Hello there,

Happy New Year, Happy New challenge. We hope our rollerski courses will get you
fitter and skiing better, but also open up a world of opportunities - to make
more of ski holidays on snow, to improve performance in other sports, to help
you take on a ski race or just get in shape again.

We look forward to teaching you in 2008, and to see where rollerskiing will take
you,


ENGADIN SKI MARATHON 2008

Already 46 British competitors have entered the Engadin Skimarathon, the 40th in
the race's history. I recognise 16 of the competitors entered, and expect a few
more to appear soon (my own included). There's still time to enter and get
prepared for it (from scratch if necessary). The standard race length is 42k,
but this year there's also a 21k option. Last year over 120 Brits took part in
it, making it the largest 'British' XC ski race outside the British Champs. The
website is www.engadin-skimarathon.ch and you can see this year's GB entries at
http://services.datasport.com/2008/winter/esm/START/LANDGB.HTM


COURSES COMING UP

We have 3 courses coming up for classic and skating rollerskiing -

4-week beginners classic rollerski course, Hyde Park, Starts this Sat, 5th
January at 11.30 - see http://www.rollerski.co.uk/events1.html

4-week beginners skating rollerski course, Hyde Park, Starts following Sat, 12th
January at 11.30 - see http://www.rollerski.co.uk/events2.html (ideal
preparation for Engadin beginners)

6-week Level 2 classic evening course, Hyde Park, Wednesdays starting 9th
January, 18.05 in Hyde Park - see http://www.rollerski.co.uk/events5.html (ideal
preparation for classic ski marathons and arctic races, the autumn classic
evening course was one of the most popular courses of 2007)

1-day Dorney course, Beginners and Intermediate/Advanced groups, Skating and
Classic rollerskiing, Sunday 13th January from 10.00-16.00 - see
http://www.rollerski.co.uk/events3.html

Classes at Hyde Park, Richmond Park and Dorney can be booked at
http://www.rollerski.co.uk/class.html


REVIEW OF 2007

A good chance to look back at some of the rollerski highlights of 2007, as
inspiration for 2008 - http://www.rollerski.co.uk/nr053.html This shows some of
the challenges rollerskiing can lead on to - races on snow and rollerskis,
tours, biathlon, masterclasses, etc. and highlights individual achievements.


CLUB SESSIONS

Our club sessions resume on Saturday, 9.15 for 9.30 start. Training to resume
in earnest! See http://www.rollerski.co.uk/club.html for more details and to
join.


SNOW

Has been very good so far - plenty of it around, and quite cold in most parts of
Europe. For anyone making the transition from rollerskiing to snow for the
first time, I'd definitely recommend getting some instruction on snow. There
are a few things which are different between rollerskis and cross-country skis
(the absence of wheels on XC skis for a start...), and you will get off to a
flying start with good instruction.

Some places (like Pontresina in the Engadin valley or Nordseter in Norway) have
XC ski schools, where you can join classes or hire an instructor for a couple of
hours, but I would definitely recommend getting onto a group trip, such as those
offered by Exodus. A couple of the trips Exodus run, which I'd particularly
recommend based on comments folk have made - are to be found at -
http://www.rollerski.co.uk/cross.html


TRAINING ARTICLES

A very good article on building up base fitness, aimed at marathon racers -
http://www.masterskier.com/article.asp?AID=317

Getting balance in the training you do -
http://www.masterskier.com/article.asp?aid=326


And finally have a great 08, and look forward to seeing you again soon,

Best regards
Iain



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Iain Ballentine
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Roller ski instruction & rollerski shop
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W: http://www.rollerski.co.uk

E: iain@...
M: 07968 286129
T: 020 8348 2540

Rollerskiing in thelondonpaper -
http://www.rollerski.co.uk/nr049.html

Rollerski courses coming up -
http://www.rollerski.co.uk/events.html

Save on rollerski packages -
http://www.rollerski.co.uk/buypackages.html


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The Rollerski Co & Rollerski Instruction 2007
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