Nordic Racers Ski Club:
The Leading Edge,
April 2001

Annual General Meeting

May 23, 2001 at Sigge's

The Annual General Meeting of the Nordic Racers Ski Club will be held on Wednesday, May 23rd at 6:30 p.m. in Sigge's Sport Villa (2077 West 4th Ave.). Pizza, nibblies, and refreshments will be served when the starting gun goes off at 6:30 p.m. The AGM will begin at 7 p.m.

This year's agenda will include the recognition of one of our top juniors, "thank you" to several deserving individuals who provided support to our club and its activities, discussions on a Nordic Racer supported race/loppet, and the election of the executives/directors and/or coordinators to run the club in the 2001/2002 ski season.

Getting involved with your club

The Nordic Racers Annual General meeting is part social and part business as we elect the new executives for the upcoming year. If you would like to get more involved with the club, here's your chance to volunteer. We need people to run in the all the executive positions. The following time-consuming positions, especially, require volunteers.

Newsletter: requires gathering photos and articles written by members and assembling them into a newsletter (using a word processor and a scanner). There are 4-5 newsletters produced each season. Each newsletter is copied and mailed to members who don't have e-mail. The webmaster for the Nordic Racers (Feng Chen) will place the completed newsletter on our web site.

Membership: this executive maintains the Nordic Racers' membership database, e-mail lists, and distributes the CCBC (racing) licences to members. Twice a year the licence list is submitted to Cross Country BC.

Social: the social coordinator organizes club trips (accommodation and transportation) and social events (club dinners, cabin party, etc). Volunteers are always needed for distributing Hollyburn hot chocolate tickets, ski partnering, etc.

Clothing: although not an official executive position, volunteers are needed this summer and fall to organize the purchase of club ski jackets and submit proposals for getting a club toque, tights, and possibly T-shirts.

The current executive wants all members who want to get involved in club activities to step forward at the May 23rd AGM and offer their help in planning or leading next season's activities, whether as part of the executive or as a specific function organizer.

Club & Other Events

Tuesday Night Kayak Races

Deep Cove Kayak's highly enjoyable kayak races have been moved to Tuesday night this year. The races have already begun and will be held right through until September. Check out www.deepcovekayak.com for details and costs or phone 929-2268.

Wednesday Night Cypress Cycle

Meet at 6:30 p.m. at the parking lot in front of the West Vancouver "Works Yard" at the bottom of Cypress Mountain Road. Cycle as far as you want or as far as you feel comfortable cycling. Be sure to bring a windbreaker, gloves, tights, and possibly something to keep your head warm, under your helmet, for the cool ride down! For more details contact Craig Oliver.

Thursday Night Inline Skating/Run

Update: this event has been cancelled!

Meet at 6:15 p.m. under the clock at the front of Science World (Terminal and Quebec). Bladers of all abilities are welcome as the terrain is relatively flat and there are excellent stretches where beginner inline skaters can work on their technique. If the weather is bad, then bring your runners for a seawall run. There is ample parking south of Science World on the Indy track adjacent to the Vancouver Engineering "Works Yard."

Be sure to bring your swimsuit for a shower or swim/hot tub after the hour-long workout. We will convene at Brian Hardie's condo complex for a relaxing post-workout soak. The condo is a block northeast of the Science Centre.

Saturday Morning Trail Run

Meet Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. at the Seymour Demonstration Forest Park Warden's gate (end of gravel road) for a run with Brian Hardie (length and route to be determined by group consensus). Bring your heart rate monitor to keep yourself in Zone 3 (medium-low intensity).

Bring your inline skates for a post-run skate to the fish hatchery and back.

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Click image to enlarge
Photo courtesy of Chris Bowlby

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Future Events

• Seattle to Portland bike ride -- July 7 & 8.
• Rollerblade night at Iona
• Grouse Grind -- Tuesday nights? Times to be announced when the "Grind" opens.
• Gulf Island bike trip
• Kettle Valley bike trip

Check out the Nordic Racers' website at www.nordicracers.bc.ca for updated details on these events.

Level 1 CCBC Officials Course

The Nordic Racers' executive is currently mulling over the idea of the club organizing a race/loppet in the 2001 ski season. This idea will be thrown out for discussion at the May 23rd AGM. To complement this proposal, the club is considering asking CCBC to run a Level 1 Officiating Course for interested club members.

Officiating courses are organized through CCBC who provide all the course material, including course outlines. "Level 1 trains volunteers to be understanding and productive members of a race management team that carries out its duties by following methods, rules, guidelines, and techniques specified by CCBC, CCC, and FIS." (Sam Robbins (Level III) pers. comm.)

The course usually consists of a Friday evening class and a Saturday morning hands-on session. Students learn about all the different defined roles that make up the complete race organizing committee and are introduced to race timing and results calculation. They will be qualified to fulfil the basic roles in the race organization without having to be under the constant direction and supervision of the area chief (level II +). The courses provide the first step in becoming an Olympic official and possibly getting involved in the 2010 Olympics, should they come to Whistler. In terms of race risk management, if the Nordic Racers put on a race, we would need qualified officials to obviate liability concerns. State your opinions and/or indicate your interest at the AGM.

[More info can be had from the CCBC website, at their officials page.]

Nordic Racers Biathlon, 2000-2001 Season

This was the second very successful season for the small group of Nordic Racers who do Biathlon. Biathlon is an Olympic sport that combines small bore (.22") rifle shooting and cross-country ski racing. Competitors race several kilometres on cross-country skis and then stop to shoot 5 targets at 50 m before skiing another loop. In a race, athletes will shoot 2-4 times and ski 5-20 km, depending on the age category and the style of competition. We do most of our shooting training at the Pacific Shooters Association (PSA) range by the Seymour Demonstration Forest. Access to this facility, on a year-round basis, has been an essential ingredient in our growing success. Ski training is mostly done at Cypress Bowl Cross-Country Area in West Vancouver. Race practice and shooting on snow takes place at Ski Hemlock, north of Agassiz where we have a 10-target biathlon range. The Hemlock facility, established in 1996, is also an essential ingredient of our growing success as a biathlon club.

Matt Rance:
New Westminster. Matt trained all summer and fall at PSA and then moved to Camrose AB to study and pursue Biathlon at Augustana University College. He represented BC at the National Junior Trials in Feb. 2001, finishing 2nd, 3rd, and 11th in the three races, finishing 4th overall. He also represented BC in the North American Championships, finishing 4th, 10th and winning a bronze medal in the Relays (3 × 7.5 km).

Martin Utley:
West Vancouver. This year Martin was in the bottom half of the newly split Boys category (Sr. Boys, 15-16yr.). This is a new category in which Boys have to shoot standing as well as prone. In 6 BC Cup races, Martin earned 5 gold medals and was first overall in the BC Cup Point Series. In his best weekend, at Silver Star in November 2000, Martin shot clean for the weekend, shooting 25 for 25 in two consecutive races. Martin also won the Top Gun Trophy, awarded for the best shooting percentage in any category. Martin was the top BC Sr. Boy at the North American Championships and won a silver medal in the Relay (3 × 5 km).

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Click image to enlarge
Photo courtesy of Alan Ball

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Britta Tilgner:
Maple Ridge. This season Britta was in Germany on an educational exchange program. We look forward to her return in May 2001.

Mioi Sawada:
Vancouver. Mioi started his first year of biathlon racing in the new Jr. Boys category (14-15yr.). In his first two BC Cup races at Silver Star, he won both gold medals. Over the rest of the season, he won another gold, two silvers, and a bronze in a very competitive category. In his last race, he was 0.5 sec. out of second and just 9 sec. out of first. Mioi finished first overall in the BC Cup Point Series.

Claire Corbett:
West Vancouver. Claire entered 4 BC Cup races this year. In her first outing at Quesnel, she had mechanical problems with her rifle, but skied fast to place second and third. In Prince George, we had a better rifle and ammunition match, for the cold weather, and Claire started hitting targets, gaining 2 silver medals on the weekend. Claire finished second overall in the BC Cup Point Series.

Beginners:
We have a promising crop of beginners for next year, Alex, Tyler, Laurel, and Lauren. If we can teach them to shoot as well as they ski, NR Biathlon should be able to bring even more medals back to the Lower Mainland in 2001-2002.

Cadets:
We also train with and coach cadets from Fraser Corps (Navy, Coquitlam) and Abbotsford Air Cadets. Each of these Corps placed 2 athletes on the Provincial Cadet Team, finally breaking the Vernon, Silver Star monopoly. Sean Eno (Abbotsford) won a bronze medal and Jen Martin (Abbotsford) placed fourth at the Cadet Nationals. All four athletes contributed to medal wins in the Team event.

- Alan Ball

Note: Alan Ball was the BC Head Coach for the 3rd year in a row and runs the Nordic Racers' Junior Challenge program.

A Scottish Day on Vancouver Island

I just returned from a fun weekend of racing at Mt. Washington. This is one of my favorite places to ski in BC, because I have friends there and there is fabulous terrain. Saturday featured a sprint race with a dual elimination format. It was great to see some of the kids ripping around with better technique than some of the adults! In fact, there were more jackrabbits and juveniles racing than adults. Hats off to Len Apedaile and the Strathcona Nordics for running a strong youth program. Local coach, racer, and ex-Biathlon Olympian Glen Rupertus showed his skiing chops are still sharp with a triumph in the sprints against some fast young stallions. The "sprint" was in fact a hilly 1 km loop around the new lodge. Three minutes of pain! Very exciting racing and a great spectator sport. I'd like to see more of this. Imagine some sprint races on the flats by the clubhouse after the Whistler Loppet.

We were bathed in warm sunshine for most of the day, which made things sticky but very pleasant. Sunday was a different story however, with temperatures around zero and white slush bombs coming down sideways. This is the kind of weather that you would find on a winter ascent of Ben Nevis! Some of my hardier colleagues went with the usual monolayer of lycra, but this slightly wiser author dressed a little warmer for the nasty conditions. Several people were pulled off the course hypothermic, but I prevailed on the very hilly, sticky course to finish, although with no feeling in my hands or feet. Oh the joys of racing on a spring day on the coast! Years of skiing at Hollyburn prepared me well for this race.

Weather aside, this is a great race run by a committed group of volunteers. After refueling on homemade chicken soup and endless cookies, I met with Peter Gibson, General Manager of the entire Mount Washington Resort. This resort has plans to grow the Nordic business by adding new trails and building a beautiful 10,000 square foot Nordic Lodge to open this summer. This four-season facility will have an interpretive centre, showers, food services, and a cathedral ceiling with skylight and stunning views of Strathcona Park. This commitment is paying off as Peter informs me that Nordic visits are up 40% this year! Peter is a hands-on executive, as he skis on the trails every day to blow off some of the stress from his busy job.

- Mark Simpson
March 2001