NEWSLETTER http://www.bvnordic.bulkleyvalley.com/ March 2006

Message to the chair: Our condolences go out to Geoff Recknell and his family on the recent passing of his mother.

12 Hour Ski Fund Raiser: We are fundraising for arthoscopic equipment for the hospital this year. The date is Saturday March 11 from 7:00 am to 7:00 p.m. and there is a potluck dinner right after at the ski trails. Most people bring a lasagne or a crockpot full of chili or whatever. Lots of draw prizes and fun for all. The course is an easy 5 km loop with both skating and classic tracks. The cost is $ 8.00 per participant which covers snacks and fluids, some money to the ski club for track setting and whatever is left over goes towards “Operation Keyhole” (the equipment that the hospital is fundraising for). There are no prizes for placings, just a ton of draw prizes. We have skis, poles, sunglasses and lots more to give away. Every one is guaranteed a prize. There are categories though: Individual (anyone crazy enough to take this on?), team of 2 (somewhat crazy), team of 4 (much more reasonable), team of 5 or more (can have any # of skiers over 5). Entry forms and pledge sheets are at Mcbike, Oscars, Winterland, Valhalla. Please drop off registration forms at McBike on Friday March 10th so Peter Krause can put them on the time sheet. This event revolves around fun. More info call Peter at McBike 250-847-5009.

AGM: The new Spring AGM! A wine and cheese social will commence at 6:30 in the Lodge on April 7, 2006. The Annual General Meeting will follow at 7:30 p.m. Call for nominations for the Club Executive. Anyone wishing to stand or nominate someone for an Executive position, please call Brian Fuhr 847-2508

Biathlon: Biathlon has been going strong this month with the weather making practice easy. The athletes are all enjoying their lessons from Sandy and the improvement in their skiing obvious. Lisa Perry also has been giving the winter games kids some extra help. We are sending a zone team to Trail for the BC winter games. Owen Quastrom, Daniella Melason, Alli Dixon (Burns Lake), Erica Erasmus (Vanderhoof) and Frank Guillon (coach) will be flying out Wednesday night for Trail. We are wishing them luck and hope they have a lot of fun.

Opening the range on Buchfink Lodge Day was an overwhelming success. Everyone that came got to try their skills at shooting and the adults seemed to enjoy it as much as the kids do. Biathlon appears to have an opportunity to do some growing over the next few years.

The club has taken on the banquet for The Marathon as a fundraiser. We plan on using the money to help support the athletes going to the nationals and for buying more club rifles. We also organized and ran the concession at the BV open and the money raised will be added to the rifle fund.

Courses: Level I and a Level II Officials In the fall of 2006, the BVCCSC will be putting on a Level I and II Officials course in preparation for the Westerns in 2007. If anyone is interested in taking these courses, please contact Darlene Doogan-Smith at [email protected] or 847-9451.

19th Annual BV Marathon Saturday, March 4, 2006 Brochures for registration available in the sports stores, or on the club website - earlybird rates for those mailed in by March 1st. Last opportunity to register is Friday night (March 3rd) at the Hudson Bay Lodge from 5:30 - 8:00pm. Race packets can be picked up on race day morning - for those who have pre-registered.

The BANQUET is the big Nordic social of the year; all club members, skiers and volunteers are encouraged to come enjoy great food and good times plus awards and prizes. Send in for your tickets now using the registration form, or get them Friday night at the Hudson Bay Lodge. As above, Saturday is too late. The Banquet is at St. Joe¹s School 5:00pm for snacks, dinner at 6:00pm, cash bar on site.

NEWSLETTER

The Big 51 km Marathon starts at 9:30 am. Everyone else, including little kids with parents in tow attempting the 1 km loop; plus serious recreational skiers who will take on 3.5 or 7.5 km; the 17 km loop once or maybe twice (34 km Marathon) will enjoy a mass start at 10:00 am. Frequent snack stations along the route and then a hot lunch is served in the lodge. The day includes a catered banquet and prizes to follow the skiing.

Don’t miss it - all skiers are encouraged to participate in this classic event at whatever distance they like, or come help out as a volunteer - we still need more folks for timing, feed stations and in the lodge. Please call Brant or Tenley Dahlie at 847-5046.

Masters: It’s hard to believe the Masters season has come and gone so quickly. I think this is the first season we haven’t had to cancel any sessions due to cold or blizzards. The newly extended lit track offered great teaching terrain this year and with so much coaching expertise, we’ve all made great strides (literally!) in our skiing. Of course, anyone who was there for the starlight ski knows a little darkness wouldn’t stop us anyway.

Apparently this is a popular program. Adding up how many skiers came out Wednesday nights, there were over one hundred participants. If you were unable to join us this year, there’s always next year. We’ll be back. And thanks to all our coaches!

Rabbits: Irene and Sandra would like to thank everyone who contributed in making this year’s Rabbits program a great success. We had roughly 100 Rabbits and a third as many volunteers to put various aspects of the program together. We would especially like to thank all the Rabbit Leaders without whom there would be no program: Irene Weiland, James Cuell, Jill Pardoe, Bob Shiach, Pat Desmarais, Cathy Doyle, Jill Krause, Amie Copland, Irene Ronalds, Troy Larden, Jane Woods, Geoff Recknell, Lorna Halverson, Peter Tweedie, Kara Jenne, and Don Morgan. There is still a lot of great skiing yet so we hope to see you out there on the trails!

Racers: A strong contingent of skiers, young and older, travelled to Prince George for the BC Cup #3. As it was the last race in the series, the Aggregate Trophy winners in each age category were announced and, equally important, the Provincial Club Championship trophy was awarded. The Bulkley Valley Nordic Racers have a long history involving the Club Championships. Prior to the year 2001, Bulkley Valley had won the trophy six times since it was established in 1980. For the last five years the Sovereign Lake Nordics from Vernon have won the trophy. Their winning streak was broken this past weekend as the Bulkley Valley Nordic Racers proudly brought home the Club Championship. The final tally was 93 for Bulkley Valley and 70 for Sovereign Lake.

The host club, Caledonia Nordics, put on a great race and the skiing conditions were excellent. All the Bulkley Valley racers skied hard and played hard as was evident by the happy faces. Our medallists were: Day One: Free Technique: Atoms: 1st Matthew Carrier; 2nd Robin Price Pee Wee Boys: 2nd Jason Oliemans Mini-Midget Boys: 2nd Ryan Jones Midget Girls: 3rd Laura Norman Midget Boys: 1st Steven Hollenberg Juvenile Girls: 3rd Morgan Pellow Junior Women: 1st Leanna Mitchell Junior Men: 2nd Adam Doogan-Smith Senior Women: 3rd Lisa Perry Master Women 31-40: 1st Tammy Woods Master Women 41-50: 3rd Jody Hollenberg Masters Women 51+: 3rd Christine Birnie Masters Men 51+: 1stLarry McCulloch.

NEWSLETTER Day Two: Relays Classic Technique: Children: 1st Gabriel Price, Ben Carrier, and Jason Oliemans; Girls – Mini-Midget & Midget: 2nd Ursina Luther, Kaileen McCulloch; and Laura Norman; Junior Women – Juvenile, Junior Girl, Senior Girl: 2nd Leanna Mitchell, Cara McCulloch, and Morgan Pellow; Senior Women – Senior & Masters Women: 2nd Tammy Woods, Jody Hollenberg, and Lisa Perry; Junior Men – Juvenile, Junior Boy, Senior Boy: 2nd David Gibb, Simon Jones and Chris Pendray; 3rd Alex Doogan-Smith, Alex Pendray, and Eric Holdyk Provincial Aggregate Winners: Midget Boys: 2nd Steven Hollenberg; 3rd Nick Thompson; Juvenile Boys: 3rd Eric Holdyk Masters Women 41-50: 3rd Liz Holdyk; Masters Women 51+: 2nd Kirsteen Laing; Masters Men 51+: 1st Larry McCulloch; 2nd Andy Thompson. Congratulations to all the racers.

The BV Open on Feb 12th was a big success. We hosted a local pursuit race with 75 participants from our local club and neighbouring clubs. The weather was great and it was a fun race both to watch and participate in.

A pursuit competition without a break consists of a first part with mass start, followed by the changing of skis in an exchange area in the stadium and then continues with a second part. The first leg is classic technique, followed by skate technique.

Next year our club will be hosting the Western Canadian Championships. If you are interested in becoming involved with these races, contact Darlene Doogan-Smith at 847-9451 or [email protected].

Skijoring SKIJORING RACE, 10:00 Sunday March 12 at the start of the dog trail. Informal fun race. Register on the spot for $5.00, which covers refreshments, prizes and dog bones, a one lap time trial of 4.5km, individual starts (mass start would be fun to watch though!). Want to help out? Phone Brian Fuhr 847-2508. See attached article for more on skijoring.

New Website bvnordic.ca This will very soon be accessible. Amy Copland has spent many hours on the map and functionality and worked with BC Designworks to get it designed & built. Thanks to Lorna Halverson for her years of maintaining the old site, she will stay with it as the new site is updated, and will keep the photo gallery. Various club members will be updating information weekly... so it should grow to be an effective communications tool. We will let everyone know when it goes live! BC Web is continuing to host the club website at no charge - thanks to Simon Franklin for this donation.

BV Backpackers Please contact trip leader in advance to the trip as if there is not enough interest the trip may not go.

Date Event Rating Co-ordinator Phone Mar 05 Four Lakes Basin Diff Steve Lockwood 847-5166 Mar 12 Silverking Basin Mod Marcel Lavigne 877-7792 Mar 19 Driftwood Mtn Top Meadow Mod Lyn Shervill 847-3663 Mar 26 Ski hill Henderson Creek Diff/Mod Elaine Edmison 847-9453

NEWSLETTER

Skijoring 101

With the dog trail emerging as a popular addition to the trail system, have you considered skijoring? Norwegian for “ski driving”, this is the sport of being pulled on skis by one or two dogs. It can be done by anyone with adequate skiing skills and virtually any breed of dog - provided it is willing! The sport is practiced worldwide and continues to grow in popularity as more and more people discover the thrill of skiing with their dog and the satisfaction and benefits accrued from the exercise. Today in Canada competitive skijoring is gaining popularity too and there are now many skijoring races held in conjunction with dog sled races.

Skijoring usually combines one or two dogs in well-fitting padded X-back racing harnesses, and a seven to nine feet long line which connects the skier to the dog. The line usually has a portion of bungie cord incorporated into it to absorb some of the shock from starts and stops. The skijorer wears a padded belt at least three to four inches wide or more, usually equipped with a quick release buckle or snap at the point of attachment to the skijor line as a safety release.

On the groomed dog trail at our facility, you can use either skating style or classic cross country skis, boots, and poles for this activity, although due to the potential of injury, skis with metal edges are not recommended.

To enjoy your first outing, it is a good idea to do some training beforehand with your dog, acquaint him with the harness and learn some basic commands. You can use whatever words you feel most comfortable with, but some standard sled dog lingo is "gee", to go right, "haw" to go left and "on by" to go straight or to pass. "Hike" can be used to get the dog going or to run faster. "Easy" means to slow down, and "whoa" to stop.

As usual the internet has many good web sites to visit for more information on this sport plus on-line shopping for skijoring gear. Here are just a few sites to check out:

General information about the sport of skijoring including racing and other links: (http://www.sleddogcentral.com/skijoring.htm)

Basic tips and advice from the North American Skijoring and Ski Pulk Association: (http://www.nasspa.org/Tips/Skijoring_Tips.htm)

A very good site with tips on developing conditioning in your dog and training him to pull, plus a toolbox of useful commands: (http://www3.telus.net/public/mysterym/html/skitrain.htm)

Some Canadian suppliers of skijor accessories such as harnesses, belts, etc.: (http://www.gonewildkennels.com/), (http://www.snowyowltours.com/main.html), (http://www.chatmac.com), (http://www.tanzilla.ca/index.htm), (http://www.working-dog-equipment.com/index.html), and (http://www.komout.com/products.htm)