Birke Tour: I've got 4 or 5 people committed to doing the Birke Tour. How often can you ski the Birke Trail from point to point, get a ride back to the start, have food support on the trail, a meal afterwards and a t-shirt. Sounds like a good deal!

Clothing: The clothing order is expected to be available Birke Tour weekend. I hope to pick it up in Hayward that weekend. You can pay me upon delivery. If all you ordered was a hat I have those now. Pick them up on Tuesday nights.

Seeley Classic: The Seeley Classic is Jan 16. In good snow years we've tried to do a weekend trip to Hayward. Do the Classic race on Saturday. Stay over night and skate the trail on Sunday. If the conditions are good this can be a great weekend. I can help you with lodging ideas if you want to stay over. My place is available as well. It's "Ski-In" as the driveway isn't plowed. Anyone interested?

Lake Elmo Clinic: Registration is now open for the Free Clinic at Lake Elmo on Jan 30th. if you have friends who couldn't get into Ride and Glide or just weren't sure but do want to ski. Here's an opportunity to get them a free lesson. Free classic equipment available. They'll need their own skate equipment. All levels. See link on our web site

Given the Holidays and the icy/firm conditions we had a pretty small turnout. Probably only about 30 people. We had 12 coaches so everyone got a lot of personal attention.

Tough conditions did not dissuade the beginner skate class. After a short warm-up we began with a review of double pole technique focusing on proper body positioning, especially high/forward hips. We then moved onto V1 with a focus on centering weight on the gliding ski. In hard pack conditions, like last night, if your weight is not over the gliding ski you will notice it becoming squirrelly and have trouble holding an edge when you go to skate onto the other ski. Getting weight centered over the ski and pushing with a flat foot are key to getting good edge control when doing a skating kick. After V1 we reviewed the single stick, aka birkie waltz, aka birkie shuffle, aka crab walk, aka diagonal skate. We did this on flats as well as up hills. After this practice most of the group was ready to ski over to Lexington hill. They headed over and worked on V1, V2 alternate, hill climbing, and cornering. A few new-to-skiing beginners stayed behind to focus on balance and pole placement.

All in all a very good night with everyone continuing to progress well despite the somewhat tough conditions.

From Steve T:

We had about 10 people, so we split into two groups and headed out to try to find some snow that wasn't too icy Mike and Steve: We took a group out towards the Glacier but the snow was pretty rutted up and hard packed. We ended up over on the downhill slope where the Advanced group was already doing double pole repeats. The snow was good there so we stayed for about 45 minutes and worked on some advanced V1 techniques and V2. Since the only decent snow we found was on the downhill slope we started with V1. Everyone had a pretty good V1 so we worked on developing an even skate motion on each side. A lot of people have a very one-sided V1. They fall onto the strong side and then skate to the weak side. Even worse they may just stomp the weak side ski on the snow without progressing it up the hill. The ultimate goal is to evenly skate off both sides no matter which side is the strong side. A progression to learn this is as follows. Ski up a hill (Lexington hill steepness at a minimum or the downhill slope at a maximum) without poles. Try doing a last quick POP off your skate leg on each side. Land the ski on the snow with a driven knee. Extend the knee and skate off and "pop" the foot one last quick pulse right at the end. Do it on both sides. Say "pop-pop-pop" to yourself as you skate up the hill. you may even try to get a little airborne on the way up (ala "jumpskate). This is all used to feel what it's like to push hard with the skate foot. Keep a wide stance and stay low. Next take your poles and try to do the "pop" while using your poles. At first just try to do it on the strong side. Most people already push harder on that side as the go to the weak side. So fall on the weak side and "pop" to the weak side. Try that a few passes. Then try to do it on both sides while poling. Done to the extreme this becomes "Jump Skating". We weren't necessarily teaching that. Dial it back a bit and feel body stepping onto an already gliding ski. this is a good way to get over the habit of just "stomping" up the hill. This teaches you to skate up the hill just like you do without poles but now with the magnifying effect of the poles.

Now that the students were so good at skating strongly we had them V2 up the same hill. They all could easily Free Skate up the hill. V2'ing should be even easier. But adding the poles tends to mess up people's timing and their skate motion. It was a steeper hill than they normally would V2 up but doing so is a proof of proper timing and a feeling of accomplishment. Many were surprised that they could V2 up that hill. More details on mastering V2 next week.

Ben and Todd's group of a little under ten headed for the downhill ski area where we found the best conditions at Como. Once there, we reviewed our double poling and V2 before we talked about our V2 Alternate. Some of points of concentration were: total committed weight transfer, good poling with a complete follow through, rhythmic non-robotic movement (relaxation). We concluded our evening with a short ski around Como with everybody agreeing that the conditions were icy and rutted.

Here's a few more bits of insight on classic skiing-

1. Oak leaves, dirt, and corn husks will grab your ski when you slide over them. It's best to avoid them, by stepping over or around them. That's why we emphasize being nimble on your skis. If you do ski over them, be prepared for a sudden decrease in speed, or a face plant, even. And if you ski over frozen dirt, you could also get a lousy gouge in the bottom of your ski.
2. Downhills are scary to novice skiers, so we try to get you a few skills before you hit the hills. Unfortunately, that means there is a lag in the training, or we may hit the hills at the end of the Tuesday session, when you are tired. My recommendation is that you find a slope that you are moderately challenged when you ski it. Not one that terrifies you. Do this downhill over and over. If it's on a short loop, perfect. You could climb the hill (off the track so you don't cause an accident by traveling against traffic) and do it again - called hill repeats. Start with a snowplow down, and try different techniques as you feel more comfortable with the hill. Most people use caution the first time down a hill. Pay attention to the amount of loose snow that is on the hill and the amount of resistance it give you. Then compare it to the icy conditions when the snow is plowed off. Note the G-force compression at the bottom of the hill, which is the reason behind the big divots at the bottom of many large hills, and plan for it on future trips.

I've mentioned before about the dynamics of group lessons. Last night it looked like we might have the luxury of equal numbers of instructors and students. Then gradually during class, more folks arrived. We scrambled, but I know some of you didn't find the right group. The lesson to be learned- please try to arrive on time so that we can best sort out the group.

Words from the editor - Shad Holland

Lots of snow and very interesting ski conditions. I went to Theo last weekend and I thought I was going to die on every downhill. It was so rutted that at least one of my skis would catch a groove, which would then send a ski off in some direction that was not downhill. When you are going fast, this isn't very fun.

Hopefully some good grooming and a little more snow can improve these conditions, because with all this great snow, we should be able to ski all we want and enjoy doing it. All in all, I think this is going to be one of the great XC Ski seasons we are accustomed to here in the Upper Midwest!

That being said, I need articles and pictures to add to this newsletter. Send in your ski story and pictures.....I will post them up here in the newsletter for all to enjoy.