Happy Holidays - no session next week.

We have made the most of the snow we have, that is for sure. But we could use a bunch more. So practice that snow dance over the break. We will have no session on the 28th.  This would be a great time to get out with family! Windsor Park Nordic Centre is "soft open". They do have trails, but, like our conditions, it is a bit sketchy yet. If you want to keep tabs on their conditions you can watch their twitter feed or check out their trail conditions page on their website. 

If you celebrate Christmas, then Merry Christmas!

Otherwise, best of the season, and we look forward to seeing everyone in the new year!

December 21

It looks like tomorrow will be lovely for skiing. Balmy even! For those of you who got your Jackrabbit toques last week, please wear them. We'll give out the rest of the toques and take a group photo. We still need a bit more snow before they can put in our grid, but we'll get out and play some games and go for a ski.

December 14 - Plan Adjustment

It is cold today! Colder than we had thought. In fact, it is below our cold weather cut-off. As luck would have it, earlier in the week, when there was no snow, we booked the clubhouse in case we couldn't ski. So we are adjusting the plans as follows:
We are going to meet at the soccer field and do a quick ski, ending up at the club house (which is just beside the rink, which is beside the soccer field). Then we'll do some indoor games, go over some waxing, and also give out the jackrabbit booklets and, most importantly, the jackrabbit toques!  If you'd like to skip the ski part, just meet at the clubhouse.
If you can't make it this week, don't worry, we'll have the toques and books next week.
If you are up for a hardy ski and some indoor fun, we'll see you today!

December 14

It is going to be a chilly one tomorrow, feeling like -23 at ski time. So dress warm. There are still no tracks, and actually not that much snow. We'll play on the hill (it is great snow to practice snow plow!) and play a few other games, then go for a ski - hoping that others have created enough track for us. It will be important to keep moving to keep warm. We do have access to the clubhouse tomorrow, so that is our backup plan if the skiing isn't great. Deep(ish), fluffy, untracked snow on top of mostly ice is not ideal conditions. But we'll make it work!

December 7

A fresh skiff of snow is great. We would have liked more, but we'll take what we can get. The golf course is still a lake of ice, so we aren't quite sure if that will work for skiing, but the soccer field is fine. There is still not enough snow for proper tracks, but it is good weather to learn some of the basics - and even the advanced stuff has basics, so we'll be doing lots of that tomorrow.

November 23

We have Snow! Sure it isn't perfect, and actually, if you have really nice skis, this probably isn't the time to use them. But there is snow enough to muck about on, and that is exactly what we are going to do. Or at least try.

We'll start off on skis. We may need to move the playing field around a bit as we wear it down to grass, but we'll play that by ear. There have been several folks out skiing so there are tracks... kind of. If gets really sketchy we'll doff the skis and play in our boots.

We'll meet on the golf course green instead of the soccer field - that is where we were last week for the hill stuff. 

Saturday November 16

Still not enough snow to ski, but we'll be out having fun!

We'll continue this week with games and getting our ski muscles back in shape. For the older kids, please bring your poles. Yes poles. During the ski season we practice on skis without poles, and tomorrow we'll practice poles without skis! Poles can be tricky, so practicing the motion with running can be really helpful. For the really young kids, don't worry about poles - we tend to spend the majority of the season without them anyway. That said, if your kid has been itching to use their poles, then bring them! (the poles and the kids!)

Register
Reminder that if you haven't registered, please do.  Visit Zone4 to register: https://zone4.ca/register.asp?id=22104. The sooner you register the easier it is for us to plan! If you are new and want to come check us out for a week or two, you are welcome to before you register.

Swap Shop Saturday
The Swap Shop is THIS SATURDAY. if you are heading there, go early!. https://www.ccsam.ca/event/swap-shop-2019/ 
If you are interested in a local ski swap let us know. The community club has done some in the past.

Last 'spam' email
This email is being sent to everyone who was involved last year and who expressed interest for this  year. This is the last "spam" email. Next week will reset to only those who have registered or asked to be kept on the list. Another good reason to register!

Help Wanted
We have had some folks step forward to help. We are always looking for more though. If you think coaching, or helping, might be for you, please talk to us.

Website
You can check out website for updates, though it is mostly this email. Some would say that is lazy. We say efficient! http://skiwildwood.blogspot.com/ That is exactly what I said last week - more efficiency!

Jackrabbits Starts Saturday!

Wildwood Jackrabbits starts THIS SATURDAY November 9th. We will meet at the soccer fields by the community club at 10:30.

Also, registration is open. You can register online here
https://zone4.ca/register.asp?id=22104

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

Thanks for a Great Season!

We held out hope of one more ski, but alas, it will not be so. Our field is mostly ice now, and where it isn't ice, the snow is so crystallized from the freeze-thaw that it is terrible to ski on. But fear not! Winter is only 8 months away!

We had a great time this year. We really enjoyed the enthusiasm of the kids (and of course the parents and families!). There was a lot of great skill building this year, it is so fun to watch the kids get better and better. We hope you had as much fun as we did.

As we wrap up the year, we wanted to add a quick shout-out to our significant others, who we fondly call "the managers". They have helped with a number of activities this year and are a constant source of ideas, encouragement and support -- and of course they wrangled our own kids while we were coaching. They are a big part of making Wildwood Jackrabbits go.

Also, a great big thank-you to you - the families. This program works because you bring your kids out week after week. You get them up, get them dressed, you get them out the door, you make sure their gear is prepped and ready, you encourage them when they are frustrated, and celebrate with them when they learn something new. They may not get all that you put into this, but we do. Thanks for your energy and commitment.

Have a great spring and summer and we'll see you again in November!

March 23

Welcome to sketchy skiing season. while the melt has started there is still lots of snow to ski on, and it isn't in terrible condition! The tracks aren't 100% anymore, but all still very ski-able. Looking forward to squeezing every last ounce of ski time out of the season! This very well could be the last week, so come on out for a ski!

March 16 - Year End Cookie and Hot Chocolate Party

This Saturday is our year end cookie and hot chocolate party. While it may not be the last weekend of skiing, we are close now. We will have games, and other fun things on the hill. Tim Horton's will be proving the hot chocolate (Thanks Tim's!) and we are asking you to bring some cookies to share.

Should be a great day for skiing.

March 9

A beautiful weekend for skiing! Looking forward we only have a few weeks left (if you can believe it!). This weekend we'll focus on skills and timed ski (like we did in December)  to see the improvement over the year. Next weekend we are planning our official hot chocolate, windup cookie party. After that we ski until we can't. We are hoping for several more weeks, but you never know what that weather has in store. We have skied at late as April 8, but usually mid-March is our end.  Here is a link to March 14 2015 when we were skiing in shorts with much grass around.
http://skiwildwood.blogspot.com/2015/03/its-wrap.html

Looking forward to seeing everyone out tomorrow!

March 2 - quick, cold ski.

Coach Ted and Coach James feel a need to be active this week, so we are going to go for a loop or two. Everyone is welcome to go along, but it is chilly, so if you are coming, gear up! Parents, this is one of those weeks you need to make a call based on your kids. We'll do a quick stretch and get out on the trail pretty quick. We probably won't be out for the full hour, unless people are really feeling good and warm.

So if you are up for a chilly ski, we'll see you there. If this is an indoor week for you, good call! and we'll see you next week!

March 2 - pending...

Can you believe it is March? And can you believe it is so cold?! The temperature is going to be about -18 but the windchill has been hovering between -26 and -29 which is right around our cutoff of -27.

We are loathe to cancel again (particularly in March!) but we also can't really argue with the weather. We are gong to defer the decision until tomorrow morning - hoping that the weather will get its act together.

So watch your email or here first thing in the morning.

February 23

It is going to be a balmy -10 a ski time tomorrow! A perfect day for skiing.

We have jackrabbit posters for everyone with your stickers from the speed trials.
Also, the annual jackrabbit toque contest is on again, ask the coaches for information.

February 16 - We're on!

We are on! It is going to be chilly, but we are on. The windchill will put us close to the cutoff, so dress warm - layers, good socks (but not too tight!), and a good toque are critical. This is also probably a mitts instead of gloves day to keep the fingers warm. We are going to do some games to get us moving and then we have a scavenger hunt out on the trails. If the grid is in good shape we'll do a bit of grid work first.

Saturday February 9 - Cancelled Again!!!

We poured over the models to find one that would tell us that it wasn't too cold. But when Environment Canada is issuing Extreme Cold warnings, it is probably important to pay attention. The best we found was -29.5 at 10am. If anyone really feels like they want to brave the weather and do a polar ski, let us know and we'll come too. But overall, it looks like another week of no skiing.

Your sad Jackrabbit coaches
Adam, James, Ted

February 2 - We're on again!

After a long frigid spell we are back in action. Saturday will be a balmy -18 with windchill in the -24 range. Practically summer! Actually, this is still pretty chilly weather to be out and about, so layers, good toques, mitts vs gloves if you them, and we'll be sure to keep moving.

January 26 - Cancelled - Too Cold Again!

The polar vortex has struck again. It will be minus thirty something at ski time and no one likes that. We had tried to find indoor space for to do some wax and other dryland stuff, but the community centre is booked. Alas. So we'll skip this week and hope for warmer weather next week.

January 19 - Cancelled: Too Cold to Ski

Our models show -36.9 for 10am Saturday morning. By any measure that is too cold.

For interest sake, our "too cold" cutoff is -27 with the windchill. You can find more information using the link below, including a link to the models we use to figure out whether or not to ski. We also pay attention to things like "severe cold alerts" and the the fact that our face nearly froze off walking from  the parking lot to work... that kind of thing.

http://skiwildwood.blogspot.com/p/too-cold.html

Keep warm. We'll see you next week.

January 12

Short and sweet. We are on for Saturday. Same time, same place. It will be about -14 at ski time. Looking forward to seeing you!

January 5

Happy 2019!

Saturday looks like a balmy -6 at ski time, though that is a bit deceptive because it will feel more like -11. Still pretty great skiing weather. We were tracked last week and they put in our grid! So this Saturday, along with the regular games and skiing, we'll be doing some skills and drills work.

Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.