CANADIAN MASTERS' CROSS COUNTRY SKI ASSOCIATION WINTER 2002 NEWSLETTER |
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IN THIS NEWSLETTER NATONALS -
WORLD MASTERS NEWS
ARTICLES
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Hi Masters A good fall season has been with us as early snow
fell on all parts of the country from east to west. No doubt many of you
have had a chance to try out that new equipment by now. I hope everything
fits, and glides, as we move into the real ski season! As I write this (late Nov) Masters are on the move...AB's.John,
Frank and friends are off to Vernon, ON's Judy is already there, AB's
Judy, Michael, Matthias have been to Lake Louise, NL's Barrys are in
Labrador City, Jean-Yves, Léon and friends have worn out the snow at
Forest Momorency, Vic is running in London's Hyde Park. Those are only a
few I've heard from who are enjoying early snow, and grass! Entries are coming in for the MWC at Seefeld. My
opinion is this will be a very well attended and successful MWC. Those of
you who can't be there should try and make plans for our Masters Nationals
at Whitehorse Yukon. Mary and her OC are working frantically to ensure we
southerners enjoy our stay in "the great white north". Why, even
Vic is trading in the grass of Hyde Park for the excellent snow of the
Yukon. Thanks to those of you who have sent in the ski draw
forms supporting our National Junior Team. As usual some lucky Master will
win new skis at the draw in Whitehorse. Last year's winner, Barbara Bertch,
will have already skied on hers. I hope you all have a wonderful festive season and
also a successful and safe ski season. See you on a trail somewhere. Jack
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Canadian Masters championships 2003 One hundred years ago fearless men and women traversed great distances to arrive at their goal--the Klondike goldfields!!!! Today, the Yukon is much more easily accessible by driving the Alaska Highway or flying via Air North (our local airline) or Air Canada with connections from Edmonton, Calgary or Vancouver. Welcome
to Whitehorse... The capital of the Yukon and home to some of the most spectacular scenery in Canada! Whitehorse has it all; the comfort and amenities of city life to the solitude and peacefulness of the wild, untouched land just out our back door. Fine dining, luxury accommodation, an assortment of spa/massage/salon packages and the Hot springs; a visitor does not have to "go without" during their stay. In fact, after a week of skiing and racing you might look forward to a little pampering. Centered around main street, and within walking distance from most hotels, downtown shopping offers fine arts and crafts, clothing, sporting goods, books, gifts and souvenirs. And of course, the skiing... With high pressure systems delivering sunshine, milder temperatures and rich cobalt blue skies, spring skiing is sensational. The average temperature in early march is -7 degrees celsius and we experience nearly 12 hours of sunlight. Cold nights can warm up quickly to daytime highs near freezing. Did you know... In 1981, Whitehorse was the first cross-country ski club outside Europe to host World Cup races. Since that time we have enjoyed skiing on world-class trails. Our facilities are second to none with saunas, lockers, change rooms, stretching area, restaurant and licensed lounge (offering the locally brewed, award-winning Arctic Red on tap). If there's one thing Yukoners know how to do exceptionally well, it's how to host an event and have a good time. As well, there are many adventures to experience in and around Whitehorse. For more information about the Yukon check out Accommodation
contact options... High Country Inn-800 554-4471 www.highcountryinn.ca Gold Rush Inn-867 668-4500 www.goldrushinn.com Hawkins House-B&B-867 668-7638 www.hawkinshouse.yk.ca A Scandia House B&B-867 633-5421 www.yukonalaska.com/scandia/ Hide on Jeckell Hotel-867 633-4933 www.hide-on-jeckell.com **When inquiring be sure to say you are a Masters skier! Ski Trails/Mt McIntyre Rec Centre 3Km from City Centre. Bus service available. This is a sample listing. For more contacts check the website www.yukonweb.com/tourism/ ****Additional information on Masters site <x-c.com> USA
2003 National Masters Championships Anchorage
Alaska Feb 22-Mar 2 The Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage and the municipality of Anchorage are hosting the 2003 National Masters...."Under the Northern Lights". Canadian Masters are also invited to participate. The NM2003 will feature three days and one evening of exciting National Championship race action at Kincaid Park (plus the Tour of Anchorage 25, 40 or 50 K marathon as a bonus to end the week!) Anchorage features an incomparable trail system and race venue with terrific snow conditions at sea level, all surrounded by stunning mountain vistas including Mt. Mckinley. There will be social events and prize drawings throughout the week. This is the perfect chance to take the trip of a lifetime up to the great white north! Complete information will be available on <xcskiworld.com> |
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WORLD MASTERS
NEWS
At the annual meeting in Lillehammer, Slovakia was welcomed as the newest member of the WMA. Vladimir Staron is the first Director for this Country. There has been a change of Directors in Switzerland and New Zealand. Bernard Brandt has replaced Nicklaus Zbinden in Switzerland and Alistair Smaill takes over the Directorship in New Zealand from Ces Driver. All the best to these new Directors who join the ranks of the WMA to make decisions that will guide the Association through coming years. Those of you who have attended MWC's during the past several years are aware of the problems encountered with the use of separate tracks for different races, age groups, etc. There have been countless disqualifications due to participants missing a turn (for various reasons) and taking the wrong track. When one considers the overall cost to attend a MWC ie: travel, accommodations, entry, it's truly unfortunate when a disqualification happens. The WMA has been continually searching for ways to alleviate this serious problem. Starting at the MWC 2004 in Lillehammer, the OC has designed a trail system that will make it much more difficult to go the wrong way (note I didn't say impossible to go the wrong way... we are all familiar with the term "Murphy's Law"). The 15 K A+B trails are very different and ALL participants will ski the same 10 K course. Hopefully DQ's for skiing the wrong way will be nil or extremely low at Lillehammer and all future MWC's. FUTURE MWC's
Here are sites for upcoming MWC's. 2004 Lillehammer, Norway 2005 Krasnogorsk, Russia *** 2006 Brusson Italy 2007 ??? Finland 2008 ???
USA At the WMA meeting in Qu*bec this spring, Russia won
the bid over USA for MWC 2005. Brusson had been awarded the event for 2006
several years ago. Finland was asked to swap with the USA, thereby
decreasing the amount of years a MWC would be held in North America.
However they declined this
request, so unfortunately it's a long wait of six years before we see
another MWC this side of the Atlantic. ***Eds note. My personal opinion is that this will be a very special Masters World Championships! Vitalie Kourochkine, Director for Russia, was asked his opinion as to how many would attend this event. He quickly answered, "At least two thousand"! More on MWC 2005 will be seen in future newsletters. The President of the OC 2005 has quoted the cost of four star Hotels with three meals at $50 per day. Out of curiosity, last month I checked the cost of air fare from St. John's, NL to Moscow ($1,100) which is significantly cheaper than from NL to Whitehorse. Masters should give some serious thought to attending MWC 2005!
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MWC Seefeld 2003
The organizing committee reports everything is on schedule for this year's "Masters World Championships". By the time you receive this newsletter there may still be a chance to get your entry in before the deadline date of January 6th. Happenings at Seefeld... Each evening different events are planned by various sponsors. Casino Seefeld is supporting three evenings for attending countries, and Masters will have the opportunity to win back some of the money spent getting there, or drop another few quid! Specific nights for countries will be posted at the registration centre. Bjorne Daehlie will be at Seefeld promoting his
sportswear company. He will also be available for autograph seekers. Innsbruck - Located only 22 kilometers from Seefeld, this 800 year old city of 125,000 inhabitants is a great place to visit on off days during your stay. Innsbruck has twice hosted the Winter Olympics (cross country events at Seefeld) and is steeped in culture and history. Train travel is the way to go, as there are several each day and rates are inexpensive. Anyone familiar with this mode of transport in Europe will agree how efficient the system is. Trains are fast and on time! Eds note: As a younger person, I traveled across my
home Province twice on what was commonly known here as "The Newfie Bullet". (abandoned in the 1960's) and
let me tell you the only similarity between the present system in Europe
and what we had is the word train! Seefeld 2003 Contact info... Tel 0049 9622 18-201 Fax 0049 9622 18-425 email <info@mwc2003.com> Website <www.mwc2003.com> Or
contact Jack... Lillehammer 2004
At the AGM in this beautiful Norwegian city, Directors were welcomed by the representative of the Municipality, Mr. O. Pedersen. Mr. Petter Ronningen, Director of the 1994 Olympics and Honorary President of the MWC 2004, gave a speech on the importance of human relations. This gentleman is quite an impressive speaker, You will see him in 2004. Organizing Committee President Frode Linnerud introduced members of the committee, all of whom are very experienced with cross country skiing and race organization. In the Lillehammer area there are about 300 kilometers of groomed tracks. As many remember from the 1994 Olympics, the ski stadium is a large and spectacular sight. The only negative about the country of Norway is the extremely high cost of living! The OC will be at Seefeld with the latest information and this will be presented to National Directors. A more extensive item on MWC 2004 will be in the spring newsletter. ARTICLES-
Cerax-Canada
CERAX NANOWAX is one of the World's first products made using chemical nanotechnology, which creates intelligent surface coatings with multifunctional properties. CERAX is not a wax. It is a polymer, just like P-tex, the material that skibases are made of. Even in changing temperatures, CERAX hardens or softens and adapts to the ski base and snow crystals to offer a wide performance range. CERAX, being very easy to apply, is sometimes questioned about durability. Tests show that it lasts not only as long as other waxes, but often exceeds the speed of other waxes after long distance. This is mainly due to the better dirt repellence of CERAX and the ultra thin coating for a free structure. Canadian Ski team wax technicians spoke highly of
CERAX at the Junior World Championships [Chandra Crawford, 12 th in
Sprints on CERAX Pro 4] and at the season ending World Cup races in
Scandinavia on CERAX Pro 4. CERAX - The swift, simple way to save time and money Racing wax* CERAX PRO FLUOROCARBON PRODUCT [powder+sublayer] Cost/pair* $ 5.00* $ 35.00 Time*
10 MIN.
45 MIN. "How many skiers do you know travel to the highest level international competition with 7 bottles of CERAX , 2 brushes and one hairdryer- no iron, no scraper, NO OTHER WAX?" Olav Stana, BC World Master Champion 2001 and 2002,
15 and 30 km Skate For more info contact: email
<snowhow@expertcanmore.net
site
< www.cerax.com> Matthias Ahrens, Canadian distributer, will be at the Masters Nationals in Whitehorse and will make a significant contribution of waxes through draws at our closing banquet. Here's an item I thought some of you who are non-subscribers to the Master Skier might like. (re-printed with permission of the Master Skier..) Olympic Cheaters by Pete Vordenberg(re-printed with permission of the Master Skier..)
It is hard to imagine celebrating victory knowing that you have cheated to earn it. Yet they do not slink away clutching their ill gotten medals like foul rodents, but stand smiling, joyful, even teary eyed before us. They come before the world and tell us how happy they are at having stolen many lives worth of dreaming and work from clean athletes the world over. How glad they are at having totally dishonored themselves, their country, family, friends, their sponsors, their sport and all of sport. Some were caught at this years Olympics, some at last years world championships, but most were not, and some we will see racing again in only a few years. While it is fact that Beckie Scott should be awarded the Gold Medal, with the way things are, it is an unlikely eventuality. The rules are too lax, testing too limited, punishment too forgiving. There is a long culture of cheating, a culture in which cheating isn't seen as wrong, but as only another part of the game. It is this culture shared across many countries and among many athletes, coaches and administrators. It's a culture that allows the smile you see on the faces of those rodent victors, and this culture that makes them cry out like victims when the trap actually manages to snatch them by the tail. It is a culture that is perhaps cultivated by and certainly tolerated by most of the world's international sports federations, and it is a culture that cannot be let live, if sport is to survive. In the mean time do not let the cheaters and filth within the cross country sport rob you of the joy of skiing, the sensation of skis on snow and cold air and power and grace in motion; and rest assured, your North American heros are more heroic than their results show. Do not lose faith in our sport. Drug use has been around for a long, long time; it is catching the user that is new. Strength Training
Winter is imminent with snow in some areas as early as October. A few Masters have called from Alberta and Qu*bec with tales of many K's skied already. For those of you who have had a great summer of biking, hiking and running, snow flakes means putting away some of the toys and getting down to some serious ski training. Remember those sore muscles after the first hard ski workout of the year last season?? Those muscles that you didn't know existed until this past spring? Well they've had a nice summer of rest and are just waiting to remind you of how much they can hurt after being idle for so long. Strength training does not have to be painful or a maximum effort every time. The most important concept to remember is that gradually using those "ski muscles" before the snow flies will help your performance when Master competition fever strikes. Apart from the introduction of the skating technique in the mid 80's, one of the biggest changes in technique is the increased importance of upper body strength used by the top athletes. The bottom line is that if you want good results you need to be strong in the legs, core, and upper body. The following workouts are some used to improve overall strength. Concentrate on one area in each strength workout. Some strength training sessions can be incorporated into distance workouts. These will help to ease the boredom of so many miles of running or rollerskiing. Other workouts were designed specifically as strength sessions. Include at least one session for each area per week. The legs Most of your summer training probably included large amounts of running and biking so your general leg condition and endurance is good. But skiing on snow requires a lot of balance and this is where your legs will be at their weakest. Those small muscles used for balance will be very sore after your first time on snow. That ache you feel in your shins after racing on icy conditions is caused by the extra balance required to ski in tricky snow conditions. Workout #1 Skiing without poles. During a skating session, dedicate about one third of the workout to skiing without poles. While maintaining a good body position, concentrate on skiing with proper technique on varied terrain. On the flats and downhill, try to glide as much as possible. On the uphills, try and get nice and low with the hips. Include some fifteen second sprints to really get some explosive strength out of your muscles. Workout #2 This workout can be as simple as using a jump rope or hopping up a flight of stairs on one leg. Any exercise that involves quick, powerful movements with your legs is great training. Allow plenty of time between exercises to let the glycogen return to the muscles. For example, forty-five seconds of jump rope with one minute rest. Try to find 5-10 exercises and do each one 2-3 times. The total workout should be thirty to forty-five minutes. Another training tip
Whether you are trying to improve your time at local races or striving for a Masters medal, there are some simple training rules that must be followed. Most importantly, you must have a plan! The amount of time you put into your plan and training depends on your level of commitment and the availability of free time in your life. Step one Determine at which race you want to perform your best. Step two Work backwards from the date of your "peak event" to develop a training plan that will allow you to systematically meet you training and racing goals. Step three Examine your weaknesses and determine how you can improve these areas of your training. The easiest way to improve your results is by improving your technique. A more efficient skier is usually a faster skier, especially in distance events. Step four Here is the hard part, finding the time to train. Having a regular job makes it difficult; just remember that it is quality not quantity that counts. If you have a plan to follow you will not waste time on frivolous workouts. That thirty minute run you did could have been spent doing balance drills. Step five Keep it fun and exciting. Just as your mind gets used o repetition, so do your muscles. Using these basic steps, you will be on your way to better training and better racing. As you set up your program keep these other tips in mind: 1. Keep it simple 2. If you go to the gym, concentrate on core strength. 3. Take your poles on a hike. 4. Double pole a lot on rollerskis. 5. Eat well before and after workouts. 6. Use sport bars and energy drinks, they really work! 7. Stretch well and often. 8. Have fun. Remember that the best skier is the one who trains not only hard, but smart. New
Racing Ski Preparation: Whether your ski is new or newly stone ground, this is a good way to prepare them for the season. It is adapted from the Swix www.swixsport.com method for pre-season ski prep. Take each ski and brush it from tip to tail with a soft nylon or bronze brush a few times to loosen and remove any dirt that might have landed on the bases. On the glide zones and skating skis start with a Swix T-89 or similar blade tool and delicately swipe it from tip to tail (drag the blade down the ski, rather than pushing it or will dig into the base), removing any extra PE hairs. Continue 2-3 times until there are no more hairs. Next, proceed with a "hot wipe" cleaning with warm wax. While the bases are new or newly ground, take extra care with heat. All PE bases are very sensitive. As the ski base absorbs soft wax over time, the wax will decrease the risk of overheating the base. But when the skis are new, they are very sensitive. Using inexpensive irons that emit inconsistent amounts of heat will easily damage the base with heat. Once you have dripped wax from tip to tail, start at the tip and proceed with one long swipe with the iron all the way to the tail * repeat the process. Waxing in this manner, with a good waxing iron, will increase wax absorption while decreasing risk of overheating the base. Next, scrape the bases while the wax is still warm. This will essentially "clean" the base of any dirt, loose surface hairs, and any other materials that may be sitting on the base. Let the bases cool down and proceed with at least 5 layers of Base Prep (soft wax only!). Allow the Base Prep to cool completely in between each waxing. You can scrape and brush each time or re-iron the wax once or twice. The more you wax them, the better * five times is minimum. Your skis are now ready to accept the wax of the day! I have received many emails requesting tips of all
kinds, hence the ones included! Sometimes it's also a good reminder to
those of us who don't keep endless records, and may, on rare occasions,
forget!
Jack
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