“If it's not fun, why do it?” These words embody the spirit of the Mad River Valley BKL Scramble and are from John Ogden, longtime supporter of Nordic skiing and the Bill Koch League and father of current U.S. Ski team member, Ben Ogden..
The scramble took place on Sunday, January 11, at Blueberry Lake Cross-Country and Snowshoeing Center, in Warren. The Bill Koch League, or “BKL,” is a program to help encourage children to try Nordic skiing throughout New-England. The Mad River BKL Team is organized by local Nordic enthusiasts Justin and Brie Beckwith and Chris Badger. All BKL teams are for kids in kindergarten through eighth grade. The scramble hosted these age groups as well as an adult race, with a total of over 90 skiers participating. As an eighth grader, this was my last BKL scramble.
The weather forecast for race day created some unfavorable conditions, and at the last minute the usual location for the race was swapped which ended up being very special to me. The last time the race went on this alternate course was six years ago when I did my first race at Blueberry Lake. I was in second grade and I remember two things; the late Lenord Robinson driving his snowmobile up to the race course to cheer us on and him giving me a full chocolate bar at the finish. This year on that same course I led the littlest BKL skiers on their “lollipop race” where they got bags of cookies and brownies at the finish.
In the spirit of “If it’s not fun, why do it?” I led the youngest skiers in a full chicken costume and this was the part I was hearing about at practice the next week from parents. It is fun to think about how when they are in eighth grade they might remember following the chicken on skis. A big thanks to my BKL coaches throughout the years and the Blueberry Lake Nordic Center crew, Renata, Jen, and George, for supporting our team.
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