Snow Gods having a busy week
Last week’s column described the difference a few centimetres of snow made on several rough spots at Kelowna Nordic Ski and Snowshoe Club. The Snow Gods must have been laughing knowing what they had planned.
The Ski Sheriff and Constant Companion Carmen invited other members of the Central Okanagan Outdoors Club to join us Sunday on another outing at the popular ski area north of McCulloch Lake (off Highway 33).
The Sheriff estimated there was more than seven centimetres of fresh powder and it snowed intermittently throughout the day. Kelowna Nordic club president Ryland Garton had groomed on Saturday so this was like a wilderness or backcountry ski on a logging road.
Thanks to a ski waxing night at the home of COOC member Marshall, most of us had 0 C to –4 C wax on our cross-country skis, the perfect wax for these conditions. However, member Terry wanted more glide so he filled in some of his fishscale in his kick zone. But then he couldn’t climb hills. So he tried scraping some out when we got to Upper Meadow Cabin.
The centre of the ungroomed track was so soft and smooth the Sheriff even tried skate skiing up some of the gentle hills. Riverside Trail was in excellent shape but the Sheriff forgot about a long incline we nicknamed The Hill That Never Ends.
And then it snowed this week. And snowed some more, perfect for everyone with time off over the Christmas and New Year’s holiday period.
*** It’s shaping up to be a big year at the Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre in the North Okanagan.
“It’s our biggest year in every way,” said general manager Troy Hudson.
In fact, Dec. 15 was the biggest day in the club’s history with 1,748 buying day passes. They were joined by an uncounted number of season passholders.
After launching the season on Nov. 11, attendance for that month totalled 5,800, plus passholder visits.
More than 1,000 people came up on Dec. 9-10 for the 2017 Haywood NorAm Sprints, the first event in this year’s NorAm series. It was also a stop on the USSA Super Tour so there were “just shy of 500 athletes,” said Hudson. “It was wild, but it just went off so smooth. We had 180 volunteers and everyone was just over the moon. There was a lot of really positive feedback.”
Sovereign’s new coach and programs director, Eric de Nys, is doing very well, he added, and everyone is benefitting from his extensive experience as an athlete, coach and administrator.
De Nys, from Prince George, raced as a junior with the Caledonia Ski Club, raced at the World Junior Championships in 1994, and won medals at both the Canada Winter Games and Canadian championships. He then coached at Foothills Nordic Club in Calgary and worked with Alberta’s development teams, followed by eight years with Cross Country Canada as the senior women’s World Cup head coach and assistant head coach of the men’s World Cup team.
As head coach, his athletes competed at numerous World under-23 and junior championships, World Cups and two Olympic Games.
Biathlon Canada, based in Canmore, then hired him as its new high-performance technical director to lead the senior World Cup team in preparing for the 2018 Winter Olympics. De Nys also held a supervisory role in the administration, long-term strategizing and planning of the Biathlon World Cup team.
Sovereign’s school program has enrolled close to 1,800 students from three school districts: North Okanagan, Central Okanagan and Vernon. That will mean close to 4,000 visits (compared to 3,600 last year) for three lessons and a chance to practise the cross-country skills they have learned during their three-hour visits in the new year.
*** With all that new snow this week, Mason Buettner, Big White Ski Resort’s new communications manager, says: “Conditions are amazing right now. I spent the morning on the mountain and it was absolute bliss.”
Big White has numerous events over the holidays:
— Santa’s Workshop: Dec. 16-24: The big man himself will spend two weeks shredding the slopes before taking off on his trip around the world. This is the perfect opportunity to meet Santa and get a free family Christmas photo.
This year, Santa’s Workshop will be located in the Telus Igloo in the centre of the village.
Santa’s elves will also be looking for little helpers to make Christmas decorations that they can take home to adorn the tree. Santa’s workshop will be open 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 1:30-4 p.m. today but only until 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 24). For more information, email events@bigwhite.com.
— Breakfast with Santa: today and Sunday: Happy Valley Day Lodge will host Santa for a big breakfast before he heads out to deliver presents. A buffet breakfast will be served in the Moose Lounge from 8-10 a.m. Breakfast includes fresh-baked pastry, fruit salad and yogurt, maple bacon, pork sausages, scrambled eggs, hash browns and a pancake bar with a selection of festive toppings for $15.95. For more information, email events@bigwhite.com.
— Christmas Eve Service: Join Pastor Jack in the Village Centre Mall at 4:30 p.m. Sunday for a special Christmas Eve church service. that includes readings, caroling by the Rookie Ski School Choir and a sermon. There will be some seating for those who arrive early as well as plenty of standing room. After the commencement of the Church Service, guests will be invited outside to continue the festive celebrations at Big White’s Annual Christmas Eve Parade. For more information about this event please contact: events@bigwhite.com
— Christmas Eve Parade: this annual tradition at 5:30 p.m. in the village promises to be the biggest yet with some surprises, visits from much-loved Christmas characters and even an appearance from Santa before he sets off to deliver presents around the world. Afterward, guests should make their way over to the bottom of the Easy Street Run to watch the legendary Ski School Torchlight Parade and a huge fireworks display.
— Ski with Santa: Monday, Christmas Day: After a long overnight journey around the world, Santa’s favourite way to unwind is to hit the slopes at Big White. You can join him dressed up like Santa, wearing your most stylish Christmas sweater or rocking out as reindeer at 10 a.m. in front of the Village Center Mall. Sometimes, Santa even has a few candy canes to hand out.
*** Avalanche safety is a priority at Baldy Mountain Resort so the South Okanagan ski area is offering an avalanche skills course this month — all 12 spots were immediately snatched up.
As backcountry travel becomes more popular with skiers, snowboarders and snowmobilers, Baldy (baldyresort.com) wanted to do its part to help keep people safe, said general manager Andy Foster.
The Avalanche Skills Training course (AST1) on Dec. 28-29 is in partnership with the Mount Baldy Alpine Club.
“They went quickly, fantastic interest in the course. We hope to do another, but no date or commitment from the instructor,” said Paul Rauhala of Mount Baldy Alpine Club.
The course teaches the basics of both travel in avalanche terrain and in avalanche rescue. Local accredited backcountry expert Finbar O’Sullivan will instruct the course. Participants who successfully complete the course will be issued a formal certificate and qualification.
“The Baldy operations team puts a lot of time and effort into ensuring the area within the resort boundary is as safe as possible,” said Foster. “We don’t recommend people access the uncontrolled backcountry from the resort, but those who do should have sufficient training and confidence in their skills.”
Commonly known as the “side-country” rather than the backcountry, the area located outside of the managed resort area carries the same risks as backcountry areas located many kilometres into the wilderness.
“Travelling outside of the resort boundary is done at your own risk,” emphasized Foster. “We are working together with groups like the Mount Baldy Alpine Club to spread the word about the dangers of accessing the backcountry and assisting in education for those that would like to learn more.”
The resort and the Mt. Baldy Alpine Club are open to providing more courses, if demand exists, and hope to make the course an annual offering. The current course was available for $270 per person with a $50 deposit required to reserve a spot. For more information or to reserve a spot in the next course, contact Rauhala by email paul@okaped.com or phone 250-808-9352.
J.P. Squire, aka the Ski Sheriff, is an avid outdoors enthusiast. Contact him with your outdoor news at jp.squire@telus.net.