Results from Sunday's first GDHL race are here. (For those new to GDHL, results are posted on gdhl.org as soon as possible after the race. These were available Sunday evening.) More about the race below, but first

*Don't you hate it when someone goes skiing elsewhere and sends you a picture like this of overnight snowfall?*

What's Up This Weekend?

GDHL race is SL on Comet, Sunday with a 1 pm start, inspection from about 12:15 to 12:45. The race schedule on gdhl.org has been updated to specify morning or afternoon for the remaining GDHL race dates, but keep an eye on the schedule as more adjustments of time or place are possible.
Adult gate training 9 week program begins with SL training at 9:30 on each of Saturday and Sunday. Check the board at the National chair for location.
Adult technical race training with Allan Lachance also begins at those times. Meet at the base of the National chair.
Friday training with Jacques Reid begins with SL sessions at 9:30 and 1:00. Contact Laurel in the Club office to sign up.
Chris Hillier from Sidecut Tuning will be returning to the Club on Sunday to conduct two sessions on ski tuning technique and offer discounts on tuning equipment. Look for precise time and place to be posted at the Club.

*Erin Mielzynski and Mitch Gagnon set the stage for our first SL weekend by scoring top 10's at the Zagreb World Cup race*

A Bit of GDHL Administrivia

If you didn't pick up your GDHL bib last weekend, you can get it from Kylie in the Club race office.
Doug Jarvis has kindly agreed to co-ordinate forerunners for our GDHL races this season. We welcome those who are interested in giving a GDHL race a try. Junior racers trying to upstage their GDHL racing parents are also welcome, but with their coaches' approval. Contact Doug if you're interested.
Thanks to our generous sponsors, bidders at the Calcutta etc., we often have some discretionary funds in the GDHL coffers. Since Sidelaunch Brewing Company has kindly stepped up to slake our collective thirst at social events, we will likely be able to continue our efforts to contribute to racing capital expenses at the Club. Let us know if you have ideas for improvements. For example, some of us were thinking about how to get the finish line announcements piped to the start.
Winners of the draws for preferred starting positions (bibs 10 and 20) may use their slots themselves or transfer them to someone else on mutually agreeable terms. No actual bibs will be distributed, but the Coyotes have been alerted to expect people in those slots. Randy Dalton and Glenn McKay were the winners for last Sunday. The remaining winners are:

RACE 2: SL ON COMET Tom Cronin and Glen Blaylock
RACE 3: GS ON MILLENNIUM Ian Latimer and Brook Dyson
RACE 4: SG ON COMET/BOWIE Britanny Stainer and Jerry Patten
RACE 5: SL ON MILLENNIUM Jayne Clarke and Mary Riopelle
RACE 6: SUPER SL ON MILLENNIUM/VENTURE Gino Gentile and Bellamy Consortium
RACE 7: GS ON BIG JOHN Jeff Sutherland and Duncan McEachran

See above for video of Marcel Hirscher winning the men's SL in Zagreb. Should GDHL winners get crowns?

Race 1 - GS on Big John

Reading the weather forecast and even slipping the course, few would have predicted that Sunday's race course would hold up well enough to allow many racers to beat their first run times on their second. That 7 of the top 9 finishers did so is a tribute to the efforts of Geoff Wood and his Coyote crew and, no doubt, a good set from Jacques Reid.

There have always been a few 20-somethings in the GDHL. Morgan Rubes has raced for many years, starting alongside his father and now no longer being 20-something. Katie Worndl joined with her father in 2012 and the Jarvis and Latimer progeny came the following year. However, the word really started to get out last year, as Alec Libert came, saw and conquered every race he started, with Ian Malcolm not far behind. This year the average age has been brought down even further and Alec's winning streak has come to an abrupt end. Newcomer Chris Barber rode a smokin' second slide down the hill to victory, winning by almost half a second over first run leader Jesse Shepherd, another of the class of 1989. Scott McLorie took the last overall podium spot, salvaging a bit of pride on behalf of parents everywhere, even if his offspring aren't of GDHL age. Alec was left 0.04 outside the podium. Newcomer Andrew Athey, having been somewhat undersold by his father in ranking interviews, knocked almost 1.5 seconds off his first run to take a fine 9th place, while early leader Craig Shibley (the recipient of bib 10 from teammate Randy Dalton) ended up 10th.

Craigleith's first daughter, Jayne Clarke, led the way among women, finishing tied with Trent for 13th, just behind Peter Ardill, who improved significantly on his ranking of 38. Jayne demonstrated that she's ready to challenge last year's female winner, Brittany Stainer, who finished 21st and will be looking forward to repeating last year's SL successes to get back on even terms. Bryce Conacher, Jerry Patten and Jeff Craig were among others who jumped well up from their rankings, while Kate Veer celebrated her return to the GDHL by just edging out Leslie Morgan among the more experienced female racers. Farther down the page, Paul Hentschel and Brad Sproule jumped to 59 and 61 from their rankings of 97 and 89 (based on last year's results) and Bob Waite finished 68th after being ranked 96th based on what sister Cyndy said on his entry form.

Interclub Is On The Way

Taylor Simms-Brown reports that there will be a six team interclub league this year, again operating independently of AOA. Races are on 17 and 31 January and 14, 21 and 28 February, the last one being the finals at Craigleith. With six teams, the number of starters per team has been reduced slightly from past years, so competition for places will be stiffer than ever. Contact Taylor for more details. Glenn Blaylock will be the co-captain this year.

More Chances For Training

Jacques Reid will be offering gate training and racing "Nastar" style on Thursday evenings beginning on 15 January at Mount St. Louis Moonstone, with video and refreshments following the on-snow action. A perfect way to break up the drive to Collingwood for Friday training! Details here.
It's not too soon to start thinking about preparing for the annual Super G, which is less than three weeks away. Jacques will be offering higher speed gate training sessions on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings and Friday afternoon before the Saturday race and group technical free skiing sessions on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. Contact Jacques for more details.

More than enough for now. See you on the hill!

James Mathers