Lots of work to do. Miles, if you read this, see below. I need to see if
you can help us with some of the trees that have partially fallen -- some
are live -- and with one very large tree that is a little bit beyond what
our available club crew can handle...

Some club weekend work party updates:
Saturday - club members Joe Baehr, Paul Graham, Dina Pesenson & Clay
Moseley
Joe and Clay did work on the equipment shed. Got the remainder of the
felt on the gables, put up some galvanized siding until we ran out of
screws, planed the doors so that they shut, hung the personnel door.
There is still some work to be done on the personnel door -- it's hung
from the outside in on gate hinges, therefore we need to build an
internal threshold with 2x6s. I'll work on that. I've got some of the
galvanized siding up, but this goes a little quicker with more than one
person...
The big bay doors will need to have some tension wires installed to keep
it from warping. We'll need to install some eyelet-screws with wire and
turnbuckles. It sags and changes shape if left open and is already
sticking a bit when we close it. The personnel door and the bay doors
need handles. We don't have the hardware for those yet.
Dina and Paul went up to the trails to find MANY quite large trees down
across the trails, starting almost right at the trailhead. They spent
many hours clearing trees in excess of 24" diameter, and still had a lot
to do. Point-G alone was a rat's nest and took them a long time. They
told me of the horror stories, and I couldn't believe it because I had
just run the entire trail system a few weeks ago (Labor Day) and it was
virtually clear.


Sunday - club members Paul Graham, Dina Pesenson, Clay Moseley
Being in disbelief of the tree carnage, I decided to take a running tour
of the trails again. What I saw was amazing. I could see why Dina and
Paul took so long to return on Saturday. The two of them cut and moved
some HUGE tree sections. I was very impressed.
I ran out to Guaje Canyon with our Ukrainian Ironwoman, Toma Kozulina,
and we saw what was left to do on the trail system -- a lot!  TJ's had a
mess of large trees fall across the trail between Pts E and F, and the
cutoff down to the lower road at O. Further up, Dave's has a rather
massive Douglas Fir down in the worst possible manner; it's diagonally in
line with the trail. It was a dead one (recently), but it's huge. Point I
(the upper intersection where Dave's meets up with the main trail) also
had a large Douglas Fir come down across both the main trail and Dave's
-- this one was live.
Toma and I found only a couple more trees down across the upper trail
sections, and a couple down across the lower cutoff from the meadow to
the lower road above Point O.
Later that afternoon, we decided to go up and tackle some more of the
mess, as it's going to be a while before we're done with it all. Paul
joined me and and an ailing Dina to go up and start cutting and attempt
to clear some of the big tree sections.
We worked mostly at clearing the mess at Point I (Dave's and main trail).
We got it cleared, but there's still one big section to move...we just
didn't have enough horsepower. Then we went down to the rat's next on
TJ's and cut for the next couple of hours. Again, not enough horsepower
(and pry bars) to roll the massive heavy sections off of the trail. There
were some other down trees on TJ's that we also cut but weren't able to
move completely off the trail.
While one person operated the chainsaw, the other two worked on cutting
the mess of aspen shoots growing like weeds on the trail.  This task is
always something that could use some attention, all over the trail
system.
So, we need to get some folks to help move the big sections off the trail
on TJ's and the main trail with pry bars and just extra hands. I need to
see if the Forest Service (Miles?) can help out with the big tree on
Dave's Dogleg, and with a bad dangerous live tree on the main trail
between the intersections of Dave's and TJ's. It is still standing, but
leaning very precariously and about to fall down in a bad way.

...er, I mean, the Hut?  I think Tom Berg asked a while back if any of us
had plans to work on it at all this summer, but I know I didn't respond.

Anyway, if there is anyone who is still willing to help out and has some
days during July, we may be able to rekindle the project and get most of
it finished up.  I have spoken to Nick Piazza (bldg. contractor at Pinon
Trails) about the doors and Brad Parker (Parker Const.) about some other
materials, including real shingles, so we may have some help in those
departments.

There is already an old steel door up there that we can use for now,
using exterior hinges and lag bolts.  If Brad Parker comes up with those
shingles, that would be great too.

We still need to get that felt on the roof and the sides first.  That
should be the first item of business, along with the doors.

I plan to do two big triathlons in the next few weeks, but have two days
over the 4th of July weekend and the other weekends in July open to do
some work on the Hut.  Again, if you're able to help out, that would be
great.

So, start thinking about it and let's communicate.

Clay

My email service must have filtered it.  I didn't receive the bad message. 
Apologies to all of you who received the trash email.  What makes people want to
do that?




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Just went thru the process of banning the member who sent the trashy email
posting.   We
used to get a few more of these before we required joining LA Nordic to be able
to post
messages.   But other than that, nothing can be done other than banning those
who do this
stuff.

Hopefully some major mistake has occurred, will be corrected, and Los
Alamos Nordic members will never again receive pornographic, repulsive
emails such I received this AM.  What happened that we are receiving this
trash?!

Nena Warren-Felsher

Hi All -

I am the lead designer on Distance Logger, which is a super easy
online tool to log and track your distance sports... and everyone else's.

With our launch we are going to support about a dozen distance-based
sports. In part of our research for designing the best possible
experience for participants in each sport and community, we need to
know more about you - particularly what you currently track in your
training.

So if you would be interested in giving feedback on some questions
around those topics as they relate to XC Skiing, we would highly value
your input.

Feel free to get in touch directly with me: gino@...

Thanks in advance!

Gino Zahnd

Distance Logger
http://www.distancelogger.com

Oops, I had some misinformation.  It turns out that the event is actually
slated to be on Saturday the 18th of Feb.  That does conflict with the
Quadrathlon.  Sorry -- I didn't schedule the event.  It is usually the
day AFTER the Quad...

Also, Che Johnston's phone contact in Chama is:
(505) 756-8250

And there is an event website at:

www.chamaski.com





On Wed, 8 Feb 2006 11:29:16 -0700 Clay Moseley <tclaynm@...> writes:
Hi all,

I just wanted to get the 2-minute warning alert out about this year's
Chama Chili Classic in Chama, NM.  It is on Feb. 19, the day AFTER the
Mt. Taylor Quad.  The Chili Classic is one of the nation's(!) oldest xc
ski events, with last year's edition being the 30th annual.  It's on
President's Day weekend.

Dave Wykoff and I are going to head up Friday afternoon to groom the
course for both skate and classic skiing on Saturday for a preview.
Then, we'll groom it for classic skiing (traditional xc skiing, no skate)
Saturday evening for Sunday's event.

The course is north of Chama on Cumbres Pass -- it's at a giant pullout
on the left side of the highway as you're headed up the pass.  Yes, they
do have snow...amazingly.  It's actually pretty decent too, as they're
usually in that same storm path line as Wolf Creek.  The snow is not
nearly as deep as last year, but it's good enough.

The course starts just off the highway and winds it's way over the
rolling terrain just northwest of the highway until it intersects with
the Cumbres & Toltec railroad line.  There, it turns directly west for a
while (you ski right on the railbed) until turning south, working your
way back through the valleys and woods until you turn back toward the
highway and the start/finish.  The event will offer both a 10km (2 laps),
and a 5km (1 lap).

I'm not 100% certain as to how the registration is being handled, but I
do know that they usually just sign everyone up at the race start on the
morning of the event.

The event is promoted by the Chama Valley Chamber of Commerce and either
the Rotary or Lion's club, along with the Southwest Nordic Ski Club.  The
event director is Che Johnson, and his number is:

505-756-4057

Here's your chance to get in some good skiing in New Mexico at a most
spectacular location.

Chama's website (with a tiny, little bit of info on the Chili Classic)
is:
http://www.chamavalley.com/

and another small website with more Chama info:
http://www.off-the-road.net/?page_id=47

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi all,

I just wanted to get the 2-minute warning alert out about this year's
Chama Chili Classic in Chama, NM.  It is on Feb. 19, the day AFTER the
Mt. Taylor Quad.  The Chili Classic is one of the nation's(!) oldest xc
ski events, with last year's edition being the 30th annual.  It's on
President's Day weekend.

Dave Wykoff and I are going to head up Friday afternoon to groom the
course for both skate and classic skiing on Saturday for a preview.
Then, we'll groom it for classic skiing (traditional xc skiing, no skate)
Saturday evening for Sunday's event.

The course is north of Chama on Cumbres Pass -- it's at a giant pullout
on the left side of the highway as you're headed up the pass.  Yes, they
do have snow...amazingly.  It's actually pretty decent too, as they're
usually in that same storm path line as Wolf Creek.  The snow is not
nearly as deep as last year, but it's good enough.

The course starts just off the highway and winds it's way over the
rolling terrain just northwest of the highway until it intersects with
the Cumbres & Toltec railroad line.  There, it turns directly west for a
while (you ski right on the railbed) until turning south, working your
way back through the valleys and woods until you turn back toward the
highway and the start/finish.  The event will offer both a 10km (2 laps),
and a 5km (1 lap).

I'm not 100% certain as to how the registration is being handled, but I
do know that they usually just sign everyone up at the race start on the
morning of the event.

The event is promoted by the Chama Valley Chamber of Commerce and either
the Rotary or Lion's club, along with the Southwest Nordic Ski Club.  The
event director is Che Johnson, and his number is:

505-756-4057

Here's your chance to get in some good skiing in New Mexico at a most
spectacular location.

Chama's website (with a tiny, little bit of info on the Chili Classic)
is:
http://www.chamavalley.com/

and another small website with more Chama info:
http://www.off-the-road.net/?page_id=47

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Donna and I drove up today and skiied [skate and classic] at Enchanted
Forest above Red River.  Given the serious drouth we are in here in NM, the
conditions were very good---22 degrees mid-day and almost everything groomed
except the double black diamonds.

Classic tracks were set everywhere [ie: not just skating]---the occasional
small bare spot or root sticking thru, but nothing that would force you to
ski on yr rock skiis...classic wax was something colder than VF40 [guess
what I had on--VF40, too much kick!].

Skating lanes weren't perfectly smooth and flat, but given the fairly
shallow groomed base, say around 6", I was impressed at how well Geoff had
done getting a skiable trail put in there.

We were up there because of the winds---it had seemed like a BAD day for a
bikeride so we bailed on the SFRoadrider outing, but skiing up there, and
the wind wasn't bad at all.

1st time back on snow for us since xmas holiday, was good to be on the
boards again!

tom

Sorry if this is a repeat. -Greg

Orienteering Event on Valles Caldera National Preserve

Have you been looking forward to a chance to take a map and compass
and head out across the Valles Grande? Well this is it. On January
28th the Valles Caldera National Preserve will open it's doors for a
special Orienteering Event put on by the New Mexico Orienteers. The
group had planned to do a Ski/Snowshoe Orienteering event but chances
of there being enough snow looks slim at best. Instead, the Orienteers
will setup three courses that will be done on foot (unless we actually
do get snow). The courses will include a Long Course, Short Course and
Sprint. (the Sprint is designed to be done very quickly.) This is the
first time that the Valles Caldera has offered this type of event and
it looks to be a unique and fun filled experience for everyone.

If your new to the sport, the New Mexico Orienteers will have members
ready to teach you the basics. There are compasses for rent ($1) in
case you don't own one. You will be given a map at the start of the
course that indicates the position of eight to twelve control flags
that are hidden in different locations. Your job is to navigage your
way across the Valles Grande and find these flags as quickly as
possible. This is a fun activity that provides great exercise for all
ages and abilities.

Reservations are required for this event and can be made at the Valles
Caldera website (www.vallescaldera.gov) or by phone at 866-382-5537.
The cost is $16 per person which includes the day use permit fee for
the Valles Caldera National Preserve. Kids ( 6 and under) are free.
You may start your chosen course anytime between 10:00 am and noon.
All courses will close at 3 pm. Check in and depart from the Welcome
Center. Carry water and snacks. Bring plenty of appropriate layered
clothing. It get's cold up there!
The main entrance to the Valles Caldera National Preserve is located
between mile marker 39 and 40 between Jemez Springs and Los Alamos
along State Highway 4. Enter at the main gate and proceed down the
dirt or snow packed road approximately two miles to the Welcome Center
staging area. No pets, other than registered assistance dogs are
permitted on the Preserve. Please do not plan on leaving pets in
vehicles at parking area. The north facing road is plowed and snow
packed and often icy. Four wheel drive or chains may be required
depending on conditions. Be prepared for winter driving conditions.
More information is available by calling Judy Opsahl at (505)662-9404.

Still no groomable [or skiable snow on the trail].  Most years we dont
have much up there until xmas, so current conditions arent really all
that abnormal.   Will post any skiable snowfalls here when we have
them.

Here is an update on the ongoing "Hut" construction project up on the
ski hill. Club members have been working on a machine storage
building for grooming equipment since late September:

Yes indeed, "the Hut" is becoming reality with every work party
session. No longer will we be fearful of contracting Hantavirus, nor
asphyxiating ourselves in the confines of the old...whatever that
structure is!

Well, it's not quite done yet, but with the amazing crew of folks we
had on Friday and Saturday, December 2nd and 3rd, we're gettin'
close. Everyone who showed up did an amazing job, and we would not
have gotten so much accomplished without your hard work. I would say
thanks, but it all belongs to all of us, so thank yourselves. And,
thanks to all of you who covered the trail projects while the Hut
work has been in process.

Things got started on Thursday, really, with the gathering of more
materials from LA Home Improvement, including the big 2x10 headers
(Tom Berg calls them 2x10 gold bullions, due to their rare, precious
nature), ~60 more 9' studs, some 14' 2x4s, etc. On top of that, on
Saturday, Dave Wykoff had to go get the long 16' truss support 2x4s,
and I had to make yet one more trip back to Home Improvement on
Saturday as well for more stuff. I think we're going to be set on
materials for the rest of the rough-in.

Anyway, we were fortunate enough to have my "Padrino", Carmel Vigil
come up and lend some expertise and sage wisdom to our framing
efforts. He really set us straight on what we were doing and we had
relatively few problems once he was at the helm. After a long day of
framing and sheathing the corners for wind support, we sat around in
the dark, cold, and whipping, dry snow, talking about how and what we
need to do for the roof trusses and the rest of the project in
general. He gave Ken Kisiel, Tom Berg, and myself a lesson on what
needed to occur for Saturday's big day of work. He estimated 5 days
to get the Hut roughed in, but with the crew we had on Saturday, it
was in fact, only about 2 days.

Of course, we still need to get that roof decking on, but we'll
get 'er done sometime soon. Since some of us are gone this weekend,
it may have to wait until the following week and subsequent weekend
(the 17th & 18th). Clay Moseley

Now, for something a little bit different.  Here's an interesting article
on (at least this author's choice) the top-10 rated Nordic
resorts/locations in North America:

http://away.com/tripideas/united-states-cross-country-skiing-300983.html

All, John's comments are important here.  Many have offered to support my
request, and like I said, I know this will happen and we'll have the
facility completed -- thanks a bunch.

This has to be done according to our accounting practices.  If you are
willing, this will be a donation to the club for the shed project (note
that on your check), and just mail it to the club:

SWNSC
PO Box 1556
LA, NM 87544

This will be noted as a donation.



On Wed, 02 Nov 2005 17:10:07 -0700 John Bernardin <bernardin@...>
writes:
> Clay,
> I can contribute some building materials - I'll call you.  How much
> labor
> time and money are we needing to purchase.  I'd really like to get a
> feel
> for that and I think the club would like to know before pitching in
> some
> cash.   keep up the good work, you are really making a difference
> and a
> valuable contribution to this club and the members/community owe you
> a
> great deal.
>
> John
>
> At 04:33 PM 11/2/2005 -0700, Clay Moseley wrote:
> >Well, it looks like it has come to this...begging again!  The shed
> >project has not gone according to plan, nor schedule due to some
> >unforseen issues.  It can still be accomplished, and I'm reasonably
> sure
> >we'll have it by the time we start grooming, but it may require
> something
> >a little extra.
> >
> >As it stands, the club budget is about $500.  I don't think we want
> to
> >completely drain that, although we may be able to use some of it
> for the
> >project.  What I am asking is for a small(ish) donation of up to
> $25 from
> >anyone who wants to contribute for the hiring of some framers to
> help
> >with the roughing in of the shed.
> >
> >Acquiring the materials and hauling them up is consuming all of
> the
> >available members' time, and the actual building has not been as
> possible
> >as we had hoped.  We've had some delays in getting the donated
> materials,
> >and now we're running out of time and most certainly, daylight.
> >
> >Thanks a bunch to everyone who has helped thus far.  It is very
> apparent
> >how difficult building this thing from the ground up, by hand,
> with
> >unskilled labor, is.  We should have started in June!!!
> >
> >Many of you have already sent in your membership dues.  That is a
> big
> >help, thanks.  Now, I'm just being a slime and asking for more!
> No
> >pressure, it's completely voluntary.
> >
> >Your donations may have to also contribute to my hair loss therapy.
> I'm
> >never doing something like this again!
> >
> >Clay
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >Members mailing list
> >Members@...
> >http://swnordicski.org/mailman/listinfo/members_swnordicski.org
>
>
>
>

The exact number for the cost of the framing crew is somewhere between
$400 and $600 -- depending on how long it takes.  That is kind-of a "do
it as a favor" price, for sure.  There is some uncertainty with regards
to how much time it will take due to the site difficulties, how much
squaring and leveling they have to do with the foundation piers, etc.  We
also need to get a couple more floor joist (TGIs) up there to cover the
full floor support design.

The materials aren't a problem now.  I *think* we have that mostly
covered.  Much of it still needs to be hauled up as well.  That's where
the problem lies with respect to the time.  I sit on the bubble all week
working out whether or not we're getting the materials, then I make some
Hail Mary phone calls on Saturday morning and end up running around the
County loading it up and hauling it up there, and we didn't even get a
fraction of what we need to finish the thing up there this past weekend,
and that was still a lot to deal with (trusses, floor joists, etc.).  The
bulk of the work is the procuring and hauling stuff around, not the
actual building.

Anyway, there's really been no real way to coordinate a work crew...plain
and simple.  Now, we're just flat out of time and it needs to be done
without messing about trying to figure things out.

Like I said, getting the materials donated and up there has been the
unforseen difficult part.  Stuff has gotten EXTREMELY expensive since I
first talked to people about donating it and now we're the low priority
on the totem pole.

What we can do for the actual construction portion, is the roofing and
siding and finish work.  There will be plenty of that, but we need the
thing roughed in NOW, NOW, NOW.





On Wed, 02 Nov 2005 17:10:07 -0700 John Bernardin <bernardin@...>
writes:
> Clay,
> I can contribute some building materials - I'll call you.  How much
> labor
> time and money are we needing to purchase.  I'd really like to get a
> feel
> for that and I think the club would like to know before pitching in
> some
> cash.   keep up the good work, you are really making a difference
> and a
> valuable contribution to this club and the members/community owe you
> a
> great deal.
>
> John
>
> At 04:33 PM 11/2/2005 -0700, Clay Moseley wrote:
> >Well, it looks like it has come to this...begging again!  The shed
> >project has not gone according to plan, nor schedule due to some
> >unforseen issues.  It can still be accomplished, and I'm reasonably
> sure
> >we'll have it by the time we start grooming, but it may require
> something
> >a little extra.
> >
> >As it stands, the club budget is about $500.  I don't think we want
> to
> >completely drain that, although we may be able to use some of it
> for the
> >project.  What I am asking is for a small(ish) donation of up to
> $25 from
> >anyone who wants to contribute for the hiring of some framers to
> help
> >with the roughing in of the shed.
> >
> >Acquiring the materials and hauling them up is consuming all of
> the
> >available members' time, and the actual building has not been as
> possible
> >as we had hoped.  We've had some delays in getting the donated
> materials,
> >and now we're running out of time and most certainly, daylight.
> >
> >Thanks a bunch to everyone who has helped thus far.  It is very
> apparent
> >how difficult building this thing from the ground up, by hand,
> with
> >unskilled labor, is.  We should have started in June!!!
> >
> >Many of you have already sent in your membership dues.  That is a
> big
> >help, thanks.  Now, I'm just being a slime and asking for more!
> No
> >pressure, it's completely voluntary.
> >
> >Your donations may have to also contribute to my hair loss therapy.
> I'm
> >never doing something like this again!
> >
> >Clay
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >Members mailing list
> >Members@...
> >http://swnordicski.org/mailman/listinfo/members_swnordicski.org
>
>
>
>

Well, it looks like it has come to this...begging again!  The shed
project has not gone according to plan, nor schedule due to some
unforseen issues.  It can still be accomplished, and I'm reasonably sure
we'll have it by the time we start grooming, but it may require something
a little extra.

As it stands, the club budget is about $500.  I don't think we want to
completely drain that, although we may be able to use some of it for the
project.  What I am asking is for a small(ish) donation of up to $25 from
anyone who wants to contribute for the hiring of some framers to help
with the roughing in of the shed.

Acquiring the materials and hauling them up is consuming all of the
available members' time, and the actual building has not been as possible
as we had hoped.  We've had some delays in getting the donated materials,
and now we're running out of time and most certainly, daylight.

Thanks a bunch to everyone who has helped thus far.  It is very apparent
how difficult building this thing from the ground up, by hand, with
unskilled labor, is.  We should have started in June!!!

Many of you have already sent in your membership dues.  That is a big
help, thanks.  Now, I'm just being a slime and asking for more!  No
pressure, it's completely voluntary.

Your donations may have to also contribute to my hair loss therapy.  I'm
never doing something like this again!

Clay

Well, it's been a busy month as predicted: work is well underway on
the new equipment shed located at the trailhead, Clay has pretty much
rebuilt the Cushman Trackster and repairs to the 2nd Alpine are
almost finished thanks to John, and miscellaneus repairs have been
completed on the grooming equipment.  Additionally, the trail work
has gone quite well and the trail looks better than it has in years.
Dave W revived two old sections of the trail system late this month
so the network has a few more variants to ski your laps on.

We/ve had a BOD meeting and our 1st members meeting as well, new
officers have been elected for the 2006 season.

We're looking at helping a local business to acquire some used setups
of rental skiis/boots/poles to get rentals going locally, for now one
has to go all the way to Santa Fe to rent equipment.

And our webmaster is at work installing a message board on our
website www.swnordicski.org . Once that is in place we'll no longer
use this site for  grooming updates, tho we'll probably keep it to
troll for out of State members and trail users.

The weekend was full of projects!

First of all, we finally kicked off the equipment shed/garage project!
Yes, we levelled a site, felled a big tree (so that it doesn't fall on
our shed), measured and sited out the footings, and finally, dug footing
holes like gophers.  Nick didn't have quite enough rebar to finish all
the footings, but we'll be heading back up tomorrow evening to ready
things for the footings concrete pours on Wednesday.

The schedule will be to lay block Friday afternoon and Saturday.

Dick Opsahl -- we'll need to borrow that electric mixer after all.  We'll
be pouring concrete into the block piers.

******************

Kermit is just about done, I think.  I just need to hook up the battery
and to put back on the cab, and it's ready to be transported to Dave
Wykoff's place to have the new [smaller] cogs put on.  I have yet to
start it, so I'm not sure how my wiring job is, but I think it is
correct.  We'll see.

It looks brand new again.  Hopefully, it'll behave brand new.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

OK, I've been trying to get this thing "off the ground" and thanks to
Nick Piazza and Ken Kisiel, I think we can get going this weekend.

The plan is this:

Nick, myself, and whoever else want to, will meet at about 8:30am up the
site - near the trailhead, on the south (other) side of Camp May road,
perhaps just a little west of the actual trailhead itself.  You'll see us
up there.  Ken has the exact location.  We'll measure and paint-mark off
the placement of the footings.

This should take about and hour or so.

If you are willing, we'd love to have as many hands as possible with
picks, shovels, pry bars, and whatever else we can find to effectively
dig in that type of earth.  We'll do as much of the digging right away as
we can get accomplished.  This is for the footings.

Ken, if the ski hill is still offering, we could definitely use that
auger.

Further on down the line, the project schedule hopefully looks like this:

Oct. 15-16: Measure, mark and dig footings
Oct. 17-21: Install rebar, pour concrete footings, lay and grout block,
fill with more concrete
Oct. 22-23: Lay floor joists and glue-lams for floor deck, perhaps start
framing walls
Oct. 27-28: Frame walls, get roof trusses delivered, have materials ready
for "drying in"
Oct. 29-30: Finish framing and raising walls, install trusses and roof
deck, perhaps install roofing material (felt and shingles)
Oct. 31--...: All the rest: paint, insulate, floor deck protection, doors
& locks, electrical wiring, etc.
We'll keep the project schedule updated here so that if you are available
and have some skills, you can jump right in.  We may be able to work in
the dark after work during the week on some of this...

Stay tuned!

Clay

PS, sorry for all of the ski club spam.  But, I STILL haven't gotten
around to sending out "THANK YOU" notes to all of our members and donors.
  This is a bad thing.  If anyone is available to help me out on this, I
would appreciate it.

Also, we need to begin asking and begging people to re-up their
memberships, which are still at a paltry $30...and, you get to do all of
this work!!!  Isn't this a great club or WHAT???  =-)  It's you guys that
have made this what it is, though.  Remember that.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Looks like this is going to be a busy month for us.

Thought it might be helpful to put together a calendar so you can try
to schedule your time so you can help with some  of the many events
going on the next few weeks.

Saturday, October 15th:     Trail Work Day,      Seppo Penttila and
Jon Storer....info:661-6984 or 665-0641


Saturday, October 15th:        Start Construction on new equipment
shed:      Clay Moseley  662-8271 [to continue for next
                   several weekends until finished-volunteers needed].


Tuesday, October 18th:    1.Board of Directors Meeting, L.A. Subs at
5:30PM---this is open to any members interested as well as board
members
2.Agenda includes nomination of new officers and BOD members

Week of 17-21 October:    Final work session[s] on Thor over at John
Bernardin's house.   info: 661-0514 or 665-9598


Thursday, 27 October:      1st SWNSC Meeting of the 2005-2006 Season,
Mesa Public Library, 7:00PM
1: Agenda:  Nomination and Election of new officers and addn'l BOD
members: Chairman, Vice Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary.
2.  New and old business, including updates on trailwork and shed
construction

Saturday, 29 October       2nd Trail Work Day tentatively scheduled
if needed.  Tom Berg, 455-2380


There will also be some work sessions to finish up Kermits heart
transplant [new engine]---contact Clay if you wd like to help.

To elaborate a little on what Dave W. said about us having tried that,
and it not working...yes, we did have an arrangement that lasted about a
season, but the ski hill has a lot of equipment with a lot of their own
breakdowns etc.  They needed us to move our stuff from one place to the
other seemingly every day, and when they were having a particular bad
time with breakdowns, we had to put our stuff outside altogether.  We did
get lucky for a few weeks and there was some space, but it didn't last
and we were back outside.

The other huge hassle was the way they wanted us to direct ourselves
across the hill -- it was by going WAY up the Mother Lift Line (very
steep), then cut a path across the hill and through the trees to descend
back down to the garage.  It was also a mess.  It seems they didn't want
us driving right in front of the lodge.

Last season, Mike Green finally said it wouldn't work out (not quite sure
about that, or why...), so we were back over at our pathetic little shack
putting a tarp over the trackster and digging out after storms.

So, we worked out a deal with the ski hill to use a piece of their
property, which they were so kind to do, to build a shed.  Nick Piazza is
a local contractor and member of our club, and is the main impetus behind
securing the building materials and equipment to get this thing built.
It is miraculous and will most certainly be an advancement for the club.
The building will, for the most part, be OURS.  We will have a lease
agreement ($1 per year) for the land, but the rest is ours.

I'm rejoicing, believe me.  I'm tired of the shack in the trees.  I like
rats and critters and all, just not crawling all over me.

Clay





On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 18:19:29 -0600 "Ann  Norton" <anorton@...>
writes:
> Instead of building our own shed would it be possible to share the
> large
> buildings that already exist to shelter the ski area machines?
> Can't
> imagine that our little machines wouldn't be able to fit in one of
> the
> existing buildings which are probably also heated.  Perhaps someone
> has
> already inquired about this but it seems like a possibility that
> should be
> explored.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Members-bounces@...
> [mailto:Members-bounces@...] On Behalf Of Clay Moseley
> Sent: Monday, October 10, 2005 4:31 PM
> To: members@...; losalamosnordic@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [SWNSKI Members] Equipment & Shed Status
>
> Well, if those guys who are supposed to be spearheading the shed
> project
> would get back from mountain-bike-touring Colorado and Utah, we
> could
> maybe get that shed up before we have a foot of snow on the ground.
>
>
> But, the good news is that we have the planning and conceptual stuff
> done
> and have plans to have a good ol' fashioned barn raisin' sometime
> later
> this week and next.  We could possibly use some hands if anyone is
> willing.
>
> Other trail work still needs to be coordinated as well.
>
> On the machines front, Thor is still near completion with its new
> transmission, clutch and drive chain.
>
> I finally got around to working on Kermit yesterday.  I ended up
> getting
> a late start due to other obligations, but was still able to get
> something accomplished.  I got the transmission reconnected, as well
> as
> refastening the transmission and the engine to the chassis.  It
> actually
> looks like its all done and ready to go, but the firewalls and
> protective
> shrouds all need to be reinstalled, and the electrical wiring needs
> to be
> done as well.  So, maybe 1/3 of the work is done.  I'll keep at it
> as
> time permits.  Most of the physically difficult work is done, now
> it's
> just a bunch of little tedious stuff.  It'll be up and running
> before the
> season, I promise.
>
> All for now...  Snow is here!
>
> Clay
>
> _______________________________________________
> Members mailing list
> Members@...
> http://swnordicski.org/mailman/listinfo/members_swnordicski.org
>
>
>
>
>

Well, if those guys who are supposed to be spearheading the shed project
would get back from mountain-bike-touring Colorado and Utah, we could
maybe get that shed up before we have a foot of snow on the ground.

But, the good news is that we have the planning and conceptual stuff done
and have plans to have a good ol' fashioned barn raisin' sometime later
this week and next.  We could possibly use some hands if anyone is
willing.

Other trail work still needs to be coordinated as well.

On the machines front, Thor is still near completion with its new
transmission, clutch and drive chain.

I finally got around to working on Kermit yesterday.  I ended up getting
a late start due to other obligations, but was still able to get
something accomplished.  I got the transmission reconnected, as well as
refastening the transmission and the engine to the chassis.  It actually
looks like its all done and ready to go, but the firewalls and protective
shrouds all need to be reinstalled, and the electrical wiring needs to be
done as well.  So, maybe 1/3 of the work is done.  I'll keep at it as
time permits.  Most of the physically difficult work is done, now it's
just a bunch of little tedious stuff.  It'll be up and running before the
season, I promise.

All for now...  Snow is here!

Clay

Hi all,
If you are considering attending this most prestigious and long-standing
tradition of getting on the snow and attending clinics, and just having
an all-around good time skiing and eating, please let me know.  Our usual
accomodations at the San Moritz condos are available and they are running
an online special of 10% off reservations until Oct. 15.

At this point, I think we have enough verified for a 3 bdr. condo, and my
little sister is coming with her family and they will be getting a condo
as well.  The cost ran between $40 and $50 per night per person.  We had
TONS of Thanksgiving leftovers and ate most meals at the condo.

If you are considering going, even if you have other accomodation plans,
please let me know.  I can either verify or scratch you off the list, but
know that you are going.  So far, I have quite a few "don't knows,
maybes, going to 'other' camp plans," etc.

Fact of the matter is, this is a great trip, the clinics are good, it's
not too crowded or competitive, and the snow is usually very good.  Last
year was the weirdest conditions for snow -- they had only about 6" in
town when we got there, so we skied up at a place called Lilly Lake up on
top of Ohio Pass on Thanksgiving day, which was an awesome place to ski
if you didn't mind the 1 km hike up a rather steep hill.  Jarrod loved
that a lot, right Jarrod?  The next day, a storm blew in and closed the
pass, which left us in transition with not quite enough in town to REALLY
ski, but enough to hold clinics in small areas.  After that, we got so
much snow that we could barely ski because the groomers (w/ big Pisten
Bullys) could barely get through it.  By Monday (we didn't bother driving
home on Sunday), there was 60" of new snow.

We stayed in room I-302 (International building) last year:

http://www.sanmoritzcondos.com/

The camp schedule can be found at:

www.cbnordic.org

EVERYONE...everyone...is invited.

Clay

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Note: forwarded message attached.


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Wow, that was fast!  A little bit of a headwind on the first section of
the West Jemez Road coming up from the ice rink meant that there was a
slight tailwind for the rest of the ride.  Some riders even got some
stronger gusts that helped them achieve personal bests and all-time
records.  Look at Gretchin Ellis' and Hugh Selby's times...awesome!


Pajarito Time Trial #2 - Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Conditions:  ~70 degrees, cool, some humidity (area storms)
with a light to gusty tailwind on NM 501
GREAT CONDITIONS!!!  Probably the best I've ever seen!


Hugh Selby13:58:00**
Clay Moseley14:26:00
Gretchin Ellis-w15:10:00***
Scott Valdez16:09:00
Leland Maez16:41:00
Jarrod Clark16:58:00
Ralph Zehnder17:32:00
Mike Warren17:54:00
Paul Graham18:17:00
Chuck Pepper19:01:00
Bill Feiereisen19:31:00
Ryan (Last name?)-j19:52:00
Dina Pesenson-w20:04:00
Donna Berg-w20:14:00
Jeri Sullivan-w23:27:00


Average time17:56:56
Number of riders15


ALL-TIME WEEKNIGHT TT RECORD
**
***ALL TIME WOMEN'S RECORD
- wdenotes women riders
-jdenotes junior riders

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Here's the reminder about the time trial tonight.

Meet at the ice rink at 5:30pm for the warmup ride to the ski hill
turnoff, then head back down to the ice rink to get your name on the
list.  First rider (me) is off sometime around 6pm.

It looks a bit stormy outside, but we'll run it if there is not an
impending lightning storm or gail-force winds.

Here's the results from last weeks' event:




Pajarito Time Trial #1 - Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Conditions:  ~80 degrees, dry, light & unfavorable breeze


Hugh Selby15:24:00
Clay Moseley15:59:00
Leland Maez18:13:00
Mike Warren20:54:00
Bill Feiereisen21:38:00
Marcie Gallegos-w22:01:00
Dina Pesenson-w22:09:00
Joe Baer23:41:00
Jessica Clark-w25:17:00


Average time20:35:07
Number of riders9

- wdenotes women riders



See you there!

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Now that Skiing is pretty much done (endless winter?):

Pedal the Preserve!
Valles Caldera National Preserve

June 18-19, 2005
August 13-14, 2005

Spectacular mountain bike fun rides on the Valles Caldera for rider of
all ages and abilities.

Not a race, not a competition, just a chance to enjoy a unique natural
setting.

Registration/information (coming soon): www.vallescaldera.gov
-----------------------

Call for Volunteers:

The Valles Caldera Recreation Management is looking for helpful
volunteers to staff these events. You can volunteer to help out at one
or both events. The Caldera is looking for people that are excited
about the Valles Caldera and are willing to share that enthusiasm with
the public. You must be willing to man stations along the biking
routes and help the public with information and any support they may
need.

The Valles Caldera needs a solid commitment to help volunteer for
these events, so please call/email only if you're sure you can
help.

Last year, the Preserve held the bike rides in conjunction with the
Los Alamos Fat Tire Festival. Because the rides were so successful,
the Preserve board approved two separate weekends for rides this
summer, June 18-19 and August 13-14.

For the June event, the Valles will offer a short ride (about 13
miles) and a long ride (approx 25-30 miles) on both Saturday and
Sunday. For those who did the rides last year, we'll have a new
long
route this year. For the new volunteers, the rides will be
spectacular--a fantastic way to see the Valles.

In general, volunteers will act as ambassadors to the Preserve, taking
an active role in engaging the ride participants in a pleasant and
assisting manner. During the ride, volunteers will ride as pairs on
the routes as bike patrollers to help event participants with
directions, information about the Preserve, bike mechanical help, etc.
and also help at the water stations on the route. In addition, we are
looking for volunteers to help with registration/check-in (they'll
ride too!). The event begins at 7 a.m. and ends about 2 p.m., so
volunteers will need to be up there all day.

As with last year, there will be pre-rides, where all the volunteers
will ride the routes before the event so we are all familiar with
them. There will be a day setup for the pre-rides a week or two before
the event. The pre-ride is essential to volunteering so we are all
familiar with the routes when assisting ride participants.

Coordinators need information from you so they know when you're
available and where you'd like to help. If you are interested and
can
commit to these dates, please either call one of the coordinators or
send the following info to both of them so they can contact you in the
future with more information about the pre-rides and the volunteering.
The rides wouldn't be possible without the bike volunteers, and
I'm
sure it will be a successful and fun event with your help.
Thanks!


1.    Your name
2.    Riding buddy's name
3.    Medical training? (yes/no)
4.    Defensive Driving Training? (yes/no)
5.    Jobs Preferred: Choose from registration or bike patrol:
6.    Available Saturday, June 18?
7.    Available Sunday, June 19?
8.    Your phone number
9.    Your email address
10.    Interested in volunteering for the August event?

Please email this information to the both Coordinating Volunteers :
James Rickman <gigantor@...>
Caroline Spaeth <spaeth@...>
Both at 662-5922
Give them a call for more details.

----------------------------
Next planning meeting for bike events (attendance not required to
volunteer):

Tuesday , May 10th at 5:15 at VCT office.
Valles Caldera Trust (VCT)
2201 Trinity Dr. Suite C
Los Alamos , New Mexico
87544








___________

Yesterday was our big trail cleanup day---cleared off the sun fencing
pulled the posts and brought everything off the mtn for storage---so
the trail is "buttoned up" for the Summer.

We will be having a tree planting work day in May---watch here for
details--we plan on placing a couple hundred trees in the area damaged
by the 2001 Fire.

Here it is---the all time record last grooming in the 22 year history
of the trail:

Upper trail from the first cutoff (past point J) to the meadow and
back were groomed for skating this afternoon.  Classic tracks were set
on the lower trails from the rock down to point A. the trial is dirty
and not that great but it still has snow. All grooming equipment was
removed from the ski hill. We are now done grooming as of April 13,
2005.

I groomed first and I groomed last,

Dave W.

Pulled the signs and wands today, so all the trail is open to puppies,
runners and what all!

Just wanted to be sure you all know the conditions up there for
skating are truly great right now on the woods loops.  Mid afternoon
had good glide and solid  snow under the ski with good poling---snow
has transformed to cornsnow so is quite fast and not at all grabby in
the sunny spots.

However, ther are no classic tracks left to ski in, and the meadow
portion of the trail is a mix of soft snowdrifts and skittery icy
sections.  But the woods are great for skate!

tom