Special DN Announcement: The Downtown Nordic Recreational and Competitive Online Challenge

 

 

Want to push your pace once in a while?  Whether you ski for fitness or ski to compete, this challenge is for YOU!

 

Downtown Nordic is setting up a weekly online Strava challenge series.   Read on to see how you can challenge yourself this winter against skiers in your class.

 

A little unsure - well, try it one week and see if you like it!

 

 

 

 

 

Rules and Guidelines:

 

For the 2020/21 winter season, two Virtual Leagues will be created and maintained throughout the season.  Two categories will be available: recreational and competitive.

Recreational: For skiers who just want to get out and ski and would like a little kick in the pants of encouragement.  

Competitive:  For skiers who want to see how they stack up against others.

There will also be Classifications based on gender and perhaps age. The league will present weekly challenges to all participants and will be a Strava-based system.

 

You can only join 1 league: either competitive or recreational.

All participants of the Virtual Leagues must use the Strava app on a Strava compatible device (watch, phone etc.) to record your recreational or competitive activity. You DO NOT need a Strava Subscription!  You can use the FREE Strava app version and participate in the weekly challenges at no cost. The League Administrator will have access to the Strava leaderboards and will post results on the League Blog.

How it Works

Each week a Strava “segment” will be posted in the League Blog (where?). Participants will have 3 to 4 days to complete the segment and record it on Strava. Results will be posted early the following week. 

Segments may be a section of trail, a complete trail, or a couple of trails done in succession. Each segment will be clearly outlined so you will know where each one starts and ends. Some segments may be in the middle of a trail. For added fun, a couple of segments may be “mystery” segments (you will know which trail the segment is on, but you will not know exactly where it starts and stops).

All segments will be on trails that are usually groomed but there is no guarantee that grooming will have occurred following a snow event.

All segments will be in Manitoba.

Please respect persons who host ski trails on their private land. Downtown Nordic strongly encourages a small donation to the landowner to help with grooming costs, but this is not a requirement to participate in the virtual race season.

 

 

 

 

Recreational League:

For skiers who want to explore new places to ski and want a bit of a challenge that isn’t racing.

Segments in the Recreational League may not be the same as the Competitive league’s segments, however, in cases where family/group members may be in different leagues, we will do our best to  create segments on the same trail or within a trail in the same trail system (to facilitate group/family participation and travel planning to trails). For example, the segment for Competitive League MIGHT be the section of Bluestem trail in Birds Hill Park from the stables to the Chickadee warming hut, while the segment for Recreational League skiers MIGHT be the Chickadee trail or a different section of Bluestem.

Segments will tend to be shorter in the Recreational League. This league is designed to help you explore some of Manitoba’s ski trails that you may not have experienced previously. 

Recording of Completed Segments

Strava is the tracking app that will be used.  If you use a different device or tracking app you must upload it to Strava before the segment expires.  Any tracking errors must be handled through the Strava help platform. 

 Shortcuts in segments are NOT allowed.  You must ski the trail as published in the identified segment and as groomed.

You can ski the segment any time you like but only results published before the segment expires will be considered for inclusions in weekly results.

Results will be posted for all Recreational League participants, but times will not be published to keep this league fun and non-competitive.

https://www.strava.com/clubs/DowntownNordicXCSkiRecreational

Competitive League:

For skiers who want to see how they stack up against the rest of the pack.  

Segments may not be the same as the Recreational League’s segments, however, in cases where family/group members may be in different leagues, we will do our best to  create segments on the same trail or within a trail in the same trail system (to facilitate group/family participation and travel planning to trails). For example, the segment for Competitive League MIGHT be the section of Bluestem trail in Birds Hill Park from the stables to the Chickadee warming hut, while the segment for Recreational League skiers MIGHT be the Chickadee trail or a different section of Bluestem.

Segments will tend to be longer or on a more difficult section of trail (eg. Hills, etc.) than the Recreational League segments. Segments may be two or more trails linked together. When segments are trails linked together, they MUST be done in sequence, but that sequence will be clearly explained.  

For example: 

Competitive Segment:  Birds Hill Park: Bluestem from the stables to the Chickadee lookout tower. Chickadee from lookout tower COUNTER CLOCKWISE for full circuit then finish full Bluestem.

https://www.strava.com/clubs/DowntownNordicXCSkiComp

 

Recording of Completed Segments

Strava is the tracking app that will be used.  If you use a different device or tracking app you must upload it to Strava before the segment expires.  Any tracking errors must be handled through the Strava help platform. 

 Shortcuts in segments are NOT allowed.  You must ski the trail as published in the identified segment and as groomed.

You can ski the segment any time you like but only results published before the segment expires will be considered for standings. A 2-hour grace period will be given (following segment expiry time) so participants can return to internet connectivity areas and upload their results. Please be aware that the League Administrator will be able to see the date and time you started the segment, and therefore will be able to determine if the segment was started before the segment expiry time. You do not have to finish your ski before segment expiry time, but you must have started the segment before the segment expiry time in order to qualify that completed segment for inclusion in the league results.

 

 

With leagues for both competitive and recreational skiers there is a place for every skier.   Try your speed against others or just get out and perhaps ski a place you haven’t been to before.   With the current social distancing guidelines this is a chance to ski “with” others on your own.