Registration Forms

Final registration deadline is November 30th.  Earlier registration is better, especially if you need skis! You cannot practice until all registration is complete.

Practices begin November 10th, 2025 Section meet February 2nd-6th, 2026

All skiers must have 1-5 completed (Novice, JV, or Varsity level) and #6 if you're interested in renting equipment.

1. General Winter Sports Online Sign up form (online form)

2. Cross Country Skiing Permission Form (can be printed and delivered, or filled out online and emailed to chris@avalonschool.org)

3.  Sports Physical Form (Good for 3 years)*  (Must be printed and brought to physician)

4a: Paper version: MSHSL Eligibility Statement and Health Questionnaire (Good for 1 academic year)** 

4b: Online version: MSHSL Eligibility Statement and Health Questionnaire (Good for 1 academic year)** 

5. Online payment - Suggested fee $150 (+any equipment rental fees) (can also mail or bring money in)

6. Equipment (optional) - if you are requesting/renting equipment, please fill out this form, see below for more details and add any payment to the online payment button above ("Full package" rental fee is $150).

*Fill out student information, sign (and have your student sign it), then fax or bring to the doctor.

**Go through the checklist on page 1, read pages 2-9, fill out, sign, and turn in pages 10-13 

***Transfer Students: If you transferred to Avalon in the past 365 days, please fill out this form: Transfer Eligibility Form

More registration explanations can be found here

Practices (Starting November 10th!)

For 2025, Avalon will be teaming with Great River for every practice.

This means that most practices will occur at Great River during dry land, and Battle Creek or Como Golf course when there is snow.

Practices will be a combination of ski technique, running, dryland ski skills, strength training, endurance training, nutrition guidance, race technique, rollerskiing and active games.

Practices - 4 days per week - will be held Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 3:40 until 5:30 in the early season.  When there is snow, practice may go until 6:00 depending on snow conditions.

General Information for 2025-2026

What level team is this?

Our ski team is comprised of people who want to get out and enjoy the winter! If you join the team, you are expected to attend practices consistently (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) and meets (weekly starting usually in December) unless you are sick or otherwise excused.  Experience is not required!  Everyone who has experience will ski at the "Varsity" or "JV" level, but new skiers are put into a "novice" level where they ski against other new skiers.  Meets are a blast!

Novice skiers learn to ski the "Skate" technique, and varsity skiers are expected to know the skate technique and will learn classic technique. 

Races are the 5k distance (3.107 miles).

Practices (Starting November 10th!)

Curious what we're doing? Practice schedule will be published here.

Practices will be a combination of ski technique, running, dryland ski skills, strength training, endurance training, nutrition guidance, race technique, rollerskiing and active games.

Practices - 4 days per week - will be held Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 4:00 until 5:30 in the early season.  

Once there is sufficient snow to ski on, practice will go until 6:00.

On days of meets (see meet schedule below) end time depends on location and traffic.  

It is highly recommended that students find time over the weekend to ski (or run, rollerski, etc)!  There may be optional Saturday practices.

It is also recommended to come into the season in shape (light running, strength, intervals, or another exercise 3-5 times per week).  It is easier to learn technique if you are already in shape!  Working legs, arms, and core are all important.  There are some example workout routines below if you are interested.

Meet Schedule

2025 PRELIMINARY meet schedule 

Equipment:

• Novice skiers will need skate equipment (boots, skis, poles) and JV/Varsity skiers will need both skate and classic equipment.  

• There are tons of great ski shops if you are interested in buying your own equipment (Finn Sisu, Pioneer Midwest, BNS, Gear West).

• Avalon offers entry-level rental equipment for $150-a great deal, especially for growing skiers!  Our equipment is entry-level.  

• Ski Equipment Request and Sizing Form 

  • -Fill out this form if you are interested in renting ski equipment (even if you rented last year).  Accurate sizing is important for getting correctly sized equipment!  Poles, skis and boots. If you are a new skier, you will just need "Skate" ski equipment.  If you are a returning varsity skier, you will need both Skate and Classic equipment.

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Message from Coach Hannah (10/14/2025):

It's that time of year again to start thinking of the Nordic season- I hope you're as excited as I am! That said, if you can no longer join us, please let me know and I'll remove you.

Practices start November 10th. I have a few upcoming events before then that you'll want to add to your calendar. All events can also be found on our Team Website and Calendar:

https://sites.google.com/view/grsanordic/schedule

This year, we will be offering two Team Info nights. One of which is meant for new families/skiers interested in the sport, while the other is geared for those who are ready to commit.

In both meetings, we'll cover a mixture of:

Expectations for athletes and parents

Practice and race schedules

Equipment and waxing basics (rent / buy / loan)

Volunteer opportunities (!!) and team updates

Introductory Team Info Meeting:

Save the date: Tuesday, October 21st from 6:30-7pm - virtual info night!

The meeting will take place on Google Meet: : meet.google.com/qkv-kyka-fer

• Immediately afterwards, from 7-7:30 will be a booster club meeting. Join us if you are interested!

High School Nordic Ski Team - In Person Parent & Student Night!

Save the date: Thursday, October 30th from 6:30-7pm

The meeting will take place @ GRS in the Upper Commons. Join us if you are able!

Meet the team &  Meet the coach!

- Immediately afterwards, from 7:30-8pm will be a booster club meeting. Join us if you are interested!

Check out the team website for more info!

LASTLY: Ski Swaps!

Now’s a great time to start looking for gear. Local ski swaps are happening over the next few weekends- a perfect opportunity to find equipment or upgrade for the season. Here's a list of upcoming swaps and recommended events soon.

Helpful Link: https://sites.google.com/view/grsanordic/helpful-links/clothing-gear

Upcoming Ski Swaps:

MYXC: https://www.myxc.org/ski-swap

Gear West: https://www.gearwest.com/pages/gear-west-ski-swap

Pioneer Midwest: https://pioneermidwest.com/pages/pioneer-midwest-20th-annual-ski-swap?srsltid=AfmBOoovNYvACasFpyOh28BoOojqzmll6dEIMv0kZ8WsjLyMTDgTmb80

Finn Sisu: https://www.facebook.com/FinnSisuMN/photos/ski-swap-season-is-coming-up-quick-make-sure-youre-ready-more-details-soon-/1428978702365469/

Let’s get fired up for another season. I can’t wait to see everyone and start training together. Start dancing your snow dances!

Hope to see you at our meetings!

Clothing

As you are aware, staying warm and dry during ski season is critical.  To that end, it is highly recommended that you purchase things that allow you to layer multiple items so you may put on/take off things BEFORE you get overly hot or overly cold.

Here's a great video on how to dress!

General Guidelines:

1. Always purchase synthetic (polyester) or wool items-especially underlayers and socks.  Cotton is a big no-no: when cotton gets wet, it stops insulating!

2. You can purchase 100's of dollars of expensive clothing, but it is not necessary.   

3. I have been skiing for a long time and have some brands that I love, but I can rarely afford to buy more than 1 item per year from those brands.  They include Craft, Bjorn Dahle, and Swix. If you have the money and desire, Finn Sisu, REI, Pioneer Midwest, Gear West, BNS, or Midwest Mountaineering would love to outfit you.

4. I have also purchased discount brands and have been perfectly happy with the results! Here is an example of a "set" of discount items (all Amazon links, but the examples hold and they can be found in many places):

Category 1: If you do not have these items already, I highly recommend purchasing

32 degrees thermal underwear

Wool Socks (they are almost always 7- 10 bucks per pair, but necessary IMO-Costco has deals on large packs, too)

"Thin" ski Buff- Something you can pull over your face, or drop down to neck, or take off, or wrap over your head and ears

COVID-preventing facemask for transportation

Category 2: You probably already have something similar-here are examples and options to check out.

Ski Pants or Leggings (or both for layering on colder days!)

Long sleeve quick dry

Long sleeve top partial zip (this can be any type of lightweight to midweight fleece, polyester, etc.  Again, you likely have this!)

Various hats (thin, mid, thick-this is a "mid" example, and most likely to be comfortable.)

Gloves - Thin

Gloves- Mid to thick (to be used by themselves or over thin gloves).  As starting skiers, go a bit warmer-you will likely be moving slower and getting less body heat at the start!

Gloves-Very Thick - If you get super cold hands and for those super cold days, these gloves are great.

Preseason Training Info

Firstly, be active in a way that is sustainable for you--meaning do what you enjoy!  Secondly, be active in a way that is safe (wear appropriate clothing, don't injure yourself, etc).

Some options:

Fitness Tracking-Strava groups help you stay motivated!

Get together and work out as a group

Youtube Klaebo Workout  

GIF Klaebo Workout

If you are working out daily, please alternate strength with endurance-do something long and slow after a day of doing a tougher Klaebo workout.  Bike rides, slow runs, long walks, long slow rollerskiing, etc.

Put in the hours (Training Plans)

Rollerskiing (email Chris for rental info)

Their Plan

Keep playing tag, and frisbee, and running, and biking…have fun and be active!

Practice and Meet Locations

Oh the places we go (maps to the practice and meet areas):

Check SkinnySki.com for updated trail reports!

• Town and country golf course (St. Paul) (Where we will primarily practice if there is natural snow in decent condition)

St. Paul courses (pass provided)

• Highland Golf Course (St. Paul) (Natural Snow-Some meets, possibly practices)

• Battle Creek (St. Paul) (Human made and Natural snow-some meets)

• Como Golf Course (Natural Snow-some meets)

Minneapolis Ski Areas (require day pass or annual pass)

• Hiawatha Golf Course (Natural Snow)

• Theodore Wirth (Minneapolis}  Human-made and natural snow (some meets)

Three Rivers Ski Areas (require day pass or annual pass)

• Hyland Hills BLOOMINGTON (Human-made snow) 

• Elm Creek Park Preserve (Human-made snow)

• Baker Park (Maple Plain) (Natural Snow)

To request an additional annual pass for Three Rivers or Minneapolis ski areas, please fill out the form below (must be done by Dec. 1):

Ski Pass request form

Google Slideshow from Banquet

Conference Meet 2020 results: https://8c4b041b-5226-4066-a7df-55b5824f030e.filesusr.com/ugd/19ccf1_9c580fabcc274329bd96d5fdee2b5435.pdf 

Motivating video for the upcoming Ski Season

Excited to stay in shape over the winter? Want to find a great way to interact with other students in a physically-distanced setting? Want to learn a new exciting sport? Need something that gets you excited about snow?  Want to follow in the footsteps (ski tracks) of Minnesota nordic skiing gold medalist Jessie Diggins? Want to learn a sport that will help you stay healthy for the rest of your life? Join Avalon's Cross Country Ski team!

Concussion Protocol

Pictures below from the McKinney Invite-"JV State" at Highland Golf Course

Technique

For beginners, we will focus on V1 (offset) and V2 (one-skate) techniques.

V1 (offset)

V1 (low gear for going uphill)     http://crosscountryskitechnique.com/offset-video/ 

V2 (one-skate)

V2  http://crosscountryskitechnique.com/one-skate-video/  http://crosscountryskitechnique.com/one-skate-dance-for-getting-started-in-skate-skiing/ 

Look at the V1 on the climb and the V2 towards the end

For longer races and to conserve energy, you can use V2 alternate:

V2 Alternate 

V2 Alternate V1 V2

More on V1 (offset) for going up hills:

We learned Monday how to incorporate poles and how to use V1 for going up steep hills.  Here are some videos to check out!

• V1 (low gear for going uphill)     http://crosscountryskitechnique.com/offset-video/ 

Waxing Skis

Last Year's Schedule for reference: 2019-2020 Ski Season!

Here is the link again to the overall schedule: Proposed Schedule 

Here is the link to the results page for the first meet (will be updated as results come in).  Scroll along the tabs on the bottom to see past and future meets, overall results for boys and girls, and the Avalon/GRS results.

Ski rental form, proposed schedule, other important documents (old from 2019-Ignore for now):

• Ski Equipment Check Out Form-Fill out this form if you are interested in renting ski equipment

• 2019-2020 Proposed Schedule (Updated 11/6/19)

• Link to register for Wirth trail pass :

Discount code is AvalonSkis1920 and the link is...

2018-19 Season Results

Rennet Results

Congratulations to the skiers who raced Friday night at Hyland Hills in Bloomington!  It was a cold but fun race!  It was especially fun to race at a new course!  Results are below:

http://www.andersonraces.com/pioneer-midwest-5k-high-school-ski-rennet

12/18/18 Theodore Wirth Meet Results!

Our team had a blast skiing in our first ever official meet!  We had 2 JV skiers and 1 varsity skier.  If you are interested in the results, they are posted below.  The first tab is Avalon only, the second tab is the overall boys results, and the third tab is Highland Park's results, with our skiers sprinkled in.  Highland Park boys are currently ranked as the 8th best team in the state.  They have loads of experience and a lot of dedicated skiers (108!), but they started out less than 20 years ago as a team of just 8.  If you compare Highland Park's new (first year) skiers (the "B-squad") to our first year skiers, we compare quite favorably!  Congratulations to everybody who came out and skied, and thanks to those who cheered.

Remember, the best way to get better at skiing is to ski more!  And don't forget, when you are practicing to slow down and work on technique.  Be sure to check out the videos below, paying special attention to V2.

Driver Background Check Forms

Want to be a volunteer driver to drive other runners to meets?  Please fill out these forms and return to Chris or the front office.  Thank you!

Driver Background Check

Background Check