Panhandle Nordic Club President’ Message: February 2008
A few years have passed since the area has seen the bounty of snow this year has given region wide. Fourth of July has provided excellent skiing conditions as usual, due in large part to the hard work of Van Bennett, Glen Truscott and the rest of our trail groomers. What is more unusual is the fact that lowland areas like Farragut and the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes near Cataldo have consistently provided excellent skiing this year. Reports coming back from trips to Frater Lake, Indian Creeks and the Priest Lake Nordic Center all have the common theme of great snow conditions. The cold spell last week was a bonus to those who like to run fast on their skis. Both Fourth of July and Farragut were exceedingly fast.
I had a fast 12-kilometer run at Farragut Saturday morning before the big snow came in. The best moment of the run, however, occurred on the short orange trail. I was skiing it just to cool down after a longer run. I soon skied up on a father skiing patiently behind a little girl, maybe four years old. All decked out in a pink snowsuit. Looking down the trail I could see mom, breaking trail and encouraging from the lead. They were starting her out right with only skis and no poles to confuse the basics. The little girl was ebullient about the experience. She was so happy to be outdoors and so happy to be skiing with mom and dad. It took me back to another little girl, now grown into a woman, and the little red wooden skis that still wait patiently in my basement to introduce another young one to the Nordic skiing sports. As I skated around the trio, the importance of introducing our sport to young kids early came home to me. As they grow up, you can pretty much bet on them getting into the thrills of alpine skiing and boarding. However, if my experience is any example, they eventually come back to Nordic skiing. This realization came to me about four winters past, when my daughter’s Christmas visit was quickly coming to an end. She wanted to ski Fourth of July before she left for Boise. As we passed the Junction and skied out Havin Fun through the clearcut, shortness of time required us to turn around at the mile and a half post. Turning back up the trail she remarked to me, Dad, I really miss cross-country skiing and plan to do more up by Idaho City this winter. She continues to make Nordic skiing a part of her winter activities. So you parents and grandparents, now is the time to plant the seed of Nordic skiing or snowshoing, now when they are young and their enthusiasm seems boundless. You will introduce them to our sport and the wonder of the woods in the winter.
It has been a busy month with day trips to Frater Lake, Indian Creek, the Priest Nordic Center, a few moonlight skis and the Rock Soup Event.
The coming month has a trip to Winthrop scheduled and the Best Hand Ski Event.
The Panhandle Nordic Skiing & Snowshoe Club will meet at 7 PM Tuesday, February 5th at the Fernan Ranger Station in Fernan. Parking is at the rear of the building. Walk down to the basement door to enter the meeting room. We will have a short business meeting, there will be a break to arrange trips and visit with each other followed by the program.
Marc Kalbaugh will acquaint us with some computer based map systems that can be used to plan trips. These products now readily available on line or for a low cost can help you map distance, estimate elevation gains and even visualize the topography in three dimensions. These tools are applicable to winter or summer trips whether these be biking along a paved trail, skiing into a cabin or hiking to a mountain lake. Hope to see you at our February meeting.
The Rock Soup Ski is this coming Saturday, January 26th.
It starts around 2:30 – 3:00 PM at the Fourth of July Area.
Bob Conquergood and Geoff Harvey will be "cooking" this year.
For those of you new to this event, this is the way it works.
Bob and Goeff will start a fire in the warming hut, fire up a stove,
and get a meat based and a vegetarian based broth steaming in a
couple of pots.
The rest of you stop by the hut with your contribution to the pots.
Such as a can of beans, a package of pasta, a can of cooked meat, (no
raw meat please), a can of WHAT?
Also bring something else to share, such as bread, drinks, veggi
snacks, crackers, chips, dessert, etc,
Bring your own eating utensils and bowls.
Then go off to ski the area or snowshoe, while some stay in the hut
to stir the resulting mix.
When it gets dark (about 5:00) skiers filter back into the hut. We
light the lantern and candles and serve up the rock soup with the
bread, drinks and dessert. Good food and friendship is shared well
into the cold dark January evening.
In years past, moonlight skis to the Junction have followed the
food. At very least, you can expect a night ski to the parking lot
after the event, so it is wise to bring a headlamp or flashlight to
guide your way.
2. Public Comment Meeting. Forest Service's new draft affecting backcountry and roadless areas. CDA, January 23. Kellogg Jan 24.
2. New maps added to website.
4. Kids equipment for sale.
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1. NIC's Outdoor Pursuits program offering Avalanche Level 1 Certificate Course. Jan 19-21. Includes 4 hours in classroom and 20 hours in the field in the Lookout Pass Area. Cost $75. Space is limited. Information 208- 769-7809.
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2. Public Comment Meeting. Forest Service's new draft affecting backcountry and roadless areas.
Coeur d'Alene -- January 23 6pm. Kootenai County Courthouse, 451 Government Way, Rm. 1A/1B
Kellogg -- Jan 24 6pm. Idaho Dept. of Health & Welfare office. 35 Wildcat Way.
4. Several sets of kids size skis complete with bindings, poles and boots for sale. (Size 100 cm - 160 cm). 75 mm boots in various sizes. Will sell complete sets for $30.00; or skis & bindings - $20.00, boots - $10.00 and poles $5.00 If interested, contact Dave at 208-664-0038. Located in Coeur d'Alene.
Following the instructions from your welcome email, so I can send emails via the Panhandle Nordic Club website! Checked your website today and all looks well @ 4th of July Pass!
Panhandle Nordic Ski and Snowshoe Club January 2008
Presidents Message:
The snow has continued to come our way during December and the skiing was great over the holiday season. There was about two feet on the level last weekend in the parking lot at Fourth of July and much more up on Forest Road 614, where the powder has been deep the past few weeks.
The grooming crew has been hard pressed to keep up with it. The freezing rain that blew in just before the spate of snowstorms coated the trees and bent many a mountain maple over the ski and snowshoe trails. Most of these obstacles have been removed. Up at Fernan Saddle the snow is over four feet in depth. The trees are coated with a white “spackle” of snow including the trunks. The wind must have pelted the area during the storms to create the snow-covered forest. No doubt why the ridge beyond the saddle is aptly named Windy Ridge.
Meanwhile the skiing a Farragut State Park has been terrific as well. Any veteran skier in this area will tell you, to ski Farragut when you can, because a thaw may be just around the corner to wipe it all away.
The soggy footsteps of that thaw are on us now. A little thaw, except for its affect on Farragut, will have its advantages. It will settle and congeal a snow pack that is currently very light and fluffy. When the snow returns next week it will fall on an excellent base. That base should favor us through much of the winter, barring a warm and dry spell.
Free ski day is Saturday, January 5th. Skiers and snowshoers can use the Fourth of July and other state ski areas free of any charge. Volunteers from the club will man the hut between 9 AM and 3 PM offering warm drinks, cookies, and advice to the area users. We will provide some basic instruction to anyone new to skiing or snowshoe use or wishing to brush up on basic technique.
Our next meeting is Tuesday, January 8th. The usual business and reports will be conducted followed by the program. I had contacted Idaho Fish & Game to give a presentation on animal sign typically seen on the snow pack over which we ski. Although fresh in their minds before the holiday, the message was lost someplace in the bureaucracy during the holiday season. We will attempt to arrange that program again at a future date. As a backup, Skip Truscott and I plan to take you on a tour of the packs we carry onto the trail or into the backcountry on a winter trip. Musty and yes, a bit sweat stained, these packs hold many items. Along with the items we will impart tips that can make you at the least more comfortable and, under certain conditions, could just save your bacon. Some of you may know many of these tips, but the refresher can’t hurt and we may just have a trick or two up or sleeves that you can apply to a real life situation.
Goeff Harvey
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Webmaster's Note:
The following have been added to the Maps and Information Link on the website. You can print and distribute them as you wish.
It's pretty empty right now. You members can fill it up.
To upload photos: Login: username: nordic password: club
(Be sure to write down the above).
You can create categories and subcategories if you want to.
I think all photos have to be in an album you create - even if it is only one photo.
But I haven't played around with it much.
For those who want more intructions, there is a FAQ and more information than you can shake a ski pole at, go to this link http://coppermine-gallery.net/
Maybe someday I'll look at it.
Note: Yahoo groups no longer hosts photos, so the ones that were uploaded there are now byebye.
(written on Sunday - but due to technical difficulties..... you get it now)
The weatherman tells us it is the eve of the first significant snowfall in the lower elevations. We will cross our fingers and hope, but he has disappointed twice since mid-November. We are ready for the snow.
Many of you know that two new bridges were installed this fall to cross the ravines on the Janet's Jaunt snowshoe trail.
A heavy Franklin stove was installed in the warming hut last week. It will take some work to seal this piece of iron, but the metal thieves who seem to target the area have surprised us in the past.
We have also prepared two new maps of the area. You will see these hung on the entryway kiosk, the two warming huts and at strategic points along the trails. The two maps will also appear soon in a map brochure. The last map was put out over seven years ago. We have been in need of new maps because the whole nature of the Fourth of July Area has evolved in a couple of ways. The old map detailed the Fourth of July Ski Area.
As you all know, we are operating a non-motorized winter sports area with the advent of more snowshoe use and the development of additional trails dedicated to snowshoe and ski users. The area has also expanded greatly in recent years. With the addition of the 614-905 Loop and the Ten Mile Loop complete with Ian's Eagle Cabin, the old map was sorely out of date. The expansion explains the need for two maps in the brochure. The first map shows the extent of the ski and snowshoe opportunities at Fourth of July all the way to Rose Creek Saddle with some of its backcountry opportunities. This large-scale map does not permit much detail of the core area so the second map shows this detail. With the advent of Google Earth satellite photos taken yearly and software that allows us to draw on those images and then remove the base image, the trails are traced exactly on their locations. Given this rather simple technology, we will be able to update the maps yearly, if necessary. We hope to have the new map brochure in your hands by early in the season.
Our next meeting is 7:00 PM, Tuesday, December 4th at the Fernan Ranger District Office, 2502 E. Sherman Avenue. We park in the back parking lot and walk down the steps to use the lower floor conference room. The December meeting is the annual cookie exchange. We will also be exchanging ski and snowshoe gear, so bring along any you might want to trade or donate. If you are looking for gear, you may find a deal with a fellow club member.
We will have Park & Ski Stickers for sale.
One item of business will be the naming of some new and old trails.
Since we are typically obsessed with snow in early December, a program on snow is quite appropriate. Ed Gately, an expert on snow and snow pack, will be speaking on the fantastic solid phase of water in its many forms that make our winter sports possible. He will be discussing snow in its varied array from the single flake, each distinct, to that collection of flakes, the snow pack on which we glide. I am looking forward to this more detailed look at snow, the medium on which we play. I hope to see you at our December meeting.
The Park and Ski Passes are now available at the following locations:
US Forest Service, Fernan Ranger Station Vertical Earth Army-Navy Ski Shack in Hayden Rose Lake Store in Rose Lake. We will have them for sale at the next meeting on 12/4. Fitness Fanatics may have them by now. Their number is 509-922-6080
Please designate Area 11.
Note: Idaho stickers are good in Washington. For Mt Spokan you Also need a grooming sticker for $31.00.
For information about Mt. Spokane x-country ski events, trail maps, permit information, trail conditions etc. go to www.selkirknordic.org
Panhandle Nordic Ski and Snowshoe Club October - November 2007
President's Message:
It is cooling down as the warm fall weather makes its exit to be replaced with cool weather and rain. Already the high mountain tops have been dusted once with an early snowfall. Many of us have put aside the hiking boots and are rummaging through the closets for the ski and snowshoe gear.
To bring you up to date, we completed a summer of hikes that ranged from the low hills around Fish Lake west of Spokane into peaks of the Selkirk Mountains in late August and September. Along the way were some bike and canoe trips. A few of us finished up with two hikes in British Columbia's Kokanee Glacier Park, revisiting the Slocan Chief Cabin and climbing towards the Silver Spray Chalet.
Meanwhile work has been underway at the Fourth of July area. A new bridge has been installed on the snowshoe trail and another will soon be in place. On Saturday, October 13th a large number of members participated in the annual work day. The snowshoe trail was cleared, logs were cleared from trails and cut for firewood, wet areas were drained and filled in the roads, the Loose Moose and Spencer's Ss trails were cleared of branches, the bench was stained at the warming hut and a landing was cleared for more equipment at the snow machine shed. It was a successful work day accomplishing many of the tasks on Skip and Van's long list.
It is time to look forward to the early season events. The Spokane Mountain Ski Patrol Ski Swapwill occur Saturday, October 26th at the Spokane County Fairgrounds off Broadway. A week later, November 3rd, the Lookout and Silver Mountain Ski Patrol Swapwill be held at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds, while Fitness Fanatics will have its sale - Swap the same day at its store on Trent Avenue in the Spokane Valley.
These are great opportunities to find bargains on ski and snowshoe equipment of all kinds and, if you have kids, to re-outfit them as they grow without going broke. The lines can be long, but typically, there is not a rush for cross-country and snowshoe gear like there is for downhill ski gear. So unless shopping is your contact sport, take your time and show up mid-morning to noon for the ski swaps. It is a better policy to hit Fitness Fanatics early for the bargains on unused gear.
The initial meeting of the Panhandle Nordic Ski and Snowshoe Club will be held, Tuesday, November 6th at 7:00 PM at the Fernan Ranger Station at the east end of Sherman Avenue.
For those of you new to the club, drive around in back of the building, enter the fenced parking area, take the steps down to the lower level and enter by the downstairs door. You will find us in the conference room to your left. We should have 2007-2008 Park & Ski passes for sale. Some trip planning will likely already be starting. After short business meeting consisting of reports of officers and committee heads, the monthly program will begin. The program is a cross-country ski film, which should fire us all up for the winter season and have us delivering snow chants to the passing clouds.
Goeff Harvey
Webmaster's Note: Regarding email. For those of of your who are not getting email I am adding a new system.
Those of you who are getting email do not need to do anything.
If you know someone who isn't getting email have them go to the Members' Email section. - The new form will be there by October 20.
Jim, from what Geoff said, Lost Trail Pass on the border of Montana and Idaho might fit those criteria. Nobody went with him last January, but he found a cheap place to stay and was able to downhill one day and cross-country the next. --Ronn
---- Jim McMillen wrote:
============= Here it is...Can you think of places that have cheap lodging for cross country or downhill skiing? A friend asked where to take her family..Jim
-----Original Message----- From: panhandlenordic@yahoogroups.com [mailto:panhandlenordic@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of jsbeery Sent: Friday, September 28, 2007 7:22 PM To: panhandlenordic@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [panhandlenordic] Change of e-mail address
would yousend me a message--not sure I am getting them!~!!!! thanks On Nov 24, 2006, at 1:19 PM, kek@... wrote:
Did you receive a change of e-mail address for Kay Kindig? If not, please make the following change: new e-mail address is: kek49@...
Here it is.….Can you think of places that
have cheap lodging for cross country or downhill skiing? A friend asked where
to take her family….Jim
-----Original Message----- From:
panhandlenordic@yahoogroups.com [mailto:panhandlenordic@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of jsbeery Sent: Friday, September 28, 2007
7:22 PM To:
panhandlenordic@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [panhandlenordic]
Change of e-mail address
would
yousend me a message--not sure I am getting them!~!!!! thanks
On Nov 24, 2006, at 1:19 PM, kek@... wrote:
Did you receive a change of e-mail
address for Kay Kindig? If not, please make
the
following change:
new
e-mail address is: kek49@...
would yousend me a message--not sure I am getting them!~!!!! thanks
On Nov 24, 2006, at 1:19 PM, kek@... wrote:
>
> Did you receive a change of e-mail address for Kay Kindig? If not,
> please make
> the following change:
> new e-mail address is: kek49@...
>
> Thank you
> K
>
>
>