Hopefully a picture is worth a thousand words, but a few words first.

This Weekend

Friday training would be GS, but since it's Men's Day there will only be training if there are sufficient advance commitments. Last I heard, there weren't enough people confirmed, so contact Laurel immediately if you can commit.
Adult gate training will be GS at 9:30 on each of Saturday and Sunday. Fast & Female will be 9:30 Saturday. Adult Tech will be 9:30 on both days. Watch signage and Natalie's news for locations.
GDHL is GS on SATURDAY on Big John. Inspection at 12:15, start at 1:00. Bibs 10 and 20 belong to John Barber and Brook Dyson. These guys will want to keep them, so no need to remind you that you can only use a preferred bib once a season. Please leave your bib in the finish area after the race, or drop it off with Kylie in the race office.

Next Weekend

Club Championships will be held on Saturday, 5 March, with GS in the morning and SL in the afternoon. GDHL participants are automatically entered. If you have friends who may want to join the GDHL in the future, please encourage them to ski in the Club Championships this year. It will make life much easier for the GDHL ranking committee. They can sign up on the list on the racing bulletin board in the South Lodge.
Race 7 of GDHL will be combined with the GS race from the Club Championships. Starts will be by age group in accordance with Club Championship practice, and you will need to pick up a CC bib in the South Lodge on Saturday morning. If weather and course conditions allow, a second GS run will be held for GDHL participants only. It will not count for Club Championships, but the better time from the two runs will count for GDHL purposes. If a second run is possible, there will be a delay of 15 or 20 minutes after the first run, so that the Coyotes can complete their results for the Club Championships. The usual SL portion of the Club Championships will be held on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday evening is the annual GDHL dinner and awards presentation in the Base Lodge. Tickets are now on sale through the Club website's members section or the front desk - $45 or $30 for GDHL racers under 35 and their guests, plus HST. The evening will start at 7 pm with cocktails and tapas. We'll do a few awards before dinner at 8, featuring live music. Then we'll do the rest of the awards, including recognizing the winning teams, and taxi and shuttle service will start at 9:30. Get tickets quickly, as sales will close before the day of. And don't forget you can bring your own wine and just pay a $15 corkage fee.
Check next week's newsletter for details of training, but expect Saturday's programs to be deferred to Sunday.

Interclub Finals

After an unsettled season, it was perhaps fitting that last Saturday's finals on Big John should be held in difficult snow conditions with many teams struggling to field a full complement. Craigleith, however, was able to fall back on depth of talent and the diligence of team members in getting enough regular season races to qualify for the finals and overcame injuries to big scorers Jeff Sutherland and Jeff Craig to record a fifth consecutive championship. GDHL alumni Lou Montana has a great collection of photos from the day, which can be found here. Right click on any image to get Lou's email if you would like to get a copy for posterity. Some examples are below:

*The Winners, except someone forgot to remind Kate R that there was a party after the race :(*

*Trent Winstone, high point scorer on the day*

Paul Atkinson was first individual overall for the second straight year, followed by Phil Ruffolo and Scott McLorie. Kate Ryley was fastest woman, with Kate Veer second, as Craigleith dominated the individual results. Team results were a bit complicated, as two sets of scores were created, one with all racers included and an official one with only those who were properly qualified. Trent Winstone stepped up in Jeff S's absence to be high scorer of the day with 30 points. Anne Mathers, Mary Riopelle, Kate Veer, Kate Ryley, Scott McLorie (unofficially) and Paul Atkinson all won their age groups, while Craig Shibley, Ian Latimer, Al LaChance, Chris Fregren and Chris Shipton all scored at least 24 points.