November 2022 Newsletter
events
Community Fun Race
Come to ski, come to race, or come to cheer! Compete against your friends and enjoy the great trails. This is an annual community event that is really a fun race open to everyone. Participation is free for all skiers, club members or non-members alike, all ages and abilities. We have a short course for fun and quick events: one adult with young skier duos also known as the Hot Chocolate Run, four skier relays and longer solo multiple loops.
In previous years, there were several categories to choose from, short ones for the young skiers and longer distances for the older kids and adults and even a ‘team’ category with an adult pulling a chariot and a passenger – if teams dare to enter, of course! The keyword here is FUN, so wear a funny hat or costume if you dare!
The event in 2023 will be held at the Fernie Golf Course although it traditionally happened at the Elk Valley Nordic Centre. No trail pass required when you enter one of these events. Our goal to make it a fun event for young skiers as well as older ones. Our volunteers are organizing the event and it is FREE to participate.
Details of the event will be announced during the season. Make sure to subscribe to our occasional emails.
Previous Events
- A sportive morning at the Nordic Centre February 27, 2020
- Fun activities for Saturday morning February 18, 2020
- This Saturday, an event for skiers of all ages February 18, 2020
- Community Fun Race – 7th edition February 19, 2019
The Fernie Great Pumpkin Hunt
This popular event is open to children and it is appropriate to kids up to 9 year old. Only a small entry fee for each pumpkin hunter. Participants are not required to be a club member. The Great Pumpkin Hunt is usually held each year on the third Saturday in October at the Warming Hut of the Elk Valley Nordic Centre. Come and have a look at the trails before the snow falls! Full details will be announced early in the Fall. Tickets are sold in advance of the event.
The hunt is followed by marshmallows by the fire pits as well as hot chocolate, coffee and hot dogs for the participants – by donation. There is also a photo booth – also by donation – which proves to be very popular with the pumpkin hunters. The event is one of the club fundraiser events.
Previous events
- The Fernie Great Pumpkin Hunt October 10, 2022
- 5th Annual Fernie Great Pumpkin Hunt September 28, 2019
- 3rd Annual Great Pumpkin Hunt October 21, 2017
- Second Annual Pumpkin Hunt October 22, 2016
September 2022 Newsletter
Photo Albums
2022-08-31 Race Team in summer training
2021-10-16 Work Party at the Nordic Centre
2021-10 The Mellow Mountain Rangers do it again!
2021 A Few Winter Highlights
2020-10-08 Firewood Splitting Work Party in COVID Time
2020-03-15 3rd Annual Fernie Flying Viking Challenge
2020-02-22 8th Annual Community Fun Races
Wes Robinson-Shaw at the races
During Spring Break, Wes Robinson-Shaw attended the National Cross-Country Ski Championships in Whistler BC. This event was from March 20th to 27th, 2022. Wes is one of the Fernie Nordic Racers team and he participated in five races and had three training days. Some of the best athletes in North America were there. The Canadian Olympic team was there, as well as a bunch of the American Olympic team. John Shaw said: ‘’Super high caliber racing on some pretty amazing trails.’’ These trails were designed for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Most of the races were on these trails.
On Sunday March 20th, Wes had a 10 km interval start skate race. He is only 16 years old and usually in the U18 category. The U18s the U20s raced together so there were probably about 320 people on the course, and he had to do two laps of a 5 km course, “It was very crowded, there was lots of passing and the conditions were pretty good.” said John Shaw.
On Monday March 21st, he had a 10 km interval start classic race on the same course, with the U20s and it was very crowded as well. The first 8.5 km went well, but the course was very slushy with very difficult skiing conditions. On the last 1.5 km, someone stepped on his pole, and Wes crashed and broke his pole. He still finished well.
Tuesday March 22nd and Wednesday March 23rd were training days, Wes trained easily for his sprint race the next day.
On Thursday March 24th, it was a classic sprint of 1 km, it was a big climb and a big descent, it was a sunny day therefore the conditions were firm and fast. Wes also had team skate sprints on Thursday. He was the only athlete from Fernie so he couldn’t do the sprints, but he was allowed to participate in the qualifier and get CPL (Canada Points List) points. He came about middle of the pack for his age group. After that Wes and John watched the elite men and women do the sprint race, which was super fun to watch, said John Shaw.
On Saturday March 26th, it was another training day.
On the last day, Sunday March 27th, Wes had a 15km mass start skate race. John Shaw said: ‘’It was the hardest conditions I have seen for racing; it was pouring rain and the slush was boot deep.’’ Wes raced in the afternoon, the course had been skied hundreds and hundreds of times as the other categories had to do four laps of the course, therefore the course was destroyed, which made this race very challenging. Wes said that it was the hardest ski race he’s ever done.
In conclusion, Wes and coach John lived an amazing experience. They said that they learned tons from the event, for waxing and for racing experience. Coach John said that he was excited for the next National Championships in BC, where he can bring more older athletes from the team. It was a great learning experience and Wes did great at all his races.
Article by Louison Dubief and Aurélie Smithson