Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Photo Contest Entry

Here's Julie's entry from last week-ends Grey Cup.



That is the same Golden Boy that posed for the symbol on our toques!

Latest Yellowstone update ...



Waking up to our third day of skiing and we all were in rough shape. Could barely dress ourselves, our hip flexors are especially a problem. Regardless of all the cross training we have done over the last few months, our bodies were not prepared for this. 

We all learned lots in our ski clinics. Ben admitted to almost "Liking" classic skiing. He liked the pendulum feeling of swinging the arms. Gyula made some huge breakthroughs in his skate technique and now loves skate skiing. 

The clinics were focused mostly on balance and body position yesterday. Today we focused on poling for the classic sessions and the V1 or offset and lots of long gliding drills for the skate clinics in the afternoon.  Also saw how driving the knee into the ski on an uphill helps propel you forward. Some of us were even video taped for some technique analysis. 

Meanwhile, Stig took an easy day and only skied 36 km. 

Best part was the free beer for us all around the campfire at the trail head at end of the day.
Beautiful conditions once again. Above zero and sunny all afternoon. Lots of very fit skinny skiers from around the world. Everyone is so friendly. Great vibe.

Yellowstone update ...

We all met up at the Holiday Inn at 830 am for the ski clinics. We started by
watching some excellent classic skiers and analyzed their technique.
Then, we practiced balance drills including the familiar standing on one leg
while swinging the opposite leg. Supposedly the pros spend an hour a day doing
this drill. :)

They broke us up into groups of about five or six students based on ability
and we hit the trails.

The morning instruction was all classic. We spent most of the morning skiing
without poles working on getting our hips forward, and being happy in the
"falling forward" position.  Skied for almost three hours in the morning.

Lunch found us all sleeping soundly. We were so tired

We broke up into new groups for the afternoon skate clinics based on our
skating abilities. Again, we did lots of skating without poles before heading
for the trails and skiing until we had nothing left.

Planning to go to the ski wax clinics tonight if we can stay awake past seven pm.

Yesterday, did not get to see Old Faithful yesterday as planned. Apparently,
we are the only people on the planet unaware that the road to the geyser is
closed in the winter. We could ski the thirty miles to see it, but
conditions are poor.  Might end up doing just that if we get more snow
later this week. 


 

Monday, November 25, 2013

Season plans

OK, we have some snow to work with.  Assuming the snow sticks around and keeps building up (not always a good assumption even for Winnipeg), our plan is ...

This week, we start training every Tuesday and Thursday at 6:30 at Windsor Park Nordic Centre.  Note that the Nordic Centre is not yet open to the public.  We have received special dispensation from the ski association to train there (involved lots of begging).  Once the Nordic Centre is open to the public, you will need to buy a trail pass.

For training, we'll start off doing lots of work on technique -- generally alternating sessions between skate and classic.  By mid-December, the Tuesday workouts will become interval-training sessions.  And in January, the Thursday sessions will become distance-training.

Now is the time to develop good habits for your technique!



Photo taken at Windsor Park Nordic Centre this morning
 
.

Registration closing ...

A reminder that club registration closes this Sunday (Dec. 1) at midnight.  (Although we will continue to take registration from potential members in the Boissevain / Turtle Mountain region ... seriously!)

https://zone4.ca/register.asp?id=4916



Downtown Nordic at Yellowstone

Elite members of Downtown Nordic are in Yellowstone right now getting in some altitude training as they prepare for the Sochi Olympics.

This is a photo from a local museum:



This is the tweet they sent out to their over 100,000 followers on twitter today:

DN well represented with seven skiers. Eight km group classic ski this am.
Having lunch then meeting up at 1pm for eight km skate. We all skied together. 
Wanted so much to keep skiing. Beautiful conditions. Also plan to go
visit Old Faithful after the ski this afternoon.
Trying to not overdo it on day one. 





Here are is a video they are submitting for the toque contest ...


 


Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Tim takes silver medal at world rafting championships!

Breaking news:  Team Canada (including our beloved president-in-exile Tim) took a silver medal at the world rafting championships today ... as a certain cyclocross announcer likes to say:

UN-BA-LEIVABLE!

http://www.2013raftingworldsnz.com/results/8bk27.pdf

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

More trail conditions

From the DN Blog intelligence network ...

Birds Hill Park
"Chickadee was skier-tracked and a bit wobbly, but surprisingly good coverage- no grass anywhere.  The only rough patch we hit was a few rocks on the downhill by the tower, but it was easy to ski around them.


The other trails had lots of snow, but were not as skied in (although there were lots of skiers out, so they will be soon)

Group use road had people skating on it, and coverage was good.  I didn't ski it, but it looked pretty soft and thick."


Windsor Park Nordic Center
"The entire course has been rolled -- i have not skied it but i've seen people out there, rock skis for sure!! watch for a few trucks going in tomorrow to lay electrical for the new lights!"


Turtle Mountain/Lake Adams
"not good yet ... not enough snow for a base"


Report any trail conditions in the comments section ...

Photo Contest!


Ok, we're looking for photos of you wearing your Downtown Nordic toque in unusual places. (or, if you are in an unusual place, but have forgotten your toque, a sign with Downtown Nordic on it will perhaps suffice).

Best photos will win a prize of some sort.  You do not need to be a club member to win.




SNOW!


On Sunday, I skied at Wildwood golf course.  A nice little loop around the golf course is now skied in ... however, you will be crossing a few gravel paths (use your rock skis)

Breaking trail with the ole Kahru boards


On Monday night, I skied at Assiniboine Park.  Good job by those who had previously skied in a short skate loop by the Lyric theater.  There is also a nice little toboggan hill to practice your climbing skillz (although you need to cross a asphalt path at the bottom of the hill!).

I also did a big loop on the road around the park.  It hadn't been cleared yet, so was just nicely packed down snow from cars. 

Skiing the park road on the the ole Fischer boards

Worked on my uphill (and downhill) technique on the toboggan hill



Friday, November 15, 2013

Life is good

Here's an awesome video from a young skier in the US - Julia Kern - on her summer training this year.  Feel free to turn up the sound ...




classifieds - skis and boots for sale






Salomon S-Lab classic skis, 196cm soft  , cold grind (120-143 lb skier)
 w/o bindings (mounted once) . $225
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1 Pair of used Salomon S-Lab Pro skate ski boots, size 45 1/3 (US size 11)
 These boots retail for $400 new, asking price $200
 
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