Whaleback Nordic Ski Trail

Ski Trail Etiquette

2012-01-15T17:33:00.000-08:00

I thought this would be an interesting post from Graham regarding skier etiquette. Every word of it is true, and if you don't follow this Etiquette you could find yerself haved up in the woods by some fly by skier.

Skier Etiquette

Our trails can get very busy ... especially on the weekends ... so there are a few rules of etiquette we should try to abide by:

- if you stop on the trail please step to the side so that you are not obstructing the flow of skiers blockng the flow of traffic ...
- if you're a fast skier, always ski in control and make sure you give lots of clearance when passing a fellow skier.
- to create a friendly atmosphere on the trails extend a greeting to your fellow skier .... we're all members of the same club
- experienced skiers should always have a eye out for skiers who get astray on the trails ... if so take time to get them back on course
GO

SKI WAXING

2012-01-15T17:32:00.001-08:00

Help Raise $$$ For Whaleback and Get Your Skis Waxed Too!!! Enter Brian Dunphy

Just check this out ... 'course you all know Brian Dunphy .... he's the best ski waxer this side of Harbour Deep and he's wicked fast ... one day I thought I was blasting down the trail for all I was worth .. legs and arms going like a dogfight and the first thing ya know ... zoooooooooooom ..... Brian glided right past without even striding, or poling. What wax!
He's amazing! I saw Jack White going up last week to ask him for the wax of the day! Not true ... Lies!!

So here's the deal ... Brian Dunphy will wax your skis to perfection ... and you pay $10. at the desk at the chalet and the money will go to the ski club as a fundraiser. If you want to donate more than $10. that's fine too. So help yourself, make yourself go faster down the trail, protect your ski bases, HELP YOUR CLUB, put brian to work and raise funds for Whaleback.

Here's the drill
- pay the attendant at the chalet for your waxing job and you will be issued a receipt
- make sure that you tape your skis together (or clip them) and put your name on them
- place the skis behind the attendant's desk in the chalet for pick up that evening
- Brian will have your skis back the next day all waxed and ready for the trail
- Brian will do this for one week only ... from January 18 and January 25th!!

Let's make sure that Brian's evenings are busy between January 18th and the 25th

SNOWY OWL

2012-01-13T05:59:00.000-08:00

Well, I thought I lost my way when I came upon the Snowy Owl last Sunday....taught I was in another ski world....but someone said..."no, das just da boys, day cut a new trail"...I didn't take the Snowy Owl but someone said that it goes right up to the OT. tanks bys Jill
Here is a note from GO about the Snowy Owl and a couple of pics to show how hard da bys worked on it.
"A big thanks to the crowd of Whaleback elders who helped cut the new piece of trail on the Snowy Owl. It's DONE! This photo was taken on Thursday at the end the last cutting session. It is worthy to note that Chief Don Cormier won first prize for his delicious apricot cake which is shared with his starvin' buddies. We urge Linda to continue to stuff Don's lunch tin with big chunks of goodies. A big thank you to Howard Skinner as well who worked all by his lonesome on Friday and went in and skinned out the base of Yellow Birch Hill; and harvested the wood to boot! GO

GET OUT AND SKI

2012-01-08T05:06:00.000-08:00

What a day on the trails! Great day for both classic and skating skiers! And so early in the season! No wind! Moderate temperatures and infectious smiles as wide as Bay St. George ... now that's not say that skiers have big mouths, but it's a figurative descrition of how people look when they step outside to have fun in a winter playground. There were so many skiers on the Foxtrot today that we could have used a traffic cop. Three or for times I tried to hail Wayne Reilly to see if he'd help give directions at intersections, but he flew by me like an arrow out Robin Hood's bow ... swisssssh and he was gone! Couldn't stop him!

We had two instructional lessons today, one in the morning and one in the afternoon and both were well attended. Very quick learners and hopefully they will continue to come back for night skiing and on the weekend. Lessons are always fun as you get a chance to "get out and meet the people", a saying that my dear old Dad always told me. "Don't stay in the house ... get out and meet some new people!" Which brings me to the point, how many of you have friends who sat home today watching out the window hoping that it would snow so they could use their snow blower ... or maybe you have friends who shuffled back and forth to their favourite local coffee shop where they sat in doors and told the same old story that they told last week and everyone laughed at the same time ..... Hmmm methinks such a life is lessssss than interesting. Perhaps you could bring them along and help them along for a healthy heart workout and they'll mee tnew people to boot. I met 18 new friends today on the trail and you could and you're non-skier friends could toooooooo! Here are a few tricks for meeting people on the trail:

1. Even if you know the trails like the back of your hand, stop someone you don't know and ask them how to get back to the chalet

2. Take off one ski on the side of the trail and pretend that you can't get your boot snapped into the binding

3. If you have a waxable skis, ask the first skier who comes along if they have extra wax (just don't ask a skater 'cause they don't know what you're talking about)

4. Another favorite of mine is to loudly state that you're having a low blood sugar moment and you're in need of something sweet... you would not believe the muffins, cakes, cookies and candies I've procured using this tried and true method.

Now those are little tips to use tomorrow and I can assure you that you too will meet 18 new people ..... next week I'll fill you in on techniques that I often use during happy hours to get a yaffle of free wings and a few frothing friends. Just kiddin' of course.

Pics I found

2011-03-18T13:10:00.001-07:00

The Loppet

2011-02-26T12:39:00.000-08:00

Well, the Loppet is tomorrow......you know, the Loppet!!!! Now what exactly does THAT mean....Loppet. It reminds me of Easter and bunnies and Lop-eared rabbits. But it has nothing to do with that. It is apparently, according to the website CCCski... this:
"The term “Loppet” originated in Scandinavia where you have such great events as the Mora Vasaloppet in Sweden and the Birke Beinerrennet in Norway.
In the Vasaloppet in Sweden, the skiers ski from Berga to Mora (90Km) to commemorate the same trail the king of Sweden (at the time it was Gustav Vasa….hence the name Vasaloppet) skied about 500 years ago. About 15000 people take part in the Vasaloppet and approximately 1.7 million people watch it on TV.
So you are wondering, “What is a Loppet”. It is a great gathering of skiers who ski on a specifically groomed trail either classic (diagonal stride) or free (skating technique) of various distances. Enormous amounts of food and drink are consumed during the event. After there’s a party and celebratory banquet with awards and prizes and usually a time (dance).
The Loppet means different things to participants. For some it’s intense competition, for others it’s a relaxing way to spend a day outside, taking in the pristine beauty of the country side or wilderness, and enjoying the home grown entertainment and great food and drink at the rest stops along the trail.
In Canada, there are some great Loppets like the Canadian Birkebeiner in Alberta; the Keskinada Loppet in Gatineau Quebec; the Mont-Ste-Anne Loppet in Quebec; the Don Allen Saskaloppet in LaRonge Saskatchewan; and the Great Labrador Loppet in Newfoundland and Labrador to name a few. In the USA, you can ski the famous American Birkebiener in Wisconsin; the Minnesota Finlandia in Bemidji, Minnesota; Great Glen to Bretton Woods Adventures, in New York ; or the Royal Gorge’s California Gold Rush, Soda Springs, California.

Loppets in Newfoundland and Labrador are becoming more popular each year. Some events that are of a Loppet nature are the Snowy Owl Classic, Stephenville; the Newfoundland Marathon (various locations); the Big Land Loppet in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador; the Newworld Island Challenge, Summerford; the Butterpot Open, Avalon Nordic, St. John’s; The Don’t Hang Up Your Skis at Mount St. Margaret, the Northern Peninsula; the PAL Great Labrador Loppet at the Menihek Nordic Ski Club in Labrador City and Blow Me Down Loppet, Corner Brook."

So there you have it...the LOPPET....ours is being held on Sunday, Feb 27th at Whaleback Nordic Ski club....come one, come all, come for fun, have a ball.........hey, I should have entered in the slogan contest for Winter Carnival.
Mandogrl
.

To Sculpture or Not to Sculpture?

2011-02-26T12:31:00.000-08:00

I had to include this in the Blogosphere, I thought it was really cute.
and once again.....in the words of GOTo Sculpture or Not to Sculpture?

Frank Gust-of-Wind asked me if Whaleback was building a sculpture for the carnival ... at first I said no .. then I said well maybe .. then I phoned Faron ... and while Faron said he'd take it on, I later felt it was unfair to have Faron shoulder the load. Poor Faron wants to ski the loppet so he does not want to break his back all by himself building a sculpture and of course Faron always thinks BIG ... like building a dragon or a whale ... If you have have ever seen Faron at work you know what I mean. But we can't put the pressure on Faron to deliver and my plate is FULL for the next week 'cause Howard is right on my heels in the BIG BREAD BAKEOFF contest. But if anyone wants to take on the initiave and start carving then go right ahead ... it would be wonderful to have a snow sculpture up for the marathon event if we didn't make the judging deadline for the carnival .. the judging for carnival is on Monday. Any takers to help Faron? The BR250 is at your disposal to move snow ... if someone says they'll take it on, I'll send out an email to rally the troops ...we will however have to cut the Sculpture roster off at 111. Otherwise we'll be tripping over one another."

Any Breadmakers Out there Gathering Dust?

2011-02-26T11:43:00.000-08:00

Sorry if some of these posts are old news but I was preoccupied the first couple of weeks in Feb.....so I'm trying to catch up on all the news and gossip. Even though some of the news is old....some of these stories are soooooo funny. I really think that GO should take all of these anecdotes and write a book.
In the words of GO on Feb 9th
"Now there's nothing worse than a perfectly good breadmaker sitting out there in a lonesome corner of the storage room gathering dust. It's utter abuse to incarcerate such a wonderful machine in such an ignoble place. So what am I up to? Whaleback is looking for a bread maker ... not one of those that got cast away and is incapable of producing a fair loaf. No ... we want one that works and can deliver a flavourful loaf. We're even willing to buy it if the price is right. Here's the plan ... if the club is able to pick one up, we can mix up a batch On Friday and Saturday night ... then hit start at 8:30 the next morning and by noon time everyone coming it the chalet will be running up to the counter screaming for soup and a piece of fresh bread. So if you have one that you want to unload, or sell, drop me a note and we'll make a deal. Maybe you have one that you don't use and you wouldn't mind lending it to the club for a trial run ... That'll work too. Just drop me a note! I can see it now .. "Whaleback Nordic Bakery ... first stop on the Cold Brook Road!"

Cadets Chip in With Sterling Performance

2011-02-26T11:31:00.000-08:00

Cadets Chip in With Sterling Performance
(Feb 6th, 7th)
The 708 Air Cadets (Stephenville) competed in the Provinical Biathlon Championships this past weekend posting the following results: Individual race (Jr. Girls) Hannah Stokes placed 1st, Rita Jane St. Croix placed 2nd, (Sr. Girls) Sabrina Muise placed 1st and Jessie Byrne placed 3rd in the (Jr. Boys) event. In the team relay event the 708 female team consisting of Hannah Stokes, Sabrina Muise and Rita Jane St. Croix placed 1st. The girl's overall results of the two day competition has earned them the right to represent the province at the nationals in Quebec next month. GOOD LUCK!!!!!

Trail Etiquette

2011-02-26T11:22:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't know there is something called: "trail etiquette" ... Apparently there is such a thing...I will include a link below.....in the words of GO....."hmmm how do we treat this ... okay here goes ... if you are having difficulty with climbing a hill, and must take off your skis to ascend the hill, then try to stay off to one side of the rail and out of the skating and classic track. Simialrly, if you are snowshoeing and you notcie that your snowshoes are digging into the trail base then move over to the side ... there's room for us all. And don't forget to say hi to people. It will brighten your day."
I thought that was put very well. Some people, may just not know this stuff.
http://www.ehow.com/how_6061_practice-cross-country.html

How a Big Man Like Ralph Payne Was Brought to His Knees by a Wee Shrew

2011-02-26T11:00:00.000-08:00

In the words of GO on Feb 20th, 2011:
"Everyone knows Ralph Payne to be a man of might ... this guy can bench press our new 800 lbs Scandic before he has a piece of poppy seed bread. No doubt he's strong, but according to Diane Hanratty, the man can be brought to his knees by a wee shrew. On Saturday, Ralph and Jim cleaned out all the shrews that had taken up residence in the trail lights on the Foxtrot and Ralph has been beside himself ever since. In fact, the man didn't get a wink of sleep the night before. Judy said he tossed and turned all night and three or four times he sat straight up like a poker in bed and screeched ... "He's crawlin' up my leg!" Fortunately Judy, the good nurse, calmed him down and got him back to ... No!..... Not to sleep! ... But back into a state of mild agitation! That's the best she could do. Finally, Ralph could take it no more and just after daylight he jumped up and yelled out to Judy: "Do we have a mop!!! Judy I want to know!!! DO WE HAVE A MOP!!!! Once again Judy was stunned by his state of alarm and vexation. But she calmly replied, "Pray tell honey, but why do you need a mop at 6:00 a.m.?" "I need one to clean out the shrew's nest!!!!" said Ralph."

"Fast forward to a little later in the day. Ralph arrives at the chalet with mop in hand ... yes a grey yacht map ... apparently already to do business with the shrews. I thought he had come to do the floors, but then he jumped aboard the skidoo with Jim Chassion and headed off to make the assault on the little critters atop the light poles ..... before they left, I could see that Ralph looked .... welll ... He looked pitiful ... eyes were darting left and right ... and he just wasn't himself. Of course, I knew nothing of the restless sleep Mr. Payne had endured ... a night of terror during which he envisioned shrews tearing his muscular body apart sinew by sinew. No I was privvy to none of that until today when Judy enlightened us at the chalet."

"Fast forward to the scene of the assault .... Diane Hanratty arrives on the scene with camera in hand and here was the every-ready Jim Chaisson up the pole disconnecting the light fixture and lowering it down to Mr. Shrew Evictor Extraordinaire. Diane said it was quite the operation .. Here was Ralph standing off in the distance like a fencer ... jabbing the mop at the fixture trying to dislodge the tenants who were snuggled in ever so nicely .... And when they would come out of their nest Ralph would scurry across the trail in the opposite direction ... Poor Jim taking all this in from above, almost fell off the pole! This story has been embellished, but it is 43% accurate and has been stitched together from reliable hearsay ... but as far as I'm concerned it can all be summed up by saying: Thanks Jim and Ralph for working on your days off to mantanin the lights for our night skiers .... Light and Power are shrew(d) operators and always there for us. Thanks on behalf of the members especially our noctoral brothers and sisters. Hmmmm ... Ralph ... how are you with bats? ... cause we .... ooops better not go any further."

Graham's Poppy Seed Bread In Big Demand- Dunphy and Mac Innes Go at It in the Kitchen! ... Fowlow Expected to Give out Suspensions

2011-02-26T10:52:00.000-08:00

In the words of GO
"Can you believe it! I was just offered a 4 figure deal to sign on with Danny's bakery. Apparently buddy at Danny's heard about my Poppy seed bread and he wants it! Yes ... he's offered me this deal I can't refuse, but guess what! I refused it ... I'd rather bake for Whaleback for nothing than be stuck indoors at Danny's all day. Sure ya can throw in a batch at the chalet and then go for a ski. Danny would be out of busiess if he let his bakers go for a ski! Since the bread started coming out of the oven at Whaleback, soup and chili has been flying out of the crock pot at an alarming rate. In fact, a fight occurred at the counter the other day ... honest ... apparently Brian Dunphy had spoken for the heel of the loaf and big, tall Ed Mac Innis from the Highlands said it was his 'cause he was closest to the counter. The next think ya know they were at it ... fortunately Don Cormier saw the comotion and heaved the two of 'em out in the snow bank. Ed is about 6'4" and Brian ... well he's not much taller than a jackrabbits skating skis ... but his shorter length proved to be a bonus 'cause Ed's big round house haymakers were about a foot over his head, so none of them struck home and no damage was done. Brian gave Ed a good shot in the knee though and Ed wasn't too happy with the low blow. Fortunately, I had another loaf close by which I passed on to Ed who ran off with it to his car ... he reminded me of my old dog Gandalf when he got a bone ... Brian on the other hand went back into the chalet and claimed the heel, so after the molasses was spread he too was pleased."
PS
"President Fowlow just rang me up and said he has brought down a ruling on the Poppy Seed Bread case ... Brian Dunphy is to be confined to Braveheart for one, but will be allowed in the loppet ... meanwhile Ed, who is a visitor to our club may only tour the Bunny Hop ... civility is expected from both. Dunphy who is a crafty lawyer is expected to appeal. Meanwhile Ed Mac Innis said, he doesn't care 'cause he's got the Poppy seed recipe and he'll make his own bread from now on."

Gatineau Loppet

2011-02-26T10:41:00.000-08:00

Anne Marie Bourgeois was on top of her game today in the hills of Gatineau Que. Just a few hours ago she got off the 51 km course and is probably now taking a well deserved nap. The Gatineau is a prestigious World Cup Loppet event that gathers participants from all over the world. A number of Whaklebackers have participated in it in the past, but Anne Marie carried the Whaleback flag proudly today finishing with an illustrious time. Just check out her note below ... to be fair I edited it slightly 'cause Anne Marie sometimes gets excited and I therefore scaled it down to the bare bones. Yippeee for Anne Marie ... I remember when she was a little jackrabbit racing around at WB. Those were the days ... oh how quickly they race by. But I digress! Thanks Kathy and Francis for forwarding the note.
Anne marie said: "Just finished the Loppet! It was sooooooooooooooooooooo beautiful! I finished the 51 km in 3 hours 23minutes." (feb 23rd, 2011)

SCOUT SKI

2011-02-21T07:49:00.001-08:00

Scouts SkiOn saturday, Jan 29th, the 2nd Stephenville scouts took to the trails, at Whaleback Nordic ski club to do some skiing and also to place the very first geocache on the trails. The day actually started with a presentation on the GPS. They then left the school to locate a geocache in the Stephenville. Led by Scouter Mike, Scouter Don and Scouter John they found the first cache and were very excited about the event. They continued on to the ski club where hot dogs and drinks awaited them for fuel on the next leg or their journey. Scouter Craig joined them on their journey.
They then hit the trails....some on classic and some skating. They headed for the Pentagon for a Mugup. There they had hot chocolate made ready on the Peak 1 stove, cookies, and some even roasted wieners over the stove inside the Pentagon. They headed out on the trails again to place their geocache and headed back to the chalet. It was a great day had by all. We are so lucky that we have this great ski club who welcomes this type of stuff with open arms.

Chicks on sticks

2011-02-17T06:14:00.000-08:00

I heard a rumor about this chicks on sticks thing...... I heard that there may be some men showing up in skirts just to try and get this deal and get with this lovely group of skiers. Good luck men......they will know who you are. They can sort the pretty ones from the...well...I don't know, I've seen some cute men in kilts before. But guys, it's cold up there, don't be following that example. Now you didn't hear it from me....here it is.....in quotes.....

" so here's the deal .., Whaleback will provide free rentals for our FIRST Ladies Ski, we will meet next Saturday

morning at 10 a.m at the chalet. All are welcome (and yes even Don Dunphy if he shows up in a skirt or dress!) and

you can ski classic or skate. We will determine a route and probably some will go further and faster than others. I

will give a quick lesson for newbies on classic skis and perhaps we can meet back at the chalet for tea, hot chocolate,

coffee or lunch if you want. The chalet sells all of these goodies at their canteen/kitchen or if you would like to bring along

a snack for yourself or to share with others feel free. Maybe from this meeting we can set up some other dates to get out

there. Spread the word, bring along a friend. See you then and there!"

mandogrl

Skiing at whaleback

2011-02-15T12:09:00.000-08:00

Just wanted you all to know that this blog will get hot over the next weeks ahead as I have finally remembered my password....amazing what happens when you have a lot of time on your hands and a new iPad in hand.....so I will attempt to scan through my emails to find some twisted tales.......Anchors away.....

ps. Very sad to sad I can't be a "chicks on sticks" girl for awhile. Hopefully spring sking will be great.

Of all things....lassie bread goes missin'

2010-02-15T16:27:00.000-08:00

This was too good not to post....now, try googling lassie bread and see what you come up with. I was tempted to just lassie a piece myself and take a pic but the homemade bread is short around here (no pun intended Graham)....That GO certainly has a way with words...here is no exception.

Dan Rumbolt Loses His Lassie Bread
     What an executive meeting we had at Don Cormier's last evening.   I'd say when word gets out about our five star executive meetings, we'll have to put the brakes on nominations at the AGM. I can see it now, "no more that 23 wishful souls may be nominated per executive position". Now it's wasn't Dougie's stimulating agenda that made the meeting so delicious last evening, it was Linda Cormier's tasty offering that won the palates of all in attendance.  Everyone stuffed themselves with fresh homemade bread and molasses and all the tea ya wanted to drink.  It's shockin' how good it was!
        Imagine ..... you drive out to Noel's Pond and walk in the door at Don's and the aroma of fresh bread hits ya right between the nostrils. And there sitting on the table is the culprit, hot fresh loaves with a thick brown crust just waiting to be gobbled. I almost didn't make it to the living room where the meeting was held.  Anne and Diane Hanratty had to push me out of the kitchen and Linda, with breadknife in hand, had to stand at guard between me and the loaves or I would have devoured them all. It was cruel how they treated me! Not one morsel could I have!
        Throughout the meeting no one could concentrate. Everyone was drooling ... it was so bad that Don had to pass out paper towels to dam the flow. Shockin' I tell you .... what a mess we were in ... we were just like "Pav'loaves'" dogs. And as the meeting neared the final slam of the gavel, it got worse 'cause Linda put on the kettle and that did it! The purr of the kettle made everyone realize that a lunch was imminent! Linda WAS going to offer everyone a slice of bread as soon as Dougie said "Meeting adjourned!" We were not disappointed.
        Now I must confess .... me being a Cape Bretoner, I thought I knew it all there was to know about eating bread and molasses but I was taught a tasty trick last evening.   According to Carter Powers, who is an authority on eating and manners, I was told that one is supposed to put the molasses on the bread first and then cover it with butter..... Well, well, well, what a delightful method for engorging oneself!  So ya saturate the bread with lassie and then slather an 1/8 inch (4 mm for the metrically inclined) of butter on top. Yes, what a feed we had! And all the muffins ya could eat toooooo.   Don't be talkin'!
        But alas, I do have one sin to confess ... Ya see Linda gave me a few slices of lassied bread for Dan Rumbolt ...'cause Dan sorta likes Linda's fresh buns (of bread) .... choice of words is everything ... so yes, Linda lassied up two fat slices for Dan and wrapped them up tightly and I shoved them in me pocket with all good intention of delivering the goods today ... But on the way home I got overcome with a virulent desire to consume the entire contents of my left pocket and was therefore forced to pull over by the cemetery and devour Linda's flavourfull offering.
        I deleted his (Dan's name) from this email list so don't tell him about his long gone treat or he'll be savage and he'll never offer me one of Betty's delicious banana muffins again.   Dan usually has a store of delicious muffins on our ski/kayak/bike tours!   Now schhussss!
        So .. make sure that you race out and get nominated at the next AGM and you too can have a "fresh slice of life" complete with molasses. Thanks Linda and Don ... what a feed! Roy Bungay and Howard Skinner ... ya missed out!   But now Howard ... Anne Marie has wicked date squares and don't you forget it on our next wood cutting party!
GO

SNOWY OWL SUCCESS

2010-02-09T16:14:00.000-08:00

The Snowy Owl went ahead this past Saturday and with great succes.Many people came out to show their support FUN, FITNESS AND FUNDRAISING FOR the HEART AND STROKE FOUNDATION at Whaleback Nordic.
This written by Graham before the Snowy Owl: Half of the registration fees will be donated to Heart and Stroke Foundation. The Snowy Owl is is very recreational in nature with a great emphasis on participation. You may ski any course you wish and you will be assigned to a team. Several traditional teams will rise from the old Snowy Owl File, but I don't have the file at within reach of the keyboard so you may have to wait for the details But wait now ... Jill Benoit use to lead the Stephenville crowd ... I can't rightly remember their name ....it was some weird name like "Slippery Eels" ... or "Stephenville Smelts" ... or "Stephenville and South Snoozers" ... I don't know, but I am sure I will be notified. Whatever the case, it's hardly worth it for Stephenville and South gang to bother coming out to the friendly competition, 'cause the Kippens and West Toutons (have to check my file to make sure name is correct) will strding to victory with the greatest of ease. In fact. It has been told to me that since Jill Benoit carried the Olympic Torch ... she has become the functioning Olympic Tourch Queen of Burgeo and is therefore required to make numerous appearances at town celebrations. So Jill might actually be booked for the weekend, and hence not available to lead the verbal charge. I heard she's in Grey River this coming weekend opening up a new coyote farm. If you are a fast skier ya might want to do the REAL Snowy Owl ... which requires you to speed around the Snowy Owl trail and you're time is recorded. No prizes for winning though. It's about participation ... not about your speed. So if you want a prize or a medal for participating you won't get one. There is a Snowy owl Cup for the winning team though ... yep ... and it's a nice one too. Team scores are accumulated by measuring the length of your skis ... so if you have a 200 cm ski then you record that 200 points for your team. So drag your friends along ... you don't have to be a member to ski in it ... support the Heart and Stroke Foundation and help us raise some funds to put fuel in the groomer. And also introduce some of your friends to cross country skiing. More later! When I can lay my hands on the Snowy owl file.

Graham Oliver.

IS it your Imagination Playing Tricks on you????

2010-02-09T15:37:00.000-08:00

Some where around Jan 30
The Trails have subtly Changed ... It is not Your Imagination

Several people have asked me if the Kamakazie and Herringbone Hill have changed ... Apparently they do not seem as steep to some skiers. Please rest assured that it is not your imagination running wild. They have been sculpted by an excavator to make them more user friendly for beginners. Talking about excavators, I have to ask forgiveness for the mess made at the 1.5 km mark on the trail. Totally my fault ... it was late in the evening when I was walking out in front of the excavator after completing Dorm's Turnpike and doing work at the intersection. The excavator "made tracks" so to speak. These should have been smoothed out, but they weren't. The foreman fell down in his job. Ya think Dorm over in DOHA would have looked after that! Shockin' how he's shirking his responsibilities. ..... Once we get enough snow we will try our best to eliminate the obstacles that humps of bog created by moving snow over them. Next fall these humps will be eliminated either by my pick and shovel, or a machine will do the job should I fail in my leveling quest. "Mea Culpa" (is that spelt right?... ya know what it is though ... it's Latin boy ... or is it Gaelic? No not Gaelic!

G.O.

More Signage Needed!!!!

2010-02-09T15:09:00.000-08:00

More Signage to Keep You on Track

For years I have been hearing stories about being confused on the trails. Jack White has hand carved and erected 60 or more signs and even with all this direction we have people still going astray on occassion. (yes, Graham and sometimes they are from Burgeo). So with Jack's help we are going to try and put up a few more signs to help the orientationally challenged. Tomorrow we hope to erect sign posts at Grand Central and at the intersection below the pentagon. The first signs to be erected will be "Oliver's Twist" ... no you fool, not because the name Oliver is on it; but because people can't find that loop. It's a relatively new trail so we need more signs so people can find it. We will also put up a few more Raven's Ridge signs because our maps have Raven's Ridge on them and the trails will then correspond with the maps. More signs with "distance to chalet" wil be put up at intersections so that skiers who are on their last bag of oats may choose the shortest route to the couch at the chalet. If you have any suggestion on signs please send them along. Master Jack White is the master carver, while assorted lollygaggers hanging around the chalet will assist by laying out of lettering.
by Graham Oliver

2010-02-09T15:06:00.000-08:00

Light and Power Light up Our World
Sometime around December 20th 2009.

Jim Chaisson and Ralph Payne certainly followed through on their promise to light up the night sky for the evening skiers. Now I was there to take photos and make sure they made no mistakes ... well not really ... I just happened by ... and lucky thing I did. Because Jim got up in the bucket to string the lines and got scared to death and wanted to come down. But Ralph wouldn't let him. Ralph pulled rank ... I tell ya, he was just like a short-legged crackie on a leash. He told Jim to stay up there until the job was done or he'd be working in a utility hole down back of Wal-Mart until Boxing Day. It was a shocking abuse of power because poor old Jim was shivering like a leaf 'cause he wanted down. I never thought Ralph was be like that and of course he wasn't because 75% of the aforesaid ain't true ... But the four new lights are ready to go and that's the truth. The members Jim and Ralph for giving up their Saturday and making a lot of behind the scene arrangements to better light up our trails. Some glad you let Jim down from that pole.
by Graham Oliar...I mean....Oliver

OFFICIAL LIKE NOW

2010-02-09T15:02:00.000-08:00

We Have Desks, Shelves and a Filing Cabinet

While the deal has not been totally finalized I think we have a filing cabinet thank's to Sean and Aldonna O'Keefe ... we also have a desk arranged for thanks to Stephen Penney who has been checking out a deal we can't refuse, and also Lori Deeley has a desk for us. I've actually been proposing that we rent office space at the chalet ... we could turn the whole place into a mini- mall ... lots of parking and a constant flow of peolple. Perfect for business. With all this office equipment we could set up offices and make a fortune and forget skiing. Maybe not .. on behalf of the members thanks to everyone for their generosity. Almost forgot ... thanks to Judy Gillis for coming up and dropping off several rolls of mactac for the insdie of the cupboards. Volunteers are coming out of everywhere to help out. They sure make it easy to get things done.
G.O.

MacTac

2010-02-09T15:00:00.000-08:00

Did We Ever Find this out?????

Who dropped off the mactac for the kitchen shelves at the ski chalet? Two rolls were hanging on the door knob when the seven dwarfs got back from the forest today .... maybe Ellen and Rona dropped them off ... they suggested that we get some ... who knows? Volunteers are breaking out of the woodwork all over the place as they buy into the Whaleback kibbutz.
G.O.

Woodpile Party????

2010-02-09T14:56:00.000-08:00

Today's Woodpile Party a Disaster .... Not Really
Sometime in December
Well not really ... we were doing fine until Earl got his trusty old saw stuck in a hunk of birch and then while extracting the bar, the chain subsequently broke and remained stuck in the log. Then Howard Skinner came running to the rescue with his mighty Stihl .... and upon burying his 20,000 rpm saw into Earl's slice of log, he tooooooooooo snapped off his chain as soon as it collided with Earl's leftovers. What were we to do? There we were (Glenn Kirby, Howard Skinner, Earl Hunt, Steve Penny, Wallace Moores, Carter Powers and your delinquent scribe) all perched on the Big Climb harvesting firewood and not one working chain saw. After a brief discussion it was decided that a retreat to the pentagon for tea was the only solution. What a chat we had at the pentagon! Sorry ..... no photos to bore you with today ... sorry to say our resident photographer was unfortunately absent.
Graham Oliver

Chalet's Gone Digital

2010-02-09T14:52:00.000-08:00

Sometime in December 2009
Who said we are behind the times at Whaleback? Thanks to Earl Hunt's latest installation, the chalet has now gone digital and with the state-of-the-art upgrade, we can reduce the temperature to 5C. Cool ah! What savings on oil! Hmmmm ... well maybe the chalet volunteers will just be more diligent tenders of the new stove. Well actually, we plan to set it at 10C. Don't worry, according the supply of dry birch in the new and improved wood room, the chalet will be toasty all winter.
GO
I have pics of this somewhere and hope I can insert them après!!!!

Whew!!! Finally!!!

2010-02-09T14:38:00.000-08:00

There was a hissin' and a buzzin' but finally I remembered that I did have a life before LSD, I mean WNLSD....and it was CDLI....what is it with all these acronyms?...I have so many I can't seem to RTA (Remember them all)...where do I start after all those months. Well, I have scanned through the 1000s of emails that Graham has sent...no make that more than thousands,,,,,hundreds (as my father says,,,jokingly of course) to try and make sense of what has been going on at the ski trails. And from what I can tell...it can be quick and painless and go something like this.....SNOW,,,no snow,,,,SNOW,,,,no snow...it has been a on again, off again kind of season. My grandfather used to always say..."on again, off again, home again Finnigan...now the story behind this I never knew so here it is.. (James Joyce the writer of the book called, "From Finnegan to Flanigan". The meaning is used in the book called Fahrenheit 451 on page 94 and it means that Mrs.Phellps was trying to explain her husband situation in the war and military.) I don't know,,,can someone concur with me on this. My grandfather was in the first world war and likely it's true.....probably something he heard in the war days.

Well, remember way back on December 5th when there was a hike arranged on the trails and it was kinda snotty weather....here is a pic (I hope you don't mind Mark and Mary).

WOODSTOVE FUND

2009-03-03T15:32:00.000-08:00

Woodstove Fund
Some people have already contributed to the new Woodstove and Goodness Fund ... catchy name eh! ... If you want to donate a few bucks like a $5er .. then give it to the attendant tand they'll put it in the envelop ...we're hoping to get some sponsorship on a new stove but the cost is about $1500. +/- A new stove will make Whaleback clean and green and will greatly reduce our trips to the wood shed.go

2009-03-03T15:22:00.000-08:00

Well, I must say, I am getting some slack on this blogging racket. Actually, we haven't had a storm day in so long and that WAS the only opportunity that I had to do a bit of blogging. Now, I figure I must get more done before the rain washes our ski season clean clip away. (not sure if I spelled that correctly, but it's something my father always said,,,,clean clip)....
So I was just browsing through my ebooks,,,,,I mean my email from Graham and decided to pick out some stories, comments, questions that would be great to keep in cyberspace for future reference. The first one I came upon was the BOOT story. Now I know we have all read the boot story....I'm sure it was even in the Globe and Mail and on LiveIreland radio just the other day......but you know what,,,,it's a keeper....so here it is again. I just wish I had a picture of those boots....

Alas ... I Must Replace My Boots! Maybe!

Tens of thousands of kilometres have passed under my Salomon skating boots since I first laced them up in 1987. My dear old ski boots have been the instruments that have delivered the power to my skis for more than twenty years. They've skied a multitude of events during those years from the "Around the Whaleback" marathons of the '80s, to the Gatineau 55 of the '90s, to the almost biannual provincial marathons hosted by Whaleback in recent years. They've supervised 12 years of Jackrabbit skating lessons; endured five 7-11 Marathon Ski Tours from Stephenville to Corner Brook and made enough circuitous routes of the Whaleback Nordic Ski Park to launch the average skier into a constant state of dizziness. To say that they are well-used would be understating the obvious.
Now many of my friends have looked at my old duct-taped boots and pleaded with me to buy a new pair. My wife being the most ardent subscriber of that plea has often said, "Graham, it's embarrassing to see you wearing those old things! I'm buying you a new pair for Christmas!" Others have looked at me and said, "How cheap are you anyway? You're boots are gone b'ye ... get a new pair!" No doubt, I have many character flaws, but cheap I'm not! Just ask my three daughters who are certainly well financially fortified as they weave their way through what seems to be an endless series of post graduate degrees. And I can assure you, that more than once I've dug deeply into my pocket and bought a round for my friends in need at a Friday evening happy hour. So no, I'm not cheap. I just love my boots!
There are many at Whaleback who are downright embarrassed to even ski with me claiming that they don't want to be associated with a homeless Whalebacker. Bert Young for one, heads in the opposite direction whenever I stop on the trail for a chat because he's afraid that I might ask him to ski a few laps with me. Don't get me wrong ... I have enough character to handle the rejection and buddy Dan Rumbolt has supported me every dilapidating kilometre along the way and has never once denied me the privilege of a tour of the trails because of my shoddy footwear. However on several occasions Dan did tell me that skiers seem to be whispering in our wake and they often point downward in the direction of my boots.
On Sunday Cycle Solutions set up a demonstration of the latest ski gear at the chalet and while lacing up my trusty old skaters I noticed a fancy new pair of Madshus skating boots perched on the display table. And oh ... were they attractive! Shiny and new, workable zippers, new age insulation and festooned with the latest colourful graphics. They were dandies in the true stylish sense of the word. And furthermore, they could be mine for a mere $400. plus tax. What more could a retro-skier like myself ask for? As I caressed the "new and improved" skaters, I could feel a sobbing coming from the "soul"of my feet, the sort of sobbing that a parent hears as they stand outside a child's bedroom when the child has been barred up for being naughty. My boots seemed to be pleading with me and saying, "Master, can I have just one more year to prove my worthiness?"
Immediately, I placed the "new and Improved" Madshus S5 677s back on the table and proceeded out the door to the ski rack and as I snapped into my bindings the mournful sobbing vibrations in my feet subsided. As I skated Herringbone Hill I started humming "Rise Again .... Rise Again", the lively lyrics from the Stan Rogers' tune "The Mary Ellen Carter". You know, the tune about the ship resting on the bottom and hoping that it will one day rise up to the surface and be given another chance to ply its native waters. Was it coincidental, or were the lyrics symbolic .... "Rise Again! Rise Again!" ... Ah what a sweet ski it was ... boots that fitted like an extremely well-worn glove .. well-ventilated but a little drafty at times .... damp when wet snow penetrated the porous side panels ... But oh so comfortable!
Cycle Solutions called today. "Graham, you know those boots you were looking at on Sunday? We have a pair in your size. When would you like to pick them up, or would you like me to send them out to you." said Pete, the Cycle Solutions man. " Well Pete, thanks for the call, but I've changed my mind .... my old boots are just fine for now .... maybe next year."
I just found a new roll of silver duct tape. and as Red Green would say, "the colour sort of matches the boots." GO

Snowy Owl Classic

2009-02-01T16:44:00.001-08:00

STEPHENVILLE SUPER SNOWY OWL SLIDERS TAKES SNOWY OWL CUP!!!!!

2009-02-01T16:26:00.000-08:00

"Now isn't this the picture of submission?" Really, thanks Graham for all your hard work and rallying people together to raise money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. This is an excellent fundraiser.....I think it drew people from everywhere.............WAY TO GO!!!!!!

I humbly submit to you ..... the noble winners of the Snowy Owl Cup!
Hurrah for Noah and Andrew and pops Don and Nan Linda graciously accepting
the cup from Doug Fowlow club prsident. Hiurrah fro the super Sliders led
by the noble suthcoasters from Burgeo and Mc Callam! Mc Callum! Mc
Donald's ... I don't where Bernice is from but somewhere east of Francois!

SNOWY OWL RUMBLE: PART 2

2009-02-01T16:22:00.000-08:00

So I wrote that Graham Oliver back and this is what I said (in case you missed the long winded email...that you probably deleted.....this is too good to delete and will be forever held in blogger history)

Jill Benoit Wrote To Me and Just Look How She Insulted The Toutons!!!!!!!!!
So Graham....I see that YOUR team is named after soggy, doughy, greasy, incomplete bread thingy majiggy.......how could you possibly compete with
the Stephenville Super Snowy Owl Sliders......who will be kickin and glidin into first place on Saturday.......waiting to spread our molasses on what's left of the toutons as they slither across the finish line........................................
By the way.........I think we should have a vote on the name "all Stephenville peoples" which there are many, such as The Whites, The Blundons, The MacDonalds, The Benoits, The Rumbolts, The Noonans, The Hoddinots, The St. Croix's......and the list goes on and on and on.......so rally, rally, rally.........................for the
STEPHENVILLE SUPER SNOWY OWL SLIDERS......................maybe we could get Bessie Jesso to name our team,,,,after all she did such an excellent
job for the Hoedown show and SHE'S on our team. Imagine what you can think of when you have so much time on your hands (i.e., snow day) hahaha

.....and Graham responded.......
I'm Mad as Heck And I'm Just Not Standing for It!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I take every nice word back that I've said about south coasters after I read that sprawl above. Imagine the gaul of that Jill Benoit. Sure I waas groomin' trails while she was still in a wood box behind the stove and now she comes up here slips and slides along the Fox trot tonight and is as cordial as Anne of Green Gables at the county fair and then she comes home and writes the likes of that/ It's enough to make me turn off the computer, shut down thelgiths and go to bed until Sunday evening Shockin' I say! Absolutely disgustingly shockin'

And if she thinks I'm going to wither away as a result of her rhetoric she is in a delucional nigthmare. As syure as there's water flowing down the Gaudon's Brook boundary line we will be at the start line with an armada of bodies .... I even have a bus lined up for the Silverwood. No door knob will be left unturned on this side of gaudon's until we are sure we have sufficient snowshoers and skiers to defend out most coveted prize, the Snowy Owl Cup. We'lll see you at the start line benoit with your meagre little clutch of Saucy Snowy Owl Sliders ... sorry Super Snowy Owl Sliders.
Kippensand West Toutons Unite. this is a "call to skis" .... grab grandy and bring her a long .... ya can never trust a south coaster so we must pull snap everyone we can find into a set of bindings ... and bring your longest skis. For every centimetre of ski you get a point ... I'm gonna mount a set of bindings to our double 19' Necky sea kayak ... now that a should get us a few points ... Oh no, bad idea ... it's on the other side of the border in Dan's garage. Kayaks are not permitted in this completion ... the ruling just came in from CCC.
I say shine the cup Liz Chaisson ... shine the cup ... we hate accepting soiled hardware .... GO

SNOWY OWL RUMBLE......and this is how it all began.......

2009-02-01T16:18:00.000-08:00

Well, I got this email from Graham Oliver the other day about the Snowy Owl and how the Toutons (name of Kippens team) were going to take the Snowy Owl Cup......well,,,,,that got me mad...for one I didn't like the name he pegged on us Stephenville crowd................here is what he said....(in case you didn't read the email and are inclined to delete such rubbish)

Kippens and East Toutons Gearing up For Victory at the Snowy Owl ... Could Elizabeth Chaisson Please Polish the Cup Before She Presents It!
Well the Toutons are certainly getting organized for this weekend's Snowy Owl Classic and we have no doubt that we will once again hoist the Snowy Owl Cup high above our noggins. In fact, our friendly rivals Stephenville and East Slowpokes,are not even serious contenders. Now there is no doubt that the Mc Beach Bunch have a string tradition of winning the prestigious Snowy Owl Cup. But they have been rather shy contenders over the last few years and since they have undergone amalgamation with Stephenville and East they seem incapable of mounting a charge. Well ... I suppose Ivan Mac Donald could give Stephen Penney a boost if his battery died one on one of these frosty mornings, but I thye can't be taken serious to mount a REAL charge. Oh I should not be so hard on my ski brethren, after all they are an earnest crowd and with a little coaxing we might get a few of them to rally. Now the Blow-Me-Down Blowouts are always a dark horse. One never knows who they will bring along to the Snowy Owl and seeing as we usually offer them a correction factor for travelling, they may indeed give us Toutons a run for our ski wax. But, they like Stephenville and East, can't be taken as serious contenders either. The Toutons are tickled pink about our latest, skier extraordinaire Mr. Carrrrtttttteeerrrrr Pooooowwwweeers. Mr. Powers has had a storied career in skiing and he is expected to bring some extra punch to our ranks. Not that we need any extra punch of course. With the Hunt's and Burt's from Port au Port and a large gaggle of striders from Spruce and Birch and Cedar and of course the Moores from Bayview and Bert Young and the Forcey Crowd ... well let's say the list goes on and on and the crowd from Stephenville and East gets less and less and less. In fact, I'd be surprised if the only skiers that show up for the Stephenville and East jurisdiction is Rona and Ellen and Faye from Stephenville Crossing.
Now Easterners ... let it be said that the gauntlet has been thrown down! We look forward to meeting you at the start of the Snowy Owl Classic on Saturday. Just though I'd let you know, we have already appointed the latest addition to the Burt family, namely Grace the youngest Whaleback member, to accept the Snowy Owl Cup on our behalf ...... I think Elizabeth Chaission traditionally presents it to us ... yes yes ... it is Elizabeth ... so Liz could you polish 'ere up! That would be very thoughtful of you.

HOEDOWN SLIDESHOW

2009-02-01T15:24:00.000-08:00

Wild Whaleback Winter Hoedown!!!!!

2009-01-23T05:25:00.000-08:00

.......and the winner is......BESSIE JESSO......Congratulations Bessie on your entry....great name....will sure to be a great time........of course a lot went on before this all came about and I am sure you have all read the email from Graham about the goings on with Aldonna. Now this story was written will such convivial and frolicsome language that it needed to be kept here for future moments when there is a lull in the tales by Graham.
......Now when you work with someone with the organizing ability of Aldonna O'Keefe you'd better be ready to strap yourself into the saddle and hold on for dear life because the pace of development is fast, furious and efficient.   So you don't believe me, do ya? Well about a half-hour ago I got a call from "Pride of Moonshine Valley" now relocated to the Coast of Kippens and she said that she was organizing a Whaleback Nordic Variety Show for Friday, January 23.   I said Aldonna, my honey ... January 23 is just a little over a week away and some of the crowd in the ski club are fast on their feet, but time is of the essence and we would have to organize a venue, entertainment, ticket sales, sound system, etc. etc. I know that I said earlier that some of the ski crowd are fleet of foot, but then there are others that take a week and half to decide which wax they'll apply. I saw one unnamed skier spend 47 minutes at the Snowy owl intersection wondering which way to go.   How will we get that crowd up to speed?

So when I was finished administering my wet blanket, her flames failed to diminish. In fact she said, "And that's not all Graham. I thought we'd have a ski social of sorts at one of the local pubs afterwards." So much information passing through my hammer, anvil and stirrup bones .... I just could not cope. How could we do this, just too fast ... like I'm retired ... slow down .... how do we sell 210 tickets, get performers, make a program, get Doug Fowlow to appoint someone to make tickets. Immediately I thought back to those hot sweaty August haymaking days near Graham's River (true ... you'll find the river when you visit my ancestral home of Judique)  when I would steal, yes steal, Hughy R.'so favorite stallion and jump on his back for a joy ride. Once the old boy was free of the mowing machine "traces" (for the citified in the audience "traces" refer to the chains that connect the sleigh, or wagon, or hay mower to the horse "and now you know") he would rear up on his hind legs and take off due north, in the exact opposite direction of the barn and straight to an outback field of oats. Oh how he loved the sweet oats. We did grow oats in Cape Breton ya know.   Yee crowd over here in Newwwwwfounnnnndllllllannnnd grew clover, didn't ya! We were much more sophisticated over in CB. Yes back to the story ... It was five rifle shots to the field and riding Hughie R.s equine was like shimming the earth on one of Sadam's scub missiles. Ya get the picture ... we were flyin' low .. ears back ..... and my little buttocks bouncing up and down like a jeep climbing the road to Joey's Lookout. No time to wonder what to do. Preservation of life was foremost on the frontal lobe, or is it the rear lobe ... I don't know ... somewhere in the cranium.

But I have digressed and I must stay on topic. So the line up for tickets will soon be starting for the Whaleback Ski Social on Friday, January 23rd.   But hold it ... we need a name for the show because this may be an annual event.   And Sean O'Keefe suggested that the members give it a name ... like the time I had the party in Marble Mountain, Cape Breton ad called it the First Triennial Marble Mountain Bizarre, Beer Garden, Sale of Work and Afternoon Tea.   What a Time it was?   Oh back on topic. Yes we need name so please send me a name ... like "The Wicked Whaleback Whop Up at the Waldorf" ... doesn't make sense, does it? ... we're having it at Stephenville High, not the Waldorf ... hhmmmm like "Whaleback's 90 Minute Musical Magical Show" ... hey the juices are starting to flow ... surely you can do better than me.    Yes, and when that old horse reached the oat field he would settle into grazing and and like my scud missile, I am sure that by tomorrow Missy Aldonna will have contacted me with all kinds of details.

Now we need more than a name form you folks ... we need ticket sales ... and the cost looks like $5.00 a head, maybe more, and maybe $15.00 a family ... but if you have 10 kids, ya can't come because we'll not make enough money. Now the social afterwards is still somewhere on the back of Hughy R.'s horse ... hasn't been figured out yet for sure ...well none of it has been figured out yet really ...except Aldonna knows it all and if you ever worked with Aldonna ... THE SHOW MUST GO ON! (written by GO in one of his moments :) )

"MISSING EQUIPMENT"......not again

2009-01-23T05:20:00.000-08:00

Looking Out for Missing Equipment

Melinda and Linda are missing baskets off a set of aluminum rental poles that were just put out the other day ... unsure of colour but I think they were red ... and so we start another year of cat and mouse. The poles were hung up on a hook one afternoon before the large crowds started coming into the chalet and the next time they looked (within hours), the baskets were gone. Hmmmmmm .... Please advise me if you are missing something because we do have a file on missing items and if you do not bring it to our attention it will go unnoticed. Like the GPS that went missing last year out of a gym bag and went unreported .... the person who lost it did not want to be identified and I respect this, but it is good to file it as missing from the chalet becasue it is all part of the puzzle. (written by GO)

JACK RABBIT BEGINS!!!!

2009-01-23T05:16:00.000-08:00

Jackrabbit Up and Running

Jackrabbit got off to a fine start today and as you can see from James Burt all laid out on the sofa at the chalet at 1:15 p.m today he was certainly all ready for Jackrabbit ... he just thought he'd charge his baterries before it commenced. It's wonderful grand to see all the new families engaging in jack Rabbit and touring down the trail. Today when I arrived back to the chalet at 4:30 families were sitting around eating timbits, drinking hot chocolate and chatting ... brought back memories of those post Jackrabbit session moments of leisure and the satisfaction of yet another session completed, but those times are long astern, but one can still drink up the ambience of the moment and flashback to the joys and travailles of "them days". According to daddy Mark, James was fully awake on the trail once Mark hit the START button. (written by GO)

WHALEBACK WILD WINTER HOEDOWN

2009-01-19T17:50:00.000-08:00

Whaleback Wild Winter Hoedown
Friday, January 23, 2009 7:30 pm
Stephenville High School Theatre

Tickets $5.00 ($15 /family)
Available at Debbie’s Video and Whaleback Ski Club

Whaleback has slews of talented skiers! And it’s a family affair!! Come hear the likes of the St. Croix family, The Kippers, Sarah and Nelson and sons, Don Dunphy, Cal McNiven, Diane Doyle, Dave Joseph, The Mike and Jill Benoit family, Lisa Alexander, Hannah Blundon, SeaWind, Teddo and Sean, Albert Stewart…

We promise you’ll go away tapping toes and humming tunes!

2009-01-19T16:44:00.001-08:00

Well, I must get on with the blogging......my first entry will soon be history and archived until someone decides to click on that area and read from the beginning. Graham is firing them at me fast and furious and they are too good to be just left floating in cyberspace.......THEY need to be saved....just in case anyone would like to write a BIOGRAPHY of our Wild Whaleback Writer!!!!
This is an old email I received on January 4th....lovely words here and not to worry I edit as I type (unlike some others).....

What a day on he trails ... sure there were more people up here than a craft fair at LA Bown....talkin' of such ... Rozanne Ploughman and Anne Marie White have plans to work on a quilt at the chalet this winter while they are slated to be volunteer attendants. This can't be... like, when I was teaching I couldn't do craft work on the job ... and here they are planning to make quilts ... the next thing you know Roy Bungay will be playing the violin ... shockin' these retirees .. ya can't find good workers anymore. I saw two bunnies atop Racer's Edge today and were they ever havin' a grand chat ... sure they had traffic stopped for a half hour ... lies not true ... now I did compliment them but rather than move along they just stayed there lookin' right wholesome like ... no names here for fear of repercussions. Boy Howard Skinner can't wait to get back from Ottawa .. I dare say there wouldn't be a stick of wood along the trails at Whaleback that will be safe ... there'll be bridges built, weeds cut ... and date squares eaten ... not to mention .. he's gotta get in shape with the rest of us ... so for the first few days just let him run ... ya know ,like letting your dog run after he's been pent up in the car on the Caribou crossing the Gulf and ya stop at the Seal Island brigde to give him a run ... Howard needs some space to ski, cut and boilup after that long spell in owwwwwwtttaaw ... welcome back folks. I see Wallace and Tina back on the trails after a sojourn in Ottawa ... and Bruce was also up in Otatwa for a ski and visit ... hmmm Danny Gallant must be recruiting ..... speaking of "Danny Boy" he must be skied to death with all the snow they got in the Nation's Capital ... Danny drop us a note sometime and tell us what's happening. Gotta run Desparate Housewives is coming on ..... who will connect with who ... will Sally meet Harry ... will Bob Ted Carol and Alice get togetehr ... sorry folks .. I'm fakin' it ... I really don't have a clue about the show ... but it is about to come on and I am getting foolish and must call earl Hunt about tomorrow's work party ... GO

Humble Hut for Jackrabbits and Friends

2009-01-10T12:47:00.000-08:00

Here is another series of photos representing the excellent hard workers that we have here at Whaleback......Great Work.....although Mike WAS looking forward to catching those trout..............I had to add this email....as GO wrote it as it was just like a fairy tale...........

Humble Hut for Jackrabbits and Friends Completed!

With blue sky overhead and a crisp chill in the air, Don Cormier pounded
home the final nail on the roof of our humble wilderness hut affectionately
known as the pentagon. As prescribed, the day commenced at 8:00 a.m. and
with the exception of a 20 minute break for a mugup it was seven bodies flat
out for nine and a half hours until the project was completed. Well, to be
truthful there are still a few outstanding little details to look after, but
other than that, the pentagon is ready for a new stove pipe and a good
sweeping and then it's moose stew for all the gang around the wood stove.
The pentagon, although humble and minute in appointment and stature, has
served us well over the years and with the new multi-coloured shingle
facelift, it should last for some time.

The first star of the day goes to Donald B. Cormier who has his degree in
stove pipe installation as well as chimeny demolition. Don also won the
door prize of the day which was trip for two to Toronto for a week and he
and his honey promptly departed for the Big Smoke the next morning. True
story ... ask Debbie at Debbie's Video. Carter Powers walked away with a
blue ribbon for tarring shingles in precise 5 cm strokes and he was also
given a smokey award for chief fireman, while Earl Hunt once again earned
the Teamster of the Day Award for carrying great big loads of materials to
and from the site. Jack Lamond won the Craftsman Skill Saw Award of
Excellence for cutting a four foot rip of OSB board as straight as a laser
beam without using a square, or a straight edge. Jack White showed
diligence in the line of duty for taking over the lead shingler position as
dusk fell upon the gathering. Dan Rumbolt chipped in with the John
Mansfield De-insulation Award for stripping the insulation out of the
ceiling in the time it takes for a grey jay to steal your lunch. Big thanks
to all the gang ... without their help we would have lost the pentagon roof
this season as it was obvious when we took off the roof that it was almost
ready to collapse due to rot in the centre rafters. And get this, the
project was estimated at $650. and came in at $300. +/- ... a full $300. +
under budget. When times are tough resourcefulness steps up to the plate.
And yes Jacko, thanks for scrounging some damaged OSB board for the project
and thanks to everyone else who donated supplies and their time.

Some more preseason workers!

2009-01-10T12:45:00.001-08:00

3 PROS and a WaxHut!

2009-01-10T12:31:00.000-08:00

I came upon this email that I received from none other than GO himself entitled "3 pros and a waxhut"......misreading this I thought it said..."3 pros and a waxnut".......so when I saw the busy squirrels working in these pics....it did make some sense......as you can see by these pics we have very dedicated volunteers at Whaleback Nordic! Thank you for all your hard work and dedication on these projects as needed (of course, what else is there to do when you are retired). Here is a part of the email that I received and did not read at the time.

"............ As I mentioned
in a previous email there are a number of projects that we have on the
agenda before the snow flies and seeing as we are a club with a limited
budget we are trying to solict assistance from the membership to get the job
done. Saturday, Earl Hunt led the charge to put a new roof on the wax hut
which was very badly in need of repair. Within the next week we hope to get
a fine day to put a new roof on the old officials hut which is in deplorable
condition. Once repaired, this building will become our new woodshed and
will be located at the rear of the ski chalet near the back door and the old
woodshed will then become a new rental storage area. We will also have a
few TRAIL MAINTENANCE DAYS coming up so if you have time on your hands and
wish to volunteer drop me a note. Some of the work parties may be on the
weekend, while others may be held suring the week. Word has it that Howard
Skinner has skinned off to labrador, so we'll have to leave some work for
him to do when he returns. Howard will not be pleased if we finish all the
work while he is absent form the scene.

Big thank you to Earl for providing the leadership on Saturday's project.

SEA TO SEA UPDATES

2009-01-09T16:24:00.000-08:00

On Friday, November 7th, I received this email from a certain someone from the TOM CODS (not mentioning any names)......I know it is outdated but quite entertaining.
Its time to stir it up once again...
With December approaching, it seems that particular members of the
Whaleback Nordic Sea To Sea Team - The Tomcods are starting to cause
tremors on the ocean floor or ripples on the surface. Team Captain Greg
Noonan was quoted..." it all started last week when I ran into Shawn
Tilley who said that he skied 4kms. thus far." When quizzed about where he
skied and was it classic or skate technique, Tilley replied that he
strapped on his classics and skied the soccer pitch. WOW. Thats
dedication...something that the tomcods have lots of!
However, not to Noonans surprise he has learned that 2 members of the
Tomcods are members of the local Curling Club and have been curling on a
regular basis for the past 2 weeks. Alex Parr and Debbie Noonan have
joined the curling community and have silently been using Klister on their
shoes in an attempt to learn more on the dynamics of this grip wax on the
ice of the curling club. Alex was quoted as saying this year with the ice
that's available at the club, he hopes to be on even Parr when he hits the
snow. "I don't think I will be at an advantage...but sliding on the ice
does remind me of the glitter that's known to hit Port Hope Simpson from
time to time." Debbie Noonan just grinned in response to using klister on
the ice at the curling rink. "I wish we had this(klister) years ago when
we walked to school during freezing rain. I used to be the first at the
school door."
Noonan reminded team members that it's nice to support wellness but don't
expect these extra kms to be entered in the CCC website. "It don't start
till Dec. 1st" he warned.
Noonan hoped that this news don't cause to much fuss and rail road the AGM
scheduled on Nov. 15th. "Participation is the key, it looks like a fun
filled winter ahead, don't get upset if some Sea To Sea Teams are far out
ahead already."

"THE SEASON HAS BEGUN"

2009-01-04T15:50:00.000-08:00

Well, folks I guess the time has come to start telling tales again about the trails, about the people, about the place.....yes,,,,,it's time once again for Oliver's (and others) twisted tales and from looking through my various outdated emails I see I have a lot of work ahead of me. I am trying to play catch up while my torn ligaments heal themselves as I probably won't be passing anyone on the ski trails just yet, only 'kickin and a glidin' for me. So I guess the place to start is here.

THINGS ARE HEATING UP!!!

2008-04-01T15:08:00.000-07:00

Things are heating up
in the Sea to Sea as the Urchins have questioned the validity of the Minister
... merky territory if you ask me! Someone said there would be
a response from captain carter but he's still asleep under the woodstove at the
chalet ... still recovering from yesterday's loops.
Urchin's
Official Response
Graham. Just one
comment to the press release. I note that it states that the agreement involved
discussion between Minister Burke and the President of CCC. I have been the
acting President of CCC since March 15th and I have not been in any
discussions with the Minister. The individual the Minister supposedly spoke to
was without authority to make such an arrangement so the program officially
ended on MARCH 31st.
The Tom Cods are showing their true colors as we now have another
species preying on the poor defenceless Urchins.They deserve to be split and
gutted.

A noble urchin.

HOT OFF THE WIRE!!!!!

2008-04-01T15:07:00.000-07:00

Hot off the Wire ...
Usually every morning I check the Globe and Mail and the
local papers for current news and here on April 1st, what do I read?
A press release favouring the Tom Cods. Being a retired teacher
myself, and being a purest in the Fair Play world, I said: "Let the
games go on for the Tom Cods and may they swim to the surface and snatch a few
capelin along the way." This was a wonderful move by Minister
Burke and it shows her commitment to fitness and the noble profession of
teaching. In order to facilitate the adding of kms for the Tom Cods, Kenny
has volunteered to groom the 5 km with the BR250 every evening after school
until April 15th. Swim on Tom Cods! Swim on! Hopefully this will not be
too great of concern for the Urchins and Rollin' Capelin who are now sidelined
and bursing their injuries after a sprint to the finish.

PRESS RELEASE FAVORS 'TOM CODS'

2008-04-01T15:04:00.001-07:00

Recent Press Release Favors Tom Cods

In a further attempt to bring attention to and improve wellness in the public sector, Minister Joan Burke announced “... that effective April 1, 2008, educators who are a team member in The Sea To Sea Challenge need NOT cease recording their km skied... that is, active school teachers, instructors in colleges, student assistants can continue to log on and enter kms skied in the Sea To Sea Challenge after the March 31st deadline.”

This announcement was the result of 11 hour discussion between the Minister of Education and the President of Cross Country Canada. It was generally agreed that teachers deserve a(nother) break because of the stress endured in their profession...especially if their own wellness is an issue. Time to accumulate kms also entered into the decision.

When asked to reply to this announcement, Team Captain of The Tom Cods, Greg Noonan first reaction was to compare this to the Brad Gushue Gold Medal Game in the last Winter Olympics. “At the time the Gold Medal Game was so important to the province and country as a whole, it was felt that the government sector be granted time and have an opportunity to view history. Once again, the people involved in education receive a bonus.” Noonan was very cautious when he added, “it was felt throughout the winter months that because of their work commitments they(teachers) were behind the eight ball... when compared to the retired group of skiers who are involved with The Sea To Sea Challenge.” “The time for teachers to “clock up” the kms had to be completed under the lights.” Overall, Noonan felt that it was a fair decision. “It does not apply to the retired folk, the term “active” is key.”

The new deadline for teachers/instructors is April 15th. It can be applied to Tom Cods, Alex Parr, Shawn Tilley, Debbie Noonan, Mike and Jill Benoit and Team Captain, Greg Noonan.

When asked if this will change where the Tom Cods will place on April 15th, Noonan replied unselfishly “... Sea To Sea is a challenge not a race, it’s fun, not competition, wellness and participation is the theme...but I hope members of the Sea Urchins and Rolling Caplin don’t get upset when the Tom Cods pass them as a result of this extension.

BC Skiing - Unplanned and Unpublished Event

2008-03-31T17:34:00.000-07:00

Just to share a day my family and I had skiing on Saturday past.
This was an unplanned and unpublished backcountry ski for the Benoit
family. We drove to Barachois Pond Provincial Park and had a ski on the
pond, around a few of the camping loops and then stopped for a boilup.
We also tried our hand at ice fishing but much to the despair of us
but to the delightment of the fishies we didn't get any. As they
say down on the 'south coast' (that Graham is always referring to).

"Arn?"
"Narn!"

Great Day anyway!
Go ahead try it...........
jb

Upland Barrens

2008-03-31T17:10:00.000-07:00

Great BC Ski Today: Chalet - Upland Barrens -
Cold Brook Rear - Back to Chalet

We had a wicked good backcountry tour today (photos
under backcountry tour at www.whaleback.ca)! It was a 21 k
circuititous route of Cold Brook Rear. Oh what a feelin' descending from
Cold Brook high country. Tina Moores was in a tuck all the way down
the big hill and she passed three snowmobiles while descending the grade.
You wanted to see the look on their chubby faces! Here they had paid a
fortune for their brightly coloured machines and Tina whizzes past
them. "Something wrong here!" they said. Was she flying, or
what! Tanner, Jack's dog, ran 302 kilometres while on route today
and stole four lunches at the boilup. Dan Rumbolt was not pleased.
What a time we had. Most of the previous lines were obvious lies, so now to
the truth. Yes the tour was great ... I have been living here for 33
years and I still marvel at what we have right in our back yard. A
skier can step into their touring skis at the chalet and within five
minutes you're on the bogs on the compass bearing heading for the high
country. The view from the upland barrens back of Cold Brook is
exceptional. The entire Bay St. George region is at your feet and the blue
ocean is like a magnet to your eyes. The snow conditions on top were like
February, but the sun was definitely displaying it's spring
energy. Our boilup location tucked in amongst the black
spruce of a brook valley was a 9.92 on a scale of 10. We had a grand
chat as we supped on tea and snacked on Diane Lamond's delicious chocolate
cookies complete with stuffing in the middle. Some good!
During the boilup Howard Skinner gave an informed lecture on ski training
and menu planning for the athletically inclined. Most tuned out
though because Howard is the only one following a ridged
training program, so it was of no great significance to most in
attendance. But don't think for a minute that Howard is not the
keener. Sporting his new backcountry skis, he was a ball of energy
and the star of the day. He'd climb up walls of snow as if he was a BR250
with hsi new backcountry boards. What traction the man had!
Members of the group today included Doug Fowlow, Dan
Rumbolt, Jack Lamond, Tina and Wallace Moores, Howard, Earl Hunt, Lisa
Alexander, Tanner "the good dog" and Me. Please feel free to join us some
time for off trail skiing ... don't be scared of us ... we're normal
people ... honest ... we will be having shorter tours if you want to get
started and also some longer ones. We've never abandoned anyone
on the trail yet and don't plan to. So when we advertise the next one
.. think about coming along ... tea around the fire .... fruit cake
.. chatting with friends ... great views ... it sure is a change of
scenery.

Fanny pack Found by Don Cormier

Don Cormier found a fanny pack on the rack on Saturday
evening. If you forgot one there, Don has it. As Don would say:
"Good man". Maybe it was already returned while we were chasing moose back
of Cold Brook.

THE CHALET

2008-03-31T17:09:00.001-07:00

What's the Deal with the
Chalet

Linda and Melinda are finished at the chalet and we
are now on auto pilot during the day and in the evenings. The wonderful
gang of mostly retirees who saved the club thousands of dollars by
volunteering to staff the chalet for the entire season are now on long term
leave. A well deserved leave I might add. So how do we
work from now on? Everyone will still be skiing .. there's tons of
snow ... conditions are great ... so how will we operate? I had a
chat with Doug today while touring and this is the deal. Kenny will
be working for the remainder of this coming week and then he will provide
us with a few free days the following week. Because we don't have
staff on we will not be formally offering rentals and day passes anymore,
however some of us who worked as chalet attendants all season, may
wish to sell day passes if we happen to be hanging out at the chalet
having a chat and a person arrives begging us to buy a pass and get rentals
to go skiing. Other seasoned chalet volunteers may wish to follow the
same practice. or they may say:
"I'M DONE .. TAKE THIS JOB AND TUCK BEHIND THE
WOODSTOVE! I'M NOT WORKIN' HERE NO MORE!"
We will also ask everyone to chip in at throwing a log on
the fire and keeping an eye out at the chalet. There is usually someone in
and out of the chalet all day so we hope that people will help out ... because
folks, we may be skiing until May.

CONDITIONS ON THE TRAILS

2008-03-31T17:06:00.000-07:00

Conditions for Monday, March 31ST
2008

Grooming is a hard call this time of the year. Little
snow ... sunshine melting ... cold nights freezing ... the trail is in constant
change and sometimes Mrs. Sun grooms the trail for us. Kenny will be
performing a bit of an experiment for us tomorrow. He will go out
and groom the Foxtrot, Snowy Owl, Oliver's Twist, up Hayes Hump and back to
chalet via Chickadee and Raven's Ridge with the BR250. It will be
interesting to compare the trails that are groomed vs.the trail
sections that are not groomed by 1:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. Will
the difference be significant, or not? It will be interesting
to compare notes. Braveheart may not be done
tomorrow. Today was a major transition into spring
skiing. All the trails aren't in the spring skiing mode yet, but
they are moving there and with the sun forecast for tomorrow we will soon be
there. Skiers are urged to use caution on hills especially the
Snowy Owl, Sleepy Canuck, Deadly Descent and the
Saddleback. It is better to ski laps of OT safely than risk
breaking a bone on the trails with icy hills. This warning is
especially directed to the evening skiers as conditions can turn
very icy after 3:00 p.m. when the temperature drops. Please be
cautious.

BRING A FRIEND!!

2008-03-17T14:35:00.000-07:00

Bring a Friend Skiing: As you are aware, Whaleback is offering this incredible special on skiing. Join up now and ski the rest of the season plus all next year ... we have lots of skiing left and if you are a new member you get free rentals and a 25% new membership discount. We are trying to get people active and get them out on the trails and get their hearts, that may be a bit sluggish, pumping. Whaleback is Western Health's best friend. If we can get people moving during those chilly months, they may just remain active all year around. So here's the pitch. Call up a friend and ask them to come out to try skiing, help them get set up with gear from the rentals, tell them about our special, when they say that they don't have skis tell them that the ski club will outfit them for a year. How can they refuse. Once on skis ... take them for a short tour ... help them along ... show them Beaver Tail Flat ... and afterwards drop by the chalet for a hot chocolate. sit around the woodstove and feel the bubbly effervescence odd social interaction ...oops I am getting evangelical again .. tone it down Graham
.... talk about healthy living, or what? Imagine if
Western Health Care was trying to deliver such an Active Living Lifestyle
Program ... it would be hard to do without providing big salaries .... so
yes, take a friend skiing .. put them on the road to health and help our
membership grow. Whaleback expenses are not a part of the Western
Health Care's budget.
GO

Skiing on March 15th was GREAT!!!!

2008-03-17T14:28:00.000-07:00

A Report of Sat. Mar 15th, skiing.

What a crowd on the trail today ... great to see
Ken Mc Donald and Rowena out ... yesterday Linda Coish joined Rowena on
the trails. Linda use to be a regular on the trails as were the Mc
Donalds, but the moved away and now have settled back in the area.
Great to see them back on the trails. What a wonderful family day it
was Whaleback ... Dano and I passed the Benoit clan, formally
from Burgeo, and they were all toggled down with backpacks as they were
heading for a boilup at the Pentagon. I thought they were going berry
pickin', but Dan said, "you fool, it's the wrong season b'ye". And then
we overtook the Mac Donald clan of Theresa, Ivan and Kevin who were
heading for Braveheart and then it was the St. Croix's who we met on the Snowy
Owl. Let me tell ya, they are a crew. I think they have the
largest family in the club, that is if you exclude the Hunts who
have enough to fill a school bus if they bring the grandkids. All 6
St. Croixs were kicking and gliding today and they included
Madelyn, Rita Jane and John on the Snowy Owl and Sebastion, Claire and
"Pierre in the Pulk" coming behind Dad on Raven's Ridge. What
energy the families bring to the trails.

And then Dano and I came upon a gathering at
the pentagon. Sure, the Tom Cods were having a clandestine
meeting. Now hopefully Eric Nippard doesn't challenge me on the
last adjective (it is an adjective, is it not? ... a word that describes a noun
and "meeting" is a noun ... Stephen Penny help me out here) ... so yes this
"fishy" meeting was going on at the Pentagon and Dan and I, all dressed in our
Lively Lobster jerseys, stopped by for a chat. Of course the first thing
we had to do was rescue the fire because the pentagon looked like the Smoke
Room on the Kyle. After rescuing the fire for the Tom Cods, we got the
boot. Imagine that ... lend a hand ... get the fire roaring and they
say, "We're having a private meeting now ya gotta go!" It was
that Noonan guy who's captain that caused the trouble because he's team
captain and he's alwasy up to nefarious deeds ... oh bad word as that's reserved
for property and trees that go missing .... Now I've been on the south
coast a lot and I never saw such blatant inhospitable behaviour in all
my paddle dipping ... The Benoit's, who are wonderful gracious folks,
tried desparately to to redeem the honour for the Tom Cods by offering
us cookies and cakes nd drinks, but Dan and I would have nothing of
it. Because that Noonan fella had a puss on his face that would stop
a Spanish Trawler. He wanted us out of it so we swam off to Oliver's twist
in a state of "insultment" (now Eric, how do you like that for a word ...
it's found in the Cape Breton Highland dictionary and it means "to be
upset due to the lack of hospitality"). Talkin'
about Sea to Sea to Sea teams ... what team is he on anyway ... is he
a sculpin, or a flatfish, or is it a crayfish, or a jellyfish? ... I just don't
know what they are because they don't seem to surface other than to chat at
intersections and block off the trails. I feel a rebuttal, oh no the
Lively Lobsters are about to be attacked again.

Hope to see you all on the trail tomorrow and
remember if you come across someone you don't know, introduce yourself and
then you'll know them. Bill Boland, has already met 97.5 % of
the club and he has just been a members for two days ... so if you're new on the
trails try to surpass Bill's "gregarious" record.

GO

PS
Now according to Greg Noonan, the meeting was
called to develop a new strategy to get ahead of the Urchins and the Rolling
Capelin who are duking it out for the lead at Whaleback.

A DAY AT WHALEBACK!!!!

2008-03-16T07:08:00.000-07:00

BACK COUNTRY SKI SEASON BEGINS!!!!

2008-03-14T14:46:00.000-07:00

Back Country Skiing Season
Commences

Poor old Jack Lamond is chaffing at the bit to head
out backcountry skiing. In fact, he was out yesterday afternoon
after a full morning of powersawing. Does the man ever
stop? Did you hear about Jack's latest Quest? I'll call it "quest"
because it's like that quest that they have up north with the dogs pulling
sleighs ... I think it's the Yukon Quest. Well, apparently Jack has got
Tanner his active canine pal all hitched up to a harness ...
now the harness is not hitched to a sleigh .. it's hitched to
Jacko. So the other day, Jack decided to try out his new rig with
Tanner on the actual trail. So he hooks up with the harness leading from
Tanner and attached around Jacko's waist . Well, from the slam of
the car door on the old Kippens Dump Road, Tanner was off like a 767 with
Jacko in hot, involuntary pursuit. It all seemed logical and
straightforward enough and things were going stupendously well, that
is until a snowmobile passed and then it was "Hi Oh Silver Away
!!!!!!!!!!!" And away goes Tanner, the hound, in full stride
chasing the machine. What a ride Jack had ..... he was at Camp 38
just west of Gallants before the snowmobiler stopped for a
smoke. It was a good thing that he stopped too, because according to
buddy on the snowmobile he was heading for Deer Lake and he stopped because
his machine was overheating. Jack told me that he was sure Tanner would
have chased his big yellow Bombardier right to the Deer Lake
airport. So if you got a flight out of Deer Lake ... just call Jack
and he'll hook you on to Tanner and then find a snomobile going in that
direction .. appparently Tanner makes transfers to other machiones if the one
you're following sops so he is quite reliable.

Back to he story ... yes there will be some
backcountry tours coming up ... some will be moderate in exertion ... some will
be strenuous and some might be downright "Alpaca" in difficulty.
Check 'em out and you might want to join in ... lunches are required and
lots of time ... warm clothes and sometimes a tent ..... one must be
prepared. More later.
GO

LOST and FOUND items!

2008-03-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

Whaleback Missing Articles
List

Missing from the chalet counter ... 1 White French
Corningware with cover ... the larger size ...was on counter in chalet
early this week .. gone later in the week ... maybe someone took it
by mistake thinking it was theirs .. please let me know if you may have taken it
by mistake .... promise no one will be exposed in a humourous email if they
return it ... belongs to Theresa and Ivan Mac Donald

Missing one long rectangular clear glass
Pyrex dish ... thought to be on the counter earlier in the week .... not
there???? Belongs to Susan Whalen
MISSING:
Missing one, two new nylon wind
jackets that were given to the club by Arthur James for a draw
... black in colour ... if found, or if anyone knows their whereabouts
please advise ... were in kitchen area.

FOUND ITEMS:
Found items ... yesterday I found one Louis
Garneau ski mitten (smaller size probably a woman's fit) in the handicap
washroom behind the chair on the floor ??? ... also noticed the mate to it
on Linda's desk ... I put the two mitts together and placed them on the bulletin
board ... if you lost them you may pick them up from the bulletin
board. Let Linda know that you took them as we like to account for
all missing and found items

Missing Beer Update!!!

2008-03-14T14:41:00.000-07:00

Message from the President Regarding Missing
Beer at Marathon Kitchen Party

"After consulting with authorities, the
president has filed a formal complaint of theft with the RCMP which will now be
investigated. Club members are asked to note any anomalies they may
have observed and provide any relevant information they may have
pertaining to the beer that went missing during the Marathon Kitchen
Party should they be approached by investigating officers."

....lots of dry wood for chalet....

2008-03-14T14:33:00.000-07:00

Wood Choppers Store Away Lots of Dry Wood for the Chalet!!!!!

You may have noticed some "sanctioned" wood cutting has occurred on
the top section of the Snowy Owl. Please be assured that this is not
"nefarious chopping" and is well above board. The firewood
party led by notable club members Earl Hunt and Don Cormier set to work at
9:43 a.m. on Wednesday with chainsaws ablazing and three wood sleighs
teamstering back and forth to the chalet woodshed all
morning. Approximately 10 loads of dry wood were harvested and a
big thank you is extended to Dan R., Jack L., Ed Greene, Carter Powers and their
capable leaders (did I miss anyone?) for their volunteer service. Howard
Skinner who was all set to go the previous morning complete with sleighs, saws,
VK, boots, lunch, Anne Marie's fruit cake, tea kettle, files, mitts,
helmet, face guard, ballistic boots, ballistic pants and other miscellaneous
paraphernalia (hard word to spell) sent his sincere regrets for his
absence .. He had to deliver Ms. Anne Marie to the airport and could not
attend.. Great day and we are set for the rest of this season and
part of next for wood.
GO

PARTY PLACE!!!!

2008-03-13T18:07:00.000-07:00

Where is a great place to have a healthy,,,,outdoor living,,,,celebratory,,,,birthday party? WHALEBACK NORDIC SKI CHALET,,,,of course.
We had my daughter's 11th birthday celebration there on March 10th and what a celebration it was. The kids spent time in the great outdoors experiencing the joy of skiing for the first time...others returning to enjoy it more.... Lots of room to move around...kitchen available...nice wood fire in...easy cleanup....friendly staff and lots of people to help. Definitely recommended for those who have winter birthdays.
I have the pictures to prove it.
Jill

Another Item Missing!!!!!

2008-03-13T18:02:00.000-07:00

Theresa and Ivan MacDonald's Missing
French White Corning Ware

We need to find Theresa's missing white corning
ware dish. She delivered it to the banquet for the marathon and it has
nefariously disappeared ... if anyone knows where it is please
advise. If it does not show up we will indeed to replace the dish,
but it would be nice to find it because Theresa and Ivan have prepared thousands
of wonderful meals in this piece of crockery (is it classed as
crockery?) and they would like to have it back.
Help!!!!!!!! Let's check the chalet well ... heaven knows where it may be
stored ... maybe in the woodshed? Bathroom? Under the counter? High
school? backseat of someones car? THe list of hiding places is long and
wide.

To Theresa ... will do a check at the chalet
today and have passd the word on to Liz.

Executive Meeting

2008-03-13T18:01:00.000-07:00

Snippets from the Executive Meeting last
Night

Lisa gave a report that we raised about
$4500.+ from the Marathon and another $2000. +/- from the Greek
Dinner. Lisa had an extensive spread sheet of expenses and revenue
that she so capably reviewed the figures that there were times that I
thought she was actually trying to displace Noseworthy as the Auditor
General ... man what a woman for figures. Now one should not get all
excited about he revenue because we spent at least $3000. on the VK this year
and the BR250 will have stolen about another $2000. from our coffers before
the final ounce of hydraulic fluid passes through her reservoir this
season. Grooming fuel is increasing like the price of gold and well
... it takes a lot of money to run the Happy Gang's playground. There is a
tentative date for the AGM on April 29th ....
In other news the chalet will be formally staffed
until March 20th and then a decision will be made ... Kenny will be on
until at least the end of the March ... in regard to Nefarious Deeds #1
a.k.a the "Missing Molson" ... after a brief report on the matter it was
suggested that the issue be been turned over to president Fowlow and he
will seek counsel from legal sources that we have in the club as
to how we should proceed.

NEFARIOUS DEEDS!!!!!!

2008-03-13T17:49:00.000-07:00

Nefarious Deeds Occurring at
Whaleback

This is a difficult email to write. I enjoy writing about
positive topics, like great snow conditions, back country tours to the top of
Crash Hill, recreational skiers who say, "I'm signing up for the Festival of
Skiers" and other wonderful happenings at Whaleback, But
tonight I must devote my communication to nefarious deeds. Unsolved
mysteries that lurk in the shadows of Whaleback. At first I thought,
well mayBE I shouldn't, but then my years of teaching experience came
into full focus and I realized that the facts must be presented to the
membership; otherwise unsuspecting club members may become victims,
and they would have the right to say "you should have alerted me about a
potential risk in our midst".

Nefarious Deed #1 - The Case of the Evaporating
Beer -

To celebrate the marathon we had a wonderful banquet
followed by a Wicked Good Kitchen Party at the ski chalet and ski friends
from all over the province were in attendance. Whaleback went out of
their way to offer hospitality to our members and friends by
providing music, conversation and even complimentary beer. But
in true "healthy active living" fashion the kitchen party crowd were very
responsible consumers of complimentary Molson product and when the evening was
over, there was approximately 9 dozen cases of Molson product
left over. What a wonderful testament to the healthy
lifestyles that skiers lead! So here is all this leftover product,
valued at about $175. stacked on the floor in the kitchen in the late
hours of the Kitchen Party and "bibbidddy boobbbbiddy booo", literally in the
time it takes for a snow squall to pass over Hayes' Hump, the beer
stacks disappear with no explanation. Puzzling ... very puzzling to say
the least! Not only did the Molson product disappear, but some
Labatts product that loyal Whalebackers took to the party and left on the
front step also went for a brisk stroll to some unknown location late in the
evening. One well known Whaleback buddy came to the party and left
a case of Labatts on the front step. Later in the evening when he
was leaving the party he went out the door fully expecting to pick
up the leftovers of his friendly six pack that should have been on the step
and "there it was, gone." Absolutely amazing!

Initially, when I discovered that the entire stack of
cases was missing (except two dozen left in the back room), I wrote an email
to many of the Whalebackers who were at the party thinking optimistically
that maybe someone had stowed the more than 200 + lbs. of beer in a safe
location and that an email would solicit a prompt response as to the location of
the brew. But no such luck. Gone ... figuratively, and maybe literally
.... disappeared into thin air. It is indeed a mystery.
The unfortunate part of all this is that a loyal member of the ski club has to
be repaid for the cost of 4 dozen beer that he had purchased on behalf of the
club and brought to the chalet to treat our guests ... so this cost has to
be deducted from the profit that the marathon brought in.

Nefarious Deed #2 - The Case of the Missing
Fanny Pack

In late January, a dedicated member of Whaleback cruised
the Snowy Owl Classic Course with great gusto and was so elated with his
performance that he bounced out of the chalet and went home forgetting his
trusty and dependable fanny pack full of waxes hanging on the ski
rack. Mr. Gusto did not miss the fanny pack for a week and
immediately upon discovering the loss, he went directly to the chalet and
reported it to the attendants. Melinda and Linda turned the chalet upside
down and no fanny pack was found. He was heart broken over the loss
and sent me an email asking me if I would make note of the missing fanny
pack in a Newsletter to the membership. Maybe someone saw it! Maybe
borrowed it! Maybe hide it away! Now I would be an idiot if I
were to believe that everyone reads my emails, but what occurred after
the sending of that email about the missing fanny pack was very
interesting. A few days after the email was sent which named the
individual who lost the fanny pack, the fanny pack mysteriously reappeared in
the chalet under the counter in the kitchen. Linda walked into the
kitchen and there it was, as large as life in the area that she has thoroughly
searched just the previous week. Now where did the fanny pack come
from? Had someone stored it for a week or so and then returned tit to the
chalet and not told anyone? Did a team of mice from the wood shed drag it
into the kitchen and then abandoned it as they searched the nooks and
crannies for crumbs. Mr. Gusto was elated to receive his fanny pack back
and the mystery of how it was returned and where it was stored for
a week or so has still remains unsolved.

Nefarious Deed #3 - The case of the Missing
Poles from the Rental Program

Whaleback Nordic decided to upgrade its rental equipment
big time this year. Bruce Le Grow alerted me to a program that
was on the go and we applied and were fortunate enough to purchase five new
complete ski packages. These sets were a great addition to our rental
program. The skis, boots and poles were all marked and they were put
into service immediately. Within a few weeks we began to notice that components
of the new ski sets were missing and before long we were missing 3 new sets of
black aluminium poles. Where did they go? We have had rental
equipment for years and losing equipment is not usually a
problem. Sometimes ski poles or a set of skis might get mixed
up with ski equipment from he schools, but no schools were out to the ski
park until just this past week. Gone ..... where???? Who
knows!

Nefarious Deed #4 - The
Skiing Beaver Who Gnaws Down Trees

Now this one is absolutely the most bizarre behaviour that
I've seen since I sailed my beloved sloop "The Many Pals" in the Dundee Cup
in the late 80s. For more on that speak to Dan Rumbolt as he was
first mate during those competitions. Yes, back to the story ... last
April near the end of the season, we formed the Great Whaleback Logging
team. Our task was to widen Chickadee Hollow and to deliver the logs
that were harvested to the chalet and then subsequently saw them up into
building materials. Louis While, Earl Hunt, Wallace Moores, Howard
Skinner, Dan Rumbolt, Jack Lamond, Kenny, Greg Alexander and Don "the
Chief" Cormier were just some of the illustrious Whaleback gang.
Well, imagine our surprise when we cruised into the worksite on the first
morning and noticed that someone the previous evening has skied in and had
begun to gnaw a trail through the woods bordering the trail near the top of
the hill just 100 metres NE of Dorm's Detour. Well, we
immediately stopped and inspected the site and sure enough, a skier from
our club? or a skier who may have skied in from Blow-Me-Down? or Codroy for that
matter? had clandestinely arrived on the scene the evening before and
chopped away in an effort to create a new unauthorized trail.
Now this new trail posed a problem to Earl and I because we could see that the
opening would result in drifting across the trail so we set about to find out
who was dong this dastardly deed. Our first scene of investigation
was the pentagon and to our surprise the pentagon axe was missing. We
quickly concluded that the culprit had transported the axe to the "scene of the
gnawing" and in diligent fashion chewed away at the trees. We
continued to log in the Chickadee area for about 3 or 4 days and each
morning we noticed that more progress had been made by the
nocturnal-skier-turned-beaver as he/she proceeded in their diligent quest to
create a new trail. Not knowing if it was a beaver from the brook
turned-skier, or a skier from Whaleback turned-beaver, I decided take a
chance and send a note out to the membership to ask if anyone was gnawing at the
trail, but alas no reply. I also cruised the edge of the brook
looking for a quiet location where a beaver might store his skis, but no
skis were found. The mystery remains unsolved, but if you wish to view the
scene of destruction .... just have a look to the right when you climb the
little hill just past Dorm's Detour and just before the Snowy Owl
intersection. The cunning cutter has certainly created an
opening for drifting snow. Bizzzzzzzzzzarre to say the least!

Other unsolved mysteries at the
chalet

There have been a number of missing domestic items
from the chalet kitchen ... the latest is a full container of Pine
Sol ... there have been missing ski straps ... missing hats
... missing brownies from the canteen .... one member reported missing a
new Louis Garneau ski jacket and despite looking for it all over the chalet it
was not found, however it turned up in a conspicuous location after that person
made it well known around the chalet that her jacket went missing .... and
there may be other items that might have not been reported
missing.

So What is the Upshot of All
This

I am sick to think that our members personal property
and equipment and property of Whaleback is at risk of being
stolen. Trust is a big word and we must rely on Trust because we cannot
lock everything in the chalet ... Whaleback is about sharing and having
respect for one another's possessions and when things go missing it is very
upsetting to everyone in our cooperative play group. As
communications person with the club and chair of the marathon committee, it
would be irresponsible of me not to notify the membership of the mysterious
occurrences at Whaleback especially the latest theft. It is your club and
you deserve to know the facts. Tomorrow night we will be having an
executive meeting and I will file a report of the missing beer incident and will
suggest that the investigation be carried further. Losing $175. worth
of product is not a small loss and we should do our utmost to get to the
investigate
it.

Your weary scribe,
Graham (limited editing)

PS
If anybody saw anything suspicious at kitchen party
regarding the unauthorized removal of beer from the chalet please let me know
and I will file it with my report ....

"Oh I want to be an RCMP,
And ride around town in my Ford
Galaxie,
Catch all the Scotchmen for pouching the
deer,
And hassle the hippies for just being
here!"

(Lyrics from my days as a ski bum down at Cape Smokey in
the early 70s ... this draft dogger band used to sing at our kitchen
parties and I think I may be revisiting the lyrics of my old
favourites ....

BACKCOUNTRY SEASON!!!!!

2008-03-09T11:20:00.001-07:00

Getting into Backcountry Season
... Pack Your Lunch ... Step into Your Wide Skis and Get off
the Trails

With the firm spring conditions about to happen
there will be tours on the go so get ready to snap into your wide skis for a
trip off the trails. It should be a great spring for touring. But
then again, there will be a crowd that will say:"there's no frost in the ground
... the berries were too low to the ground last fall ... there's no bottom
to 'ere ... and the pessimistic list will go on .... excuses excuses ....
as if they know what they're talkin' about ... utter foolishness I
say. Pack your lunch, map and a compass and skidaddle!

Sea to Sea update!

2008-03-09T11:18:00.000-07:00

Sea to Sea to
Sea

I was checking the sea to Sea to Sea teams and
Wally Childs, Lorraine Dicks, Charles Cameron and Newman George ... might be
able to use a few more bodies to help them get to the Olympics if you do
not have a teams and would like to join the Flat-enders drop me a note and I
will try to negotiate a contract for you. I achieved some
very lucrative deals and I you might be rather pleased with the
deal I strike. Wally is the record keeper man with the BeaverTtail
Flatenders so have a chat with him ... teams can be a large as
8.

Thanks for participating, taking pictures and a bib gone missing!!!!

2008-03-09T11:14:00.000-07:00

Thank You to All Officials and
Participants at This years Marathon/Festival

A sincere thank you to 27 % of the membership who
participated in the Marathon and Festival. With 82 skiers from
Whaleback at the starting line, Whaleback certainly answered the call. Now
I am no mathematician, but when someone from Avalon asked me to do the math at
the banquet to see if Whaleback actually did win the Ernie Langins trophy
awarded to the club with the highest participation in the marathon, I
looked at them with that same look that your grade 6 teacher gave you
when you asked her if she knew what 3X3 was. So thank you, thank you,
thank you! This year's Marathon and Festival of Skiers was foremost a
"festival". Sure we had lots of fast skiers on the course, but we had
more recreational skiers, some doing short courses, some doing long
courses, some trying to fulfil a challenge, and some just going with the flow
and chatting with friends. In fact, there was more chatting done on the
trails than there were kilometres skied and that's saying a lot. In
my estimation, which is probably quite accurate, this was the biggest
marathon since Pasadena in 1979 so YOU accomplished a milestone. And
one last thing about Whaleback ... in addition to having 27% actually
skiing the trails, we had approximately 95% of the membership providing meals
for the banquet .... without the help of these members we could not
have fed the hungry army of famished skiers and friends who showed up at
Stephenville High. A sincere thank you to the banquet preparers, the
kitchen workers, Earl and gang who looked aftert the course, the inside and
the outside officials and every other cog in the wheel of success that I
missed.

Thank You to Photographers For Great
Snaps

Still on the marathon topic, thank you to Diane Hanratty,
Terry Hoddinott, Dan Rumbolt, Aiden Mahoney and Stephanie from the journalism
program at the college for the exceptional photographs that were
taken on the trails and and shared with the membership and friends of
Whaleback. Jack Lamond who is always volunteering to do one
thing or another has put a number of photos together in a poster format and we
are sending them out to clubs all across the province as a final thank you to
Colemans who sponsored this year's event. Have you looked in on
the website and had a peek at all the photos? We have had close to
10,000 hits on our website since Dec. and the numerous hits are directly
proportional to the time that Jack (and in house editor Diane) and
the rest of his elves put into it. And Daniel Rumbolt has become
the local RCMP on the trail, stopping everyone he sees and taking their
photo. Thanks to all for the promotion of skiing at Whaleback.

Looking for Bib
257

Bib 257 that was used in the marathon is missing and if anyone
knows where it is, please let someone at the chalet know. The bibs
are expensive ($20.) and are essential tools for hosting events, so have an
extra look around and see if we can find it.

Rumbolt Upset Again!!!!!

2008-03-09T10:40:00.000-07:00

Rumbolt Upset Again - Bungay Claims that He has a
Right to do Recitals when he Pleases - Fowlow to Rule!

Dan Rumbolt has taken his weapon of choice and has once again
recorded wrong doing at the chalet. I
can also verify that Rumbolt's photo accurately represents what Roy
Bungay has been up to when he is supposed to be performing his chalet
duties. Yesterday my dear wife phoned the chalet to see how
conditions were and the phone rang like it does when you phone Aeroplan on
a Friday after supper. Just as she was about to hang up, a very smug
Roy Bungay answered. "Hello, what da ya want? Don't you know I'm
practicing my violin!" said the very upset Bungay. Marjie although shocked
by Bungay's "hello ... how are you today", quickly asked for the latest
conditions which she abruptly received bfore Bungay bounced the black
telephone receiver off the rental closet wall. Fortunately, Rumbolt
was just getting off the trails with his trusty camera just after Bungay settled
into his practice and he was able to take a few snaps to verify Bungay
in action. I can assure you, that Bungay's errant behavior will be
discussed at the next executive meeting because this just can't be
tolerated. Now, there is no doubt that there is a positive side to
Roy's playing, because in talking to Linda, there hasn't been one mouse
sighted around the chalet since Bungay's solo recital. Even the
otter that was scampering across the trail a few days ago has gone missing and
was last seen by Jack Lamond bounding north just this side of Gallants.
Now Mr. Bungay ... it's alright to brings cookies, squares and cakes, but violin
recitals by the wood stove, save those for the kitchen party.

BUNGAY BUSKING!!!!!

2008-03-06T16:07:00.000-08:00

"Is that the Irish Washerwoman or Mr. Bungay???"
"When Irish eyes are smilin'..."
"Deed I am in love with you...out all night in da foggy dew!"
Rumbolt is not pleased about BUNGAY BUSKING at the chalet ... what next?
Ya don't see him doing it down around the curling club or the golf
course do ya! Rumbolt thinks that we're just too easy goin' . "Time
to put our foot down" ... says Dano.
What are your thoughts?

Well,
I don't know ..... it all depends on what he's playin...
I mean if he's good and all the proceeds go towards the
chalet then yes.....if he's tryin' to raise money for new
ski boots then that's another story.
I would have love to have been there when he was
playing.
I wonder could we hire him for Marigold's party on Sunday????
Jill

Bronze Medal for the Tom Cods!!!!! WOWOWOWOW

2008-03-06T08:05:00.000-08:00

Still glowing with the awarding of the Bronze medal? Silver on the horizon.

Our buddy Rick Hillier provided us
with submarine escort thru the Bering Strait...a secret passage that only
the Canadian Navy knows about. Don't tell members of other teams
especially those Lively Lobsters, .. scavengers.

If this adventure proves to be successful...lots of bonus kms!! This might
mean 5000km by Easter.

Will be in touch...probably by morse code.
TOM CODS

Final Salut

2008-03-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

Final Salut:

Hope you all arrived safe and sound after your
journey.

Folks, seldom have I been called
a self-promoter and such is not the intention with the attached
photo. But I could not resist the chance to send along this photo
that Aiden snapped of me as I rounded the turn atop Racer's Edge in yesterday's
marathon. Now if Aiden can make me look "half-descent" (thats a pun
... "decent" ... "descent" ... get it ... I am about to descend Racer's Edge ...
sorta sick really), then just think what he can do for you. Aiden
Mahoney has photos of the entire Coleman's Marathon Day... just go
into www.whaleback.ca and find the link under Marathon
'08 and you too may find yourself, or a friend in all
their glory. Aiden is selling the CD postage paid to you for
$12.00 ... just send him a cheque and he will send you the CD ... it is an
incredible souvenir of Marathon '08.

So the toe-boards have been picked up
and stories have been told of careening into the heavy timber coming
down the Rollercoaster, to the food you ate at the banquet, to the
friends you met and have not seen for years. The "marathon" is
my favourite event and while you may have enjoyed it, I and myy friends at
Whaleback enjoyed it even more. In case you haven't observed,
marathons are about the people ... the Dudley Wheeler's you say "Hi" to as you
pant your way up Heartrate Hill, the St. Anthony Gang whot tell you stories
of happenings in their club, the Avalon crowd who constantly kid us about taking
home ALL the hardware, the young Taylor boy (Jake) who tours the course
with his granddad Keith, the many BMD friends who come in to support and
play with us on a sunny afternoon, the ladies who come in from Port aux
Basques and spend the day with us, the parents of Natalie Chambers who
spend the afternoon in the chalet while Natalie scoots around the course
and come to the Kitchen Party, the Outfitter's Gang who have a
sleepover at the Whaleback chalet and are so appreciative of the
accommodation, the Kitchen Party players who play all night for nothing but the
enthusiasm shown by the crowd, the gals from Clarenville and their pals Pete and
Gary who were so spirited on the trail and at the Kitchen Partyt, the 73
year-old Earl Hunt who toooook charrrrge of the course and delivered it in
fine style ... amazing grooming from earl and Kenny, the timers and
Duke students who donated their time, the committees at Whaleback that
organized banquets, trail work and looked after all the details, the
crowd who came to tour the course recreationally and yes, the crowd of frsh
horses who came to race it. Although Whaleback was
indeed the host and were therefore required to work, we thoroughly enjoyed
it and it was a blast putting it on ... a pure joy ... the marathon rallies
our club together and the payoff both financially and socially is when 169
skiers come visit us and smile ... biiiiiiiiggggggg smmmmmmmillllllessssss ....
that last the entire day. So thank you all for coming ... Drop by
Whaleback anytime and ski the course for free if you are a member of any
CCNL club. As I said it's about the people ..... and You are one of those
people.

Thank you and I am sure we will cross lide
paths again another day.

Graham and the Happy Gang at
Whaleback

Question for the record book:

Who was the courageous soul who strategically
crashed between two huge birch trees after descending the small hill with the
turn at the bottom near the top of Hayes Hump? Who ever it was
deserves the Medal of Valour. The crater you left between the
trees took Kenny and the BR250 35 minutes to fill this morning and we would like
to send the bill for the extra diesel fuel consumed.
(Not)

The Marathon?????

2008-03-01T09:36:00.000-08:00

Hi folks ... just a short note while I await the
boiling of the steel cuts oats .... it is a gorgeous day and the temp has not
dipped to what it has supposed to have dipped ... well in KI Coountry it tells
me it is -11C ... no wind ... what a day to ski .... So what about all
opur wonderful Whaelbackers who are sitting home and still want to ski but do
not want to be in the festival? Welll the trails belong to you and
you have every right to go for a ski today .... Just gio up to the trails as you
usually do ... snap into your bindings and go for a ski ..... one word of advice
though ... follow the order that the course is laid out ... meaning Fox Trot in
reverse ..... don't worry about interfering with anything ... the marathon and
festival skiers are all organized and knwo where they are going so you
cannot intefere .... DO NOT AND I REPEAT DO NOT GO UP DEADLY DESCENT OR CARDIAC
CLIMB AS THERE WILL B E ABOUT 350 DESCENTS OF THIS HILL AND SOME WILL BE
COMING DOWN AT HIGH SPEEDS ..... just follwo the flow.

Hope you have a good ski and if you still want to
come and join the festival and get a bib just get up to the chaet before 10 or
so and we'll give you a bb and we might even look the other way and not charge
you a late fee ... I didn't realy say that cause it's a secret .

Steel Cut oats are ready.

Graham

The REAL PENTAGON!!!! (at Whaleback)

2008-03-01T09:27:00.000-08:00

"Yep, I think that's the place you sleep, looks cosy."
"Nice place for a great lunch."
the outside
Drying hats.
James writing on the wall...great signatures and pics on that wall.
Well, just to add a bit of information myself....for those skiers who have not yet made it to the pentagon. A few pics of a trip we took in with the kids. We are still aiming to bunk out there one night but as of yet we haven't done so. Great place to break and warm-up and have a cuppa tea and a piece of lassie bread.
JIll

Pentagon Covert Opeeration!!!!!!! (I had to put this one in)

2008-03-01T09:17:00.000-08:00

Now don't get me wrong!@ I am not doing a
Pentagon covert opeeration ... no I (forget "I" as that is a power peson
lne) yes we are looking for a person who is not skiing ithe marathon and
festival who woudl not mind being in aroudn the pentagon for a few hours on
Saturday morning. At present we have 3 Dukes in at the
pentagon to pas out drinks and I met with them at the school this
morning. On sat. at 9:45 a.m. Howard and Don Cormier will be
transporting them into the pentagon along with food and drink and Howard will
start the fire and settle them away for distributing drinks ... we would
however it would be good if we had a volunteer from the club or
outside the club to be with the Dukes to get them started ..... it has been my
experience that the Dukes have always performed well but sometimes they like to
have an aduklt at least at the start to assist. While I have a few other
aces up my sleeve ...I thought I would canvass the memebrship first to se if
there might be any takers out there who might like to ski into the pentagon
and be around for the first little while .... then later another
person who is just skiing the 13 km might ski in and have a cup of tea and watch
the action and provide assistance if necessary.

Maybe someone knows of a perosn who is not a
skier who woudl not mind spending half a day int he woods ...

As an old fella once said to me in the backwoods of
Glenncoe Mills, Cape Breton while we were mountain biking .... "Somethin' may
come etta 'er as he looked skyward with his hand well-positioned"
... only Dan Rumbolt knows the true context of thise words
...

Graham

Drop me a note if you have an idea
....

The Festival of Skiers Marathon Stuff!!!! (and for my blog fans)

2008-03-01T09:06:00.000-08:00

Hi folks;
I know information like this is a little late in coming to the blog but as I have been a very busy teacher this week,,,,with report cards coming up and the like I have not had a chance to get things on the blog.....sorry......but we HAVE to log all this wonderful stuff from Graham.....you know when someone uses such big words as copious and plethoria....we have to enlighten people with this intellectual stuff.....good for the brain....makes ya ski better.....
Enough from me!!!!

FROM GO
So yeah ... I took a lot of ribbing this evening
about the copious emails I have sending and apparently the emails have been
disrupting office work and doctors clinics right across this province and into
my native province of Nova Scotia ... but you know what, it worked!
Whaleback has surpassed 170 registrations and we will be hosting our
biggest marathon ever. Hot ticket, or what? We actually ran out of bibs and
had to bring out another series this evening. And what a wonderful grand
crowd we have. The chalet was abzzzzzzzz this evenign with
everything from ... "what's the wax?" to "what are you serving at your feed
stations?" ..... "Roast beaver b'ye ... what da ya think!!!"

At one point, Avalon even boasted that they won the
Ernie Langins in 2006 at the last Whaleback Marathon, and this remark
caused the entire Whaleback chalet to break out in spontaneous
laughter ... Imagine ... Avalon coming to Whaleback and trying to steal the
Ernie Langins trophy ..... BMD maybe, but our "Neighbours to the Far
East" ...." Acchun neigh Nout teagh" .... or as my mother would say
in Gaelic ... "Not going to happen!" Actually, to give Avalon
Nordic a greater chance this year we have even provided accomodation for an
entire van load of from te Outfitters on the floor of our chalet
.... it's called the "Big Sleep Over", but unfortunately not big
enough.

Now to details for anyone reading this email who
will be skiing tomorrow

1) If you register for a particular course and
then ski another please notify the finish bib recorder ... e.g. you register for
the 40 and ski the 20 ... well you are going to be embarrassed when you're
name is called called out at the banquet as the winner of the 40 ... because
your time will be a tad less that had you skied 40 ... well for some it might
not matter

2. There will be a photographer talking
photos all day on the coruse and aaround the chalet and he will be making up CDs
of his days work ... these cds will be available at the banquet for ordering ...
Aiden Mahoney is the photographer and he is an acclaimed photographer and has
even had Jack Lamond's derriere on the big screen in Time Square .... so if
you want photos of the day ask Aiden to send you a CD ... I think he said $12.00
and he will mail the disk ... what a deal ... He is MR. dependable and takes
great photos. You''lll see him all day around the course.

3) Tomorrow we will be playing Ivan White's
tunes before and after the marathon ... Ivan was an avid Whaleback skier
who was the best fiddler in Newfoundland, a title he claimed the in the
early 70s ... Ivan passed away in January and we really miss him .... so
tomorrow have a lively step when you hear Ivan playing ... he would
love for you to celebrate his music by doing a little jig ad he will be
with us in spirit

4) We have Search and Rescue providing
evacuation tomorrow and monitoring the course .... but we also live in the
cellular age so if you see an accident on the course and have a cell phone call
649-4000 Search and Rescue, or 643-9902 chalet for
help.

Gotta run ... someone told me that Shawn leamon
and Ian Hutchinson had a crowd of BMDers coming in over the Northern
flank and we have to head them off at Ro,maines Brook with more skiers from
the Whaleback rear phank. It's time to unite Whalebackers
..... still time to register if you dodge in tomorrow morning early..... we try
to please!
\Bib pick up starting at 9:00ish.

No editing as we got things to do and its
11:36

Graham

The Loppet RESULTS are in !!!!!

2008-03-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

BMD Loppet
Results

Don Cormier sent some photos below of the Loppet
Gang from Whaleback. Big thank you to all who came out for the
Loppet. The total kilometres that the 27 Whaleback
Wildcats skied was 691 which gave us third place, second place went to the
Loppet Ladies with 797 kms and they had four pages of names on their
registration sheet, and first place went to Gord Casey's BMD team with a total
of 850 kms. As I said to Gord Casey ... "just wait 'till next
year!" Great day and a wonderful turn out by everyone from both
clubs ... it was nice to share the wonderully groomed trails with our
"Neighbours to the North".

Jackrabbits Go Wild!!!

2008-02-20T17:03:00.000-08:00

Check out the
Jackrabbits

Hats off to the jackrabbits and their leaders this
year. John Deeley has set up a photo centre for the Jackrabbits so
check them out on the website ... lots of great action photos and even Don
Cormier made the action. Usually he's snoring on the couch in front of the
stove. Apparently they tried to lay him off as a leader and he insisted that he
couldn't be laid off because he was a volunteer ... so they kept him on ...
at least until the end of the season. So yes check out that
Jackrabbits and their leaders at www.whaleback.ca under the Jackrabbit
link. Thanks John and gang for all the great pictures! You've got
fans ...

Marathon Meal

2008-02-20T17:01:00.000-08:00

Someone May be Phoning You For A Marathon
Meal

No not a marathon meal .... but a meal for the marathon
banquet! The banquet committee will be phoning members looking for
food for the marathon banquet. Please be gracious with these humble
volunteers. And if you feel overwhelmed with commitments ... just say "NO, my
cupboard is bare!" ... that being said, according to the phoners I've
talked to, they are having wonderful success with soliciting food. We might
have leftovers for a year. And yes ... drop by the chalet for the left
over banquet on Sunday March 2 because the leftovers often get dropped at the
chalet. Dinner anyone on the 2nd .... might be a plan!

"IIIIII'MMMMM BACK"""" and other cries from Graham....

2008-02-20T16:59:00.000-08:00

Hi folks ... it's great to be back in snowland again and
rubbing shoulders with Whalebackers. By the end of the week, I
found that I was beginning to develop a southern Maine accent and although it
was very becoming to my image, I found it was a bit grand .. so back to the real
world. Lots of things going on at Whaleback so I will try to run
through what's happening and in that way you'll hopefully be
current.

Marathon and Festival of Skiers Just a Little
Over a Week Away

Do you know that the Coleman's marathon and Festival of
Skiers is just over a week away. Shockin' ... where has the time
flown? Whaleback needs as many skiers as possible to join up for the
marathon and festival of skiers. It is about participation and
celebrating fitness and fun and chatting and falling and getting up and having
stuff hanging form your ... sorry I can't get into that. suffice to
say that you should have a tissue in your pocket during the event.
Yes we want families and Jackrabbits and seniors and even people who wish to ski
the course for time. It takes all kinds to have a festival and each
and every member of our club has a place in the event. Details are
at www.whaleback.ca under Marathon
2008. I for one, am very concerned that we will have
the most prestigious trophy offered in the marathon stolen from us by
the crowd from St. John's or BMD, our Nefarious Neighbours to the North
(that's a joke guys ... no malice intended ... remmeber "we're the happy gang
and nefarious is a bad word ... means devilish or something like
that). The Ernie Langins Trophy is awarded to the club that can
recruit the largest number of participants and we NEED to win this
trophy. I'm a Fair Play ... non-competitive type of guy, but when it
comes to winning a trophy for participation I'm like a "mad dog on the beach"
... WE MUST WIN THIS TROPHY AND WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT! It would be
embarrassing to lose it to visitors. So come on out ... sign up for the marathon
at the chalet ... forms will be available tomorrow in the afternoon. Take
one home and fill it out and come to the banquet and also the Wicked Good
Kitchen Party in the evening. Hope to see you there!
Please said young Oliver: "Can I have more skiers at
the starting line?" (this line is an interpretation from Charles
Dickens of course)

Silent Auction!!!!! SSHHHH!!!

2008-02-19T16:31:00.000-08:00

President Fowlow Requests Donations for the
Silent Auction

Members are asked to donate suitable items for the
Silent Auction to be held in conjunction with the Greek dinner on February
23. The more novel the item the better: such as, Arts;
Crafts; curios you would like to be rid of but someone else might
treasure; exotic house plants, offers of services such as bridge lessons,
golf lessons, ski lessons, cooking lessons; ski equipment; your
prize "handmade" wine - you name it. Just contact Doug or
leave a note at the chalet by February 22 concerning the item. Thank you
for your support.

dougfowlow@persona.ca

Doug leadership is required here so I will step up to the
plate:

Graham's Group Skate Ski Lesson for up to 5
people

Beginner to Intermediate Level (2 hour duration) Great chance to
combine with three or four friends and pool your pesos to make
a bid.

This lesson is designed for skiers who have some ski experience and
who have made the investment in skate skis and would like to take their
skiing to the next level. You should have basic balance on your skis and
have at least some experience in classic, or skating technique. I will review
basic skating technique and work on points that will help you
improve your technique. It should be
fun!

Bridges Just Happen ... Not!!!

2008-02-19T16:24:00.000-08:00

Earl says: "Don, any fish in that brook?"
Don replies: "Sure are...let's cover 'em up and keep 'em safe 'til the season opens."
A job well done.
Here comes that big machine again.
A job well done.
After reviewing 99 emails upon my return from Maine, I thought it worthy
to forward these photos taken by Dan Rumbolt. Often we ski the trails
at Whaleback and think that things like bridges "just happen" . Let me
tell ya, without bridges it would be impossible to get around the ski
park. Members of the Tool Box Gang pay their annual fees like everyone
elese and then when help is needed, they fire up their snowmobiles and
powersaws and head out to get the job done. These photos were taken at
the base of Deadly Descent early last week when they gathered together
to replace a bridge that had been swept away in a flood last fall. I
was not present for the work party, but from the photo it looks like the
devotees included Dave King, Earl Hunt, Don Cormier, Howard Skinner,
Dan Rumbolt, Carter Powers and Kenny Young. They also went into the
"cut and slash" mode near Hayes Hump where they widened the trail and
prepared it for the BR-250. Big thank you to the diligent gang for their
generous work on behalf of the membership. Where would we be without
volunteers?

Good to be back,
Graham

PS Apparently once Don Cormier got down in the brook it was hard to get
him out as he wanted to go trouting ... what are we going to do with
him?

Trail work a success...once we got chief Don out of the
> brook....bridge done
> and Hayes Hump route widened....Welcome back Graham!!!
>

A Heroes Welcome for the Tom Cods!!!

2008-02-12T16:29:00.000-08:00

This came to me hot off the press anonymously........

A Heroes Welcome for the Tom Cods

During a recent press conference in Ottawa, Prime Minister Harper spoke sternly when he was responded “...when they arrive, we’ll be ready for them”. Was it an invasion of the body snatchers he was referring too? Was it fresh seal pelts from off the Labrador coast? No, it was those versatile Tom Cods who have made their way through unchartered waters, out of their spawning grounds on the way to Ottawa.

He continued and as he looked at the Commander In Chief of the Canadian Army, joked saying that “no longer do they have to fear trap or gill nets, Norwegian jiggers, skillets and deep frying fat”. We’ll welcome them with open arms. Both predicted their estimated time of arrival will be in Mid March, 2008.

How did they get so far without being scooped up by a deep sea trawler? To answer that CBC had to dig back in the early seventies and consult with retired Memorial University Professor, Dr. Kjell Nyborg. At that time Dr. Nyborg was a visiting Professor from Norway who taught Geography 3320, Land and Sea in The North, North Atlantic. He remembers Greg Noonan(Captain of The Tom Cods) who he describes as a very keen student who was fascinated with the ocean bottom. “He would spend hours analyzing the ocean floor graphing contours and the like...” He recalls one episode when he went missing for a 3 week period. His classmates thought he was at Big Bens, The Strand or Breeze way Bar. Dr. Nyborg replied that he was hid away in the bowels of the Temporary Buildings studying and analyzing the ocean bottom. Its no surprise to anyone how he’s leading his school of Tom Cods, against all odds, all the way to Ottawa.

Other students in his school deserve recognition. Noonan stated that its well known that Mike Benoit met Jill on the wharf in Burgeo...Mike was attracted to the fact that Jill, after catching her share of Connors and Sculpins, would release Tom Cods so that they would grow and develop. “Watching her release them would bring a tear in my eye”, he said.

General Rick Hillier guaranteed Naval Escort through the Great Lakes. He was quoted, “they made it so far, they’ll be protected the rest of the way”. Going back to his childhood, General Hillier vividly recalls catch and release programs introduced in Campbellton back in the late sixties. “We would spend each Saturday having fun along the sea shore. Barbless hooks would be used when hooking Tom Cods.

Through it all, Noonan shrugs off any credit for taking the Tom Cods so far. He says it simply team dynamics. “Our school consists of members spread over the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. We have members from Eastern , Central, Southern, Western Newfoundland and along the Labrador coast. All bases are covered. With such a diverse group, maneuvering to Ottawa should not present a concern.”

Anonymous

WILDCATS PREPARING FOR THE LOPPET!!!

2008-02-10T17:35:00.000-08:00

Wildcats Preparing for the Loppet in
Corner Brook

There seems to be a crowd of wildcats preparing for
the fun loppet in Corner Brook at BMD of the 23 ... the same day
as the Greek Dinner. Last year we packed 40 people into cars and headed off for
a day skiing on the BMD trails and lost the BMD Cup by a layer of glide wax
(glide wax is thinner thatn grip wax). Now we know there is
NO more controversy over this deal with our Neighbours
to the North ... it has all been kiss and make up and we should go in there and
show them all the spirit of cooperation that we espouse (nice word). The
deal goes like this ... ski as many kms as you want and you get points for the
Wildcats for each km you ski ... I think that's how it works ... and if our
club skis a pile of kms we win the loppet ... so you can be slow, fast, in
between ... It's all about participation and healthy living. I did say
that it stared at 1:30 and I also said we had a Greekl dinner that evening, so
some skiers said to me ... why not sneak in and start at 12:30 and arrange
to be back at the start of the loppet for 1:30 so that we can hug all the BMD
members who are there at the start and then we can head off again. This is
a real sneak attack because we will already have hundreds of kms logged by the
time the start gun blasts "Allez!" at 1:30 .. all legal and withiin the
rules of Fair Play. We can then leave early so that we are back to
time to eat "Slouvakkkkkkiiiiieee" or how ever ya spell it. Check
Wildcat sign up sheet at chalet ... I think Carter Powers will put one up or
Howard or some other volunteer ... check it out and remember this is
non-competitive in nature and you get to ski another trail system.

I'm outta here ... cause I'm getti' too
foollish

Graahm (spell check ran only once but no
readover so what you get is what ya can decifcwer

Marathon WICKED GOOD KP!!! Unplugged

2008-02-10T17:32:00.000-08:00

Marathon Wicked Good Kitchen Party to be
Unplugged

Due to the rave reviews of our last Kitchen Parrty,
the Wicked Good Ktichen Party after the maathon on March 1 will remain and
unplugged event. In chatting with Howard Larade and a number of other
members we decided not to take a crescent wrench to an already perfectly
running engine. The last KP was very spontaneous and it was generally
felt that the spontanaity would be lost if we had one that was amplified ... so
make sure you make the wicked good one after the marathon .. it will hopefull y
be a treat and we are asking all musicians and voices to rally for this event
... there are lots out there ... Brian Delaney, Dave Joseph, Karen,
Howie may be returning ...we hope .. and the Kippers have been hosue favourities
so we hope their melodic (nice word eh) voices will join in ... Sea Wind can
ceratinly take the roof off a KP ... well the list goes one ... we
have other musicians of note ... but as the saying goes No Pressure .... if
people are prsree you fail to have spontanity ... so it may be Graham and Dan
pounding on a pot ... now that would be deafening. More on this later ...
but wanted to relay the decision on format early. TIme to start
practising Barett's Privateers ... I found that I drifted off on the
chorus when Howie was belting 'er out last week .. "Oh the year was
1778, how I wish I were in Sherbrooke now ...." Maybe
Sandy Archibald will come .. he's from Boye ston, Guysborough Count or
somewheres on the St.Mary's River near Sherbrooke .. in fact I think he's a
privateer ... no it's a police man .. that's what he was ... Well same thing ..
they're all commisioned by the queen.

Chowder Wins the Day!!!!

2008-02-10T17:28:00.000-08:00

Mary Pond's ... Sorry "Lake's" Chowder
Wins the Day .. Marjie's Chili takes the Blue Ribbon

Mary Lake made a wicked pot of chowder and her
donation was accompanied by a can of apricot biscuits so she
took first place in the chowder competition today. Of course, I was
partial to my dear wife's chilli and had two bowls of Marjie's fabrication
and she was awarded the blue ribbon in that category. But I had two
of Mary POnd's oh Lake yes larger body of water .. apricot
biscuits. Diane Hanratty took the gold medal in the turkey
soup category last week and the awards keep flying out the chalet door with
every pot that comes in over the threshold. Thanks to all for their
generous donations ... maybe we can have cooking listed under the
Hobby Courses that president Fowlow will be coordinating at the
chalet.

Tickets for Greek Dinner Going Fast

2008-02-10T17:26:00.000-08:00

Tickets for Greek Dinner Going Fast -
But More Left Bring Friends

I was chatting with Linda today and tickets are
pretty well gone at the chalet, however I emailed Shawn to try and get more out
to the chalet. Debbie at the Video Shop has sold 20 and has some on hand
so you can walk in and pick up tickets there. Hopefully there will also be
more on hand at the chalet. Yesterday, I asked people to try and get their
friends to come ... Well Ralph and Judy Payne took it literally and went out and
sold 6 more tickets to their friends. What members they are!
The more tickets sold, the more money we make ... so if you have friends, bring
'em along. Remember tickets on hand at Debbie's and hopefully
some at chalet tomorrow.

Masters Attracts Friendly Group

2008-02-10T17:23:00.000-08:00

Masters Attracts Friendly
Group

Day one of the Masters went extremely
well. They are indeed a fine group to work with. Being an
official in a avriety of sports, I have had my days when officiating was a
less than rewarding experience. The times when parents would come up at
the Provincials and display their disgust because a moose crossed the trail in
front of their son and that resulted in Johnnie losing 3 seconds off his
precious time and he came in 17th instead of 16th. Well, that never
really happened in cross country, but in other sports crazy things have occurred
and officiating can be challenging. But with the masters, you just
throw the names on a sheet, get come great helpers like Guy Roy, Jim Gallant,
Bert Young, Earl Hunt, Jim , Dave, Georgina and some Duke students ... ask
everyone to more or less seed themselves ... yell "Allez!" and they
all head out and come back like a cow at milking time. And they say: "What
a great day to be alive ..beautiful trail ... what a great course ... it
was a great ski!" Yes, the masters was wonderful today and tomorrow will
attract more skiers and it will be even a better event, if that is
possible. After the races today I was chatting to Bruce who is the
originator of the Masters and is responsible for it as an annual event at
Whaleback and we discussed how the Masters is a big fundraiser for
the club and will put approximately $400. (minus some expenses) in the coffers
of Whaleback Nordic. Maybe we should be advertising it as
a

NL Cross Country Ski Masters Championships

and Whaleback Fundraiser

Not being a competitive racer myself, I must say it
was enjoyable to be on the course today and feel the blood pumping again ... and
when Carter Powers passed me I said to myself this is indeed a friendly
competition and off I went in hot pursuit .. and then Stephen Penney said
move over ... for a while I felt like a long wide load on the TCH .... But it
was indeed fun and when I crossed the finish line and saw all the smiling faces
complete with dripping noses and heard all the congratulatory salutations .. I
said yeah .. it's a nice day to be celebrating fitness. So tomorrow I'm in
the line-up again .. watch out Carter and Steve Penney and Jack White and Bruce
Le Grow ... Where is Alf Parson at a time like this when you get all fired
up? Paul Green will be but a distant memory in my review mirror tomorrow
... oh how trash talk is just so much fun when you don't really mean it in a
serious way. From the back of the pack ... GO

(Maybe I'll have Jackie Le Grow in my sights
tomorrow ... no she's much tooooooo fast ... Earl Hunt ?
Doug Fowlow? ..... We'll see. If there are any more would-be
participants out there you can drop me a note. I'll put you
in the line up .. even tomorrow morning. We're the Happy gand
remember. Start time is 11:00 tomorrow and we will be finished by 12:00
... members don't shy aeway come ski when you want the coourse is open as per
usual.

Moores Has Pen in Hand

2008-02-10T17:21:00.000-08:00

Moores Has
Pen in Hand

Due to all the
kafuffle(hard word to spell) about the volunteers at the chalet and their
waywardness ... or lack of on-task diligence ... or turning their attention to
other joys .... or ... well lets say there is more going on at the chalet
with the volunteers that slinging wood and writing day passes and this has got
the membership in an uproar. Rumbolt is in hiding ... Roseann Ploughman
who moved to Stephenville to relax in her retirement has stopped the quilt
production line that she had commisioned to raise funds for the club along with
Anne-Marie ... and now Wallace Moore's threatens to pick up pen and assault
the lanky Rumbolt. Wallace said, "Dan's too big to
tackle physically, so I may use my pen instead." President
Fowlow came to me just after the Masters today and he said "he don't know
what to be doing". (excuse the insertion of "don't" for "doesn't" but like in
good country and western songs, it just don't fit) ... Yes, Fowlow is in a
quandary. You see Rumbolt is in the tool box gang so he has currency
in the volunteer department. Wallace and Roaseann and Anne Marie are
also dedicated givers of time to the ski club so who does Fowlow side
with. He's dam ... (opps can't say that word) ... yes he is in a pickle
which ever way he turns. The only thing Fowlow can think of is to move
back into his old position as college president and have the chalet offer
community education programs. Like the ones that use to be offered when
Ros Churchill was in that department. Howard Skinner could teach
rabbit skinning as his name notably illustrates the skills he possesses,
the quilters are shoo-ins, Bob Whalen Hheavy Equipment as Rumbolt indicated,
Pete Sutherland science for retirees, Jack Lamond Small Engine Repair
.... Dan could combine with Sarah White and do conversational French ... on
second thought we best leave Dan out of it as he's caused enough racket as
it is ..... the list of courses offered could be long and varied.
Hopefully Wallace will not be too hard on Dano ... he's a good man with a shovel
...

Graham ...hmmm and Rolland could do prospecting, Don
Cormier and Ralph Payne Powerlifting, Bert Young Bike repair, Doug Fowlow Motor
cycle maintenance, Georgina could do "Getting the most out of your hair" for
balding men like me ... oh I can't stop .. the courses just keep flowing in ..
after another ski dan and i might have a full roster

Ploughman Responds to Rumbolt's Criticism!!!!!

2008-02-10T17:19:00.000-08:00

Ploughman Responds to Rumbolt's
Criticism - President Fowlow Upset That We Will Lose
Money

Roseanne & Anne-Marie's
Email

"Hi Graham,I'm
writing to ask you to pass my apologies on to Dan. You see Anne-Marie and I had
planned on doing 3 or 4 quilts in our spare time (when we're not on duty of
course) and raising around two or three thousand dollars for Whaleback (we had
already arranged for tickets to be sold province wide and the demand for our
handiwork was phenomenal) but since neither of us have the heart to upset Dan we
scrapped the whole idea and called off all the plans. Who knows, maybe the
Curling Club may use our donations....Happy skiing
Rosann & Anne-Marie"

MONDAY MORNING WORK PARTY!!!!

2008-02-09T11:24:00.000-08:00

Work Party Monday Morning at 9:00
a.m.

You may have noticed that a big culvert has been
removed from the bottom of Deadly Descent. On Monday morning Earl
and Howard and the rest of the tool box gang will be heading in to build a
bridge over the brook where the culvert was located. They
will also look at widening the section of trail between the exit
of Oliver's Twist and up Hayes Hump to the taril joins Abbey
Road ... some widening has to be done on this section of trail to get the BR250
through, but most of it is good. I think it is a work party in the
morning and a ski party in the afternoon. While I cannot make the
gathering, I will be with them via satellite and making sure that Howard "two
features" Skinner files a full report. I find that if Earl and Don C and
Dan R are left alone they sometimes leasn on the shovels, so Howard has been
given leadhand responsibilities. And Howard will have his hands full
because they've hired on Dave King for Monday so he has given Howard added
responsibility. Dave is still classed as a novice even though he has
thirty years experience looking after the hydro lines in the
province. Equipment: .. shovels, axe, powersaws, pickaxe, and
a comedic attitude.

Graham

GROUP PHOTO!!!!!!

2008-02-09T10:49:00.000-08:00

Group Photo of Whalebackers- Sunday at
1:33 p.m. - Spread the Word

On Sunday at 1:30 ish we would like to get a
group photo just prior to the start of Jackrabbit with all the kids and
families and retirees and actually all members
of Whaleback. We will put Whaleback bibs on and the kids
can hold the new Coleman's Marathon banner (presently hanging in the
chalet) up in front of the enthusiastic crowd. If you can make it ...
we would love to have you in the photo ... the Western Star loves to have
people in their photos and I would like to show them that we are excited about
hosting this year's Marathon and Festival of Skiers ... remember, it's a
festival so Whalebackers must be festive.

"DIRTY BLESSED ANTI-BLEEDIN!!" Volunteers

2008-02-09T10:41:00.000-08:00

More Problem with Volunteers ... usually Daniel Rumbolt is soft spoken
and seldom gets upset, but apparently the volunteers at Whalebback have
gone tooooooooooo far. He is fed up with it and the opther day when we
were skiing the Barveheart, just before running free straight down
Sleepy Connock he broke the news to me. "Graham I would appreciate it
if you would bring up this issue about the volunteers at the executive
meeting on Monday evening.." And on he went on a rant like I've never
seen since a aldy put a head lock on him at the marble Mountain square
dance and tried to haul him into a square set. Rather than summarize is
reason ioof discontent, I thought I would forward Dan's distress in it's
original format (below) for all to enjoy. It's a hoot!

Graham

"Graham .....I don't use this expression unless things get desperate...
(I think the last time was when I got caught for 5 hrs in kayak with no
place to land but I gotta say it again...DIRTY BLESSED ANTI-BLEEDIN!!
Graham..it's hard to believe but again I got proof. Just look at this
pic. See these ladies and all those little pieces of cloth?Guess what?
Anne Marie White is giving QUILTING lessons while she's volunteering as
chalet attendant!! What's this...Whaleback Quilting Bee..Hookers Haven??
ALSO..Mr. Steve Penney has MacLean's Magazines,Independent and Globe and
Mail newspapers. all over the chalet...a proper Reading club. AND Shawn
o Keefe was on duty a couple days ago doing CROSSWORD PUZZLES and
soliciting answers from people. NOW..I hear Howard Skinner might be
giving French lessons and Lord only knows what Wallace Moores got up his
sleeve. OH Yes...yesterday I saw my fellow volunteer Robert Whalen
studying all the manuals for the big groomer....Probably thinkin' of
offering a heavy equipment maintenance course!! And I saw Rona and Ellen
speaking in hushed tones the other day...up ro something also, I bet.
Graham boy, what happened to sellin' day passes and stokin' the stove?
Just think of the pressure it puts on "normal" volunteers tryin to offer
these "extras'. I have this fear of sitting diligently behind the desk
with pen in hand and someone arriving and wondering why there's nothing
going on at the chalet. Graham...put out a call...we need more
volunteers. Normal,regular ones that follow the rules and only do
required tasks.Enought of this "Above and Beyond the Call of Duty"!!
The war is over sure!"

Distressed Dan

Lost Grip!!!! Pretty Scary Stuff!!!!!!

2008-02-08T05:39:00.000-08:00

Missing Item: News Bulletin .... Brian Dunphy has
lost his grip. Brian Dunphy left his wax belt on the ski rack at
the chalet on Sat. at the Snowy Owl Classic. he only realized that
he was missing it a week later. The fanny pack has not turned up at
the chaet ... I f anyone picked it up by mistake or knows where it is
please let Brian know or drop me a note. The belt is black and
orange and has about $100. worth of wax in it. And Brian
is really scared that I will overtake him on the hills if he doesn't get it
back, so please rush to Brian's rescue.

Off to hockey, GO

Marathon Meeting :)

2008-02-06T13:11:00.001-08:00

Marathon meeting went Very
Well

Lots of volunteers for the marathon ... but we are
still looking fro a few officials. If you know of a person who does not
ski and who would not mind recording skiers as they come across the finish line
... just let me know. Might also need a few souls working in the
kitchen .... another few here and there. One request that was made earlier
by potential entrants was a tour of the course for participants unfamiliar
with the course. We are also trying to get as many young people from
the club involved in this event as possible. It was also suggested that
our recreational skiers try to set an objective of skiing a course that is a
challenge for them. It could be a 5 km course or 11 km or even a 20
km. Do I hear 40 km? Earl Hunt (in charge of trails) said that we
will have signage for the Marathon and Festival of Skiers up early and
people will be able to ski the trails in advance. More later.
Oh yes ... calling committees have been put in place to call members and ask
them for food donations for the "marathon banquet" ... now that's not a three
day meal, it is a meal after a long ski.

CCNL TICKETS!!! Get them! Great Prizes

2008-02-06T13:08:00.000-08:00

Noonan Advise that CCNL Fundraiser
Tickets Are all Out

Greg Noonan is coordinating our CCNL
draw. The tickets are all out in the hands of the members so as the
saying goes, the success of the fundraiser is in your hands. Mine are
sitting on the my desk immersed in molasses in hopes that when I do submit
them for the draw, that the tacky tickets will stick to the fingers of the
person draawing the ticket. These tickets have to be
turned in before the Marathon ... so don't loose them .. what a
condescending lecture .. asif I was your Mom.

SKI WITH THE MASTERS!!!!!!!

2008-02-06T12:59:00.002-08:00

Masters On Sat. and Sun ... Don't Worry
... Come Skiing ... The races Over at 11:50 a.m each
Morning

Do not alter your ski plans because of the Masters
being on this weekend. Sometimes people get scared away when they hear
that events are going on at Whaleback. Don't worry about the Masters ...
come ski your favourite course. The Masters races start at 11:00 a.m. on
Sat and Sun. It is a mass start so once the skiers leave the chalet,
they will proceed around their course and be back in at the chalet within 50
minutes, most within 34 minutes. And the it's over. Because we are
grooming for a classic event on Saturday, we ask members not to skate in
the classic tracks that will be set for the start of the race. Six or
eight classic tracks will be set in the stadium area by the chalet and then we
will have three set out as far as the Fox Trot/Raven';s Ridge intersection ...
after that it is regular grooming. If you still want to join in the races
there's still time, just drop Bruce a note. Cost is $20. to join
Masters Assoc. and $10. per race.

Greek Dinner

2008-02-06T05:48:00.001-08:00

Greek Dinner at College ... Tickets are
Flying Out the Chalet Door

If you're are interested in the Greek Dinner at the
college, then you should act soon as the tickets are flying out of the envelope
faster that Arctic Hare that scrambled off
down the North Rim when we rolled a boulder at him on a 1992 Hiking trip in Gros
Morne ... man you wanted to se that animal scamper. Ya see ... oops back
to the subject. Yes tickets are going fast. Drop me a note with the
number you need ... I'll forward your ticket request to Shawn Tilley ... Shawn
will put your name on a spread sheet .... you will pick them up at the chalet
... and that's "EAT". The cost is $30. a couple. Members have been
given advance notice, but the public will soon come in and grab 'em up because
this is a deal. There is also a silent auction at 6:30
and meal is at 7:00. If you have a donation ofr the auction please make it
known. A few Ken Danby originals would be a fine donation .... maybe
a Chris Pratt, or Blackwood orignial would be a fine donation.
Whatever you can spare.

Trail Conditions Wed Feb 6th.......

2008-02-06T05:47:00.000-08:00

Conditions: Weds. Feb 6th,
2008

All the trails are in excellent condition with the
exception of Chickadee Hollow which has base prep done to it and therefore
needs 5 -10 cm of snow (which has been ordered and is being delivered
today) to give it a fresh coat of paint. I skied Hayes Hump and the Roller
Coast section of Chickadee yesterday and it has turned out very
well. More work on widening this trail will be done on Monday and
work will also be done at the base of Deadly Descent in preparation fro the
Festival of Skiers/Marathon. Brave Heart has a great base and
is a Must Ski. Rona O'Gorman skied it yesterday and she told me it was
"wonnnnnnnddddderffulll". Kenny did a great job of flattening
it down and overnight it would have set up like a pan of curdled cheese in
Hughie R.s basement. Sorry folks just went back to my haymaking days
down in Judique and Braveheart has nothing to do with Judique, but then again
the movie Braveheart is about the Scots and Hughie R Graham was a fine Gaelic
speaker and of Braveheart ilk so.... oops. I'm digressing again! Yes the
trails are fine ... get out and ski them ... tell Kenny he's doing a great
job when you see him.

Tribute to a Good Friend and a Great Fiddler!

2008-02-05T13:22:00.001-08:00

Ivan playing the fiddle at a Folk Night in Black Duck Brook in October 2007.

When I first moved to Stephenville in 1975, Ivan White was already a renown
fiddler. His music was regularly featured on CFSX and he could often be heard
playing at concerts, festivals and gatherings. Although I became familiar with
Ivan�s music, I never really got to meet the man behind the bow until one day I
came across him in the woods near the Whaleback. I was hunting ski trail and he
was hunting firewood. It took us little time to get introduced and as soon as he
found out that I was from Cape Breton, needless to say, the conversation became
focussed on Scottish fiddling. Gerry Holland, Buddy Mac Master, Angus Chisholm,
Dan R. MacDonald, Bill Lamey, Winston Scotty Fitzgerald, Natalie Mac Master,
were all his favourites and we were soon trading stories about the great Cape
Breton fiddlers who he held in such high esteem.
But I didn�t really get to know Ivan until Marg encouraged him to take up
skiing. Marg had been a dedicated member of Whaleback Nordic for years and one
day Ivan decided to join her on the trails. Ivan certainly gave cross country
skiing more that try! Before long he was a regular at Whaleback. I would often
meet him coming in off the trails. He would have just finished a 10 or 15 km
tour and with cheeks all flushed and a spring in his step, he looked the picture
of health. One day in particular sticks in my mind when I met Ivan on the narrow
path that leads from the chalet to the parking lot.
I was dodging along slowly with head down and I heard this enthusiastic
greeting as we approached, "Graham, when�s the next Kitchen party? You make sure
you give me a call and I�ll come up and play for you! Now don�t forget, let me
know!" Well as it turned out, he never got to play for the next kitchen party
because Ivan and Marg had to go to Port aux Basques to look after their
grandchildren. While he did miss last year�s kitchen party, I have fond memories
of Ivan and Tommy playing long medley�s of toe-tapping tunes at the chalet. In
fact, one night we had the privilege of having him play for an old fashioned
square set. It was indeed a treat and the energetic dancers were worn out long
before the accomplished left-handed fiddler surrendered his bow.
In September, Dan Rumbolt and I were kayaking along the south coast and we
paddled into Grand Bruit to spend the night. After setting up camp we drifted up
to Cram-A lot-Inn, a little plywood shed where the men in the community gathered
to chat and discuss the topics of the day. As soon as we entered the narrow door
a friendly voice called out, "Have a seat boys! Where ya from?" When they found
out that we were from Stephenville, this fellow asked, "Do you know Ivan White?"
And so the conversation continued, about Ivan White the fiddler, the sailor who
he had travelled the world, the skier, the family man who loved his
grandchildren, the story teller and the good friend.
Several days after returning from our south coast paddle, I met Ivan and Marg
at the Co-op and I told him that we had met his good friend Gerry Billiard when
we were in Grand Bruit. He was so excited that we had met his sailing buddy he
could hardly contain himself. "So you met my old sailing buddy Gerry! I must
give him a call as soon as I get home," said Ivan as we parted.
Family and friends were extremely important to Ivan and he was blessed with
many. Tonight we�ll be having a Kitchen Party at the chalet. Ivan will not be
there ... his friends at Whaleback will dearly miss him.

Graham

Mish Mash of Info!!!!

2008-02-05T05:47:00.001-08:00

Check out slideshows of Kitchen party and
Snowy Owl Classic in the photo albums at www.whaleback.ca ... What a job Jacko has done!
- Blow-Me-Down Loppet is Feb. 23 and we
will try to get the Whaleback Wildcats on the go so get
ready to sign up .... we may be victorious this time.
- Introduce a friend to skiing at
Whaleback ... great way to increase our numbers while at the same time
encourageing Healthy Active Living.
- Whaleback couple of the week goes to John Felix and
Alice Critchley ... these folks never stop ... Great to see folks ...
you are a wonderful addition to WB
- Winner of the 50/50 Draw was Susan Green. This
was drawn at the ktichen party. Carter has more tickets for the next one
to be drawn at the next KP Mar 1
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Trail Conditions Tuesday, Feb. 5th,
2008

I did not get to chat to Kenny before he went to bed ... he is
an early to bed sort of guy, but I assume he will groom all the trails with the
BR250. Hopefully we will have sufficient fuel to complete a round of
grooming. It is a good day forecast for tomorrow, but it looks like we
might get a dump on Weds. Thurs. We will try to get Barveheart
back in business soon, but we may have to wait until after the big snow
fall.

View from the Whaleback Febraury 5/2008
by
Graham Oliver

Launch of Sea to Sea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-02-05T05:44:00.000-08:00

Whaleback has launch of Sea to Sea to Sea on
the Natinal site .. check out the officiial launch of Whaleback Sea to Sea
to Sea at www.whaleback.ca under Sea-to-Sea tab. The
link will take you into the national site. We're not only famous in Noel's
Pond you know? Even in Ottawa they recognkize Whaleback. I
have been assisting Bruce Le Grow, our club coordinator, in trying to get
teams formed ... still room for more ... chat with Bruce about getting your team
formed ... contact him bruce.legrow@nf.sympatico.ca

Want an exquisite meal prepared by a chef at CONA?

2008-02-05T05:42:00.000-08:00

You want a rest from cooking and be able to sit down
to an exquisite meal prepared by a chef at CONA? Just read what
President Dougie has laid out for ya!

From the President's
Desk: Co-sponsored Fundraising Dinner at CNA

Whaleback Nordic and the College of the North
Atlantic's cooking students' association have teamed up to offer Whaleback
members and the general public an opportunity to sample some Greek cusine at a
dinner on Saturday evening, February 23, 2008 at 6:00
pm.

The meal will be at the College Dining Hall and
will be a buffet with a range of food and deserts with a Greek theme - even if
we are in the midst of enjoying a Newfoundland winter and skiing our heart's
out, there's no reason we should not enjoy a taste of Greece, the warm sun on
the Mediterrean sands, the perfume of the olive groves and the lively
dancing. (some imagination required!).

Seriously folks. A great opportunity for
a different food experience, a dinner out and an opportunity to replentish our
groomer maintenance funds so we can continue to keep our trails in the great
shape to which we are acustomed. There will also be an assortment of
items of interest for sale by silent auction during the
dinner.

Tickets are $15.00 each and are
limited in number. They will be available
to the general public at Debbie's Video from Friday, the 8th to Friday
15th, BUT as a Whaleback member you can reserve yours in advance by return email
to : g.oliver@nf.sympatico.ca; or shawn.tilley@cna.nl.ca. Reserved tickets will have to be
picked up by February 15.

Note: From your scribe ... I have not contacted fDebbie yet,
so please delay from going to Debbie's looking fro tickets until I (GO) checks
with her. Just a little note though about this dinner ... we believe
that tickets will go as fast as Danny Gallant going down racer's Edge after
a sleet storm, so reserve your tickets ASAP by dropping Shawn, or me a
note. Tickets will definitely be at the chalet ... correct
Shawn?

Marathon Meeting Tues. at 7:30 - 8:30 HELP!!!!!!!

2008-02-05T05:38:00.000-08:00

Imagine you could be making something like this and people could enjoy it!
Marathon Meeting Tues. at 7:30 - 8:30
(tonight) and Masters Meeting to Follow .... HELP! HELP! HELP!
HELP!

Woooooh! Do I need members help, or what, at
getting the Coleman's Marathon and Festival of Skiers off the
ground! March 1st is not far away and there is lots to be done!
I have just moved into high gear in the organizational department and
when that happens I surround myself with paper and post-its and I feel a
throbbing adrenalin rush. The gears are shifting! There are banquets to
arrange, food to organize, timers to assign, people to pass out drinks
required,as are bib passer-outers and picker-uppers, finish line
recorders , people to help inthe ktichen, controllers to stand by at
the pentagon, helpers to get the trails prepared, helpers to set up the stadium
area, helpers with registration, etc. etc. etc. Will it all be
done? Of course! This is Whaleback we're talking about and with
great confidence, I can say that people will jump right in to help.
Please rest assured that no one will be assigned more than they can
manage. But many hands can make light work. If you see any job
you would like to help out with, please let me know or show up at the meeting at
the chalet tomorrow (Tues.) night at 7:30. All Masters interested in
helping out with the masters event on this coming weekend, or registering for
the event, are encouraged to come to the masters meeting at 8:30
p.m.

One other note on the marathon ... Marjie and I are going to
start the list for main dish donations for the marathon and the
dish is going to be:

1. Graham and Marjie - Chicken
Dish
Anyone wishing to make a donation drop me a note and I will
add it on to the list ... nothing like being the first kid on the block to
donate .... if I can catch a few rabbits or a partridge, I may change ours
to a wild game dish. For the new people who don't know what I'm
talking about, members are encouraged to donate a main dish to the banquet after
the marathon and Whaleback makes the money from the banquet. So
members usually help out by making a donation ... and I can only catch so many
rabbits and partridge, so we need help!
GO