Wilderness Wildcats

Updated 2-20-2012

 Well the Winter Carnival and Races went off on Sunday with better than expected conditions, lots of fun games and activities, and great work done by all of the kids that participated. A special thanks to Kelly, Melanie, Tom, Walt, Phil, Jim, Sharon, Kathy, Lydia,  and others, along with Wilderness Lodge for all of the hard work to pull this off during a challenging winter season.  Also, thanks to the folks from Hilltoppers and Yellowjackets that made the trip to join with us for the day. It was GREAT to have you there.

We held 3 races at part of the event, a 1L, 1.5K and a 3K race. The results for the races are listed below.

Thanks again for all who made this day fun and worthwhile.

Coach Ned

Updated 1-27-2012 at 4:00 PM

The Wilderness Wildcats program for Saturday January 28th is CANCELLED due to lack of snow.  Keep your fingers (and your skis) crossed that we have enough snow to resume our regular schedule next week.

Updated 1-20-2012

We have completed the first 2 weeks for Wildcats for 2012 and look forward to the coming weeks. The winter thus far has certainly been challenging and frustrating with the lack of snow and unseasonably warm temperatures. Roger and his groomers have done a great job of keeping us going with grooming as best they can with the snow that has arrived.  Let’s hope winter starts sometime soon!!

My hope this year was to start a new group for advanced skiers that is focused on classic off track skiing. The response was actually quite good, but caused a conflict for many of the kids that also wanted to do the regular weekly group classes. So we did not have enough kids to start this group this year. For those kids that wanted a different experience, I am going to be leading a “Trail Blazer” Group for a few weeks as an alternative and optional group. This will start January 28^th (depending on snow conditions) and go from 12:00 noon to 1:30. That way kids can still make the 2:00 class lessons.  This will only be offered to kids in the advanced Jackrabbit groups that include: Track Attack, Polar Bears, and Blizzards.

For now, keep your fingers and skis crossed for more snow and watch here for a new update next week on ski group options that are coming up in February!!!

Ned

Updated 11-1-2011

As more and more of our kids are starting to move toward skating skis and better performing waxable skis, it is important that they and you know how to wax these skis to maintain the ski performance and longevity.  To get this started, Mike Marring at Findley Lake Sporting Goods will be conducting a waxing clinic on Friday, November 18^th from 6:00 pm  to 8:00 pm, at Findley Lake Sporting Goods in Findley Lake, New York.

If you kids are in the Jackrabbit skating program or the Track Attack program, it is very important that you try to attend this waxing clinic.  We are going to be presenting simple waxing processes and techniques that will be easy to follow. We are working to teach kids that ski maintenance and waxing is THEIR responsibility (not Moms and Dads) as they get old enough to complete these tasks.

We will try to get a group together and go out for pizza or something afterwards if there is enough interest (bring money for food if you plan on attending).

 Updated 10-24-2011

The Wilderness Wildcats program for 2012 is almost here. This will be our fourth year for the Wildcat program and we have some exciting changes and updates for the coming ski season, I can’t wait for the snow!!

First of all, we have a NEW program for kids that want to continue after Jackrabbits but do not want to move towards the Track Attack competitive program. This group, Trail Blazers, will be focused on various touring elements of cross country skiing. Activities will include enjoying the skating trails, getting off the groomed trails and doing some back country trails, reading and navigating through trail maps, and developing a lifelong enjoyment of the cross country sport.

This year we will be focusing our communications through the Facebook group, Wilderness Wildcats. If you are not a member of this group, PLEASE join now so you get the most up to date communications on what we will be doing this upcoming season.

We had a GREAT turnout for our Registration day / Ski Swap . We had twice as many kids register early this year as last year so make sure you get your Registration Forms  ASAP as we do have to limit the group size to the available space that we have.  Forms can be obtained from the link at the bottom of this page.

Rate this year will be increased by $10.00 for each of the programs. The Wilderness Lodge is now charging us a rental fee for the use of the facilities so we need to pass this cost increase along to the participants. The lodge has been gracious to us with this program and again this year will not be charging our kids a trail use fee during the class times. As before, if you plan on skiing before or after class it is required that you have a trail pass. I know most of our families purchase a family season pass and this is really your best trail pass value.

Registration Form for 2012 available HERE.

Wilderness Wildcats 2012 Flyer can be downloaded HERE.