 |  | | The Mat-Su Ski Club wishes you and your families a joyful and snow-filled holiday season! |
| 2020 has been a challenging year but we hope you take some time to reflect upon all of the good that exists in the world and find the good in every day. We hope that your stockings are filled with kick wax, glide wax, scrapers, gloves, and hats. We hope that if you wish for new skis they will be under the tree. Most of all, we hope that you and your family are healthy and strong. |
We are wishing for a snow-filled winter with mild (but always below freezing!) temperatures, wonderful groomed trails with lots of corduroy and deep-set classic tracks! Get outside with the family and enjoy this beautiful place we live in, and please share photos with us; we love hearing from you!
From all of us, to all of you, Happy Holidays! |
| | Icicle Double Dec 26 and 27 |  | | Save money! Early registration ends December 15th. |
| Thanks to our 2020 Icicle Double Sponsors |
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| | | The Icicle Double is is an annual two-day event held since 2013 on the weekend after Christmas. It is the Mat-Su Ski Club’s premier race of the season.
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| This is a family fun AND competitive race ski event. |
| Saturday Classic, Sunday Skate. 5k-15k-30k distances to choose from. |
| You can choose any combination: both days or one day, and short or long distances. |
| Early registration ends December 15. Register early for both days or one day for $50 (basically you get the second day free). |
| Late registration ends December 25. Register late for both days for $75 or one day for $60. Day of race registration is $75 per day. |
| Bib pickup and same day registration 9:30 - 10:30 am at the GPRA Chalet. |
| 30k starts at 11:00 with waves every 5 minutes. 15k starts at 12:00 with waves every 5 minutes. 5k starts at 12:15 with wave starts every 5 minutes. |
| As always, any skier who completes 60k of skiing will receive the coveted 2020 Icicle Double Pint Glass! |
|  |  | | | Palmer High School Nordic Ski Booster Club and the Mat-Su Ski Club would like to say Thank You to all who participated in our first annual Turkey Trax Race! We had 67 people race! We look forward to an even better year next year with choices in distance, course, and technique. Mark your calendars to opt-outside again next year! |
|  | | Mat-Su Ski Club'sNorthern Lights Community Race Series | Starting in January of 2021, the Mat-Su Ski Club plans to hold the first of 3 races for the Northern Lights Race Series.. This is the second season of our Northern Lights Community Race Series 2.0. The Series offers racers and casual skiers an opportunity to race in a casual atmosphere at GPRA.
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The Club is currently looking for a Race Director who is motivated to promote and run the series. Training will be provided by the Club. This is a paid position with an hourly rate plus a percentage of the race series earnings. To learn more,
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| | Moonlight Ski Tour Tuesday Dec 29. | | Come join us on the very beginner friendly old-school trails in the Matanuska Moose Range for a Moonlight Ski Tour! |
Meet at 6:30 pm at the Sun Valley Drive trailhead. Use this map to find the trailhead, or put in on your phone https://matsuski.org/moose-range-trail-map/
Our tour will take us out onto the "swamp" where there is a big wide view of the sky and the moonlit Talkeetna's.
Don't trust the clouds - bring a headlamp.More info or questions? Ask here info@matsuski.org
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Go to Turners Corner yellow store/gas station.
Turn right out of Turners parking lot onto the Palmer Fishhook.
Almost immediately turn left onto Sun Valley Dr. |
| Continue on Sun Valley around bend, then continue on Sun Valley past the Wendt Rd. intersection. Continue on Sun Valley about a quarter mile, until you see your tour leader waiting on the side of the road. |
| Please do not park across from or right next to driveways, and everyone should park on the same side of the road, leaving room for traffic. |
| GPS address of the trailhead is approximately 9300 Sun Valley Dr. Palmer AK |
| | Adult Nordic Ski Lessons | | January 5 through March 21, 2021. |
| We are offering lessons for beginner and intermediate level skiers in both classical (kick and glide) and skate skiing technique. Lessons will be at GPRA (or an alternate venue if weather necessitates). |
Or look for Adult Ski Lessons under Programs on the menu at our website to sign up.
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Although Daryl Farrens, our long-time adult ski coach will not be teaching this season, we have a crop of experienced coaches to lead the classes. We give a huge thanks to Daryl for years of great teaching and for helping so many people improve their Nordic skiing technique.
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| Here’s our weekly schedule for adult ski lessons: |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Skate and Classic alternate weekly |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | Skate and Classic alternate weekly |
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| Folks who are new to skiing can participate in our live, interactive on-line virtual Skiing 101 class. On Tuesday, December 15th at 6:30pm. It’s free. Here is the link to the Google Meet for the class. Attend the class to learn about equipment, clothing, and tips to get started right when you hit the trails. Contact info@matsuski.org for more instructions on how to attend Skiing 101. The online session will be followed by an on-snow first-timers clinic (date TBD). |
| | Phone Navigation on the trails | | Mat-Su Ski Club maps of Gov’t Peak and the Moose Range are available for free as geo-aware pdf’s. This means you can load them into an app like Avenza or Gaia* on your phone and use them like the GPS in your car, to see where you are on the trail (or off the trail). |
| *(It is easy and free to use Avenza with geoPDF’s, however, Gaia makes it tricky and not free to load geopdf’s from the wild.) |
| | Junior Nordics Coming Around the Bend | A new season of Mat-Su Junior Nordics will begin in January! Unlike years past, Junior Nordics Orientation for all skiers will not meet in the chalet, but instead will be meeting outside, between the chalet and the stadium, in order to give ourselves plenty of space. Bundle up! Please come during your session's scheduled time:
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- January 4th at 1:00 PM (Monday/Wednesday afternoon skiers)
- January 4th at 5:30 PM (Monday/Wednesday evening skiers)
- January 5th at 5:30 PM (Tuesday/Thursday evening skiers)
Attendees can expect to learn (or re-learn) how to wax, what layers to wear while skiing, and where groups will meet throughout the season.
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Thanks, and a huge shoutout to all the coaches and other volunteers who are ready to teach young skiers new skills!
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We still need more volunteers, especially for Tuesday and Thursday evenings. It is usually a lot of fun, and no coaching experience is necessary. Training will be provided. If you have questions or would like to volunteer during our Junior Nordics ski season, please email info@matsuski.org.
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| | Archangel Groomers Rejoice! | | Our 10-year old Archangel Road grooming Skidoo is retired now, after over 5000 miles of service, and far too many breakdowns last winter. We did careful research of available over-snow technology for replacing the old snowmobile. |
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| | | Although some of the options were tempting, we decided to buy a new Skidoo Skandic Super Wide Track. Thanks to Ed Strabel for disassembling the grooming modifications from the old broke down sled, and then putting it all together again on the old sled when delivery of the new machine was late but the snow was not, and then taking it off the old sled again before finally installing it on the new machine when it arrived a week into the winter, phew! |
| Here is a picture of the new wide ride. We like to call it Tracky McTrackface. What do you think? |
|  | | And many thanks to REI for a grant for $5,500 which helped pay for the new machine! |
|  | | Loaner Ski Chariots | | Mat-Su Ski Club loans out single and double ski chariots for towing kids around the ski trails. Chariots are available for two weeks with the option of renewing, and are available to the public for FREE! For more info, click here! |
| | | | Donors | | Thanks to these Club members for their donations this winter. And thanks to our Giving Tuesday donors (whom we can't list here because we forgot to ask if it would be OK.) |
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| Lyle & Kristen Stohler
Ramirez Chiropractic |
Gagnon Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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Kailyn McGrath & Andy Dennis
David and Laura Grabowski |
Georganna Baker
Brad Larsen
Art Copoulos
Stannard Family
Gary Snyder and Heather Ireland
Baldwin Family
Jinny Cooper |
| Hoop N Hula Milk N Cookies |
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Lyle & Kristen Stohler
Ramirez Chiropractic |
Gagnon Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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Kailyn McGrath & Andy Dennis
David and Laura Grabowski |
Georganna Baker
Brad Larsen
Art Copoulos
Stannard Family
Gary Snyder and Heather Ireland
Baldwin Family
Jinny Cooper |
| Hoop N Hula Milk N Cookies |
Ann Marie Larquier
Anna Dalton
Stephanie Rice
Lisa Boyles
Sean Barry
Noah & Nathan Rehberg
Rachel Gernat
The Lesemans
Nick Treinen
Paul Stone
Buck Family
Linda Lazzell
Pannkuk-Cochran Family
Jim and Carol Anne Wolfe
Stark Family
Scott & Michele Sims
Jakab Family
Josh Niva
Doug Hill
Darin Markwardt
Matsy Yahoo
Ecaterina Alexandruis |
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| | | Limited edition trail pins |  | | A quarter of our supply of this season's trail pins are sold, with a little over a hundred left for sale. If you already bought one, you can pick it up at Backcountry Bike and Ski, in downtown Palmer. Or at most Mat-Su Ski Club events. Get yours here. |
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