Empire State Winter Games

ESWG Medalists from the Shenendehowa community.

Competitors from the Shenendehowa community accomplished milestones for Nordic ski sport at the Empire State Winter Games in Lake Placid.  Total medal count: 12 gold, 7 silver and 3 bronze.

The

JANUARY 29, 2012

SHENENDEHOWA CLASSIC RACE IS CANCELLED!

We are trying to reschedule.

Will There Be A Race Sunday?

Conditions at Saratoga Biathlon are marginal at this point.  The word from Curt Schreiner our chief of course is…

“…No skiing until … it freezes please. Hopefully we will have enough after this rain is over to pull something off for this weekend. “

Register here now.  There is no guarantee that we can keep registration open after Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 10:00 PM so register now.  Our policy is if we cancel the race we will refund your entry fee (not the skireg.com service fee).  If we postpone the race we will hold your registration for the new date.  Due to the uncertainty may I suggest you register (at $0) to pay at the site.

Ware your PJs inside out; clean your ice maker and plant the old ice;  spread around the plow scrapings; or anything else you can think of to make it snow Thursday night in Day, NY!

Where’s the Snow?

It was encouraging to see several inches of snow at the top of Woodford Mountain (east of Bennington) on Saturday.  There didn’t seem to be a lot going on at the Prospect Mountain Nordic Ski Center though. And even they will be getting rain tomorrow.

Hope we get some white stuff on the end of this storm.  If we do, how about skiing around the edge of the soccer fields on the Common on Wednesday?  Do it on your own or with your family.

Any one interested in starting off the New Year skiing?  We have two choices: a BKYSL fun race at Old Forge on Sunday or a Ski Orienteering event at Garnet Hill.  I don’t think either venue has sufficient snow today, but keep an eye on the NYSSRA calendar closer to the end of the week.

Otherwise we will see you next Tuesday January 3 at 3:50 PM Rm 709 Koda.

Snow Makers

Every winter sports enthusiast has a favorite practice for increasing the chances for frozen precipitation.  Late November and early December is the time to start.  Whatever you do along this line you have to do it with sincerity and total belief in its effectiveness.  Some wear their pajamas inside out.  Others try to catch that first snow flake on their tongue.  Others flush ice cubes.

Personally, I rely on a bit more science and tons more enthusiasm.  Round up a bunch of youth ages 4 to 13.  A Bill Koch Youth Ski League Club comes in handy: plenty of enthusiasm.  To help build the enthusiasm further  tell the kids you are planting ice-cubes to make it snow.   Next you need ice cubes, very cold ones.  Mushy wet ice-cubes will not work.  The perfect ice-cube is one that is so cold when you bring it out on a moist late fall day the moisture from the air crystallizes perfectly on the ice-cube.  From here the recipe for snow gets a bit particular.

Timing is of the essence: I know that the mean first day of a significant snow fall (6 inches or more) in New York’s Capital District is December 8.  So picking the first week of December increases our chances by 50%.

Next instruct your youth in five important factors.  Pick out some high ground.  Everyone knows that snow falls first on the high ground.  Give each youth something to dig with, because you have to get into high mineral soils.  Run fast to the high ground before the ice-cubes begin to melt (also good training for cross country skiers).  Bury the ice-cubes in mineral soils and cover with soil and then leaf litter.  A handful of cubes in several different shallow holes seems to work better than one big dump in one pit.  Reinforce to the youth that it is important to believe.  If you picked even one young skeptic this whole process is for nothing other than to clean out your refrigerator ice-maker for the coming holidays.

Happy ice-cube planting!  And the more ice-cubes we get planted in the largest area the better our chances.

Got a better idea for making it snow?  I would like to hear about it.  Use the comment box below.

Presidential Citation

Tim Huneck accepts the Presidential Citation from NYSSRA - Nordic President Darwin Roosa. Photo by Jim Kobak.

The Shenendehowa Nordic Club received NYSSRA – Nordic’s prestigious Presidential Citation during NYSSRA’s fall meeting in Utica on September 25, 2011.  The award recognizes our efforts to promote Nordic ski sport in the southern Saratoga County area during the 2010 – 2011 winter months.  The fall meeting is the platform around which the statewide organization plans events for the fall and coming winter season.

“We are proud to play such an active role locally with a Bill Koch Youth Ski League (BKYSL) program, high school Nordic team boosters, a learn to ski program through the Town of Clifton Park, family moonlight ski events, maintenance of trails at Kinns Road Park, and contributions to the regional racing team Hudson United Racing Team (HURT).” says Tim Huneck the local club’s president.

Also at the NYSSRA meeting the Shenendehowa Nordic Club won a bid to host a NYSSRA Series Race on Sunday, January 29, 2012 at Day, N Y in northwestern Saratoga County.

Coming Season Schedule

If the weather is too hot for you today give some thought to the following.
For the coming snowy season the Town of Clifton Park and I have on the calendar Family Moonlight Skiing in the Vischer Ferry Preserve on the following evenings weather and snow conditions permitting:
December 8, 2011 [It so happens that this is the date that a meteorologist has told me is the median first date of a snow fall of 6 inches or more]
January 5, 2012
February 2, 2012 [speculation this evening on whether we will have 6 more weeks of winter will be a major topic around the warm up fire]
March 8, 2012
April 5, 2012

Beginner ski lessons can be scheduled any other Thursdays starting with Jan. 12.

Presidential Citation

Receiving the Presidential Citation from Jim Kobak. -photo by Darwin Roosa

Congratulations!  The Shenendehowa Nordic Club was recognized with a Presidential Citation presented at the Fall 2010 NYSSRA – Nordic meeting by Jim Kobak in Utica.  We had a fantastic season last year despite the fact that we had very little local snow.  Hosting the Mid Atlantic Bill Koch Festival at Lapland Lake was our greatest achievement!  But see below for all the details.  This was truly a group effort and the whole club contributed through out the season.

Annual Report

I am proud to submit the following information to support the Presidential Citation for the Shenendehowa Nordic Club for the 2009 – 2010 Nordic Ski Season. The award of this citation would be at the fall meeting of the N Y S Ski Racing Association – Nordic, Inc.

Membership: We have 18 member families with over 47 individuals who ski either competitively or recreationally, making us a “growing” club as described in the criteria.

All four of our principal officers are members of NYSSRA – Nordic including: Tim Huneck, President; Jim Flaherty, Vice President; Charlie Huff, Treasurer; and Eric Hamilton as Secretary.

We are consistently represented at NYSSRA – Nordic meetings by either Tim Huneck and/or Eric Hamilton. Since the publication of the NYSSRA – Nordic Newsletter ceased we have provided several blog topics from ski orienteering, Bill Koch Youth program, and other topics. We have an active website http://www.shenendehowanordicclub.wordpress.com/.

We have four active coaches including Mike George, Mark Hopper, Tim Huneck, Jill Koziol, and Eric Hamilton. Both Tim Huneck and Eric Hamilton have acted as technical delegates for NYSSRA, although Jim Flaherty, Charlie Huff would also qualify as officials. With a bit of formal training or a bit more experience Mike George would make an excellent official.

Youth Program: We had 15 Members in the Bill Koch Youth Ski League with 20 weekly practices of which 12 were on snow.

Club Accomplishments:

• In conjunction with the Mohawk Towpath Byway held a successful fall training event, the Mohawk Towpath Byway Duathlon.
• Held a joint orienteering practice for both the high school team and the Bill Koch Youth families.
• In most seasons we host a moonlight family ski on the Thursday evening before the full moon. This and the following accomplishment is a great way to attract new families to Nordic ski sport in our area. We did calendar and publicize four of these this season, but conditions were not favorable on any one of those dates.
• Two Learn to Ski Sessions with Town of Clifton Park with 6 new skiers participating.
• Hosted a Fund Raiser E S G Qualifier at Day, N Y with 61 racers (and as many volunteers) and 7 youth for a Bill Koch fun race.
• Seventh Place Finish in NYSSRA – Nordic Club Series (35 race count for a total of 902 points) with 16 clubs ranked.

Perhaps our greatest accomplishment of all time, certainly the one we are most proud of, is hosting the 2010 Mid Atlantic Bill Koch Youth Ski League Festival at Lapland Lake with 75 youth and their families from all over the State. This truly went above and beyond the minimum criteria required of a club of our size. We are most appreciative of the help we received from other BKYSL and NYSSRA leaders in hosting this weekend event.

 

Ready or Not

Early Enthusiasm Within the Shenendehowa BKYSL

Snow has been in the weather forecast several times in the past few weeks. Our Bill Koch Youth Program has had three practices. The Fall meeting of the Shenendehowa Nordic Club is November 19 at high school east satellite cafeteria. And we are looking forward to the winter sports equipment sale in Burnt Hills and the Adirondack Sports and Fitness Expo this Saturday. Can the snows be far behind?

Our youth have plenty of ideas to help Mother Nature move the season along:  next week’s practice with include planting ice cubes to lower ground temperature so the snow that falls will stay.  Other ideas include wearing PJs inside out and cleaning out the ice cube maker and flushing the ice (supposedly to further cool the earth’s surface).

If you are not in this picture, now is the time to get out there and get ready for fun on snow!