A warm welcome to all. It has also
been a busy month on snow, with our holiday / training camp in Norway (see
pictures below) and races beginning on snow (see story underneath).
As the ski marathon season begins, we
wish good luck to anyone preparing for a ski race, holiday or just getting fit
for the spring! We hope you enjoy this month's update.
The British Cross-Country Ski Champs
are now well under way in Ruhpolding, Germany. There's good snow and a large
field. Congratulations go to Barbara Baker of our own rollerski club, who took
part in the 7.5k skating race. See http://www.rollerski.co.uk/nx022.html
for report.
We have Hyde Park 4-week classic and
skating courses beginning this Saturday and Sunday. We have spaces left on both
courses, and would encourage anyone keen to get to grips with the basics of
classic or skating technique to sign up. More on http://www.rollerski.co.uk/events.html
We have a Dorney all-day skating
course on 11th February (aimed at anyone doing a skating race or holiday), and
a classic / skating course on 25th February. See http://www.rollerski.co.uk/events3.html
We would remind you that you can
hire equipment at Dorney and Hyde Park to use yourselves.
We are planning a Bath-Bristol
rollerski challenge in April. This is a rollerski tour on the 15 mile,
excellently tarmaced former railway track between the two cities. Please let me
know if you have a preference for a certain day. This is a free event, and you
can hire rollerskis to take part if you don't have your own.
We now have Ewen Martin's Nordic
Manual on sale. This gives an excellent summary of cross-country skiing
technique – Skate 1, Skate 2 and Skate 3; diagonal, double poling and kick
double-pole as well as coaching tips if you want to teach yourself to ski /
rollerskis! It costs £10 and can be ordered online at http://www.rollerski.co.uk/books.html
Ex GB biathlete Mark Gee (who appears
in Ewen's book) has on his website some excellent race tips and technique
pictures, which help with visualising body positions. Well worth a look. See http://www.nordic-world.com/G-Zone.htm
Here are some pictures from our trip
to Norway: http://www.rollerski.co.uk/gallery17.html
Laura Long, Helen Wood and Luke
Klimacki (our instructor Andy's son) were caught on camera by the local
newspaper: http://www.rollerski.co.uk/gallery16.html
Mike Dixon and Patrick Winterton
have been confirmed as lead coaches on Snowsport England's excellent on-snow
ski trip in Kvitavatn in April. This is an outstanding course for anyone after
first rate coaching, particularly if you have a desire to race next season.
More information on http://www.snowsportengland.org.uk/telemark_and_cross_country_skills_week_booking_details-1577.html
GB will have 6 cross-country skiers
at the Youth Olympics in Spain this February. See story on http://www.rollerski.co.uk/nx023.html
- we wish them all the best of luck!
The British Masters organisation now
has its own website. You can see what they get up to on http://www.bmccsa.org.uk/
I did the 15k classic race at
Spartan Hike, one of the army's qualifying races for the British Champs.
Speaking to the colonel in charge, he said that non-military skiers are very
welcome to take part in the cross-country ski races at this event. (The
biathlon would be harder to accommodate, due to lack of range space).
This is an excellent chance to pit
yourself against a wide range of army skiers, and is very well organised.
I finished 34th out of 211 in my
race, starting from 206th position! A good fun race (on my second day on
classic skis all year!) See http://www.spartanhike.co.uk/results/2007/Nordic/15Km
Classic Results.pdf
--
Iain Ballentine
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Roller ski instruction &
cross-country skiing
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W: http://www.rollerski.co.uk/
E: mailto:iain@rollerski.co.uk
M: 07968 286129
T: 020 8348 2540
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The Rollerski Co Ltd 2007
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