Hey Ski Friends! Hopefully you are enjoying these fall days, grabbing the sunshine when it comes, and preparing for your favorite winter sport!
Saturday, October 17: Work Party Meet at the lodge at Onion Lake Ski Trails at 10:00 We will divide and conquer the many tasks that need doing, like splitting wood, cleaning the lodge and outhouses, picking rocks, trail work on the Snowshoe Trail and the ski trail system, checking out the Moose Hut and replenishing wood there, etc. Lunch will be provided Think back to the days of Saturdays and the SnowFlake Cafe, with Lisa at the helm. She’s back for tomorrow, serving us wholesome soups and breads! (If you can, bring some snacks or a plate of cookies to share.)
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Announcement: Our AGM will be on Thursday, November 12th Sherwood Mountain Brewhouse (in “The Hall”) in Terrace 6-8 p.m. Snacks will be provided, and the ski club is celebrating 50 years, so we’re going to have cake! Come and take part in our annual discussion of the previous ski season, and help design the future for cross country skiing in our area. This is a good chance to meet your winter ski friends before we’re on the trails. All ages are welcome at this venue.
Ski Club memberships are now available! From now until Dec. 1, we have special rates for early bird members, plus some great draws along the way for these eager people. (After Dec. 1, the rates will increase to the regular membership rate.) Questions (general): contact Cathy Questions to the executive board: contact Rob Questions about the JackRabbit program for kids: contact LeeAnn (You might need to open this email in your browser to access the links for the email addresses.)
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Nordic Club News
Welcome to the Snow Valley Nordic Blog!
Hey Ski Friends!
Hasn’t the skiing been fabulous?!
Thank you groomers! Thank you parking lot plowers! Thank you rental shed volunteers!
Just a few things/events to share in this email, see below.
But first, I invite any of you long-time skiers to send in some advice or snippets that will help, encourage, inspire, motivate, amuse, bolster, and/or guide the newer members of our ski club. Anything about technique, or the trails, or about how to dress, or something particular about Onion Lake Ski Trails? Send your snippets to Cathy here, and I’ll be sure to add color and texture to the next few newsletters with your wisdom and humor.
And speaking of humor, check out this older video about a new sport:
CANSI weekend January 30-February 2, 2026
Do not scroll past this block of information! We want to encourage, cajole, BEG some of you to think about the upcoming CANSI courses. CANSI stands for Canadian Association of Nordic Ski Instructors. Our club has a number of CANSI-certified instructors, who teach adults of all ski levels (in both classic and skate techniques) to improve their skills, and to be safe on the trails.The CANSI instructors also do the instructing for events like Women’s Ski Fest, school groups, and corporate groups. And some of the CANSI instructors are also your kids’ JackRabbit coaches.
If you already possess intermediate-level ski skills, would you like to improve even more, both your technique and style? Would you at all be interested in helping teach adults learners to be safe, and more efficient and confident in their skiing?
Of course you would!
Karen Messenger from Canmore is coming back to Onion Lake to lead the CANSI Level 1 course, January 30 to Feb. 1. It’s really hard to get these courses here in our far-away-from-everywhere trails, so this is a great opportunity that doesn’t come easily to us. Karen is a terrific instructor; she’s been here the last few winters shoring up our teaching skills and training up new instructors. She skis with flowing Super Karen capes, and besides teaching adults here, she’s also taken part in the Jack Rabbit skill development program. She has lots of experience and charisma. And her love for skiing rubs off on all of us who meet her.
She’s coming to Onion Lake.
Grab the opportunity.
There are two options for Level 1:
2-day course for Classic only Level 1: Jan. 31 - Feb 1
3-day course for full (classic and skate) Level 1: Jan. 30 - Feb. 1
She’s also going to teach a Level 2 Prep course, for those of you who already have completed the Level 1 training. This is a one-day event, to work on more ski technique and probably some endurance! February 2, 2026.
The cost for the CANSI Level 1 courses increases on Jan. 16/17.
The cost for the Level 2 prep increases on Jan. 19.
We need more confirmed participants by January 17 to run the courses. If the course gets cancelled, you will get a full refund.
But if you don’t sign up, you miss out on taking the course.
The sweetest deal: if you achieve your Level 1 certification, the club will reimburse your course fees over the next two seasons if you can help with adult instruction. Please contact Cathy to get details on that.
Final word: Just do it. You won’t regret it.
Women’s Ski Fest
February 8, 2026
We have a very dedicated group of women who are excited to organize and orchestrate this once again.
Always an amazing event: Learn some cross country ski skills, meet some new friends, enjoy the hospitality and lots of delicious food!
For all levels of skiing, in both skate and classic technique.
Questions: email Guiliana
That’s it for now. Stay in touch.
Gear up and go for a ski.
See you on the trails!
Hey Ski Friends!
Three more days of catching the Early Bird Rate for a season’s pass at Onion Lake Ski Trails: Saturday, Sunday and Monday!
After about 13 years of no rate changes for memberships and day use fees, we had to make the difficult decision to increase our rates to meet the costs of running the machines and maintaining the infrastructure at the ski trails. Those of you who have paid for your memberships have seen the change; if you want to know the details, please visit the website on the “prices” page. Starting Dec. 2, the membership rate will increase significantly. And day fees (and day pass ticket booklets) have also been increased. Despite the increases, cross country skiing remains an affordable winter activity, so please do support our club and get some wholesome outdoor exercise this winter!
(Sign up links are at the bottom of this email.)
Pat (membership coordinator) will be doing some Early Bird draws real soon!
(For those of you already signed up, she’ll be sending your passes in the mail within the next few weeks, in case you were wondering.)
The executive, and Doug (always fixing things), and Dean, Rob, and Jeff (trail work gurus!) have been preparing for this season. All we need is snow and it’s coming! Check out our fleet! Dean says everything is ready for the white stuff.
Jack Rabbit Update Here’s a message from LeeAnn, our Jack Rabbit Coordinator: Attention parents of all Bunnies, JackRabbit and Track Attack skiers! This year we will be offering an eight week program for children between the ages of 4 to 12 on Saturday mornings from January 10 to February 28th. Beginning on January 10 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm (ending at 11:30 for Bunnies), nationally-qualified coaches will guide young skiers through the basic skills of classic and skate skiing. Registration is $75 and it closes on DECEMBER 12! This is to allow for time to find adequate coaching volunteers and preparation. Please complete Jackrabbits registration with your club membership registration here. If you are wondering how to prepare your young skiers for lessons, please look at the Parents Guide at the SVNSC website. Jackrabbits Gear Rentals If your child is a member of SVNSC and registered for the ski program, the club offers rentals for those in need of boots, skis, and poles for $75 for the season. (Parents of JackRabbit kids can also rent gear for the season. Please contact Cathy for more information about this.) This year's date for gear rentals is DECEMBER 13 from 10 am to 1pm at the ski trails Sign up for a time slot to sign out ski gear here. LeeAnn can be reached by email here. |
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Which brings us to what’s new in the rental shed! As in previous years, we continue to rent gear for the winter months out to our Jack Rabbit kids and their parents. (See above for sign up.) And also, we extend our season rentals to all kids 12 and under who are club members ($100 for the season). This year, we are going to do a trial run for renting seasonal gear to adults (anyone 13 plus, who is member of the ski club). The cost will be $200 (plus a $100 damage deposit). We have a limited number of skis that we will be renting out; once we have reached that limit, there will be no further opportunity to rent for the season. We can only take cash or cheques at the rental shed; if you want to pay by e-transfer, please contact Cathy prior to heading out to Onion Lake to arrange pre-payment. The first rental opportunity for members (kids and adults, and not in the JackRabbit program) will be at 1:00 p.m. on Dec. 13. Book your appointment by email here. |
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Have you seen the new trolls on the Troll Trail? Can you count how many there are? Colleen and her intrepid crew spent many hours executing this big project, so do come enjoy them, peaking out from the trees on the Troll. They are kind of shy but they won’t run away from our littlest skiers!  |