It is time to sign up for the final JOQ of the season!

What you need to know:

• Sign up deadline- Sunday, Februay 14th.   Bring your check for $175 made out to Bend Nordic Team to the office on or before the 14th.
• Print and sign liability release from this link and bring to the office with your check.
• Have your classic skis cleaned (tops, sides and bases).  Please remark your zones with a sharpie!  Please travel wax your classic skis.
• Meet at the office at 8:30 am on Friday, February 19th.
• Leave your skate skis unwaxed- you will be previewing the course on Friday afternoon.
• Lodging information:  Spokane Travelodge 509-623-9727
• Coach contact:  Brenna 541-678-3865

We are really excited to invite all BNT J3s-OJs on this trip,  it will be a blast!  As always, baked goodies and snacks appreciated.

Racers from across the Pacific Northwest skated through a fresh snowstorm on the first day of the Sunnyside Junior Olympic Qualifier and enjoyed fast tracks and clear skies for the Classic race.  Click here for photos and results are posted here. It was great to see all of the teams from PNSA! Highlights included a Bend Nordic sweep of the boy’s J2 podium in both the skate and classic races: Nick St. Clair, Ryan St. Clair and Kelly Smallwood. Pat Madden, Reitler Hodgert, Bella Smith and Eloise Zimbelman (Whitman) won their respective age categories in the skate event and Bend Nordic J1/OJ boys swept the classic podium with Pat Madden #1, Reitler Hodgert #2 and Brandon Roadman #3. Chase Ricker placed 3rd for the J3 boys in the classic portion of the PNSA J3 Championships. Meanwhile, Joe Madden had a great showing at the Boulder Mountain Tour in Ketchum, Idaho- placing 56th out of 700 racers. Great weekend team!

Photo #1 BNT skier Pat Madden racing with BNT/U of Utah skier (and Pat’s cousin) Tom Smith.

Photo #2 Reitler Hodgert cresting out on “Hermod’s” with Brando in tow.

Photo #3 Pat putting the hammer down.

460 competitors from 10 states competed this weekend at the Western Regional Super Junior Olympic Qualifier on the 2002 Olympic trails in Solder Hollow, Utah.  The best juniors in the country, with the sole exclusion of the East, Midwest and Alaska, competed in a skate sprint on Friday and a mass start classic distance race on Saturday.

7 skiers from the Bend Nordic Team competed in both events.  In the sprint, Darragh Hildreth qualified in 30^th place for the J1/OJ women and moved on to race in the quarterfinals.  Brandon Roadman, Reitler Hodgert, Danny Coil, and Pat Madden all qualified in the top 30 for the J1/OJ men, with Reitler finishing 9^th on the day, and Pat Madden finishing on the podium in third place after blazing fast A-final.  In her 10k classic race, Darragh finished 9^th OJ after racing the first 5k in the top group of junior women who were setting the pace.  Pat Madden had another stellar day, finishing 3^rd OJ for the second day in a row in the J1/OJ 15k race.  Brandon Roadman and Reitler Hodgert also had strong days, finishing 5^th OJ and 15^th J1 respectively.

Conditions were perfect both days with lows in the single digits overnight and days warming to the mid-30s with clear skies and perfect snow.  The skis were fast both days and kicked great on Saturday.  Said first timer to Soldier Hollow Mikey Widmer: “I’d always heard how hard this course was, but I didn’t expect it to be that hard.  Definitely the hardest race of my life.”  Colin Dunlap, also a first time SoHo competitor added:  ”I am so glad I traveled to this race, it is clear to me now how fast the fastest junior skiers are-  I have a lot of work to do!”

A very big thank you goes out to first time wax tech Dakota Blackhorse von Jess. He worked very hard insuring that everything was perfect before during and after the race.  We were all inspired by his professionalism.