A week of warmth? No problem! Give the Coyotes a morning for maintenance and we have the best second run slalom surface we've seen in ages.

It reminded me of someone having pointed out the irony of the Vancouver Olympics spending millions on security at ski venues, while having massive quantities of fertilizer and diesel fuel in close proximity to the slopes. More about the outcome below, but first read closely, as the weather and snow conditions have necessitated adaptability.

Weekend Schedule Changes

GDHL SUPER G IS POSTPONED and will be held Saturday afternoon, 4 February.
This weekend's GDHL race will instead be GS ON BIG JOHN, SUNDAY AT 10:00 AM (9:15 inspection)
We will likely change the Comet race on 26 February to SL, but first things first.
Friday training is GS on Millennium - contact Laurel to register
Saturday morning gate training is GS on Venture for both 8:30 and 9:30 sessions
Sunday morning gate training CHANGES TO SATURDAY AFTERNOON AT 1:00 - GS on Millennium
Adult Tech and Fast & Female will continue as usual at 9:30 each morning
Interclub remains at 1:00 Saturday at the Peaks

Results

In Sunday's slalom on Comet, Alec Libert won the first run by over a second, despite almost grinding to a halt halfway down the course, then improved his time and won the second run by over two seconds as first run DNFers scrambled for a result. Greg Cavers and Scott McLorie displayed their usual strong slalom form to finish second and third overall, while Keith Farnand confirmed the credentials displayed in his GDHL debut two weeks ago, finishing fourth, and Dave Raymond followed with his best GDHL finish in some time. Alex Mathers capitalized on the first race in his brief GDHL career that didn't feature a lost ski, finishing seventh, closer to P. Ruffolo than ever in his junior career. J-F Courville jumped from his 20th ranking to finish 10th, Rob Burnes went from 35 to 13, followed by Kate Veer, who led all women in 14th (ranked 41). Sarah Latimer, Alison Banfield, Leslie Sims and Rya Prozes were the next women in 29 to 33. Others posting notable improvements on rankings included Glenn Blaylock, David Henderson, Steve Jarvis, Duncan McEachran, Bob Waite, Mary Riopelle, Elspeth Gaukrodger and Murray Sarafinchin. And demonstrating the value of just showing up, Marlene Jackson, although not seriously challenging anyone for second last, improved 29 places on her ranking. As usual, complete results can be found on gdhl.org.

The Brad Boys Index showed unusual movement. The BBB+ ranking grew to 46 members, while there were but four in BOB and 35 in BBM.

Meanwhile, Saturday's Interclub GS took place on a salted surface at Blue Mountain. It didn't hold up as well as the Coyotes' handiwork, and the team captains concluded that only those many who had first run DNF's would be allowed a second. Full results are on interclubski.org here. Craigleith continued its winning ways, prevailing by nine points over the Peaks. Mary Riopelle, Keith Farnand and Alec Libert were the only age group winners for the team and Alec was also fastest overall, but Chris Clark, James Mathers, Jeff Craig, Ian Latimer, Bryce Conacher, Greg Cavers and Phil Ruffolo all scored at least 24 points and Kat Zoricic scored points despite racing the last three gates with only one ski as part of a full team effort. While checking out the results, sign yourself up for the winning team. The next two weekends are likely the last chances for you to participate in two races and be eligible for the finals at home. Next up is GS at the Peaks on Saturday afternoon.

Here's Who They Are

*Darren De Ruiter, our youngest member, finished 9th on Sunday*

More Good Stuff

The Coyotes have not only provided on snow excellence, they've kindly sent us some reminders of race course protocol.

If you miss or straddle a gate, you may hike to pass the gate properly only in SL, and then only as long as you don't interfere with the following racer. Otherwise, clear the course, do not cross the finish line.
Not crossing the finish line if you haven't skied the course properly is essential. Doing so can disrupt timing etc. Usually the Coyotes can figure it out, but it wastes time. (Watch Stu Macfarlane. He has a lot of practice with being DNF it seems, and when he misses a gate, he's off the course and into the showers before Bill can declare him abandonee.)
If you encounter a missing gate or an obstacle on the course, you may continue to race as if the gate was in place, or avoid the obstacle. If you do, you're committed and won't get any relief. Alternately, you must exit the course immediately and request a rerun.

We don't have a lot of race officials at GDHL races, but there are always lots of interested observers and miscreants risk being shunned.

Next, a reminder from Cindy Pedlar and her fellow committee members about the annual athletic fundraiser on Saturday evening, 11 February. Three easy ways to contribute:

Donate an auction item - anything that will appeal to the sophisticated, high-rolling, dedicated supporters who attend the event. Get a donation form here.
Buy a raffle ticket for a chance to win annual dues. Use this link.
Buy tickets for the event in the members' section of the Club website.

Finally, a look at Lindsey Vonn winning last weekend's DH in her latest comeback from injury. Couldn't find video of Phil Brown's first World Cup slalom points, but that's big news too!

See you on the weekend!

James Mathers