Our volunteer leadership team is dedicated to the strategic growth of our sport. With more than 150 years of combined cross-country ski experience and diverse professional backgrounds, our executive directors work to bring the joy of our sport to many.
John Graham
President
John’s involvement with Cross Country Nova Scotia’s Board of Directors is rooted in a lifelong commitment to community engagement and cross-country skiing.
He became a certified community coach with Nordiq Canada and coached the Jackrabbit program at Birch Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, from 2009 to 2019. Building on this experience, he completed Nordiq Canada’s community coaching learning facilitator training in 2021, which enabled him to train and certify other coaches.
In January 2024, John moved to Cape Breton and quickly became an active member of Cape Breton Nordic Club (CBN). He joined the club’s board and contributed to trail grooming and equipment maintenance. In 2025, he served as a ski ambassador for CCNS and represented CBN on the CCNS Board of Directors.
Beyond skiing, John is an experienced consultant, leveraging his professional skills to help community groups secure project funding, manage projects, and conduct evaluations. He has also served on the boards of various organizations, including Canadian Crossroads International, Labrador Friendship Centre, Mantas Swim Club, and Tamarack Camera Club, often holding executive positions.
Eileen Woodford
Vice-president
Eileen has spent a lifetime building the sport of cross-country skiing by volunteering in a wide range of supporting and leadership roles. She first tried skiing after high school and immediately discovered her passion.
In 1981, she moved to Onion Lake, Saskatchewan, where the Chief and Council developed cross-country ski trails and added the sport to the physical education curriculum. She skied almost daily from early December to mid-March. Her next stop was a remote community in Labrador, Newfoundland, with no ski-specific grooming, though miles of snowmobile trails on mountains and frozen ocean provided spectacular scenery and a season that lasted until early June.
Eileen moved back to Cape Breton in 1988 and settled in Sydney, where she became part of the Breton Nordic Ski Club and served on its board in various positions. The Cape Breton Loppet series was very active in the early 1990s, with more than ten clubs hosting events for a few winters.
“Those were the days when we were blessed with more consistent snow and a small Loppet had 100 participants of all ages,” noted Eileen.
She served as a board member with Cross Country Ski Nova Scotia, including time as president from 2001 to 2005. During this period, there was growing interest in developing groomed trails in the Sydney area. Breton Nordic groomed for one year at a provincial park, then Ski Ben Eoin became involved. A group of keen cross-country skiers laid and cleared trails on top of the mountain at Ben Eoin, and Eileen joined their board from 2003 to 2006 to promote and advocate for cross-country skiing.
Eileen sought out training opportunities to better support ski development for various age groups and competitive events, mostly in Cape Breton. Her training includes CANSI instructor certification, Jackrabbit leader, and certified official credentials.
When she moved home to Baddeck in 2006, interest in skiing was once again on the upswing. Over several years, she spent time with community members exploring backroads and snowmobile trails, with occasional visits to North Highland Nordic and Ski Tuonela, all while encouraging others to join and helping rally interest in the formation of a ski club in Baddeck.
Eileen said, “Skiing was salvation for many of us during the first COVID lockdown in 2020, the perfect social distancing and fresh air activity on snow that lasted till the end of April.”
In 2021–22, nearly 50 interested skiers attended a meeting and supported joining the club for its first year to learn the ropes. In December 2022, Baddeck Nordic was formed and established goals for the first three years. By January 2023, the club had a land-use agreement with the owner of a spectacular property at the foot of the Cape Breton Highlands. The club has grown to 95 members and 200 day-pass users in 2025.
She currently serves as president of the Baddeck Nordic Board of Directors, with a group of dedicated colleagues serving as board members, along with numerous volunteers.
Baddeck Nordic brings people together to create wonderful ski and snowshoe memories. The club currently grooms 10 km of trails and owns grooming equipment. It has also fostered relationships with many partners to clear and excavate sections of trail, build corduroy roads, and construct rough bridges.
Eileen continues to be an active member of the Cross Country Nova Scotia Board of Directors, volunteering as vice-president for the 2025–26 season.
Marcy Madamombe
Treasurer
Marcy Madamombe is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CGA) with experience working in both the private and public sectors. She is currently Capital Finance Business Partner at Halifax Regional Municipality. In her free time Marcy enjoys hiking, travelling and playing mini golf. She hopes to be able to ski someday!
Taylor Buchanan
Secretary
I started cross country skiing with my family when I
was around 10-13 years old where I grew up around Lake Echo and between Porter’s Lake and Mosquitdobit. Since then, in the last seven years I became connected with the North Highlands Nordic centre on visits to North of Smokey in the winter time as well as explored trails in West Hants, NS and Sackville, NB. I now live in northern Cape Breton and get to enjoy some fantastic backcountry skiing as well as the local groomed trails.
Since moving into this community as a teacher, I have been involved with chaperoning field trips to the ski center, as well as volunteering with the Bunnies ski program to help teach beginner skills. As a cross-country runner and avid hiker I spend just as much
time exploring trails when there’s no snow on them.
I have participated in a number of Board of Directors including the TeenMentalHealth.org Youth Advisory Council (YOUth Against Stigma), the New Brunswick Environmental Network (NBEN), and currently the Seawall Trail Society (SWTS). My roles have involved projects in material review, grant writing, governance, community engagement and event planning. I am a generally curious person and love to learn and am eager to deepen my connection with the cross-country skiing community.
David Hubley
Coaching and athlete development
David Hubley David Hubley is a long-standing cross-country ski coach with the Scotia XC Ski Club. A physical education teacher with more than 33 years’ experience, David has dedicated his life to sharing the value of sport. He brings enthusiasm to every learning opportunity and creates a positive, social environment for all groups he instructs.
David attends regional coaching and skiing workshops to continue learning and contribute to the growth of the provincial ski community. He has received the Support4Sport Coach of the Year Award and the Cleve’s Source for Sports Impact Award – Coach of the Month.
An effective event coordinator, David plans annual camps in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, for master skiers. Many of these camps are planned in partnership with Cross Country Ski New Brunswick and Nordiq Canada – David builds ski communities by connecting athletes and coaching resources from across Canada.
Lorenzo Caterini
Member at large
Lorenzo Caterini has made enormous, game-changing contributions to cross-country skiing in Nova Scotia through tireless and highly innovative contributions to trail development, grooming, partnerships with governments and private sector businesses, race organizing and timing, club governance, fundraising, support to other ski clubs, collaboration with other sports – and as an inspiring and fierce competitor.
Lorenzo has been the recipient of numerous volunteer awards. Most recently, he was chosen as the recipient of the 2020 Nordiq Canada Volunteer of the Year Award and 2020 Support4Sport Volunteer of the Year Award.
Also serving on the Cycling Nova Scotia Board of Directors as vice-president, sport, Lorenzo is a key organizer of cycling events, as well as Scotia XC Ski Club races.
Paula Michaelis
Member at large
Paula Michaelis is a dedicated year-round volunteer at North Highlands Nordic, serving in her fourth year as club president. She volunteers thousands of hours throughout the year to a gamut of tasks including: fundraising coordinator, overseeing all operational
aspects of the nordic centre, key organizer in special projects such as fundraising for a new groomer, head chef at the Nordic Café, and development phases of a children’s ski playground. She is currently serving in her fifth year as an executive board member
for Cross Country Nova Scotia.
Daniel Murray
Member at large
My journey in cross-country skiing grew out of a perfect storm that arose in northern Cape Breton during the late 1970s and hit full force in the 1990s during my teenage years. The journey started before I could walk, being pulled in a sled behind my parents as they skied. We were part of a tight circle of friends and community that found adventure on skis in the Cape Breton highlands, but also started up a Jackrabbit ski program, and eventually hosted the 1987 Canada Games nordic events and 1989 Junior National Champs.
I was just along for the ride throughout the growth of our ski culture and was quite struck at the national level athletes. This was followed shortly thereafter by the rise of the Cape Breton Loppet series, as well as the formation of the Highlander’s Ski Team by Dave Algar in December, 1990. Within a few years, my friends and I were members of the Nova Scotia Ski Team, and having the times of our lives travelling, living and competing across Canada. During this time, I also competed for two university ski teams (Augustana in Camrose, Alta., and Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont.) and in numerous national and international competitions, including ten national championships, two Canada Games, one World Universiade and four different world loppets.
In 2008, I started my tenure as the provincial coach and have since coached more than 40 athletes at four Canada Games, nine National Championships, 14 Eastern Championships and countless training camps.
More importantly, despite this competitive experience, I cherish cross-country skiing as a lifestyle, as well as an amazing way to experience the world and meet amazing people. Yet despite these worldly experiences, the most incredible place in the world to ski is still exactly where the perfect storm started, that being the highlands of Cape Breton.
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