Catharine Pendrel

Well I’ve now competed in my first ski race; both Classic and Skate and the first race of the 06 season. This weekend Telemark nordic centre just outside Kelowna BC hosted a pursuit style loppet. Keith and I left Chase just before 6:00 am in a blizzard and drove to Kelowna. After arrival we headed out for a scant warm up and wax check. Man were we in trouble. People we’re flying by us on the uphill as we struggled to find grip. (Did I mention I now have 7 classic skis under my belt). We rewaxed and headed to the start line. We lined up for the mass start. Racers ranged in age from 14-69. I gladly parked myself at the back of the pack and waited to see how the pandamonium would unfold. After the GO and a whooping cheer from the racers we were off. I quickly realized I wasn’t going to be last afterall and worked my way up through the crowd on the first climb. Those who had chosen the wrong wax were off to the side scrapping the snow from their skiis. I soon realized that grip wasn’t a

This year I'm psyched to be racing with the Norco Factory Team. I can't wait to hop on my new Mtn. bikes. You can check out their website at www.Norco.com I'll be racing the Canada Cup Circuit, a few Norbas and hopefully a couple other international races. At the moment I'm honing my skills at both classic and skate skiing. I'll be doing my first ski race ever this weekend. eek! I just hope the 70 year women don't get too much enjoyment from seeing me suffer.

Well, I'm finally making an attempt to become more technologically advanced.... (dun dun dunn) I'll be posting my race reports and other fun stuff here so you can follow along with my season as it speeds along:) Cheers, Kika