ROLLERSKI NEWSLETTER: MARCH/APRIL 2008

It's snowing here in London and easy to forget it's spring - clocks go forward
on Sunday. Over the next few months there are some great opportunities for
training, races, tours and courses: a great time to build on fitness and skills,
and get fit.

We have news this month of ski marathon successes, Ski Sunday at the Rollerski
Club and courses starting soon.


COURSES START THIS WEEKEND

On Saturday we have the start of our beginners' 4-wk skating course in Hyde
Park. This begins at 11.30 and runs for 4-weeks. If you miss a session, you
can join another session later - for more info see
http://www.rollerski.co.uk/events2.html

On Sunday we have our 1-day Dorney course. This is from 10am-4pm and includes
lunch. See http://www.rollerski.co.uk/events3.html

Classes continue at Hyde Park, Richmond Park and Dorney Lake - see
http://www.rollerski.co.uk/class.html


SKI MARATHON SUCCESSES

On 9th March the 40th Engadin Skimarathon in Switzerland saw many London
rollerskiers take to the snow, with some very good results. A number of
classic-ers took part in the even more gruelling 90k Vasaloppet ski race in
Sweden the previous weekend. For a full writeup, see
http://www.rollerski.co.uk/nf011.html


BBC SKI SUNDAY AT ROLLERSKI CLUB SESSION

Graham Bell from the BBC's Ski Sunday programme joined the Rollerski Club
session in Hyde Park recently. The standard of club skiing is improving, but
the former GB alpine skier was just about able to keep up. Having only skied
cross-country a handful of times in his career, Graham was an enthusiastic
convert to rollerskiing, and got stuck in with the exercises, pausing only to
film. Early next month he takes part in the Arctic Circle Race, one of the
longest and toughest cross-country ski races in the world.

It's great to see the media taking an interest in cross-country skiing. The new
Ski Sunday has been given a 'Top Gear' style makeover, taking the best bit of
the old Ski Sunday (the theme tune) and presenting a wide range of on-snow
features. As someone said to me recently, we're getting away from the old
'Judith Chalmers walking on skis' image of cross-country skiing...

To see pictures, go to http://www.rollerski.co.uk/gallery18.html


EVENING HYDE PARK COURSES

With sunny evenings, our spring courses start on Wednesday 9th April - see
http://www.rollerski.co.uk/events.html for a full listing.


ROLLERSKI CLUB NEWS

Our Hyde Park Rollerski Club is growing apace. We have close to 20 regular
members, and offer a great regular training session on rollerskis, which people
can come to any Saturday morning. All that is required is that you can
rollerski proficiently.

Once numbers grow to 25 we will add another coach for the sessions, so we can
offer more options each Saturday. In time we will add a classic group every
Saturday morning.

For more information, go to http://www.rollerski.co.uk/club.html


MIKE DIXON BIATHLON / XC SKI COURSES IN SCOTLAND

Biathlon legend Mike Dixon has been in touch to say he'll be running a
number of Biathlon and Rollerski courses in Scotland this summer. Dates have yet
to be confirmed, but given the speed at which his courses book up, they are sure
to be popular. If you're interested in taking part, let me know your email
address and I'll email you directly with information (or pass on to Mike).


ALAN EASON IS BACK

And will be doing the Dorney 1-day Level 2 course on 27th April. If there is
the demand, he will do a Level-2, 4 week evening course - potentially a mix of
classic and skating or just one or the other. If you'd be interested in this,
let me know. It would run from w/c 14th April in Hyde Park or Dulwich Park,
depending on demand.


ROLLERSKI RACES

Start 4pm, Sunday 11th May - see http://www.rollerski.co.uk/ns033.html (updated
for the Cairngorm races).


SNOWSPORT ENGLAND AND LONDON ROLLERSKI COURSES

Snowsport England run rollerski courses in the summer for aspiring on-snow ski
racers, linked with rollerski races. These are well worth getting involved
with, as they offer the chance to meet skiers from clubs around the country.
They offer coaching from a wide range of different instructors.

According to the Snowsport England Nordic website, the dates of these courses
are -
28-29 June, Hetton Lyons, Durham
9-10th August, Hillingdon Cycle Circuit, London
6-7th Sepember, Hetton Lyons, Durham


EARLY DAYS OF SKATING

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Zk5zelpnuX8 Can't remember if I've sent this before,
but I find it fascinating.


Good skiing!

Best regards
Iain



--
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 2008
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