Hello to any of you diehards still looking at our Nordic skiing site during this warm summery weather.  Of course there IS still a lot of snow in the hills, and Spaulding ought to offer terrific conditions at the right time of day.  But we won’t have many viewers, and even fewer posts or comments, until next ski season approaches.  There may be some gear for sale, lost and found, backcountry ski conditions, trail cutting workshops or other interesting items added from time to time. But mostly we’ve been discovered by the spammers and I’ve been having to delete all sorts of garbage.

So I’m changing the site to require registration before posting comments, at least until I find out whether there is a better way to halt spamming.  I hate do anything to discourage bonafide viewers from using our site fully, but registering is a quick and painless step, with no repercussions for your privacy or your own email account.   It’s a shame the internet has gotten so dominated and abused by commercial interests, but we’re just required to fight back in our own small ways.

Have a fine summer,
Bart 

The good news just won’t stop!  Jack reported via text message from the top of the mountain that he’d hauled the roller and track setter around the upper loop at Eaglecrest today.  He was about to head back down and run the track setter around the lower loop again, too.  So now you have no decent excuse for not playing hooky, calling in sick or simply going AWOL and jumping on your skis in this beautiful weather.  Life is grand!

If you are headed up the hill, try for a mid-day ski — late enough that the overnight ice will have thawed out, but early enough that it won’t have turned to slush.  The timing is dependent on how warm the weather is, how high above sea level you’ll be skiing, how shaded the trail is, and how corned up the snow is.  Come to think of it, that’s all too complicated.  Just get your rear up there and ski.

Just a quick update: JNSC’s grooming efforts paid off in spades yesterday as the lower loop was groomed for both skating and classic. Due to the time it took to groom by snowmobile in the fresh snow, the loop was a little shorter than usual, leaving out a few of the switchback and S-turns, but it goes from the A-frame by the day lodge all the way down to the lowest extension.

Conditions were idyllic in the warm sunshine, and tee shirt skiing was the order of the day (and perfect for BBQ’s in the meadow, as the motley crew of JNSC members in the upper photo proved). This kind of spring skiing is the best of summer and winter, combined in one activity! We intend to continue keeping the track skiable over the coming weeks as the weather allows. Check in here at the website under the Trail Conditions Forum for updates on grooming and conditions.

Thanks again to all the volunteers who pulled this off. Especially noteworthy were the contributions of Jack Kreinheder, who offered to find a snowmachine and do the actual grooming at Eaglecrest, and Jim Craig, who founded Avadogs of Alaska and lent his snowmachine for the cause (right and left in the lower photo, with Meadow Queen Amy in the center). JNSC board members Ray Imel, Greg Patz and Tim Blust pitched in to haul the grooming gear up to the mountain. Other skiers on site during the grooming helped pull the snowmachine and groomer out of the deep snow several times when it got bogged down.

JNSC is aiming at continuing to expand Juneau Nordic skiing opportunities in every way we can. So get on up to Eaglecrest while this gorgeous weather holds and sample some of the most pleasant ski conditions ever!

Here’s the latest news flash from the HQ of Juneau Skinny Skiers Unlimited (aka the Juneau Nordic Ski Club):

A bounty of snow.
Despite the onslaught of spring’s longer days and usually fairer skies, we just couldn’t bring ourselves to hang our skis up in the storage shed for the summer yet. Mother nature has been egging us on with another amazing cold spring, and then on top of that the unseasonable dumping a couple of days ago that raised our electric rates 500% and sent us generally back to the stone age.

Fortunately, cross-country skiing is a true stone-age activity. Here’s another chance to thumb your noses at the rising prices of all sorts of commercial energy, unplug your t.v., leave your gas-hog boat at the dock a while longer, and strap those old boards on your feet a few more times. We have full-on Nordic grooming at both the Valley and Eaglecrest this weekend.

Valley skiing.
That’s right — you’d better believe that we don’t give up easily. I was just out at the campground this evening and the skate skiing was amazingly good. I’m not saying there aren’t a couple of bare spots showing up on the more exposed areas, but it was still easy to maneuver around them. The other 99% of the trail was in great shape, mostly packed powder, but a few areas that had gotten on the slushy side in the hot sun and were beginning to firm up by 8:00 in the evening. And just as I was finishing up my last loop near 9:00, here came one of our volunteer groomers setting a perfect new skating trail and classic track to set up for Saturday’s skiing.

So get out there early for the best skiing, or get out there later for the best sunshine, but by all means take advantage of what could well be winter’s last gasp in the Valley. The conditions are awesome and ripe for taking advantage of. By the way, we aren’t packing any longer on Mendenhall Lake, and even though I saw fresh ski tracks heading out over the ice, there’s also plenty of open water starting to appear, so I’m not about to recommend that anyone head over ice that is being buffeted by the conflicting influences of cold nights and warm days.

Eaglecrest arises from the ashes.
But wait — there’s more! That’s right, in spite of the well-publicized news that Eaglecrest’s last day of operation for the season was last Sunday, the Nordic diehards just won’t roll over so easily. We’ve assembled a crew of JNSC volunteers to wrestle one of our rollers and tracksetters up to Eaglecrest, and Jack Kreinheder (who is a member of both JNSC and the Juneau Snowmobile Club) has generously offered to haul one of the JSC’s machines up to Eaglecrest and set the lower loop Saturday morning. There is still tons of snow there, with additional accumulation most of the past week while it was raining down low, so it’s still a winter wonderland. With tomorrow’s sunny skies, it ought to be about as close to paradise as we find on this planet.

Jack’s planning to set both skate and classic tracks. It’s a bit of an experiment to see how much grooming we can accomplish with just a snowmachine, so it’s possible that we won’t be able to do the steep hills on the bottom-most loop. But I’m quite confident that at least the rest of the loop from the day lodge down past the meadow will be in great shape. Jack’s going to start grooming at 9:00 in the morning, so if all goes well the track should be pretty well complete by about 11:00 (and be melting by about 1:00 — but that’s good melting, as in bring your dark glasses and sunscreen, and be prepared to strip down minimum legal coverage to soak up a few rays!).

If this grooming-by-snowmobile effort proves successful, we may well just keep doing it several more weekends. Heck, if the lower loop melts away, we may just move to the upper loop in a few weeks. What could be better than basking in the hot sun while generating an entirely legal endorphin high, whipping your body into tip-top aerobic condition, sparing your aging knees and sundry other joints from the perils of running, and feeling smug that the only fuel you burned was the short trip to the trailhead. Just think how hard it is to do that only minutes from home in late April most places in the world. Do we live in an awesome place or what? Take advantage of it!

One more chance to show your appreciation.
I apologize in advance to most of you who have already generously sent in your donation or purchased a JNSC membership/Nordic Ski Season’s Pass this year. But I know that there are those among us who never quite got around to doing what they meant to do, so rest assured that it’s not at all too late to support your favorite club. At this point in the year, we don’t stand much on ceremony, so just feel free to mail a check in directly to JNSC at P.O. Box 21262, Juneau 99802, in the standard membership amount of $49 + tax = $51.45, or in any other amount larger or smaller that strums your heartstrings. (Please do include a current phone number and especially email address, as email is the only practical way we have to send you news.) We appreciate any amount, and we are putting all of it to very good use with the purchase of a brand new Skidoo Scandic snowmobile for Valley grooming this fall to replace our current worn-out model. We want to keep awesome skiing conditions coming your way, so we could use the support of all skiers to help us achieve this.

To those of you who have already stepped up to the plate, our sincerest gratitude. And once more, let’s hear it for our incredible volunteer Valley groomers, as well as the professionals at Eaglecrest, who have provided the best trails ever in both locations this entire winter!

Most of our members are on our email list and get alerts for upcoming events and other significant news. Email, and this website, are the only ways we have of contacting you. But quite a few members didn’t supply email addresses on their applications. More commonly, we have an old email address that is no longer in use. And even if you’re not a member of JNSC, we can add your name to our email list if you want.

One caveat: we tend to have trouble sending emails to hotmail and msn email addresses. They frequently reject our mailings as “possible spam.” The various other ISP’s and email addresses don’t seem to do that. So if you have an alternative to those two, please use that for your JNSC email contact.

Of course, if you don’t want to get our emails, let us know that too, and we’ll take you off the list. Rest assured, we will never give out our email list to others and send all our emails as b.c.c.’s, so no one can get your name from a copy. If you have any questions for us, address them to info@jnski.org . Thanks!

Dominic Bradford, who headed up JNSC’s Nordic Ski Clinics this year, sent us a comprehensive outline of ski techniques. If you took one of his classes, look this over to refresh your memory. If you didn’t get to the clinic, you still should find this a useful guideline: Nordic Ski Technique Checklist .

A reminder to all Juneau Nordic skiers: this coming Saturday one of Alaska’s most fun traditions, the Buckwheat Classic ski race, is held at White Pass, Yukon Territory. This race follows a gentle course through the woods and over several small lakes, starting and ending at Log Cabin, on the road between Skagway and Whitehorse.

The trail is roughly a clover leaf, looping back repeatedly to a central aid station built in the form of an impressive snow castle. Here volunteers hand out energy snacks, sports drink, and as the race progresses other higher octane quaffables designed to keep racers’ spirits high. In fact the notorious aid station festivities are so much fun that a good many of the racers are eventually lured astray on one of their many passes and never actually make it to the finish line (or at least not until supplies run dry).

Even for the more dedicated skiers, there’s tons of fun to be had. Besides touring the beautiful winding course itself, participants can partake of the hearty pre-race pancake breakfast, and then return after the race to the Skagway Eagles Hall for the banquet, the awards ceremony featuring none other than the infamous Buckwheat Donahue himself as MC, and the always raucous bop-till-you-drop dance. It’s a splendid opportunity to rub shoulders with the best and brightest from Whitehorse as well as share a fun weekend with the Juneau gang that rides on the ferry to Skagway for the weekend.

This is the 22nd year for this venerable and colorful event, sponsored as a fundraiser by the Skagway Ski Club. Even if you haven’t signed up yet, you can always do so at the last minute in Skagway. There are 10k, 25k and 50k ski races (classic only), with men’s, women’s and children’s categories, but no showshoe race this year. Some skiers go all out to win the trophies and prizes or notch a personal best, while many savor it as a more leisurely tour or family event. In any case it is a lot of fun. It would be a shame to live in Juneau as a Nordic skier and not experience this unique event at least once in your lifetime — and then you’ll just want to go back.

Click on this link for a great story on the race with lots of photos, provided by Swix Racing Service. And here’s a link to the race application form (scroll down the Skagway News webpage that opens to the pink box on the left, near the bottom).

The Juneau Snowmobile Club is again donating their time, energy and equipment to help skiers get to Spaulding Meadows. They will be offering free rides on sleds pulled by their machines from the Lake Creek trailhead on the hour at 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00 on Sunday, March 16. It takes about 20 minutes to make the ascent up to the ski trails on the meadows. Dress warm, as you’ll be sitting in the open air sled during the trip up.

In order to avoid waits at the parking lot and match the number of skiers with the number of snowmobiles available, we are requesting that you reply to JNSC to make a reservation for your preferred time slot. This is first-come, first served, so please indicate alternative choices in the order of preference in case your first choice is filled up. Space is limited, and it is possible that we will have to put a cap on the number of skiers we can haul. We will email you to confirm your reservation.

You can also take your chances showing up at the Lake Creek trailhead in case there is extra space available in the sleds going up, but those with reservations will have priority. Those who sign up will also have priority in getting a lift back down again, if they want to coordinate with the snowmachiners on timing for the return.

Of course you can always hike and ski up to the groomed tracks via the Spaulding Meadows trail, which starts from the parking lot on the right side of the highway a few hundred yards past the Auke Bay post office. Just be sure to angle to your right when you reach the meadows at the top of the trails and head overland to the northeast (toward Mt. McGinnis) a kilometer or two to intersect the snowmachine route and the groomed tracks. These will be classic tracks, although we are hoping to experiment with our skate ski trail groomer as well.

Be sure to bring along the usual essentials for travel in the mountains: extra clothing, water, food, sunglasses, sunscreen, and flashlight, and it doesn’t hurt to include a cell phone, map & compass or GPS, and matches & firestarter in case of real emergencies. While there will be people in the area who will be happy to lend a hand, it’s a large area and you have to be prepared to be on your own. There is no shelter on this part of the meadows and weather conditions can always change rapidly in the mountains. You participate in this event at your own risk, and JNSC and the Juneau Snowmobile Club can’t be responsible for keeping track of all the skiers in the area. It’s wise to stick to the groomed tracks so others will encounter you if you have any problems. As long as you take reasonable precautions for outdoor winter activities and use common sense about where you go, you should have a memorable experience.

Let the fun begin!

Good news for adventuresome Nordic skiers: our initial experiment working with the Juneau Snowmobile Club to groom a classic track at Spaulding Meadows was so successful that we’re doing it again this coming weekend!

Just to remind you why we’re putting so much effort into this, Spaulding consists of miles of gorgeous, gently-rolling hills surrounded by stunning scenery on all sides, at an elevation that guarantees plentiful snow. To truly appreciate this incredible asset we have in our backyard, you’ve simply got to experience a day of gliding along the smooth and easy tracks under the grandeur of Mt. McGuiness, Stroller White and the Mendenhall Towers, looking down at the Mendenhall Glacier in one direction and the waters of Icy Straits and Lynn Canal in the other.

Once again, several members of the Snowmobile Club will be offering rides up the hill for skiers who prefer to get right on the groomed tracks instead of making the hike/ski up the Spaulding Meadows Trail. I will update this post soon with more details, but the track will probably be set during the day Saturday and be allowed to set up overnight. The skiing event will be on Sunday, with rides available during the morning at the Lake Creek trailhead, at the parking lot on the right as you drive up toward UAS Student Housing from the Back Loop Road.

To provide a buffer zone, we will again be setting the tracks roughly on the boundary between the motorized and non-motorized sections of Spaulding Meadows. While there will be snowmobiles in the vicinity of the groomed tracks, remember that most snowmobiles these days are 4-cycle — much quieter and cleaner than their noisy and stinky 2-cycle predecessors. So while this area won’t offer to pristine quiet of the protected non-motorized areas, the noise shouldn’t be enough to cancel out the other exceptional attributes of this area. Also, if we’re lucky with the weather, the tracks should remain skiable for quite a while after the weekend, giving us the opportunity to use them during the quieter weekdays that follow.

The days are getting longer, the temperatures more balmy and the weather forecast is even looking favorable for this coming weekend. The skiing will be easy and require no great downhill skills if you take advantage of the snowmobile transportation. So mark Sunday on your calendars and consider turning out for this special opportunity to enjoy one of Juneau’s unique assets.

Calling all JNSC members:

Everything You’ve Wanted to Know About Ski Technique, But Were Afraid to Ask

Have you ever been curious about learning better ski technique, but not gotten around to signing up for an official lesson? Or maybe you have taken a lesson or two, but recognize a great deal when you see it. We have a really exceptional opportunity that has come up at the last minute — JNSC is going to be holding free classes for cross-country skiers at the campground this coming Saturday, from 2:00 to 4:00. To reward our loyal JNSC members, and especially those in the Valley who don’t get up to Eaglecrest too often, we wanted to hold this clinic on your regular stomping grounds.

Of course, skiers from any location are invited to take part. There’s only one small catch: your JNSC membership must be current for this season. If you’re the procrastinator sort like most of us, I will be hanging out ready to accept your membership checks on the spot ($49 + 2.45 tax = $51.45) and salve your guilty consciences in one fell swoop. After all, it’s your memberships that allow us to do all this grooming in the first place. We can’t do any active soliciting on federal property there, so I won’t be hitting you up or holding up any signs. But you can find me at the class signup at the start of the sessions and make everything right.

Weather

The weather report is a bit dismal, but time and again I’ve discovered that the skiing is terrific at the campground even when it looks miserable outside. It seems to rain less there, or at least in a different pattern than the rest of town. Also, rained-on snow like we have right now makes for really good spring ski conditions. I was out there last night (dreading the rain that was coming down heavily as I drove out there) and when I got on the track found barely a light sprinkle and excellent skiing. This is in large part due to the amazing efforts of our volunteer grooming crew, who keep the track surface ground up and smooth. There’s still plenty of snow on the trail, too.

Instructors

We’re going to have a variety of instructors to divide up the students in small groups. We’ll try to put people together who want to be, and also lump skiers of similar ability together. Several of the Eaglecrest instructors and other top local skiers have said they’d donate their time. And headlining this workshop will be a really outstanding skier and instructor, Toby Schwoerer, who is living in Juneau only for a few months this winter before he moves up north for good. Here’s Toby’s bio:
Toby grew up in Germany where his parents introduced him to skiing at an early age. While skiing on the German National Ski Team from 1995 to 1999, he had a top ten finish at the Junior World Championships, several top three finishes in the Europa Cup, skied in the Military World Championships, and had several top three finishes in the German National Championships. In 2000 he joined the UAA ski and cross country running teams in Anchorage, where he was first to race to All-American honors in cross country running. He also had several All-American finishes in cross country skiing. After his college career he pursued his passion for mountain running and racing ski marathons. In 2004 he won the Tour of Anchorage, Mount Marathon, and the Crow Pass Crossing in one year. Toby enjoys coaching kids and teaching others of all ages the ins and outs of skiing.

So come on out rain or shine on Saturday afternoon, reap the rewards of your club membership and enjoy a chance to hone your skills in this very casual setting. Bring your skate or classic skis. We’ll meet at the trail crossroads just in from the campground gate at 2:00.

We’re looking forward to seeing you there,

Bart Watson