Snow Fence Hanging Party THIS Sun Oct 25th, 9:30am!

 

 

We just now found out that our faithful snow-fencing-party organizer from previous years, Paul Graham, has chosen personal life over the our trail's snow fencing needs ;) He is available at end of Nov but we are hoping to be burried in a good amount of snow by then!

 

SO! we are going to try to round up some volunteers to hang as much as we can THIS Sunday Oct 25th.

That's you (and anyone you can wrangle into it on our behalf :) !!!!

 

Let's meet at 9:30am at the ski club shed (across from Canada Bonita trailhead).

If you come up later, just walk on up the trail and join a group.

Dress appropriately, bring gloves if you would like them, water, snacks, and wear layers. We will have Clay distribute the fencing rolls and bring up zipties. Something to hold your share of zipties for easy one-hand access will make things much better (regular pants pocket are NOT great as when you have to bend/squat and the ties will poke you and fall out).

 

Those of you who have participated before - you know it's a lot of work, but also quite a bit of fun with a good group of folks and is totally doable with kids helping or playing around, so come on up and bring out the whole family!!

We'll see how far we get this Sunday and then plan next weekend accordingly.

Hope to see you up there!

PS Mila says she (we?) will make really good cookies for those who come up! :)

Enchanted Forest season passes 50% OFF for club members until Nov 15th!!!

Did you know that our long time friends and sponsors and our favorite ski area Enchanted Forest Cross Country and Snowshoe Area has started their early season passes deals?!

Their passes are currently 25% off to the general public as early season price, however, for current Southwest Nordic Ski Club (SWNSC) club members the passes are 50% OFF! What a deal! That means that a full season family pass (which also comes with a 10% off merchandise and special events discount!!) is only $150!!

see full prices here (50% off price is NOT listed since it's only for our club members) http://www.enchantedforestxc.com/prices/season-passes

WHEN: 50% off discount to SWNSC members is only good until Nov 15th. That means you need to RENEW your SWNSC membership (or join) by Nov 13th to allow time to get your coupon code (see below) in time to purchase your discounted pass by Nov 15th.

HOW TO GET YOUR 50% OFF COUPON CODE:

1) Renew or join SWNSC online  here

2) within 2 days you will receive coupon code and instructions to purchase from us. Please contact us by messaging our facebook page or comment on this blog post right away if you do not receive it in 2 days.

3) make sure to use coupon code by Nov 15th to get your 50% off discount.

4) Feel good because SWNSC is a 501c3 non-profit so all membership fees and donations are tax deductible!

5) Feel even better because you are supporting a lot more than our club and our ski trails: SWNSC is also a contractor with USFS which allows the club to procure federal money to use to improve trails in our area (NOT just our ski trail!).

6) Tell your friends, like our facebook page and follow our blog!

Thanksgiving Camp by Crested Butte Nordic - Sign up now!

Hey folks,

I'm sure most of you know of the Thanksgiving Nordic camp put on the Crested Butte Nordic center. A fairly large group from our club goes every Thanksgiving.

 

Beautifully groomed trails with Crested Butte in the background. Quick ski before Thanksgiving dinner: 2014 camp.

 

sledding hill!!!!!

Getting around town for kids is easy :)

The house rentals in town are the best prices of the year (summer season is over but downhill skiing hasnt quite started yet - although there is often FREE downhill skiing on the early snow conditions that weekend, so you can take your downhillers and they'll have fun too). So you can get a great place right downtown and have a great time enjoying what is the most fun and best way to start your ski season by taking the awesome clinics Crested Butte Nordic Camp provides (they even have Intro clinics, so bring on your beginners!).

 

2014 kids thanksgiving clinic at CB Nordic

The list of instructors is amazing and the cost of clinics is more than reasonable (and is a fundraiser for the non-profit nordic center - great cause). You get a LOT of attention in all the clinics as well as video analysis for the intermediate/advanced clinics. This year, they also have a FREE kids ski camp which your kids can attend (grades K-6) while you are taking your clinics. They also have lots of gear rentals so you can try skating or classic, if either are new for you. Kids rentals are usually free during camp!!!

 

 

 

 

Here is the link for the camp: http://cbnordic.org/thanksgivingnordicskicamp/

And here is the link for the rental place we usually use for houses (or vrbo works well too). And we ALWAYS recommend the wonderful Cristiana Guesthaus (and their spectacular breakfast!!) they have been longtime sponsors and supporters of CB Nordic and they give 20% off to the camp participants (see camp page for details at right side under Lodging Deals).

Usually, even if going separately etc, we do try to hold thanksgiving day dinner at a larger house with all of us as a potluck. If you are interested in participating, let Dina (see email) know soon so we can arrange the potluck food etc.

Hope to see you out here!! 

So what are you waiting for?! Sign up today!!! :)

More blood, sweat...and money: TrailWork, Fees/Donations, NEW WEB DOMAIN!!!

from our club prez, Clay:

Photo courtesy of Lynn Bjorklund

OK, I'll admit that the club is loosely a charitable organization that continually asks for blood, sweat and tears...and your money, but it is great to be able to xc ski when there's good snow, right? There would be no possible way to have any of the skiing if we didn't have all of the above from all of you, so please help in any way you can by volunteering and/or renewing your memberships.

 

Just so you know, the club does function beyond just local XC skiing by maintaining the trails up at Canada Bonita and beyond. Club equipment is used by and donated to other local trail organizations, as well as club volunteerism, and the list goes on. We're all connected, so it is a good cooperative organization.

Club membership is mostly a charitable donation, but it also adds a bit of "political" clout to our cause and helps us to be in the running for grants and so forth. So please renew!

 

Here is the link to the renewal registration (don't forget, we are 501c3 organization and your donations and club fees are both tax deductible!! - you can request a reciept for your records when paying via link below):

http://www.newmexicosportsonline.com/events/details.aspx?id=29230
 

Also, we have a new website domain (still hosting our old website for now):
www.swnskiclub.org   ...as you may have noticed, the old one got hijacked by an unsavory group who has held it ransom. Shame on them!

We'll be producing a new website over the next few weeks with more up-to-date information and etc. Thanks for your support and patience.

 

Lots of trail work has been completed by a few hardy volunteers, but there is more to be done. We'll be cutting brush and fixing fencing some this coming Sunday (Pajarito Trail Festival is on Saturday). Come November, we'll be doing the "all hands" trail weekend to hang the fencing, so please set aside some time on the second weekend in November to help out with that if you possibly can. Info will be coming...

 

Thanks to all of you!

Temporary storage shed for UNM grooming equipment on mountain

Fredrik (UNM ski team) has been given green light from Ben Abruzzo to put  a storage container on the meadow area at the south end of the service rd.  Looks like usfs is very close to approval as well.  The plans are this season for a temporary structure which will be a conex (sp?) about 10' long by 6' wide by 7' high (I believe).  There will be a cost associated with rental, possibly transport, and for fuel for the snow machine.  Local skiers are asked to donate (if they choose to do so) to the UNM ski team and designate donations to fund shed rental and grooming expense (fuel, etc.).  More updates to come later.

Ron