That's it for the year. Just the Pizza Party left. If we get good snow some of us may ski after work at Como on Tuesdays or any night of the week and on weekends. So watch the e-mails. I'll try to keep in contact as long as the snow stays good. Then sometime in late March we'll start some easy bike riding with cross bikes and mountain bikes. Stay tuned for the Summer bike ride season. I'll send out a message for those wanting to get on the Summer Ride e-mail list sometime in March. Ski when you can, Use the e-mail list for announcements and get those bikes tuned up.

Pizza Party: Feb 19th 6:30 at Como. Lots of talk, food, announcements, and door prizes

North Shore Trip: Is pretty much full, but we may be able to accommodate you if you want to go. Let me know.

Birke: Be sure to drop me an e-mail if you do the Birke so I can get you on the results page. Good Luck. See you up there.

Clothing: Please try to get your stuff at the Party. It will be hard to track you down once we stop meeting on Tuesday's. Actually there are only 2 people outstanding. Also if you'd like something I'll have the extras with me at the Party

From Donna

I classic skiied the 13K. Don't think it was as cold as the start of the "big" races. Lots of "Vasa"line on the face plus a buff to act as my balaclava. I dressed too warm - long undie layer, ski outfit, wind pants, windbreaker top. (Actually, I think the windbreaker was what affected my heat level while skiing the most of all.) I did appreciate it at the start and at the finish however, so glad I didn't put it in the clothing bag. All in all, it was a nice day to ski, albeit a tich lonely - too few spectators, only a handful of skiers. (Well ok, that was a blessing as well ;o) ) Snow was fast in some areas, slow in others - at least it felt that way going into the wind! Kudos to the hardy souls that did the long races.

For the last night we had students choice. No more beginner, intermediate, advanced. Students could go with any instructor they wanted.

Steve's Report

I got a chance to "Work Over" Bob Sumada from Now Sports and Greg Mealhouse, The last chance I'll be able to make Greg hurt as once we're on the bikes the tables will be turned. It took Bob and Greg over to the Downhill slope and we worked on perfecting their V1 Pretty much the same things I've drilled into people all year. Afterwards Andy M. grabbed me for a short checkout of his V1. After a few pointers on the trouble he was having I tried to describe the importance if light quick motions when climbing hills. I came up with the euphonism(sp) of "Hot Feet". Like when your're on the beach on a hot Summer day. Light quick motions, lifting each foot as quick as possible (ooh-hot-hot-hot) That really worked for him. He climbed up the hill with excellent form. I'm going to have to remember that for future teaching.

Ben and Eric’s group grew in numbers as we proceeded through our warm-up….what started as 4, ended up to be 15 or so. The night started with a discussion of marathon skating, when to use, how to do it powerfully, but also “restfully”. We then moved into a V2 progression working first on double pole, then legs only, then body position…then finally put it all together – the V2’s we saw were fantastic. The next step was taking that into the V2a – same pole and body position, but make sure the recovery push is just as big as the pole push - that went very well. We finished up with a brief talk of how V1 body position differs from the others, and how tempo comes into play – needs to get faster on steeper hills, but not at the expense of technique. A great way to finish a fun year.

Arvid and I went out with the four skiers who stayed in town, so we had another evening of semi-private coaching. Because we had a wide range of skills, we did some of the "from the beginning" refresher comments. As the skiers did some warm-up laps back and forth across the staging area, Arvid kept reminding people to drive their foot forward (not stretching, but making sure the forward foot landed ahead of the trailing foot during the weight transfer interchange). At the same time, I kept nagging about the quick, sharp "kick". This gave continual reminders of the two elements we were working on. Then we headed over to the Lexington Hill area, to work on skiable uphills and safe downhills. On the uphills, everyone experienced strings of better form, but if Arvid and I eased up on our reminders, folks slipped back into old habits.

I also tried a new coaching technique on one student - at least new for me. I gathered all the testosterone I could muster, and yelled at him. I was also able to draw on his competitive nature on an uphill, to illustrate that my short quick steps could pass his less efficient strides. When he quickened his pace to match or pass me, his form improved and his speed greatly increased. And he noticed. He'll do fine on his upcoming race.

Congrats to all who did a classic race this year. Some who did the classic races have been participating in the skate lessons this year, so I'm delighted to see how well you've done since we worked together. So keep up the cross-training.

But also congrats to those of you who have added another life-sport to your resume, without the intention of competition. As we said the first night, and repeated it until you're sick of it - classic nordic-skiing can be done on a relaxed pace, for birdwatching or social treks with friends. But it is also a sport that can mean a lifetime learning the refinements to tighten your technique. And the better your technique, the longer you can enjoy your time skiing.

I hope you have learned enough of the technique to feel comfortable out on the snow. If so, I'm sure I'll see you around the trails over the next few years. I may not remember your name, but if you recognize me, say "hi" and remind me of your name. Maybe we can ski together for a while, catching up on the usual small talk. And if you see me at an event, also say hi, even if you are using the skate technique. I won't mind. Too much.

Last words of advice:
Push yourself to improve, but also know your limits.
Support the sport's economy, including trail passes, donation boxes and retail merchandisers.
Keep smiling out there.

For the final week, we had three coaches and eight skiers at Elm Creek to enjoy the bomb-proof tracks on the man-made snow loop and the pretty-good ones on the Northern Lights loop. Everyone was skiing well, and we all did several loops, with the coaches pulling people aside for occasional pointers.

We had a chance to work on uphill cadence and transition. As the hill gets steeper, you get less glide, and you need to pick up the cadence to keep your kick going. If that stalls, it's time to step out of the tracks and herringbone until the hill eases off. Nothing complicated about this in theory, although there are some fine points I'm not mentioning here. It just takes a little practice. And of course kick will vary depending on snow conditions, temperature, kick wax and skier technique. With the cold temps, most everyone was getting pretty good kick, and I was impressed with how well the skiers I worked with got up the hills.

Enough technique talk for this season. I hope everyone enjoyed the coaching and picked up at least a little something of use over the season. As usual, it was great to ski with you.

See you at the feed next week!