Category: Events

Chuck Calef Classic this Sat Jan 28th on our trails!

Hi all!

We have a ski event celebrating our long time friend, club supporter/volunteer and an avid classic skier Chuck Calef this Sat Jan 28th:

The Chuck Calef Classic!

The trail will be groomed with best line classic tracks making it even more fun to classic (but really not fun to skate, so please save the skating for another day)! In classic Chuck style, wear your best nordic sweater, a big kind smile and if you got one a big bushy beard! The event is free to all.

The course will be an approximately 8 km loop on our trails and we will send skiers off 1 min apart with first skier off at 9:30 am from point B. Please plan to be at point B to get your name on the order list no later than 9:15 am and plan accordingly to be able to have your skis ready, warm up and arrive at point B by 9:15 am.

See trail map here to make sure you know where point B is.

Soldier Hollow Super Qualifier

Go Southwest Nordic Ski Club! The kids had some great races here at the Soldier Hollow Super Qualifier (Midway, UT). There were huge fields, resulting in some equally daunting nerves to overcome. That was our main reason to travel so far for two days of racing — time to face reality. It went really well and I think a lot was learned. Poor Quanah just missed a podium in a tight finish. Check out Mila’s U16 (girls 14-15 yrs old) field! She really had to sink or swim quickly!

Rocky Mountain Nordic U14 Youth Ski Festival @ Durango Nordic Center

  • Sat, Mar 5, 202212:00 AM  Sun, Mar 6, 202211:59 PM

CO-HOSTED BY DURANGO NORDIC SKI CLUB AND SOUTHWEST NORDIC SKI CLUB

LIVE-DOCUMENT-2022-Mike-Elliott-U14-Youth-Ski-FestivalDownload

Saturday, March 5, 2022: RMN Freestyle Distance Race

Saturday will be the RMN-scored distance race in freestyle technique. Standard RMN race distances per age group will apply:

  • U14 & U12 race distance: 3km
  • U10 & U08 race distance: 1.5km

Sunday, March 6, 2022: Relay

On Sunday, racers will team up with their assigned teammates to compete in a relay. Teams will be chosen at random within their respective age groups. Any willing and able coaches are encouraged to participate — we will throw the coach names in a hat and mix them with the teams. Coaches may race more than once, with any of the various age groups. Please specify the age group(s) with which the coach would like to race. Skiers will race on a specially designed course, courtesy of the Durango Nordic groomers. Expect something silly, funky, and challenging. Costumes are highly recommended and almost mandatory, especially for the coaches! This will be a fun day of making friends and having fun on skis. Distances will vary and final details to be determined. Start times and teams will be announced on Saturday, March 5th.

Registration

Registration will open on February 15 via Webscorer. Each team/racer will register for each day individually through the site registration page:

2022 U14 Festival Series Registration Link

Waiver

All participants must sign the Durango Nordic Center programs and races waiver.

Lodging

Homewood Suites by Hilton Durango
15 Girard St.
Durango, CO 81303
(970) 259-2996
Booking Link: https://group.homewood-suites.com/afjcrk
Group Name: U14 Rocky Mtn Fest

You may also call the front desk to make a reservation and reference the group name above.

Course Map

Course maps will be posted the week before the event.

Trail Passes

Athletes and families who arrive on Friday will need a trail pass, purchased online or at the Durango Nordic Center.

Coke Race

The Saturday event is also Durango’s long-standing Coke race. Family members are welcome to race as well ($10/adult; $5/youth). Registration will be online here by Feb. 15.

A Reprieve!

The trails picked up between 6″ to 8″ the other night, and we got right on it to keep things in shape and preserved. Whew! Just in time! Should be a nice weekend, if not a little warm. Hopefully, we’ll see another similar storm next week. Stay tuned.

Trails groomed for skate and classic. Watch for obstacles. Most of the course is in OK to good shape, then there are those bad spots…

Saturday and Sunday adult and kid clinics. Check the FB page for more info.

A Season Update… Finally!

Well, it’s about time. We’ve been lacking in posting much about our trails and season, but there’s a REALLY good reason for that. For one, it was a LOT of work this year t get things going with far fewer volunteers than years past, then we had that disaster of a wind storm that destroyed the trails in various areas and caused lots of damage to things. We’re still reeling from that and are short in grooming staff, etc. It’s a tight situation. But… we do have enough snow to ski and groom, and things were saved around New Year, so we’re skiing, and that’s a good thing. We celebrated with our memorial “Chuck Calef Classic” club race & tour. What a wonderful day and celebration of our friend and hero, Chuck.

As it stands now, we’re in a bit of a heatwave and dry spell, so conditions are tough to keep in perfect shape. We don’t have a lot of active groomers, but are making do with what we have. Keep an open mind and use your “not best skis” skis 😉

Cold, blue conditions on January 2, 2022 for the Chuck Calef Classic!
Chuck Calef at the then “New Year’s Resolution Race” at New Year, 2012 (just after Las Conchas fire)

Pajarito Mountain Youth Bikefest Results and Story

What a great day, and GREAT job to all the racers!

See the write-up in the LA Daily Post:
https://ladailypost.com/first-pajarito-youth-bike-fest-mountain-bike-race-a-success/

Results:

time
MILD course overall:
Oliver Garcia44:43:00
MEDIUM course overall females:
1. Mila Moseley41:11:00
2. Amelia Hill50:05:00
3. Liv Niklasson56:10:00
MEDIUM course overall males:
1. Luke Gibson52:54:00
2. Calvin Morris56:39:00
3. Wendell Starr59:57:00
HOT course overall:
1. Isaac Olson56:05:00
2. Jack Hawkins57:24:00
3. Nikolai Nelson59:39:00
HOT course age-group awards:
U16
1. Joab Morris1:05:29
2. Axel Niklasson1:09:06
U14
1. Luke Morris1:06:49
2. Adis Bock1:12:32
3. Zachary Gutierrez1:17:03
U12
1. Ian McLean1:07:11
2. Diego Leonard1:13:58
3. Zach Gibson1:14:04
age group 9-11
1. Levi Gibson1:01:50
2. Quanah Moseley1:02:20
3. Cullen McLean1:06:11

Great conditions up at EFXC!

We put on a little informal SWNSki Kids intra-squad meet up at EFXC this past weekend, and were treated to wonderful conditions and a lot of fun. If you haven’t been up there yet, make the effort. It is definitely worth it! Also, they have a lot of used ski gear for kids, so ask Ellen Miller about that when you’re there.

Image may contain: one or more people, people standing and outdoor, text that says 'DANGER! FISCHER'
Used kids’ gear for sale up at Enchanted Forest XC Ski Area
Great conditions for the holidays. Our kids raced a 4km course classic style for their intra-squad meet.
XC ski culture, COVID style — actually pretty nice! Bring warm clothing.
Sprint course finish on Face Flop Drop

NEW SNOW!!!

What a crazy year! Oh well, we’ll take this weather any time! The weird thing is that this is not actually the “first snow of the year” post, haha.

As of this post (Monday afternoon), it’s still coming down and quite cold. If it continues overnight, it might be worth taking out a machine and grooming Camp May road practice area — we’ll see. If that does pan out, we’ll report back. At any rate, we’ll definitely be holding the SWNSki Kids group practice at Western Area park tomorrow evening. We’ll probably even give it a test run tonight.

We heard that Enchanted Forest XC up in Red River is really getting pounded. That will make for some nice early season skiing. Woohoo!