Tyneside Loipers – Tyneside Loipers

23Jan 2019 by Tyneside Loipers

The snow has arrived at last

News

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).

12Jan 2019 by Tyneside Loipers

Dec 2018 – Telemark skiing in Val d’Isere

Winter 2018-19

Val d'Isere in December - great snow, lovely scenery, six telemarkers Six keen telemark skiers went to Val d'Isere in mid December and had a fantastic week of freeheel skiing with Ben Langridge from Telemark Tracks. Loipers (Tim and Penny, Steve and Alan) were joined by friends Ros and Mark plus a friendly Scot who we met in the resort. The coaching from Ben was excellent - 'The best I have had' (Alan). We were all skiing much better by the end of the week (style, confidence, etc) but maybe a bit more practice is needed for skiing off-piste. The major breakthrough which we all made was to start the turn before the lead change. Easier said than done, but it can hugely improve your skiing. Tim Owen telemarking in…

12Jan 2019 by Tyneside Loipers

Mike and Alasdair are both heading for Cross Country Ski Marathons in March

News

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.

19Nov 2018 by Tyneside Loipers

Canoeing on Ullswater – Nov 2018

Summer 2018

Tyneside Loipers have had a good summer - not just roller skiing, but also walking on Hadrian's Wall, a couple of mountain biking trips, a day out on tandem bikes and two Canadian canoe trips. After a fabulous sunny evening in July, with 15 of us paddling up the Tyne from Newburn to Wylam, we had a slightly more challenging trip last weekend on Ullswater. Twelve intrepid Loipers launched from Oldchurch Bay and paddled against a strong southerly breeze all the way to the ferry landing at Aira Point, a little over 3 miles distant. We rafted up part way down the lake and Alan and Mark swapped over with Jane and Jane to even out the paddling power. After a pleasant stopover in the NT café at Aira Force,…

19Nov 2018 by Tyneside Loipers

Ski Guiding for the visually impaired, Akaslompolo, Northern Finland – Feb 2019

News

If you would like to give something back to the sport and also have a great week skiing with a sociable group of visually impaired skiers, then your help would be greatly appreciated. A group of blind and partially sighted skiers are going to Akaslompolo in Finland for the week of 3rd to 10th February 2019. Competent cross country skiers are needed as guides. Alasdair Wilson volunteered as a guide in 2014 and his report is in the Feb 2015 Loipers newsletter. Another recommended article can be read here (written by one of the participants who skied in the event this year). Contact details for the organiser Sheila Tucker are given in the article.

19Nov 2018 by Tyneside Loipers

Snowsport England Coaching Week, Kvitavatn – April 2019

News

The Snowsport England Coaching week is returning to Kvitavatn (near Rjukan, in Norway's Telemark region). The three top SSE coaches Patrick Winterton, Mike Dixon and Alan Eason will be running a whole week of training focussing on cross country skills (classic and skating) and racing. Dates are 31st March to 7th April 2019. Highly recommended by several Loipers who have participated in previous years. Accommodation is available in the comfortable Kvitavatn Fjellstue. Full details can be found here.

28Oct 2018 by Tyneside Loipers

Plans for this Winter 2018/19

News

More details and contact info are on the Events Page. In March we will be based in the lovely Dalseter hotel in Norway for a week of track skiing and off-track touring. There are 23 of us signed up for the trip and 9 of us are then moving on to the Jotunheim area for a week and a half of hut touring. We are hoping to ski Norway's second highest peak Glittertind. We also have a couple of trips organised by Tim Owen - a telemark coaching week in Val d'Isere with Telemark Tracks in December and a week of telemark/alpine guided ski touring in the Queryas national park in Jan/Feb. Jane Brantom is also organising a week of track skiing in Dobbiaco Italy. And we are expecting to…

18Oct 2018 by Tyneside Loipers

Loipers AGM – October 2018

News

Fifteen Loipers attended the AGM at the Northumberland Club in Jesmond on 9th October. This has been a good venue for us but the buffet meal this year was a bit disappointing. The meeting produced some good discussion. Thanks everyone for contributing and thanks to Neil for chairing and Charlie for the minutes. After the meeting Alan showed a few slides of club trips from last winter and looked forward to some of the club trips planned for this year (details elsewhere on this website). Download the full meeting minutes here

09Oct 2018 by Tyneside Loipers

Hexhamshire mountain biking – 9th October 2018

Summer 2018

Seven of us had a great bike ride on the day of the AGM, starting from near Blanchland. Thanks to Mark O'Keeffe for coming up with the route (and then missing the ride!). It didn't take us long to realise that we were riding into a 40mph head wind, so the route was changed and we headed down to Heatheryburn Farm and through to Beldon Shield and then into Slaley Forest. Total 19 miles - great ride.

20Aug 2018 by Tyneside Loipers

Snowsport England Roller Ski Coaching Weekend – August 2018

Summer 2018

The 2018 SSE roller ski coaching weekend was again hosted by Tyneside Loipers. We had a very successful weekend, thanks to the SSE coaching team, Barbara Grogan, Martin Watkins and Dagmar Junghanns. Thanks too to Peter Sedgwick and Judi Webb for organising the refreshments and keeping the track swept. 10 members of Tyneside Loipers participated in the weekend and enjoyed a high standard of coaching, with participants also from the London and York Dales Clubs. Alasdair Wilson organised the race on Saturday afternoon (a 9km classic style handicap race) part of the 2018 British Roller Ski race series. It was a close finish and proved quite exciting for spectators and marshals.