The annual Nevada Union Athletics Sports Night is being held earlier this year on Tuesday May 16. More information is available on the NU Website.

If you want to train with the team over the summer this is the ideal way to get your sports clearance out of the way for next year.  All proceeds go to the Athletic Department.

I have done some updates on the original video post.  As the weather gets warmer there is lots of video to watch before next season.

2017 registration Form for the Great Ski Race.   I will be driving up Friday afternoon or Saturday morning to pick up the bibs, so am happy to take completed entries with me.  Make sure you specify T-shirt size and have the correct entry fee attached.

The final results from Friday have been posted.   Note that the first 6 places are determined by the finish order in the final heat and all the other places are based on the time in the qualification time trial.   The results also contain the Team Scores.

The season standings now have two races in them and are also posted.   At present they are set up to be best 4 out of 5 races.  As it is unlikely that we will have five league races this season the scoring series will be adjusted later.   Also, the points per place is currently set to start at 100 points for first place and then decreasing by one for each place further back.  This is done for my convenience and will also be adjusted later in the season.  As we only have 50+ athletes in each gender this high number of points gives too much weight to just showing up.   We will eventually change it to be equal to the maximum number of athletes in any of our races.  Talk to me if you have questions about this.

Decker and Junet wore my GoPro during their qualification time trial runs on Friday.   I have posted the two videos on youtube.

The 2016-17 World Cup Cross Country Skiing season is well under way.  Many of the videos are appearing on youtube courtesy of “Skiing Vinnie” who uploads them.  I will try and keep this index post updated as the season goes on.

(Updated 04/09/17 with the final races in Canada)

Bietostolen Womens 10K Classic   Pre-season in Norway 11/19/16

Bietostolen Mens 15K Classic Pre-season in Norway 11/18/16

Bietostolen Womens Sprint Final  Pre-season in Norway 11/20/16

Bietostolen Mens Sprint Final  Pre-season in Norway 11/20/16

Start of the World Cup

Ruka Classic  Sprints  Kuusamo Finland 11/26/16

Ruka Individual Classic Men  Kuusamo Finland 11/27/16

Lillehammer Classic Sprints  Norway  12/2/16

Lillehammer Individual Women Freestyle Norway 12/3/16

Lillehammer Individual Men Freestyle  Norway 12/3/16

Lillehammer Women Classic Pursuit  Norway 12/4/16

Lillehammer Men Classic Pursuit Norway 12/4/16

Davos Womens 15K Freestyle  Switzerland 12/10/16

Davos Mens 30K Freestyle   Switzerland 12/10/16

Davos Freestyle Sprints Switzerland 12/11/16

La Clusaz Mass Start Ladies  France 12/17/16

La Clusaz Mass Start Men  France 12/17/16

La Clusaz Relay Ladies  France 12/18/16

La Clusaz Relay Men   France 12/18/16

Stage 1 Tour de Ski  Val Mustair Switzerland 12/31/16

Stage 2 Women Tour de Ski  Val Mustair Switzerland 01/01/17

Stage 2 Men Tour de Ski   Val Mustair Switzerland 01/01/17

Stage 3 Women Tour de Ski  Oberstdorf Germany 01/03/17

Stage 3 Men Tour de Ski  Oberstdorf Germany 01/03/17

Stage 4 Tour de Ski Oberstdorf Germany 01/04/17

Stage 5 Tour de Ski Toblach Italy 01/06/17

Stage 5 Women Tour de Ski  Toblach Italy 01/06/17

Stage 6 Tour de Ski  Italy 01/07/17

Stage 7 Women Tour de Ski  Italy 01/08/17

Stage 7 Men Tour de Ski  Italy 01/08/17

Toblach Sprints Italy 01/14/17

Toblach Team Sprints Italy 01/15/17

Ulricehamn Men’s Individual Sweden 01/21/17

Ulricehamn Women’s Relay  Sweden 01/22/17

Ulricehamn Men’s Individual Sweden 01/21/17

Ulricehamn Men’s Relay Sweden 01/22/17

Falun Sprints  Sweden 01/28/17

PyeongChang Sprints Korea 02/03/17

PyeongChang Skiathlon Korea 02/04/17

PyeongChang Team Sprints Korea 02/05/17

Otepaa  Sprints  Estonia  02/18/17

Otepaa Individual  Estonia 02/19/17

Start of World Championships

Lahti Sprints  World Championships Finland 02/23/17

Lahti Mens Skiathlon World Championships Finland 02/25/17

Lahti Ladies Skiathlon World Championships Finland 02/25/17

Lahti Team Sprints World Championships Finland 02/26/17

Lahti Ladies’ Individual World Championship Finland 02/28/17

Lahti Men’s Individual World Championship Finland 03/01/17

Lahti Ladies 4×5 Relay World Championship Finland 03/02/17

Lahti Men’s 4×10 Relay  World Championships Finland 03/03/17

Lahti Ladies Mass Start  World Championships 03/04/17

Lahti Men’s Mass Start World Championship 03/05/17

Back to the World Cup

Drammen Sprints Norway 03/08/17

Oslo Men’s Mass Start  Norway 03/11/17

Oslo Ladies Mass Start  Norway 03/12/17

Quebec City Sprints Canada 03/17/17

Quebec City Ladies Mass Start Canada 03/18/17

Quebec City Men’s Mass Start Canada 03/18/17

Quebec City Pursuit Canada 03/19/17

Here is a particularly good Biathlon Race I will try and get a more complete set

Antholz Women’s Relay Italy 01/22/17

Because we had to cancel both the Friday and Sunday optional On-Snow practices this weekend because of the damage the rain did to the trail system we had tentatively scheduled an On-Snow on Monday evening.   While the trails are not in great shape ASC were able to groom some trails after it got colder last night.  They do not want to touch the others till more water drains out and hopefully the storm this week dumps a lot of new snow.

However, there were only two sign-ups on Doodle for Monday so I have canceled the on-snow and the regular mandatory dry-land practice will be held from 3:30 – 5:00 pm.

This is an important practice.   Apart from dealing with paperwork and uniforms that are still not complete,  it will be the only dry land this week.  Our first race is 9 days away and many athletes need every bit of practice available.

1. ASC Trail Pass:  All athletes must have completed their registration for the special Nordic Team Trail Pass.   Use the link sent out in the last Team Email.  Any athlete who has not done this by Monday evening will not be able to go to our On-Snow Practice on Wednesday November 30.
2. Consent to Treat Form:  A number of athletes have yet to hand in a signed consent to treat form for Nordic Skiing.  This is particularly true for our latest recruits and athletes who have been tied up with Cross Country running.  If we do not have this by Tuesday you do not go to the snow.
3. Equipment: All athletes must have handed in a signed Equipment Agreement by Tuesday afternoon in order to take Team Equipment off campus.   By Tuesday afternoon you should have been issued boots, ski bag,  skate skis, waxless classic skis, skate poles.   We will not be issuing any equipment on Wednesday before we leave.   If you have not taken care of things by the end of Tuesday you will not be going on Wednesday.  Depending on the number of vehicles going and the space for skis, we may leave classic equipment and ski bags behind.  Make sure you have your skis and poles rubber banded so they can be handled easily.  Athletes should have their personal items in a bag so we do not lose things.
4. Sign-Up: Athletes must sign up on Doodle.   We try and get transportation for athletes that have signed up.   If you do not sign up you are automatically at the bottom of the transportation priority.   Please sign up even if your parent is driving as juggling seats is hard enough without keeping the coaches guessing.   If you signup and don’t show – the coaches will remember and you will be at bottom of the priority next time.
5. Driving:  We will need parent volunteers to drive us to the snow.   Drivers must be approved by the school before driving and the Driving Form is available at the Student Store or on-line.    We use Doodle to coordinate these Off Campus trips.   If you are a driver, please fill in the total number of seats for athletes (include your children in this number).   The Auburn Ski  Club Training Center is a comfortable place to wait.
6. Food: Athletes should bring food that can be eaten quickly when we get off the snow.  We are going to try this year to get rolling as soon as possible because of the new late schedule.   We want to be back at NU before 8:30 pm.
7. Lighting: Experienced athletes should bring a head lamp for skiing on the trail system.  Beginners will be in the stadium area for a week or so where there is adequate lighting.
8. Clothing: Newcomers often worry about appropriate clothing.   We will be issuing team practice jackets on Tuesday but other clothing is your responsibility. Look at the equipment page on this web site.  Adam and I have a few spare pairs of gloves that we can loan to newcomers until they get their own gloves.   Likewise for warm hats.

Contact Derek via e-mail or text if you have any questions.

We never know when our first ski-able snow is going to arrive.  In previous seasons we used to count on starting our first on-snow practice on the middle Wednesday in November, but have had years when we didn’t make it till the Winter Break.   This year could bring anything (I recommend reading the Open-Snow blog for some insight into what is going on) but it does look like it is shaping up to be one of the wettest Octobers on record.  Whether this means skiing in November or early December we want to be ready.   So get your paperwork done and communicate with the coaches!

A photo posted by Kikkan Randall (@kikkanimal) on Oct 22, 2016 at 1:07pm PDT

Please remember that if you sign up for an event on Doodle we need to know how to contact you in order to notify you of any changes of plans.    The simple way of doing this is to fill out our on-line registration form,  but if you don’t do this please at a minimum email me with a cell phone number that can be contacted.

I still have a number of names on my Draft Roster that I have no reliable way of contacting.  It is now less than two weeks till the start of the season and just on eight weeks till the first race.