BLACK JACK SKI CLUB
NEWSLETTER # 7
FEBRUARY 2006
Hello Skiers! The Winter Games are behind us and the Cross
Country venue received accolades from all people involved. Thanks volunteers! We couldn’t have done it without you. Read on for the next call for volunteers at
the Canadian Masters Championships coming next February!
Mark your calendars
with April 1, 2006 for the Short Track Relay Race and Volunteer
Appreciation Party AND our AGM. Come on
out and celebrate yourselves and all the hard work you have done at Black Jack.
There will be more information about
these events at a later date. Check with
the Kiosk or your email for more info.
Don’t forget our
website at www.skiblackjack.ca and
our snow phone at 364-5445. Go and fill
out a questionnaire at the kiosk and tell us what you think about what happens
at Black Jack. Any information to be
posted on this newsletter can be sent to svanasselt@telus.net.
PAYMENT TO SKI
It has come to our attention that
there are people who ski in the evenings who do not have memberships or day
passes for Black Jack. Please keep in
mind the cost to track set and run Black Jack ($104.00
per member per year). As paying members
of the Club, we end up paying for these people who don’t pay for themselves. We
have patrollers out in the evenings doing spot checks. Skiers without a pass or ticket,
will be asked to pay or leave. If you
know anyone who does not pay to ski at Black Jack, don’t let them get away with
it!! Tell them that the cost to groom
Black Jack is high and if they want quality skiing, they need to be
contributing to the funds for providing track setting. A season pass is very reasonable and can be
paid off by only skiing 10 times in the whole year. Trail use is free at Centennial Trail. Please tell your friend that if they want to
ski for free, that is the place to go.
SHORT TRACK RELAY AND VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION PARTY
The Short Track Relay AND
Volunteer Appreciation Party is set for April 1, 2006. This
is a fun event, designed for the whole family.
There are lots of silly categories and prizes. Check at the Kiosk and your email for more
information about this event.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The AGM is coming up. Please mark April 1 on your calendars. The meeting and delicious catered dinner
starts at 5:30pm and goes
to approximately 10:00pm. Here is your opportunity to give input, offer
what you think needs changing and any bouquets you might have as well as hear
the summary from the Exec and vote for next season’s exec board. We would love to hear from all of you and see
all of you there. Cost for the dinner is
$12 (kids under 12)-$15 (everyone else) and can be paid at the Kiosk.
BC WINTER GAMES
BC
Winter Games Results:
BC Winter Games Sprint Results: http://www.zone4.ca/results.asp?ID=843&cat=all
BC Winter Games Interval Start results: http://www.crosscountrybc.ca/main.asp?cmd=doc&ID=2080
BC Winter
Games Relay results: http://www.crosscountrybc.ca/main.asp
Kootenay
cross country skiers capture 10 medals in BC Winter Games events
by Joy Huebert
Strength, speed and great attitudes paid off for cross country ski athletes
from the Kootenays, who won 10 out of the 36 medals in the BC Winter Games that
took place Feb. 23 to 26, 2006. Three events included the 3.5 and 5 km classic
races on Friday, sprints on Saturday and relays on Sunday. Double gold and
silver went to a big winner from a small place, Nicholas Garmulewicz, from
Hills, who said that he was very focused, that he loves skiing and that it’s good
fun to race. Rossland’s own Rebecca Reid took home gold and double silver,
Johanna Ferrie from Kimberly brought home a bronze, Lauren Degroot from Nelson
skied to silver, while Heather Mehain and Josh Hall of Nelson brought home
silver each in the team relay event.
Other Zone1 1 competitors included Alex Cook, Marshall Soltice, Sonja Poole,
Carmen Dolinsky, Eric Nicolajsen and Charlene Houlden, who all had fun and gave
a great effort.
The ski conditions at the Blackjack club couldn’t have been better. Temperatures
hovered around 5 below, causing fast dry snow, ideal
for both classic and skate techniques. The waxing experts had an easier time
preparing the skiis properly, and most athletes were happy with the snow and
the course. Several commented that they liked the rolly hills, with the
downhills giving them a chance to recover their strength before pushing up
again. There is no doubt that Blackjack offers world class winter conditions
for racing.
A super organizing team lead by Kathy Moore kept the races on
track and starting on time, with well set up venues for timing, officiating and
reporting. Announcer Gerald Klassen of Gerrick’s Cycle and Sport added
excitement to the sport with his enthusiastic commentary.
Medal presenters included several celebrities, including former Olympic athlete
Rhonda Delong and her husband, national coach Alain Parent. Parent commented
that it takes 12 – 15 years to develop the endurance needed for the sport, so
we should be looking at athletes peaking between the ages of 25 – 30. He saw
good potential in the racing this weekend for future competitors in the
Nationals and the Olympics.
All in all, it was an inspiring, fun event with lots of achievement and results
for up-and-coming Kootenay athletes.
JUNIOR RACER NEWS
We had a great showing in Penticton on the Feburary
23rd weekend. Sierra Gibson took 1st in the Classic race with
Susanne Fraser close behind in 3rd. Maddie Taylor-Gregg had a amazing
day. She took 3rd in her category.
Way to go Maddie! Those girls also did an awesome job in the sprints with
Sierra 1st and a 2nd for Susanne. Their relay team consisted of Christine
Cook, Maddie Taylor-Gregg, Susanne Fraser and Sierra Gibson. They came 4th.
The boy’s
team consisted of Patrick Soltice coming 3rd in the sprints. What a great
finish Patrick had! He
skiied hard right to the end! Ethan Barnes made it to the B final and came in
6th. Great job Ethan! On the classic day, we had Xander Sterpin in 5th and
Mackenzie Gibson came 6th. Good race Mackenzie and Xander! Davin Heikkila, Liam
Barness and Jonas Houlden also participated in the weekend.
I would
like to thank Paul Heikkila for travelling with us this weekend to Penticton and coaching the
Midgets. Thanks also to all the parents.
The team gelled really well. It was a great weekend. Thanks, Tammie
VOLUNTEERS
Black Jack would like to extend a
sincere appreciation and heartfelt thanks to all of the volunteers who came out
for trail grooming, cabin maintenance, races, baking, administrative support,
coaching, marketing, etc. Without your
support, our club would not be able to run.
We are currently looking for more volunteers and other ways that you can
support our not-for-profit club. We want
to hear your ideas about how we can get more volunteer support. What would motivate you to volunteer at Black
Jack? Give us your ideas and comments
and we’ll get something implemented for next year. You can email ideas to anyone on the
executive.
SKI TO CURE DIABETES
On Sunday
April 2nd there will be a "Ski to Cure Diabetes" at Blackjack.
This year's event is being organized by Lori and Caitlyn Drake, to raise money
for the Canadian Diabetes Association. Caitlyn hopes to raise $5,000 to
enable her to join Team Diabetes. She
will run a half-marathon in Iceland in
August!! Come out and support Caitlyn and her dream,
as well as support the Canada Diabetes Association. For more information call:362-5502 or 362-9427 (eve)
LOPPET SOUP
The
following soup recipe was submitted by Jill Peacock who has had many requests
to share it.
30
ml vegetable oil
28 oz. can diced tomatoes
10
ml whole cumin
seeds 60
ml tomato paste
7.5 ml
ground
coriander
7.5 ml salt
2.5
ml tumeric
2.5 ml black pepper
2
med. onions, in 1/4"
dice
7 sprigs cilantro, tied together with an elastic band
2
cloves garlic,
minced
60 ml lemon juice
2.5
ml red pepper
flakes
45 ml chopped cilantro
2
cups red lentils,
washed
sour cream
1.75
liters water
In
large saucepan, combine oil, cumin seeds, coriander and tumeric. Over low
heat, cook until seeds darken. Add onions, garlic and red pepper
flakes. Saute over medium heat until onions are translucent. Add
next 7 ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer 20 - 30 minutes, until
lentils are very soft. Remove from heat. Remove cilantro
sprigs. Beat soup with a whisk to break up any remaining pieces of lentil
(do not puree!). Stir in lemon juice and chopped cilantro. Adjust
seasonings and thin with water if necessary. (Freezes
well.) Garnish with sour cream.
adapted from Pasta and Company, Seattle
WORLD MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS
We are thrilled to announce that
Black Jack has been chosen to host the Canadian Masters Championships next
spring. Dates are February 5th to February 11th, 2007. This will be a week long event with 4 races
over 7 days. WE WILL NEED LOTS OF
VOLUNTEERS. Think Winter Games and
make the event a week long with racers over 30 instead teenagers. So, mark your calendars, be prepared for
people to start phoning you for volunteering and let’s show the rest of Canada
what a great place we live in! Or, if
you’re over 30 and want to race, start training and we’ll see you at the start
line. Tentative races so far are a 20 km
classic race, a 10 km classic race, a 10 km free technique, and a 32 km free
technique loppet. Look for more
information in the coming weeks and months.
DOGS ON TRAILS
It has been brought to our
attention that people other than neighboring property owners are skiing on the
trails with their dogs. In order to
respect other skiers and maintain our groomed trails, please do not bring dogs
to Black Jack, go to Centennial instead.
PROPOSED MEMBERSHIP
FEE INCREASE
The 2005/2006 season is drawing to a close and with it comes
a look ahead to the future. Cross Country BC,
which is the provincial regulating agency of cross country skiing in BC has stated that the federal regulating agency, Cross
Country Canada is increasing its fees.
As a result of this, CCBC feels obligated to do the same thing. Currently, each club pays $5.00 per member of
the Club to CCBC who gives a portion of it to CCC. They are proposing that an increase of $5.00
per person be paid to CCBC and CCC. This
will translate to your membership fee being increased next year. We wanted to give you lots of notice about
this!! If you would like more
information about this, please email Susan at svanasselt@telus.net and I will forward
you a copy of the proposal.
GIBBARDS CABIN
As most of you know by now, the Gibbard’s cabin collapsed this
winter when the snow was wet and heavy.
We are in the process of creating a proposal and plan to rebuild another
one. We will keep you posted about how
this plan is coming along. In the
meantime, read on for some interesting history about the Gibbards Cabin from Richie Mann.
The cabin that fell over out there at Gibbards
was built a few years ago by Blackjack Ski Club when Marty and Angie Steinruck
were heavily involved with the club. It was built by a youth crew under the
leadership of a fellow named Pasey (not sure of the spelling or his first
name). I skidded the logs out for them with my
tractor. I think this would have been in the early 1990's or late 1980's. So it
is not a very old cabin. The cabin that the Gibbards lived in during the summer
packing months prior to 1961, when Highway 3B was completed, is still visible
just past the Black Jack Cabin on the upper side of the trail. Only 2 or
3 walls are still standing. Gibbard's old saddle shed is what we were using
for wood storage just on the low side of the trail near our cabin. As I
remember it, there were a couple of other shelters for the horses and
storage. There were also a couple of platforms above the trail that were
used when packing up the horses each day. When the Highway opened up
in, I think in 1961, the Gibbards picked up a couple of old school buses and
moved their summer camp up above the new Highway where the remnants of
them still are today, at the start of the Old Glory trail. They also built
a couple of wooden shelters to house the horses and saddles. They continued
spending the summer packing months here until the weather station on top of Old
Glory burned down in 1968 and the job ended. The D.O.T. was going to close the
station down within a year or so any way so this station burning just hurried
the process along. After they finished using the camp I moved the saddle shed
from the new camp down to my place with my old flatbed truck and it sits in my
corral beside my barn. It was very enjoyable for us to visit with the Gibbard
family both at their summer camp and at their farm (now belonging to Dr. and
Nancy Dobevicnic) in Happy
Valley. Wilf and Ruth
Gibbard raised 6 children. They are Elaine, Darlene, Gloria, Ken, Brian and
Kevin and they are a close fun loving family. They moved to Christina Lake after he retired from packing,
snowplowing and carpentry. Wilf lost Ruth a few years ago but he is still doing
well at age 92. We had him up here last weekend for the Friends of the Rossland Range display at the old Firehall
Gallery. He still has all his marbles and a great sense of humour and loves to
talk. A few years ago we (Blackjack) hosted a reunion of the weather station
"Met." boys and another one for our club members to get to meet Wilf
and his family. The latter turned out to be a reunion also as many of the old
Met. Boys came as well.
I should also say that before the Gibbard's took
over the old camp where our cabin fell over, it was originally one of
O'Brian's logging camps. I think there are still remains of the old slab pile
and sawdust pile there just below where our cabin is.
Hope this little blurb sheds a little light
on some of the history out at Gibbard's camp. ---------Richie.
