May 2015 - Fernie Nordic Society

The 2014/15 cross country ski season in Fernie was
one for the books for many different reasons. The
trail expansion at the Elk Valley Nordic Centre and
good early season conditions saw our membership
expand to record numbers – an impressive 573
skiers! A warm spell early in the New Year allowed
construction of the EVNC warming hut to begin –
thanks to the volunteers who helped get this under
way. The Fernie Nordic Racers, in their inaugural
year, won the Teck Kootenay Cup! Beckie Scott
returned to officially open the EVNC and last, but
certainly not least, the most temperamental yearend party at the top of the Timber chair at Fernie
Alpine Resort. We have so many members and
community partners to thank for this successful
season because even though the late season
weather conditions were certainly challenging, all in
all volunteers, parents and skiers of all ages made
the most of their time on the trails. Read on for a
more thorough review of the 2014/2015 season as
well a sneak peek at whatʼs in store for this summer
and the 2015/2016 season!
1 FERNIENORDICSOCIETY 2014-15
Skills Development Program
Season Overview
May 2015
FERNIE NORDIC SOCIETY
Once again the Skills Development Program was at
capacity - a reminder to sign up early next year! We
added new coaches to the roster to support the 72
kids enrolled in Bunnyrabbit and Jackrabbit lessons
and hope to train a few more new volunteer
coaches next season so we can accommodate all
young kids wanting to join the program. While the
season ended a little sooner than hoped, everyone
showed their
resiliency in
getting
out
regardless of
conditions. Weʼd
like to thank all of
the dedicated
people who made
the year a great
success – the time
and talent offered
by volunteers is
the backbone of
FNS. Head Coach
Clark Weber has put in many hours coordinating our
coaches, as well as the clinics and lesson
schedules. Thank you! We look forward to seeing
you next year!
Elk Valley Nordic Centre
A fall work party
brought 40 volunteers
of all ages to EVNC to
clear brush and tidy
trails. Everyone had a
chance to walk out to
the new Lizard Creek
bridge location
(allowing us to expand
trails significantly) and
to the see the site of
the new warming hut.
The hard work and
dedication of all the
volunteers and
contracted trail
builders has resulted
in 8 kms of beautiful trails connecting Mt Fernie Park and
Fernie Alpine Resort with more to come.
Fernie Nordic Racing
Huge congratulations to the Fernie Nordic Racers and
coaches Jeff and Naomi. The teamʼs coaches set a goal
at the beginning of the season to attend all 7 Teck
Kootenay Cup races and they accomplished that goal.
Because of the strong attendance of the race team, Fernie
Nordic Racers, parents and recreational racers, the club
was able to accumulate enough points to come in first
place for the Kootenay Cup!
Special thanks to Race Team parents for all their support
(financial, driving services and even participating in races!)
throughout the season. And of course a massive thanks
to Jeff and Naomi for their time, talent and passion all
season.
If you know a young skier interested
in joining the race team, contact
the coaches at
raceteam@fernienordic.com
2 FERNIENORDICSOCIETY 2014-15
We celebrated the EVNC Grand Opening on March 7th
during the Fernie Nordic Winterfest. The Grand Opening
celebration took place on a gorgeous blue bird day
which was perfect for the kidsʼ scavenger hunt, an
outdoor lunch, and marshmallow roasting on what really
seems to be Fernieʼs best bonfire pits! Huge thanks to
Canfor for donating the wood chips so guests could
avoid mud and ice and of course to the volunteers who
were out there spreading the chips and preparing the
site. We were grateful that Beckie Scott and her
husband, Justin Wadsworth, returned as our special
guests. Beckie addressed the crowd after lunch and cut
the ribbon along with Mayor Guiliano, Martin Vale
(Cedars), Nic Milligan (Teck), Mike Sosnowski (RDEK)
and Megan Lohmann (FNS President). The ribbon
cutters represented our “Community Game Changers” major sponsors and partners of the trails - who made
the trail expansion possible. Missing from the ribbon
cutting team were Hon. Bill Bennett (Province of BC),
Bud Nelson (Galloway Lumber), BC Parks and
Columbia Basin Trust.
Membership Overview
The Fernie Nordic Society now boasts
an impressive 573 of members making it
the 2nd largest club in Fernie! We hope
youʼre as proud as we are of being part
of this growing volunteer-run
organization and we canʼt thank you
enough for your support. There are so
many exciting things on the horizon and
we work really hard to put your
membership dollars to good use. FNS
membership fees are among the lowest
in B.C., which is really important to us.
Are you curious where your dollars went
this year? Hereʼs a breakdown of how
fees are distributed:
2014 / 2015 Adult Membership - $45
groom our trails 3 times a week but would evaluate additional programs and events.
love to increase this to 6 times per week This opportunity seems to be particularly
2015/2016 Fee Distribution – We when funds permit. Weʼve heard from appealing to business owners.
a n t i c i p a t e t h a t n e x t s e a s o n t h i s members that is a priority and would
breakdown will change as we direct more increase skier enjoyment a lot.
income to grooming. This past season
the cost of grooming was covered by the While we continue to look for grant
remainder of our RMI grant. But this opportunities to fund grooming, in an
grant ends with the 2015 calendar year effort to supplement grants and fund
so we will necessarily be allocating more grooming in a long term, sustainable way,
income from membership and day use we have launched a Sponsorship
passes to grooming.
Program and are actively looking for
businesses and individuals to sign on as
We are very grateful to Foothills Silva FNS sponsors. There are a variety of
Culture who offer us amazing rates for benefits to sponsorship, listed above, so
their grooming service, even so it costs if you or someone you know is interested
$33/kilometer/groom session to groom in signing up please email Jen at
our trails, making it our largest non- admin@fernienordic.com for more info.
capital expense and our most difficult to A strong sponsor base will help us keep Freshly groomed trail and great views at the EVNC!
receive grants for. We currently aim to annual membership low and allow us to
Year end event to remember!
A huge thank you to everyone who came
out to the Year End Event on March 28th.
It was likely the craziest nordic event
ever held, with gale force winds, ice chips
and rain at 5,600 feet. It didnʼt seem to
dampen the spirits of the 54 members
who came out and while many werenʼt
able to ski the course, others did it twice!
If only a picture could have been taken at
the mass start when the front line were
all blown over! Thank you to Fernie
Alpine Resort, the staff at Lost Boys Café
for serving up burgers and hot drinks and
to all the FAR patrol and staff who helped
set the course and download all our
members! It will not be soon forgotten.
Itʼs official - Fernie kids & parents are the toughest!
3 FERNIENORDICSOCIETY 2014-15
A Look Ahead
Trails
Annual General Meeting
Over the summer we will be installing 3 culverts on EVNC trails
and will be making general improvements to trails so we can
groom earlier and later in the season and avoid trail damage
during spring runoff.
Plans are also underway to add an
additional loop option just over the bridge.
Stay tuned for more details about this yearʼs AGM which will
take place in July.
Call for volunteers
We are recruiting new coaches for the 2015/2016 JackRabbit
program. We really donʼt want to turn families away this year so
please consider donating a few hours a week to coach some
awesome little skiers! We provide all the training you will need
to have fun and be successful!
Other volunteer roles you can consider:
Trail Ambassador
Den Parent
Trail Work Parties (summer and fall)
Board Member – Social & Event Coordinator
Thank You
Dedicated volunteers build the new hut at the EVNC
We thank the following individuals and businesses for their generous support of the Fernie Nordic Society. Please support the
businesses that help us deliver FNS programming!
Community Game Changers
Premier Sponsors
BC Parks
City of Fernie
Columbia Basin Trust
Galloway Lumber
Mountain Equipment Coop
Province of BC Resort Municipality
Initiative
RDEK
Teck
The Cedars
Presenting Sponsors
Supporting Sponsors
Brad & Tanya Zumwalt
Crossfit Fernie
Etheridge Law
Fernie Elks Lodge
Freshies Coffee Company
Investorʼs Group
Lisa Tessler & Randal Macnair
Tourism Fernie
Aleatha Hozjan
Fernie Blueprint
Fernie Brewing Company
Fernie Cardlock
Island Lake Resort Group
ISL Engineering and Land Services
Isosceles
Jenny Hutchison
4 FERNIENORDICSOCIETY 2014-15
Canfor
Fernie Alpine Resort
Fernie Golf & Country Club
Foothills Silva Culture Inc.
RCR
Lisa Maille & Daniel Ste-Marie
Mow & Snow
Pattiʼs Party Tent Rental
SMS Equipment
The Gill Family
The Russell Family
Trudeau Family