JHSC Club and Community Nordic Update
Happenings of the JHSC Nordic Program, Trail Creek Nordic Center, and Local Nordic Community
Welcome to the December Edition of “What’s Going On” for the 2022-2023 season!
Thanks for reading the December edition of the Nordic News. This monthly post throughout the ski season attempts to cover not only the multitude of activities of the JHSC Nordic program, but also what’s happening at Trail Creek Nordic Center as well as the larger local Nordic skiing community.
If you are new to the community it can be a little confusing as to understanding all that is happening with the JHSC Nordic Program and Trail Creek. First off the JHSC Nordic Programs:
- Lollipoppers Grades K-1, training January 2 - March 15, 2023
- Teewinots Grades 2-3, training January 2 - March 15, 2023
- Devos Grades 4-5, training November 7, 2022 – March 15, 2023
- Juniors Grades 6-8, training October 3, 2022 – March 17, 2023
- Prep/Comp Grades 9-12, training June 1, 2022 – March 31 2023
- JHSC Masters training December 15, 2022 – February 23, 2023
More information can be found about the teams at jhskiclub.org/nordic
Coombs Outdoors sponsors a youth Nordic program through JHSC that skis at Trail Creek after the first of the year.
The Jackson Hole High School Nordic program skis and races at Trail Creek throughout their season.
Finally the public is also welcome to ski at Trail Creek. This year, day passes are $20, an individual season pass is $325, and a family season pass is $550. Passes can be purchased at the Trail Creek web page.
In general, if you’re looking for a quiet ski and plenty of parking, mornings are a good bet. However, if you want to see lots of kids having a fantastic time on Nordic skis and don’t mind parking a ways away, weekday afternoons can’t be beat! Don't miss our races too: for the larger events we have shuttles running from the Stilson Lot; race days, while a great day to volunteer, are not the best days to ski.
Devos
The Development Team had a great November with a short dryland session and an early opening for Trail Creek. After some stretching and games at the Middle School, we got on our skis and started to get the cobwebs out. Focusing on Fundamental Body Position, the Devos participated in drills and games on one ski that helped us develop balance and weight-transfer skills. Poling motions are the next skills to work on before we break down the techniques for Skate and Classic skiing.
With a small crew, the Development Team practiced over Thanksgiving and ended the month with our first adventures off-trail in the woods. Adventure skiing builds skills quickly while the athletes gain confidence and independence. Lots of fresh snow made it easy for the Devos to actualize the first of our Club Values, “FUN.” In December, we will continue to alternate adventures with drills and games emphasizing the new skills we are developing.
Coach Rob Murphy
Junior Team
Junior Nordic athletes have been hard at work. We kicked off dryland training on the 3rd of October and haven't looked back! This season we have a roster of more than 30 kids. Each and every one of those kids shows up to practice with a positive and can-do attitude. They each impart something special to the team dynamic, which in turn has made for a really fun start to this years' Junior Nordic season.
After a month of dryland training, thanks to an amazing early season snow storm, we were able to get out on skis earlier than normal this year. It's not even December yet and we have already been on snow for three straight weeks! We will kick things off with the Targhee Tune Up this weekend, and from there will charge into the meat of our season. We are looking forward to racing hard, getting lots of air, and improving our technique! Happy Trails and keep the snow a comin'!
Coach George Cartwright
Prep/Comp Team
The Prep/Comp Team has had an awesome start to the season, getting on snow by the earliest date in recent memory! We started practice at Trail Creek on November 8th, which is the earliest I have ever started practice there. With the great early season conditions, the athletes have been training really well and getting a lot of on-snow time in. Any time you can get skiing before Thanksgiving Camp it is a huge win. Coming up soon the schedule really starts to compress, with the Targhee Tune-Up followed by the IMD Opener in Sun Valley, High School racing in Pinedale, and the Betty Woolsey Classic!
Will Wicherski
Head Coach and Nordic Program Director
The three teams practicing right now are the Development Team, the Junior Team, and the Prep/Comp Team. Over Thanksgiving break, while many children were off on vacation somewhere warm, JHSC athletes from all three teams were skiing and getting good training in! The Junior and Development Teams were training at Trail Creek, getting a bonus week of on-snow training. Development athletes had their first skate ski week at Trail Creek and were zooming around the woods and fields working up an appetite for turkey!
Junior athletes had a tough three days of training with workouts in both the mornings and afternoons. The Junior Team played games, did accelerations and speeds, did relays, had technique training, and capped it all off with a 3k Time Trial! We saw great turnout, especially for over Thanksgiving Break, and all the Juniors gave it their best.
Prep/Comp was at Turpin Meadow Ranch for the traditional Thanksgiving Camp, where we retreated to ski as much as we possibly could! We skied the trails at Turpin and also groomed the USFS roads in the vicinity, including Rosie's Ridge and Fourmile Meadows. The athletes were fueled by Chef Chris, who cooked fantastic food to power them through many hours of ski training. By the end of the week, the camp attendees had clocked over 28 hours of skiing in 8 days! The Prep/Comp athletes are looking great ahead of the first races of the season and are ready to charge.
As of report time, things are looking early-season fantastic at Trail Creek with a foot of snow falling over the recent Thanksgiving holiday weekend and more forecast in the days to come. The teams, anxious to get on snow, were actually skiing at Trail Creek on Ginzu’d snow before our official opening date of 11/15, and as of 11/28 we have even been able to get the Husky out on most of the trails.
The schedule for the winter is once again looking very busy. After school time is always wild with things getting really crazy in January when all of the younger programs begin skiing, too. The Betty Woolsey Classic Race makes its annual showing on December 26th this year and returning after a brief hiatus is the legendary Moose Chase, scheduled for February 11th. Trail Creek will also be hosting the Wyoming High School Nordic Championships on February 24th and 25th. There is also potentially one more big race in the works, more when things are finalized.
If you’ve never skied Trail Creek before, we have lots of wildlife! The critters are just getting settled into their winter routines. So far a few moose have been sighted; usually we get up to around a dozen at the peak. In recent years a herd of elk has been wintering in the area as well. So far the elk are giving every indication that they intend to make Trail Creek their home again this year with their wandering tracks showing up all over the place. The squirrel population seems robust this year with coyotes and foxes making some tracks as well. Only time will tell what other creatures venture through, with past sightings including multiple bird species, badgers, and wolves.
Going forward, look for daily grooming to continue to the end of the snow or March 31st. Be sure to get your passes purchased, not only so you can ski, but also to support all the great things that happen at Trail Creek.
Youth racing kicks into high gear in December with IMD racers heading to Sun Valley December 8-11 for the Supertour and IMD Opener. Wyoming High School racing happens December 9-10 at Laramie and December 16-17 at Pinedale.
Masters have plenty of opportunities as well in December, with the Targhee Tuneup December 3, JHSC Masters Clinics on Thursdays beginning December 15, and the Betty Woolsey Classic Race at Trail Creek on December 26.
In short, there is no lack of opportunities to ski or spectate in the busy month ahead, so keep those skis waxed and keep on skiing! Click here or on the image below to go to the full calendar, complete with clickable links.
Thanks so much to the skiers and sponsors who make this all possible, with an extra special thanks to our season pass holders!
Thanks to our amazing JHSC coaching staff!
Kirsys Campbell, George Cartwright, Andy Cavallaro, Jon Filardo, Rody Hagen, Libby Hall, Lauri Harris, Lauren Hugo, Lizzie Johnson, Ann Makley, Amelia Mayer, Bill Mayer, Ben Morley, Rob Murphy, Kathy Neiley, Mark Newcomb, Dennis Oney, Connor Phillips, Johnny Springer, Luna Wasson, Will Wicherski, Calvin Wight, Matt Wiseman , and Tyra (JT) Wynn (plus any others that aren’t on the list).
Thank you to the multitude of youth athletes, for whom this program is designed and would be impossible without their dedication and support!
A special thanks to Jackson Hole Nordic for being a strong supporter of our programs.
