Nordic Racers Ski Club:
The Leading Edge,
December 2000

Welcome to New Members

The Wine and Cheese was well attended this year, attracting a number of new faces as well as familiar ones. With our new jackets (see below) it should be easier to identify fellow Nordic Racers on the trails; say hello to those you don't recognize, as well as to these new members:

Margaret Broughton	Diane Caron
Don Chandler	Elizabeth Chardon
Leslie Davidge	Anne Doherty
Suzanne Duff	Vlad Dvoracek
Ron Edwards	Maurice Freivokh
Ty Gee	April Haffenden
Brian Hardie	Sharon Henderson
Al Kozak	Robert Lachapelle
Sam Mottram	David Neufeld
Rich Rawling	Trudy Rey
Laurel Richardson	Anne Katrine Saettler
Sophia Sagur	Jamie Stirling
Trudie Vanderburg	Sarah Watson

A reminder to anyone who was unable to attend the Wine and Cheese: memberships are due for renewal immediately; a membership form has been enclosed if you need one.

Events Calendar

Learn to Loppet

Our Learn to Loppet clinic provides a fun, social and inspirational venue for club members to improve their nordic skiing abilities and physical fitness.

It runs every Wednesday at Hollyburn Ridge from January 3rd to February 7th, between 7:00 and 8:30 p.m. The cost is $65 for the six sessions, and we welcome Nordic Racers of any skiing ability or racing experience to join us; there are still a few spaces available.

For more information, follow the "Events & Programs" link at www.nordicracers.bc.ca, or contact clinic leader Mark Simpson.

Loppet Trips

Reino Keski Salmi Loppet (Saturday, January 20)

A classic race in every sense of the word! This 36 km classic race (the recreation category is 18 km) takes place just outside of Salmon Arm. There is no house rental market so accommodations are on your own. There are several hotels in Salmon Arm and they are listed below. If any singles need assistance in finding someone to split the hotel room with or to drive up with, please contact Tony Chin, who will link people up.

Super 8 Motel	$57.88/night based on room with two double beds. Within walking distance of the community centre. Hotel does not have pool or hot tub.
Travelodge	$65/night based on room with two queen beds. Room has minibar; hotel has pool and hot tub.
Coast Shuswap Lodge	$70/night based on room with two double beds. This is the loppet rate. Add $10 if you want a room with a minibar/fridge.

Cariboo Marathon (Saturday, February 3)

Will that be a gin or vodka martini? Yes, this is the race that has the infamous MASH station! This is a 50 km classic race (the half marathon is 30 km and the recreation category 20 km) at 100 Mile House. Accommodations have been booked at The Hills Health Ranch & Spa at 108 Mile House. These are small little chalets with their own kitchen facilities. The cost is $70, total, for the two nights. This gives you complete access to the pool, spa and fitness facilities. Massages, mud baths, herbal wraps are some of the additional services available. Contact Tony Chin immediately as there are only a limited number of spots available.

Sovereign Lake Loppet (Saturday, March 10)

For all you skaters, here is the freestyle race you've been waiting for! This is a 30 km race (15 km recreation race). We will be staying at one of those fabulous houses up at Silver Star. Cost is expected to be $75 per person for a 2 night stay. Contact Tony Chin by Wednesday, January 31 to confirm your accommodations. (It would help Tony greatly if you could drop him a line to let him know if you are contemplating going to this race as he needs to secure the proper size house for our group).

[As the record 57 attendees of the November Silver Star camp will attest, the Vernon area offers premium skiing. Bring your O₂, though. -- ed.]

Day Trips

Manning Park Bus trip (Sunday, January 14)

Want a change of scenery? Then head to Manning Park! $35 covers your bus ride to and from Manning Park, your trail ticket, six hours at Manning, and some treats on the ride back.

We'll be taking the Sigge's bus, with pickups at Sigge's in Kitsilano, at Boundary/Broadway, and at 152A St./102A Ave. in Guildford. However, if you book through Sigge's, you'll pay their full rate of $41.73, not our discounted rate.

To save a seat, to arrange payment, or for more details, contact Feng Chen. The deadline for payment is Wednesday, January 3rd, our first Hot Chocolate night at Hollyburn Lodge; be forewarned that this trip fills up quickly, though, so the earlier you reserve your spot the better.

Whistler Fun Ski (Saturday, February 17)

If you've yet to experience the joys of skiing Chateau Whistler's fairways -- or if you haven't had enough of them, even after the previous weekend's loppet -- then join us for a day at Whistler's XC area. There's a mix of trails for all levels, including genuinely flat(!) ones.

We'll be meeting at 10 a.m. at the Lost Lake ticket booth, but please contact Feng Chen first to arrange car pools and so that we know who to wait for.

Hollyburn Club Night

Starting January 3rd, drop by Hollyburn Lodge on Wednesday nights between 7:45 and 9:00 p.m. and have a free hot chocolate on us! A prominently-identified Nordic Racers host will be present with drink tickets for all current members.

Also on Wednesdays, from January 3rd to January 17th, join Julia McDonnell to "Meet & Ski." All skiers are invited to come and find someone of like ability with whom to ski around Hollyburn. Meet by the cappuccino booth at 7:00  p.m.; for more details contact Julia McDonnell.

"Hammerhead" Camp

Advanced skiers -- Learn to Loppet graduates included -- are welcome to join us at Hollyburn Ridge on Saturday, January 6th from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for an intensive training clinic. Preliminary plans are for a video analysis session to be held in the morning, followed by a hard ski in the afternoon.

Details will be e-mailed to members closer to the date. Alternatively, check the "Events & Programs" section of our website (www.nordicracers.bc.ca) or e-mail Dave McKee.

Club Jackets

See updated info here!

As mentioned earlier, our jacket order is due to be filled at the beginning of January.

These are blue on black Sugoi Transition jackets, which are partly lined (on the front and sleeves), with back pockets. Our logo and name have been placed on the front, with our name across the back.

A few extras are available at $70 for those who missed the Wine and Cheese; contact Julia McDonnell to buy yours.

My Nordic Racer Initiation at Silver Star

By Sophia Sagur

Excitement and anticipation rushed through my veins as I waited outside my door on Friday morning waiting for my "anonymous" ride to Silver Star. While my neighbours were rushing to their cars to drive to work, I stood proudly with my ski bag and knapsack in hand and answered "Skiing at Silver Star!" when asked where I was headed.

Tony had arranged for me to ride with Patrick Potvin who I had never met, and who was to pick me up at 8 a.m. Expecting a 4WD vehicle to pull up with a ski rack on the roof, I was caught by surprise (and some fear) when a small two-door sports car pulled up and Patrick emerged, introducing himself. Well, there's no turning back now, I thought to myself, as I tried to put all the horror winter storm stories I had heard about the Coquihalla highway out of my mind. You see, having lived in Vancouver for a year, I had only experienced the Coquihalla in the summer, and had no idea what was in store for me.

So Patrick and I set off for our drive to Vernon, and I discovered he was truly representative of the members of the Nordic Racers: friendly, welcoming, extremely athletic, funny, and older than me. We made good time, encountered no obstacles (except for frequent washroom stops due to my 20-minute bladder), and finally arrived in Vernon where we loaded up on our weekend staple, bagels.

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Photo courtesy of Dave McKee

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Silver Star was even more beautiful than I had anticipated. What a cute little ski community! Patrick and I felt like Hansel and Gretel! We found our new home and were greeted by some Nordic Racer "après-skiers" sitting by the fire enjoying complimentary massages. I must note at this point that the accommodations were superb! There is nothing like coming home after a ski to a warm fireplace, an outdoor hot tub, a glass of wine or hot tea, and clean dry clothes.

That night I had my first waxing lesson, courtesy of Dave McKee. I actually have to buy an iron to do all this? After the lesson of putting the wax on, only to melt it down and then scrape it off (wax on, wax off?), I was glad I had bought myself some waxless classic skis!

At this point I was ready to head out and apply what I had learned at Seymour on rollerblades to the snow. So I headed out with my coach, Patrick, to try skate skiing. The first half of our ski was great (it was mostly downhill)! I was starting to get the hang of it, despite not being able to see where I was going (the trail lights either weren't on, or we were on the wrong trail). But getting home was a whole new ball game! The "offset" technique I had mastered (or so I thought) on land did not transfer so easily to the snow. So as Patrick gracefully and effortlessly skied on ahead, I resorted to the good old "herringbone" as I muddled my way up the hills.

Later that night I witnessed some of the best skiing and athleticism which truly inspired me to become a good skier. As I stood there shivering in the cold (thank goodness for the world's biggest bonfire!), I admired the ability and skill of many Canadian and American racers. This spectacle also spurred me to reflect on the funding of sport in Canada, as the race announcer would periodically ask the spectators for more donations which would be awarded to the top Canadian female and male skiers. Would the same have been true in Australia or the US?

Saturday morning I awoke keen and ready to go. I fuelled up with a breakfast of bagels. Today I was going to learn how to skate ski! As a member of the beginner group, I skated my way back and forth, back and forth, at the same place I had seen the national-level skiers demonstrating what looked so easy the night before! It became almost a rhythm or a dance (dada-lalala, plink plink, plink plink). Thanks to my personal trainers at Mount Seymour where I learned the rhythm on rollerblades, I found this time it came quite easily. When our coach felt we were ready, our group graduated to the trails. Now this was quite a spectacle. You see, until now we had only learned what I think was called the "two-skate" (or two-step, or something like that). Bursting with confidence, we followed our leader out onto the trails, through some trees, and down a hill. I quietly thought to myself, "what goes down must come up." Sure enough, we now had to figure out how to get up the hill. That was when we learned "the monkey." And I can assure you, we looked exactly like monkeys -- or at least some rendition of clumsy orangutans -- struggling up the hill.

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Chris, Ty, and Rich
Photo courtesy of Dave McKee

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That afternoon, after bagels for lunch and a cozy fire, we headed out again. I was now fortunate to be considered for the "intermediate" group for classic skiing. Once again I was grateful for my waxless classic skis when we reached the hills and my other group members started sliding backwards.

At this point I must point out how fortunate we were to have such great coaches. Their expertise and skill were a great inspiration and a super way to start out the season -- for beginners and advanced skiers. Thanks very much to all of you!

Saturday night (after a good soak in the outdoor hot tubs, and a roll in the snow for some!) was the potluck and we didn't have an overload of lasagna, as I heard has happened in the past. The food selection was superb (much better than my bagels), and we feasted and drank to our hearts content. Then onto "The Saloon." Although the music left a little to be desired, even after multiple requests for different satellite stations, a good time was had by all.

Sunday morning we staggered out of bed for our last lesson. Today I learned the offset technique, and as I plodded up the hill and down the hill, and up the hill, and down the hill, I wondered how on earth anyone could do this for 30 K!!! Would I ever be able to do a loppet?

Now, on the ride home I had a true Coquihalla experience. After only driving for an hour, Patrick and I (in the little two-door sports car) hit a snow storm. We slowed down to 60 km/h, to 50 km/h, and finally to 40 km/h. I tried to relax and sing along to the radio, but inside I kept thinking, "should we turn back?" Patrick reassured me we would stop and put the chains on the wheels when we saw a good spot to stop. But before I knew it, we were spinning around and everything was going in slow motion. Then we came to a stop just short of the concrete median. My heart was racing, but I tried to remain calm. After our 180° experience, we turned around and plugged along at a snail's pace as SUVs sped past us and our visibility was blocked by spray from transport trucks. We witnessed tractor trailers turned sideways on the road, cars in the ditch, and one trailer on its side. When we took an exit to put the chains on the tires (without much luck due to the deep snow), we ended up getting on the highway going in the wrong direction as the signs were all covered in snow, and visibility was poor. After 30 minutes going east -- not west -- we found an exit, and got back on track. It was at this exit that we saw two deer frolicking in the snow!

After 11 hours in the car, we finally made it home and I have never been so grateful to see rain. And how do you spend 11 hours in a car with someone you've never met, you ask? Well, we spun a total of 270° (we had another spin further along); played "my cows," the alphabet game, and 21 questions; learned each other's biggest fears, dreams and accomplishments; and learned not to panic, because "If worse comes to worse, at least I have a cell phone and CAA!" We also learned to appreciate the finer things: beautiful snow, and life.

Sophia grew up in Bowmanville, Ontario, and comes to cross-country skiing with an interest in winter cross-training for triathlons. She is a physiotherapist in private practice in Vancouver.

Buy and Sell

See current ads here!

[Ad space in our newsletter and on our website is free for club members; contact Feng at 738-5695 or fengski@yahoo.ca for details.]