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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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