Latest News

Congratulations to Lisa Patterson for being named Female Coach of the Year by the Coaches Association of Ontario(CAO). The event was held in Toronto on Thursday marking another highlight in Lisa's career. Lisa has done an amazing job as head coach of Big Thunder and the Lakehead Varisty Team, and we all wish her the best of luck for her new position within CCC.

(April 26th, 2008)

The Big Thunder Nordic Ski Club is looking for a full time head coach to join their successful and growing cross country ski racing program in Thunder Bay.

Qualified candidates should have:

   - minimum NCCP Level 2

  - experience as a athlete or coach in a competitive racing program

  - excellent communication skills

  - good understanding of Sport Canada's Long Term Athlete Development program

Big Thunder Nordic Ski Club is one of the premier clubs in Canada located in one of the most supportive nordic ski communities. The club has a long history of successful athlete and coach development. We offer a competitive salary and professional development opportunities.

Interested candidates are encouraged to send a brief resume with 3 references to:

Bert Viljakainen

President Big Thunder Nordic Ski Club

bviljakainen@shaw.ca

807-475-7662

Closing Date May 9, 2008

Congratuations to Kara Jaspers for bring nominated to the tenative 2018 National Team. Kara is currently in Duluth and doesn't know of her success, she is sure in for a suprise when she gets home. For a complete team listing follow link.

(April 19th, 2008)

Lisa Patterson says good bye to Big Thunder Nordic Ski Club and Lakehead University Ski Teams - Head Coach Patterson will be taking a position with Cross Country Canada starting April 15th. For details from CCC - click here.

Details from Lakehead Athletics - click here.

(March 11, 2008)

Big Thunder hosts City Championships/NTDC Invitational - Race conditions were ideal for the 11am start and saw Becky Puiras and Phil Wood take the continuous pursuit event. For more results click here.

(March 11, 2008)

Congratulations to the Ontario Winter Games Participants - Day 2 saw many of the LSSD athletes do extremely well as they participated in the Team Sprint event. Medalists included: Gold - Steph Drost & Katie Armstrong, Fergus Foster & Ryan Pendziwol; Sadie White and Catriona Downie; Bronze - Julian Frietag & Nicholas Dumontier. For all results click here.

(March 11, 2008)

Midgets, Mini-Midgets and Juveniles do well at Ontario Winter Games - Big Thunder/Kamview saw a number of athletes earn them selves medals and produce best ever results. Sadie White, Basia Gunka, Steph Drost and Fergus Foster will be bringing some hardware home from day one. To see results from Day one - click here. Athletes compete in the Team Sprints today and results can be found on www.zone4.ca

(March 7, 2008)

Marcia Migay is World Champion - Marcia earned herself a gold medal in the 15km Cl and 10km Skate (and even beat a girl named Svetlana - that's gotta be worth 3 medals!) Many of our masters are representing our club at the World Masters in Idaho. Look for results from Iain Mettam, Susan Fabius, Karen Greenfield, Sam Niemi and Marcia Migay. Click here for results.

(March 7, 2008)

Hart wins 50km Sibley Ski Tour - Steve Hart, new Big Thunder member, former Lakehead University Varsity skier and ass't coach of Big Thunder Nordic Ski Club, finished ahead of the pack at this years 31st annual Sibley Ski Tour. The ski was a slow grind with the addition of fresh dry snow and cold conditions Friday. Congrats Steve! Big Thunder athlete Luke Viljakainen and coach Lisa Patterson take the 20km event.

(March 3, 2008)

Congrats Chris Butler on his 21st place finish at World U23 Championships - to read his article, click here.

(March 3, 2008)

Chris Hamilton named Lakehead Athlete of the week. Chris was a three time gold medalist at this past weekends OUA Championship in Sudbury. Along with his gold medals, Scott Sullivan earned every colour of medal, Anna Crawford a gold and Christina Groulx a gold, Lauren Stoot, Katherine Hall and Ava Rudachyk a bronze in the relay. Congrats athletes, you deserve all the accolades you receive. A true team effort. (read about our Hottie of the Week to see just how much of a team effort it truly was!)

(Feb 16th, 2008)

Congratulations to LU Skiers for their 4th win in a row. This was a true team effort as every skier counted in both the men's and women's Ontario University Championship win. Above, the women hold yet another banner for the Thunderdome, but it will hang at Kamview for the remainder of the season.

(Feb 16th, 2008)

Check out Chris Butler's article on his Eastern Adventures (with photo's). Go to Big Thunder News under the Club News heading.

Notes from Canmore - Conditions are perfect here in Canmore as the four race week is just about to begin. Fresh snow fell last weekend and with cold temperatures following, the track is hard packed and perfect. Forty Eight women are registered for the Pursuit as well as fifty-eight men. Smaller than normal World Cup fields, however, a few athletes may be saving themselves for the classic sprint scheduled for Wednesday. I will keep you updated on pictures and stories.

(Jan 22, 2008)

Chris Butler named to U23 World Champ team - Chris will participate in the World U23 World Championships to be held in Poland this February. Chris qualified for the team due to his stellar results at the U23 Trial races held in Duntroon, ON earlier in January. Congrats Chris!

(Jan 18, 2008)

Kamview Classic cancelled due to cold temperatures.

Kamview Classic to be held this Friday evening Jan 18th.

Ontario Cup #2 Synopsis - Many of our athletes have completed 6 days of racing in 10 days and are due for a rest. We had many successful and satisfying results over the weekend. Many thanks for putting your best efforts in as athletes, and thanks to all who helped in the race organization, coaching and waxing. A best effort was put in by all and it was by far the most successful race weekend so far. I will try to update photos daily.

(Jan 15, 2008)

Chris Finally off the Plane - I finally stumbed off the plane Sunday night after a full week of trying to get home from Quebec. After 7 different flights, 2 bus tickets, 2 lost bags, 1 Broken Ski and 1 barf bag, I've finally arrived home in time for Christmas Eve. Now a week of rest before we have to do it all over again for World Junior Trials.

(Dec 24, 2007)

  

Big Thunder Nordic Ski Club - proudly received the GM Coaching Grant. This $2000 grant will be used to continue developing and certifying our great volunteer coaches. Big Thunder offers it's members the most and best trained coaches in Ontario if not Canada. Frank Luckai is the latest to benefit from this grant, completing the Level 4 Waxing and Ski Preparation task in Duntroon.

Many thanks again to Jean E. who put her awesome writing skills to work to help us earn another well needed grant.

(Dec 20, 2007)

Missing - Chris Hamilton last seen getting on a plane for Winnipeg from Quebec City on Monday Dec 17th. But wait a minute, wasn't he supposed to fly into Thunder Bay? Many thanks Air Canada for fine service yet again. Air Canada is following through with it's motto, "We're not happy, until you're not happy!" Chris is expected home next Saturday, exactly 6 days late.  However, that is better than arriving home Christmas Day which is what they quoted him at if he flew through Toronto. His skis as well as Luke's are still missing in action.

(Dec 19, 2007)

Congrats to Sean Crooks and Chris Butler for their fine racing efforts so far this year. Sean finished 22nd in a World Cup sprint race and Chris Butler brought home a bronze medal at the first Nor-Am Cup of the year in Sovereign Lakes. Great job boys!

(Dec 19, 2007)

Luke, Ghislain, Chris and Mallory are representing Big T at the third set of Canada Cups in Val Cartier Quebec. Click here to see what they are up to.

(Dec 11, 2007)

Big T Christmas Gathering - Dec 18th after workout. Bring a homemade baked good or cd for the gift exchange. Also at this time, you will have a chance to order Big T warm up jackets and race suits.

(Dec 11, 2007)

Silver Star Update

Lisa and 5 athletes have arrived in Silver Star. Skiing has been good, but would definitely benefit from more snow. Sovereign Lakes is better groomed for skiing but rocks are showing. We had a great day of classic skiing under sunny but cold conditions. Stay tuned for more updates.

(Nov 22, 2007)

Stephen Hart is Big Thunder's New Assistant Coach -

Big Thunder welcomes Steve Hart to the coaching ranks. Steve will be a great addition to our already stellar volunteer coaching contingent. He offers a current perspective on training for high level races. Congrats Steve.

(Nov 22, 2007)

Pizza Night and Coaches Meeting - Nov 8th - Kamview following evening workout.

(Nov 7, 2007)

VAUHTI WAX NIGHT - Nov 9th 6:30pm at Fresh Air Experience: Come out and meet Seppo Lappalainen of Canadian Winter Sports as he talks about the latest techniques in waxing and ski preparation. He will discuss and show how to use the latest liquid and powder waxes from Vauhti. He will also be showing and describing how to use the latest brushes from Red Creek. Seppo will be in the store all day on Friday if you want to come in and talk about waxes or skis.

(Nov 7, 2007)

Lakehead University Ski Team Holds Successful Fall Camp at Quetico Provincial Park: LU Skiers had a great weekend of trail running, canoeing, hill running, strength training and trail building. Quetico Park Superintendant, Robin O'Reilly, was a great host and provided us with a deal we couldn't pass up on. The 3+ hour canoe to the Pines was the highlight of the weekend. Thanks to our volunteer coaches, Frank and Karen.

(Oct 31, 2007)

Moira Haggarty makes CCC website - go to http://www.cccski.com/main.asp?cmd=doc&ID=4657&lan=0

(Oct 11, 2007)

Big T Membership NOW DUE!

Please print off the membership forms. They can be found on the programs page (don't click on the yellow pull down tab). Complete all three forms and hand in ASAP.

Many thanks.

(Oct 3, 2007)

Red Rock to Nipigon Trail - Saturday saw 30+ members participate in the hike from Red Rock to Nipigon. Regardless of not running the correct trail, a good workout was had by all. Special thanks to our guest Big Thunder athlete and only club Olympian - Sean Crooks and his family for attending the event.  See photo above.

(Sept 10, 2007)

Big Thunder Membership and Program Registration Forms Now Available

Please go to Programs and click on links to download. Both the Programs and Membership form must be submitted along with a WAIVER form. The waiver form will be added shortly.  Once the webmaster has been given notice of your Big Thunder Membership, you will be given a website login and password which will allow access to the Video & Document Catalogue, as well as the Discussion board.

(Sept 4, 2007) 

 

Waterfall Workout

  Big Thunder Athletes spent a day at the Wolf River waterfall trying to beat the heat. After going for a 45 min to 1 hour run, the athletes cooled their hot bodies under the waterfall.

 (July 27, 2007)

LSSD Camp Huge Success

  The LSSD Camp ran from July 3-7th with up to 45 participants over the 5 days. Participants came from all over Ontario including: Kenora, Red Lake, Timmins, Marathon, Sault Ste. Marie, Toronto, Barrie and Midland. Many thanks to all the volunteers who made this a great camp. The food was outstanding yet again. Thanks also to the coaching help of the NTDC team. We hope the participants will return again next year. For photo's, please visit our photo gallery over the next few days. (July 10, 2007)

  Website Information!

  The website is in the process of being completed and is available to be viewed on www.lakeheadxc.com. Once you pay your membership, you will receive a login in order to access member pages only such as: training schedules (under Coaches Corner), a discussion board, calendar, and video cataloguing system. You will be able to login at the bottom of the home page. Stay tuned for new updates and exciting features in the near future. (June 10, 2007)

Not So Hotties!