Classic Track: Yes
Trails were groomed for classic skiing only tomorrow. We’re hosting our annual Chuck Calef Classic fun race and “open track tour” (you don’t have to race it to have fun and celebrate Chuck). The open track tour is simply that – just come and ski the amazing conditions… wooden skis and old-school wool sweaters highly encouraged!
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.
Classic Track: No
Groomed the full meadow trail. Trails are looking very smooth right now.
The snow gods have finally blessed our area with some of the Pacific stream of storms that seemingly everyone else in the West have been getting. We were missing out until early January, but now we’re looking pretty good. Groomers have been staying on top of things and will continue making improvements as we hopefully continue to get more snow (check the FB page for condition updates). Lots of happy skiers out there! There are also other places to go ski around the Jemez, such as the Valles Caldera, the Bandelier ski trails (just before the Caldera), lots of the old roads, and of course, San Antonio hot springs. Check out the picks of the Gibson family, who led a group out there recently!
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!
We had some dedicated kids, parents and adults come out for the clinics in the Sunday snow storm (and some valiantly tried driving without and then with chains before giving up with a car full of our awesome little skiers)! I didn’t get a lot of photos but it was a lot of fun with even a one-ski soccer game at the end! Huge thanks to coach Kyle for his help with everything!
Definitely good winter tires needed and ideally 4WD for coming up there this week, although FWD worked well as long as you had good winter tires from what we saw.
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.
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:
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.
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.
Not a whole lot to report, as we just seem to be in a long run of “no weather at all” type of weather. It’s nice out for gettin’ out, but we desperately need snow; not just for skiing, but for this long-running drought. It’s pretty bad. Anyway, groomers have been working on things and keeping the snow we have skiable. The front hill has taken a beating, but check out our new snow transport system:
Trails will be groomed as long as we have decent enough snow. It is looking like early February will be more active in terms of weather, so we remain ever the optimists…
