FEBRUARY 9 - SKI O at Hammond Hi

Plenty of snow everywhere! Some trails skied in, some with snowshoe tracks and a few unbroken.

A revision of the use of the permanent course and a change back to regular controls and punches has been required partially because of last summer's wind storm - new input from the Park Manager. Our intrepid meet director and course designer, Ted Meskunas, will set the controls tomorrow morning. (ps. You won't need the pencils!)

Start window is 11 am. to 1 pm. There will be a White course and an Orange course - mainly to accommodate those needing to qualify and who have pre registered.

NOTE: If anyone has already completed one Ski-O in their ESG class and needs a second meet in order to qualify, you may do so by coming and entering any course we have set. I believe this is how the rules read.

Point au Roche has received 3-4 inches of new snow today over a thin base of ice. We are expecting another 3-4 inches tonight and tomorrow. Some rec skiers have been out this afternoon. Trails in the open are OK and trails in the woods are passable - downhills will scrape down quickly. Overall, it looks promising. No grooming or track setting at all.

IMPORTANT NOTE: as previously posted, pre registration IS REQUIRED. The prior deadline was tonight but it is extended until NOON Thursday morning (2/7/08). Because this is last minute, and courses have to be adjusted to prevailing conditions, we need to know who is coming in order to qualify and in what class. At a minimum, we are planning to put out only courses necessary for those competitors - maybe more but not guaranteed.

There will be a final go/no go announcement tomorrow evening and a possible update on Friday.

FEBRUARY 10 - DECISION ON SKI O AT NORDIC CENTER, VIRGIL WILL BE POSTED TOMORROW EVE.

SHOULD ALL ELSE FAIL GET YOUR PETITIONS AND "INTENT TO SKI O @ ESGs" IN TO ME BY 2/9 even if you were able to get in ONE qualifier.

The Eastern Region Ski Orienteering weekend, February 15-17, is less than two weeks away. There'll be three ski-o events in 2-1/2 days- Weston Ski Track(a night-ski-o!) on Friday, Gunstock Nordic on Saturday, and Windblown XC on Sunday- a perfect warm-up weekend for the Empire State Games and the Canadian Championships.

Discounted early registration is still open but entries must be post-marked by Saturday, February 9th.