Nordic skiers of all ages will be converging on Emil’s Clearing at Mt. Bachelor ski area on Saturday and Sunday for the Sunnyside Qualifier.

“It’s as much of a production as we do,” says Dan Simoneau of the Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation, which is putting on the cross-country ski event. “We’ll have 150 of the best skiers in the Northwest here.”

The Sunnyside Qualifier offers competition for a wide range of skiers: For kids in the J3 age group (ages 12 and 13), the Sunnyside Qualifier serves as the Pacific Northwest Ski Association J3 Championships. For PNSA skiers in the J2, J1 and OJ divisions (ages 14 to 19), the race is a qualifier for the 2013 U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Junior National Cross Country Ski Championships in Fairbanks, Alaska, in March. For most adults, it’s simply a chance to get out and race.

But for a number of college skiers, the event is serving as the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association Northwest Conference championships, which is a qualifier for the USCSA national championships in Sun Valley, Idaho, in March. The USCSA is a ski and snowboard organization for college club teams throughout the country. USCSA freestyle and alpine competitions are also slated to take place at Mt. Bachelor this weekend.

“There hasn’t been a collegiate race in the Northwest in I don’t know how long,” Simoneau says.

One of the college club teams that will be represented at Bachelor this weekend is the Oregon State University-Cascades squad, which is in its inaugural year. Two OSU-Cascades cross-country skiers will be competing. (School mascot Benny the Beaver, Simoneau says, and about a couple OSU-Cascades students will be in attendance as well.) Among others, Northwest Conference programs include the University of Washington, the University of Idaho, Whitman College of Walla Walla, Wash., and the University of Oregon.

Both days of racing will follow an individual start format, in which competitors will leave the start line one at a time in 30-second intervals. Saturday’s races will be in skate-ski technique, and Sunday’s will be in classic technique. The races are open to all skiers, but the courses do include some hills, Simoneau says, so he recommends that racers have some cross-country ski experience.

Also on Saturday, kids age 9 and younger can get involved in the Stevenson Stampede, a free 750-meter mass start race. Registration is available in person today at the MBSEF office (open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.), 563 S.W. 13th St., Suite 201, in Bend, and on site until 9:30 a.m. on Saturday and 8:30 a.m. on Sunday. Cost is $15 to $25, depending on age group, and those without a Mt. Bachelor trail pass need to purchase one for $8 per day. For more information, go to mbsef.org /NordicRaces.