THANK YOU.

Greetings all DMC Volunteers,

At the end of a blustery day on Sunday, where athletes were challenged by both wind and snow, all of the visiting athletes crossed the finish line with a smile (or maybe relieved grimace) on their face.

I have been receiving numerous comments and appreciative notes from athletes and coaches who attended with the overwhelming consensus being that Golden is a great little community that is capable of putting on a great event.

Without the support, commitment and most of all the positive energy of every single volunteer these events would never take place.

The Dawn Mountain Challenge provides athletes the opportunity to work out the kinks leading into the upcoming ski season in a non-sanctioned and low stress atmosphere. With points not being the focus, athletes and coaches can enjoy our weekend of race training without consequence.

For us, the volunteers, this event is also a training ground for events to come. The Canadian Masters Championships will take place in just four months and will bring together Canada’s most talented athletes over the age of thirty. Golden has been offered the great opportunity to host this event in the 2012 season and we will therefore look to Golden for volunteers and spectators for an event which will bring upwards of 400 athletes to the region.

While there were some hiccups in our implementation of the DMC there were also many proud and enthusiastic faces within the volunteer crews and many fantastic moments of ski racing! Looking forward, it is our primary goal to create the best event our community has ever been a part of. Therefore I need to thank each and every one of you who has participated this past few weeks to make the DMC happen. Without you these events would never take place. If you would like to play a role in this great upcoming event please let us know. Planning has been underway for over a year for the CMC and the enthusiasm and spirit for the event continues to grow.

I again would like to thank the members and executive of the GNSC, Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, Sushi Kuma, Skigo Wax Products, Golden Installations and the numerous local community members who contributed to this past weekends racing.

I look forward to working with you in the near future. Please spread the word that from March 11-17^th Golden, BC will be the place in Canada to cross country ski.

Kindest Regards,

Troy Hudson

Chief of Competition: Dawn Mountain Challenge/Canadian Masters Championships

(250) 290-2029 c.

goldenights@uniserve.com  

Saturday Volunteer Update:

Hello All,
Unless you are part of the timing team or the set up crew who will be at the resort for 10am, all other volunteers need not arrive until 11:15.  There will be a break in between the qualifiers and heats to grab a bite to eat as well. Please note that we are not providing food on Saturday for volunteers other than some hot chocolate sop please plan to bring a thermos of your favorite hot drink as well as food and warm clothes.

Meet at the Resort Daylodge to meet up with your crew chiefs at either 10:00 or 11:15. Thanks. See you in the morning people.

Sunday Temps expected to hover around zero.

Temperatures rose above zero yesterday and unleashed some serious rain at the stadium area but this evening brings new snow to soften everything back up. The Sunday forecast is looking pretty warm so bring your klisters and Skigo HF Yellow kick wax!! While the forecast is saying +3 in town expect temps around zero at the Nordic Center. Waxing is available at five different outlets around the lodge so get here early for a spot.  The daylodge will be open to the public for both days during the event. Sunday, the GNSC will offer food to competitors and volunteers, offering our usual happy faces and hospitality. See you in two days!!

60 Pre-Registered Participants!!

We have had great success with entries this year with 60 pre-registered participants. There will be registration up to one hour prior the events this weekend if you missed out with online registration. See you soon people!

Care for some sushi?

Sushi Kuma will be open for Saturday with fantastic Sushi, Coffee, and treats for all the spectators and racers. The best thing is...they are located about 30 feet from the start line for the sprint races!!

Volunteer Event Schedule:

2011 Dawn Mountain Challenge

Volunteer Event Schedule:

November 25^th (Friday)        Setup Crew will layout KHMR / DM courses and establish stadium layout

                                                -Volunteers Meet at 12:30pm at KHMR Daylodge.

-Bring over V Boards, whiskers, pole, banners in toboggan, snowmobile and YTS from DM

-Radio Checks with all radios.

-Course Tuning around Start and Finish area.

-Install fencing,

-Bring a shovel, rake if you have one.

-Ensure we have enough lights, power cords, generators if need be.

November 26^th (Saturday)    Kicking Horse Mountain Resort Qualifier and Sprints

-Setup Crew/Timing crews will arrive at 10:00am to ensure course is safe

                                                -Course will be pre-skied at 12:00

                                                -Course opens for warm-ups at 12:00

                                                -Course Closes at 12:20

                                                -Racing Starts 12:30 (see race schedule for details) 

-Race finishes by 7pm

-Venue teardown from 7pm -8pm and take all race event gear to Dawn Mountain to be setup in the morning.

-Grooming will be completed in the Stadium at DM during the day on Saturday so it will be easily configured in the morning.

November 27^th (Sunday)       Dawn Mountain Nordic Center TT

-Setup Crew/Timing crews will arrive at 9:30am to ensure course is safe and ready. Stadium closed.

                                                -Course will be pre-skied at 8:45

                                                -Course opens for warm-ups at 9:00

                                                -Course Closes at 10:20

                                                -Racing Starts 10:30 (see race schedule for details) 

-Race finishes by 3pm

-Venue teardown from 3pm -4:30pm and take all race event gear to yurt or basement of the new daylodge to be inventoried and stored until the CMC.

Saturday Night Sprints Tentative Schedule Released

2011 Skate Sprints Race Overview

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort (Gondola Plaza)

Nov 27^th, 2011

Pre Ski Course:                                 Opens at 12:00 noon

Bib Pick-Up/Registration:                11:30am

Course Closed:                                  12:20pm

Sprint Qualifiers Start:                     12:30pm          (Masters-Juvenile)

12:30               Heat Qualifiers (Top 16 advance per age category)

1:30                 Atom Boy                                           100m

1:35                 Atom Girl                                            100m

AWARDS: Atoms (hand out ribbons at the line)

1:45                 PeeWee Boy                                       200m

1:55                 Pee Wee Girl                                       200m

2:10                 Midget Boy                                         400m

2:20                 Midget Girl                                          400m

AWARDS: PeeWee-Midgets at Podium adjacent yurt

QUARTER FINALS FOR 550M COURSE PARTICIPANTS

2:40                 Juvenile Boys                                      550m

3:00                 Juvenile Girls                                       550m

3:20                 Junior Boys                                         1100m

3:40                 Junior Girls                                          1100m

4:00                 Open Women                                      1100m

4:20                 Masters Women*                                1100m

4:30                 Open Men                                           1100m

4:50                 Masters Men*                                     1100m

SEMI FINALS FOR 550M COURSE PARTICIPANTS

5:00                 Juvenile Boys                                      550m

5:10                 Juvenile Girls                                      550m

5:20                 Junior Boys                                         1100m

5:30                 Junior Girls                                          1100m

5:40                 Open Women                                      1100m

5:50                 Masters Women*                                1100m

6:00                 Open Men                                           1100m

6:10                 Masters Men*                                     1100m

FINALS FOR 55OM COURSE PARTICIPANTS

6:20                 Juvenile Boys                                      550m

6:25                 Juvenile Girls                                      550m

6:30                 Junior Boys                                         1100m

6:35                 Junior Girls                                          1100m

6:40                 Open Women                                      1100m

6:45                 Masters Women*                                1100m

6:50                 Open Men                                           1100m

6:55                 Masters Men*                                     1100m

The times for the 550m course will be much shorter than this as this is scheduled for 120 people 9 (or 16 people who advance per category) in the Juvenile-Masters categories. 

AWARDS: Juvenile – Masters

Awards will be announced as soon as the medals can be produced to keep the event moving along and so no one is required to stand around for extended periods of time.

*Masters events times are calculated with a 1 sec/yr deletion for each year over age 30 to create a more challenging event for the category.

Sunday Classic TT Tentative Schedule Released

2011 Classic TT Race Overview

November 27^{th (Sunday)}, 2011

Dawn Mountain Nordic Center

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pre Ski Course:                                 Opens at 9:00am

Bib Pick-Up/Registration:                9:00-10:00am

Course Closed:                                  10:20am

Race Start:                                         10:30am

10:30               Atom Boy                                           600m

10:35               Atom Girl                                            600m

AWARDS: Atoms (hand out ribbons at the line)

10:45               PeeWee Boy                                       1.5km

10:50               Pee wee Girl                                        1.5km

11:10               Midget Boy                                         3.75km

11:15               Midget Girl                                         3.75km

AWARDS: PeeWee-Midgets at Daylodge Podium

11:45               Juvenile Boys                                      5km

11:50               Juvenile Girls                                       5km

11:55               Junior Boys                                         10km

12:00               Junior Girls                                          10km

AWARDS: Juvenile-Juniors at Daylodge Podium

12:20               Open Women                                      10km

12:25               Masters Women*                                10km

12:30               Open Men                                           15km

12:35               Masters Men*                                     15km

AWARDS: Open – Masters*

*Masters events times are calculated with a 1 sec/yr handicap for each year over age 30 to create a more challenging event for the category.

10km of trails opening today at Dawn Mountain

With trails being rolled throughout the week they are being track set with the YTS groomer today. We expect to have 10km of trails open. Please be on the lookout for the snowmobile groomers.

20cm snowfall overnight!

We received 20cm overnight last night and are anticipating snow throughout the weekend. Things are looking great for our early season race and the courses are going to be phenomenal!!!! WooHoo. Upper Trails should be open to ski for this weekend.

Distances for DMCSF 2011 Released

With new snow coming down almost daily on the trails we should be in excellent shape for the DMC this year. The forecast looks good for the events and KHMR is starting to blow snow this week!!!

The new courses are marvelous with some exciting changes for distance races on Sunday. The new sprints course will allow spectators to view the entire course from one location and will surely impress the athletes with it's new twists and turns. 

The course distances are listed below:

Saturday Free Sprint Races:

Atoms           100m

PeeWee        200m

Midget          400m

Juvenile         550m

Junior            550m

Open            1100m

Masters        1100m   

Sunday Classic TT Races: 

Atoms           600m

PeeWee        1.5km

Midget          3.75km

Juvenile         5km

Junior            10km

Open W        10km

Masters W    10km

Open M        15km

Masters M    15km

Courses Set for the KHMR Night Sprint

The new sprint courses at KHMR are fantastic. Utilizing the new Learning Center terrain, we will be offering fun, challenging, more spectator friendly and safer courses for the juvenile to Masters categories. Included this year are Atom to Midget categories for the younger racers to test their mettle against friends. With snow in the forecast and about 10cm's on the ground we are confident this will be the best course yet. Finalization of the TT courses at Dawn Mountain are being completed this weekend. All course maps and profiles will be posted to the website this coming week. Registration is now live at www.zone4.ca

The DMC Needs You!

The Dawn Mtn Challenge will be taking place in a bit less than two months and we would love to have you involved in the experience. We are looking for roughly 40 volunteers for the two day event. This will also be a training event for the National Masters Championships taking place in March here in Golden. Please spread the word throughout the community and network of ski friends. We look forward to working with you. Contact Troy Hudson at goldenights@uniserve.com for more information.

It's Official!!!! The DMCSF is set for November 26-27th. This is the first stop on the Kootenay Cup tour as well as the first event of the season in Canada. If you are in the region please come on up and enjoy our hospitality and some fine early season racing. Sandwiched between On Snow Camps and the first Provincial Cup calendar races our event provides the perfect kick off to your race season. This grass roots event provides one of the best sprint races (as stated by numerous coaches and athletes) in Canada along with a great Classic TT on Day 2 for all ages. In the past we have had the pleasure of hosting numerous members of our National Training Centers and NST and have a good feeling that this year will be no exception. See you in 2 months! 

Contact me for posters for your shops, club houses, etc.

Golden to host the 2012 Canadian Masters XC Championships

The Golden Nordic Ski Club will bookend its 2011/12 season with two great events. As the planning for the 2011 DMC continues, the GNSC organizing committee just received some fantastic news regarding our bid to host the 2012 Canadian Masters Championships.

Following on the heels of the World Masters in Vernon this past winter, Golden will be the location for the next major Masters event in Canada for the coming season. The 6 day event will include 4 days of racing split evenly for skate and classic events.

The event will be taking place from March 10th to the 17th and show off our new day lodge facility along with showcasing some of our favorite trails. More information will become available shortly and updates will also be posted on the GNSC website here. Congratulations to the organizing committee on their commitment to expanding the event hosting capabilities of our facilities. Way to go, we're pumped!!

Conditions Superb Throughout on April 8th

Just got back from teaching a skate clinic and the snow level has not begun to drop yet on the upper trails! This is CRAZY! There is still about 3 feet of packed snow in the stadium. Fantastic conditions today everywhere with extra fun out on the beaver ponds!! Sorry no pictures...I was too busy loving the snow.

Skigo Canada steps in as the first official sponsor of the 2011 DMCSF

With the announcement of a new level of race commitment in Golden, coupled with an early season cross border competition the weekend prior the first NorAm, Skigo Canada has stepped up as the first official sponsor of the 2011 DMCSF. We are very excited to have Skigo be a part of the team.

Skigo manufactures top quality wax, poles and gloves for the nordic ski industry and is a trusted brand by world cup athletes and teams around the globe. Along with prize contributions, samples of the new racing poles will be available for testing at the event.Skigo will also be supplying weather information and wax recommendations during the event.

Thanks Rodney for you great interest in our event!!

Click on the sponsor banner or go to www.skigo.ca for more info on their great products.

2011 Event Update

The Golden Nordic Ski Club has begun negotiations to create our event for next winter. Following discussions at Nationals we have tentatively secured the December 4-5th weekend for the 4th Annual Dawn Mountain Challenge.

This event will be the first race of the Kootenay Cup Race Series. Ongoing discussions with Cross Country Alberta will determine if it will also be a Bow Valley Corridor Cup race.

The mandate of the Dawn Mountain Challenge Ski Festival (DMCSF) is to bring together athletes from South Eastern BC and Southern Alberta for an early season race weekend. The Golden Nordic Ski Club continues to increase its capacity to host events within the region.

More information will be posted as available.

For more information regarding event sponsorship, marketing opportunities and involvement please contact event organizer Troy Hudson at goldenights@uniserve.com or (250)344-7489.

Post Nationals...

Following on a great Nationals, the Golden Nordic Ski Club is positioning itself to host two great events for next year. We will be calling on the community for support. More to come soon. Now, get out and enjoy the tail end of the ski season. There is still loads of snow out on the trails!! Grooming is tapering down during the week but will continue to be groomed on weekends.

New Video on GNSC by Keith Nichol

New Ski Video Posted

Thanks to Keith Nichol for this great short vid of our trails and the loppet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ow7JrAfme8

Alberta Family Weekend

Perfect grooming is in store for community members and our friends from across the border! 30cm of new snow this past week has created stunning conditions over our entire network. See you on the trails people!

Two Regional Race Series to partner with the DMCSF for 2011 4th edition!

The Dawn Mountain Nordic Center will be put to the test during the 4th Annual Dawn Mountain Challenge Ski Festival, brought to you by the Golden Nordic Ski Club. For the 2011 season, the DMCSF will become part of the Kootenay Cup Race Series, as well as the Bow Valley Corridor Race Series. These two regional race series cater to ski racers from BC and Alberta. For the first time, these series will be united at one venue.

Cross Country BC and Cross Country Alberta will join together for this one of a kind event here in Golden. Combined, these two race series could pool as many as 250 skiers for our newly branded event. With the race schedule and dates still to be confirmed, we hope to either run on the traditional last weekend of November, or the first weekend in December (the traditional date of the first AB Cup race).

We will keep you posted as things progress with planning.

There is much planning to be done in organizing this great new event and all volunteer help will be welcome. Should you be interested in becoming a partner, sponsor, or volunteer at our event please contact Troy Hudson for more details.

Pics from 15th Annual Huckleberry Loppet

Golden Nordic Racers on the start line for the 15/30km race

A 30km racer makes his way up the lap lane on the second lap of the 15km course. The finish line and start area are visible below on the stadium adjacent our new daylodge.

Jessica Stichelbout, Field Nordic Club Ski Coach, out on her second lap of the 30km course placing second behind Magi Scallion of Canmore, AB.

Finish Lane for all skiers with the announcing booth adjacent.

Amelia and Julian Hudson warm up on the 6 lane start grid. Finish lanes are on the right hand side of the picture. With a gentle uphill slope throughout the entire stadium, the start is a long double pole to the first climb.

Venue put to the test with the 15th Annual Huckleberry Loppet

Our new daylodge will be put to the test along with our new stadium and parking area this weekend at the 15th Annual Huckleberry Loppet. This will be the first time that an event has been run at our new facility. This will be a partial test for the capabilities of our new venue to host larger events in the future. Online registration closes Thursday night on Zone4.ca

"3 Day Festival" planned as a season primer for Western Canadian athletes.

The Dawn Mountain Challenge aims to create a sanctioned Western Canadian early season race series which will offer three races over three days with ski industry vendors and demo's for competitors and the public to test during the competition schedule. Kicking Horse Mountain Resort has once again stepped up to the plate to be a co-host for one of the 3 events next year which will be announced later on as events are defined.

2011 DMC Planning Underway

The DMC, as it has been affectionately labelled by the ski community, will be creating an entirely new format for the 2011 season. Preliminary planning has already begun and there will be more info posted as it comes in. We look forward to seeing you for the 4th edition.