Author: Tyneside Loipers

-We are holding our usual end of season get together on 14th May - this year hosted by Mike Hall and his wife Sally in Darras Hall. Full details are coming out by email. Please contact Mike to let him know you are coming and to give him an idea of what food you will bring along. The usual plan is that the club provides the wine and members contribute with food of some kind (savoury or sweet). Come and join us - find out what others have been doing over the winter, catch up with the slideshow (anything to do with cross-country and telemark skiing) and talk about what we might be doing over the summer and next winter. Hope to see you there!

Tyneside Loipers are again hosting this weekend of roller ski coaching at Hetton Country Park near Durham. There will be at least 3 ability groups (probably 4) from beginner to advanced, with coaching from SSE-qualified coaches, led by ex-Olympic athlete Patrick Winterton. Hetton Country Park has a 1.8km tarmac track which encircles a large lake and includes two short hills for more experienced skiers and gentle terrain for beginners. Participants will improve their cross-country ski technique (classic and skate), gain confidence for skiing on snow, pick up loads of helpful training tips, and just have a fantastic time. You can also chose to put your new-found skills to the test in the Saturday afternoon race. Martin Watkins at Hetton in 2018 - 'classic' technique Mantas Strolia in 2017 demonstrating Skate…

Skiing from Mistaya Lodge in 2015 Eight Loiper members are signed up for the Mistaya Lodge trip next March, returning to one of our favourite wilderness lodges in the Canadian Rockies. A number of us were there in 2015 for a wonderful week of guided ski touring - some of us on telemark skis and others on alpine touring gear. Mistaya Lodge is accessed by helicopter from the town of Golden in BC. Once at the lodge we are looked after by a resident cook and two guides who are well practised in finding the best skiing terrain, usually with fresh untracked snow every day. Some days we will be skinning up the nearby peaks and skiing down from the summit. On other days we will be skiing in the…

Loipers Peter and Alison Aldred are the first this winter to get some local skiing. They skied today up from the Durham/Cumbria county border between Alston and Middleton in Teesdale. There was only a thin snow covering but, with a cloudless sky and no wind, it was almost a perfect day! Photos look great (see below).

Good luck to Mike Hall who is heading to Switzerland in March for his debut (Engadin) ski marathon. Mike is doing a few days of training before the race with Alan Eason (a senior coach with Snowsport England) and was heard getting tips from Heather at the New Year Meal on Thursday! Alasdair will be competing in the World Masters Cross Country Ski Championships at Beitostolen in Norway (60-plus age category). Alasdair will be racing 3 or 4 events (classic and skating) up to 30km distance. He is no stranger to the World Masters and has competed most years at venues over Europe and N America. Good luck to Alasdair and the rest of the team.