December 30, 2004 – The Mount Washington Nordic Club and the Jackson Ski
Touring Foundation are hosting the First Annual White Mountain Classic 30K, to be held at the Jackson Ski Touring Center on Saturday, January 22, 2005.

A part of the Jackson Classic Weekend, this race is a classical style 30k
with a mass start for racers at 10:00 am, with touring starts between 10:05 am and 10:15 am. The race fee is $40 by 1/07/05 and $50 by 1/19/05 and will include food stations, post race meal, and awards and random prizes for both racers and tourers. Race fee is $20 by 1/19/05 for kids 13 and under and touring with an adult. Bill Koch League skiers and parents are encouraged to tour. This citizen race will be a great warm-up opportunity for those thinking about or planning to do one of the citizen marathons scheduled for later in the season. Online registration is at www.skireg.com or checks can be mailed to: Mount Washington Nordic Club, 30K Secretary, P.O. Box 373, Jackson, NH 03846. Registration is limited to the first 300 racers. All proceeds from the event will benefit the valley-wide junior Nordic ski program.

The White Mountain Classic is a 30 km classical technique race/tour
utilizing the trails in Jackson’s beautiful Ellis River drainage. Starting with a mass start at the Wentworth Resort fields behind the Jackson Ski Touring Center, the course follows the Ellis River Trail to the southern end of the Hall Trail. The course then follows the Hall Trail northbound, bypasses the Maple Mountain Loop then over the summit of Popple Mountain and descends to the Rocky Branch end of the High Water Trail. Skiers will follow the High Water Trail south to join the Ellis River Trail over rolling terrain back to the finish-line at the Jackson Ski Touring Center.

The Mount Washington Nordic Club is also sponsoring an art contest for
middle and elementary school students in the Mt. Washington area. Artwork is being submitted by the students with a winter/Nordic theme, and will be used on next year’s poster and t-shirts. The winners of the contest will be announced at the awards ceremony, following the White Mountain Classic 30K race. Prizes will include: t-shirts, 2 day passes for a Nordic area in the Mt. Washington Valley, a buff compliments of Ragged Mountain Equipment and a water bottle compliments of the Nordic Skier Sports shop.

Major sponsors for the White Mountain Classic 30K include: Berlin City
Bank, REI, Ragged Mountain Equipment, Nordic Skier Sports, Dasani Water,
Powerade, Salomon, Atomic, Swix, Karhu, Craft, and Chuck Roast.

The Mount Washington Nordic Club consists of approximately 200 members whose mission statement includes the promotion of organized cross country skiing activities for all ages. The club has coordinated the Wellinghurst Nordic Series for the past eight years providing local racing for kids through master skiers. The support and encouragement of cross country skiing for juniors is a major interest and mission of the Mount Washington Nordic Club. With this in mind, the idea for the First Annual White Mt. Classic 30k Fundraiser was born.

The Jackson Ski Touring Foundation is a community based nonprofit
organization, chartered to maintain trails in and around the village of
Jackson, New Hampshire and to provide winter recreational and educational
opportunities for all. The Foundation  maintains 154+ km of
cross-country ski trails, with state-of-the-art grooming on trails designed
to suite every taste and ability level. Foundation trails also connect
with A.M.C. trails in Pinkham Notch and White Mountain National Forest
backcountry adventure trails. Detailed information about trails, rates,
programs, events, clinics and more can be found at the Foundation web site
at www.jacksonxc.org. Further information can also be obtained by calling
603-383-9355 or 1-800-X-C-SNOWS (1-800-927-6697).