I hope that all of you have safely reached your Yuletide destinations and are enjoying a festive family day before turning or returning to the Craigleith slopes, which have been spectacular so far. I'm just writing to offer a bit of news and a few things to which you can turn your mind in a quiet moment, should one arise.
Your committee had its season opening meeting in October in the halls of the Dynasty Restaurant on Yorkville ("Richmond Hill quality Chinese food conveniently located in the downtown core"). After the usual catching up, during which it was disclosed that one of our members had a better than normal reason for eschewing spirituous beverages, it appeared the time had come to select a new leader. After the mysterious and sacred process was complete and the smoke cleared, Marlene Jackson was proclaimed Chair for the forthcoming season. Fortunately, succession isn't dependent on the death of the incumbent, and J-F will remain a member of the committee as past Chair. Please join me in thanking him for a very significant contribution over the last years, and in again recognizing Mark Reidl, who has stepped down after a much longer tenure as Chair and past Chair.
No momentous changes are proposed by the Committee, which is to say that they will continue to chase down those who haven't yet enrolled for the coming season. Please do so pronto. The new Club website works very nicely in that regard. Remember that latecomers will not be able to participate on teams if the numbers don't work.
Also, now that you're back and the Club is in full swing, please return your bib from last season to the race office if you haven't done so - the Club prescribes a $75 charge for those who don't. And you can claim your personalized set of GDHL stickers to identify your skis, poles and other equipment if you didn't pick it up at last year's closing dinner.
Calcutta is on Saturday, 6 January and the first race is a GS on Big John the following afternoon. In the meantime, there will be training almost daily and, apparently, many opportunities to gloat over your foresight in stocking up on balaclavas, boot warmers and the like.
I'll close for the moment by offering a couple of distractions passed along by Glenn Blaylock. The first is pretty much just ski porn - glorious sunshine and close ups of freshly tuned edges slicing through spring Alpine snow.
The next is more serious. Watch it to prepare yourself for that awkward Christmas dinner moment when the new boyfriend spills the soup or the drunken uncle spills something else. It will enable you to deftly turn the conversation to a comparison of the GS runs put down by Marcel Hirscher and Ted Ligety at Beaver Creek, confident in your ability to point out where Marcel gained those tenths after hearing the analysis of Reilly McGlashan, whose own skiing was featured extensively in our last newsletter.
Watch for more GDHL news soon, and check out gdhl.org for the season's schedule (coming very soon). Happy holidays, and see you at the Club!
James Mathers