The Super G was a great success on many fronts. More about that below, but first

What You Need to Know Next

Friday training is SL at 9:30 AM and i:00 PM. Contact Laurel to register.
Gate training is SL at 9:30 AM on each of Saturday and Sunday
Technical training is at 9:30 AM on each of Saturday and Sunday, meet at the National chair
The first of the new technical free ski / gateless training sessions is on Saturday from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM. These are freeing skiing sessions with Jacques Reid, using drills with a technical focus aimed at improving your skiing in gates. The focus will be personalized for participants based on their goals. Contact Laurel to register. Participation will be limited to 10 unless there are more registrants then that by the end of the day on Friday, in which case an additional coach will be added.
The third Interclub race (GS) will be at Alpine on Saturday afternoon. Contact Taylor Simms-Brown if you are interested.
The fifth GDHL race is the "endurance" SL and starts at 1:00 PM on Sunday. Inspection is from approximately 12:15 PM to 12:40 PM. The plan is to set the course beginning at the top of Millennium, running along the access route then turning downhill on Venture and ending at the finish line back on Millennium.

Super G

It's not often that we have a National Team member as a forerunner, but Madison Irwin was the first skier to take on the new Super G course last Saturday, recording a time of 1 min. 13.88 seconds, with an interval time of 35.83 seconds. I'm pretty sure that the course got faster as the morning wore on, but when Maddy hits the really big time, some of our racers will be able to boast of having beaten her time in at least one race. Results are here. As is often the case for the Super G, the field was a bit smaller than for other races, and the chatter in the start area suggested that some of the fast guys had been held up by bad weather. Ian Malcolm took full advantage to win with a comfortable margin, recording the time of 1 min. 8.84 seconds and becoming the youngest GDHL winner in recent memory, with Doug Macmillan placing second. John Banfield confirmed expectations that he would return to his pre-hiatus form with a strong third place, followed by Greg Cavers and Jeff Sutherland. Morgan Rubes finished sixth, followed by Tom Caswell, who moved up decisively from his 29th ranking. A quick look at the GDHL database shows that both Morgan and Tom have historically done well in the Super G. Conversely, Brook Dyson has missed the Super G for the last three years, but made amends by vaulting from his 33rd ranking to finish 10th. Other top 20 finishers who improved significantly on their rankings included Peter Ardill (12th from ranking 25), Rob Burnes (15th from 34), David Lash (18th from 37) and Patrick Galligan (20th from 48). Glenn Kilmer (26th from 50), Will Andrew (28th from 69 – again) and Rick Lapas (31st from 59) were also big movers, while Leslie Morgan led the women in 33rd, followed by Brittany Stainer and Lisa Warll in 35th and 36th. (Jamie Coulter jumped from his 82nd ranking to finish between them in 34th.) Michael Thompson, Tiana Boyman and Dougie Craig also jumped nicely into the middle class overall.

Other Notable Results

Kevin LaChance, known to many for his assistance with Saturday gate training sessions, cut a fine figure in his race suit on the podium at the Special Olympics event, after winning his age group and finishing second overall with the fastest overall time in the second run.

Meanwhile, in a Super G a bit farther from home, finish times were a bit tighter than we are accustomed to. At the Hahnenkamm Super G in Kitzbuehel on Sunday, being one second behind the winner left you in 35th place and being another second behind left you in 65th!

More Super G

This year we have interval times to whet your appetite for detail. They are posted here. Interval times were taken in the vicinity of the Comet start hut. I was surprised when Michael Walker told me that they were taken in the same way as at most World Cup races, namely with a manually operated stopwatch connected to the main timing system. Michael says they're usually pretty accurate, but that occasional unexpected variations in interval times that pop up when you're watching a race on television may be due to the timing operator being distracted.

The Super G also provided some good examples of what the GDHL is, and is not, all about. First, we don't have gatekeepers so, except when someone contrives to miss the last gate, we rely on racers to disqualify themselves if they miss gates. The easiest way, of course, is simply not to ski across the finish line if you have missed a gate along the way. You can also do as one racer did on Saturday when he promptly went to the finish hut to withdraw despite having had the fastest time to that point in the race. Or, if you're not quite sure at that time, if you contact the GDHL committee, we can make adjustments after the fact as we did on Tuesday of this week when another racer came forward to identify his concerns about having perhaps missed a gate and a committee member was able to identify possible witness, who in fact confirmed those fears. (If you looked at the results on Monday or Tuesday, check again and you may find that you have moved up a place.)

Second, it was great to get a lot of help with removing nets after the race on Saturday. (By the way, the yellow nets, and the trailer that carries them around to different races, belong to the Nic Zoricic Foundation and represent their first investment in promoting skiing safety.) This prompted a note from the Coyotes, which I am happy to pass along below.

“What a great weekend! Your Coyotes hope you had a great time with your speed event this weekend. It was great fun to watch all of you (and sometimes hear) a few of you come down that awesome course!

We especially want to thank you for the thoughtfulness of preparing us food and hot chocolate to sustain us through our long day! I don’t think hot chocolate ever tasted that good! It really meant a lot. Hungry Coyotes are not happy Coyotes, and you certainly helped avoid that!

And we really would not have made it through the day if it weren’t for the many hands that helped us tear down all of the B-Net! Thank you! Thank you! On behalf of all of us!

Proudly Coyote,

Jen & Mick Gillard”

Unfortunately, there is one less positive matter to be noted. The "suitability test" on the home page of our website is intended to indicate that we don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do expect civilized behavior. We will tolerate occasional fits of poor-performance-induced pique, as long as they aren't directed at someone else. We will not tolerate misbehavior directed towards others, especially the race crew. Concerns on the race course may be raised politely, preferably with Jacques Reid, but tantrums are liable to result in a "time out" from future races.

Self-Improvement

Improvement is a goal for everyone. Please complete the survey here to provide feedback concerning your gate training and other adult racing experience at the Club.

Shelley Johnston has directed me to this short analysis of a Ted Ligety GS turn. And here is a collection of Ron Lemaster race photography. The images are both artistic and instructive. An additional example featuring Ted Ligety appears below.

Finally, an invitation to meet another keen group of racers on Saturday afternoon.

"Please join us this Saturday Feb 1, between 3 and 4 at the Craigleith Coyote Race Crew Hut, beside Squire John's location at CSC.

Help us give support to our AOPRT Paralympic team before they head to SOCHI, Russia, March 7 – 16. The team, their coach and parents will be present. Have your photo taken with them.

Please drop in to meet these great athletes, as some of them are expected to 'podium' at the Paralympics!

Hosted by Craigleith Coyotes. Contact: Linda Housser 705-445-9821"

See you on the weekend!

James Mathers