Two locations. Elm Creek (6-7:30pm) or Brackett Park in Mpls (4:30-6pm). Join us for some...
We will be back at Base Camp! Plan to spend the morning with us. Expo, speakers, break out...
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 Wirth Club Skier Guide.pdf | 66.51 KB |
Hello MYSL Sunday!
As I sit here typing this email, I can see water dripping off an icicle on my neighbor’s house at a very fast rate. I am so happy we got all that snow on Saturday and hope it will hold out for our last day on March 4th. I am hopeful that the weather will hold out until our last, on March 4th. As a reminder, please RSVP for the last day festivities using this link: http://evite.me/4ZMfH3fpWN - please include a note if you have any special dietary needs for our pizza order. We will be sending another email soon with additional details about Sunday and a volunteer sign up so you can help us make the party a success. We will collect bibs and hand out pins to the kids for completing the season.
Thank you Joanne Opgenorth for being the chalet attendant this past Sunday - I very much appreciated your help!
SNACKS:
Thanks also to the families that brought snacks this past week, the kids were wowed by the selection!
For our last week we need drinks only (chocolate milk, drink box, etc) from the following families, please:
Sjogren
Wagner Tribe
Weber
Alison Whitaker Household
Whittey Family
Wicker Crew
Williams Household
Wilson-Thieroff
Wudali household
Wyants
Yorkhall
Zwicky
Please bring the snacks to the back room before the skiers head out (or while they are out) so we can get the snacks ready before the skiers return. Please bring snacks for about 15 kids.
Reminder - Midwest Junior Championships Festival is this weekend!
REGISTRATION DEADLINE EXTENDED!!! Register by midnight on TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27 for the Festival using this google form:
The Midwest Junior Championships Festival is a great way to celebrate the end of the ski season, please consider joining in the activities. We invite everyone to come to MYSL’s Year End Festival, the Midwest Junior Championships, at Wirth Park in Minneapolis on March 3 & 4. The festival events are all day on Saturday and designed for SkiSparks skiers. There will be biathlon with paintballs, a medallion hunt, or ski through the Ski X course.
Need equipment? No problem! The MYSL trailer will be at Wirth and kids can use equipment for the day for free! Invite your friends! Registration for the festival is FREE to all Minneapolis (Wirth and Hiawatha) club members if you register using the google doc by midnight on Tuesday!
Included in your festival registration is entry into the fish scale frenzy, a race specifically for kids skiing on fishscale skis! This race is at 11:15 on Saturday and a perfect beginning race experience for SkiSparks skiers.
Is your child ready for more racing or Ski X (requires skating skis)? Your child can enter classic, skate ski and Ski X races too! We would love to see all kids in level 4-6 enter one of these races. These races are the last races of the season for kids competing in the Skiwerx and CXC Cup series and require their own registration. Youth from Wisconsin, Michigan and Canada have come to this event in the past and we expect a large turnout this year too. Even if your child is not racing, they may be inspired to see other kids race throughout Wirth. Please see race schedule here: http://www.loppet.org/midwestchampionships/event-info/race-information/schedule/
If you will be doing any of the competitive races, this is a separate registration from the google form and do have a fee! Please register for those races at this website: http://www.loppet.org/midwestchampionships/register/ Registration for all competitive events ends on Tuesday, February 27!
We look forward to seeing a lot of club members at this fun event to end our wonderful season together. This is a great opportunity to cheer for all the friends we have made at club this year during some fun races and activities.
Again register by midnight on TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27 for the Festival using this google form:
Sandy Zinn (Club Leader)
Ramdev Wudali (Coach Coordinator)
Katherine Kovarik (Skier Coordinator)
COLD WEATHER TIPS
Cold feet and hands are the most common issue. Use this checklist for success:
-Dry boots: Boots need to be dried out near a heat source between uses. They can’t stay in the car or garage.
-Wool socks: No poly blends, no cotton. Really. I mean it.
-Dry socks: A dry pair of socks needs to be put on right before you put on your boots. This makes a big difference.
-No updrafts: Cold hands can often mean your body is too cool. Make sure jackets are not too big and billowy. To stop drafts, stuff jackets into pants, tighten drawstrings or wear a drink belt.
-Put on a hat (and a neck gator): We all know we lose a lot of heat through our heads. But making sure your ears and neck are covered is just as important. I’m not sure how we used to survive without neck gators (buffs, muffs, neck warmers), because they seem like a necessity now.
-Good gloves: Good ski gloves/mittens are an investment and can only be found at ski retailers, but they are worth it. Keeping track of these should be in your job description. These should not be your child's school playground mittens.
-Hand/Foot warmers: I only use these when I have to, but I’m usually very glad I have a few in my pocket for emergencies. These are oxygen activated and you can “turn them off” by putting them in an airtight container (such as a jam jar). I get about three uses out of each pack.
-Calories: A skier that is low on calories will have a hard time staying warm. Bringing back up snacks and drinks is always a good idea.
We are looking forward to seeing everyone again and meeting our new members, please feel free to reach out with any questions, I will also post this information on our club home page.
General Information
Schedule and location:
The Wirth Club is scheduled to meet on eight Sundays from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., beginning Sunday December 31, 2017 and ending Sunday, March 4, 2018 at the Chalet on Theodore Wirth Parkway (we take February 4th off for the City of Lakes Loppet). Please plan on arriving early to find parking and to get your skier dressed, equipped and with their group. Your coach would like to start skiing at 3 p.m.! (The parking lot in front of the Chalet can fill up on nice days; if it does, you can park across the Parkway in the overflow lot or just south on the Parkway where the new Trailhead building is being built).
After skiing, the kids gather in the Chalet for a snack. Please plan on volunteering to bring a snack once throughout the season. We will post a snack volunteer sheet in the back room of the Chalet. Look for your assigned day (roughly alphabetical) and switch with another family if you need to. Ideas for snacks are: granola bars, oranges, bananas, cheese, crackers, juice. Each family should bring enough snacks so that there is one snack per child. (Note that early in the season and on pleasant days more kids will turn out.) If you are in the mood for a larger snack, we encourage everyone to buy food at the snack bar. Thank you!
We typically hold an awards ceremony on the last Sunday session of skiing. Volunteer to help make this a success.
Registration:
Register online on the MYSL Web site or contact our club's Skier Coordinator if you have any questions. To ensure appropriate class size for our volunteer coaches, registration will be on a first come, first serve basis and will close when we reach our limit of 150 skiers. Register early (for a discount) and volunteer to give our kids a great ski season!
Levels 1 through 4 teach the classic technique and Levels 5 and 6 introduce skating. If you are new to MYSL, use the age ranges as a guide when you register; your coach will help place your child in the appropriate level after the first class.
We require that a parent accompany any child not yet in first grade or any beginner in Level 1; this will ensure a great ski experience, and, you will be able to demonstrate how to ski (or how to fall down, as the case may be . . .)
Ski Passes:
Minneapolis Parks Ski Trails at Columbia Golf Course, Hiawatha Golf Course and Wirth Park are now managed by The Loppet Foundation.
The Loppet will improve snowmaking infrastructure at Wirth and this will mean better skiing throughout the winter (whether your home MYSL Club is at Wirth; or Hiawatha, which will use Wirth as a backup site).
To support the facility, MYSL has partnered with The Loppet to provide discounted trail passes. ALL skiers are required to have ski passes (even young children). You or your child(ren) will not be allowed to ski on the man-made snow without displaying a ski pass.
When you register for your MYSL Club at Wirth or Hiawatha, you have already paid for your skier's discounted pass ($20). You will recieve the skier's pass on the first club meeting date.
Parents and coaches on skis will also need passes (there is no walking on the trails). These can be purchased here:
http://www.loppet.org/cross-country-skiing/trail-passes/
You will need the:
Premium Trails Season Pass
Passes are $65 for first in household, and $32.50 for additional household passes through November 30th.
DISCOUNTS: There is a discount through Nov 30! Then prices go up for adult passes ($75/$37.50).
Q&A:
Q: Is my pass good for skiing at all Minneapolis Ski Trails and at times other than MYSL Club meetings?
A: YES. But you do need to display a pass where ever you are skiing.
Volunteers:
We need you! The Wirth Club is an all-volunteer club. We depend on parents and other volunteers to coach, encourage and help organize our children, and we expect at least one adult volunteer from each family registered. With your participation, we can create a great winter experience for our kids. We need these volunteers:
Weather:
The Club will cancel skiing if the temperature is forecast to be below -10 degrees F or if the wind chill is forecast to be less than -20 degrees F. The Club may also cancel or change locations if snow conditions are poor. A cancellation or location change announcement will be sent by e-mail to the address provided when you registered. Data point: on January 4, 2015 we held MYSL when the temperature was 1 degree and the wind chill was -20 degrees (gusts forecast to be even lower); it was sunny. We had a good turnuot and no complaints.
Equipment:
All children should have their own ski equipment. Wirth Park does rent classic equipment at the Par-3 building, but the selection can be limited. If you need equipment or have equipment to sell, check out MYSL's ski swap in November. Make sure your skiers are dressed in layers appropriate for the weather conditions and are fed and hydrated. A dry, warm skier is a happy skier! Older children who will be skiing some distance should carry a water bottle.
Each child will be issued a stylish (i.e., white) MYSL bib on the first day and will be required to wear their bib each session. Bibs immediately identify your child as being with our club and help the coaches learn names. Please do your child a favor right now and think of a clever place to stash his or her bib between sessions so you don't forget it--consider leaving them in your car, in your ski bag, or with ski clothing. Please return bibs on the last day.
Curriculum:
The MYSL curriculum teaches skiing with games using an orderly progression through six distinct levels, Levels 1 through 6. Most all skiers (especially at the lower levels) WILL spend two years in each level, e.g., a beginning skier will spend two years in Level 1 at ages 5 and 6. To progress to the next level a skier must reach specific goals at each level. The curriculum is not designed so that a skier spends only one year in each level. Please familiarize yourself with these levels so that you can be aware of what your skier is working on and so that you can offer encouragement. Your coach can always explain the curriculum and goals to you and offer a recommendation for a suitable level.
Looking forward to another great season, and please contact us with questions or feedback, your Wirth Club leaders,
Katherine Kovarik, katherine.kovarik@gmail.com (Skier Coordinator, registration)
Ramdev Wudali, agastya71@gmail.com (Coach Coordinator)
Sandy Zinn, zinneous@gmail.com (612)-655-1072 (Club Leader)
