Supercamps are an ideal way to start the cross country ski season.

 by Keith and Heather Nicol

The views from the trails are amazing

      We are in the middle of teaching in the early season Supercamps that are held every year at Silver Star and Sovereign Lake located near Vernon in B.C.’s Interior. This year the main Supercamps run from November 18 to December 8,  2019 and they include three 3 weekend camps and three 4.5 day mid week camps. This year this area has had early snow and conditions for the camps have been close to perfect. These camps have been running for many years but seem to be getting more popular and this year has been the largest with over 440 participants. Supercamp coordinator Bryana, told us that this is an increase of close to 70 participants over last year. In fact many camps sold out quickly so next year if you want to get in on one of these great ski experiences be sure to sign up early. According to Bryana the earlier camps have fewer participants which might appeal to some skiers.      

Here are my weekend skate camp participants

   Classes involve instruction by some of Canada’s top cross country ski instructors and coaches and a chance to ski on the 105 km trail network which includes trails at Silver Star and Sovereign Lake Nordic ski areas.  The camps offer video analysis of your skiing plus afternoon lectures on nutrition, waxing and much more. There are a variety of specialized programmes including biathlon, a pro camp for aspiring masters racers.  Spend your mornings and early afternoon on skis improving your technique, and then relax in the late afternoons with wine & yoga, a strength and conditioning session, and other exciting extras. Class size varies but is usually around 6 participants per instructor which makes for personalized instruction. 

Silver Star offers great ski and ski out accomodation

These camps are geared to everyone from first timers to advanced skiers wanting to improve their technique and get in cross country skiing on a huge variety of trails. Another bonus is that many ski teams come here to practice at this time so you get to see them in action on the same trails you are skiing on.  And if you want a mid season tune up on your skiing you can still take in 2 more weekend camps which are scheduled for January 10-12, 2020 and Jan 31- February 2, 2020. For more information see: http://www.xcsupercamp.com/ 

Another bonus is that you get see some of North America`s top xc skiers on the trails

  

Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre is open and looks to have a great winter in store

By Keith and Heather Nicol

    You can always count on Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre to be open early and they did so again this year on November 13. We love coming to Sovereign Lake to get in our first cross country ski outings of the season and this year is was no different.  It has been a warm and relatively dry November along the coast in BC and this has meant virtually no snow at Mount Washington which is our regular ski spot on Vancouver Island.  We arrived around 11:00 am on Tuesday, November 19 with some friends from Vernon and Kamloops and had a fabulous day in the sunshine skiing a variety of trails.

We had a great day skiing with friends

      We like to take it easy on our first day and we liked the fact that on this day Sovereign had a nicely groomed stadium area with over a dozen lanes of set tracks. So we spent the first 30-45 minutes skiing without poles to get our balance back and the flat lanes in the stadium were perfect for this.  Plus the stadium sits in the sun so that is a real bonus.  There is some snow in the forecast and that will help open more trails. 

The new groomer will be able to keep trails in good shape this winter

 Sovereign has a big winter coming up culminating in the Canadian Championships from March 24 to April 2. They also have a new groomer (a Piston Bully 400) which should be great for that event and to keep the trails in good shape all season long.  As well the office manager , Jennifer told us that they currently have over 1600 members and new for this year are special discounts for members including lessons, food and various merchandise.  She also said they done improvements to the biathalon range and plan to hold more events there this year. Sovereign Lake Nordic is a full service xc ski area and is well worth checking out this season. For more information see: https://www.sovereignlake.com/

The tracks in the stadium were perfect for a first day on snow

Sea Kayaking and birding at Point Holmes, Comox

by Keith and Heather Nicol

Heather paddling around Cape Lazo

Sea kayaks are great vessels for observing wildlife from seals to whales and they are also ideal for observing shorebirds, ducks and other marine birds . We have noted that recently various ducks have returned to the waters off of Comox and Point Holmes offers a perfect launch point for seeing these new arrivals. On Tuesday, Oct 1 under clear skies and light easterly winds  we kayaked on a tide of about 3.5 meters  We usually paddle toward Cape Lazo and around to Kye Bay. However, most bird sitings seem to occur away from where people and dogs are located so closer you get to the sandy beaches of Kye Bay the fewer birds we typically see. We find our best bird sitings are along the rocky shoreline at the south end of Cape Lazo.

A seal perched on rock

On this day we were pleased to see numerous harlequin ducks with several colourful males in the mix and also many common mergansers seemed to have just arrived. Also many pelagic cormorants adorned some of the taller rocks and we even saw several on a log floating off shore. As well many gulls occupied many sections of sandy beaches along this route. We also saw several seals basking on rocks. It is always interesting to see what new arrivals we can see and we look forward to our next kayak trip to Point Holmes. 

A colourful male harlequin duck

Common mergansers seem to have recently arrived

 

Cycling from Qualicum Beach to Moorecroft Regional Park

By Keith and Heather Nicol

Along a great cycle path

     On Monday September 31,  the Evergreen Cycling group based in Courtenay decided to do a trip that many members had been wanting to check for some time- Qualicum Beach to Moorecroft  Regional Park. Since the group had already done trips from the Ravensong Aquatic Centre to Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park earlier in the summer, most of the best cycling route had already been scoped out.  But this added trip to Moorecroft Park added an extra 20 km to the trip and some hills so it made for longish trip of close to 60 km. 

Much of the route features quiet roads and side streets

   Ten of set out from Courtenay at 9:15 by car for Qualicum Beach and by 10:30 or so we were busy linking up the various sections of road, bike trail and quiet city streets that make up the PQ Cycling Links trail. Most of it is well sign posted but it makes sense to get a Qualicum – Parksville map if you want to try this route on your own. This led us to Rathtrevor Provincial Park and then we took Resort Drive to Northwest Bay Road. At this point the route becomes hillier but very pleasant as you pass farms with a good shoulder on the edge of the road for cycling. We turned left on Stewart Rd and then descended down some steep sections to Moorecroft  Regional Park where we had lunch at a sunny picnic table in a small garry oak meadow overlooking the ocean. It was a perfect place to relax and enjoy a sunny fall day. 

At the Garry Oak Meadow at Moorecroft Park

  But we then had to cycle back up the hills and what kept many going was the thought of an ice cream cone at the store adjacent to Rathtrevor Park. From there we backtracked along the same route back to the Ravensong Aquatic Centre.  Overall we cycled for about 3 and ½ hours not counting stops for ice cream, lunch and water along the way. We arrived back in Courtenay around 4:30ish having spent had some great exercise while exploring some new terrain for most of us. For more information on the Evergreen Cycling group see: http://evergreenclub.ca/. 

    

Lunch in the sun overlooking the water