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| The first XC Ski Team Race of the season took place at Highlands Nordic on January 18th with 23 enthusiastic competitors. Event 1 pitted two teams against each other: the Keele/Hwy7 bus vs. Yonge St. bus. Each team had to move a series of pylons down a 100m course in a train-like formation. The teams were evenly matched until the last few metres. The winning team was the Keele/Hwy 7 bus by less than 3 seconds. Event 2 was a 3km race through “the maze” – personal times were recorded to see which team won. The prize once again went to the Keele/Hwy 7 bus. Everyone celebrated together with a hot chocolate après-ski. The next XC Ski Team Race is the March 9 trip to Highlands. |
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What an Awesome Start to the Season!
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| The first cross-country ski/snowshoe trip of the season was the last Saturday of December at Scenic Caves and it was a real party! Two buses, loads of new members trying cross-country skiing for the first time, an epic sauna experience, and an après to “bring on the new year”. What a great day! Want to know what a day trip with the cross-county ski and snowshoe crew is like? Check out the highlight reel of this great day! The cross-country skiing and snowshoe crew have been maximizing their winter fun! Full buses have been running since the end of December and everyone is feeling grateful for the amazing conditions at the resorts.A new social calendar of après-ski events have been added to XC ski/snowshoe day trips. Themes have included C is for Chocolate, S’mores Galore, and Hungry as a “Miniature” Horse (for our trip to Horseshoe Valley). Additionally, the cross-country skiers have decided to embrace a new dance craze: cross-country ski dancing (it maybe isn’t a “craze” yet but it could be one day!). Check out their videos on Instagram (be sure the sound is on)!Dance #1 Dance #2 |
XC Day Trip Full? Get on the Waitlist!
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| Since members are so excited to ski, waitlists are an important part of the registration process. If the trip is full, sign up on the waitlist. People cancel off trips and then we move people over from the waitlist. It happens often! You have 24 hours to pay after which you’ll be deleted from the trip – so if you want to ski, check your email (including junk mail). Be prepared to act! On Wednesday morning before the trip we clear the waitlist and any unpaid registrations (even if you haven’t had a full 24 hours to pay – sorry). Any remaining seats are up for grabs. This system is a balance between fair access and minimizing the work for volunteers. If there are enough people on the waitlist, we will try to run a second bus if the resort allows it. |
Upcoming Zoom Session: Cross-Country Skiing & Snowshoeing 101!!!
Interested in cross-country skiing and/or snowshoeing this year? Great news!
We’re hosting virtual 101 sessions that’ll give you all the information you need to be ready for an upcoming day trip!
These sessions are ideal for:
- new members interested in XC skiing/snowshoeing
- returning members from downhill or snowboarding who want to dabble in XC skiing/snowshoeing
- prospective members (i.e. friends and family you’ve been trying to convince to join the club!)
Sign up on the Social Events page for one of these dates:
Tuesday, November 26 @ 7pm
Wednesday, November 27 @ 7pm
Sunday, December 8 @ 7pm
Celebrate the XC season with a wine and cheese ski day in the sun!
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| While we are hoping to run more trips, the reality is that this coming weekend may be our last. It will be sunny and warm, so come celebrate the season in the slush with your ski friends. Saturday we will be at Scenic Caves and will hold our annual wine and cheese in the log cabin before we leave (departure time remains the same, we will just end our ski day a bit early). There are lessons and guided snowshoeing. The Sunday crew (if enough register) will be headed to Hardwood for one last glorious day in the sun. Register by Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 6pm. March can be unpredictable and if we magically get more snow, you know we will be on it and will try to run more trips! But as much as it pains me, the forecast is just not looking favourable at the moment. So get it in while you can! Heather, Director, XC Skiing and Snowshoeing |
Cross-Country finally has snow!
It was a long, frustrating wait, but we are back in business! Many of our ski areas got walloped with snow this past Sunday. It really does take just one good day of snow squalls. We ran our first trip to the snow globe that was Scenic Caves last Sunday and we are preparing for many more.
January 20 we are headed to Highlands Nordic and January 21 we are headed to Hardwood Ski and Bike. Both should have great conditions as it’s supposed to be a cold week.
Register for trips here: https://hpsc.ca/Cross-Country-Day-Trips-Registration. We are still opening trips on a week by week basis, be we should be able to move to our normal two-week registration window at some point soon.
If trips are full (people are keen to ski!), put your name on the waitlist. If enough people want to go, we can check with the resorts to see if we can bring two buses. Or, if there are cancellations, you could get moved on the trip. As I have mentioned, we know people like to ski Saturdays, but we can’t accommodate everyone who prefers that. Sunday often doesn’t fill up as quickly.
Let’s get out and enjoy winter!!!
Reminder: Cross-Country is not permitting drive ups
Another reminder that cross-country is not permitting drive ups for lessons this year. We simply do not have the instructor capacity to accommodate it. This likely will be the case for the next few years, as it takes time to find and train new instructors.
If you signed up specifically to drive up for XC lessons, please email membership@hpsc.ca and we can refund your membership. You may still drive up for alpine lessons (and need to be a member for that). Thanks for your understanding.
Cross-Country Ski School special programming is back
New to cross-country skiing? Our classic beginners series might be for you. Join instructor Vera (or Liora, depending on demand) for three consecutive weeks of beginner classes designed for new skiers. You will have the same instructor and classmates and learn to get moving on your skis. You must be available all three dates (January 7, 14, 21) and email crosscountry@hpsc.ca to register. If you can’t join the series, you can participate in our regular beginner lessons.
We are also offering special hill clinics that will give you more practice time than in a regular lesson. Our beginner hill clinic on January 20 will teach you to get up and down hills safely. For more advanced skiers who want to play around going faster (step turns anyone?), we are offering an intermediate/advanced hill clinic on February 4 (TBD as to whether it’s classic or skate). Sign up online during trip registration.
Also for more intermediate/advanced skiers, we are offering a classic trail handling clinic on February 24. Learn how to transition between techniques on the trail to ski smarter and faster. You will need some facility with all the main techniques – diagonal stride, double poling, one step double pole in particular. Sign up online during trip registration.
And for those who just want to get tips for a specific technique, we are offering two dates of skate and classic tips and tricks (February 10 & 24). Book 15-20 minutes with an instructor to work something specific – whatever you want! Sign up online during trip registration.
Please note that on the days we offer intermediate + clinics, we will not be offering any other intermediate/advanced lessons. We may schedule more clinics for later in the season as we assess how its going. If there is something in particular you would like a clinic on, let us know at crosscountry@hpsc.ca.
Cross-country ski school special programming is back
| New to cross-country skiing? Our classic beginners series might be for you. Join instructor Vera (or Liora, depending on demand) for three consecutive weeks of beginner classes designed for new skiers. You will have the same instructor and classmates and learn to get moving on your skis. You must be available all three dates (January 7, 14, 21) and email crosscountry@hpsc.ca to register. If you can’t join the series, you can participate in our regular beginner lessons. We are also offering special hill clinics that will give you more practice time than in a regular lesson. Our beginner hill clinic on January 20 will teach you to get up and down hills safely. For more advanced skiers who want to play around going faster (step turns anyone?), we are offering an intermediate/advanced hill clinic on February 4 (TBD as to whether it’s classic or skate). Sign up online during trip registration. Also for more intermediate/advanced skiers, we are offering a classic trail handling clinic on February 24. Learn how to transition between techniques on the trail to ski smarter and faster. You will need some facility with all the main techniques – diagonal stride, double poling, one step double pole in particular. Sign up online during trip registration. And for those who just want to get tips for a specific technique, we are offering two dates of skate and classic tips and tricks (February 10 & 24). Book 15-20 minutes with an instructor to work something specific – whatever you want! Sign up online during trip registration.Please note that on the days we offer intermediate + clinics, we will not be offering any other intermediate/advanced lessons. We may schedule more clinics for later in the season as we assess how its going. If there is something in particular you would like a clinic on, let us know at crosscountry@hpsc.ca.  |
Thanks for a Great Season!
Thank you to everyone who participated in our cross-country day trips this year. While winter got off to a very sluggish start, we ran 18 trips.
A huge thank you to all our volunteers who make it happen:
- Monica Sauer and Theo Kempe – who make sure that all the bus captains, DODs and guides have all the paperwork and info they need on every trip. Monica also volunteers on our long trips committee, organizing the long weekend bus trips.
- Paul Moser – who does all the trip financial reconciliations and audits.
- David Cloutier – who orders our buses every week.
- Jean-Emile Paraiso and Gayatri Bharadwaj – who create all of our trip modules on the website.
- Howard Gibson – who schedules all our bus captains.
- Linda Lavalee – who runs our new member ambassador program.
- All the bus captains – Monica Sauer, Marjanne Lyn, Carol Collinson, Howard Gibson, Jennifer Meyer, and Claire Patregion. Our thoughts are with Paul Dover, who we hope is well enough to rejoin the group next year.
- Jeff Stainsby – who sets the schedule and does all the post-season administrative work for ski school.
- All of our instructors who taught this season – Jean-Emile Paraiso, Regina Eiras, George Lorenz, Suzanne Denis, Owen Rogers, Nicole Pepper, Vera Polyakova, Adrian Butscher, Liora Freedman, Janine Jorgenson, Elaine Rennet, Andrew Mahoney, Ron Duffy, and Carine Wood.
- Our snowshoe guides – Melain Cheung, Cynthia Johnson, Cynthia Wheatley, and Queena Kwok (who stepped in late in the season and will be leading next year!).
- And the finance team, including Clark Seadon and Lisa Philpott, who ably and quickly dealt with our payment issues this season. Also, thanks to Hilary Childs, Richard Kinread, Steve Jonjev, Judy Chen, and Michele Williamson. There were a lot of refunds this year, due to the weather and the IT issues, and they did a great job.
After we wrap up the season, we will be taking a well-deserved break over the summer. We will ramp back up in late summer, but the schedule won’t be posted until November. You can expect the same pattern – the season will begin December 30 and then we will have trips every Saturday and Sunday thereafter until the snow disappears at some point in March. Registrations for the first few trips likely will open around December 18. Nothing for you to do before then except renew your membership and get in ski shape!
Have a wonderful summer!
Heather Steel
Director of Cross-Country Skiing and Snowshoeing