Duluth East High School Nordic Ski Team

Hello Skiers and Parents,
I hope you are all staying warm and staying active, skiing when possible.

In my 25+ years of coaching High School Nordic Skiing, I have never cancelled practice for as many days as I have this season. Without having the Chalet for skiers to go into to warm up or to wait for their rides, I don’t think it’s safe to have our big team meet for practice. The likelihood of having someone get cold or frostbit is too great.

Unfortunately, this cold snap is going to include Monday, February 15th so… No practice Monday, February 15th. We will see you at the skate race at Pine Valley Ski Area in Cloquet on Tuesday. Make sure you are dressed appropriately for the cold weather. You must wear a hat – no headbands. Be sure to include warm clothes to put on after the race.

Make sure you have your Travel Release form at the Cloquet Race. It must be given to me, Bonnie, before you can start the race. Parents must drive the skiers to the race. It is a District 709 rule that no students can drive to a race outside of Duluth.

As we look toward to the end of our ski season, I am very happy to say that we will have a Section Race at Giants Ridge on Wednesday, March 3rd and a State Meet at Giants Ridge on Friday, March 12th. (This can change but I’m hopeful it won’t.

The format will be different than in past years. The boys will have a 30 second individual start classic race that will be followed about 45 minutes after the last finisher with an individual start skate race. This will be repeated later in the day for the girls. Each race will be about 3.5 to 4.0 km in length. The winner will be the person with the fastest combined time. According to the information I have now, the 1st place team and 4 individual skiers at Sections will qualify for the State Meet.

The race we host on Tuesday, February 23rd will follow this format. Due to the new format and shorter races, we will need every skier who wants to be considered for the East Section Team to ski in our race.

I strongly believe that both our boys and girls teams have a good chance to win the Section 7 race and go to State. But it is certainly not a given that our teams will win. I know that the Cloquet boys are working hard to beat us.

I understand that the timing of races this season is not what everyone expected. The Kortie/Birkie is not placed well for participation in that race and then skiing up to one’s potential at the Section Meet. I hope that all East skiers who want to be considered for the Section Team will put their team and teammates first and forgo skiing the Kortie/Birkie.

So, to be very clear, If you want to be considered for the Section Team:
1. You must ski in our race at Snowflake on Tuesday, February 23rd.
2. You must not ski in the Kortie/Birkie race.

I look forward to fun skiing and great races in the last part of our ski season,

Bonnie