Just in case you were thinking of shopping this Labor day - The ASC Rep Sale is no longer on Labor Day weekend - but has moved to

Sunday Sept 26th 2010 - mark your calendars & tell your friends

Don't miss out on some great deals on clothing, outdoor footwear, nordic skis, cycling stuff, backpacks, snowshoes, clothing etc etc. Sale starts at 9am -1pm in the Boreal parking lot (Far West end). 15% of all sales go to Auburn Ski Club Junior programs. The usual reps will be there + some new lines.

Savannah Blide and Emma Warren	John Juba, Martin Benes, and Joe Piercy supervise the pick work of Allie McDaniel

Saturday, August 21.
Far West members wielding dangerous tools and wearing hard hats were on the prowl Saturday morning for the annual Far West "Trail Day." Almost 30 Juniors and adults worked together on a section of trail in the Waddle Ranch area of Maris Valley. Truckee Trails Foundation organizers were amazed by the amount of work the group do in such a short time, particularly the 'logging skills' of Justin Ondry, Austin Meng and Joe Piercy. Martin Benes and John Juba 'supervised' the rock moving detail, and Coach Jeff Schloss led an expert band of rakers. Thanks to all who participated.

Ever tried to swim 1/2 mile across a chilly lake after doing 30x30scd uphill bounding intervals? Ever tried to swim that 1/2 mile with a greased watermelon that you passed hand over hand for a 1/2 mile prior. Ever eaten fresh killed chipmunk? Ever built a custom bike frame? Ever played in a World Cup soccer game? Ever Classic roller-skied, double pole only, for 2.5hr, on a hot day? Ever swam in Lake Almanor? Ever hiked to the top of Mt Lassen; the youngest volcano in North America? Ever climbed into the 'bellybutton'? Ever Skate roller-skied a 10km Uphill Time Trial that was 4/10ths of a mile longer than you thought it should have been? Ever sailed a sunfish sailboat? Ever sailed a catamaran? Ever hiked to the top of North Caribou Peak? Do you even know where it is? Ever chopped wood and carried water?

Yep; all this, and more, well; except maybe the catamaran sailing, happened at the Far West Mt Lassen Camp Aug 11-15, 2010.

11 campers from FW joined 19 campers from PNSA, and 5 coaches, for an adventure packed, volume challenging, and intense 5 days on the east flank of Mt Lassen; just three hours north of Truckee.
We camped at Silver Lake where we shared an old Forest Service cabin, campfires, swimming holes, watermelon salad, cribbage, bananagrams, roasted chipmunk, camaraderie, chicken pesto, old skool pump well water, campsite 4 and 6, chopping wood, pretzels, red vines, bumpy and dusty dirt roads, summit vistas, training ideas, stacking wood, swedish fish, hill bounding poles, Lady Gaga 578 times, flip flops, jokes, fishing, and tall tales (likely one and the same).

Did we do any workouts? Yes. A first day easy run/hike that was supposed to be an hour turned into 2hrs. A 5km and 10km uphill Skate rollerski Time Trial that was longer than everyone thought tho it was less than 10km. A swim in Lake Almanor and lunch cooled everyone off. A World Cup soccer match between Far West/East/Midwest and Pacific Northwest. PNSA scored the tying goal in stoppage time (damn the referee!) and the game ended 2-2. Anyone up for a 1.5hr to 2.5hr Classic rollerski? Double Pole only? OK then, let's "git er dun"! How about some ski walking technique? Ok, let's do some bounding too? Oh, to bound one must go hard! Is this supposed to be an interval workout? No, but it was when you can't back down. Do another one for good measure. How about climbing to the top of Mt Lassen? At 10,457 feet it stands alone between the northern Sierras and Mt Shasta- which we could see from the top. Why not make it as difficult and far of a hike as possible? One group did that while the other summitted quickly and then went climbing. And why not top off the week's training with another intensity session; this time a bunch of (15-30) 30scd on, 30scd off, hillbound/moosehoofs, with poles, uphill. Ahh.., that'll git 'er dun fer shure! But wait, why not grease up a watermelon and run it down to the lake and then swim across it to see who really is tougher. Far West is of course! All that agility training we have been doing paid off!

If all this sounds like fun to you, get motivated now; we will do it again next year.

Congratulations to Far West senior Kara LaPoint for her outstanding performance in the Vineman Ironman Triathlon. Kara completed the full ironman in 12:08:15.8 placing 1st in her F20-24 age group, and 13th woman. The Vineman, now in its 21st year, is the oldest independent ironman distance triathlon held in the continental United States. The triathletes swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles through Sonoma County's wine country.

Read Kara's story.

Get connected with the Far West community. Join the new forums or blog about your experiences.
Start a discussion, share your pearls of wisdom and inspiration…

Forums
The Forums are a community oriented group discussion area. Anyone can make topics and anyone can reply. Find training partners and activities. Share you thoughts on equipment, gear, and waxing. Discuss technique ideas and race-preparation with other members of the Far West Community.

Blog
Blogs are more personal. We invite Far West Nordic Juniors, Seniors, Masters, and Coaches to share their training and racing thoughts and experiences, photos, and videos with the Far West community throughout the year.
Masters are you going to the World Masters Cup? Tell us about your training. Share your experiences (and photos and videos) in Sovereign Lakes, BC.
Juniors tell us about that summer camp or winter trip. Junior Olympic team share you adventures in Minneapolis.

Register and start posting today.

Chuck Lyda (1952-2010)
Long time Auburn Ski Club Director Chuck Lyda was a two-time Olympian (1976, 1980) and a two-time World Champion (1975, 1977) in the sport of Canoe/Kayak. He was on 28 National Teams, Winter (Biathlon) and Summer (Canoe/Kayak). He competed in Biathlon at the World Cup level before becoming the head coach for the Army World Class Athlete Program Biathlon Team in 1995. Chuck was selected as a member of the U.S. Olympic Biathlon Team coaching staff after putting four of his athletes on the 1998 Olympic Biathlon Team. Chuck coached through the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

In Memory of Chuck Lyda, Auburn Ski Club will have a Summer Biathlon on Sunday October 31st. Details to follow.

We are looking for ARTICLES, IDEAS, and LEADS for this year’s Nordic News. If you have ANY one of these three, please let us know. If you think you can write a great story about Nordic skiing — whether it’s witty, informative, technique-oriented, personal experience, whatever ...
Nordic News is a community driven magazine and we value your input!
Email us your ideas

5th Annual Fall Rep Sale:
Sunday September 26, 2010
Auburn Ski Club
Don't miss out on some great deals on clothing, outdoor footwear, nordic skis, cycling stuff, backpacks, snowshoes, clothing etc etc. Sale starts at 9am -1pm in the Boreal parking lot (Far West end). 15% of all sales go to Auburn Ski Club Junior programs. The usual reps will be there + some new lines.

The Donner Lake Turkey Trot Trail Run
Sunday November 14, 2010
7 mile fun run around Donner Lake

Go to www.truckeefunrun.com for more information and registration.

October 23, 2010
Truckee Community Recreation Center

The 25th annual Far West Nordic Auction/Raffle Party will be held on Saturday, October 23rd at the new Truckee Community Recreation Center. This is the “CAN’T MISS” EVENT of the season. This is Far West Nordic’s largest fundraiser for its Junior Nordic Programs. Please plan on attending and bidding on some of our great prizes.

Mark you calendars now!