard work in preparing for this year’s camp. We are also very thankful for all of the league’s Program Director, Jon Olson, for the program development and preparation that makes this camp happen, now in our third year! As you heard during the race season, Jon is recovering from a medical incident and doing great, and we’re up here to #rideforJon! HUGE thanks to our volunteer coaching staff! Comprised of coaches and parents, our staff is larger this year than ever before, and they are all rock stars!
Special thanks to our friends at Burke Mountain Academy (BMA) for hosting our community for the third year. BMA is a special place, whose mission is to “champion ski racers chasing greatness.” It is a full year college preparatory school for students in grades 8-12 and they maintain a 1:3 staff to student ratio. 154 Alumni have been named to the national ski team, and 37 have become Olympians, including the winningest world cup ski racer (men or women), 2013 graduate Mikaela Shiffrin. This is a special place!
After check in, campers met their dorm groups and set up their personal space for the week. Bike and helmet checks were next, as it will be a busy week of riding with friends. Campers then made their way to our communal home base for the week, the dining hall and deck. We ate dinner prepared by Chef Laura, pork, mac n cheese, green beans, side salads and a variety of vegan options.
Our expectations discussion centered on respect; respect for oneself, other campers, coaches & staff, the facility and the trails we’ll be riding. We discussed the Ride With Gratitude mantra in the Northeast Kingdom, and thankfulness for the 100+ landowners who allow access to the trails in the network. A vast majority of trails here and throughout the state exist on private land, and we are super grateful to share this respect with our campers.
Evening brought some additional outside activities, and as we do each evening, all campers retired to the dorms in preparation for 10pm lights out. Tomorrow morning’s breakfast is at 8am, and we will roll right into bike games and skills down in the field.
Thank you for reading, and look for regular notes from camp this week. All of our core staffers are parents, and we take the trust that you have put in us this week very seriously. As in all things NICA, safety is our first priority, and we are dedicated to creating a safe an fun environment which will lead to lifelong memories for all attendees.
With gratitude,
Ken, Mary Beth, Steve and the NJ@KT Coaches
