I am not sure what magical environmental vortex exists around our skiing area, but the snow is still there and it isn't half bad. It is a bit sketchy in places, but we can make a go of it!

The grid is no good at all and there is no point in tracking. So until we get that going we will keep a focus on hills and games. Once we get more snow and can track the grid properly we'll start to incorporate more stride skills development.

Saturday December 12
Skiing at the golf course (just across from the soccer field)
Hill Fun, games and relays
We'll also talk waxing a bit.

Weather looks like about -4ish. The snow is icy old snow with at wee dusting of new snow over it. Go for warmer wax particularly for the younger ones.
We are in that range where it could get slushy, so water resistant outer layer is good (ie, not fleece as the outer layer, and for sure not jeans - denim is not good for physical activity of any sort really). Layers are always good. Snow pants work for the young ones, just make sure they can take off toques and jackets because they could get warm.

Saturday December 19
Christmas Cookie Party!
The plan is to head over to the community center for cookies and hot chocolate after skiing. Families are asked to bring cookies and we'll look after the hot chocolate. We can talk more about this tomorrow.

Saturday December 26. 
No Jackrabbits - But you can still get out and go skiing!

Saturday January 2
Jackrabbits!

REGISTRATION
This is your second last call.. sort of
As of the 19th we are ordering Jackrabbit Toques so if you want to get yours soon, all you need to to is register. Later registrations are still ok, but that just means the toques will be ordered later.

December 5 - Skiing!

Our snow has not all melted away yet! It is a bit sketchy but definitely enough to ski. We are meeting at 10:30 at the hills on the golf course, just across the road from he soccer field. 

Dress in layers - it is better to take off toques and jackets than it is to take off mitts or gloves. In terms of waxing, the snow is pretty icy and packed so you want something warm for old snow, like a red or Extra violet (if you have those). For the jackrabbits it won't matter as much because we'll be skate-skiing. For the Bunnyrabbits, nothing is more frustrating then no grip, we'll have some extra wax on hand. 

Saturday November 28

The snow situation is still a bit sketchy, but we'll make a go of it. Saturday Morning could be a bit chilly with -15 predicted around 10:30, but warming up to -9 by noon. So come with skis and good layers and we'll be ready to go! 

Still interested but haven't had the chance to register? come on out! We'll be locking things down soon so we can order jackrabbit kits for the new year.But there is still time to get that all sorted out. 

Looking for skis? We have some good info on local ski shops and the various programs available. Let us know. 

See you Saturday!

November 21 Session - Snow and Skiing!

There is (mostly) enough snow to ski. So it is time to get this skiing season properly under way.

Saturday. Skis. 10:30 at the Soccer Field (now the skiing field!).

In terms of dress, it is looking chilly. With the windchill it looks like -17, so dress pretty warm. We'll keep everyone moving. The snow has a lot of moisture in it so even if it is cool, we can still get wet - and kids *will* be falling down. Jeans and fleece as an outer layer are not great ideas.

If you haven't registered yet, don't worry, just come on out. But if you are planning to, please do so soon.

Session Saturday November 14

It was great to get back into the skiing frame of mind last week. I have heard from a number of families that they are wrapping up their fall activities and will be starting Jackrabbits once those are done. For the rest of us, Saturday looks like an incredible day for the middle of November. It will be great to get outside, play some games and go for a bit of a run.

If you haven't had the chance to register yet, please do - it helps us as we plan for the year.
https://zone4.ca/regc.asp?id=10387

This Saturday Coach Ted will be taking his certification courses, and Coach James is away with family. Coach Adam will be there ready to go at 10:30 at the Soccer Field. Hope to see you then!

Registration Open!

You can register online for Wildwood Jackrabbits:

https://zone4.ca/regc.asp?id=10387

You are asked to register as a family, including registering the parents/caregivers. This ensures that everyone is covered by insurance and all the liability stuff is taken care of. 

There is an option to add a donation for trail grooming. This is optional. It says Minimum $10, but that just means that IF you are donating, the minimum the system will process is $10. 

When you are registering people, please add your email and opt-in to the club communications - this is just the Jackrabbits club and is only so we can send information about sessions (like when things are canceled or moved etc). 

When you register there is a checkbox to have membership in the CCSAM. This is required and the fees are already included in the registration fee, but you need to check it anyway. There is an option to donate to Cross Country Canada as well - that again is up to you. 

The process is pretty quick and carries information forward from one registrant to the next rather nicely. Let us know if you have any troubles. 

If you are new to jackrabbits or considering registering but have questions, please don't hesitate to email us: wildwoodjackrabbits@gmail.com

Our first session is scheduled for this Saturday morning at 10:30. The weather looks to be Sunny, but brisk, so we'll keep things moving, but dress for the weather. We'll send another note out right before the session. If you don't have time to register before then, don't worry, just come!

First Session November 7

We will be having our first Jackrabbit session on Saturday November 7, 10:30am - 11:30am at the soccer field north of the Wildwood Community Centre. 

Everyone is Welcome. We will be opening Registration shortly (just getting online system setup). If you have time before that to register before the session, that would be great, if not, please come anyway. 

We will be playing some games, going for a run, and generally getting our bodies back into the skiing frame of mind. And of course, the Jackrabbit snow dance. Make sure to wear running shoes and clothes you can move in. 

If you have questions please email the coaches at wildwoodjackrabbits@gmail.com

Getting Ready to Ski

Plans are underway on all fronts for this year's skiing season.

The Cross Country Ski Association of Manitoba has published their first newsletter of the season. You can see it here.

Highlights include:
Swap Shop on November 21
First Wednesday Night Racing Starting December 2
Jackrabbit Jamboree February 7

Welcome Ted to the Coaching Team!

We are thrilled to announce an addition to the coaching team for 2015/2016. Ted Fisher will be joining Adam and James as a coach this year. Ted has been involved with Wildwood Jackrabbits for a number of years with his family, and we are very excited that he has agreed to take on the challenge of being a coach. We are also grateful to the Wildwood Community Club who have agreed to sponsor Ted as he becomes certified through the Cross Country Ski Association of Manitoba. Having three coaches this year will allow for more focused programming for the various age groups, and better backup when one of the coaches is away. James, Adam and Ted will be meeting in October to plan out the year.

If you have any suggestions or questions or want to be more involved, please email us: wildwoodjackrabbits@gmail.com

2015-2016 Season

We have had a few questions about the upcoming season, so here is some preliminary information.

Registration will begin towards the middle/end of October, with sessions starting November 7th (tentative). As we get closer, we will be sending out an email to all families that participated last year. If you are interested or would like more information, you can send an email to wildwoodjackrabbits@gmail.com and we'll put you on the list, or you can check back here.

Jackrabbits will be Saturday Mornings 10:30 - 11:30 (most likely).

New skiers and families are always welcome! Feel free to come out to a session and check us out!

Looking forward to snow! (just maybe not quite yet...)

Its a wrap

Baring unforeseen snow and colder weather, the 2014-15 skiing season is at an end. Thanks to all the families and kids who participated in Wildwood Jackrabbits this year. A particular thank you as we (James and Adam) got our skis under us in our first year of coaching.

Today's wrap-up party was great! I know there were quite a few sceptical parents out there when we said skiing was a go (we were a bit sceptical too), but I am happy to say that it all worked. The snowball biathlon was a hit and it was good to play some of our favourite games one last time. Thanks to the Wildwood Community Club for supplying the drinks and snacks for the party.

Here are some pics from the last ski of the year.
Have a great summer and hope to see you all next year!

Shorts and Skis!

Snowball Biathlon

March 14 Wind-up ON SKIS (and hopefully snow)

What would a Jackrabbit wind-up be without skis!

James and I were out with out skis tonight to check it out. It is pretty sketchy, but we think there is enough snow for some games (as long as there isn't too much melting tonight). There is too much snow for anything else so it is either skiing or nothing. Skiing it is!

We'll meet at the **baseball diamond** to the right of the clubhouse. The soccer field is awful and the hills on the golf course is basically grass. The baseball diamond has snow still (or at least did at 9:00 this evening).

The plan is to play some games including (if we can pull it together) a snowball biathlon. Chips, pop, and treats afterwards in the clubhouse (main floor). The jackrabbit toques are here as well as the progress books and stickers for the year.

See you Saturday for the last ski of the year!

Wrapup party this Saturday the 14th

The big question- will we have snow enough to ski on Saturday?

With the rather aggressively warm weather of the week, our snow is quickly disappearing. On the one hand, yay for warm. On the other hand, it would be great to have even one or two more weeks of skiing!

We are going to have our wrap-up party this Saturday. If by some miracle there is still snow enough to ski after this week, we'll keep going.  We'll ski 'til we see grass by gum!

We'll send out an email with more details Friday once we know what the trails will be like (or if there will be trails!). Plan A is some skiing with some games and a windup at the community club. There will be all sorts of goodies (provided by the community club - thanks!) and the Jackrabbit Toques are here! (sorry they are late - we are chalking that up to first year mixup on our part).

It has been a great season. thanks for being part of it!

James and Adam

March 7

The weather is going to be great. Enough said.

Skiing, games and good outdoor fun.
Lets get out there and ski before all the snow melts!

See you Saturday!

Feb 27 and 28

Well significant kudos to the three brave Jackrabbits (and their parents) who came out last Saturday. It was chilly, but by the end of our loop we were removing layers because we were hot! It would have been no good for the really little ones, but for the crew that was there, it was great.

We had originally planned to forgo this Saturday's session in favour of the Sunday Jackrabbit Jamboree, however since we have had to basically cancel the last 2 sessions, we are going ahead with a session this Saturday as well. It is supposed to be -16 with a windchill of -20. Totally doable.

Coach James will be there for some games and skiing. So we'll hope to see you out! And we hope many of you have register for the Jackrabbit Jamboree too. It should be a great time.

February 21 - Your Call

So here is the deal. 

Most of the cold-weather cut-offs I have seen say -27 with the windchill is where you really draw the line. Tomorrow the models show -26.3 at 10 am and a balmy -25 by 11am. 

It is so borderline that we are proposing this (it is a bit wishy-washy - sorry)

If anyone wants to go out tomorrow, we would be *thrilled* to do a ski. We'll play some fast games to keep us moving and warm and do a distance ski or putter on the hill (for those less able to go the distance). Our thinking is that the older ones could handle it, but the really little ones probably won't have much fun, so parents -  our call.  

If you want to go, shoot us an email and we'll make it happen. We'd love to do it - even for just one kid. If we do get an email saying go we'll shoot an email to everyone else so you can show up too if you want.  

Also. we have decided to have a session next Saturday since we have missed a few. Coach James will be there (Coach Adam is away). And don't forget Jackrabbit Jamboree on Sunday March 1.

February 21... maybe?

Folks, it looks chilly for tomorrow. Which is too bad because today is beautiful! (relatively speaking) Tomorrow is looking like one of those "almost ok" days to ski. We have been watching the weather models and forecasts and so far it looks like the coldest part of the day will be early morning. It will warm up over the course of the day hitting about -21 by 10ish, but the windchill is still -28. This is pretty cold. The forecast has been improving as we have been watching over the week, so stay tuned. We'll send a note out later this evening with the verdict so you can plan your day.

If anyone feels strongly about having a ski Saturday please let us know! We are always game if you are!

Weather models can be found here.

Feb 14 Session Canceled

It isn't getting any better. And -30 is just too cold for the little ones. We have never established an official 'too cold' cut-off, But in doing some digging into some of the other Jackrabbit clubs, it looks like -24 to -27 with the windchill is the range. Whatever it is, -32 is beyond that. CCSAM is also cancelling races that were scheduled for Saturday, and environment Canada has issues an Extreme Cold Warning.

We'll take the hint. So stay home, stay warm, be valentineie and plan to get out with your family Sunday and Monday when it is warmer!

The next two weekends looks nice (so far). If you are planning on attending the Jackrabbit Jamboree in 2 weeks make sure you register now! The Jamboree will be our session that weekend.

February 14 - Looks pretty Cold

It is looking pretty cold for our next session. Current forecasts have us at -35 with the windchill. We'll post here and send around an email Friday with the official verdict. Stay tuned.

You can checkout our local forecast here on SpotWx:

Jackrabbit Jamboree Sunday March 1

Registration for Jackrabbit Jamboree is now open! This is a great event with Jackrabbits from across the city participating. The event is usually on Saturday but this year is moved to Sunday. There will be no Jackrabbits on Saturday Feb 28.

See details here Then register at Zone4. Cost is $12 per kid.

But hurry! Registration is limited to 100 Jackrabbits!

February 7

Fresh snow! What could be better? We'll gear our session Saturday to whether or not our grid on the soccer field gets tracked and how the hills are looking. The weather looks nice, though the wind could sill make it chilly (-22 with the windchill is predicted). So dress warm , and pay attention to the kids faces and cheeks.

See you Saturday morning! 

January 31 Session CANCELLED.

Last week, when I asked Siri what the temperature was she said "Brrr, it is -2". Well, She ain't seen nothing! Saturday windchill is expected to get us to -35, which is no fun particularly for the little ones. CCSAM has also canceled some races set for the weekend too. So we are cancelling the session Saturday. We'll hope for warmer weather next week. Stay warm!

January 31st Games and Distance Ski

Last Saturday wasn't quite the -2 promised, but it was still a great day to be out skiing. We played a bunch of games and then headed over to the hill to work on down part.

This week is going to be a bit cooler, and we may even have some fresh snow! Coach James is going to lead us in some games and a distance ski around the loop on the golf course. For some of the younger ones or those for whom distance is still a challenge, we'll just go part way. And for everyone we'll finish up on the hills.

The Jackrabbit Jamboree is coming up on the weekend of the 28th. It looks like it may have been moved to Sunday the 1st this year. We'll keep you posted. This is a great event for Jackrabbits Across the city to participate in. Registration is required though and in the past space has been limited to 100 participants.

January 24th Games and Hills

It is going to be a balmy -2 on Saturday. Last Saturday we did a bunch of mucking about on the hills. It was a little chaotic, but fun. Hills are really important because they teach balance and confidence and they are fun. I was thrilled that several of our Jackrabbits wanted to go on a distance ski - so we did a bit of that too. We also had some requests for games last week. So this week we are going to play some games and then head back to the hill. It is good to take advantage while the weather is warm.

Our Jackrabbit toques will be coming soon. Cross Country Canada has also launched their 2016 Jackrabbit toque design contest! All Jackrabbits and Bunnyrabbits are eligible to enter! 

January 17 - to the Hills!

What a change a week can make! This Saturday is going to be warm out, so we are going to take advantage of that and do some work on the hills.  Even in Manitoba hills are a reality on our trails, so it is important to know how to tackle them well. Learning how to handle hills boosts confidence in skiing and is a whole lot of fun.

We will either meet on the soccer field or just across the road on the golf course where the hills are (only on the prairies do we go to a golf course to find our hills) so if you don't see us on the grid,  you'll know where to look.

We'll take it slow with the little ones - spending time on getting up the hill, snowplow down and falling well. For the older ones we'll be working on snowplow, snowplow turns and getting up the hill fast.

Here is a quick preview of snowplow

Looking forward to seeing everyone!

Bundle up For Jan 10 Skiing!

Environment Canada predicts -20 with not too much wind. So it should be a nice - though somewhat chilly - day for skiing. We'll see everyone at the soccer field at 10:30. Parents of the little ones (and even not so little ones) make sure you are watching for signs of frostbite, particularly on cheeks and ears. Lots of layers is good, but for the wee ones a snowsuit is just fine too.We are going to keep them all moving, but if they need a break from the cold, that is totally fine. Enjoying the outdoors and skiing is the point!

See you Saturday!