The 2008/2009 cross country ski season is under way – sort off. After a great December with much more snow than we had any reason to expect, it is now in the upper 50’s and raining as I am writing this. I hope all of you were able to get in some skiing while we had the snow. I was able to ski a number of times including some quality double pole work at Arrowhead yesterday (December 26^th).

As Banana Belt skiers we are used to occasional meltdowns so let’s not panic; there’s a lot of winter left. First the bad news, the trip scheduled for December 27^th was changed from Love’s Creek to Lapham Peak and then cancelled. The good news is this warm spell has had no ill effects on the upcoming trip to the Upper Peninsula (I just checked the ABR web site and they report conditions as excellent) and we have many other trips scheduled throughout the winter.

The sign-up for our annual trip to the UP is going well with 22 people on board thus far. This represents close to 25% of the total membership. We also have 12 people signed up for the Traverse City trip. If you have not been on the UP trip or skied in the Traverse City area, I strongly encourage you to consider one or both of these trips. If you cannot get away for the longer trips, you might consider the January 17^th and 18^th trip to Nine –Mile Forest in Wisconsin.

We have our annual ski lesson at Arrowhead scheduled for this Saturday (January 3, 2009). Due to the meltdown last weekend it seems unlikely we will be able to make this event happen on the scheduled date. If is not held we hope to reschedule it because there has been strong interest with new members and others who have been in contact with us at Meetup.com. Also please keep in mind that in conjunction with the Wheaton Park District and Northern Illinois Nordic ski lessons will be offered at Arrowhead every Saturday morning from January 3^rd through February 14^th. Sign up is at www.signmeup.com/skilessons. If you’re an experienced skier, consider volunteering to be an instructors (training will be provided).

In spite of the weather, which caused a one day delay in the Christmas Party (ironic that a ski club party was postponed due to snow) it was very well attended with a total of 33 people. From all the reports I received, the new venue, door prizes, games and grab bag were all well received (thank you to Rita Butler and my wife Janet). Based on my experience the food was also excellent.

It has also been a good year for club membership. As of this writing we have 14 new members bringing our total membership to 91. We also are receiving regular inquires through the website about places to ski, availability of lessons and club membership.

We ask all members to check their emails regularly because this is our primary means of communication. This is particularly important during the ski season so members are aware of day trips/meetings that must be rescheduled, locations changed and/or cancelled as was the situation with the trip planned for Love’s Creek/Lapham Peak.

Art