With the closing of the Nordic Center’s doors for the season most of us have started thinking more about bikes and gardening than skate skis and grooming. The frequent spring snow storms remind us that winter hasn’t given up the ghost yet, though. Before we’ve all moved on completely, we wanted to send out our spring newsletter.

Inside you’ll find reports on events, ski school, the Junior Nordic team, and the day-to-day happenings at the Nordic center, as well as photos from throughout the year.  We hope you enjoy a bit of reminiscing and day-dreaming about next year.

Happy Spring!

CBNC Spring Newsletter 2010

Just a reminder that the Crested Butte Junior Nordic team is doing pre-race ski waxing Friday night at the Nordic Center. They have two options: the Racer’s Special ($55) and Perfect for Participants ($30). Drop skis off by 6 p.m. Friday and you can pick them up first thing Saturday morning. There’s a limit of 50 pairs, so get yours in early. Contact Duncan Callahan with questions, 970-275-8950.

Why do you want your bases saturated with wax? Besides conditioning your bases to a certain hardness and water repellency, wax also protects the base from oxidizing. An oxidized base does not absorb wax well, and a base without wax tends to be slow.” -Nordicskiracer.com

“It was very apparent how much faster my skis were after I hot boxed them…I was mentally able to ski faster than most of the Scheefer family, at least until they hotbox their skis.” -Mark Smiley

The four step process takes two days to complete:
1. Apply a thick coat of warmer fluorinated (expensive) wax, and without scraping, place in the hotbox for 8 hours.
2. Scrape and brush the ski, then apply a second coat of cold wax (ie- LF6 or LF4).
3. Place back in the hotbox for 4 hours, letting it cool slowly overnight.
4. Scrape and brush the wax out.

How much does all this cost you ask?  Well for you, because it’s you, we are only charging a modest $49.00!  In order to keep the Center “green” we will be hotboxing skis in batches.  Drop your skis off during the week, and we will start the weekly batch on Wednesday at noon so your skis will be race ready by Friday morning at 9:00AM.  If you need your skis done outside of this schedule, it will be an additional $8.00.  We can also get your downhill skis racing faster using the same system, so bring in the entire quiver.  Alpine skis are $55.00 due to the larger amount of expensive wax required.

Been watching jealously as those skate skiers zoom gracefully down the trail? Never fear, you too can join them!  Whether you’re brand new to the sport or looking to fine-tune your skills our January Skate Skiing clinics are here to help. We’re excited to host a two-week series of Beginning and Intermediate clinics taught by Ski School Director Janelle Smiley, Junior Nordic Coach Duncan Callahan, and Assistant Manager Laura Puckett. On January 11, 13, 18, and 20 we’ll meet at the Center at 1 p.m. before splitting into groups by ability. Sign up for the series for $60, or drop in for $18. Call the Nordic Center for more info or to register, 970-349-1707, ext. 2.