InFocus Magazine

Dave Battison has a problem that other coaches, ambulance
teachers and youth leaders would love to have. As the full-time coach of the Strathcona Nordic Ski Club at Mount Washington, no rx
Battison says that “his kids” are so highly motivated that he has to work hard to get them to slow down!

“Kids that are drawn to compete in cross-country skiing already come to me with very strong ‘Type A’ personalities, phlebologist
” explains Battison. “These are smart, athletic young people. Most of them are A+ students in school, and they possess a strong desire to achieve in everything they do. I actually have to make a determined effort to de-motivate them from training too fast and too long! My role, as their coach, is to teach them how to harness that energy with control and skill.”

There is no doubt that the group of more than a dozen teenaged cross-country skiers I meet at the Nordic Centre on Mount Washington one Thursday evening are full of enthusiasm. Despite the fact that the wind is blowing, it is snowing hard and it will soon be dark outside, these young men and women are eager to hit the trails with their coach and mentor.

Battison rounds up his group and heads outside, leaving me to chat with four members of his junior racing team. I am immediately captivated by their wide smiles and positive energy.

Comox Valley girls Sylvia Watkins, 17, Brett Trainor, 17 and Andrea Lee, 19, along with Campbell River resident Freya Wasteneys, 18, tell me they have all been active in cross-country skiing since they were three or four years of age. With the on-going support of their families, they have progressed through the Ski Canada Skills Development Program, advancing from “Bunny Rabbits” to “Jack Rabbits” and are now proud to be members of the Junior Racers team. Their involvement with the sport has enabled them to travel across Canada to compete in various national events, including the Canada Winter Games, the BC Winter Games, the North American Cup and the National Championships.

The girls explain that their team skis at least five times during the week and twice on weekends, logging up to 30 hours weekly on the trails at Mount Washington’s Nordic Centre. In addition to this, they work out regularly at the gym and run. When the snow melts off the mountain trails in spring, they practice on the glacier or take to roller skiing on the roads. It is a grueling schedule they stick to from May through March each year—taking only the month of April off for a well-deserved break. They do all of this while balancing schoolwork with training, travelling and competing, yet still manage to earn top grades at the same time. I am fatigued just listening to them!

In an era when many parents can’t get their kids to put down their cell phones long enough to join the family for dinner, I asked the girls what keeps them so motivated. Why are they hooked on cross-country skiing?

The girls exchange quick glances and smile at me sympathetically, as if the attraction to the sport is so blatantly obvious I shouldn’t have to ask.

“Most people think that cross-country skiing is an individual sport, but it’s not,” says Lee. “This is a team sport and, because we have been working together for so many years, our team is like family to us. When things get really tough during a practice or race, it is that connection to our team that keeps us going.”

“For me, it is about the challenge,” says Trainor. “When I am truly focused on racing, I almost go into a state of autopilot. I strive to work harder and harder to increase my speed, improve my technique and do better than I did in the last race.”

Wasteneys agrees, adding: “It is also about being physically fit and having fun,” she says. “I find that skiing and being fit makes me feel good about myself.”
Watkins loves the fact that they get to travel a lot and, because of the nature of the sport, “get to see Canada from a different perspective than the average person. There is something extraordinary and invigorating about being alone in the forest or skiing across a glacier!”

Having competed at every major Nordic facility in Canada over the past few years, the girls know they are privileged that their home training base is one of the nicest lodges in Canada—Raven Lodge on Mount Washington. And they are grateful for the amazing people who work there. The great facility, mild temperatures, ample snow and more than 55-kilometres of world-class cross-country ski trails at Mount Washington are all much appreciated. Being able to wear shorts to cycle in the morning and go skiing in the afternoon is a perk that few (if any) of their co-competitors across Canada get to experience. The coldest temperature on Mount Washington is about -7 degrees C. Skiers in other parts of Canada often have to train in temperatures well below that, and they are required to come in out of the cold when it is -20 degrees C or more.

But what really motivates these girls, the rest of the kids in the club, and their parents, is the team’s leadership. The Strathcona Nordic Ski Club (SNSC) is managed by a dedicated volunteer board of directors, all of whom depend on coach Battison to not only teach these kids to ski, but to build their confidence as well. While winning at national events is the main goal, fostering a life-long enjoyment of physical activity and the outdoors is of utmost importance, too.

Skiers on Vancouver Island know they are fortunate to have someone like Battison working as an employee of their club. It is one of few cross-country skiing clubs in Canada with the combined funding and foresight to have a full-time coach—especially one with such amazing credentials.

Like the girls on his junior racing team, Battison was active in sports at a young age. He grew up in Sudbury, Ontario, where he was inspired by then head coach of Sudbury’s Northland Athletic Club (NAC), Terry McKinty and fellow athlete, Alex Bauman. (Bauman went on to become a Canadian Olympic champion swimmer and multi-world record holder.)

The Northland Athletic Club was a multi-sport club, enabling Battison to train in cross-country running, indoor track, cross country skiing and other outdoor sports. But it was the skiing that became his passion, and in 1980 he became one of the original six members of the NAC’s first cross-country ski team.

Although deep down he knew he wanted to earn his living in sports, Battison felt he needed a “real job” to fall back on. He graduated from high school and then went to school to become a certified athletic therapist and paramedic. He was able to secure work as a paramedic for a while but, because of provincial budget cutbacks, by the age of 24 he was without a job. While it was frustrating at the time, this setback turned out to be a golden opportunity.

In 1991, Battison was hired to coach the Laurentian Nordic Ski Club’s cross country ski team and he began working with the Laurentian University men’s and women’s cross country ski teams.

“While I was with Laurentian Nordic, we earned 53 national medals and were best team in Canada for two consecutive years,” Battison says. “We also put five athletes on the national junior team and sent many athletes to the World University Games. Some of these racers have gone on to represent Canada on our 2010 Olympic team.”

Battison’s next career milestone was to be appointed assistant coach of Canada’s National Junior Team. He took the team to four World Championships in Scandinavia. Then, in 2001, he moved to Canmore, Alberta, to become head coach for the Rocky Mountain Racers. This posting resulted in him bringing skiers to Mount Washington to train and race several times over the next few years.

In 2004, Battison was invited to come to Vancouver Island to take on the newly created position of head coach for the Pacific Sport Regional Training Centre. Part of his job was to further develop the Strathcona Nordics Ski Club (SNSC) at Mount Washington. He, his wife, Laura, and their two little dogs welcomed the move to Campbell River.

The SNSC was formed in 1999, through an amalgamation of several Vancouver Island ski clubs—the Vancouver Island Rabbits, the Courtenay Biathlon Association, the ICCS Racing Team, the Campbell River Discovery Nordics, and members of the former Nanaimo Nordics and Vancouver Island Nordics. The club is incorporated as a non-profit society under the BC Society Act and is dedicated to skier development and the promotion of Nordic skiing for fun, fitness, recreation, and health. SNSC is also working to improve the infrastructure and facilities for Nordic skiers, not only on Mount Washington but other areas of Vancouver Island. This season they are realizing a long-term goal—sending officials and skiers to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

“The SNSC board of directors had a clear vision of what they wanted me to do,” Battison says, “and there was plenty of potential with the existing trails, athletes and facilities. They needed a professional to put it all together, and I am honored that they chose me.”

Battison explains that the focus of the SNSC program is not just to develop athletes, but also to develop a welcoming club that anyone can join. And join they do! Most of the current 500-plus members come from the Comox Valley and Campbell River, but there are a dedicated group who travel regularly to Mount Washington from areas around Nanaimo and Victoria.
The club and its activities are organized and run by volunteers and supported through membership fees, fundraising, and sponsorships from organizations such as CIBC Wood Gundy, Pacific Sport, Ski Tak Hut, the Government of British Columbia, Mount Washington Alpine Resort and several others within the community.

Kids start with the Jack Rabbit program as young as age four and there are currently more than 150 kids skiing with their volunteer coaches on the ski trails each weekend. The Learn to Race program is for kids age 10-14 and the Junior Racers program is for those aged 14-19. From this pool of skiers, a High Performance Race Team is selected, representing Vancouver Island athletes and performing at the national level. There is even a Masters race program, where the eldest member is older than 65.

“We have limited sponsorship programs for kids who may not be able to afford to ski at the competitive level,” says Battison. “If someone is a really dedicated and talented athlete we find ways to help them, but the onus is still on the family to provide some level of financial support. We do rely heavily on sponsorship dollars and government funding, and are able to keep our costs amongst some of the lowest across the country.”

With Battison’s leadership, a strong board of directors, a dedicated team of volunteers and its ever-enthusiastic athletes, SNSC is making a name for itself both as a racing team and a host venue. SNSC race organizers and officials received international acclaim for their work in hosting 2009 International Paralympic World Cup races at Mount Washington. These same race officials will be off to officiate at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

As my interview with Battison drew to a close, I asked him the same question that I had directed at the girls: Why cross-country skiing?

“This is one of the hardest sports to do well and I like a good challenge,” he says. “A basketball player, for example, goes to the gym and works in a controlled environment. He or she work on skills development and personal fitness, but the basic environment stays the same.

“In cross-country skiing, however, there are other factors you need to contend with—many of which are out of your control. The weather, the terrain, snow conditions, the wax on your skis, your equipment; all combine with your individual fitness and endurance levels to determine your success. Despite all that, in the long-term, your coach, your club, and the people you train with are your most valuable assets. You can’t train for cross-country skiing alone and be successful.”

Visit www.strathconanordics.com or call 250.202.0578.
Dave Battison has a problem that other coaches, here teachers and youth leaders would love to have. As the full-time coach of the Strathcona Nordic Ski Club at Mount Washington, decease
Battison says that “his kids” are so highly motivated that he has to work hard to get them to slow down!

“Kids that are drawn to compete in cross-country skiing already come to me with very strong ‘Type A’ personalities,” explains Battison. “These are smart, athletic young people. Most of them are A+ students in school, and they possess a strong desire to achieve in everything they do. I actually have to make a determined effort to de-motivate them from training too fast and too long! My role, as their coach, is to teach them how to harness that energy with control and skill.”

There is no doubt that the group of more than a dozen teenaged cross-country skiers I meet at the Nordic Centre on Mount Washington one Thursday evening are full of enthusiasm. Despite the fact that the wind is blowing, it is snowing hard and it will soon be dark outside, these young men and women are eager to hit the trails with their coach and mentor.

Battison rounds up his group and heads outside, leaving me to chat with four members of his junior racing team. I am immediately captivated by their wide smiles and positive energy.

Comox Valley girls Sylvia Watkins, 17, Brett Trainor, 17 and Andrea Lee, 19, along with Campbell River resident Freya Wasteneys, 18, tell me they have all been active in cross-country skiing since they were three or four years of age. With the on-going support of their families, they have progressed through the Ski Canada Skills Development Program, advancing from “Bunny Rabbits” to “Jack Rabbits” and are now proud to be members of the Junior Racers team. Their involvement with the sport has enabled them to travel across Canada to compete in various national events, including the Canada Winter Games, the BC Winter Games, the North American Cup and the National Championships.

The girls explain that their team skis at least five times during the week and twice on weekends, logging up to 30 hours weekly on the trails at Mount Washington’s Nordic Centre. In addition to this, they work out regularly at the gym and run. When the snow melts off the mountain trails in spring, they practice on the glacier or take to roller skiing on the roads. It is a grueling schedule they stick to from May through March each year—taking only the month of April off for a well-deserved break. They do all of this while balancing schoolwork with training, travelling and competing, yet still manage to earn top grades at the same time. I am fatigued just listening to them!

In an era when many parents can’t get their kids to put down their cell phones long enough to join the family for dinner, I asked the girls what keeps them so motivated. Why are they hooked on cross-country skiing?

The girls exchange quick glances and smile at me sympathetically, as if the attraction to the sport is so blatantly obvious I shouldn’t have to ask.

“Most people think that cross-country skiing is an individual sport, but it’s not,” says Lee. “This is a team sport and, because we have been working together for so many years, our team is like family to us. When things get really tough during a practice or race, it is that connection to our team that keeps us going.”

“For me, it is about the challenge,” says Trainor. “When I am truly focused on racing, I almost go into a state of autopilot. I strive to work harder and harder to increase my speed, improve my technique and do better than I did in the last race.”

Wasteneys agrees, adding: “It is also about being physically fit and having fun,” she says. “I find that skiing and being fit makes me feel good about myself.”
Watkins loves the fact that they get to travel a lot and, because of the nature of the sport, “get to see Canada from a different perspective than the average person. There is something extraordinary and invigorating about being alone in the forest or skiing across a glacier!”

Having competed at every major Nordic facility in Canada over the past few years, the girls know they are privileged that their home training base is one of the nicest lodges in Canada—Raven Lodge on Mount Washington. And they are grateful for the amazing people who work there. The great facility, mild temperatures, ample snow and more than 55-kilometres of world-class cross-country ski trails at Mount Washington are all much appreciated. Being able to wear shorts to cycle in the morning and go skiing in the afternoon is a perk that few (if any) of their co-competitors across Canada get to experience. The coldest temperature on Mount Washington is about -7 degrees C. Skiers in other parts of Canada often have to train in temperatures well below that, and they are required to come in out of the cold when it is -20 degrees C or more.

But what really motivates these girls, the rest of the kids in the club, and their parents, is the team’s leadership. The Strathcona Nordic Ski Club (SNSC) is managed by a dedicated volunteer board of directors, all of whom depend on coach Battison to not only teach these kids to ski, but to build their confidence as well. While winning at national events is the main goal, fostering a life-long enjoyment of physical activity and the outdoors is of utmost importance, too.

Skiers on Vancouver Island know they are fortunate to have someone like Battison working as an employee of their club. It is one of few cross-country skiing clubs in Canada with the combined funding and foresight to have a full-time coach—especially one with such amazing credentials.

Like the girls on his junior racing team, Battison was active in sports at a young age. He grew up in Sudbury, Ontario, where he was inspired by then head coach of Sudbury’s Northland Athletic Club (NAC), Terry McKinty and fellow athlete, Alex Bauman. (Bauman went on to become a Canadian Olympic champion swimmer and multi-world record holder.)

The Northland Athletic Club was a multi-sport club, enabling Battison to train in cross-country running, indoor track, cross country skiing and other outdoor sports. But it was the skiing that became his passion, and in 1980 he became one of the original six members of the NAC’s first cross-country ski team.

Although deep down he knew he wanted to earn his living in sports, Battison felt he needed a “real job” to fall back on. He graduated from high school and then went to school to become a certified athletic therapist and paramedic. He was able to secure work as a paramedic for a while but, because of provincial budget cutbacks, by the age of 24 he was without a job. While it was frustrating at the time, this setback turned out to be a golden opportunity.

In 1991, Battison was hired to coach the Laurentian Nordic Ski Club’s cross country ski team and he began working with the Laurentian University men’s and women’s cross country ski teams.

“While I was with Laurentian Nordic, we earned 53 national medals and were best team in Canada for two consecutive years,” Battison says. “We also put five athletes on the national junior team and sent many athletes to the World University Games. Some of these racers have gone on to represent Canada on our 2010 Olympic team.”

Battison’s next career milestone was to be appointed assistant coach of Canada’s National Junior Team. He took the team to four World Championships in Scandinavia. Then, in 2001, he moved to Canmore, Alberta, to become head coach for the Rocky Mountain Racers. This posting resulted in him bringing skiers to Mount Washington to train and race several times over the next few years.

In 2004, Battison was invited to come to Vancouver Island to take on the newly created position of head coach for the Pacific Sport Regional Training Centre. Part of his job was to further develop the Strathcona Nordics Ski Club (SNSC) at Mount Washington. He, his wife, Laura, and their two little dogs welcomed the move to Campbell River.

The SNSC was formed in 1999, through an amalgamation of several Vancouver Island ski clubs—the Vancouver Island Rabbits, the Courtenay Biathlon Association, the ICCS Racing Team, the Campbell River Discovery Nordics, and members of the former Nanaimo Nordics and Vancouver Island Nordics. The club is incorporated as a non-profit society under the BC Society Act and is dedicated to skier development and the promotion of Nordic skiing for fun, fitness, recreation, and health. SNSC is also working to improve the infrastructure and facilities for Nordic skiers, not only on Mount Washington but other areas of Vancouver Island. This season they are realizing a long-term goal—sending officials and skiers to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

“The SNSC board of directors had a clear vision of what they wanted me to do,” Battison says, “and there was plenty of potential with the existing trails, athletes and facilities. They needed a professional to put it all together, and I am honored that they chose me.”

Battison explains that the focus of the SNSC program is not just to develop athletes, but also to develop a welcoming club that anyone can join. And join they do! Most of the current 500-plus members come from the Comox Valley and Campbell River, but there are a dedicated group who travel regularly to Mount Washington from areas around Nanaimo and Victoria.
The club and its activities are organized and run by volunteers and supported through membership fees, fundraising, and sponsorships from organizations such as CIBC Wood Gundy, Pacific Sport, Ski Tak Hut, the Government of British Columbia, Mount Washington Alpine Resort and several others within the community.

Kids start with the Jack Rabbit program as young as age four and there are currently more than 150 kids skiing with their volunteer coaches on the ski trails each weekend. The Learn to Race program is for kids age 10-14 and the Junior Racers program is for those aged 14-19. From this pool of skiers, a High Performance Race Team is selected, representing Vancouver Island athletes and performing at the national level. There is even a Masters race program, where the eldest member is older than 65.

“We have limited sponsorship programs for kids who may not be able to afford to ski at the competitive level,” says Battison. “If someone is a really dedicated and talented athlete we find ways to help them, but the onus is still on the family to provide some level of financial support. We do rely heavily on sponsorship dollars and government funding, and are able to keep our costs amongst some of the lowest across the country.”

With Battison’s leadership, a strong board of directors, a dedicated team of volunteers and its ever-enthusiastic athletes, SNSC is making a name for itself both as a racing team and a host venue. SNSC race organizers and officials received international acclaim for their work in hosting 2009 International Paralympic World Cup races at Mount Washington. These same race officials will be off to officiate at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

As my interview with Battison drew to a close, I asked him the same question that I had directed at the girls: Why cross-country skiing?

“This is one of the hardest sports to do well and I like a good challenge,” he says. “A basketball player, for example, goes to the gym and works in a controlled environment. He or she work on skills development and personal fitness, but the basic environment stays the same.

“In cross-country skiing, however, there are other factors you need to contend with—many of which are out of your control. The weather, the terrain, snow conditions, the wax on your skis, your equipment; all combine with your individual fitness and endurance levels to determine your success. Despite all that, in the long-term, your coach, your club, and the people you train with are your most valuable assets. You can’t train for cross-country skiing alone and be successful.”

Visit www.strathconanordics.com or call 250.202.0578.
Dave Battison has a problem that other coaches, website like this
ask teachers and youth leaders would love to have. As the full-time coach of the Strathcona Nordic Ski Club at Mount Washington, bronchi
Battison says that “his kids” are so highly motivated that he has to work hard to get them to slow down!

“Kids that are drawn to compete in cross-country skiing already come to me with very strong ‘Type A’ personalities,” explains Battison. “These are smart, athletic young people. Most of them are A+ students in school, and they possess a strong desire to achieve in everything they do. I actually have to make a determined effort to de-motivate them from training too fast and too long! My role, as their coach, is to teach them how to harness that energy with control and skill.”

There is no doubt that the group of more than a dozen teenaged cross-country skiers I meet at the Nordic Centre on Mount Washington one Thursday evening are full of enthusiasm. Despite the fact that the wind is blowing, it is snowing hard and it will soon be dark outside, these young men and women are eager to hit the trails with their coach and mentor.

Battison rounds up his group and heads outside, leaving me to chat with four members of his junior racing team. I am immediately captivated by their wide smiles and positive energy.

Comox Valley girls Sylvia Watkins, 17, Brett Trainor, 17 and Andrea Lee, 19, along with Campbell River resident Freya Wasteneys, 18, tell me they have all been active in cross-country skiing since they were three or four years of age. With the on-going support of their families, they have progressed through the Ski Canada Skills Development Program, advancing from “Bunny Rabbits” to “Jack Rabbits” and are now proud to be members of the Junior Racers team. Their involvement with the sport has enabled them to travel across Canada to compete in various national events, including the Canada Winter Games, the BC Winter Games, the North American Cup and the National Championships.

The girls explain that their team skis at least five times during the week and twice on weekends, logging up to 30 hours weekly on the trails at Mount Washington’s Nordic Centre. In addition to this, they work out regularly at the gym and run. When the snow melts off the mountain trails in spring, they practice on the glacier or take to roller skiing on the roads. It is a grueling schedule they stick to from May through March each year—taking only the month of April off for a well-deserved break. They do all of this while balancing schoolwork with training, travelling and competing, yet still manage to earn top grades at the same time. I am fatigued just listening to them!

In an era when many parents can’t get their kids to put down their cell phones long enough to join the family for dinner, I asked the girls what keeps them so motivated. Why are they hooked on cross-country skiing?

The girls exchange quick glances and smile at me sympathetically, as if the attraction to the sport is so blatantly obvious I shouldn’t have to ask.

“Most people think that cross-country skiing is an individual sport, but it’s not,” says Lee. “This is a team sport and, because we have been working together for so many years, our team is like family to us. When things get really tough during a practice or race, it is that connection to our team that keeps us going.”

“For me, it is about the challenge,” says Trainor. “When I am truly focused on racing, I almost go into a state of autopilot. I strive to work harder and harder to increase my speed, improve my technique and do better than I did in the last race.”

Wasteneys agrees, adding: “It is also about being physically fit and having fun,” she says. “I find that skiing and being fit makes me feel good about myself.”
Watkins loves the fact that they get to travel a lot and, because of the nature of the sport, “get to see Canada from a different perspective than the average person. There is something extraordinary and invigorating about being alone in the forest or skiing across a glacier!”

Having competed at every major Nordic facility in Canada over the past few years, the girls know they are privileged that their home training base is one of the nicest lodges in Canada—Raven Lodge on Mount Washington. And they are grateful for the amazing people who work there. The great facility, mild temperatures, ample snow and more than 55-kilometres of world-class cross-country ski trails at Mount Washington are all much appreciated. Being able to wear shorts to cycle in the morning and go skiing in the afternoon is a perk that few (if any) of their co-competitors across Canada get to experience. The coldest temperature on Mount Washington is about -7 degrees C. Skiers in other parts of Canada often have to train in temperatures well below that, and they are required to come in out of the cold when it is -20 degrees C or more.

But what really motivates these girls, the rest of the kids in the club, and their parents, is the team’s leadership. The Strathcona Nordic Ski Club (SNSC) is managed by a dedicated volunteer board of directors, all of whom depend on coach Battison to not only teach these kids to ski, but to build their confidence as well. While winning at national events is the main goal, fostering a life-long enjoyment of physical activity and the outdoors is of utmost importance, too.

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Skiers on Vancouver Island know they are fortunate to have someone like Battison working as an employee of their club. It is one of few cross-country skiing clubs in Canada with the combined funding and foresight to have a full-time coach—especially one with such amazing credentials.

Like the girls on his junior racing team, Battison was active in sports at a young age. He grew up in Sudbury, Ontario, where he was inspired by then head coach of Sudbury’s Northland Athletic Club (NAC), Terry McKinty and fellow athlete, Alex Bauman. (Bauman went on to become a Canadian Olympic champion swimmer and multi-world record holder.)

The Northland Athletic Club was a multi-sport club, enabling Battison to train in cross-country running, indoor track, cross country skiing and other outdoor sports. But it was the skiing that became his passion, and in 1980 he became one of the original six members of the NAC’s first cross-country ski team.

Although deep down he knew he wanted to earn his living in sports, Battison felt he needed a “real job” to fall back on. He graduated from high school and then went to school to become a certified athletic therapist and paramedic. He was able to secure work as a paramedic for a while but, because of provincial budget cutbacks, by the age of 24 he was without a job. While it was frustrating at the time, this setback turned out to be a golden opportunity.

In 1991, Battison was hired to coach the Laurentian Nordic Ski Club’s cross country ski team and he began working with the Laurentian University men’s and women’s cross country ski teams.

“While I was with Laurentian Nordic, we earned 53 national medals and were best team in Canada for two consecutive years,” Battison says. “We also put five athletes on the national junior team and sent many athletes to the World University Games. Some of these racers have gone on to represent Canada on our 2010 Olympic team.”

Battison’s next career milestone was to be appointed assistant coach of Canada’s National Junior Team. He took the team to four World Championships in Scandinavia. Then, in 2001, he moved to Canmore, Alberta, to become head coach for the Rocky Mountain Racers. This posting resulted in him bringing skiers to Mount Washington to train and race several times over the next few years.

In 2004, Battison was invited to come to Vancouver Island to take on the newly created position of head coach for the Pacific Sport Regional Training Centre. Part of his job was to further develop the Strathcona Nordics Ski Club (SNSC) at Mount Washington. He, his wife, Laura, and their two little dogs welcomed the move to Campbell River.

The SNSC was formed in 1999, through an amalgamation of several Vancouver Island ski clubs—the Vancouver Island Rabbits, the Courtenay Biathlon Association, the ICCS Racing Team, the Campbell River Discovery Nordics, and members of the former Nanaimo Nordics and Vancouver Island Nordics. The club is incorporated as a non-profit society under the BC Society Act and is dedicated to skier development and the promotion of Nordic skiing for fun, fitness, recreation, and health. SNSC is also working to improve the infrastructure and facilities for Nordic skiers, not only on Mount Washington but other areas of Vancouver Island. This season they are realizing a long-term goal—sending officials and skiers to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

“The SNSC board of directors had a clear vision of what they wanted me to do,” Battison says, “and there was plenty of potential with the existing trails, athletes and facilities. They needed a professional to put it all together, and I am honored that they chose me.”

Battison explains that the focus of the SNSC program is not just to develop athletes, but also to develop a welcoming club that anyone can join. And join they do! Most of the current 500-plus members come from the Comox Valley and Campbell River, but there are a dedicated group who travel regularly to Mount Washington from areas around Nanaimo and Victoria.
The club and its activities are organized and run by volunteers and supported through membership fees, fundraising, and sponsorships from organizations such as CIBC Wood Gundy, Pacific Sport, Ski Tak Hut, the Government of British Columbia, Mount Washington Alpine Resort and several others within the community.

Kids start with the Jack Rabbit program as young as age four and there are currently more than 150 kids skiing with their volunteer coaches on the ski trails each weekend. The Learn to Race program is for kids age 10-14 and the Junior Racers program is for those aged 14-19. From this pool of skiers, a High Performance Race Team is selected, representing Vancouver Island athletes and performing at the national level. There is even a Masters race program, where the eldest member is older than 65.

“We have limited sponsorship programs for kids who may not be able to afford to ski at the competitive level,” says Battison. “If someone is a really dedicated and talented athlete we find ways to help them, but the onus is still on the family to provide some level of financial support. We do rely heavily on sponsorship dollars and government funding, and are able to keep our costs amongst some of the lowest across the country.”

With Battison’s leadership, a strong board of directors, a dedicated team of volunteers and its ever-enthusiastic athletes, SNSC is making a name for itself both as a racing team and a host venue. SNSC race organizers and officials received international acclaim for their work in hosting 2009 International Paralympic World Cup races at Mount Washington. These same race officials will be off to officiate at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

As my interview with Battison drew to a close, I asked him the same question that I had directed at the girls: Why cross-country skiing?

“This is one of the hardest sports to do well and I like a good challenge,” he says. “A basketball player, for example, goes to the gym and works in a controlled environment. He or she work on skills development and personal fitness, but the basic environment stays the same.

“In cross-country skiing, however, there are other factors you need to contend with—many of which are out of your control. The weather, the terrain, snow conditions, the wax on your skis, your equipment; all combine with your individual fitness and endurance levels to determine your success. Despite all that, in the long-term, your coach, your club, and the people you train with are your most valuable assets. You can’t train for cross-country skiing alone and be successful.”

Visit www.strathconanordics.com or call 250.202.0578.
Dave Battison has a problem that other coaches, sales
teachers and youth leaders would love to have. As the full-time coach of the Strathcona Nordic Ski Club at Mount Washington, look
Battison says that “his kids” are so highly motivated that he has to work hard to get them to slow down!

“Kids that are drawn to compete in cross-country skiing already come to me with very strong ‘Type A’ personalities, eczema
” explains Battison. “These are smart, athletic young people. Most of them are A+ students in school, and they possess a strong desire to achieve in everything they do. I actually have to make a determined effort to de-motivate them from training too fast and too long! My role, as their coach, is to teach them how to harness that energy with control and skill.”

There is no doubt that the group of more than a dozen teenaged cross-country skiers I meet at the Nordic Centre on Mount Washington one Thursday evening are full of enthusiasm. Despite the fact that the wind is blowing, it is snowing hard and it will soon be dark outside, these young men and women are eager to hit the trails with their coach and mentor.

Battison rounds up his group and heads outside, leaving me to chat with four members of his junior racing team. I am immediately captivated by their wide smiles and positive energy.

Comox Valley girls Sylvia Watkins, 17, Brett Trainor, 17 and Andrea Lee, 19, along with Campbell River resident Freya Wasteneys, 18, tell me they have all been active in cross-country skiing since they were three or four years of age. With the on-going support of their families, they have progressed through the Ski Canada Skills Development Program, advancing from “Bunny Rabbits” to “Jack Rabbits” and are now proud to be members of the Junior Racers team. Their involvement with the sport has enabled them to travel across Canada to compete in various national events, including the Canada Winter Games, the BC Winter Games, the North American Cup and the National Championships.

The girls explain that their team skis at least five times during the week and twice on weekends, logging up to 30 hours weekly on the trails at Mount Washington’s Nordic Centre. In addition to this, they work out regularly at the gym and run. When the snow melts off the mountain trails in spring, they practice on the glacier or take to roller skiing on the roads. It is a grueling schedule they stick to from May through March each year—taking only the month of April off for a well-deserved break. They do all of this while balancing schoolwork with training, travelling and competing, yet still manage to earn top grades at the same time. I am fatigued just listening to them!

In an era when many parents can’t get their kids to put down their cell phones long enough to join the family for dinner, I asked the girls what keeps them so motivated. Why are they hooked on cross-country skiing?

The girls exchange quick glances and smile at me sympathetically, as if the attraction to the sport is so blatantly obvious I shouldn’t have to ask.

“Most people think that cross-country skiing is an individual sport, but it’s not,” says Lee. “This is a team sport and, because we have been working together for so many years, our team is like family to us. When things get really tough during a practice or race, it is that connection to our team that keeps us going.”

“For me, it is about the challenge,” says Trainor. “When I am truly focused on racing, I almost go into a state of autopilot. I strive to work harder and harder to increase my speed, improve my technique and do better than I did in the last race.”

Wasteneys agrees, adding: “It is also about being physically fit and having fun,” she says. “I find that skiing and being fit makes me feel good about myself.”
Watkins loves the fact that they get to travel a lot and, because of the nature of the sport, “get to see Canada from a different perspective than the average person. There is something extraordinary and invigorating about being alone in the forest or skiing across a glacier!”

Having competed at every major Nordic facility in Canada over the past few years, the girls know they are privileged that their home training base is one of the nicest lodges in Canada—Raven Lodge on Mount Washington. And they are grateful for the amazing people who work there. The great facility, mild temperatures, ample snow and more than 55-kilometres of world-class cross-country ski trails at Mount Washington are all much appreciated. Being able to wear shorts to cycle in the morning and go skiing in the afternoon is a perk that few (if any) of their co-competitors across Canada get to experience. The coldest temperature on Mount Washington is about -7 degrees C. Skiers in other parts of Canada often have to train in temperatures well below that, and they are required to come in out of the cold when it is -20 degrees C or more.

But what really motivates these girls, the rest of the kids in the club, and their parents, is the team’s leadership. The Strathcona Nordic Ski Club (SNSC) is managed by a dedicated volunteer board of directors, all of whom depend on coach Battison to not only teach these kids to ski, but to build their confidence as well. While winning at national events is the main goal, fostering a life-long enjoyment of physical activity and the outdoors is of utmost importance, too.

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Skiers on Vancouver Island know they are fortunate to have someone like Battison working as an employee of their club. It is one of few cross-country skiing clubs in Canada with the combined funding and foresight to have a full-time coach—especially one with such amazing credentials.

Like the girls on his junior racing team, Battison was active in sports at a young age. He grew up in Sudbury, Ontario, where he was inspired by then head coach of Sudbury’s Northland Athletic Club (NAC), Terry McKinty and fellow athlete, Alex Bauman. (Bauman went on to become a Canadian Olympic champion swimmer and multi-world record holder.)

The Northland Athletic Club was a multi-sport club, enabling Battison to train in cross-country running, indoor track, cross country skiing and other outdoor sports. But it was the skiing that became his passion, and in 1980 he became one of the original six members of the NAC’s first cross-country ski team.

Although deep down he knew he wanted to earn his living in sports, Battison felt he needed a “real job” to fall back on. He graduated from high school and then went to school to become a certified athletic therapist and paramedic. He was able to secure work as a paramedic for a while but, because of provincial budget cutbacks, by the age of 24 he was without a job. While it was frustrating at the time, this setback turned out to be a golden opportunity.

In 1991, Battison was hired to coach the Laurentian Nordic Ski Club’s cross country ski team and he began working with the Laurentian University men’s and women’s cross country ski teams.

“While I was with Laurentian Nordic, we earned 53 national medals and were best team in Canada for two consecutive years,” Battison says. “We also put five athletes on the national junior team and sent many athletes to the World University Games. Some of these racers have gone on to represent Canada on our 2010 Olympic team.”

Battison’s next career milestone was to be appointed assistant coach of Canada’s National Junior Team. He took the team to four World Championships in Scandinavia. Then, in 2001, he moved to Canmore, Alberta, to become head coach for the Rocky Mountain Racers. This posting resulted in him bringing skiers to Mount Washington to train and race several times over the next few years.

In 2004, Battison was invited to come to Vancouver Island to take on the newly created position of head coach for the Pacific Sport Regional Training Centre. Part of his job was to further develop the Strathcona Nordics Ski Club (SNSC) at Mount Washington. He, his wife, Laura, and their two little dogs welcomed the move to Campbell River.

The SNSC was formed in 1999, through an amalgamation of several Vancouver Island ski clubs—the Vancouver Island Rabbits, the Courtenay Biathlon Association, the ICCS Racing Team, the Campbell River Discovery Nordics, and members of the former Nanaimo Nordics and Vancouver Island Nordics. The club is incorporated as a non-profit society under the BC Society Act and is dedicated to skier development and the promotion of Nordic skiing for fun, fitness, recreation, and health. SNSC is also working to improve the infrastructure and facilities for Nordic skiers, not only on Mount Washington but other areas of Vancouver Island. This season they are realizing a long-term goal—sending officials and skiers to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

“The SNSC board of directors had a clear vision of what they wanted me to do,” Battison says, “and there was plenty of potential with the existing trails, athletes and facilities. They needed a professional to put it all together, and I am honored that they chose me.”

Battison explains that the focus of the SNSC program is not just to develop athletes, but also to develop a welcoming club that anyone can join. And join they do! Most of the current 500-plus members come from the Comox Valley and Campbell River, but there are a dedicated group who travel regularly to Mount Washington from areas around Nanaimo and Victoria.
The club and its activities are organized and run by volunteers and supported through membership fees, fundraising, and sponsorships from organizations such as CIBC Wood Gundy, Pacific Sport, Ski Tak Hut, the Government of British Columbia, Mount Washington Alpine Resort and several others within the community.

Kids start with the Jack Rabbit program as young as age four and there are currently more than 150 kids skiing with their volunteer coaches on the ski trails each weekend. The Learn to Race program is for kids age 10-14 and the Junior Racers program is for those aged 14-19. From this pool of skiers, a High Performance Race Team is selected, representing Vancouver Island athletes and performing at the national level. There is even a Masters race program, where the eldest member is older than 65.

“We have limited sponsorship programs for kids who may not be able to afford to ski at the competitive level,” says Battison. “If someone is a really dedicated and talented athlete we find ways to help them, but the onus is still on the family to provide some level of financial support. We do rely heavily on sponsorship dollars and government funding, and are able to keep our costs amongst some of the lowest across the country.”

With Battison’s leadership, a strong board of directors, a dedicated team of volunteers and its ever-enthusiastic athletes, SNSC is making a name for itself both as a racing team and a host venue. SNSC race organizers and officials received international acclaim for their work in hosting 2009 International Paralympic World Cup races at Mount Washington. These same race officials will be off to officiate at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

As my interview with Battison drew to a close, I asked him the same question that I had directed at the girls: Why cross-country skiing?

“This is one of the hardest sports to do well and I like a good challenge,” he says. “A basketball player, for example, goes to the gym and works in a controlled environment. He or she work on skills development and personal fitness, but the basic environment stays the same.

“In cross-country skiing, however, there are other factors you need to contend with—many of which are out of your control. The weather, the terrain, snow conditions, the wax on your skis, your equipment; all combine with your individual fitness and endurance levels to determine your success. Despite all that, in the long-term, your coach, your club, and the people you train with are your most valuable assets. You can’t train for cross-country skiing alone and be successful.”

Visit www.strathconanordics.com or call 250.202.0578.
Sarah Seads wears many hats: business owner, skincare
personal trainer, this
author, accomplished adventure racer, mountain biker, motivational speaker and adventure travel organizer, to name a few.

Today, her red curls spill out from under a soft grey, short brimmed cap and she adjusts it slightly before telling me about the evolution of her business, Equilibrium Lifestyle Management, or ELM. Now in its ninth year, ELM has grown from a company focused primarily on boot camp classes and personal training to a wonderfully diverse business expanded to include women’s-only fitness clinics, learn-to-run classes, hiking clinics, adventure race training, trail running skills, orienteering, and, more recently, adventure travel trips and new writing projects.

“There has been a big evolution with ELM,” says Seads, 33. “It has changed with the needs and requests of my clients.”

Seads’ dedication and attentiveness to clients has obviously paid off as she was recently voted the “Best Personal Trainer in Western Canada” in Get Out There Magazine’s People’s Choice Awards. This was an honor Seads knew nothing about until the congratulatory call, and she was floored. She blushes as she recalls that moment: “It was a total surprise and it made my day. It is such an honor because this award comes straight from my clients. They matter the most, so it was a great pat on the back and nice to know that people would take the time to show their appreciation.”

A Channel News did a piece on ELM recently and interviewed Seads’ client, Brenda Dean, who summed up Seads’ effect on her own life: “Sarah is passionate about what she does. She believes in it. It is her life. And through osmosis, just by being with her, you walk away with that feeling…and it’s become a template for my life.”

ELM has become a fixture in the Valley and participants recognize the company brand or the women’s only clinic “swirl” logo on passing runner’s shirts and give a wave or a cheer to a fellow member. Seads’ only frustration is that “because we offer a few women’s-only clinics, some people don’t realize that all of our other programs are co-ed.” She is hoping to attract more men to the clinics in the coming years because they “bring balance, strong energy and a little healthy competition.”

Healthy competition has always been a part of Seads’ life. Chuckling, she recalls her days as a hyper kid growing up in Victoria. “When I was little I was fast on my feet. When I was in Grade 2 or 3 they asked me to run track in two grades up because I was a hyper kid and a fast runner. That gave me a taste for competition and then I started playing whatever sports I could. Being on a team then became a part of my life.”

She pauses, then says, “I can’t imagine growing up without that special bond you get with your teammates. I met my friends there, learned about rules, fair play and hard work.”

Seads ended up playing almost every sport at Victoria High because it was a small school without a lot of athletes. Her hard work earned her the “Jock of the Year” award in Grade 12 because she was on all the teams—everything from badminton to soccer.

From there Seads went to the University of Victoria and played junior varsity field hockey. Her initial university interests, however, were unrelated to athletics. “I went to university to become a photo journalist and writer,” she says. “I ended up switching direction in the first year because the entry level history and English didn’t inspire me.” So, she took a semester off to tree plant and travel with the earnings.

This is where serendipity stepped in to push Seads toward her true calling. While tree planting she hurt her back. “Inevitable,” she says, “when you are bending three million times a day with a bag of trees on your back and driving on bad roads in crummys.” So, she went to a physiotherapist at the university and learned about injury rehabilitation/exercise physiotherapy. She decided to enrol in Kinesiology.

“I put my application in, went travelling and left it up to fate,” Seads says. While she was away her parents told her that she had been accepted, so she returned home. “I loved the program right away. I was learning all the secrets to how the body works. It wasn’t work for me. It was fun and interesting.”

She smiles. “This was my passion. Up until that point sports were something I did but I didn’t even know that a stream of education existed that I could tie into my love of fitness.”

After graduating with a degree in Kinesiology from UVIC, Seads worked half time between her Kinesiology career and her work as a forest fire-fighter. She was a Rapattack fire-fighter based out of Salmon Arm for five summers. “It is just like any other forest fire fighting once you are on the ground,” she explains, “except that you get there by rappelling out of a helicopter. Primarily we fought small, lightening-caused fires that are inaccessible by road.”

To become a fire-fighter Seads had to undergo a rigorous fitness testing and interview process. But it was the boot camp after becoming a fire-fighter that “ratcheted” up the intensity and ultimately inspired her first ELM fitness program. “We spent over five weeks in training boot camp before we were certified to fight forest fires in BC,” says Seads. “Our boot camp included daily physical training that was constantly changing. It was extremely challenging, as we did this along with long days of classroom and skill training for the job.

“I have taken plenty of physical training ideas from those long, hard weeks and carried them into my own ELM Outdoor Fitness Boot camp program,” Seads says. “Although the consequences were a wee bit different (work vs. play) the training is quite similar: it is outdoors, using the natural environment and your own body weight, plenty of variety and group teamwork.  Many of my drills and exercises come straight from those weeks in training. I only wish I had more time each day to push my own recruits so they could get a better taste of what I went through!”

Sitting across from me Seads looks strong and healthy. It isn’t hard to see why she has built such a successful business and accomplished all that she has in the 10 years since graduation. And this doesn’t even include her prowess as an adventure racer, which she humbly says is “a ton of fun.  Adventure racing is my way of staying motivated with my own training and blowing off steam.” A quick look at ELM’s new website shows that Seads has placed first or second in almost all of the 18 adventure races she has participated in over the last few years.

In between all of this, Seads has written two books and is about to publish a third. “I have been working on a few writing projects over the past two to three years,” she says, “and it has been a wonderful, creative experience for me.  I started by producing a yearly fitness logbook in 2006 and this past December I released the first edition of my cookbook: NRG Foods That Will Move You.”

The cookbooks have been hugely popular, selling out of the first two print runs in two weeks. Both books are available in the online store on Seads’ website—www.elmhealth.com. The store also has online coaching, and a new video series. The first video, SCORE is a video of actual ELM class sessions taking place this winter.  Each class is 55 minutes and combines core and flexibility training into one great mat workout.

“The most exciting writing project is my next non-fiction book, which is due to be released this March,” add Seads. The book is titled Fit & Free and it walks the reader through their seven key steps to achieving fitness for life. It is written for anyone who has ever struggled to stay on the fitness “train”.  Pulling from her years of experience in the fitness and rehabilitation field, these steps are critical to ensuring success over the long term.

“You can’t do it on willpower alone, and I want my readers to know that.  There are ways that you can make your journey more difficult, and there are ways that you can set yourself up for success. This book works through these.”

Each chapter has a tool to be completed by the reader.  There is some work involved, but these tools are simple and easy to use and they personalize the experience.

Fit & Free is only the beginning of Seads’ writing career. She is starting to weave her earlier love of writing into her work in the fitness field and, more importantly, she says, learning to make more time for writing in my life.

Now I pop the question that has been on the tip of my tongue since Seads walked in. “What is this I hear about an ELM hiking trip to Peru?” Seads brightens, gesturing and speaking quickly as she describes her most exhilarating trip yet: “This year a dream is coming true for me and for 12 women. I have joined forces with one of my clients, Jane Hay, who is an adventure travel agent, and Karavaniers, a Canadian guiding company, to offer a 12-day trip to Peru to train and trek the Inca and Salkantay trails.

“This isn’t the kind of trip that you will find on an internet site or at a travel agent,” Seads adds. In fact, their journey to Machu Picchu will not begin in Peru at all. It will begin here in the Comox Valley, with the help of this unique trio.

Six months before the trek starts, the women who signed up for this trip more than a year ago will begin a physical training program designed by Seads that will ensure they reach their own ‘peak’ in hiking fitness when they arrive in Peru.

“This program has been designed specifically for the demands of the trek and will include three months of group hikes where the women will have the opportunity to train together and create a special bond while they get miles under their boots.”

Seads beams with pride as she outlines the program and training. “Education and coaching will be provided along the way, and each trekker will receive a detailed training manual, monthly guidance as well as specialty knowledge from local gear experts, Valhalla Pure Outfitters, at the start of their training program.
“And,” she continues, “it doesn’t stop there. Once the women are physically ready to begin their trek in September, they won’t have to stress about any of the travel logistics as every detail has been taken care of. From accommodation to travel, equipment and meals, each aspect of the trekker’s journey in Peru has been organized by the three of us to ensure a smooth, safe and unforgettable travel experience.”

After a moment’s pause she adds that even though the trip sold out a year in advance, one spot has recently opened up for this special journey.
Unfortunately, Peru won’t be an annual trip for ELM, but Seads has big plans for possible future fitness travel adventures, including cycle touring in France, rafting the Grand Canyon, training for Hawaiian marathons, or trekking up Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Seads and her company are a testament to the Comox Valley’s support of local businesses. Her open nature and endless enthusiasm have drawn a following of fitness enthusiasts and trainers that can’t say enough about how fabulous their ELM experiences are.

An ELM participant since 2002, Korky Richardson says the clinics have had a wonderful impact on her fitness, and her life in general. “I have met and made a lot of my close friends through the clinics. I also keep up my activity level with all of the different seasonal clinics. Being in a group like this is an incredibly positive experience.”

Richardson loves that there are “new and exciting” clinics on offer every year and hopes that she will always be a part of “the many adventures that are offered!”
“When I first started up the company it was just me,” Seads says. “Over the years the ELM team has grown to include five trainers, an admin/marketing manager and a big family of very special volunteer clinic leaders.

“I am so fortunate—not only to have these amazing people working at ELM but also to have them in my life. ELM as we know it would never exist without them and I am more grateful for their support, passion and energy than words could ever express. I have met so many amazing people since starting ELM. Running a business in the Valley has shown me what a wonderful community we are surrounded by and I feel lucky to be a part of it.”

For more information about Equilibrium Lifestyles Management, to find out about upcoming classes or to secure the last spot on the hiking trip to Peru, please visit www.elmhealth.com or call Sarah at 250.338.8998.