Monthly Archives: January 2018

Good morning!  Just a reminder that tonight at midnight is the deadline for ordering APJ clothing (those bright orange and blue jackets).  If you have any questions about the process, speak with me or any of the coaches at this afternoon’s session.

Also, don’t forget to pick up your child’s toque/buff today, too.

Smith sporting his brand new toque

Hi All!

Fast Rabbit Thursday is on and the conditions will be fast!  Bring the skate skis, on snow and ready to go for 7:00 at Windsor Park.

Red River Nordic Ski Club is hosting a MEGA day at Falcon Lake Saturday,  inviting everybody to come out and join their Jackrabbit session before the big race.  Please read the message from them below:

Next Saturday (the 27th), Red River Nordic club will be hosting the Falcon Combined race out at Falcon Lake. We’d like to invite you all to join us.  There is racing on Saturday for Pee Wee Age and older (born before 2008) and a biathlon race happening on the Sunday. for those age 11 and up interested in trying out a biathlon race.  I’ve attached the race notice for reference.  Directions: http://www.falconridgeski.com/contact/

The registration closes on zone 4 at 10:00 pm on Thursday, January 25th.

Here is the registration link: https://zone4.ca/event/7f124b8c-fae4-11e7-a085-0ad99e951742/

For the younger skiers, we will be hosting a  Jackrabbit session starting at 10:30 in front of the ski clubhouse, which will consist of games and going for a ski on their beautiful trails.  Falcon has TONS of snow – definitely the best skiing around.   We would love to have your Jackrabbits/parents/coaches join in with ours.

After our session, Red River Nordic traditionally pays for tubing passes  for our kids in the afternoon. If this is something that you are interested in also doing with our skiers, I have attached the waiver to speed the rental process up. The cost for tubing is $10/hour. tubing waiver (backside only)

The race will be a lot of fun with great hills, up and down, and superb organization. Recommended!

Coach Ihor

Hello APJ families.  Two announcements:

1.  The Cross-Country Ski Canada toques and buffs have arrived!  They will be distributed this afternoon (during hot chocolate time). Below is a sneak peak of what they look like this season.

Each year the toques are part of a contest across Canada and are designed by a young skier between the ages of 5-9.  For more details on this year’s toque design contest visit the following page:  http://www.cccski.com/Programs/Athlete-Development/Skill-Development-Programs/Jackrabbits/Jackrabbit-Colouring-Contest-2018.aspx#.WmTQ2ktG3mY

APJ club members 9 years and younger will receive a toque.  APJ club members 10 years and older will receive a buff.  (If you want to trade toque for buff or vice versa, please find someone and do that on your own time to ensure distribution flows smoothly.)

FYI:  If you’re part of our APJ club, you’ve already paid for this toque/buff in your club fees.  However, if you want an extra one, the cost is $8.00/each.

2.  You’ve probably seen the snazzy orange and blue jackets worn by many of our APJ club members.  If you/your child would like to “join the crowd”, our online Storefront with PodiumWear is now open.  For more information on ordering APJ clothing, please visit our Marketplace page for more details.

Hello, and yes there is still snow in the park.  Tracks are solid and will be fast fast fast.  Track Attackers will be working on skate technique, so bring that gear please.

Also we are invited to a big Red River Nordic Ski Club ski day at Falcon Trails next week Saturday.  Skate race mass start at 11:30 with a jack rabbit session taking place just before that at 10:30.  Tubing taking place after jackrabbits for those not racing!

Right now Falcon has some of the best skiing this close to Winnipeg and it won’t be stupid cold either.  Ask Coach Ihor for details on getting there if you haven’t been there before,

Coach Ihor

Hey!

We’ll be skiing Thursday, Jan. 18 at Windsor Park Nordic Centre.  Please come ready with skate skis. and meet at the skis racks for 7:00 pm.  Some of you will be needing to do some hard efforts and technique on steep uphills,

We’ll see you Thursday,

Coach Ihor

Hi Everybody,

We’re going to go skiing, 1:30 at the usual place,  but with something a bit different.  As drills and stuff like that in the open may be a bit crispy, we will be heading out for a bit of an adventure ski.  The river at the park is definitely frozen solid and there is some exploring close by to be done.  Dress accordingly with special attention to the face.  Following up with hot chocolate as usual, remember that mug.

Track Attackers: prep for classic skiing and keep the face covered with something like a buff.

Thanks

Coach Ihor

Hey Assiniboine Park Skiers,

APJ has just placed a significant number of skiers on the Winnipeg Region Ski Team for the upcoming Manitoba Winter Games to be held in Thompson this March!

Selected to the team are:

Don-Han Lau
Hayes McMillan
Patrick McManus
Nastassja Loiselle
Axelle Loiselle
James Barwinsky

This is a very big deal!  Way to go for all of your hard work at having a good time skiing and destroying equipment. This means a lot.  Thompson will never have seen that much orange on a ski trail.

Thank you Ski Parents,

Coach Ihor,

P.S. :  we’ll see what we can do for this Sunday’s activities and skiing, as now that we have a true race team, we should really look at some training (Garth and Marcus? how are the lungs?).

Here is the latest race report:

Last night was the last good weather before it went to the far far north and they actually were able to get a race off!  APJ had 9 skiers out, and would you believe we did really well!  Way to go APJ and to the parents that went to extraordinary means to get them there.

Awesome racing from:

Hayes and Hudson McMillan, Don-Han Lau, Patrick McManus & Sebastian McManus competing on the very civilized short course,

Long course credits in really big wind goes to Axelle Loiselle, Nastassja Loiselle, James Barwinsky and even Coach Ihor, who had to bounce off a few trees to complete.

Full results here:        Wed Night Race JAN 10 results

Way to go APJ!!!!

Hi, cancelling Fast Rabbit Thursday tonight: stay home, make soup. Stretch, others have canned tonight too.

AND for fun, get onto YouTube and search Skiing Vinnie (really that’s the channel), and stage 7 (last stage) of the tour de ski where Harvey finished 3rd, very good Alex! and that is a real uphill!

skiing Vinnie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gpH8NrBJEA

Thanks,

Coach Ihor

Finally some events! And it was super great to see everyone skiing last Sunday too!

As mentioned, this Wednesday evening will be the first (due to favourable weather) Wednesday Night Race, hosted by Red River Nordic.  This is also a qualifying event for the Manitoba Winter Games held at the beginning of March.  We have several skiers that are very strong prospects for the Winnipeg teams so let’s get out there!

Wednesday Night Race Registration is here:
https://www.ccsam.ca/competitive-skiing/event-information/wednesday-night-race-series/
Also, Kenora is holding their Skiathlon event this Saturday, in Kenora. Huge and fun ski trails are waiting for you there! A skiathlon is a race with both one classic leg followed by a skate (free technique leg) and yes you do get to change skis! Coach Ihor’s machine is heading there so get in touch if you need a lift.

Kenora race notice is here: http://www.skikenora.com/cc/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Race-Notice-2018-Skiathlon.pdf
and register here: https://www.ccsam.ca/kenora-skiathlon-mb-cup-2-race-notice/

Thursday night Fast Rabbits will also be on at Windsor Park, 7:00 pm at the ski racks.

Get in touch with Coach Ihor for race suits and if you have questions or are planning on skiing, so that I can plan race support.

Thanks,

Coach Ihor