A few photos from the race event in Nelson on February 5 & 6. The Fernie Nordic Racers and several parents joined the fun and earned more points toward the 2022 Teck Kootenay Cup. This was the last event of the season in this series.
Several Fernie racers ended with podium finishes and all had a good time. Well done!
coach Jeffa great weekend!
The result of the races in Nelson are on the website of the Nelson Ski Club. The Fernie Nordic Racers finished in 4th place out of eight clubs in the Teck Kootenay Cup series – see the rankings at CrosscountryBC.
The Fernie Nordic Racers had a great weekend at the Kootenay Championships Tier 2 race in Kimberley competing against the best skiers in the Kootenays and southern Alberta. Great efforts were put in by numerous Fernie racers with several making the podium for their age group.
Podium finishers
Isla Sauve – 2012 girls – 2nd skate, 3rd classic
Graham Etue – 2010 boys – 3rd skate,
Ella Fuller – 2009 girls – 1st skate, 2nd classic
Noah Glickman – 2009 boys – 3rd skate, 3rd classic
Wes Robinson-Shaw – 2005 boys – 2nd skate, 1st classic
The team will be taking part in a training camp here in Fernie this weekend January 29-30 with National team technician and Cross Country BC coach Graham Maclean, then off to Nelson February 5th and 6th for Kootenay cup # 6 and 7.
submitted by coach Johnny
Louison Dubief at the Kootenay Cup race in Kimberley BC
Read the Free Press article about these races HERE.
The races of the season started in December 2021, for the first time since COVID-19 began. There are still COVID-19 protocols to make sure everyone stays safe while racing. The Fernie Nordic Racers participate mostly in the Teck Kootenay Cup races and in some bigger races. Race weekends are really fun, and it’s very good practice. Races are competitive but friendly and enjoyable.
Kootenay Cups are happening in Rossland and Golden (in December 2021), Kimberley (in January), and Nelson (in February). We had a bigger race in Canmore for the Alberta Cups 3 and 4, and some athletes will also participate in the BC Cups/Championships and Track Attack Championships.
Race weekends usually start on Fridays with a training day and the races are on Saturdays and Sundays. Races are either with an interval start (one by one every 15 or 30 seconds) or mass start (everyone at the same time). For athletes, coaches or parents who want to do it, we have a warm-up routine before the start of the race and then a cool down after the race. There are also amazing volunteers to help organize the race and to help competitors at the end of their races by giving them drinks.
Cross country skiing is a sport for everyone. All ages and abilities can participate. On our team, we have athletes from U10 to U18. Coaches and parents race in the Masters category. Adults can race in the Masters category and win points for the team! Each race completed brings two points for the team. Racing is fun and you can even win chocolate medals! We encourage everybody to participate to these events, it is competitive only if you want it to be competitive, other than that it is only for fun! Races can make you feel nervous and excited, but it is always a very fun experience, and it feels satisfying to finish a race even if it took a lot of effort! We would be very happy if you joined us to race!
Article by Louison Dubief and Aurélie Smithson
Our Team of Racers in Canmore
We had a great weekend of racing at the Olympic, World Juniors, U23 Trials and AB Cup in Canmore, racing with some of the best XC skiers in the country. All of the Fernie Nordic Racer athletes that attended finished in the top 10 in their age group for both skate and classic.
Ella Fuller – 2009 girls – 5th classic, 2nd skate Noah Glickman – 2009 Boys -1st classic, 1st skate Louison Dubief – 2006 Girls -9th classic, 9th skate Wes Robinson-Shaw – 2005 boys – 4th classic, 5th skate Cameron Etue qualified for the BC winter games
Great results!
All results for the January 8-9 weekend are at Zone4.ca
Fernie skiers were very active in the past weekend of February 8-9 with a few events.
Full Moon Ski on Saturday
On Saturday twenty skiers gathered in the hut before starting on the trails under a very bright moon. The evening ended back at the hut for snacks, refreshments and a good time.
Morrisey Ridge seen from the Runt trail
Kootenay Cup races in Kimberley
The race weekend in Kimberley was the Teck Kootenay Championships, a tier 2 points qualifying race, so it was a higher level event than usual races for the team. The Fernie racers competed against other racers from several clubs, including Telemark, Sovereign Lake, Revelstoke, Canmore, Foothills, the Kootenay teams – Nelson, Kimberley, Black Jack and Toby Creek – plus Montana teams, Glacier Nordic and Seeley Lake. The weather was perfect and excellent snow conditions.
Eleven young skiers from the Fernie Nordic Racers team took part in the two-day event together with nine adult skiers from Fernie. Our team is coached by Jeff Williams. Overall the team had 28 starts in the classic and skate races. Race results may be found HERE. The current cup standings are HERE.
Ella (247) taking a fast corner in a sprint race
Meanwhile in Edmonton
Saturday was also the day of the 2020 Canadian Birkebeiner in Edmonton. Two skiers from Fernie completed the challenging course. Ron Lentz finished the 31 km tour race while Naomi Lentz did the 55 km race with a 12 lbs pack (5.4 kg) on her back. Congratulations to both!
A second place in her category for Naomi
More photos
from the Full Moon Ski:
Ski hill in the moonlight
On the lighted kids loop
from the Kootenay Cup races:
Classic 1350 m sprint with Kai Fait – 5th from left
Makaela Burt and Adele Stahl (U14 girls) in a classic sprint heat together
Anouk Burt (U14 girls) powering her double-poling for a strong sprint heat
Ella trying to stay warm before the start of the mass start Freestyle technique event
Coach Johnny showing perfect pacing through 15km of the skate race
Last Saturday was another Skill Development Program lesson for 46 young skiers at the Nordic Centre.
The new Family Friendly Ski event followed on Sunday afternoon at 4 pm. We inaugurated the new and very long string of lights along the kids loop by the staging area. A fun place to ski after dark! About twenty adult skiers participated in the event as well as a few children either on dad’s back or in a chariot. The trails were well groomed and the skiing was great!
The January 25-26 weekend was also the time for our Fernie Nordic Racers to shine at the Teck Kootenay Cup in Nipika.
7.5k classic with Kai, Finn & Wes at the start
Abi starting her 30k classic race
Anie is going for 15k
Susan, Dave and Matthieu are off! 15k to go!
Kai on the podium 7.5k classic
Coach Naomi at the finish line
Skate 7.5k with Wes and Kai
Kai on his way to the finish
Wes had two great races
Twenty racers from Fernie completed the classic races on Saturday and 17 did the skate races on Sunday. In total the racers received 9 podium positions. Three young racers did amazingly well in their first cross country ski race ever. The trails were well groomed and track set although hard and very icy. Good participation by our young racing team and several adults from Fernie.
The results of the classic races are HERE and the ones from the skate races are HERE. The current standings in the Kootenay Cup are on this page. Go Fernie Racers!
The races 7 & 8 in Nelson ended on Sunday Feb 24 with Fernie leading the other clubs by a large margin ahead of Kimberley, Nelson and Rossland. This was a great effort by our Fernie Nordic Racers as well as the participation by many adults from Fernie. Thank you to the combined efforts of all the volunteers who were involved in the races held in Fernie on January 5 & 6. This is our fourth win in five seasons!