Stuff for Prior To Your First Fall Camp Session:
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Daily Trail Fees (if you are not a Mt Bachelor season pass holder)
If you do not have a Mt Bachelor season pass, you must purchase a trail pass for every day you attend the Fall Camp. FYI for those wondering: We do not automatically include passes in the Camp fees because so many Camp attendees have season passes and because of the sheer number of Mt Bachelor daily pass purchase options.
All trail passes can be purchased directly from Mt Bachelor. To save Camp morning time and hassles, you are strongly urged to buy your passes on-line at least one day ahead of Camp days. (Passes are non-refundable so it's probably wise on your end to wait until you are close to your Camp days.)
Mt Bachelor Nordic daily on-line tickets found here
Note: Mt Bachelor Nordic season pass holders do not need any extra Camp pass, but you should allow time on your first Camp morning to make sure you've activated your season pass if it's your first day skiing of the winter.
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All Campers are required to sign a Fall Camp waiver to take part in the Fall Camp.
Because we are meeting outside for all Camp days, we MUST get these forms before your first Camp day. Collecting papers outside when we are starting a Camp morning is a nightmare!
Once you register, please sign the waiver -- then scan/photo & email back to the Camp << jd at xcoregon dot org >>. Thanks in advance for this folks!
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Where, When, How Do We Meet For Daily Camp Ski Sessions?
Unless you are notified otherwise about special situations, assume all Camp sessions will start promptly at 8:45am. We generally wrap up all sessions by 11:45am-noon.
Every Camp morning, the Camp meets -- on our skis -- in the Nordic Bowl 50 meters immediately below the Nordic pass gate. Coach J.D. tends to be really loud "herding" everyone and there usually aren't a lot of other groups gathering at 8:45am. You will not miss us if you are on-time. We only gather for a few minutes and then we leave as a group.
No matter what the weather or road conditions, we do tend to operate Fall Camp sessions on-time or very close. If you are late, you have to find us. We will not be able to wait for you and we will not respond to morning messages (text, email, phone, pigeons, smoke signals -- it doesn't matter, don't try it, it will NOT work).
If you arrive late, always look in the Nordic Bowl immediately below the Center first -- then go quickly to the Nordic Oval. If you find any "Fall Camp" group, join them temporarily until our half-time break. If you end up "mismatched", at the halfway point we can usually get you placed into a more appropriate group. Please note that the Camp cannot and will not offer refunds for folks that miss our group start time for any reason.
If you arrive early to Mt Bachelor trying to beat traffic (which is strongly recommended on blue bird powder days and weekends!), please note that we do not promise the Nordic Center doors will be open before 8:30am. Please do not pester the staff demanding the doors be open (the Center often opens a little early during the Camp as a courtesy just for us!). If the doors happen to be closed, just sit tight at your car until our go time (or do a pre-Camp hot lap or two on the trails to warm up!).
Getting to our Camp venue -- Mt Bachelor Nordic Center
The Cascade Lakes Highway (aka "Century Drive") is the only way up to Mt Bachelor from Bend and for non-locals is very easy to find from any lodging location. Just ask at your hotel’s front desk.
The Nordic Center is located at the Mt Bachelor "West Village" parking lot which is literally the very end of the plowed highway in the winter. You’ll see the Nordic Center log building to the immediate right as you enter a very large parking lot. Allow (at minimum) 30 minutes drive time from the westside edge of Bend to get to the Center. If there is any bad weather you should allow 10-15 minutes extra time for slow roads and traffic. On all weekend days and any December day with overnight fresh powder + clear morning skies -- road traffic can be crazy busy if you leave Bend after 8am. On weekends and blue bird powder days, you are strongly urged to get an extra early start (meaning up to 60-75 minutes prior to our 8:45am meeting time)!!! A good local skier hack is to pack a picnic breakfast and a huge cup of your favorite morning beverage. Enjoy smooth driving and a choice of great parking spots. Then hang out and listen to some tunes from the comfort of your car. If you want to stretch your legs before Camp, you can also get in a few minutes of bonus pre-Camp session skiing once the pass gate opens.
For folks from out-of-town, you can see a tourism office map of town at this link. The road up to Mt Bachelor is in the lower left corner of the map.
Note that there is very limited space in the Nordic Center to change your gear. There may or may not be gear storage options inside the Center during the Camp sessions (the layout tends to shift annually). Your best option for changing and gear storage is your vehicle. Alternatively a small weather-proof bag of spare clothes with no valuables in it is probably OK left outside near the ski racks (ask the Nordic gate person for advice on a good storage spot). Please note that neither the Center or the Camp is responsible for any gear left unsecured in a (very) public place. Ye be warned.
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What to bring to the Camp in general (mostly this is for non-locals)
Ski Gear for both skating and/or classic techniques depending on your technique for that day. If you are classic skiing on kick wax skis, your own supply of kick wax is necessary. If you don’t want to mess around with kick wax, a good pair of waxless skis works just fine for Fall Camp sessions. On tricky kick waxing days (which happen a lot in the Cascades), some type of waxes classic ski is strongly encouraged just so you don't spend all morning fighting your kick/glide equation. Classic skiers should plan to fine tune your kick wax BEFORE our scheduled meeting time each morning. We cannot hold up the entire group waiting for you to get World Cup quality grip/glide. A lightweight water bottle and holster is a good idea (we ski at 6,100-6,300ft).
For clothing, plan on a range of wintertime weather and dress in layers. Temps in the 20s and 30s are the norm, but it can be much cooler than that in the mornings when we start skiing. It'll feel much colder if there is wind (the Mt B parking lot is often super windy when the trails themselves are not so much). Most mornings it will warm up as we ski and you'll want to peel off layers. Coaches will have a plan for you to do just that and to keep your gear safe. Plan on having at least two sets of workout clothes in your car in case of wet weather (we will not cancel a session because of bad weather!). If it's wet, at the very least have two sets of gloves and hats so you can put on fresh stuff at our mid-session break.
Most restaurants in Bend are dress casual.
Other items.....clothes for dry land activities (Bend itself often doesn't have snow when the mountain is all white), sunscreen, swimsuit if your lodging has a spa, warm smiles, positive attitude.
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Can I work on skis somewhere during the Camp?
Mt Bachelor Nordic Center has traditionally offered a couple of informal wax benches for scraping skis or applying kick wax. Access depends on current Health/Safety protocols. They are NOT excited about anyone heating wax in the Center however.
Several shops in town used to offer free use benches, but health/safety issues and (honestly) poor clean-up habits from skiers has largely ended this availability. But you might get lucky.
For folks from out-of-town, often the best solution is to glide wax your skis just before you head to Bend with a "best guess" glide wax based on weather forecasts. A good generic guess for any year is a mid-range temp wax of any brand. Remember that the weather at Mt Bachelor often is radically different that weather in Bend itself. The link in this paragraph is matched precisely for the Nordic Center location in the mountains.
If you are only skiing for 3-4 days, you don't really need to re-glide wax in that short of time. This is not a race situation and you aren't going to ski so much in that span to need fresh glide wax.
Experienced racers and skiers that travel a bunch can tell you that it's pretty easy to scrape off travel wax after you arrive to your destination without a lot of gear. You don't need a profile or bench to do a "just OK" job of scraping off travel wax. A scraper and even a small brush is easy to pack in your bags. The enviro-friendly and courteous skier knows that a really cool trick is to use a trash can outside your lodging as something to lean your ski against for scraping. That way your shavings go straight into the trash leaving no mess and no shavings to get into soil or water.
A neat trick for your return journey for those that fly to Camp is to "travel wax" your skis simply by rubbing on a block of really warm paraffin wax on the tips and tails after your last ski session. That'll protect any areas the skis rub (with or without using ski ties which you should also have). This simple trick really simplifies things. For those that drive long distances, if your ski bag isn't going to be bumped around a ton, you don't even need to do the rub on. Just use ski ties and re-wax when you are home.
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Important Notes About Camp Registrations In Final Weeks (& during Camp)
As of Sunday, November 10 at 5pm PST please understand that all Fall Camp registrations enter a phase where no refunds are issued for any reason (as long as we hold a Camp day). This policy is spelled out at the bottom of the registration payment page that you used to get signed up (copied below).
The reason for no refunds starting several weeks before we start the fun is because the Camp gets to a point where XC Oregon is "locked in" with coaches, insurance, and sunk office administration time -- not to mention dozens of potential Campers that were turned away previously that now cannot make new plans even if a Camp spot suddenly opens up at the last second.
XC Oregon (really it's Coach J.D. who is a notorious pushover), has learned the hard way that despite clear messages about the no refund policy down the home-stretch, we always get folks begging to move days or get refunds for all manner of heartbreaking reasons. As you might imagine, this is probably the least fun part of the Camp. But telling folks "we are really sorry, but no" has also been starting to take away a lot of XC Oregon energy/time/focus from those Campers able to attend their scheduled sessions -- and that part of the equation we can no longer allow.
So this year, once we hit the "no refunds for any reason" day and time -- we really will have to enforce that policy. lf you find another person able to "buy" your spot on a given day or XC Oregon can fill your spot from the wait list and we remain 100% full for a day you miss, we will provide you with a partial credit for our Oregon Spring Camp or a tax receipt for a charitable donation. But that's the best we can do. Thanks in advance for understanding!
Fall Camp Refund Policies:
--> 100% payment is due at time of registration. Absolutely no Camp spots will be held without full payment.
--> If you cancel up until 5pm PST, Sunday, November 10 (4 weeks prior to Camp start), a refund for any Camp registration will be provided minus a non-refundable registration fee of $10 per person. Just send an email to to jd at xcoregon dot org by the deadline and we'll take your refund. After the November 10 deadline, all registrations are non-refundable for any reason except cancellation or postponement of Fall Camp days.
--> If any Fall Camp days are cancelled or postponed by the Fall Camp for any reason (health/pandemic-related, mountain or road safety closures, lack of snow, etc.), full registration refunds or credit options minus non-refundable registration system processing fees ($2 when paying with PayPal) will be issued to all impacted Campers for the impacted specific day(s) only. Note that a "cancelled" or "postponed" Camp day refers only to a morning where planned Fall Camp on-snow sessions do not take place and the Camp notifies all Campers registered for that day that on-snow sessions are officially cancelled or postponed. Campers self-electing not to attend on any scheduled date that the scheduled Camp session does actually take place are not eligible for refund or credit. Please note that by registering for the Oregon Fall Camp you acknowledge ahead of time that you understand that Camp sessions can and will take place in literally all types of weather and skiing conditions. As long as Mt Bachelor Nordic Center is open for business on a given morning, the Camp generally will go forward on that day.
--> XC Oregon assumes no responsibility for refunding or compensating for any financial costs beyond Camp registration fees or any other damages incurred by a registered Fall Camp participant as a result of officially cancelled or postponed Fall Camp days or missed Camp days by any camper due to any other reason. XC Oregon urges all Campers that travel to Central Oregon to purchase travel insurance.
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