In one week it's turned from summer to
winter. The snow's arrived in Norway,
the central heating's on again and thoughts are again turning to the winter
ahead.
We welcome Alan Eason to our course
lineup this weekend. Freshly back from
glacier training in Austria, Alan will be bringing some of his expertise to
Hyde Park, taking skiers who have the basics of classic and skating, to the
next level.
We have a 4-week skating course
beginning 11th September, the last of 2006. See http://www.rollerski.co.uk/events2.html
Our intermediate / advanced courses
with Alan Eason start this weekend, still a small number of places
available. See http://www.rollerski.co.uk/alancourses.html
Why not join us for a refresher class
in Hyde Park or Richmond Park this weekend?
It looks set to be excellent, crisp winter conditions –
Book on http://www.rollerski.co.uk/class.html
Our Dorney day on 19th November is now
completely booked up. We have places
left on our 10th December course, and I have just added another Dorney date for
26th November.
http://www.rollerski.co.uk/events3.html
In the New Year, we hope to add another
venue, Dunsfold Park near Guildford in Surrey.
This is a privately owned airfield with some very good tarmac, and is
the home of the Top Gear BBC TV programme.
Its owner is himself a keen rollerskier, and very keen to welcome us
along.
Our trips, I'm glad to say, are filling
up. There are only a few places
remaining now on the Norway trip, and the Italy trip has taken a few bookings.
I've added a brief profile of Andy
Klimacki, who will be classic instructor on the Norway trip, to the web page, http://www.rollerski.co.uk/cross.html
- there is a 'You Tube' link which features Andy in another guise, as shooting
and running coach to a nationally successful tetrathlon team.
The snow arrived in Sjusjoen this week
- you can visit the webcam to have a look - http://www.sjusjoen.nu/
We're still looking for volunteers to
take part in the opening press day of National Ski & Snowboard Week on 12th
November. Let me know if you can make
it – we've got to be on the Mall outside the Carlton House Terrace steps at
1.45, meet at the normal Hyde Park carpark 1pm. Press arrive 2pm. Should
be a good tour.
See http://www.nssw.co.uk/ for
more information on the week.
Balance is somewhat useful in
cross-country skiing. Well, it's
essential really. A quick way to build
up balance, control and ankle strength – which is often the `missing link' when
you start skiing from other sports – is to use a `balance cushion'.
There are lots of people selling these,
and they make an excellent investment or early Christmas present. A good selection is on sale at – http://www.physio-line.co.uk/acatalog/Balance_and_Wobble_Boards.html
If you switch on to the BBC children's
show Blue Peter on Monday afternoon may see a few rollerskiers among the
children's 'conga'. Watch out for them
if you can!
I've put up a profile of newly
qualified instructor, Laura Long – http://www.rollerski.co.uk/profilelaura.html
We've recently had a delivery of new
Swix Alulite poles. This season they're
blue with cork handles - http://www.rollerski.co.uk/buy.html
• a
good one on classic - http://www.masterskier.com/article.asp?AID=67
• interesting
skate 1 exercise - http://www.masterskier.com/articles/0405raceseason/keytothev1.html
NB the Americans use different skating
terms from Snowsport England –
Skate 1 = V1
Skate 2 = V2
Skate 3 = V2 alternate
• report
on opening ski race of 2006/7 Season in Dusseldorf GER – http://www.fasterskier.com/racing3670.html
Good rollerskiing and hope to see you
soon!
Iain
Iain Ballentine
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Roller ski instruction &
cross-country skiing
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W:
http://www.rollerski.co.uk/
E:
iain@rollerski.co.uk
M:
07968 286129
T:
020 8348 2540