Beautiful 10km SK Course

Wednesday 7am:
Course conditions are superb for our second day of racing here at Dawn Mountain. With yesterdays 20cm setting up throughout the night it has created perfect skate conditions. Get up here and check out the course. The full system has also been groomed with the exception of Raven. Should the groomers have sufficient time they will groom it following course setup. Hats off to our grooming team today.

Day 2 Start lists Posted

Startlist for the Free 10/5km Technique (Day 2) race is available here:
https://zone4.ca/results.asp?id=4782

Race Day 2 expecting SNOW!

20cm new snow at Vagabond Lodge this morning

Mother Nature is having her way with the participants in the 2012 Cdn Masters this year as clear skies throughout the night prior race #1 changed the course characteristics throughout the morning making for very fast skiing. While there were a few spills everyone had a great day on skis. Tuesday has brought much new snow overnight changing the course from icy to very snowy as the picture above will attest. 20cm of new snow fell overnight with snow expected to last throughout the day and into Wednesday. The 5/10km course will be groomed constantly throughout the morning on Wednesday to ensure that it sets up.

Registration Now Closed for the 2012 Masters Champs

The Golden Nordic Ski Club will be hosting between 75 and 140 racers each day for 4 days of racing at the 2012 Masters National Championships held here in Golden, BC. These numbers do not include coaches, families and spectators who will be attending the event as well. Expect Day1 (20/10km Free Technique) Startlists posted to Zone4 by Saturday afternoon.

Feb 7th Pic: Last Day to Register!!

Dawn Mountain this morning in the stadium looking north to the "Clamshell" following grooming. Pic by Dan Vaselic, our web master and Masters participant in the Free Technique events. Thanks for the great shot Dan!

We have received over 25cm of snow in the last 3 days. 

Early Weather Predictions for Mondays Race

Early weather predictions are looking good for our first race in the week long series with Monday temperatures ranging from -2 to -5 at the venue with 30-60% chance of snowfall. Lets hope it stays this way!!

Follow Weather Office for updated weather trends throughout the week and lead up over the weekend at:
http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/city/pages/bc-34_metric_e.html

These temps are for the Golden town site which is roughly 380m below our venue. Generally the temp rule for the Dawn Mountain Nordic Center is 3 to 5 degrees cooler than Golden forecast.

Also utilize the weather data collection from Kicking Horse Mountain Resort at:
http://www.kickinghorseresort.com/mountain/information/advanced-weather-data.aspx

This site is located at 2060m so if you split the difference between the two sites you will be pretty darned close to the right temps.

Registration Clarification

The closing time for all of the Masters Champs races is at 11:59pm on Wednesday March 7th. Link to the Zone4 registration page HERE. Thanks.

2 Days Remain for Registration

Hello All,

We have a great group of over 100 pre-registered athletes from all over North America! The Race Committee held a fantastic training day on Saturday with over 80 of our race officials in attendance. Our crews are hyped and the community is ready for YOU to come and ski our beautiful trails. Tuesday is our last day for registration for all Masters National Championships events. We look forward to seeing you in one weeks time.

Regards,

Troy Hudson
Chief of Competition
2012 Masters National Championships

Registration Deadline: March 6!

Feb 26th on Raven, part of the 15/30km Classic course.

Get in on the Masters event of the year. Ski with the finest skiers in Canada!

We are very happy to host some of the ski legends of our country. You need not be a competitor to enjoy the events we have to offer. You can enter one to four events. Our caterers, our sponsors and volunteers are proud of what we all have to offer.

New Snow and Alberta Family Weekend

Skiffs of snow are forecast over the next couple days. The conditions are great and we are excited to have our friends from the East over for Alberta Family Weekend! Come ski our great trails all. Skate conditions are buttery smooth and the classic skiing is fabulous.

One Hour Left People!!

There is one hour left for early-bird registration. We are almost at 100! Race fees jump from $30 to $45 at 11:59pm tonight. Click on the big blue button to register now on Zone 4!

Mountain Town Medals

Locally produced, mountain heritage inspired, one of a kind medals. Only the best for our participants. 

Note the gold, silver, bronze on the mountaintops, the climbing rope lanyard, and woodburning artwork. Our medallions are made by local craftsman Dave DeMuy who is also an adventurer and historian. Dave paddled the routes of the voyageurs for 35 years and will give a talk Friday afternoon right after the award ceremony in the Dawn Mt Chalet, about the history of the fur trade and David Thompson. 

The Masters are Coming.

The word is out, people are registering and the trails are being assaulted with skiers from across Western Canada in preparations for the Canadian Masters Champs. People are voicing their opinions and we are getting great feedback on trail conditions and course selection. Here are a couple more photos to get you in the mood.   ONLY TWO DAYS REMAIN FOR THE EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION DEADLINE PEOPLE! 

 Beaver Run is being used for the two long distance races.300m to the finish line.

 Our incredibly hard working Race Secretary takes a break (from the computer) and takes in the views and great conditions on Caribou, an essential component of the long distance races. 

Want a break from skiing while you are here. Bring along the snowshoes for an adventure through the beaver ponds. What an amazing picture! Thanks JeffD for the shots.

Does the 30km Classic seem a bit long?

Well......you have options. Registration is now open for the 2012 Huckleberry Loppet taking place on the last day of the Masters National Champs.If the 30km may seem a bit DAUNTING no worries as you will be able to enter into the 15km Huckleberry Loppet race. Please remember that there are NO day-of registrations for this event any longer and you must register online. Bring your whole family for a great day of racing. Thanks!

Registration for the event is on Zone4. Click here to register today.

Feb 15th: Early Bird Deadline is Rapidly approaching!

Hello all prospective participants! Spread the word that the early-bird registration deadline is Feb 15th. Pricing is $30 per event at this point but following this date prices increase to $45 per race. It pays to pay early.  :)

Register online directly at: https://zone4.ca/onlinereg.asp?id=4216&lan=1

If you have friends or family coming with you that may be interested in volunteering click here.

See you in a month!!

Generous Sponsors help make event a success.

Over $4000 in prizes and  $9000 in Masters Race sponsorships has been collected by our team for our March 11-17 week of festive fun! Our club is going to ride a wave of great racing for years to come with the exceptional support for this event! Click on the Canadian Masters logo to find our more about the week.

In the meantime, our full moon ski went well with many skiers skiing the full moon from Saturday to Wednesday this past week. All were treated to those great trail conditions in -10C temperatures and many heard the call of the Boreal Owl near Chickadee Trail. Expect perfect training conditions as the light snow and -5C temps continue up at Dawn Mountain through the weekend

Masters come to Golden in March

This week in the Golden Star newspaper.

Golden Star - Masters come to Golden in March

Dawn Mountain Nordic Trails (Feb7th)

Knickers and Knee Socks on Hickory Skis

A beautiful day of skiing up on Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park adjacent the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Burgess Shale.

Canadian Masters Emerald Lake Ski Day

Kicking Horse Ski Club www.khsc.ca, located in Field, BC welcomes Canadian Masters participants to visit the Emerald Lake Ski Trails on Thursday March 15. The trails are an easy 40 min drive east on the Trans-Canada highway from Golden. If you don't have a Parks Pass, stop by the Visitors Center at Field to pick up your $10 day pass and then head up to Emerald Lake, a short drive from the Visitors Center.  

Visit this hub of activity at Emerald Sports & Gifts on Emerald Lake with 24 km of linked groomed trails. A various size selection of old reconditioned "Woodies" complete with SNS or NNN  bindings from the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise Heritage Collection are available for you to try. XC YOHO in style!!!  

Wear your heritage outfit and/or take a hickory ski tour surrounded by Majestic Rocky Mountains on the Great Divide.We'll be taking pictures!  Bring your mug for a Free Hot Apple Cider. Thanks for hosting this great day trip Kicking Horse Ski Club!

If you want to car pool please e-mail jdolinsky@uniserve.com for more info.

Great Skiing!

Intersection of Raven and Caribou at the Beaver Fen, a critical section on the 15/30km Classic course (Day4 of the event). We have a LOT of snow as you can clearly see here. We need to pull our signage up out of the snow!

Local skier, and soon to be first time racer, Dana Hudson out getting some mileage in on the 30km course. This photo is taken on Raven, the lower section of the Day 4 race course. 

Photos compliments of JeffD

Sun, sun and more sun!

Grooming down on Caribou.

Hello all, this coming week is bringing a high pressure system with mild temps and glorious sunny days. Need to get in some pre-event training? Come on over the conditions are excellent! With our grooming hick-ups behind us conditions are fast and fun. Course maps can be found here on the blog by scrolling down or by checking out the club website. See you on the trails. Come join us for a Masters ski of the 5/10km Free short course on Saturday at 10am! Happy Skiing all. 

New Grooming Equipment in preparation for the MNC

New groomer coming... expect great tracks for the Masters!
Arriving for our club this week is a new 4 stroke Yamaha sled which we will use with the YTS for grooming to fill out our grooming needs with the BR400 snowcat.This addition gives us a nice comfort level that backs up our existing grooming equipment. Remember, we have 4 separate courses for the week, so lots of variety.

Rotary Pasta dinner price lowered! And bands too!
Our Rotary Pasta Dinner will be $15 per person instead of $20 on the race notice. Entrants that paid extra on Zone4 will get a rebate! We have four bands for the pasta dinner playing Rockabilly, folk music, Celtic and old time Jazz. It will be a great time to loosen up between races. For the Banquet we have a rock and roll dance band from Calgary booked.

The snow keeps coming.

Chief of Competition Troy Hudson out for a training session on Tuesday

Snow continues to fall in Golden with albeit rather cold temps (-26 today). The humidity level remains strangely high as well (70-80%) producing between 5-10cm of snow per day. Keep it coming!

Volunteers Wanted: Apply Within

The Canadian Masters Championships is a major affair and provides the perfect opportunity to show off our community spirit to athletes from across North America. The Competition Committee and Event Committee are seeking enthusiastic, motivated and passionate community members to come and be a part of this week long festival. Whether you can help out out for one day or for the whole week, assisting with awards or evening festivities, course marshaling or timing, we need all the volunteers we can muster. With over 200 participants daily with four days of racing we will need LOTS of people power in the back end to create a positive experience for our guests to Golden.  We will need roughly 60 volunteers each day for many different tasks so please contact our Volunteer Coordinator for more information. If you have a specific area of interest to assist in let us know.

Check out the Race Notice for a link to the event calendar. The organizing Committee would like to thank you ahead of time for your interest in getting involved. There are training days for all volunteers working the event so no prior event experience is necessary to become a volunteer. 

Early Morning Frost (Jan 5th, 2012)

Overnight clear skies with mild and high humidity air from the night before created this great frost layer which freshened up the tracks and made for a magical start to the day. 

OC Update January 6, 2012

2012 MNC Organizing Committee Update

Happy New Year Skiers!
The past two months have kept us Goldenites on our toes, getting most of the details in place for what will be a fine week of racing and socializing. We have been blessed with good conditions with over 30cm packed base on all our trails since mid December!

Our organizing committee has concentrated on a number of important goals, most of which have been accomplished or will get done by the end of January. These include setting up a variety of courses for our races.   Here is what we have:

Ø      The 10k free course will be a long, spread out course using lots of our easy terrain. Beaver, Hawk Owl, Caribou, Moose and Cougar. It will finish with a long uphill to the stadium. A  true 10k course.

Ø     The 5k free will start out with a nice Leaping Lynx technical section, with short hills, followed by a flowing cruise over our most popular trails (Beaver and Chickadee) and back up to the stadium. 5.6k

Ø      The 5k classic course is unique in that it starts easy, has a short technical twisty section near the beginning followed by a climb, then gets easy for most of the rest of the 4.7k course. This race will be the only Individual Start course and is the perfect design for such an event. Fast and flowy.

Ø      The  15k loppet course is our signature classic course. Beginning with an easy first 4k, it drops to an aid station after 6 k and follows the famous Raven trail over many short climbs. A 40m climb back  up to the Caribou trail, passes the same aid station, just before the long climb up Cougar to Chickadee. Easier terrain takes you back to the stadium for either your finish, or second lap. Yep, it’s 15k.

      The courses are a challenging 10k, two easy 5k ‘s and a harder 15k. Designed to all be manageable shoudl you wish to compete in all events.

Our events will include a lunch for competitors and volunteers each day.

We also have a number of cool organized social events including:

Ø      a short talk with David Thompson of the NWC and HBC (he lives in the Blaeberry Valley just downstream from Howse Pass)

Ø      a trading post selling local crafts. Hand made medallions for the podium winners

Ø      a live talent event and pasta dinner

Ø      A chance to ski the Emerald Lake Trails in Yoho National Park,

Ø      And a fabulous banquet dinner and dance with lots of donated prizes !

Get your entries in via zone4 and book your accommodation soon! We will have a top limit of 400 entries.

Course Maps are Now Available for Download!!

20/10km FREE MNC Course

All of the course maps are now available both here and on the Golden Nordic website. The 20/10 Free technique course is the first event of the week offering a long straight start out of the stadium. Utilizing much of the lower trail system we were able to create a smooth yet exciting race course. One key feature to the course is a 1.3 km long downhill at the north end (down HawkOwl) which allows for a good recovery section. Caribou, perhaps one of the most spectacular trails at Dawn Mountain is being used which favors 1-Skate specialists as the terrain is rolling and relatively flat. Cougar offers the largest climb on the course so save some energy for this climb at the end. Two laps of this course provide the 20km distance. Click on the images to provide a close-up of the map. You can easily save and print the maps from here. Go to the homepage to view all maps.

10/5 km FREE MNC Course

This is the Chief of Competitions favorite course and athletes are sure to love the unique course design offering numerous rests with a couple short steep climbs and plenty of mixed terrain thrown in to keep the course fast. The course favors 1-Skate athletes as there is so much rolling terrain. The first person into the first corner 400m up from the start will have a distinct tactical advantage leading up through "Leaping Lynx".  With the addition of Chickadee there is a generous dose of rolling downhill terrain to build up speed and cruise into the stadium for your second lap. Numerous passing opportunities will present themselves so there is always the opportunity to make a break for the podium. 

10/5km Classic MNC Course

Our 10/5km Classic Course provides a 400m straight away off the start prior the first corner, providing lots of chance for sprinting to the first corner. The course loops up through "Leaping Lynx" within our sprint trail network and follows a series of  friendly twists and turns before the long gentle downhill to the north end of the course (great for double poling specialists!). Wrapping around the wetlands, you climb very gently back up and into the stadium for your second lap. The 10km Classic is the only Individual Start event of the Championships. This is the perfect course to hold a time trial due to its long straight-away's and wide trails, providing many opportunities to pull in the athlete ahead of you. 

30/15km Classic MNC/Loppet Course

The 30/15km Classic Course is our longest course and also happens to take place on the last day of competition. For those of you that have had the great pleasure of skiing this course it offers stunning views, great varied terrain and perfect "Golden" design. The Huckleberry Loppet is in it's 15th year and will be taking place on the same day as the long distance classic event. Expect up to 100 locals of all ages out cheering you on as well as standing beside you at the start line. You're in for a treat!

Excellent Ski Conditions over holidays and into the New Year

Golden has been blessed with a continuous supply of snow over the last three weeks ensuring that our base is solid and our day skiers are happy. While in town temps have been above freezing on average for the past couple weeks, the 400m elevation difference between the town site and the xc trails has ensured that snow continues to fall. Ski conditions are above average with more snow expected in the coming days. We have over 30km of classic and skate terrain groomed and open daily. Come ski Golden this weekend, you won't forget it.