Happy 50th Anniversary Cross Country Ski Shop! Northbound Outfitters purchased the Cross Country Ski Shop in the fall of 2011 from owner Dick Fultz and looked forward to carrying on his 34-year presence in the Grayling community. And they did!
Northbound Outfitters / Cross Country Ski Shop owner Heather Compton received a plaque from the Michigan Cup that she awarded to Dick in honor of his founding the Cross Country Ski Shop 50 years ago. And it was party party party at the store after the Cote Dame Marie!
UPDATED! ADDED LINK TO RESULTS! It was pure pleasure to be racing the Cote Dame Marie on a course with nice snow and grooming!
The snow we received has unfortunately left us without confidence in our ability to run even a modified distance course safely this year
The red trail base is improving, but as much as I want to include this section, it currently has a marginal and bumpy base that I fear would not positively showcase our trail system or our grooming efforts. We may shorten the race.
When the smoke cleared. Team NSR had won the day with 36 points, ending in third place with 308 points in overall Brumbaugh Cup. HHCCSS and GRNST weathered the storm, remaining in first and second place.
The Michigan Cup moved South for a weekend of races at Huron Meadows Metropark near Brighton. This is Team NordicSkiRacer’s home course and the defending Brumbaugh Cup champions began their defense. It was a defense of no small proportions.
The 10k race will be slightly longer at just over 11k, the 20k course should be just over 21k, and our long course will be around 42 km.
We’re kicking off our Tuesday Night Race Series again at Hickory Hills this week! It’s a 5-race series featuring various race formats and styles. These are free, community-based events open to everyone and are a lot of fun.
The Vasa Raptor Rush Nordic Ski Race Fundraiser ran on the a world-class FIS-homologated cross country ski course at Hickory Hills in Traverse City, MI. Races were held for middle school skiers, juniors, and adults and ranged from 2.5km to 10km.
Chris Lamer and Rachel Rosenbaum took great photos of the Frosty Freestyle and Krazy Klassic races (respectively) - hundreds of photos! These are all available for download for free.
It was a paddler's fest as both Yvon Dufour and Rebecca Davis completely doublepoled the course.
Goodman and Rand skied away from the pack on a beautifully groomed trail and in great weather.
Hanson Hills/Cross Country Ski Shop held off a charge by the Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team to maintain their lead in the Brumbaugh Cup.
2026 Winter Olympics - Men's/Women's Sprint qual.+ final
Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium, Italy
2026 Winter Olympics - 10 km freestyle women
Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium, Italy
Winter Fest Kick-Off
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N. Cut Rd., Roscommon, MI 48653 (800-832-2663)
2026 Winter Olympics - 10 km freestyle men
Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium, Italy
50th Annual North American Vasa Freestyle
Timber Ridge Resort, 4050 E. Hammond Road, Traverse City, MI 49686
Loppet Junior Qualifier & SuperTour (JNQ) - Classic Mass Start
Theodore Wirth Park, Minneapolis, MN
Gourmet Mac ‘n Cheese Bar
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N. Cut Rd., Roscommon, MI 48653 (800-832-2663)
Nordic Ski Junior Racers training session (Team NordicSkiRacer)
Huron Meadows Metropark, 8765 Hammel Rd, Brighton, MI 48116
Free Beginner Ski Lesson
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N. Cut Rd., Roscommon, MI 48653 (800-832-2663)
2026 Winter Olympics - Women's 4x7.5 km Relay
Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium, Italy
Loppet Junior Qualifier & SuperTour (JNQ) - Freestyle Individual Star
Theodore Wirth Park, Minneapolis, MN
Gourmet Mac ‘n Cheese Bar
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N. Cut Rd., Roscommon, MI 48653 (800-832-2663)
50th Annual North American Vasa Classic
Timber Ridge Resort, 4050 E. Hammond Road, Traverse City, MI 49686
2026 Winter Olympics - Men's 4x7.5 km Relay
Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium, Italy
Gourmet Mac ‘n Cheese Bar
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N. Cut Rd., Roscommon, MI 48653 (800-832-2663)
American Birkebeiner, Kortelopet & Prince Haakon Open Track
Hayward, WI
2026 Winter Olympics - Team Sprint Women's/Men's Qual.+ Final
Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium, Italy
Kortelopet 29K Race
Samuel C. Johnson Family Outdoor Center, 12205 County Hwy-B W, Hayward, WI 54843 (OO Trailhead)
Prince Haakon 15K
Phipps Road, north of Hayward, WI
American Birkebeiner 53k Classic Race / 50k Skate Race
Cable to Hayward, WI
2026 Winter Olympics - 50 km classic style women
Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium, Italy
Free Beginner Ski Lesson
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N. Cut Rd., Roscommon, MI 48653 (800-832-2663)
2026 Winter Olympics - 50 km classic style men
Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium, Italy
Ribs and Blues Celebration!
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N. Cut Rd., Roscommon, MI 48653 (800-832-2663)
33rd Annual Junior Muffin Race
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N. Cut Rd., Roscommon, MI 48653 (800-832-2663)
CANCELLED: Detroit Public Schools kids learn to ski
Huron Meadows Metropark, 8765 Hammel Rd, Brighton, MI 48116
Vasa Trail: Lots of skiers were enjoying the Piston Bully groomed trails from Timber Ridge this afternoon, esp as the temps reached 20 in the sunshine. It was a great day gliding in the classic tracks on skins. Vasa weekend is coming up 2/14-2/15, so get registered to race or volunteer. You don’t want to miss the fun!
Vasa Trail: Plenty of happily sun-drenched skiers were out today as evidence by the parking lot being 95% full after my late morning ski. Trails were as good as they've ever been this year with another full PistenBully grooming of both the skate lane and resetting the classic tracks. Temps were 13F at my start, probably 5-10 degrees colder than that in the woods that holds the cold overnight temps, but skating was surprisingly fast as your skis are mainly riding the frosty crest of the corduroy wales. LF7 worked well. Hoping in the classic tracks on the downhills was super fast. It seems like most of the skiers I chatted with in Lombard's Lodge are planning on racing the Vasa next weekend, one skier actually doing both the Saturday 12K freestyle, then the Sunday 15K classic for the first time, another skier doing his first 50K classic in many years. At noon finish the temps were 20F but in the sun felt warmer than that.
Huron Meadows Metropark: Near perfect conditions Bucks run has a groomed skate deck and perfect classic tracks. Classic tracks good all the way around Hawk hills. Hawk hills is skateable but hasn’t been groomed in a couple days. Great skiing big thanks to the groomers.
Cross Country Ski Headquarters: All trails open with fresh grooming! Come on out!
Corsair Ski Trails: Saturday evening update: The Silver Valley and Corsair trail sections have just been graded and new tracks have been set. Groomers Dan and Karl will be back out early Sunday morning to have the Wright’s Lake section completed by 10am. The trails are in great shape!
Forbush Corner: Memorial Race Day for Mike Keenan! Classic technique so the race course is groomed with two tracks for best line. The race should be finished by noon, and the course will be regroomed for skating and classic. Open 9 to 5.
Independance Oaks: Trail was groomed but once again park staff drove a tracked vehicle over most of the trails after grooming creating ruts on the spring lake trail up the climb between and around most of the lakeshore loop. I wish they would groom and then park it. The ruts in the turns around the lake and going up the Spring lake climbs were frustrating. Skiable just not enjoyable. I picked up most of the sticks but the wind is still blowing so beware of fallen branches later on today.
Michaywe: The Michaywe Cross Country Ski Trails received a fresh grooming today. All of the ski trails have been combed for skating with new classic tracks set on the Lake Trail, Herringbone Trail, Rivers Trail and Golf Course Loops. Conditions are very good!
Hanson Hills: Typo... Lodge and trails open at 9am..
Hanson Hills: Lodge & trails open at 11:00 AM
Grooming is underway on windblown Red, Yellow, Brown, Blue, M-93, and Novice to get things dialed back in after the weather.
Forbush Corner: All trails groomed yesterday and in great shape including pines loop. Maybe a light touch up today on the east side. One last race on the schedule (SUNDAY) this year, the memorial classic for Mike Keenan. A limited number of candy bars are available for a minimum $10 donation which will go to the Sedona Wolf Sanctuary (you can also make a donation to them directly in Mike’s name). Open 9 to 5.