SLNC will be open for the season effective Wednesday, November 13th at 8:30 am. We intend to be grooming with the PB 400 snowcat on Passmore, Wylies Loop, World Cup, and possibly Aberdeen.

Welcome back to another great season! We will be processing season passes out of the lodge for the remainder of the season.

All SLNC Trails are closed effective immediately until further notice with no exceptions as we are trying to preserve the minimal amount of snow we have for the coming weekend. We will be opening Aberdeen as well as the Repeater Rd for the BC Ski Team Camp (and public). We kindly request that all users respect our request and avoid skiing until the weekend. A notice will be posted this afternoon down at the lower parking lot.

Kindly,

SLNC Management

Dear SLNC Members:

The 2019 Elections Committee is pleased to announce that five SLNC members put their names forward to run for the Board.  Since six Director positions were available, the five nominees will become members of the Board by acclamation. They will start their 2-year terms at the AGM on October 16^th, 2019:

Marcus Boyle (new)
Sandra Ecclestone (returning)
Tara Fulop Conner (new)
Anja Lee (new)
Hugh Seaton (new)

Profiles of the five acclaimed Board members are posted HERE, and you can meet them at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday, October 16th.  The AGM will start at 7:00 pm a the Schubert Centre.  Coffee, cookies, information tables, and socializing will be available beforehand at 6:00 PM.

The five acclaimed Board members will join four continuing Board members (Lynn Algra, Pat Pearce, Brent Ree, and Brian Wills) who are starting the second year of their two-year terms.  This means there will be nine directors plus one vacant position on the Board.

Congratulations and thank you to all Board members — including Sylvia Herchen, Guy Morazain, Mark Nichiporuk, and Greg Sadesky, who are completing two years of service on the Board.

Respectfully submitted,

The SLNC 2019 Elections Committee
Doug Geller, Randy Savoie, Kim Taylor

The Masters High-Performance Group from SLNC has been preparing to race at the Masters World Cup 2019 in Norway over the last 2 seasons. With the expert guidance from our Program Director, Eric de Nys, and the disciplined approached by our skiers we’ve exceeded all expectations.

23 Sovereign skiers joined forces with 31 other BC skiers and 50 more from other parts of Canada to make up the largest Canadian contingent on record to attend these games. The Canadian group represents an age spread of 40 years and many more years of ski racing experience.

The trip began with 8 of our skiers spending a week at altitude in Italy. We stayed at Seiser Alm – a ski resort known by National team skiers as the place for acclimatizing before big race series. We had such a relaxing ski experience that it
was actually hard to leave. Good skiing, beautiful scenery and very warm temperatures.

Our larger group of skiers met up on March 4th in Oslo and then boarded buses and travelled to Beitostolen where the Master’s is being held. This quintessential Norwegian community is situated at the base of a huge plateau with mountain ranges in the background. Skiing goes on forever – the touring is so inviting that it’s hard to remain focused on the race course when so many unexplored kilometres lay outside the doorstep of the hotel. Many of our group has expressed the desire to return and enjoy what this area has to offer.

The racing hasn’t disappointed. The Sovereign group travelled with a wax team – Mike Bell and Joel Knoff. These two guys have worked early mornings and late evenings to ensure the ski group had fast skis when it was their turn to fly around the course. Our skiers commented on the fact that these were the fastest skis they’d ever been on. There’s nothing quite like tucking down a hill and passing other competitors on the glide.
The goal of competing, as a Master’s athlete, is “personal improvement” – to ski faster today than you would have without all the training, coaching and support. Everyone met that goal – and everyone feels like they’ve earned a personal victory. It’s truly motivating to ski against your own age group from Nordic countries around the world and share in the competitive spirit.

The MWC has 2 races left in their schedule as I write this note. Both 30km classic and 30 km skate will happen in the final 2 days of our stay in Beitostolen and then a smaller group is off to participate in the famous Norwegian Birkiebeiner. The Canadian Team has also received top honours from the Organizing Committee here in Beitostolen for Team Spirit, our new Race Suits, as well as great performances.

To stay up to date with our Masters across the pond in the temple of Cross Country Skiing by visiting their Masters World Cup 2019 Facebook Page. 

-Article submitted by Pat Pearce

Congrats to SLNC athletes Danica Ariano and Ethan Algra who will be representing Team BC in the upcoming 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer from Feb 15-23rd. Biathlon BC sends a team of eight (8) comprised of 4 males and 4 female athletes ages 16-20 years old.  Ethan is the youngest on the team at 16 years old.

We are so happy that you have chosen Sovereign Lake Nordic Club to be your destination of choice for xc skiing this December. We wish you and your family the best this holiday season.

Check out our Holiday Hours and Schedule of Events here.

All ski and snowshoe trails are now open for you to enjoy.

Sovereign Lake hosted a major cross country skiing event last weekend, thanks to more than 100 volunteers who put in the time and effort to create a successful race weekend for hundreds of visiting racers.

The NorAm series is one step below the World Cup and is used to qualify racers to move up to the World Cup, the World Championships, and the national team. The US SuperTour series is the same level, but for American racers.

Both series came to Sovereign Lake last weekend, along with every top skier in North America. 8 PyeongChang Olympians were spotted on the trails, among the 450 skiers who raced each day. Athletes from Alaska, Québec, Vermont, California, Colorado, New Hampshire, and Alberta made their way onto the podium, while over 200 young BC skiers got to ski the same courses as the top stars.

Want to know more about the races and what the athletes thought about their visit to our trails? FasterSkier was covering the event and has video interviews and photo galleries here.

This event helps develop young athletes, earns money for the club, and attracts interest from cross country skiers all over North America. Without our volunteers, none of this would be possible.

Sovereign Lake is busy with elite racers this week. Each weekday morning, more than a hundred of the best skiers in North America are here training for this weekend’s racing. Each weekday at around 11am, they all leave to rest and recover.

All of the top skiers in North America are here for a combined NorAm and SuperTour race weekend. Come out on Saturday to see the sprints and Sunday for the distance races, and then go out for your own ski.

The stadium, dog trails, World Cup, Passmore, and Aberdeen will be closed both Saturday and Sunday for the races. That leaves about 30km of ski trails and all the snowshoe trails for non-racers.

Sovereign Lake Presents: 

SLNC will host a Wednesday Night Race Series running throughout the 2018/19 ski season. What a fantastic opportunity for seasoned racers and newbies alike, looking to improve, test themselves, and just have a pile of fun out on the skinny skis. These races have distances and are geared towards all ages.

We are 1 race into the series with last weeks event seeing 26 racers of all abilities come out and test themselves on a 3 lap, 2km course. For race #2, we are hoping to see greater numbers out giving themselves that pre-xmas burn. The second race will be a pursuit start race based on your time from race #1. If however, you didn’t get the chance to come out to the first race and secure yourself a time, you are still able to participate in race #2 – we’ll just slot you in!

Second Race: Next Wednesday, Dec. 12^th, 2018

Race Details:                                                                                            

Registration & Bib Pick Up: 5:50 PM – 6:15 PM

Cash only: $3.00/race or $20 for the series (7 races)

Race Start: 6:30 PM (Sharp-ish)

Please register in the Chalet upstairs

Results from the 1^st race can be found here: Race 1 Results

See our Facebook event page for more details, and for the complete race schedule.