NorAm/SuperTour Racers Arriving Early to Train

The excitement for the race weekend is building, with the arrival of the Thunder Bay National Team Development Centre athletes on November 30th.  TBay brought around twenty athletes, the team van and trailer, and a few coaches.  Look for bright green training jackets and blue puffy jackets with TBAY on the back.

Because the NorAm circuit has a strong western bias this year, the team will leave their van and trailer in the west for the season.  The season begins with races at Sovereign Lake and BlackJack before Christmas, visits Whistler after Christmas, and finishes with nationals in Canmore.  A select few will qualify for Junior World Championships and Under 23 World Championships in Soldier Hollow, Utah.

On December 10th and 11th, the top North American skiers will be competing for world cup starts and points that lead to Olympic qualification. It looks like this team will have fun getting ready, as they posted this video from their first day here at Sovereign.

November Visitors at Sovereign Lake

A visiting biathlon team practising mass starts in the stadium (Photo: SLNC)
A visiting biathlon team practising mass starts in the stadium (Photo: SLNC)

Sovereign Lake was energized by visitors last weekend, in large part thanks to US Thanksgiving.

As usual, many of our neighbours to the south came up to celebrate their most important holiday with us. The Methow Valley club teamed up with Momentum Northwest from Seattle and Mt Bachelor in Oregon for a combined camp with over 60 kids.  Racing fans would recognize US Olympians Laura McCabe and Lars Flora among their coaches.

Continuing the visitors theme, US Olympian Kris Freeman was here for a week training for the start of the SuperTour season.  If he was skiing so fast that you missed him, he will be back next week for the NorAm/SuperTour races.

The joint Sovereign/SilverStar SuperCamps continue, but the real stars were a group of ladies doing a boot camp with our own Pat Pearce.

Three days of twice daily ski workouts, red wine, and sunshine brings out the smiles for the World Masters relay team. (Photo: SLNC)
Three days of twice daily ski workouts, red wine, and sunshine brings out the smiles for the World Masters relay team. (Photo: SLNC)

Nearer neighbours Larch Hills and Telemark were out in force as their on-snow programs started.

And for the club member (name withheld to protect the innocent Quality Greens shopper) who doubted that the early season snow was worth the twenty minute drive from Vernon, Gene from Bend had no doubt that it was worth the 11 hour drive.lauram

Sovereign Lake Nordic Club photo contest!

Sovereign Lake would like to see your favourite winter photos all season long.  Post your photo using the hashtags #MySovereign and #WinterLivesHere and each month we will unveil one winner who will receive a prize.

At the end of the season, we will have a final draw and ONE winner will receive the grand prize: a season pass for 2017/2018!

The best channel to share these photos with us is Instagram and Facebook and we will be notified. We might re-post your photo to share with the world, or we might save it for future communications.

Let’s build a tech-savvy group of SLNC members and show the world what Sovereign Lake is all about!

poster-share-your-sovereign

 

 

We Are Open

Amanda and Jacek made the trip from Kelowna for Jacek's first time skiing ever (Photo: SLNC)
Amanda and Jacek made the trip from Kelowna on November 24th for Jacek’s first time skiing ever (Photo: SLNC)

Sovereign Lake Nordic Club is open for the season!

The unusually warm fall is behind us and normal service has returned with nightly snowfalls expected to continue for the new few days.

See the snow on our newly upgraded Stussi Sport Webcam!

 

SLNC Board Nominees for 2016-2018 Term

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Sovereign Lake Nordic Club will take place on Wednesday October 19, 2016 at 7:00 pm, at the Schubert Centre. The AGM agenda includes the election of up to five (5) members of the Board of Directors. There is a total of 10 members of the Board, but members are elected for two-year terms, with five being elected each year. This is to provide continuity, as half the board carries on each year into a second term and half “turns over”. All Board members are volunteers, donating their time and talents to contribute to our club.

The returning members of the Board are Liz Ariano, Sharon Clarke, Pat Pearce, Sandra Ecclestone, and Rob Madden.

In August 2016 an Elections Committee was struck to oversee the election of the new members of the Board at the 2016 AGM. The Elections Committee is made up of SLNC members Hugh Hamilton, Olaf Plummer and David Thomson. The call for nominations went out to all members in several emails in September and October 2016, and was posted on the SLNC web site. According to the club by-laws, nominations closed at midnight on Monday October 10.

Four nominations were received before the deadline. The nominees (in alphabetical order) are:

  • Brent Ree
  • Bruce Sandilands
  • Brian Wills
  • Michelle Wolfe

The biographies of these volunteers are provided below. Because there were fewer than six nominations for the five available positions, Michelle, Brent, Bruce and Brian will be acclaimed at the AGM. As a result, of the acclamation, there will be no election. The Elections Committee thanks all those who took the time to consider volunteering for the Board, and to the four members who stepped forward.

Signed,

Hugh Hamilton, David Thomson and Olaf Plummer

Elections Committee

Sovereign Lake Nordic Club AGM 2016

Date: October 12, 2016

 

2016-2018 Board Nominees:

BRENT REE

Brent has been involved with the club for the past 5 years with his 3 kids participating in Jack Rabbits to Junior Development programs. He holds a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering and a MBA. Currently, Brent is the Managing Partner at SilverRock Land Corp, a local construction company. Previous experience includes working as a General Manager at The Rise and Predator Ridge. Drawing from his varied work experience especially his creative problem solving and ability to find humour in difficult situations Brent is interested in finding fun ways to grow and build the club. Formerly a NCAA athlete, and having participated in sport at a fairly high level, Brent has been impressed with the SLNC programs and the attitudes and skills kids gain while in the family oriented club. He took up x-c skiing 10 years ago and hasn’t looked back as he sees the enormous benefits of this life-long sport. Brent would like to work with the board to grow the club programs, assist in policy and direction that benefit the various membership groups, promote the area to share the world class skiing that Sovereign (and Silver Star) has to offer, and find ways to operate in a socially responsible and financially sustainable manner.

 

BRUCE SANDILANDS

Bruce is an NCCP Certified Competition Coach and has coached cross country and downhill skiing in Ontario and SLNC for over 20 years. He and his wife Sherry have been active club members and volunteers since moving to Vernon in 2007. Bruce has coached, led backcountry ski tours, been Chief of Loppet and served as Chair and principal author of the SLNC Strategic Plan in 2012. Bruce has been on the SLNC Board since 2014. Bruce’s priorities for SLNC are:

  • To secure SLNC’s long term viability by ensuring decisions are made using sound business practices and financial accountability.
  • Working with club members, BC Parks, partners and the community to realize a vision of a new SLNC Day Lodge which will meet our needs for the next 30 years.

 

BRIAN WILLS

I have served on the SLNC since September of 2014 in the roles of Chair and Vice Chair. I am a retired management consultant with significant experience in the ski industry. Over the last two years we have improved the financial position of SLNC and stabilized the management of SLNC. We have a great group of dedicated hardworking employees and we have preserved the club culture while improving the management processes.

Moving forward the Board challenges include updating the Strategic Plan, continuing to push for Lodge funding and supporting the new initiatives proposed by our GM. We are planning to strengthen our coordination of programs and volunteers. Thank you to the membership for your support over the last two years.

 

MICHELE WOLFE

I started XC skiing in the BC Loppet Series around 1989. I had only learned to XC ski in my early 20s and, if you can believe it, I learned in Australia. I skied for the Australian National XC ski team and returned to Canada in 1992 to ski in the World Cup at Silver Star Mountain, shortly after this I skied with the BC cross Country ski team and qualified to represent Canada at the World Championships in 1993 in Falun, Sweden. I retired from competitive Cross country skiing in 1994 to pursue my Bachelors of Arts degree at the University of Calgary. I continued to Cross country ski and participated in Masters XC ski events in North America. In 2005 I had a daughter, Sofie, who is now participating in the JD program at Sovereign lake. I also completed my Bachelors in Education and taught in the Kelowna School district while Sofie was young. I then completed my Masters in Counselling Psychology and I now work at UBCO in Kelowna. Prior to becoming involved in XC skiing, I did a two-year diploma after high school in Outdoor Recreation management at Capilano College in Vancouver. After this I worked as a Trekking Guide in Nepal for 5 years.

To view as a PDF click HERE.

Call for Nominations to the 2016 Board of Directors

SLNC Wants You!

There are 5 available vacancies to be filled on the Board of Directors at the AGM on October 19th. The Board is comprised of 10 members. Terms are 2 years, which means that every year 5 spots are open for nominations.

In accordance with the Club’s bylaws, an Elections Committee has been established to accept nominations and oversee the election of Directors. The Elections Committee is comprised of volunteers Hugh Hamilton, Olaf Plummer and David Thomson.

Members in good standing wishing to be nominated to the Board must submit a short biography and a photograph (head shot) to the Elections Committee at [email protected]. Nominations must be submitted in writing by midnight Sunday, October 10. In order to ensure fairness and in accordance with the Club’s bylaws, nominations will not be accepted after the nomination deadline of October 10. Names of nominees and bios will be posted on the club website 5 days prior to the election.

Additional information on duties and responsibilities of Directors can be found on the Club website under the Ski Club link.