Rochester Active Sports Club

The weekend of Feb 10^th and 11^th, Quarry Hill will be holding a Valentine Ski and Snowshoe Event. What could be more romantic: candlelight, champagne, chocolate, a roaring fire, live music, and skiing (hopefully we will have snow by then). Bring your sweetheart or come with friends for an enjoyable evening skiing or snowshoeing along a candlelit trail. Then warm up by the crackling fire where champagne and chocolate truffles will be served. There will be live music by the Nodding Wild Onions. 7:00—9:00 PM both days. Cost is $18 per adult, $15 if you are a member of QH Nature Center. Note: Pre-Registration is required and you can do so by calling 328-3950.

Congratulations to Barry Knapp, Darald Bothun, and Kristin Bothun! These three Birkie enthusiasts will take on the roles of the two Warriors and Inga at this year's 39th annual American Birkebeiner. Barry and Darald will assume the roles of Torstein and Skervald, the Birkebeiner warriors who rescued Prince Haakon during the Norwegian Civil War in 1206.  Kristin Bothun, Darald's daughter, of Mankato, MN, will ski as Inga from Varteig, mother of Prince Haakon.  

You can read the full article about their selection as Birkie Warriors on the Birkie web site: http://www.birkie.com/news_article/show/125919?referrer_id=104650

The RASC Hot box is operational for 11/12 ski season. Skis are heated to 140F for 4 hours to provide good penetration of soft waxes into the ski base - the best way to condition your skis for the upcoming ski season..

For hot boxing, please follow the following steps
1) Iron in a layer of a soft wax such as Swix CH10 or Toko Yellow (hard waxes are not absorbed well at 140F)
2) Drop the skis off at my house after 7 pm any evening  (3128 Lake Vista Drive NW). Alternatively you can drop them off at  Rochester Cycle and Fitness (RCF)
3) Be sure to put a note or label giving you name and contact info
4) Include a check for $10 (payable to RASC) or $10 bill
5) If you dropped them off at RCF, e-mail me to let me know the skis need to be picked up from there. (mkoconnor@mayo.edu)
6) I will contact you when the skis are finished (turn-around time should be 1 week or less).
Note: This facility is ONLY available to club members

The Rochester Masters Nordic Program meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays for rollerskiing / dry land training from August until the snow flies We meet in Essex Park on Tuesday evenings (currently meeting at 6:00 pm) for dry-land training, We meet at Meadow Crossing on Thursday evening for rollerskiing training and drills (6:00 pm, but may change later in season). All are welcome to attend either or both sessions. For the dry-land training you will need running shoes and ski poles. For rollerskiing, most sessions are done on skate skis, but classic rollerskis will work for many of the drills.

Note: all meeting locations and information on particular training sessions will be posted on the RASC Bulletin Board.

Over 100 days of grooming, 343 volunteer hours, 1578 miles of travel. Some of the statistics from this winter's grooming work by RASC Grooming team (Eric Counselman, Dave Greymont, Matt Hawkins, Brennan Kelly, Joey Keillor, Lisa Luetmer, John Resman, Jeff Robertson, Greg Rowley, Al Schmidt, Bruce Walk, Henry Walker, and Andy Wood).   

 RASC took delivery of our new rollers last week and put them to good use with the last 8" snow fall. Dave Greymont reported that the rollers cut in half the time needed to pack the trail. Ski conditions are excellent - get out and stretch your legs before the Birkie this weekend. 

18 RASC skiers had the opportunity to improve their skating technique Sunday afternoon.  Audrey started us out with the basic fundamental drills - basic body position and double pole which is important for both skating and classic.  From there we moved onto V2, learning to add the legs in and make sure there was good weight transfer back and forth from each ski.  Then we moved to the hills working on V1 uphill and step turns on the downhills.  A few of us then finished the lesson talking about skiing with Audrey while having dinner.  Thanks to Audrey for the great coaching & we wish her the best of luck for the rest of the racing season!

Six Rochester skiers experienced the 2010 Norwegian Birkebeinerrennet this year on Saturday, March 20. What started as an improbable idea turned into a memorable adventure skiing over the Norwegian highlands between Rena and Lillehammer.

Each year we see an increasing number of RNST skiers completing the Korteloppet. This year a record 21 RNST skiers completed this event.