When I started to compose this message, "ski twin tips if you got 'em" was the appropriate follow-up to "stand easy" after our competition season was complete. (See bib 89 enjoying some extra-provincial turns below.) Now, it's more about riding and other dryland. Still, there are a few reminders:
- Some bibs remain outstanding. Twenty-something women are disproportionately represented among the laggards. Please drop them (i.e. the bibs, not the young women) off in the race office (sometime before next Christmas).
- If you didn't get your personalized GDHL equipment ID stickers at the closing dinner, you can claim them in the race office.
Still winter in some places!
Results
The Club Championships took place in glorious sunshine and firm conditions. Results can be found on the Archive part of the Results tab at gdhl.org here. Alec Libert, Phil Ruffolo and Taylor Simms-Brown were the overall podium placers in men's GS, and Alec, TSB and Keith Farnand occupied the SL podium. Sarah Latimer, Kate Veer and Rya Prozes led the women's overall GS and the order was reversed in SL. Alec and Sarah were overall Club champions, while Jeff Sutherland and Daina Dunlop were champions in the more senior category.
The SL portion of the Club Champs also represented the final GDHL race of the season, and proved critical in several respects. Alec Libert, Keith Farnand and Phil Ruffolo took the first three GDHL places overall, but were followed by Jeff Sutherland, Allan LaChance and Glenn Blaylock, who took advantage of early bibs under the Club Champs starting order to post their best GDHL results in a while (or ever in Glenn's case). Jeff's finish enabled him to improve his season's standing by 11 points and edge out Dave Raymond for the GDHL over-50 title by just two points. Allan improved his season's standing by 10 points, and saw his team claim third place in the standings by just six. Other solid improvements on rankings among the men were posted by Max Rosenfeld, Randy Dalton, Chris Fregren, Alistair Athey, Jamie Coulter, Ron Statler, Duncan McEachran, Steve Gailits, Roger Chiu, Vern Gomes, Steve Power and Murray Sarafinchin.
On the women's side, Kate Veer entered the race needing to finish at least 32nd and beat Sarah Latimer in order to overtake Sarah for the overall women's championship. Rya Prozes was the first woman in the race, finishing 27th overall. Kate beat Sarah, who was disadvantaged by a late bib, but Kate finished 34th, enabling Sarah to retain a one point edge in the final standings. Janeva Healey capped off a good day at the Club Champs, jumping from 96th ranking to finish 60th.
Lou Montana has provided another great gallery of pics from the SL. Find it here. Lou didn't shoot the GS, as he was busy racing for his own account. Some examples follow:
Jeff Sutherland finished 4th.
Allan LaChance was 5th.
And Glenn Blaylock was 6th. Ask him about 100% on the outside ski and getting the inside knee out of the way.
So what about the team results you say? As mentioned above, team Sous Bois took third place by only six points ahead of Vortex and seven points over E.D. Sous Bois won $2088 or $104 for each of the participating team members. Overall victory went to team Cornice, which featured a balanced group of over-achievers and finished 19 points clear of Manitou. Cornice won $5220 ($261 per and an extra $2610 for enthusiastic owner Bob Callow), while Manitou won $3132 ($157 per racer). Both Manitou and Sous Bois were owned by the Team Futures consortium, led by David Allen. Proceeds were credited to Club accounts last month.
GDHL team competition doesn't end at the finish corral! Boat races at the closing dinner.
Sponsors
The support of our sponsors supplements our other GDHL revenue. Apart from helping us supply swag to participants from time to time, it allows us to support other projects. Among other things, in the past year, we've purchased gates and other equipment for use in the adult race training programs, paid to upgrade the live timing feed so that it shows best of two results, upgraded the data base software that keeps track of our race results and sponsored the construction of the interclub website and database. It's been a good investment - we haven't lost an interclub race since we moved to the new system :)
I've recognized four of our sponsors earlier this year, and want now to acknowledge two more. Ron Warren is our local rep for Dynastar skis, Lange boots, Sweet helmets, Reusch gloves and much more. He is a long time Craigleith member, husband of Jenn Warren, who was recently recognized as one of Alpine Canada's coaches of the year and a long time volunteer leader in the provincial skiing organization. Squire Johns is perhaps the backbone of our sponsorship arrangements for GDHL and other parts of the Club. For GDHL, they work closely with Ron in supplying Calcutta auction items and giveaways. Be sure to use your Squires gift cards wisely, and if you didn't do so during the ski season, they're good for bikes, barbeques and more during the summer.
Enjoy the summer. Work on your dryland and imagine those great turns next season! See you soon.
James Mathers