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Sunday, June 21, 2009  

New Zealand Nordic Sports Development Association

The New Zealand Nordic Sports Development Association organizes cross country skiing coaching and training programmes for children aged 3-18

From 2 hours/week to 2 ½ days per week based at the Snow Farm, Cardrona Valley, Wanaka
Thursday pm, Saturday, Sunday

Dryland Training
School Holiday Camps
Overnight Stays in Huts
Annual Trip to Australia
Canada and USA Training Camps
5 programmes for 3 -18 yrs

Season; mid June – mid September

One Scholarships available for a new recruit in 2009, with a strong endurance sport background and willing to train hard during the season

Car-pooling from Wanaka, Arrowtown and Cromwell to be arranged

For further details refer to the programmes page or please email admin@nordicnz.com

posted by Nordic NZ  # 10:24 PM

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Saturday, February 7, 2009  

Anna Hogg in New Hampshire [again thanks to Jan Wood for the reporting]

To all those wondering how Anna Hogg is getting on way over in New Hampshire, USA, have a read of this! Nice photo too. Go Anna! We knew you could do it!! Anna has been in the States just over a month and is attending Alexei's High School about 1 1/2 hours nor/east of Boston. She is skiing really well considering her time off skis, and has met up with Ben Koons and Nick Brown (old coach from Snow Farm). Dad John and brother Mark will join Anna for about a week shortly. Below are a few comments from Anna's mother Jennifer...

Hi Jan

She had a successful day today coming first in an away skate race with a field of about 50 competitors so she was pretty excited!

If anyone's interested in seeing Alexei's school it's www.kua.org & if you go to Athletics & then click on Team Pages, scroll down & choose Nordic skiing & Highlights. There are excerpts written by students on the day's races etc, some of which are quite amusing such as the entry of 10/1/09.

Regards

Jennifer Connolly

posted by Nordic NZ  # 4:46 PM

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Sunday, February 1, 2009  

From Jan of the Wanaka Nordic Ski Club introducing a letter from Andy Pohl

Hi everyone!

Maybe you have been wondering what all our mad keen skiers are doing overseas, while we bask in the somewhat limited sunshine here. Well I have a few reports in, so will feed them to you over the next few days. Since Andy has written a small book on his escapades, I will let you digest this first - grab a cup of coffee while you're about it - it makes very good reading! This is followed by an email and pics from Alastair who is with Andy in France for the Jnr World Champs. Let's wish Andy well with an email or two. He is relishing speaking English again after being on his own in Switzerland for a while. Enjoy!

Jan W

Dear friends, family supporters etc,

I am sorry I have taken so long to produce this report however I hope it keeps you updated to what I have been up to this winter. I am currently in France ready to rock out in the World Junior championships.

I hope everyone is well and enjoying a nice summer.

See you soon
Andy Pohl

Update 1:
Progress!
I apologize for waiting so long before getting around to writing an update on what I have been doing and how things are going for me over here in Canada and Europe.

I arrived in Canmore at the start of October to experience the tail end of a Canadian summer. My first two weeks were beautiful with temperatures in the mid to high twenties and the sun always seemed to be shining. This made my job of teaching mountain biking really enjoyable. I couldn’t believe I was getting paid to go out and ride my bike for 8 hours a day. I was happy to be back and training with my fantastic ski team The Rocky Mountain Racers.

Training however wasn’t going so well. I managed to dig myself into a little bit of a hole, due to the fact I was trying to train my normal 16 to 18 hours a week on top of the 8hours of Mountain biking I was doing at work. I was performing really badly in early season roller ski time trials due to the overtraining and also the fact that I have quite possibly the world’s slowest pair of classic roller skis. This led me questioning what I was even doing here and whether I wanted to race this season or not.

Things started to change when I raced in the Alberta Provincial Cross Country running Championships. Here I shocked everyone including myself at outrunning the Canadian Cross Country ski team and finishing 6th in my category. I had never really been in such a large competitive running field before. There were over 150 starters on the start line All capable of running good times. It was great to always have someone to run with and people to catch.

I returned to Canmore where the weather was starting to change. The daily temperature was starting to drop to around 4-5deg each day and the leaves were changing into fantastic autumn colours. This was starting to make roller skiing difficult with ice starting to form on the roads as the ground began to freeze. We got our first dump of snow which naturally didn’t last but caused the town to gravel the roads making roller skiing even more difficult. This combined with shortening daylight hours caused me to have a fairly large crash which destroyed one of my favourite skiing jackets and a pair of pants (as well as a large amount of my skin). I was starting to get down, and frustrated because I was still struggling to find some form in time trials.

After two weeks of frustrating roller ski training in the challenging conditions snow finally arrived at Lake Louise. Things started to change. I was offered some sponsorship from Rossignol which I gladly accepted. I had fantastic new skis to test and some good snow to test on. I was travelling the 1.5hour drive up to Lake Louise one every single day off I had which led to some very busy weeks. I was starting to turn things around and my body felt stronger every day. Unfortunately because of having to work I wasn’t getting as much on snow time as any of my competitors so I made sure every single on snow session was top quality.

The first early races were held in Golden BC at the Kicking Horse resort. There was a night sprint on the Saturday Night and a distance classic on the Sunday. The night sprint went well for me. Not normally being a sprinter, in fact I normally dread having to do any distance less than 10km, I wasn’t sure how I was going to go in these races. The course was brutally short: a 150m flat section around a corner 50m straight up a wall then a hairpin, 50m straight back down the wall, a very tricky high speed corner and then a very short finishing straight. Qualifying was one lap and the finals were 2 laps. My qualifying lap went well, I actually managed to hold my technique and I mastered the tricky corner to qualify second fastest in my age group (there were only 3 people but beating 1 person is a victory for me in sprinting). Qualifying times varied from 47sec to about 52sec so it was a very short sprint!!!! Finals came around and I was looking forward to it. The atmosphere was super cool with a good sized crowd flashing strobe and disco lights lighting up the course, and loud rock music being played. On the start line I felt good and was looking forward to seeing what I had. The gun went and I took off. My skate technique felt strong, I was right in the pack and everyone was fighting for the lead. I got through the first lap still right there and all 3 of us hit the bottom of the wall at the same time. I accelerated first and got a small gap, however, I started to seize up about 10m from the top of the climb and that is exactly when the other 2 guys went for it. I got passed and couldn’t get past on the way to the finish. 3rd place or last depending on how you look at it, however I was happy that I was right in the mix of things in a sprint race.

Sunday rolled around and I was super amped for my first distance race of the season. It was a classic race 10km around a fairly flat course with very little snow on it. The competition was good though, most of the Canadian national team were their and the field represented some of the best Nor-Am fields in the country. On the start line I felt strong and confident. I was the first starter in my age group with my competitors’ starting behind me. I took off and felt strong for the first 400m. Then I hit the first and only climb on the course, I really wanted to attack this as climbing is usually my strong point of Classic skiing. However when I started going up I was slipping, lots. My technique was far too rushed, I needed to stay controlled but I wanted to go fast!!!!. After only ½ a lap I got passed for the first time. This was a huge mental blow as I normally beat the person who passed me. From that moment on I was trying to play catch-up however my tempo was just speeding up and my technique was simply falling to pieces. I was passed again meaning I was over 1min behind!!!! Not a good start to the season, I crossed the line furious at myself and wondering why this race had gone so badly. I had one week to turn it around before I left for Sovereign Lakes and Whistler.

When we got back from Golden snow had started to arrive in Canmore and we had the normal 600m early snow loop groomed and ready to ski. This certainly improved the quality of my training. I was able to get back into my normal winter habits of getting up early in the morning (about 6am every morning) skiing before work, working from 9am to 5 or 6pm training after work, getting home about 8:30pm cooking dinner and going to bed ready to do it all again the next day. I was still asking my self the big questions, why did my race go so bad? Was I racing slower from last season? In all honesty I didn’t quite feel ready for the first Nor-Am, my classic technique still didn’t fell right and I wasn’t sure how I could turn things around, but I decided to go after talking to my coach John Jaques who luckily still had full confidence in me.

When we arrived in Silverstar there wasn’t really much snow, as we had expected, the track was littered with rocks and it looked like the interval start classic (which was meant to be my big race) would be changed to a skate race. Any way I was fully concentrating on Saturdays sprint race. Our team was lucky to have the support of Jacques Victo from Rossignol, who really helped me ‘learn’ my skis which in turn helped me to focus on the sprint race. By the time I woke up on Saturday morning I had managed to change my mind set into a positive one. My goal was to qualify and take things from there. My qualification round went well. Thanks to John I had a good solid plan and I followed this to the letter. I never realised how important to know every single inch of a sprint course was. I knew the perfect line around each corner, exactly when to change skating techniques, I knew exactly how many offset (v1) strides to take up the steep climb etc. I skied my plan and I skied strongly and in control. I made my goal, I qualified for my first ever Nor-Am sprint (I qualified in last place but still I qualified). The thought of racing in the heats made me extremely excited. When I lined up on the start line I felt confident I could make it through to the next round. The gun went and I took off. Unfortunally I had a little wobble in the starting straight and that is all it takes. I got behind the lead group and had to fight to catch them the whole way. I almost got back on when going over the steepest climb but not quite, I didn’t make it through but I learnt a lot, I can sprint!!!!

Sunday’s race was where I was going to put those demons from Golden to rest. I woke up feeling good, my ski testing went well, I was confident with my ski selection which is always a good sign for me and I felt like I had something in me when I got to the start line. I had a few goals for this race, I wanted to finish in the top ten juniors, and be professional in everything I did from how I got up in the morning to how I went to bed in the evening. I had a fairly early start time due to my poor performances in Golden however I had a mission. The starter started counting down 5, 4, 3, 2, I went. I skied strong out of the gate and by the end of the first climb I had caught the 3 athletes in front of me. My plan for the race was to focus on the transitions, at the bottom of climbs and powering over the top. It worked I was skiing strong and well and my skis were rocket fast thanks to our super waxing crew (thank you very much John, John, Dan and Valentine. I crossed the line tired but not dead, I was a little disappointed, I knew I had had a good race because of those who I had passed however I felt like I still had a lot left in the tank and I was hungry for more. I ended up 7th Junior, 130ish FIS points. A pretty good start, I thought I had those demons buried, I was doing the right thing, and I was good at it.

The Whistler races had been moved to Sovereign lakes due to a lack of snow at the Olympic venue. This meant another week in Silver Star. Unfortunately due to loss of accommodation deposits etc this was a considerable financial burden as I am on a really tight budget. Because of this the race organisers changed the 20km pursuit into a 20km mass start skate and the 15km individual skate to a 15km individual classic. The races were also at strange times, the pursuit was late in the day and the Classic race was at night. This could have potentially messed up with my preparation however I didn’t let it bother me, John explained to us that this was a chance for us to get a leg up on the competition as we were going to be better prepared! After a few rest like days (where it simply dumped snow), enjoying the fantastic trails Silverstar and Sovereign Lake have to offer I was ready for my first mass start test. Again my seeding was terrible. I had to start right at the back of the pack where I really should have been further forward. Oh well I was just going to have to show the seeders that bib 59 can finish in the top 30! The gun went and I took off. I was feeling good the sun was shining there was lots of snow and it was going to be a good race. Naturally out of the start I got stuck behind people and was using up a lot of energy fighting, trying to find ways past others. It wasn’t until about ½ way through my first lap that I managed to get into a good position. It wasn’t where I wanted to be, I had missed the lead and chase packs and was in no-mans land at the back of the chase pack. I would have to do what is fast becoming one of my favourite pass times, fishing. I started to cast out my line, embed my hook into the racer in fornt and reel him in, pass him and then get hold of the second. I kept steadily progressing up the field until I was finally in a group of skiers who I was able to really race. It was a good group of 3 skiers, an American, Gerrad Garnier form the Banff Ski Runners and I. With 2.5km to go I felt the pace slow just a fraction, I decided it was time to go and I sprinted past and up a climb out of the stadium. With 1.5km to go I looked over my shoulder, I had a small gap about 10m, I was really going to have to fight to try and maintain it. On the final brutal climb into the stadium, I lost my small gap and got passed as the other 2 made their attacks. I was fighting to stay in contact but I was hurting a lot, the fighting in the early laps was starting to make an impact. I couldn’t hold on and I was gutted that I out raced by these two. But it was a really good race and I learnt a tonne. Next mass start I am just going to relax a little more early on, I can always make up time later when others are tired. 6th junior 170ish FIS points, lesson learnt, getting closer to that podium.

I choose to sit out the classic sprint; I was never really going to be competitive in a race which is eventually won by people double poling on Skate skis. I am simply not strong enough something which I am continually working on. I was looking forward to and the one I was going to finally get on that elusive podium. It was at night, 5pm it was dark, it was cold (-16) but I wasn’t letting that bother me just opportunities for me to get a leg up on my competitors. Testing was frustrating me as there wasn’t many places to test, the course wasn’t groomed until the last minute and it was snowing lots this combined with the fact that I was freezing was all infuriating me. “Just keep it under control” I kept telling myself. This is your race just stay relaxed. I finally found a pair of skis but I wasn’t confident about my selection however it was time to go. I almost missed my start trying to stay warm. I got there and the count down started immediately “2, 1, go.” I was off but my mind wasn’t right. Up the first climb I was slipping a lot, Why? I kept asking myself. Every lap I was trying to speed up my technique on the hills trying to fight and make it count. In all reality I should have been relaxing far more. Using strong powerful kicks off straight legs rather than rushing trying to kick off bent legs. I had a disappointing finish; it seemed those demons were still there a little, I need to work harder to control them. I didn’t complete any of my goals, I was outside the top 10 juniors, and I hadn’t been professional at all. I had a lot to think about on the drive back to Canmore.

Arriving in Canmore was like walking into a deep freeze, actually about 5x colder. A common household freezer is about -5degC. Canmore was -30degC when we arrived. It stayed this way for almost 10 days making training very difficult. When it finally got above -20deg I started to focus on my Classic technique. Thanks to John’s help one simple tip fixed it: treat every kick as if it were $100000. Ahhh finally I had found the secret, you win classic races not by turning your legs over faster than the competitors but by having stronger kicks and longer glide. What had I been telling all of my skiing pupils for the last 2 years duh? With this in mind training was really going well. I was a classic star, and couldn’t wait to put it to use. In a club pursuit time trial I cemented this in my mind. I didn’t rush my start and went past everyone on the 2nd classic lap. Finally I had it nailed, I couldn’t wait to race.

The format for the Canmore Nor-Am which doubled as the Canadian selection races for the World Junior ski champs, World Senior ski champs and Whistler world cups, was a very tough one. 4 races in 5 days, 2 distance races 2 sprint races. I choose to sit out the first skate sprint and concentrate on the pursuit and the individual skate. In true Canmore style it was below the FIS minimum temperature to race on Friday (I swear this only happens on race day  ) so the Pursuit got moved to Monday. Saturday was the skate sprint which I didn’t race but Congratulations to my RMR teammates who cleaned up in their categories; Dash, Mike and Scotty fantastic work!! Sunday rolled around and I was ready. My testing went well, I found the right ski, and I couldn’t wait to go and race. I had a much better seeding this time, I actually had people to get splits from which was fantastic. I stood on the start line with similar goals to Sovereign lakes, except I was gunning to try and get less than 100 FIS points. I took off out of the start and started powering up Canmore’s tough climbs. I got my first split after only about 2min of racing and I was in 1st place by over 7sec. “Wow did I take off too fast” I though to myself. I slowed down and focused on my technique, attack the bottom of the climb, relax, Smash over the top of the climb, relax again. I had chosen to race in the Open men category for both this race and the pursuit. I was getting splits for open men and I was doing well, at my 2nd split I was 3rd 14sec off the lead, “ok perfect” I thought. 3rd split 3rd 12sec off the lead “good”. I was hurting a lot and finally felt like I was giving it all. My final split on my last lap was 3rd 14sec off the lead; it was at this point that I started attacking. I really went for it with every tiny bit of energy I had, thinking of every one of those 14secs. I sprinted across the line in what to me finally felt like satisfaction. I had nothing left, not one tiny little ounce of energy, I had given it everything I had!!. My result was good, I was 25th overall 123FIS points my time would have been good enough for 7th Junior. I was extremely happy with this result. All of the Canadians had brought the A game to this race and I had replied.

Monday was the pursuit, which as I had entered open men because I was chasing good FIS points. It was 30km long, 15km classic 15km skate on Canmore tough unforgiving trails. I woke up feeling tired. My body hurt from the day before, I could barley even bend down to tie up my laces as my quads hurt so much. Any way I was determined to race and I was looking forward to it. I found my fastest pair of classic skis and my best skaters (thanks a lot to Cathy and John for letting me use the Yellow rockets.) I went to the start grid confident and ready to make it count. My classic leg was great. I was skiing really well, looking like a pro long glide treating every kick as if it were my last. My heart rate was good well below my lactate threshold (the point at which your legs start producing lactic acid,) I was taking feeds every lap and feeling good. I crept my way up the field coming into the transition in 18th place, and still feeling really good. My transition was smooth and I got out there on my skaters ready to continue the good work. I was being closely followed by another skier who accidentally stood on my pole on the first major climb of the skate leg. Unfortunately this caused the handle of my pole to rip off and I was left with only one pole. This is racing and it happens, I had to keep fighting with only one pole for about 800m of steady uphill climb until Karl from XC Ottawa was able to help me out with a spare pole. I hadn’t lost too much time and I was ready to get it back. My body however had other ideas. After another couple of km’s I knew I was in trouble. My body was running out of energy and fast! With two laps to go I was simply getting tired. I think my body simply ran out of blood sugar. I was cramping up on downhills and getting passed like I was standing still. I held on but only just to finish in 23rd place with FIS points of well over 200points. “What went wrong?” I asked my self, I made sure I didn’t go out too hard, I was in control and my heart rates were where they were meant to be. Was it loosing a pole? Or didn’t I drink right? I simply ran out of energy. It felt like exactly what happened in the Merino Muster except I thought I was smarter this time, drinking far more regularly and controlling my heart rates better. After consulting with John we came up with the idea that is was simply nutrition, my body ran out of Carbs to burn, and it didn’t have anything else to burn up. I simply eat more, lots more before big long races.

I didn’t have much time to reflect on the Canmore races because it was time to pack and get ready for Europe. The plan was to head over to Switzerland, stay in a hotel in the small town of Disentis for a few days to adjust to European life. Move in with the Australian team when they arrive on the 18th. Race in the Swiss championships with the support of the Aussis, travel to Chamonix and Praz de Lys meet with Alistair and Anne and then race in the World Junior Championships before heading back to Canmore to finish up the season.

My trip over was stressful as I am sure any European adventure is. Trains are a fantastic way to travel around but difficult when you have over 100 pounds of gear, one ski bag and don’t speak fantastic German or French. Thanks to the help of a few Swiss army boys (carrying machine guns) who were a great help in running my ski bag between platforms and also great fun to chat to (they really enjoyed practicing their English). I made it to Disentis and checked into my hotel. I was determined to adjust to the local time so even though I was shattered I headed out to the trails.
The Trails here are fantastic. Some really gnarly descents where if you miss the corner you have a very big cliff to fall down!! The snow is really hard to kick wax for. It varies in temperature from +5deg at one trail head to -5deg at the other! Das Controller (I think he is the groomer and maintains the trails) is also a hilarious person to speak to. He thinks minen Clasicsh Langlauf ist sehr Gut etc etc. Every morning when I go skiing he is there to talk to me. Explaining waxing for 0degC conditions is far, far above my level of German language knowledge but he doesn’t seem to mind. This morning he wanted me to sign his Skis!!! (Man I am becoming famous quickly).
My very limited knowledge of German has made life here rather difficult and tiring, but tonight I am moving in with the Australian’s and am looking forward to finally speaking English with someone.
I hope everyone is well and enjoying the nice New Zealand Summer. I apologize that this report is extremely long however I hope you enjoyed it. I will try to keep you more regularly updated in the future.
Thanks for everyone’s support. If you want to contact me at all, please don’t hesitate to email: NZXCCS@gmail.com

Andy Pohl

Power over the top, Elbows up, be Pro!!!

Gutted at loosing the final sprint

Langlauf aus Schwiez, Toll!!

Quarry Lake: Canmore

-33.9 = Cold

posted by Nordic NZ  # 11:08 PM

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Saturday, January 3, 2009  

Southern Muster results Jan 3rd. 2009

Results can be downloaded below for today's race. Held in perfect and cool conditions at the Snow Farm - in fact there was the occasional flake of snow from the left-overs of yesterday's "weather bomb" front!

download or view pdf of results here



One of the drink stations at Meadow Warming Hut...


Many thanks to all who attended.

posted by Nordic NZ  # 6:10 PM

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Monday, October 20, 2008  

2008 Nordic Season news round-up

We had the juniors prize giving for end of season today, and a BYO /BBQ lunch at the Snow Park Wool shed all combined with a NZNSDA committee meeting, followed by Wanaka Nordic Ski Club meeting, then a meeting of Masters biathletes and any other interested persons to
progress discussions to date for summer plans , range development etc.

All-in-all, a busy day and a positive and fitting end to the 2008 season, in which so much was accomplished.

The Hoppet

Here is some news republished from Jan Wood of the Wanaka Nordic Ski Club. Firstly a photo of Emily and Kathy Deacon and Briar Alexander at the Australian Hoppet...


This is what Emily Deacon had to say:

"The Australian Loppet was a great week. Briar, Mum and I arrived on Thursday in time for the night sprints and show, and spent Friday getting to know the course. I was doing the Joey Hoppet - 7 km sprint race.

We had a hot day both Friday and Saturday, great for wearing our lycra. The race went pretty well, though unfortunately we had registered late so I got put at the back for the start, and I had to fight my way through the crowds! It was still a good race and interesting skiing by trees and the huge dam.

I ended up getting 9th in my age group (under 14‚s). We did find we were almost famous in Aussie though, with heaps of people coming to talk to us and we got our photo‚s taken. It was a great experience but will be nice to get back to our quiet ski field."

The Adams family, who are still members of our Ski Club, also raced in the Hoppet, after dashing back from the Merino Muster. Their results and Briars, are as follows ˆ

Briar was 10th in W12, Tori Adams was 6th in W10 with
same time as Emily for finish.   Hayley W8, Mary Adams 3rd in
W40. Oli 7th in M8. All did Joey Hoppet of 7 kms.
Ric did 42 kms = 26 for M40.  

Mini Merinos                                                           
                                                            
Meanwhile much praise has to go to Ray and the Mini Merino group back at the Snow Farm, for their achievements, typified by the size of the group which has come about simply because it's so much fun...


Two groups, each with 10-12 children, have gone thru this season, so that's a good number of youngsters who can be filtered up into the NZNSDA when they are ready. One of the Dads, Ray O‚Brien, with a little help from Ella Maluschnig and parents, has done a great job with the wee ones and is thinking next winter of starting a Middi Merinos‚ group as well.

Nordic Race Series

Peter Soundy and John Alexander [on the right below] have done a great job in putting on these races each weekend over the winter to give Club skiers and others opportunity to compete and improve their rankings...


The series has been very successful and all thanks go to Peter and John for putting in the work of setting the courses, collating the results, and generally running these events. The series has enabled younger skiers and older skiers to all race together - fathers and mothers against sons and daughters!

NZNSDA Coaching

Our new coach Alexi did a stellar job. Here we see him discussing strategies with Team Manager Liz...


Liz has had about 20 in this group under the expert tuition of Alexei and latterly Andrea Fancy. After their big trip away to Canada last January, they are having a summer at home to consolidate and build, with summer training, on the amazing tuition passed on by Alexi.

Biathlon

Strong growth here - Liz and some others went to Aust. and trained with the Aust. army, a range has been built, and rifles are being accumulated. Much has been achieved in a relatively short amount of time

Have a good summer!

posted by Nordic NZ  # 2:59 PM

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Sunday, August 17, 2008  

New Race Results page in this web site, and a new Wanaka Nordic Ski Club Site

...more >>


We're also happy to draw your attention to a new web site for the Wanaka Nordic Ski Club

posted by Nordic NZ  # 10:57 AM

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Tuesday, July 29, 2008  

Biathlon Youth Talent Search (Skiing & Shooting)...

Two new and exciting 2008 winter Biathlon opportunities... more >>

posted by Nordic NZ  # 10:15 AM

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Sunday, June 29, 2008  

Peak Projects sponsors vehicle for the 2008 season

NZNSDA has just received the keys to its new 7 seater 4WD sponsored by Peak Projects. The vehicle will be used by the new coach Alexei Sotskov for the winter and will enable some of the Wanaka kids to get up the skifield more regularly...


We have also just had confirmed that The Community Trust of Otago have confirmed their support for our development programme for another year. This support has enabled the association to secure the services of Alexei and 2008 is now certain to be our best year yet.

posted by Nordic NZ  # 9:42 AM

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Wednesday, June 25, 2008  

New web page - a calendar

There are no internal links yet, but you can see/use it at: http://www.nordicnz.com/calendar.html

posted by Nordic NZ  # 3:58 PM

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Sunday, May 18, 2008  

Appointment of new head coach for 2008

NZNSDA are excited to announce that we have secured the services of Alexei Sotskov as head coach for the 2008 season...



Alexei is one of the top junior coaches in the USA, and has held a number of senior coaching positions in Eastern USA since 1992 including his current position as head coach and snow sports director at Vermont Academy. He holds sports coaching qualifications from Russia and is a former member of the USSR Nordic team.



Alexei will add a new dimension to our programmes this year, and will be assisting NZNSDA in other administrative and management roles including coaching clinics and event management training. He will arrive in mid June and as well as running all of NZNSDA's programmes will be available for private and group instruction.

posted by Nordic NZ  # 10:50 AM

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Sunday, March 16, 2008  

Photos of Canadian trip posted

See below entries.. they now have accompanying photos

posted by Nordic NZ  # 7:17 PM

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Friday, March 14, 2008  

Site was off line

We regret this site was "missing in action" for a few days. We tried shifting the domain name to a new registrar, but as it turned out this involved some totally out-of-sync communication with register.com in the US and two NZ providers. It all got quite messy, but we were able to revert to the status quo.

posted by Nordic NZ  # 8:24 PM

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Monday, February 25, 2008  

Raffle Draw Results

1st prize Air New Zealand 2 airfares to Aus/Fiji ticket#1262 Kate Crone, Wanaka

2nd prize 1 night's accommodation at Snowpark #31541 Duane Te Paa, Arrowtown

3rd prize NZ Skydive #1105 Shirley Kelly, Wanaka

4th prize Treble Cone - 2 day passes #1530 Ken Gousmett, Queenstown

5th prize Wanaka River Journeys #2035 Ruth Anderton, Christchurch

If you should require any further information please contact Peter Soundy

posted by Nordic NZ  # 2:39 PM

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Monday, February 11, 2008  

Last Race and Heading for Home

We have now returned to Vancouver, and a temperature of Plus 7, for our final flight home after two wonderful nights in the company of some lovely Canadian families from the 100 mile Nordic area. Everyone was looked after very well with new friends made, and we are very grateful to the families and club members who helped us.

The day started with minus 15 and light snow , rising to minus 7 by midday and racing time; tricky conditions to sort out wax in and the new snow didn't stop till about 20 mins before the race....classic style and interval start, which meant each racer was trying to beat the clock, as well as the next person on the course in front of them. I headed for the 5 km loop, which the boys did twice that the course had a few good steep hills in it and was testing enough for them. Sam and Anna had just one loop and Katie and Sarah had a 3.5 km loop , which I skied the day before and found there was enough 'bite' in the last two uphill rollers to slow you down if you were tired. Haven't seen results as yet but go to www.zone4.ca again; the team felt they were only middle of the pack but see results for sure.



With all the changing in degrees of coldness over this trip we have been really fortunate to have such warm feet; for this we owe our thanks to the NZ Sock Company who sponsored us with 5 pairs of socks each. It was great to have three different weight of sock to choose from, depending on the temperature outside as many days, it has been a snow day, but now we are back to Vancouver, the precipitation has turned to rain!! It made interesting driving back to the city yesterday as we left cloudy skies at 100 mile house, then light drizzle, fog and finally buckets of rain as we neared Vancouver. The drive down the Fraser Canyon was the big mountain and river landscape again, but night came early and we missed seeing landscape for the skinny part of the journey as we neared Hope and the Avalanche area again; a tricky bit of road with long trucks throwing lots of spray at the window....big thanks to champion drivers John and Antoine tho' who delivered us safely here.

We have had really good driving weather for the rest of our trip and most days we had a long drive, the weather gods have cleared the road of snow enough for us to feel safe and very often delivered a bit of sun and clear skies too to brighten our spirits....how do Canadians keep smiling when they have winter weather from October to April!! We have anecdotal stories over the trip of weather up north near Prince George of minus 45, and radio reports of even more in the interior provinces as the wind chill adds at least another 10 degrees it seems.



Wildlife has also stayed put away from the roads and not embraced our vehicles, such as our friendly kangaroo in Australia! The boys have been hanging out to see some 'beasties' up close and finally were rewarded with sighting two Moose on a trail as they headed out for snow mobileing the day before the race; Antoine also had a Deer dance across the road in front of him on route to the waxing room, and our car load also saw the most beautiful winter owl perched in a tree as we drove back to billets, Barb and Mike Matfin out at Lone Butte. Barb very kindly took all the boys for a snow mobile adventure, including big boy John, as she had a few 'skiddos' parked at home, as it is family past time. Their faces were all full of smiles after that fun, especially after spotting the Canadian Wildlife at last.

Well time to wake the travellers, hit the mall for the last shop and head out for the airport..... maybe via the Aquarium as we hear it is really worth a visit. Sadly it is also our final day of enjoying the company of Antoine and Shawnda as they head off for their trans- Canadian journey home to New Brunswick and a new working life. Shawnda has been a real rock, having survived the crash course on life with teenagers, and how to feed 13 in one sitting!! We really hope this is not the last we see of our wonderful Antoine as words can not express what he has given the team over his brief years with us, and especially in this last month.... it has been more than coaching, it has been mentoring at its best, with lessons on life included. I speak for all parents to say what a fine young man he is and such a blessing in our young athletes lives. Please come visit us again soon!!!

So farewell to our great Canadian tour and let the planning begin for any future youth exchange for our Nordic skiers.

I leave you with my thought for our journey home: Live life, love life, and love what makes you happiest. :-) Liz Conroy, Team Manager.

posted by Nordic NZ  # 4:43 AM

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Thursday, February 7, 2008  

More Local Club races and a visit to a lovely club field

As forecast, it has been a busy few days of skiing. Tips Up Cup saw a sunny sort of day at the near by Sovereign Lake trails, about minus 7 for skiing and good conditions for classic skiing again/ the race was free style so all the kids choose to go skate with Jenny Connolly and I sticking with the tried and true classic method. A lovely rolling and gentle course with a bit of a bite at the end with a short, sharp hill.. nothing to the junior members but a final work out for Jen and myself.



Tips Up Cup results are downloadable/viewable at this link

You will note Samantha Williamson didn't race that day and Sarah and Katie wanted to do a longer distance so joined Anna in the longer 5 km skate which was for the older age group, with Anna first and Sarah second; also taking home first place medals were Mark in his age group, and another senior member of our support team, plus Matt and Andy 2nd, 3rd for their age group. As it was a club race, their wasn't a huge field but a race non the less.. the medals were a real delight but sadly wont make it home 'thru Customs as they are made of shortbread with 1st lined in icing! [We have photos 'tho]



Sunday also anther clearer day with glimpses of sun and the hint of a wind.... the race on day before was really a bit of a warm up as this day, most of the team did a minimum of 15 kms, Sarah included. Katie was having her off day and rested at home but all the rest out there doing a great job. Note Well, the TOTAL distance skied by any team was 75 km, so if only 2 in the team, that was 32.5 km each. I will need to update you with who did what distances as I was away at the Biathlon and it is not clear from the results page at www.silverstar75.ca; needless to say, a lot of skiing was done and all finished by 12.30pm. The team and supporters were very lucky later that day at the prize giving as at least half took home great door prizes of Nordic ski-related gear from local sports shops in the area; with great cheers from the crowd, the highlight for the team was getting vouchers to Domino Pizza won by John and Antoine. [Give them food and they are so easy to please!!]



My visit with the Biathlon Bears group was very informative with a chance to chat with shooting coach, Mike Schmok and other parent supporters about equipment options and rifle choices they had made, see some new designs for stepped supports for younger athletes to rest their rifle on for prone shooting, and also see the wide range of biathlete from age 8 'thru to age 16. This club has been using the Biathlon Bears program now for three years and it has great benefits to move the young biathletes 'thru a graduated program over this time.

Monday was not a rest day as hoped by some team members as we headed one hour north east to the Larch Hills Nordic trails in the Salmon Arm area; a really lovely club filed with a rustic cosy log cabin to warm up in and eat lunch. Some adventurous members such as John, Antoine, Sam and Anna headed off for a big loop of about 15 or more kms while the lads thought they would 'go west a ways' to find some wildlife such as a moose.. .. thankfully, no joy for them. This ski area had predominantly groomed trails for classic stlye skiing as we are seeing this as the main recreational style used here due to the colder weather; we now appreciate how fast the kiwi snow is with our relatively warmer winters that favor the skate style.



Feb 5th and another light snow day with powder of at least 8-10 cm, -9 again with a slight wind chill. Team training involved a ski for some over to the Sovereign Lake system, using the connecting trails from Silver Star. Not too far as the crow flies and it gives any one staying in this area another set of trails to choose from not far from your door if staying here in the Silver Star resort. We have been so lucky to 'stay put' here for our last fortnight and share the homely accommodation in the Puzzle House, a great place to rent and really great location re access to lifts, trails and the village shops.

Part of the winter carnival had a great tour that Jenn and I took too, with a snow shoe trip through the Ghost Forest for a delicious lunch finish at the Wild Woodsmans Hut; it was Ladies Day out and a lot of fun and a chance to experience snow shoeing. the real fun part was learning to Glissade which was basically Bum Sliding down snow shoots.. heaps of laughs and something we both tried with success. The tour finished with an interesting sleigh ride, being pulled behind Fred and Barney, the large Belgian horses that seem related to Clydesdales but smaller; aromatherapy was provided free of charge, and great jokes told by the sleigh driver as we proceed along the Bridal Path to the village. The day ended with a surprise visit from kiwi Roger Deacon, who had flown the coop from his Invercargill GP practice to take in some BC winter air and skiing; great to see him and a chance for him to ask the team first hand about this great month we are having in BC.

Wednesday is final day here and pack up day so I am guessing a few last bits of shopping, skating at the pond and maybe a game of Shinny or two; John Hogg is determined to head off on the last of his trails to take in the Round the Mountain route, with a couple of the older kids in tow; packing and sorting will be the order of the day for the remainder in readiness for our journey north to 100 mile House and a chance to billet with some local families who love Nordic skiing like us. We are keeping a watchful eye on the weather as the temperature warms up but more snow flurries forecast with big chance of rain on our return to Vancouver for Saturday night; its the last of our races that day as the team will enter another BC cup classic style race in the series. All are looking sharp and notably fitter, with big improvements in their classic style so we wait with baited breath for their results; what ever the outcome, it will be another great opportunity for them and another race to mark off in their training diaries for this truly exciting year.

My appropriate end for today, again from the walls of Bean to Cup cafe house...

"We do not remember days, we remember memories".

Ciao, Liz.

posted by Nordic NZ  # 4:34 AM

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Saturday, February 2, 2008  

Another Week in Silverstar

Weather has been warming up towards minus 9 and with it we get a few light snow flurries, which makes skiing really great. We are tending to stay mostly with the classic style of skiing as it is easier to move the skis at this cold temperature, however last night the team got to join the Silverstar team for skate drills down at the Sovereign Lake Nordic area stadium. It was amazing to watch as it was about the size of our rugby field and the lanes are groomed and spread out across the arena area in rows of about 10; the kids would dash up and down doing 15 second sprints , 20 times over the hour; Katie and Sarah were with the younger grouping going around part of the light trail, doing 6 uphill sprints of 30 secs. Yes, remember it is dark here at about 5.20pm so it was already night and temp was about minus 10; they had about 30 young athletes out for training aged from 10 through to 19, I think, and this is their elite training squad who are noticeably featuring in the top 5 of all BC cup results to date. One member is an up and coming star bi-athlete and skier, who is keen to visit New Zealand, according to her mum, so keep watching out for this name in Canadian's youth results: Julia Ransom.

Coach Antoine had a great talk with the group back in Whistler about how important it was to work as a team, respect each other, and make sure they all have fun on this trip... this was very confirming for me to hear as Team Manager, and the kids are really taking this on board; hence we are having lots of fun in our kitchen as each night we get the team to pair up with another member to treat us to their culinary delights. So far we have had some interesting meals such as Prawn Stir Fry, Spinach and Blue Cheese Pie, Peanut Butter Curry, but last night topped it all as Mark and Matt decided we needed no vegetables and very little savory in our meals by dishing up Pancakes! Lots of Pancakes the size of your face,...such toppings as ice cream, blueberries, sugar and lemon, and of course, plenty of Maple Syrup. [We did manage to sneak in a bit of bacon to keep the savory factor in, but they even experimented with chocolate pancakes!! I passed on that one but it was a fine effort, if not quite meeting all the daily food groups required].



More snow training now as tomorrow Tips Up Cup @ Sovereign Lake, and Sunday is the 75km Teams race around Silver Star to raise funds for their local hospital. I also hope to join the local team to see some biathlon training on Sunday to add to my experience at Callaghan Valley with the Biathlon Bears program, so more news in a few days as it will get kind of busy here. Today is start fo Vernon Winter Carnival too so up here will be snow sculpting to watch plus heaps of other things too.



Leaving you with another thought for the day from the walls of Bean to Cup :

Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love, to work, to play and to look up at the stars. Henry Van Dyke.

posted by Nordic NZ  # 9:21 AM

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Wednesday, January 30, 2008  

Tues. 29th January, More from the Cold Zone

COLD ...we in NZ do not understand the concept behind this word; at minus 20 yesterday the team lasted about 20 minutes of training only. As Antoine said, races are usually cancelled at this temperature, but now we have all experienced what this feels like, we understand a bit more about the word COLD. There were many layers and head and face warmers, and of course Mittens, but still the chill creeps in after a while, especially as you work up a little sweat. It is with great thanks to Peter Soundy from Peak Projects that we are all managing at all in the cold as the puffer jackets he gave the team have been a god send. Thanks Pete!

Anyway today, it is positively warm in comparison as I left the house at minus 14 in a light snow storm... not the large fun fluffy stuff we seem to see in Wanaka, but tiny annoying bits that feel like grains of sand hitting your face. Consequently, we can see no sun today so we may review our training plan to a trip to town and the post instead.



On days like this, the cafes here in the village just fill up to bursting as there is not much activity going on in the snow for folk, and here at 'Bean To Cup' I am sampling the most delicious hot chocolate i have ever tasted..its like liquid chocolate, but you need the extra zing 'cos of the cold. Despite the chill, the team still headed out last night for a game of 'Shinny' at the pond [that is Ice Hockey, and they have really taken to it; they work up so much warmth, they lasted a good hour down there last night so are getting great fitness]. This actually corresponds to the large amounts of food they digest, as frequently we make enough food to feed 20, even tho' there are only 13 of us; thank goodness for bulk buying here at the superstores. Cereal comes in 2 kg boxes and tortilla chips bags are as big as a 3 kg sack of spuds!! Its great to see them all happy, fit and well tho' so it is money well spent.



I leave you with todays thought from the walls of the cafe...

"We can not direct the wind, but we can adjust our sails". Anon.

posted by Nordic NZ  # 5:07 AM

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Tuesday, January 29, 2008  

24th to 28th Silver Star and surrounding nordic areas

Hi again from the chilly north....outside temperature at 8 am today read -21.4, we are going to dress warm and not do much outside today!! Even the locals say this is a little chilly for this time of year and Katie reports hearing the weather of the cold Arctic Winds blowing our way for the next few days. Amazingly it is still sunny and clear skies, with the odd snow flurry as we drive about.





Saturday we headed for Telemark nordic area past Kelowna, for the BC cup skate sprints and we managed some podium places, Mark in 3rd for Junior Boys and Samantha, in 2nd for Junior girls, again for details go to the http://www.zone4.ca.

Yesterday we travelled north by 2 hours to the Overlander club to ski a Loppet at Skate Lake, weather was sunny and a light -8 , with the odd flurry later in the day. Most of us did the minumum 10 km, even Me on Classic, and the hard outs went for 30 and 50km!! Guess who, Anna at 30 and Mark and Antoine did 50!! Fantastic effort too with placings in the top 5, see Overlander CLub for results, not out yet, check later tonight. Antoine showed us what it is like to 'hit the wall' as an athlete as he said he had to stop at 40 kms for 10 mins and couldn't even think straight! Boy did he look pale when he arrived in too. So today is a quiet day and tomorrow night we will have a training session with the Silver Star club juniors. Later in the week some are going to take in a hockey game in Vernon and we are planning a trip to Slmon Arm club too, if we can.

Tomorrow, we celebrate Mark's birthday here too, so there is a bit of fun in store.

Thats all for now, touch base in a few days.

Smiles from the cold, Liz.

posted by Nordic NZ  # 8:28 AM

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Friday, January 25, 2008  

22nd to 23rd Jan at Silverstar Resort, BC

We are all finally relaxing into our new lodging, with star features being the hot tub on the deck and the ski trail passing our back door!!

The team did a good work out yesterday with classic training down on the Silver star trails, preceeded by a friendly inter-team night game of ice hockey on The Pond, which is literally 500 m from our house. It is a lovely little area where you can ice skate and play hockey and go Night Tubing, just amazing! 

Jeni and I took the Meadow trail and did a 4 km ski to catch glimpes of some local wildlife, so far just a little chip munk we think, altho word out in the local news is that just up the road a black bear came out for a visit about 3 days before our arrival! Apparently he woke up early in the season so we dont want to see him again thanks! Also forgot to mention in Whistler, at the Body Shop in town, a little Bob Cat strolled in for a visit there too... enough of animals, and back to the team.

Wed. night was also a chance for some of the team, including John Hogg, to join Nat Anglam and Ben Falconer for a quick fun race down the road a bit, at the Sovereign Lake trails, bringing home a bag of sweets and a bit of wax as their prize. Apparently their attendance doubled the numbers attending so it was a very low key thing altho the trail circuit was challenging enough. We have yet to visit there in daylight as it is about 3 km down the hill from this village and we didn't realise there were so many trails right here at the village. Thursday and Friday will be prep training days for races at the Telemark Field which is the trails closest to Kelowna, and more in the BC cup series so watch this space!

I leave you all with this quote on the wall above me here at the internet cafe and wish you all well and thanks, Liz Conroy

..."Live a Good Life, and in the end, it's not the years in the life, it's the life in the years" Abraham Lincoln.

posted by Nordic NZ  # 8:34 AM

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Monday, January 21, 2008  

Monday 21st Travel to Silverstar via Lilloet and Cache Creek

Departed early from whistler for 9 am start to a crisp sunny day, travelling north on a smaller winding mountain pass road with the most amazing scenery.



Thought road would be just a bit snowy with sand on top, which it was but was a bit surprised to see road signs for 2/3 of that bit of road saying 'Avalanche area - no stopping'. Not much traffic on that road and after Cache Creek we headed for Kamloops and the big highway 1 for a short while then turned off to Vernon and arrived at Silverstar Resort in early evening with big full moon and lots of fun to be had as all found the hot spa waiting for us - with temp of -12 to chill us as they all took turns soaking, a hot dinner was made.

Everyone very well and in good spirits .... this little village is just so enchanting with all the bright Victorian style and paint finishes.

posted by Nordic NZ  # 9:54 AM

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Sunday, January 20, 2008  

Sunday 20th Callaghan Valley Olympic Park

Team have just raced last 2 days and coach is very pleased with them. Light snow and calm on Saturday and beautiful sunny and -6 only on Sunday; Saturday was a Classic Sprint and Katie and Sam both made it into B final races, today, it was Sarah and Samantha, Mark and Matt's turn to shine with placing in top ten for their Skate races.



For results go to www.zone4.ca and look at any of the BC cup #2 results. Catergories are as follows:
Katie and Sarah = Midget Girls
Anna = Juvenille Girls
Sam = Junior girls
Boys = Junior boys

posted by Nordic NZ  # 9:41 AM

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Sunday, January 13, 2008  

Week at Whistler 13th to 19th Jan 08

We are skiing as much as we can at the Olympic Park site at Callaghan Valley .. comments so far include "just amazing course and snow conditions", "love the skiing here", beautiful scenery to ski to...



You will all understand what we mean when you see the winter olympics here in 2 years time as now most of us have skied on parts of the olympic trails; I even headed off and did 1.5 of the Biathlon trial but there are many undulations and as you know hills are not my strong point [yet!]. I am to improve over the next few weeks though.



The team are all getting into a routine of skiing, playing and each pair of them, taking turns at cooking us a meal with delicous results. We are all well feed, and well shopped too!!



The team are good at hunting out bargins, here in Whistler and also in Vancouver [the girls favourite shop was called Skinny, where they all have anew wardrobe, Plus MEC for all our snow boots, and for the boys ...defintely 'Cows' in Whistler- a specialty icecream store where they have been known to have one treat and then go back to try another within half an hour!!]

posted by Nordic NZ  # 9:38 AM

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Friday, January 11, 2008  

ARRIVAL 11th & 12th January, 2008

Hi All, We arrived safe to Vancouver after our cosy 13 hour flight on Air New Zealand direct flight; the food was great and actually quite filling with good choices too. The new seating is surprisingly generous and the individual TV's gave lots of choices for the team to entertain them selves on the flight.

the team leaving Queenstown airport...


We had a nice stay at the tidy, altho cosily appointed rooms at the Ywca. The team just loved arriving in the airport, as did I with a tear in my eye too, to the beautiful airport building with lovely things to see along the way to the customs, we were going ok but had a delay with Matt and Andy in a que for a chinese flight so there was a hold up there and finally got out the other side to see smiling Antoine waiting for us all.

We loaded up the car and all the rest of us took of on the 40 min bus ride., thru lovely Vancouver. Folk are very nice and chatty here, Meet Yvonne who is kiwi that has house at Whislter to get the key, and she menetioned there is a land line at that house so will text it thru or email it tonight so you can ring us there all this week if you want.

We then sorted the cars and are getting a big twin cap ute with a big tray open boot to fit all the bas, on 4wd and also keeping the other 7 seater, so will look at getting chains.

Next was a trip to Sears Mall and the Food court where we ate a late lunch early dinner as it started going dark at 5 pm!! Fell happily into bed after 9pm and up with the birds today for our departure by land to Whislter via more shops at Squamish for supplies.

Smiles all round from the team, not too cold here yet at 9 degrees in Vancouver last evening, but heading for Whistler today with minus 4 on the board....

Bye for now, Liz and the Team

posted by Nordic NZ  # 5:54 PM

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Sunday, January 6, 2008  

Half marathon photos...

A few photos from our fund raiser half marathon at the Snow Farm on 3rd Jan. 2008... more>>

posted by Nordic NZ  # 4:13 PM

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Count down to Canada ... 1 week to go!

Well, it is getting seriously close to departure now, bags are
getting packed and snow reports checked. Last minute travel plans are
being tidied up and all the team are humming!! Antoine and Shawnda
have already departed our shores and are catching up on a little
'Aloha' sunshine, surf, and mountain climbing!!... while we bask in
the beautiful summer of the central lakes region.

It was near 30 degrees yesterday so we will remember this fact in a
weeks time as we head north into the mountains of Whistler with 40 cm
of snow and -17 degrees!!

Thanks to all our supporters for continuing to buy raffle tickets ,
phone us with paying jobs and generally get excited along with us.
You're just Great and we appreciate it!

Keep and eye out on the pages as we hope to keep an update of the
tour every couple of days when we can get wireless reception so watch
this space for more news.

Thanks, Liz Conroy, Team Manager, Jnr Nordic Development Team.

posted by Nordic NZ  # 10:16 AM

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