Jamie Kallio – HEAD COACH
Jamie grew up in the Northern Ontario city of Timmins where he developed an appreciation for outdoor winter sports at an early age. Skiing, skating, snowshoeing during the winter and biking, running and eventually roller skiing began at an early age and were routine by age 14. Racing at the provincial and national level for the Porcupine Ski Runner club in Timmins became a year-round commitment for seven years. After that, the sport of Biathlon with the National Training Squad became the focus for 3 years in the mid-1980s. This led to a berth on the 1987 World Championship Team and eventually a spot on the Canadian team for the 1988 Calgary Olympics. Since then Jamie has been giving lessons in skiing and coaching from the club to the international level in biathlon and cross-country skiing. He also has an NCCP Level 3 Certification in both Cross-country skiing and Biathlon. Currently, racing is less of a priority; with the goal now of getting a permanent bib at the CSM.
Dan Mallett – DRYLAND, ROLLERSKI, AND SKI COACH
Dan is a Chelsea resident, who has been involved in cross-country skiing for over 30 years as an athlete, coach and sports administrator. In the 70s he grew up in the Muskoka Lakes region of Ontario and competed for the Southern Ontario Team, where he was a member of the relay team which won gold at the nationals. In the 80s he raced internationally in Cross Country Skiing and represented Canada in Biathlon at 3 world championships and several world cups. Since then he has coached 100s of athletes in the national capital region where some have attained Olympic and Paralympic results. In addition, he has either lead or participated on teams as a coach at national championships, the Canada Winter Games and World Cups. As a volunteer sports administrator, he has contributed in several roles in club, provincial and national sports organizations. Employed as a project manager and engineer he has combined his skills with his passion to work at both the Vancouver Winter and London Summer Olympic games.
Currently Dan can be found skiing in Gatineau Park and providing instruction to all levels of skiers.
Peter Lloyd – DRYLAND, ROLLERSKI AND SKI COACH
Peter has been cross country ski racing for over 30 years. He has a BSc degree in Bio-Physical Education (Kinesiology) from Concordia University, has completed his Level 3 NCCP and is working on his Level 4 coaching certification. Peter coached with XCCM since 2011 and has previously with Nakkertok where he helped lead the Nakkertok juniors to a Team victory at the National Championships. Many of the athletes that Peter has worked with are now racing on the Junior National team or with National Training Centres. In 2005, he coached the Outaouais Divisional team at the Jeux Du Quebec. He enjoys seeing the athletes having fun, and continuing to improve in all aspects of their performance. Peter has also competed and coached Triathlon racing and holds a Level 1 Technical certification in that sport. In addition to coaching, Peter is also a member of the Board of Directors of Cross Country Canada.
Karen Nesbitt – SKI COACH
Karen is passionate about the outdoors and enjoys sharing her passion with others to help improve their experience, and create opportunities to explore new endeavours. She’s been living in Chelsea near the Gatineau Park for over 40 years and takes advantage of the beauty, and variety of the trails in every season. Karen grew up skiing in the Laurentians from a very early age, and has been involved with teaching and coaching both downhill and cross country skiing for over 25 years. She is a CANSI Certified instructor, and NCCP coach and has taught privately as well as with Chelsea Nordique, Mooney’s Bay, Nakkertok, new immigrants to Canada, and various Ski for Schools programs in the Ottawa/Gatineau area.
Etienne Grall – DRYLAND, ROLLERSKI AND SKI COACH
Etienne grew up in France where he was introduced early on to the outdoors and the mountains with his family. He came to cross-country skiing in his late 20s, while living near the Alps, as a parallel activity to climbing, mountaineering and alpine ski touring. In Ottawa since 1999, his passion for – and involvement in – XC skiing got a boost when he and his wife Carolyn joined the Nakkertok ski club. Etienne followed their children up the coaching ranks, first as a Jackrabbit leader, later with the racing program. For the last several years he was a coach with Nakkertok’s Junior program and supported the team’s successes as coach and wax tech at several National Championships and many Ontario cups. He is a certified coach at the Train to Train level and is thrilled to see many of the athletes he coached remain active and engaged, and some of them excel on the national scene and beyond. Still missing the mountains, he sees winter in Ottawa as his “horizontal mountaineering”, which has earned him the nickname of “winter optimist” from some co-workers. Etienne is an International Relations graduate, speaks four languages and when he is not out in Gatineau Park works in International Development Finance.
Raylan Stroud – DRYLAND, ROLLERSKI, and SKI COACH
Raylan grew up in Northern Ontario exploring the woods; canoe tripping, hiking, and skiing with her outdoor enthusiastic parents. In grade 6 her family moved to Huntsville, Ontario where she joined the Arrowhead Ski Program as a Jackrabbit and subsequently the Huntsville High School Cross Country Ski Team. Thanks to some amazing teammates and coaches Raylan’s love for cross country skiing was developed. She continued to race at the provincial and national level with the University of Guelph Varsity Ski Team. After university her athletic focus changed slightly, and she spent a few years racing triathlons nationally and internationally with the Ontario Development Team. An eager young athlete, Raylan was not only a cross country skier but a competitive dancer, soccer player, alpine ski racer, cross country runner, and triathlete. This diverse background allows her to coach in a very comprehensive style.
In 2019, Raylan moved to Ottawa, drawn in by the biking/triathlon and skiing community. She began coaching Jackrabbits with Kanata Nordic and downhill skiing at Camp Fortune. Raylan is planning to attend teacher’s college next, but for now you can find her spending every free moment cycling (road, gravel, mountain or cross), trail running, or skiing in Gatineau Park!
Peter Ostrom – SKI COACH
Peter reluctantly started cross-country skiing at age 6 at the Viking Ski Club, as he preferred downhill at that time. With the passing of time, his love for Nordic persevered. He skied competitively for Queen’s University. A level II Cansi Instructor and Level II Coach, Peter has coached high school and instructed adults with the Ottawa Learn to Cross Country program and at Nakkertok Ski Cub. He convened the Ottawa Carleton District School Board cross-country racing program for several years. A lover of Loppets, he has ski toured/Nordic skied in Norway, Finland, Switzerland, Kenya, and India. He acquired his permanent Gold bib with the Canadian Ski Marathon in 1984 and continues to ski it “never again”. He was the XCCM Athletic Director for many years.