Author Archives: Assiniboine Park Jackrabbits

We have snow and we have groomed tracks (as long as it doesn’t snow again!)

Skiing is on  for Sunday Dec. 20, 1:30 at the Duck Pond.  Dress for a bit colder weather & prepare for classic skiing this time.

Thanks,

Coach Ihor

Hi All,

We will be on the regular Sunday schedule at the Duck Pond, on Dec. 13, 1:30 pm as usual! (Thanks to a wee bit of snow.)  There is still not enough snow to machine pack effectively but the surface underneath is pretty clean.

Coach Ihor’s group will be working on ski skating again.

Parents/drivers: it will be a busy day in the park as there is a Santa event in the Qualico Family Centre, so count on a rugged parking situation.

Remember to bring your hot chocolate mug, and the temperature will be just below zero, so don’t overdress!

Thanks,

Coach Ihor

Hi Everybody!

We have lost significant snow and it has been replaced wth slushy grass, so because of this we will not hold a Jackrabbit and Bunnyrabbit session (Coach Katherine & Coach Jeff’s group).

Coach Ihor’s group will still be going, but dryland training at the Garbage Hill (officially Westview Park) on Empress St. north of Sargent, for 1:30.

Please dress for running, bring a water bottle and most importantly, ski poles for classic ( better if they are shorter than normal). This will be a challenging and very different session with a lot of time spent on springy strides!

So Coach Ihor’s group at Garbage Hill for 1:30, others get the day off!

Thanks!

Hi everybody!

Skiing will be better than last week as the snow has had a chance to dry out a bit.

Track Attackers: plan on doing some fast skate skiing!

Coach Ihor will be handing out grip wax at the start for those that need it.

Coach Rob is needing some assistance in laying out trail markers around the fields tomorrow, so if there are any parents on skis available, that would be a big help.

Thanks and we’ll see you near the Duck Pond like last week, with those hot chocolate mugs!

Coach Ihor

Hi everybody,

It’s been a fabulous summer and fall, many adventures have taken place at the lake, road tripping, wolves at the lake, taking mom on an hour long really wet jet ski ride that was supposed to be only 10 minutes total (who would have known that you’d get more wet sitting on the back if went slowly): it was a great summer!

Back to the present!

Session # 1 is scheduled for Nov. 8 but could we all get together, skiers too, to go over what we are looking forward to this season and a chance to introduce ourselves to new members of the APJ team.  This way the first session on the 8th will be really easy. We will talk about:

• What’s in your ski closet?
• Events to look forward to this season
• Any neat things you would like to do?
• Some of you are looking at seeing how fast you can go so this means hitting a few races (I can provide a history of international level fast skiing trained in Assiniboine Park).
• Jackets!
• If you need a science project: skiing is full of them,
• And, where do we go from here?!?!?!? Our club is developing into something bigger than I thought it would be (Rats! I guess this is a problem most people want). What are we capable of at present and what do we need to add to make it better?

Head to the Duck Pond shelter this Sunday, 1:30, be prepared to run around a bit (parents included as this is your chance to sneak in a workout), conduct an inventory of your ski bag, try some boots on to see if they still fit, even check jackets and pants in anticipation of handing them down to someone in our group.  This is our chance get ready.

To the Duck Pond!

Coach Ihor

Well, everyone, I imagine, is back at school and, being cross country skiers with enormous lungs and an ability and desire to go for a long time (what: are we Huskies?), that you are running this fall with your schools.  Most excellent(!) and it’s a great excuse to get out of class early on race days, no?

Running is a very efficient way of getting fit.  Running trails is also a great way to get your mind used to missing trees while you’re skiing.

So, if you haven’t signed up for school cross country, I would highly recommend it!  Any APJ Track Attacker should be able to do this with no problem!  I have the utmost faith in your huff and puff abilities.  Go run hard!

Coach Ihor

Schedule for Falcon Lake Expedition

08:45-10:45 – Drive from Winnipeg to Falcon Ridge Ski and Recreation Area. Head east on the Transcanada, turn into Falcon Lake and follow the signs along the south shore of the lake, about 15 minutes from the Falcon townsite,

11:00 – Adventure ski: either Picnic Island or out towards the Eco Cabins, depending on the trail conditions.

Noon – Have lunch in chalet.

After lunch – work on snow plows and turns on a real hill! & more skiing on the race trails, watch some biathlon if they’re shooting! And if you’ve had enough of that: Tubing.

4:00: pack it up and head home.

• The day lodge is a great place to get boots on and changed for the drive home. There is no charge for cross country skiing at Falcon Trails Please refer to the Falcon Trails website for tubing and other facility details: http://www.falconridgeski.com/.
• Bring a camera.
• A Manitoba provincial park pass for your vehicle is required.
• Feel free to bring a crash helmet for the tubing part although the activity is crash friendly, but don’t let on that you feel it’s mellow and very safe.

-Coach Ihor

Hi skiers, we will actually give skiing a shot Thursday night at Windsor Park, 6:30 pm.

Technique will be skate (free technique). Temperatures won’t be super warm like the last few times we’ve seen so make sure your fingers will stay warm!

Sunday at Assiniboine Park: so far looks good.

See you there!

Coach Ihor

Hi!

Looking forward to another swift ski at Windsor with the Track Attack crew (Coach Rob and Coach Ihor).  Get ready for skate technique-no grip wax used, and a bit of volume skiing: not an intense speed but it will be a steady pace.  If you have a water bottle belt bring it along for the ride.

Meet at Windsor Nordic Centre,  6:30 pm, off the snow by 8:00, outside at the ski rack on the right side as you get out the door.  If you don’t see us right away we are probably doing a few laps of the first fairway (start area to the left of the building). I will probably not be able to be able to hear my cell phone due to the ruckus in the building or due to the the fact that I’m probably skiing!

We’ll see you there!

Ihor

Thanks to everyone who came out. I had an absolute hoot of a good time!

Parents: if you get this before your skiers do, please show it to them!

So, what we learned from this evening’s ski was:

1. Push with all of the legs- this means scrunching down low to get a huge leg push
2. Go wide with the feet (and hands) on that really steep uphill after the loony downhill at the double black diamond bit
3. Let go of the pole at the end of the end of the arm swing: we have these great pole straps that let you let go of the pole, so let’s use that technology to our advantage!

The “new” sport drink:

Okay, it’s actually not that new.  My mom used to make this very super charged tea for cold nights when we had to bang out longer skis in Assiniboine Park after school.  This was what we did:

• steel-lined thermos (so it wouldn’t break)
• Mom then made a huge pot of tea
• Mom added two really large spoons of honey
• Then Mom squished in a lemon or  blueberry jam

This Thermos would sit in the snow trackside and we would have a drink every 2 laps (about 20 minutes).  This would keep us going for a couple of hours.  very low tech but it worked.  It’s all about the sugar, and it was warm, which really helped cold hands.

Don-Han and Josh approve  and are endorsing this drink.

See you Sunday in the park,

ALL HAIL, HUDSON! for breaking a pole,

and  Welcome Clara! Newest skier in the group!

Coach Ihor