Nordic Racers Ski Club:
The Leading Edge,
December 2002

Ice Breaker - A Great Success

How many times do you arrive 45 minutes early to a party to find that there are already 30 people there? That was the scene at the inaugural "Nordic Racers Ice Breaker Dance" on November 16th. The dance hall was a hive of activity with Junior Challenge members putting up decorations and lights while others set out the raffle prizes, organized the bottle auction table, and prepared for the first Ice Breaker Dance fashion show. By 8:00 p.m., the official start time for the dance, it was a full house.

The night started with a fashion show of the latest ski fashions from Sigge's. Junior coach Alan Ball was first down the runway, gamely modeling to musical selections chosen by Dave McKee. Alan was followed by Jamie, Christine, and Sherryl. (Jamie, clothes are a good thing...)

Next came the raffle, with great prizes from Sigge's, Manning Park Resort, Crystal Glide (North Van), Fischer, Salomon, Rossignol, and Cypress Mountain Sports. Prizes included weekend trips to Manning, Mount Baker, and Saltspring Island; clothing; and ski tune-ups. The fact that two people standing near me managed to win TWICE (and win BIG!) when I didn't win anything at all will of course be completely forgotten once they've taken me with them on their prize weekends (Angela? Byron? -- when are we going?...).

The bottle auction was a hit. Sam Robbins called in the bids while Junior Challenge members circulated with the wrapped bottles so that bidders could try to guess the contents. Thanks everyone for their generosity in bidding for the bottles!

Oh yes, and there was also dancing....

Many thanks to everyone who was involved with organizing this event. Junior coach Chris Bowlby put in many hours organizing meetings, looking for and setting up the venue. Thanks to dance committee members Tony Chin, Paul Heraty, Mary Craig, Sherryl Yeager, Sonia Marazzi, Grace Hodgins, Tom Dallimore, Dominique Barabé, Craig Oliver, and Brian Hardie. The dance committee did a great job of organizing the decorations, food and drink, music, tickets, prizes, and volunteers for the event. Thanks also to everyone who volunteered during the event.

The dance and fundraising raised over $2000 for the Junior Challenge program. This money will go to supporting young skiers in our club. Who knows ... maybe we'll be cheering for a Nordic Racer at the 2010 Olympics!

-- Julia McDonnell

Wanted - Trip Organizers

Our overworked club president, Tony Chin, needs volunteers to organize the accommodation and transportation for three club-initiated ski trips proposed for the new year. A record number of Nordic Racers (94+) attended the Silver Star Weekend this year. Ten houses and a bus were booked for the participants. As the popularity of these trips continues to increase, it's becoming too much for one person to organize. Tony needs help!

There are three ski trips planned for 2003 and if you are going to be attending one of the trips, please consider being the organizer for that trip. Trip planner extraordinaire Tony Chin will guide you so that you will not have to start from scratch.

This winter's ski trips will be:

• 100 Mile House on the weekend of February 1st for the Cariboo Marathon (classic technique)
• Apex (near Penticton) on the weekend of February 22nd for the Nickel Plate Loppet (classic technique)
• Mt. Washington on the weekend of March 15th for the Vancouver Island Loppet (skate or free technique)

In addition to the above loppet trips, two Manning Park bus ski trips are being proposed for Sunday, January 26th and/or Sunday, February 16th. We need someone who is interested in these trips to take charge of the Manning Park trip organization. The Manning Park Bus coordinator can change the dates or drop one of the dates if they feel there isn't any great club interest in a particular trip.

Volunteers, please contact Tony Chin if you can help organize a trip this year.

Club Members Making the News

The Nordic Racers' only representative in the Sovereign Lake Canada Cup scored big time in her two races. Zoë Braul came in second (time: 17:12.6) in the Midget Girls 3.5 km classic race on Saturday, November 30th and smoked the local girls on Sunday with a second place finish (time: 16:20.2) in the free technique race. Congratulations Zoë!

"Be Like Vlad." The November 28th issue of Outlook featured Vlad Ulovec and his secret rollerskiing training on the Cypress Mountain access road. Vlad's action photo graces the front page of this issue. Also, alongside Vlad's featured article, our "shy" club president, Tony Chin, merits a short article and his own rollerskiing photo.

The hot duo modeling all that ski wear in the December issue of Elements magazine is none other than Mark Simpson and Leanne Johnson. Possibly a new career for these Nordic Racers!

Click image to enlarge

Silver Star - Turkey Trot Loppet start
Photo courtesy of Andreas Brade

Club & Other Events

Learn to Loppet

Learn to Loppet is a program that runs for six weeks starting on Wednesday evening, January 8th. The course covers topics and techniques to help people ski faster and train for racing. You do not have to be into racing to do this course but you should be able to get around comfortably (but not necessarily quickly) on your skis.

As there are only a few spots left, interested participants should contact David McKee as soon as possible to sign up. The six sessions cost only $65.00. Cheques for this amount (made out to the Nordic Racers) should be sent to David.

For additional information, please contact the coach, Dave McKee.

Nordic Racers Timing Team

Don't feel like racing but still want to be part of the action? There is no better place to be than on the Nordic Racers Timing Team!

The Nordic Racers Timing Team is an elite group of individuals responsible for timing our races. Races don't happen without these very important people. You will receive training from our own Level 4 race official, Sam Robbins.

To join this elite team or for more information, contact Sam Robbins.

Hot Chocolate Nights

Our ever-popular Hot Chocolate Wednesdays are starting in January, but we'll need hosts to greet members and hand out their free drink tickets! Two hosts are needed at Hollyburn Lodge each Wednesday night, for a time commitment of about one hour each.

To help Feng Chen arrange this winter's schedule of volunteers, please contact him at fengski@yahoo.ca if you're willing to help.

Coaching

Interested in becoming a coach? Well, the first step is to take the NCCP Level 1 Technical Course. The next Technical 1 course will be held on January 3rd to 5th at Cypress Mountain. The cost is $60.00. The course will teach the basics of coaching such as safety, organizing a lesson, teaching ski basics, etc. For individuals taking the course a second time, the fee is $25.00.

To register, contact Brad Gilbert.

A reminder that if you are willing to become a coach for the Nordic Racers, the club will reimburse your tuition on these NCCP courses in return for you providing 20 hours of coaching. For more details or information, please contact Tony Chin.

The NCCP Level 2 Technical On-Snow Course is available for those who have completed the Technical 1 and Theory 1 components. This course, to be held at Cypress, was originally scheduled for December and will now be held on January 17-19th. This course covers advanced skiing technique analysis, high performance waxing, ski base preparation, and race training, amongst other topics.

The cost is $85.00 if this is the first Technical 2 course being taken or $70.00 if you have already completed the Technical Level 2 Dryland Course. Contact Tony Chin (ph. 604-451-8571) to register.

Junior On-Snow Mini-Camp

Juniors, if you enjoyed the dryland camp held at the Seymour Demonstration Forest in October then you will most certainly enjoy this snow camp at Cypress Mountain on Saturday, January 11th and Sunday, January 12th.

This two-day on-snow ski camp, with CCBC Regional Coach Michelle Cosman, is for Jackrabbits and Juniors. The cost is yet to be determined, but will not be more than $20.00. Participants must purchase their own trail tickets and bring both skate and classic skis.

To register, please contact Tony Chin.

Note: NCCP and CANSI certified coaches are welcome to participate as assistant coaches.

Overlander Loppet Cancelled

The Overlander Loppet, scheduled for January 11th, 2003 at the Stake Lake Cross Country Ski Trails, has been cancelled.

Valhalla Lodge Ski Trip

Craig Oliver has two spots available on his trip, January 11th - January 19th, 2003, to the luxurious Valhalla Lodge near Nelson BC. This is a backcountry ski trip (telemark or alpine touring) which includes 7 nights at the Valhalla Lodge (which has hot showers, flush toilets, and saunas), an ACMG mountain guide, and a cat ride in and out of the lodge. Meals are self-catered.

The cost is approximately $850.00 per person. If interested, please call Craig.

Wells Gray Winter Magic

The Vancouver Skiers Club is organizing a trip to Wells Gray Park on the weekend of February 14-16, 2003. This "Valentine's Day" weekend trip will include an evening bus ride to Clearwater, two nights at a local motel, and two days skiing in areas with very spectacular scenery and well-maintained trails (32 km of touring and 35 km of groomed). Both trail systems are maintained by the Wells Gray Outdoor Club -- see www.wellsgray.org for more information on the trail system.

The Skiers make their trips available to the Nordic Racers and this one is a bargain at $100.00 per person. If interested, please contact Andrew Pape-Salmon if you have any questions.

Dryland Training

This fall, due to the unfortunate lack of local snow, we had seven heavily-attended dryland training sessions led by our smiling, lightly clad, enthusiastic, muscle-burning coach Dave McKee. On behalf of all attendees, the club would like to thank Dave for his sterling efforts in motivating and leading 50± sleepy-eyed club members during these Sunday morning sessions.

In the last dryland training session Dave talked about the importance of balance while skating and the apparent conflicting instructions given by our Silver Star coaches. The following article (cribbed from Tony Chin) -- The Independent Athlete: Learning Progression -- discusses this anomaly.

...When coaches teach beginners how to balance, they focus on getting the entire body over the glide ski. The tried and true cue is "knees and nose over the toe." By lining up these body parts, most skiers are able to balance on one ski and get the desired glide.

The next step in the learning progression is to develop power. Power has a lot to do with body posture. Beginners tend to ski with their weight over their heels; advanced skiers project their weight forward. The most common drill used by coaches is to have skiers grasp their hands behind their buttocks while they ski. This projects the hips forward and up which is now the desired position for power skiing.

The final step in the progression to ski technique mastery is economy of motion. When watching videos of elite racers, the most common observation is that they are not lining up their knees-nose-toes. What often isn't observed is that the fundamentals of weight shift and balance are still there. These skiers are doing something that takes years to master -- weight shifting using the hips and core while pointing the upper body straight down the trail.

Knowing this progression will help you to understand why statements made by two different ski instructors may seem to conflict.

Note: most Level 1 coaches/instructors will focus on balance. If you are looking for power and speed, search out a Level 2 or higher coach/instructor.

-- Tony Chin

Eye Candy at H2H

H2H is a 100 km relay/ultra road race travelling from Haney to Harrison Hot Springs, generally following Dewdney Trunk Road and Highway #7. This year it drew 357 teams of 8 highly competitive hard-bodied runners and a handful of ultra athletes who ran the distance solo. Impressive! The race offers something for everyone in eight legs ranging from 8 km flats to 15 km of hills.

For the first time, our club entered a team of dryland skiers in this prestigious event. The first highlight of this race is getting the name right. With team names like "A Hard Woman is Good to Find," "Barb's Boy Toys," "Drinkers with a Running Problem," "Quick Chicks," and "Tri Girls Like It Hard," we gleaned the spirit of the competition. As a modest but capable team, we knew well that pace is everything on race day, and the Nordic Pacers signed up. The team included Sharon Henderson, Michele French, Peter Gumplinger, Don Chandler, Sonia Marazzi, Sandra Pettman, Philippa Wall, Silke Gumplinger, and Sherryl Yeager.

Next we chose our legs, knowing our training goals and strengths. The fast women picked the flashy flats, leaving the hilly legs to the seasoned mountaineers. We all offered a predicted 10 km pace and computed that we should make it just under the cut-off time for the last-leg start. There is nothing like a team commitment to motivate training goals. Despite injuries, illness, world travels, and other responsibilities, we all peaked for race day.

With a limit on the number of vehicles allowed on the race course, Sherryl borrowed a VW Van (our second vehicle) for the expedition. The logistics are a challenge: getting runners to the start line on time, remembering to sign in, being there for your team to cheer the runner on throughout their leg, having enough water, keeping the van from breaking down, catching a glimpse of the eye candy, etc. The race organizers require that each team provide one volunteer to help out. Our sincerest thanks to Sharon Henderson for fulfilling this roll -- it was hard for her, not getting to run and having to watch eye candy all day!

Getting going in the morning was hard: there was a long line up at the porta potties, and distractions from the crowd obscured the sign-in table. As a result, Michele started dead last by a block and passed almost half the men in the first leg. Gliding in to the first exchange, covered in frost, she passed the baton to Peter.

This seasoned mountaineer leveled the steep hills of the second leg. At the second exchange, I jumped out of the bush behind the porta potty lineup ten minutes before Peter was expected in, just in time for Silke to exclaim, "There's his bright hat!" A personal best for Peter and an amazing improvement over his training runs.

I hallucinated in the fog, down the road east from Stave Lake Dam. "Last time I drove this road it was a vertical grind." But in the fog it all seemed flat. The team was there every few kilometres, cheering me on through my painful stiffness lingering from intervals a few days before. Great support!

Sonia tuned in her Walkman^TM and descended the mountain -- in a brutally steep pounding -- to the flats. Waiting for her arrival, we picked up on her fine efforts in organizing us and checking that we were all signing in at each leg.

Sandra picked up the pace on leg 5 and passed the 10 km mark at 48 minutes. The guy behind her exclaimed, "That girl just blasted me!" Take-no-prisoners Sandra cruised through the farmland in the afternoon sun.

Anxiously waiting her turn, Philippa characteristically signed in about an hour early at exchange 5 (just to be sure). Blasting out of the gate, she cruised by the 6 km mark at a 4:47 pace. She held this pace to 10 km for a personal best. The team passed her water and cheers right up to her final hill and a finish, on gravel, at 13.5 km.

Silke signed in at the last minute, then took over in a cloud of dust and recalled her training in the Alps for the long, long hill. As our ace in the hole we asked her to clock in the 15 km uphill leg in 1:04. She did, no problems.

We phoned Sherryl in the second vehicle to ensure that she took a break from the eye candy and signed in for the final leg. She strutted a personal-best time as well, finishing just behind the 100 km men's master 40+ ultra winner. Our total time of 6 hours 41.05 minutes beat our prediction by 10 minutes.

Moments later, the team was in the parking lot with four firemen, trying to fix the broken window in the van. "What you need is one mechanic, not four firemen," I foolishly offered. The women's frowns put me in my place and I offered to take the van to the mechanics while the women took the first shift in the hot tub with several hundred fit runners.

Although we only won a door prize, we did finish in a respectable time and placed 211/357 overall and 87/165 in our division. The dance found a second wind for everyone and kept us all up past midnight. Maybe it was the endorphin high, but we all felt pretty accomplished and agreed there should be at least two Nordic Pacer teams next year.

-- Don Chandler

Buy and Sell

[See our separate buy and sell web page. Ad space in our newsletter and on our website is free for club members; contact Feng at 604-738-5695 or fengski@yahoo.ca for details.]