General News & Information - Southwest Nordic Ski Club

Finally! (seems like a recurring theme…)

We are FINALLY skiing! We got a healthy dump of some very good-quality snow that has done a good job of covering the trails. It’s still thin in the usual “big rock” locations, but if you’re careful and know where they lurk, you can miss them. Be especially careful on the section of trail between “TJ’s” and “Dave’s Dogleg” (between point G and H on the map), and the screamer downhill toward the bottom of the meadow, just above point M on the map.

Hopefully, we won’t have to wait so long before we get another good dump, but with some reasonable January temperatures, it should be pretty nice.

Heading out to pack the trails yesterday morning (January 2, 2023)

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-Festival Download

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)

Rollercoaster of a Season

Trails are again, in great shape, after yet another season-saving period of wintry weather and snow. It was looking bleak again after our great mid-January period, but as has been the case this year, we got saved just in time. Things are great (front hill not included) the entire way around once again. Get it while it’s good. Who knows what the rest of this season has in store, but the forecasts don’t look too bad. If we make it into March for any length of time, we’ll consider it a win.

Canada Bonita Meadow looking spectacular on President’s Day weekend

New Snow!

Whew, we almost had to close up shop on the upper trails, but we got a nice little dose of much-needed snow. New groomer, Cameron Staples, got out early to roll pack it all, including Camp May practice area. He reports pretty nice conditions on the upper trails, and pretty good on the lower Guaje Road. It’ll still be thin, so keep bringing your “rock skis” until we get that big 10″+ storm. We’re kinda being strung along with these smaller storms. But, Enchanted Forest in Red River did receive 13″ as of this morning (Dec. 29). They’re totally set with great conditions for New Years!

Local kids skiing last week, taking a break at the rim of the Valles Caldera

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.

Season is ON!

Well, at least we’re skiing a little bit. It’s definitely thin and “early season” as they say – use your old/rock skis! Be sure to check the club’s Facebook page (see link on this site), and also the club blog, where we post conditions updates as they come. It’s been so super busy trying to get things up and running that we’re behind with some posts, but that’ll change. Looks like more weather at the end of next week into New Year, etc. For now, we’ll take what we got. Also, get up to Enchanted Forest XC and get your season pass there. They have even better conditions!

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!

Club Membership and Donation Link Active on SkiReg

Alrighty…it’s about time! We finally got the membership registration and donation link all renewed and functioning again. The link is above the picture on this home page, but here is the link just in case:
SWNSC Club Membership and Donation on SkiReg

We’ve been busy getting things ready for the season, with lots of trail work, fencing repairs, and some pretty crazy machine mechanic jobs. Now, the weather just has to start changing. We’ll be ready…