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Fernie Winterfest 2018

Nordic Skier Latest Posts, RSS Mar 10, 2018Nov 3, 2019events, EVNC, Family Activities, race, racers

Last weekend was a great time for the Fernie Nordic Winterfest. It all started at the end of the regular ski lesson on Saturday morning.

Megan Lohmann said a few words in a short presentation about the 2018 Teck Kootenay Cup. This year the Cup was won by the young racers of our racing team with the help of many other club members and adults who have participated in the six races of the series: two races here in Fernie, two more in Kimberley, one at Nipika and the last one in Nelson. It is a great achievement as this is the third time in the last four seasons that Fernie takes the Cup home. Big smiles all around.

Next the young skiers participated in the annual Racing Rocks! event. The very young ones were busy with a scavenger hunt while the older kids skied the trails in a Barkley Marathon style event where each one had to bring a specific page from five books placed along the way. Lots of fun for all!

The Winterfest continued on Sunday February 18 at 11 a.m. with the 6th Annual Community Fun ~~Race~~ ski event. Twenty-four participants joined in several categories: a short distance for an easy-going ski and a longer one for the more competitive skiers. Some chose the skate style ski for speed while others went with the classic style. Coach Naomi did her run with the other skiers, then returned on the course pulling a chariot. The small passenger did not seem to mind the ride. And what about that best costume category?

Presentation of the Teck Kootenay Cup
Skate skiers at the start line
Classic skiers at the start line
Winners of the Best Costume category
Naomi and her chariot at the finish line

A BIG Thank you! to Sam, the organizer of the Winterfest, and to the group of volunteers including Robert Holmes who made this weekend a success. Check out the event results are on this page

The next nordic event in Fernie is the SNOW TO ICE(cream) challenge during the Griz Days from March 1 to 4. Get set! Ready? All the details HERE

Kootenay Cup 2018

Nordic Skier Latest Posts, RSS Feb 13, 2018Nov 3, 2019kootenay, racers

It has been an absolutely incredible year for the Nordic Society. From record breaking membership, to our biggest skills development program ever, we are thrilled.

But the cherry on top (so far!) was the announcement of the results for the Teck Kootenay Cup circuit last weekend – the Fernie Nordic Racers brought home the Kootenay Cup!!! We were first place, with a total of 642 points. We had 145 race-starts over the 6 races this year and many podium finishes. All this for a team that has existed for just 4 years.

The dedication of Coach Jeff and Coach Naomi, the commitment of the parents and families of the racers, and the participation of keen Fernie Nordic members at the races contributed to this success (for the third time in four seasons, in fact! The hours that our coaches and parents volunteers on a weekly basis is admirable and so very much appreciated.

What everyone who has participated in a race will tell you, is that the community of nordic skiers is unlike any other sport. The environment is supportive, fun and family-like. At the end of the day, we all love to get outside, work hard and have fun.

Congratulations to the Fernie Nordic Racers and EVERYONE who has participated in a Kootenay Cup race, or became a member of our club this year – you ALL support our ability to keep our trails and programs running.

Join us at 12 PM on Saturday at the Nordic Centre as we celebrate the achievement. And join us for our Winterfest activities this weekend and find out what this community is all about!

from Megan

And here are a few photos from the last race in Nelson on Sunday

To Kimberley with our Punch Pass

Nordic Skier Latest Posts, RSS Feb 8, 2018Aug 5, 2020passes

This short piece was submitted by club member Jan Kron following her latest ski excursion

This past weekend we took a break from Fernie skiing and headed to Kimberley for two days with our BC Punch Pass in hand. Kimberley Nordic has a very active club … we were told about 1200 members. They have approximately 30 km of groomed trails with a main loop much like the Galloway Loop at our Nordic Centre but with side trails and additional trails cut through the forest to connect the two sides of the main loop. On a clear day, there are beautiful views of Mount Fisher and the surrounding mountains. We skied the longest loops and some of the side trails on Saturday and Sunday or approximately 10-12 km each day. In terms of difficulty, the trails would be equivalent to the Galloway Loop. On the trail map, all trails have elevation profiles. Each evening, a fully lit night course was available if we had wanted to venture out.

The clubhouse which is approximately double in size to ours has a full kitchen to cook meals and heat soups. Hot chocolate and coffee is on the house! There is nice wood stove and lots of tables and seating areas. On the Sunday we were there, a full-on birthday party was underway. Fundraising activities are numerous but the special one is a gourmet ski event on Saturday February 24. For a set price, guests are invited to a night ski with several stops at stations that provide gourmet food to the participants. All you need to bring is a head lamp, cutlery and dishes.

It was a great getaway with lots of reasonable priced accommodations and some fabulous restaurants to boot.
Jan K.

Jan and Helmut

More info about the trails in Kimberley: https://www.kimberleynordic.org/trail-maps

ed. Send us your own story or story idea to be included here. A junior reporter/writer would be a great addition to our website staff of one! Contact us through this website

A Winter Getaway

Nordic Skier Latest Posts, RSS Jan 17, 2018Aug 5, 2020passes

This short piece was submitted by club member Jan Kron following her latest ski excursion

This year we decided to break up winter a bit by buying the BC Punch Pass offered by Crosscountry BC. There are 3 different options when buying the pass but we chose the ‘Ski twice at a total of 7 different British Columbia Nordic Centres’ for $89 each (now $79 in 2019). Our first venture is a trip to Sovereign Lake Nordic Club with the reputation of being one of the top clubs in BC. Sovereign Lake has 50 km of daily groomed trails (105 km if combined with Silver Star Ski Resort trails) and about double the membership of the Fernie club.

On our first day, Saturday, the parking lot was full by the time we got there at 10 a.m. The punch pass is new to the BC Nordic Community so we were pleased that the ticket office knew all about it. The signage at the Centre is superb so we had no trouble finding the route to the only hut away from the clubhouse called the Black Prince. Wanting a good workout we chose the longest route, a 12 km trail that turned out to be mostly uphill. It was comparable to skiing up to Island Lake Lodge with a bit more uphill and no gourmet lunch as a reward. The cabin, a lovely old log cabin that is a bit bigger than Fernie’s warming hut, was packed with the lunch crowd. Strangely the cabin is at a lower elevation than the clubhouse despite the fact that all the difficult trails seem to have a lot of uphill climb to them. It seems everyone takes the shorter, relatively flat route up to the cabin, a trail a little longer but comparable to our Cedar Loop. We took an intermediate route back to the clubhouse encountering along the way several groups of various types of lessons, something that this club is noted for.

We had two picture perfect days of skiing at Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre and would recommend it as a great winter getaway. Our next stops: Kimberley, Nelson and Rossland combined for February, followed by Nakusp, Golden and Revelstoke together in March.
Jan

Jan and Helmut

For more info about the BC Punch Pass, visit our page here

Kootenay Cup races in Fernie

Nordic Skier Latest Posts, RSS Jan 2, 2018Nov 3, 2019events, EVNC, kootenay, race, racers

Held on 30 – 31 December 2017. The Nordic Centre was a very busy place last weekend with two days of races of the Kootenay Cup series. Sixty-one racers braved the cold on Saturday and forty-nine did it again on Sunday in even more frigid temperatures. The young and adult racers came from Rossland, Nelson, Invermere, Golden, Canmore, Montana and Fernie for the event. Can you recognize the local participants and racers from Fernie?

Big thanks to photographer Ryan Schultz for the great pictures taken during both races days. The photos may be found HERE, HERE and HERE. Check out his Facebook page too.

Race Results

Results from Saturday race (click to open)
Results from Sunday race (click to open)

The event could not have happened without the numerous volunteers from the club. Huge thanks to them! We also had support from these great sponsors: Teck, Fernie Auto Parts, Happy Cow Ice Cream, Fernie Mountain Bike Club, EK Zone Canadian Ski Patrol, Fernie Rentals, Super 8 Fernie, Fernie Lodging Company, The Cedars, Starbucks, Clawhammer, Galloway Lumber Co. and Resorts of the Canadian Rockies.