Bindings and Session 1

Thank you to all the kids coming out today. We had 132 kids check in today, over 50+ compared to our most attended event last year. We will be having a link for photos and additional information soon on the blogsite.

Bindings

We had a lot of problems with bindings today. The bindings on the rental skis are automatic bindings from Salomon and typically operate very well...not sure why so many problems are occuring but here are a few suggestions:

- Freezing - Bringing the ski from a warm environment such as a house then into cold weather may be causing the binding to freeze inside. Try to keep in a colder environment (i.e. garage) before skiing to allow the metal inside to "acclimate".

- Lubrication - Work some lubrication into the inside of the binding. The new bindings seem to be very "tight". Try snapping the boot into the system several times and lubricating. The goal is to "loosen" the metal springs inside so that they work properly.

Thanks Again,

Noel & Jennifer

Snow Just In Time

Greetings Bay Nordic Skiers

For the second year in a row we got the big snow storm needed right before our first event! Trails and weather should be great for Saturday.

A couple of items for next Saturday:

• All kids need to be in their groups by 10:00am. Please allow enough time to check-in (all kids must check-in and out), pick up rental skis if needed, and find the groups. The sessions are scheduled to go from 10:00am to 12:00pm. Typically the younger kids will be in earlier for hot chocolate and cookies.
  
• Check-in will be well marked outside of the lodge.
  
• During check-in, kids will be provided their groups. Groups will be well marked below the trail head.
  
• Parents must be with 3-4 years olds during the entire session. For the older kids, we ask that parents let the kids ski alone in their groups.
  
• Please dress kids appropriately for the weather and activities. Try not to over dress as the kids will be very active in the groups…especially for the more experienced skiers.
  
• Brown County has been very supportive of our program. Please obey their trail fee policies during the event. Kids 12 and under do not require a ski pass. However older kids (13 and older) and adults are required to have a trail pass. InCompetition sells Annual Passes for Brown County Parks. Additional sales locations are listed on the County's website. Day passes can be purchased at the trail head.
  

As always, please let us know if you have any questions.

Begining Parent/Adult Lessons

Quick Reminder - Please remember to send your registrations and rental in.  Rentals are filling up quickly and early registration greatly helps us with orgainizing the program.  We are having a great response again this year and should easily surpase the number of kids from the first year..

New this year Bay Nordic is offering ski lessons for Parents and Adults new to skiing or with limited experience.  The lessons are being facilitated by Deb Ernst as a fundraiser for the program.  Instructors are available on a volunteer basis and 100% of the fees are going back into Bay Nordic.  Both classic and skate techniques will be taught.  Skiers must provide their own equipment.  The lessons will be tailored to teach basic skills that will allow the skier to enjoy the winter! and maybe keep up with their kids!

Registration forms are under the "Resources" section of the blog.  Please have registrations in by December 10th.

Cheers

2010-11 Membership Information & Registration

Hello Bay Nordic skiers. 2011 program information and registration forms are ready to go. A couple of key items:

• We are asking that registrations are submitted by December 1^st. The earlier the better because it helps greatly with organization.
• Two rental options are available this year. The options are detailed within the Membership Information. Equipment rental priority is given as registration is received. We do our best to accommodate all rentals; however, with limited equipment and varying sizes it may not be possible as we progress. Rental payments will be reimbursed if we are unable to fulfill.
• Registration forms and updates will also be posted at http://baynordic.blogspot.com/.

Thank you all in advance for your interest in the program…please share with family and friends. We are looking forward to the ski season! Think Snow!
Noel & Jennifer

2010-11 Ski Season/ANST Trail Race and Duathlon

Greetings BAY Nordic skiers,

With the first year under our belt, we are excited that the planning process for the upcoming ski season is in full swing for the club. This includes fundraising to add to our equipment, expanding membership, coordinating events and registration, and overall organization.

We hope that first year members will join us again and also expect (hope) to have additional kids.

Included is our 2010-2011 Ski Season flyer announcing the club as well as our Fundraising information. Your assistance with sharing this information is greatly appreciated.

Registration and final program information will be available by mid-October. Once again, information will be posted at http://baynordic.blogspot.com/.

Coaching

Last year we had a great group of coaches that help out, especially after so many kids joined…hopefully those same coaches are able to assist again. If you are interested in helping coach or be an assistant coach please let us know.

Upcoming Event – Trail Race and Duathlon at the Reforestation Camp to support local ski team!

The Ashwaubenon Nordic Ski Team (ANST) is holding a trail running race and duathlon on October 31^st. ANST is a competitive club for middle and high school kids racing in the Wisconsin High School Nordic Ski League. Many of the BAY Nordic skiers may be part of this program in the future. This is an important fundraiser for the program. Information on the race can be found at
http://skiwithanst.org/. Races include a 5K (perfect for the older BAY Nordic kids), 10 mile (perfect for Denman), and duathlon (5K run & 20 mile Mt. Bike)…a great opportunity to burn off the Halloween candy! We hope to see you there with your BAY Nordic hats on.

Noel & Jennifer Versch

Thank You Bay Nordic Kids & Families

Great job this year to all the kids that participated in Bay Nordic. Thank you for being part of the first year! The Kids Were Great.

The excitement and participation of the kids greatly exceeded the expectations of Jen and I, Mark and Deb Ernst, and Bob White when the five of us first got together and started putting the club together. A big thanks to all the volunteer coaches and parents that helped out…I'm afraid to list names because I'm sure to miss someone. We had a total of 98 kids registering with 70 to 80 kids attending each event.

We hope the club met everyone's expectations and intend to continue building a strong kids program and ski community in the area. We were recently confirmed by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which will allow us to pursue additional sources of grants and contributions.

Hope everyone has a great summer and joins us again next December.

Noel & Jennifer

 

Our last event is coming up on Saturday, March 6th. We hope everyone is able to attend. The schedule includes group activities as 10:00am followed by food and drink. The back half of the shelter and grill is rented for the BAY Nordic group. We will be providing burgers and hot dogs. If anyone is able to contribute with additional items, let Jennifer or Bob White know.

- Side dishes (pasta salad, potato salad, fruit, veggies, chips, etc.

-Paper plates

-Drinks (soda, juice, water)



Help will also be needed for setting up the food and with clean-up. We will start the grill early but are encouraging all families to extend their stay at the Camp into the afternoon.



If you haven't had a chance yet, check out the photos from the Stump Farm Race. All the kids did great with big smiles all around. The improvements that all the kids made throughout the year have been great.



http://shoffmanphoto.smugmug.com/Cross-Country-Skiing-2009-2010/Bay-Nordic-Ski-Club



Hope to see you Saturday.



Noel

Congrats to Ashwaubenon Nordic Ski Team

Great job by the ANST at the Wisconsin State High School Championships this past weekend in Wausau.


Nordic Ski Club - Ashwaubenon School District: "The Latest News -

Irwin Wins State Championship, Guys Team Sets Historical Milestone

For only the third time in team history has a state champion from ANST been crowned. Deedra Irwin won the state classic race by a wide margin, placed 6th in the skate race and was named overall pursuit state champion last Saturday. It hasn't been 2007 and 2005 when Melanie Hoffman won the crown that an Ashwaubenon skier stood atop the podium. Irwin finished the morning's classic race a full 10 seconds ahead and added to her margin of victory in the pursuit by taking 6th in the afternoon's skate race. More details on the race results page.
The guys came up with several ANST firsts in the state championship races on Saturday; the first time two ANST male skiers (Shommer, Anshutz) made the top ten in the classic race, the first time two ANST male skiers (Shommer, S. Egelhoff) made the top ten in the skate race, the first time three ANST male skiers (Shommer, Anshutz, Egelhoff) made the top ten in the overall pursuit and the first time in team history that any ANST, male or female team, brought back an overall team trophy. The guys' team of Paul Shommer, Phil Anshutz, Sam Egelhoff, Joel Egelhoff, and Jake Egelhoff won 2nd place overall. More details are on the race results page."

Upcoming Events

http://shoffmanphoto.smugmug.com/Cross-Country-Skiing-2009-2010/Bay-Nordic-Ski-Club

Two more events are scheduled for the first season of BAY Nordic and hopefully we will be fortunate to have great conditions as we have had each session so far. I hope everyone has enjoyed the group as much as we have. All the contributions from all volunteers and coaches is greatly appreciated. We would have been even more lost without it. Total registrations for the year has hit 100 kids making this one of the largest kid programs in the State, well beyond our expectations. Between 75 to 80 kids have participated in each session.

February 20th

The next event is February 20^th and time for the kids to show off at the annual Stump Farm Ski Race hosted as a fundraiser for the Ashwaubenon Nordic Ski Team. As part of the festivities, a kids event will be held featuring the BAY Nordic kids....please encourage the kids to wear the BAY Nordic hats. The ANST is setting up three distances for the kids.

• ½ km for 3 to 4 yr old group
• 2.5-3.0 km – 5 to 6 & 7 to 8 yr old groups
• 3.5-4.0 km – 9 to 10 & 11 to 12 yr old groups

The BAY Nordic kids event is set up to be a non-competitive fun event for the kids to go out and enjoy. A 5km Middle and High School Race is scheduled for 10:15am for any older kids wishing to race at their parents consent. Any Bay Nordic member wishing to participate in the race must register separately.

We will be providing our normal check- in and rental during the session. All kids must report to their groups by 10:00am and remain with their coaches until the start. BAY Nordic kids will be starting after the 5km Middle and High School race at approximately 10:40 to 10:45 am. We will have coaches and volunteers out on the course to make sure we stay on the course and help out with any problems.

Jennifer will be coordinating cookies and hot chocolate for post-event refreshments. Please let us know if you would like to volunteer to help out on the course or with refreshments.

Additional information on the Stump Farm is located at http://www.ashwaubenon.k12.wi.us/highschool/athletics/stumpfarm.cfm#d105226. An adult race is at 11:30am for any parents wishing to participate.

March 6th

March 6^th is our final session and will consist of normal group activities and a cook-out. We have the back-end of the shelter along with the grill rented for the day. Grilling will start early but we would like to encourage families to stay into the afternoon, eat some food, and ski.

As always, please let us know if you have any questions. Think Snow!

January 9th Photos

Thanks again to all the families making it to our Jan. 9th session....We're having a great time with this program and couldn't be happier with the group we have. Hopefully some of you caught Jen's interview on Fox 11 Saturday night (we missed it). Fox 11 is planning on doing a longer segment on the club for the next event for Jan. 23rd.

Photos from Jan 9th are posted at http://shoffmanphoto.smugmug.com/Cross-Country-Skiing-2009-2010/Bay-Nordic-Ski-Club.

Session 2 Schedule

Greetings BAY Nordic Kids & Parents.

We're looking forward to Session 2 this upcoming Saturday (Jan 9^th). A couple of reminders for this Saturday:

1. All skiers must be with their groups no later than 10:00am. Please make sure to arrive early enough to check-in/register, get rentals if needed, and change into appropriate gear and clothing .
   
2. Check-in will be outside by the trail head to avoid the congestion in the lodge.
   
3. Skiers will be assigned a Group Color at registration. The colors will coincide with age groups from the first session; however, if you feel that your child should me moved up or down a group please let us know at registration or send an e-mail.
   
4. Remember to dress your kids appropriately…temperatures are expected to be colder than the first event.
   
5. Parents are required for 3-4 year olds. All other ages, we ask that parents allow their kids to ski in the groups themselves.
   
6. Hats are in for those that have not received them yet. They will be available at check-in.
   

See you Saturday.

Noel and Jennifer