Everything groomed. GI registration ends tonight

Terry was on the Pisten Bulley at  4:30 am and had all the trails groomed by 7:45 am. He said the new snow has set up well. Should be great skiing today.

Weekend skiing

For regular skiing this weekend please avoid the GI routes during the events.  Saturday’s sprints go from 1 pm to 4 pm and involve the stadium and all the Blue trail. Sunday’s longer distances  go from 10:30 to 1 pm  and use the Upper Blue, Red, Purple, and Red Ext. See as well the schedule below.

Register or volunteer

Registration for GI the ends 10 pm tonight Friday.

Let’s see if skiers from our club can out number the visitors. The event is for recreational skiers and racers alike. On Saturday the Sprint distances range from 50 m to 1.25 km depending on age.

On Sunday there are short distances for the children (200m, 400m, 800m and 1.5) depending on the age. For those born before 2004 there are three longer distances to choose from. There is also a recreational category for the 5km, 10km, & 15 km. Go to the Gander Invitational page for details.

Wednesday7:45 am. Terry has groomed all the trails except for the Gold and a couple of short cuts. The snow has set up well and conditions should be good. The snow still had moisture which created problems if the Pisten Bulley was put in reverse. Backing up   would create snow balls so Terry had to keep the machine in a forward direction. This meant the intersections have only a single width of the Pisten Bulley.

 

If the forecast holds for snow tonight and Thursday, the next grooming will be Friday morning.

 

There are still issues with club emails being blocked. It seems many members received there’s but one group was blocked. If you are on the email list, put the club email address ansc.email@gmail.com in your address book or contacts. If you don’t want to receive club emails, ask to be taken off the club’s email list.

 

Ski the Gander Invitational or volunteer

 

 

It’s time to register for the Gander Invitational this weekend, March 25 & 26. Sign up online for one day or both. We still need volunteers too. Volunteer for one day or both. For Saturday’s sprints it will be 12:30 to 4 pm and Sunday 10:00 am to 1 pm.

With the snow in the forecast for today and the mild tomorrow there’ll be no grooming Monday and Tuesday. The hut will be closed and lights off for these days too. There should be reasonable skiing today before the snow gets too heavy.

Check website, Facebook and Twitter for updates, we are having issues with our group emails. 

Gander Invitational. Chili on for Sunday 

This Saturday and Sunday. You can register for one day or two. Let’s get a good turnout from our club. Non-racers are encouraged. Make this your personal challenge and then enjoy a bowl of Lillian and Jeremy’s classic chilli. For details and to register check out the Gander Invitational page at airportnordic.ca. Sprints are Saturday, the usual Gander Invitational Sunday

Sunday 8:40 am. Terry has been on the Pisten Bulley grooming since 6 am . He’s coming off the Red Extension now and has only the lower Red left to do. The trails are in great shape. What a beautiful day. Get out and enjoy it.

 

Junior Program Today 2 pm – 3:30 pm. We’re hoping all the skiers in the junior program take part in the Gander Invitational next weekend. The final session of the Junior Program will follow the kids events for the Gander Invitational next Sunday March 26.

 

 

We’ve had problems with our club emails being blocked the past two days and today‘s just rejected. To lessen chances of the club emails being blocked add the club address to your address book. Set up a contact called “ansc.email” and put ansc.email@gmail.com in the email field.

Terry is making progress with the grooming now but only after failed attempts earlier with both the Pisten Bulley and Bearcat/Ginzu. He began his efforts before 6 am and had given up. Fortunately, around 8 am he noticed a slight drop in temperature and he began again. Earlier the snow was too clammy for the Pisten Bulley to cover the tractor marks. The smaller machine failed as well as the snow piled heavily on the drag. This puts too much strain on the snowmobile’s motor causing it too overheat.

 

Terry is just finishing the Gold and will now do the flatter upper trails and the Red and Red Ext.  I was out for a skate earlier to test conditions and the surface is perfect  even  though the machine had just gone over it.

 

Lakeside Loppett delayed till Sunday

We have a blizzard warning for tomorrow, Saturday, so we have rescheduled the Loppett to Sunday morning. Remember the clocks change overnight Saturday.  We encourage skiers to be at the hut for the 10 am group start and photo but if you need the extra sleep or can’t miss church you can start on your own later. 

No excuses. Every skier and every kilometre counts.

For details about the Loppet go to http://airportnordic.ca/lakeside-loppett.

Jeremy has created maps for the 10 km, 4.2 and 5.2 routes which Ashton has added  to the website.

Gander Invitational March 25-26

Paul has the race notice for GI 2017 fine tuned and Jeremy has everything set on Zone 4 for online registration. Go to

https://zone4.ca/register.asp?id=14981&lan=1&cartlevel=1.

See the Race Notice here: Race notice GI2017 v3