The Hollyburn Jackrabbit Ski Club ski programs consist of Cross Country Canada's Skills Development Program for young children (starting at age 4) and recreational and racing programs for teenagers.

Skills Development Program (ages 4-13)

The Hollyburn Jackrabbit Ski Club Skills Development Program for young children is structured according to a new series of developmental programs implemented by Cross Country Canada (CCC). It conforms to the Canadian Sport for Life Guide, a model designed to help develop all sport participants to their full potential and to encourage lifelong participation in sport. The goals of our Skill Development Programs are two-fold: to provide lessons for recreational skiers who can go on to enjoy a lifelong sport and to serve as initial development of skiers who may choose to go onto racing at a competitive level.

Our 9-week (7-week in 2009/10) program begins mid-January (mid-December in 2009/10) - see the Schedule for exact dates. During the final program session the children will be awarded their sticker(s) and progress card. The sessions are coached by volunteers who have taken the National Coaching Certification Program (Community Coach Training). Coaches use a variety of activities such as games and fun drills to teach and reinforce skills.

The Skills Development Program consists of three subprograms - Jackbunny, Jackrabbit (levels 1 to 4) and Track Attack. See the Registration Guide to help you decide on the appropriate Skills Development Program for your child. For some further details on the Skills Development Program, click here.

Jackbunny Program (ages 4-5)

The Jackbunny program will be offered on weekends during 4 different time slots: Saturday AM, Saturday PM, Sunday AM and Sunday PM. Each session will have a duration of 2 hours with a hot chocolate break provided at Hollyburn Lodge. The session start time will be 9:15 a.m. for the morning sessions and 1:15 p.m. for the afternoon sessions. The season will be composed of 9 weeks (7 weeks in 2009/10) normally beginning the second weekend in January. One non-coaching parent must ski with their child(ren) in this program.

Coaches in the Jackbunny program have completed the ICC workshop as a minimum.

Fee: $90 (50% reduction if parent volunteers to coach)

Jackrabbit Program (ages 6-9)

The Jackrabbit program will be offered on weekends during 4 different time slots: Saturday AM, Saturday PM, Sunday AM and Sunday PM. Each session will have a duration of 2½ hours with a hot chocolate break provided at Hollyburn Lodge. The morning session commences at 9:00 a.m. and the afternoon session at 1:00 p.m. For levels 3 and 4, an additional mid-week session will be offered. Participants are strongly encouraged to attend this mid-week session in order to receive the most benefit from the program. There will be no fee reduction if the participant does not attend the mid-week session. The focus of this session will be to ski and play games. The structure and groupings are less formal than on weekends with the main objective being to provide an opportunity for the children to ski twice a week. This additional session will be offered during the day (4:00-5:15 p.m.) on Tuesday and in the evening (6:30-7:45 p.m.) on Wednesday and Thursday to provide maximum flexibility to families.

Registration should be performed first by skill level and the second by age. The session coordinators will continue to create preliminary groupings and review these groupings with the coaches during the Jackrabbit Coaches Meeting. For those “mid level” groups, it is recommended that on the first session, all of the mid level groups ski together until hot chocolate break. At this break, the coaches will review and readjust their groups. After the break, each pair of coaches will take their group for a ski. The season will be composed of 9 weeks (7 weeks in 2009/10) normally beginning the second weekend in January.

A brief description of the individual skill levels of the Jackrabbit program is listed below.
 

Level 1	Most of these skills will be learned without poles: Rising and falling on hills, introduction to diagonal stride, herringbone step up gentle slopes, snowplow braking and trail safety.
Level 2	Poles will be used when learning and practising most of the following skills: diagonal step with increased emphasis on gliding, double poling, herringbone step up moderate slopes, free glide down moderate hills while holding poles, kick turns, snowplow stops and snowplow turns.
Level 3	Poles will be used during most of these session: Diagonal stride emphasizing weight shift and use of poles, one step double poling, double poling more effectively, free skate, downhill tuck, diagonal skate, kick turns and skate turns. As skating skills are introduced in this level, children will need to have ski boots that provide some ankle support and are compatible with Salomon bindings so that they can use club skate skis for some skating sessions.
Level 4	One step double poling, free skate, one skate, two skate, step turns, parallel side stepping, offset skating, refinement of diagonal stride technique. Coaching will also include an introduction to ski waxing.

Coaches in the Jackrabbit program have completed the ICC and CC workshops.

Fee: $100 (50% reduction if parent volunteers to coach) – Level 1 and 2
Fee: $150 (50% reduction if parent volunteers to coach) – Level 3 and 4

Track Attack Program (ages 10-12, and 13 on an individual basis)

The Track Attack program will be offered Saturday AM, Saturday PM and Sunday AM (returning Track Attack members only on Saturday PM). There is no Track Attack session Sunday afternoon. Each session will have a duration of approximately 2 hours and the start time will be 9:00 a.m. for the morning sessions, 1:00 p.m. for the Saturday afternoon session. A weeknight ski will also be offered on Wednesday and Thursday nights and it will have a duration of 1¼ hours and will commence at 6:45 p.m. The season will begin as soon as there is sufficient snow in December and weeknight skiing will begin as soon as Cypress Mountain begins night operations.

The off-season will consist of a dryland session in the fall and one in the spring. The focus of these sessions is on fun through games, activities and age appropriate training circuits/stations while following the guidelines of the LTAD and the Track Attack Booklet.  If sufficient coaches are available, there will be a regular weekly or biweekly fall session for the Track Attack kids. Occasionally, this group could join the Youth Racing group for special activities such as orienteering.

For those Track Attack children who are very keen on racing, there will be the opportunity to attend an additional weeknight session to provide some contact with the Youth Racing team.   The Coast Cup races and Midget Championships are the best exposure to racing for this age group while some may even want to experience BC Cup races as well.  Quite typically a Track Attack coach will be in attendance at the races to help with waxing, race preparation, and other coaching activities.

Coaches in the Track Attack program have either completed Level 2 NCCP certification or the LTT Dryland and LTT On-Snow workshops.

Fee: $200 (50% reduction if parent volunteers to coach)

Beginner Skiers Aged 9 to 13

We normally ask that all older beginner skiers take a Christmas kids camp with Cypress so that they have the basic skills (herringbone, snowplow, snowplow stop and turn, basic diagonal stride) before they start with the Jackrabbit sessions. However, because of the earlier start to the season in 2009/10, taking the kids camps is not possible. Therefore all older, novice skiers must choose the Saturday a.m. session where we will place all these skiers together in a novice group.

Teens on Skis (ages 13-18)

This program focuses on those teens that are purely recreational skiers. They will engage in a variety of winter activities including backcountry trips, snowshoeing, winter safety, running cookie loppets, obtaining coach training, etc. This program will be offered on Sunday AM beginning at 9:00 a.m. and have a duration of 2½ hours. The season will be composed of 9 weekend sessions (7 weeks in 2009/10) normally beginning the second weekend in January.

Fee: $100 (50% reduction if parent volunteers to coach)

Hollyburn Racing Team (ages 13-18)

Joining the Racing Team is a fun way to develop your fitness, skiing and competition skills in a supportive, team environment. Members of the Racing Team will register in either the Youth Racing Program or the Performance Racing Program.

Youth Racing Program (ages 13-18)

This group is for athletes who want to ski two times per week. These teenagers will have the opportunity to attend local races and possibly some BC Cups and loppets. All skiers just moving from Track Attack into their first year on the Race Team should register in this program.  The weekend session will begin at 9:00am and have a duration of 2½ hours. The week night sessions will begin at 6:30 pm and have a duration of 1½ hours in order to closely coordinate with the other programs.

The program features:

• 2 practices per week from September to April (dryland practices in the fall and on snow in the winter)
• Various practice sessions to accommodate the Youth Racers' varied schedules
• Fitness testing
• Training camps
• Coaching and waxing support at races (Coast Cups, BC Cups)
• NCCP Level 2 coaches

This group will overlap with the Performance Racers group during the midweek and weekend sessions. This will provide the opportunity to build a strong team atmosphere amongst both groups.

Fee: $500 for September to April (Reduced to $350 for Sept. 2009 to April 2010)

Spring/Summer Dryland Program: This is an “add on” program for Youth Racers who want to take part in the spring and summer dryland practices. Registration for this will be at a later date.

• 2 times per week
• An additional fee will apply

Performance Racing Program (ages 14-18)

This is a full year round program for athletes who want to develop to their full potential in the sport of cross country ski racing in a fun team atmosphere. The program will follow the Sport Canada Long Term Athlete Development Model, as well as the Cross Country Canada model for developing athletes. This group will focus all activities around the objective of attending BC Cup, Western Canadian and possibly National races. Some of the advantages of this program are:

• Annual training plans (training year from May to April)
• Weekly training schedules with 5-6 workouts per week
• 4-5 team practices per week
• Training camps
• Fitness testing at various times in the year
• Video technique analysis
• Monitored training logs
• Coaching and waxing support at races including Coast Cups, BC Cups, Westerns and Nationals if appropriate
• NCCP Level 3 coaching

Fee: $1000 for 12 months May to April (prorated to $750 for Sept. 2009 to 2010)

Graduate Coaching/Volunteer Program

We encourage any "graduates" of our programs to stay involved in the club by volunteering in whatever capacity they wish. For example, you could help out as Coach's Assistant or, if you are 16 or older, you could take the NCCP coaching courses to become a certified coach. Either way, you would be teamed with an older, more experienced coach. The coaching courses are usually offered in the fall. Any time contributed to the club can be used for school volunteer requirements.

Alternative Options from Other Local Clubs

There are several local clubs that operate in the Vancouver area. Those that offer youth programs are listed below.

Nordic Racers Ski Club - Junior Nordics

If you find that our Racing Program is full, you are older than 15 and wish to race, or find that our program doesn't quite fit your needs, you may wish to consider the Junior Nordics program offered by the Nordic Racers Ski Club for those aged 10 to 18. More information can be found on the Junior Nordics page of the Nordic Racers web site.

The Nordic Racers also offer racing programs for adults. To find out more, go to the Nordic Racers web site.

West Coast Nordic Club - Biathlon

Biathlon is an Olympic sport that combines skate skiing and target shooting. West Coast Nordic Club is the biathlon club serving the Lower Mainland and is looking for young athletes ages 9 and up who would like to pursue this sport. You will need to be skiing at a Jackrabbit level 4 or Track Attack level and can learn your skiing skills through the Hollyburn Jackrabbit Ski Club while learning your target shooting skills with the West Coast Nordics. For further information, please contact Clay Ronaghan at cr8973@telus.net.