If winter’s got you down and you’re tired of being cooped up and out of shape for four months of the year, the Williams Lake Cross Country Ski Club is offering a chance to start enjoying winter instead of just surviving it.
On Sunday, Jan. 30, 2011, the Williams Lake Cross Country Ski Club will host the Bull Mountain Blast — a fun, participation-oriented cross-country ski event for all ages and levels of skiers.
The event runs over a four-hour time period, and the object is to complete as many laps of the course as possible in that time frame. Don’t worry, you don’t have to ski for four hours to go in this event. You can enter as a team of two, with skiers alternating laps, which means you only ski a total of two hours or less, with a rest in between your laps.
And if you think that might be too much, you’re not obligated to ski the whole time: just do what you can, then take a rest, socialize for a while, then head out again.
The format is based on the enduro-style mountain bike race, which is used for the Pedal by the Puddle held in Williams Lake in June. Because the event runs over a fixed period of time, everyone finishes at about the same time, and nobody comes in last. In fact, often the last skiers across the line are the faster ones who have been able to squeeze in an extra lap.
Also, at any given time, half of the team skiers are taking a rest while their partner is skiing, so while you keep warm by the bon fire or in the warming hut there’s a great chance to trade race stories, meet other skiers, and make new friends.
This all makes for a positive experience for all levels of participants and, if you have never raced before, it’s a great way to get that first taste of the excitement, camaraderie and satisfaction of being part of an event.
As far as we know, this format has never been tried in cross-country skiing, making the Bull Mountain Blast the first of its kind anywhere.
If you have a family and want to ski but aren’t sure of what to do with the kids, this style of event is ideal for skiing families, whether the whole family skis or not.
There will be a specific kids’ event taking place, and they will have their very own shorter course to ski on. If both parents want to ski, they can enter the adult event as a mixed team, and while one parent is out skiing a lap, the other parent is free to keep an eye on the kids, or even ski a lap with them on the kids’ course.
The event will tailor to both classic skiers and skate skiers and is entirely up to the individual to decide. If you like to do both, you can even change during the race: do a lap of classic, then a lap of skating, and see which goes better for you that day.
For more information about how the event works, and why the enduro format is popular, go to the Ski Club website at www.bullmountain.ca and look under “Ski Competitions and Events.” An online entry will be up and running soon.
We are encouraging everyone who can ski to enter the event; however, if you are unable to ski but want to help, we can always use volunteers, especially for race day. Go to “Contact Us” on the Bull Mountain Blast website.
With the latest snowfalls our snow base at Bull Mountain is excellent and Mike, our enthusiastic and skilled groomer operator, has now been around with the big groomer and all trails are skiable. So get outside into our beautiful Cariboo winter, and start getting ready for the Bull Mountain Blast.
