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Life in Whistler Village

The Athlete Village for the Olympics is located 4 or 5 kilometres from the Town of Whistler and the ski resort. The number of athletes in the Paralympics is less than the Olympics, therefore the village now houses many of the workforce volunteers, including the forerunners, and the athletes. The athletes are in a centre compound surrounded by a steel mesh fence. The athlete workforce is in a series of townhomes and trailers, located inside an outer perimeter fence but outside the fence ... More

What is a forerunner?

Until I applied for the position, I really had no idea what a forerunner (a.k.a. foreskier) was. After I applied, I had some more idea but only once we had our orientation at the Whistler Olympic Park (WOP) was there a good understanding. In a typical loppet or local race the trails are groomed the night before, and the skiers ski on them the next day with no additional preparation unless the conditions change dramatically i.e. ice or significant snowfall. Particularly with an interval ... More

Alexei and Margarita at the Paralympics

Alexei Novikov and Margarita Gorbournova are adult paranordic skiers who train with Kanata Nordic. Both secured a spot on the national Paralympic team and are competing in the games at Whistler. Listen to Alexei's interview on CBC Radio: http://www.cbc.ca/ottawamorning/ (scroll down to "Para-nordic skier who lives in Kanata"). You can follow Margarita's blog here: http://paranordicskier.blogspot.com/ More

Getting there and settling in

Despite many uncertainties and unknowns in the plans I am off for a 7:00 a.m. flight to Vancouver and then on to Whistler, and the Whistler Olympic Park to act as a forerunner for the cross country and biathalon events for the Paralympics. On a whim, and after the deadline, I had applied to be a forerunner back in July 2009 only after coming across an old announcement on the CCC website. Sometime in September I was advised unofficially that I was accepted. This was really cool, and definitely a ... More

Kanata Nordic shines at the Gatineau Loppet

Wow; what an excellent weekend for the Club at the Gloppet. Dev: Please pass on my congrats to the Track Attackers. Despite some very tough waxing conditions on Saturday and a very tough ski up the Pink's Lake hill on Sunday there were some remarkable results. To put Sunday's ski into perspective, when I first started to skate ski, I decided about 6 years ago that I was reasonably fit an knew what I was doing enough to enter the Keskinada 29 km skate. The course started with the same ... More

Silver Spoon Race Results

The results for the Silver Spoon Classic Race in Perth on Feb 7, 2010 are now available: http://bright-ideas-software.com/silverspoon/2010_results.pdf More

February 09

Congratulations to all that participated in the Silver Spoon and at the Kanata Sprints.  We had some great results and some of you knocked significant time off previous bests at similar distances. L2T and T2T will be at Riverfront on Tuesday.  Start time is 6:30, technique will be skate. This coming weekend will be the Tay Valley Loppet on Sunday (rescheduled), if snow conditions permits, and the CSM.  Training time and location for Saturday will be confirmed. More

Offset skate technique — tips for JR4s

The offset is perhaps the trickiest of all skate techniques to get right. Here's a video that demonstrates good technique plus a few drills that you may see at an upcoming lesson! Note that in the US the offset is referred to as the V1. Marlene. More

Racers – February 06 & 07

February 06;  Many of the Racers will be in Deep River at the Silver Spoon, good luck.  Allow 2 hours to drive, and aim to be on site by 9:30.  Everyone does their calassic race between 11:00 and noon.  Apply blue glide but no grip wax. Any Racers not travelling to Deep River are welcome to join Dev and the Track Attack at 1:30 on Saturday at Rivefront. Kanata Sprints are Sunday.  Aim to be on site by approximately 8:00 pm. Mike More

Inspiration for the JR4s

Nice one skate technique with a step turn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QSVGyTQiWQ&feature=related Lots of offset technique, up a hill: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PdEIligQ5w&NR=1 NOTE: the sprint race and BBQ for Jan 30 have been postponed! More

Coupe Skinouk Results, Jan 23-24, 2010

Kanata Nordic was well represented at the Coupe Skinouk in the Gatineaus, with some impressive finishes! Sat. Jan 23 results Sun. Jan. 24 results More