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Frequently Asked Questions
1) George I've just heard about the Nordic Training Group and I'm not sure which session is right for me I'd like to try XC skiing this year. Which is best for me?
I would strongly recommend Mondays as an entry point with some classic skiis and a pair of Salomon system Combi boots [classic and skating] and bindings.
2) George what do I need to budget for?
a) Canada Olympic Park passes are the skiers responsibility.
b) ABCup are usually 2 events/weekend about $40-60 similar to ONE running race in cost - 1 away weekend [Edmonton ;-> in Jan ] 1 ABCup in Canmore 1 ABCup at Mt Shark aka Home races - merely a daytrip you sleep in your own bed ;->!
c) Happy feet Happy skiing! You would break the bank on a pair of Combi Salomon system boots and bindings if you decide that XC skiing is not for you - your turnover is about 90% of retail price for a resale..
d) Ski Gear - I would recommend a good classic ski in your first year and a Rockski quality skating ski, plus armpit height classic ski poles & longer chin height skating poles...
e) Ski Gear 2 - Classic ski length out stretched arm over head - measure at the wrist 5-10cm shorter, Skating ski length head height + 5-10cm
f) Ski Gear 3 - Use your Rock skiis for skating/2nd warmup ski for events.
3) George I'm a shift worker/out of town on business? what do you recommend.
We say this to all shift/frequently out of town workers signup for two sessions.. so one week you come for 3 sessions the next week 1.. It all evens out in the end.
4) Double Day workouts: Four Reasons.
a)To duplicate the fatigue level of skiing 2 ABCup events back to back.. Better to know what it feels like and how much you need to rest and recovery and take care of yourself in November/December so it's not a shock to the system.
b) Technique, Technique, Efficiency, Economy of Motion - Oh did I mention Technique and finally.
c) If you travelled 4 hours - would you really only train 1-2hr?
d) To maintain your Aerobic Fitness over a LONG event season in January/Feb/March!
5) Cancellation numbers for your personal safety: 403-299-7878 5Pm for 7Pm starts at COP, -22Ccalm or -20C&21+kphwind... NO we do not do windchill factors.. Dress for success.
Goal setting:
Failing to plan is planning to fail... Do you have a plan?
1)Outcome - we plan in advance for where we want to be.. OK so your first challenge is to find out all you can/enter the events. Is there a Deadline!
a)Have you entered on www.zone4.ca?
b)Have you told your coach what distance-dates you have entered?
c)Have you thought through how you want approach the next 4 crucial weekend days?
d)Have you thought about a Skating/Classic tuneup - do you really need to go all the way out of town for this?
e)Do you have a pre race plan?
f) Do you know what your are doing the night before the night before?
g)Do you have a race day routine?
h)Do you have a warmup/cooldown planned out?
i) Do you know what you will be doing the night between on 2 race weekends?
j) How will this affect your sleeping/eating/hydration efforts?
k)Will you be asking yourself - did I really do my best?
l)Did I think the event through before I got into it?
With an outcome goal - we can plan backwards from there.
2) Process Goals - how do I get there from now, what do I have to do weekly, monthly? Do I need to do Mental Training over Competition period? Yes you do, Segmentation eg. starts you do them a bajillion times; is your friend. some athletes told me they were out for a ski and were easily able to Segment the 24km Cookie Race - OK, the Canmore ABCup courses are more important but we all have to take that first step ;->.. Yes you do Pre & Post Race Planning it is essential. wouldn't want to get sick in between Sat and Sun would we?..
a) Do you know about the 5 of 8 rule for ABCup events? Now changed to 4 of 6 events. With only 4 events left everyone will count.. There WILL be many more competitors and a significantly higher level of competition at Canmore Feb 20-21/Mt Shark Mar 20-21 events.. Are you prepared for this?
b) Do you understand Participation Points? Did you know your participation in each ABCup assists the CNTG towards our Team Goals of more ABCup Participation Points [PP], a top 5 club ranking and MOST Improved Ski Club..
Masters World Cup 2009, Autrans France Jean Bristow.
Alberta was well represented at the 2009 Masters World Cup which was held in Autrans, France from 31 January to 7 February. Judy Buchanan Mappin, Silvia Stettler, Nancy and Bob Burden, Gerhard Schopp, Everett Fee and former Canmore residents Dave Rees and Jean Bristow were all competitors in the week-long event. Mike Mappin was our Waxing Wizard, and Norbert Meier his able assistant. In all, 34 Canadians competed: other provinces which were represented included Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.
Most competitors arrived up to a week before the first race, giving themselves ample time to ski the trails, test waxes and explore some of the region around Autrans before getting down to the serious business of competing. Local wines and cheeses were sampled, the two Autrans bakeries did a brisk trade in providing daily fresh bread, and we visited as many restaurants and coffee shops as we could so as to enjoy the fabulous French cuisine.
The Masters World Cup (MWC) is an amazing event, with approximately 1,200 athletes aged between 30 and 90 taking part. The Russian team is always large and highly competitive, and this year there was a big French contingent: 2009 was the first time the MWC had ever been held in France. Many Eastern bloc countries are represented, as well as skiers from Germany, Scandinavia, Italy, the US and even Australia and the UK. Whenever you are on the race site, you hear a variety of languages being spoken, as well as conversations between people of different nationalities whose only common language might be one that's not the mother tongue for either. During the races, encouragement is given in many different languages as spectators cheer on the competitors.
Dave Rees had competed in Autrans once before, in 1968 when he was on the Canadian team at the Olympic Winter Games. Early in the race week, a local television crew sought Dave out, along with a Russian and a Frenchman who is a resident of Autrans, to interview them about their memories of the Games held forty-one years ago. During Dave's 15 km race, a television camera on a snowmobile followed him along part of the course, recording his progress as he charged the uphills!
In every MWC, skiers compete in five year age categories and all races are mass starts. Classes start at M1 or F1 or the 30-34 year olds in both sexes, and go right up to M or F12 (85-89) or even M or F13 (90-94) if there are competitors in that age group. Skiers are handicapped with race points earned in previous years and are seeded according to those points. The women's classes tend to be much smaller than the men's with usually no more than two rows required for the women, spread across 14 to 16 lanes. However, the men's classes frequently have four or five rows of skiers across the same number of lanes.
The first race was the 15 and 30 kilometre free technique, on Saturday January 31st – men's classes up to M6 (55-59) race 30 km, while all the women up to F8 and "middle aged" men (M7, M8 and M9) race 15 km. The "senior" men and women (F9 or 70+ for the women, and M10 or 75+ for the men) raced 10 km. From the Alberta contingent, Judy, Silvia, Bob, Nancy, Gerhard and Everett competed: Silvia and Nancy both won gold in F7 and F4 respectively, and Gerhard brought home a silver medal in M9, while Judy was 5th in F6.
The following day, Jean and Dave competed in the 15 km classic race – waxing conditions were extremely challenging for Mike with warm temperatures and fresh snow, resulting in glazed tracks and very soft snow. Jean came 8th in F7 and Dave was 21st in M8.
Monday February 2nd was race day for everyone as the 10 km events are held on the same day for both techniques (all age groups up to F8 and M9 race 10 km, while the older skiers race 5 km) . Classic skiers go in the morning, while the skaters have their turn in the early afternoon. Once again, waxing conditions were less than ideal, although not as precarious as the day before, and by the time of the skate races the temperatures were well in to the plus side of the thermometer. However, Silvia (F7 classic) and Nancy (F4 skating) once again brought glory to Canada by bringing home their second gold medal apiece!
Other notable results in the 10 km classic race were Judy 6th in F6, Jean 8th in F7, and Dave 17th in M8, while in the 10 km skate Gerhard raced into 4th place in M9, only 3 seconds out of third, and Bob was 26th in M4.
Awards were presented each evening at 6:00 pm in the village square and were always well attended by many skiers who came to applaud their team mates. In the women's classes the Russians tended to dominate, so it was wonderful for Canadians to have the opportunity on both Saturday and Monday to hear our anthem played twice each evening.
Tuesday was a rest day, and although Wednesday was Relay Race day, no Canadian teams were entered, so it was another rest day for some and a ski preparation day for those who would be racing the following day. Thursday's race was the 45/30/15 kilometre skate for the various age categories. Judy, Silvia, Nancy, Gerhard and Everett competed, and once again Silvia won gold in F7 in a very close finish with an Estonian skier. Nancy came in fourth in F4, after a keenly fought battle with the first three skiers in her category. Gerhard was sixth in M9. Racing conditions were very tough – a lot of wet snow made skating slow and extremely arduous.
Friday was the final day of racing and was the 45/30/15 kilometre classic event. Jean and Dave both raced the 30 km, with Jean finishing in fourth place in F7, while Dave was 21st in M8. That evening the closing banquet was held in Grenoble, and skiers departed from Autrans on the Saturday.
Several of us left on the Friday prior to the banquet and drove north-east through Switzerland to Les Rousses, a small French village on the Swiss border in the Alps west of Lausanne. The Trans-Jurassienne World Loppet was taking place that weekend, in both classic and skating techniques, over a variety of distances from 30 to 72 km. Judy, Mike, Silvia, Norbert, Jean and Dave joined other Canadians from BC and Ontario at a little hotel situated about 200 metres from the start line – very convenient!
Jean, Dave and Norbert competed in the 50 km classic race on Saturday morning, and once again it was a veritable waxing nightmare with every kind of weather condition imaginable, from fresh snow, to rain, to wind and fog! For a few brief moments in the early afternoon there was even some sunshine, but it didn't last! Mike pulled out all the stops and except for minor "clumping" in soft snow, his wax concoction worked a treat for the entire race and brought the Alberta competitors to the finish line in respectable times.
The next day it was the turn of the skaters: they had to contend with freshly fallen snow and trails which had not been very finely groomed, so although it was slightly easier than the conditions they'd faced the previous Thursday, it was far from ideal. However, undaunted, Silvia and Judy raced 54 km, while Norbert competed in the 76 kilometre event, which is the "flagship" competition of the Trans-Jurassienne weekend.
Most of the events start in Les Rousses, but the 76 km begins further west in Lamoura and winds through Les Rousses before joining the main trail which continues on to the village of Mouthe where all the races end. At the finish, skiers are treated to a very welcome hot lunch before catching a bus back to Les Rousses.
Silvia and Norbert left Les Rousses the following day, but Judy, Mike, Jean and Dave remained at the little hotel for another five nights. We skied on different trails each day, all of them out in the countryside far from human habitation, and nearly all of them with a little restaurant part way around where you could stop for a well-earned hot meal before skiing back to the car. Temperatures were balmy, snow was magnificent and plentiful (it's a banner snow year for the Alps this year, especially in the region near Les Rousses) – it was a wonderful end to three unforgettable weeks of skiing in France.