What's happening this week ...

Updated Sunday, January 31 at 7:00pm ...

As you can see, we finally have a little snow on the ground and are expecting an ample amount on Tuesday (and many folks are hoping for a snow day!). This all adds up to the ski team being back in action! See below for what we know and farther below for what we don't know yet but hope for more info about in the next few days. First off is an action item for all skiers and/or their parents (at least one person from each family needs to complete this), so we can catch up on everyone's status as of right now. Since we had to take a break of six weeks, we want to reconfirm everyone's participation and transportation plans, so need to hear from every skier or their parents. Thank you all for your flexibility now and in the coming weeks.

Action needed today:

Please complete the form HERE to provide info re: your participation and transportation.

What we know now:

• Practice starts tomorrow (Monday, February 1)
• Snowstorm expected Tuesday
• Races to start sometime next week (the week of February 8)
• We just got the green light to transport a small handful of skiers on the school vans - yay! Everyone on the van will need to be masked, sit far apart, and windows will be cracked open.

What we don't know yet:

• The race schedule. Hopefully it will be coming out this week, but as with everything these days, given the county color designations combined with the lack of snow and individual schools' restrictions, it's been hard to plan. We do think that races will be on Wednesdays and/or Saturdays.

Practices starting back up next week

Ski practice will kick back into action next week, exact schedule TBD. While we still need more snow, with last night's snowfall we likely can head back out to the golf courses and nearby locales. And Fryeburg does have snow, so we likely will have race opportunities quite soon too! We will post exact practice days/time over the weekend, but will plan on at least one on Monday/Tuesday and at least one on Wednesday/Thursday, possibly more, so dust off those skis and get ready to be back in action!

Also, regarding races, since pretty much everyone (from all schools) hasn't had much time on skis this year, these races will be what you make of it. Some skiers will be actually racing, while many others will use the races just as an opportunity to get out on good snow. This means low stress/no pressure when it comes to races.

Do your snow dance!

Clearly, we need snow, so everyone should do everything in their power to bring on a storm, including but not limited to:

• Sleep with your pajamas inside out and backwards
• Flush an ice cube (or cubes) down the toilet
• Put your winter boots under your bed before falling asleep
• Tuck a spoon under your pillow
• Do your best snow dance
• Put a white crayon in the freezer, then put that crayon under your pillow when you go to bed
• Put ice cubes on the porch
• Run around the dining room table five times, then go to bed

Also, check back for news re: team practices ...

Ski Team Meeting POSTPONED

Last night the MPA unexpectedly came out with some new guidelines regarding winter sports, our school administration is weighing this new information and deciding on what this means for us AND the Western Maine Conference athletic directors quickly arranged a meeting for tomorrow to also talk about what this means for the league. All of this means that there are a lot of balls up in the air right now and we will postpone tomorrow's meeting until next week, exact day/time TBD, when there will hopefully be more specific information and decisions to share.

Good news and inspiration!

America's Jessie Diggins recently won the Tour de Ski, a race never before won by an American. Click HERE for a recap.

And if her results alone aren't inspiring enough, Jessie's blog re: this year's Tour is well worth reading. Jessie is obviously super talented, but her team mentality and appreciation of all the people behind the scenes that helped her and the other athletes get where they are today and race the way they do is a prime example of how to be the best teammate. Read Jessie's Tour blog HERE.

Still Yellow

On Friday, January 15, the DOE recolored Maine counties and sadly, Cumberland County remains yellow, which means no in-person team practice/gatherings. The next scheduled recoloring is Friday, January 29. In the meantime, skiers should continue to get outside and remain active in any capacity. If anything changes re: team gatherings, we will inform families asap.

We may have a team zoom meeting this week, so keep an eye out for info about that.

Think snow!

January 8 Update

The DOE did not recolor Maine counties today, so Cumberland County remains yellow, which mean no high school sports yet. The next opportunity for a change is next Friday, January 15, so fingers crossed for a change at that time.

In the meantime, skiers are encouraged to get out and ski on their own if possible. The local golf courses are good options, as are other nordic venues if you're willing to do a little driving - Quarry Road in Waterville, Jackson Nordic in NH, and Rangeley Nordic all have snow and groomed trails. And on the days you can't ski, get outside for a run, walk, snowshoe, or roller ski. Pretty much anything outside in Maine in the winter is a great thing!