November 15, 2013

Ahhh... Whistler... the sweetness of being settled at home for a period of time.  It's critical to reduce stress and maintain momentum at this time of year, so a few weeks at home is just what the team needs.

After a week of skiing on Frozen Thunder, including "the first race of the season in North America," the team is back in Whistler enjoying some rollerskiing and the occasional snow ski.  Full coverage and good ski conditions are not far from reality in Whistler.

The team will stay settled in Whistler until November 24th when they will hit the road for a month: Canmore, Silver Star, Rossland.  The list sounds romantic, but it will feature hard work and not a small amount of red-line pain.  The races in Silver Star and Rossland will be critical for selection to the World Junior and U23 championships - major goals for the CVTC team.

Keep your eyes pasted to the CVTC website and social media feeds for updates from all the races.

Happy Trails!

Frozen Thunder Perspective
This was the first ski on Frozen Thunder for many of the CVTC athletes, so the novel experience was featured in many a blog post over the past month.

CVTC Team Perspective:  http://cvtc.ca/visiting-thunder
Andrew Avis Blog Post: http://cvtc.ca/blog-andrew-avis
Liam Patterson Blog Post: http://cvtc.ca/blog-liam-patterson

Frozen Thunder (and Whistler) Video from Sam Morris

Skiing on The Thunder

Skiing is so close you can almost taste it... or see it... or ski it!  Regardless of where you live in Canada, winter seems to be just around the corner if you're not already looking at a snow covered yard.  What is the best way to pass the frustrated hours before the ski trails open?  Why, a bit of ski preparation of course. 

1.  Scrape off the summer storage wax (yes, you should have a layer of un-scraped glide wax on your skis while they're in storage).
          If you don't have a layer of wax on your skis, they're likely a bit dry and oxidized.  It's best to get your skis stone ground at your local shop to remove the dead ski base cells.

2.  Heat on a layer of warm glide wax.  Heat it into the base a couple times before scraping it off.  Be careful not to overheat the base: give your skis plenty of time to cool between rounds of heating.

3.  Scrape the wax off and hit the trails.  If you're classic skiing, don't forget to rough up your kick zone with a bit of sand paper.

* If you don't want to do this all yourself, drop your skis by the local ski shop for a hot wax and/or grind and hot box if the option is available.

Where did you grow up?
Ottawa, Ontario.

Do you have any brothers or sisters?
I have one older sister.

How many pairs of skis do you have?
I have 7 pairs of skis right now.

Classic or Skate?
I prefer classic, but I generally have better results in skate. 

Who are your housemates in Whistler?
I live with the other Ontarian athletes: Ben, Liam and Andrew.

Favorite moment of the year so far?
Skiing up at the Haig Glacier.  I had never been and the scenery was truly spectacular!

Nov 1 - Nov 24, 2013 - Whistler, BC
Nov 25 - Nov 27, 2013 - Silver Star, BC
Nov 28 - Dec 2, 2013 - Canmore, AB (Alberta Cup races)
Dec 3 - Dec 9, 2013 - Silver Star, BC (NorAm Cup & World Jr/U23 Selection Races)
Dec 10 - Dec 16, 2013 - Rossland, BC (NorAm Cup & World Jr/U23 Selection)
Dec 17 - Jan 3, 2013 - Holiday Break & Training

Results can be found at www.zone4.ca and event reports at www.cvtc.ca.

The National Development Centre - Callaghan Valley Training Centre (CVTC) is a high-performance training center working within the framework of Cross Country Canada.   

 

CVTC's mission is to produce successful skiers at the World Cup level, by providing a concentration of world-class training facilities, coaching and sport science resources for cross country ski athletes.  Whistler Sport Legacies provides facility and training support for CVTC, which directly contributes to the team's ability to perform internationally.

For more information on NDC-CVTC, please visit www.cvtc.ca or email [email protected]

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