Rivalries, both real and imagined, are a great part of the fun of masters racing. We're coming to the point of the season at which the rivalries get resolved temporarily and those who may perceive that they've come up short this time have months to plot their next moves.

Things to think about in the meantime:

Adult gate training is GS on Millennium Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the usual times
Adult Tech and Fast & Female meet Saturday and Sunday at the usual times and places
The next installment in the great Interclub rivalry will be resolved on Big John Saturday afternoon, as Craigleith seeks a record setting seventh consecutive Finals championship
GS continues on Big John Sunday afternoon, with the sixth GDHL race at 1:00 pm, inspection at 12:15 - please leave your bib at the bottom of the corral when you've had your run(s) or drop it in the race office
Club championships are on Saturday 3 March, GS in the morning (which is also race 7 for GDHL), SL in the afternoon - GDHL racers are automatically entered but we will have a different start order and bibs - others look for sign up sheets outside the race office
The GDHL "Finish Line" dinner is Saturday 3 March as well - more details below

GDHL Results

A rare Saturday start for GDHL saw firm conditions that led to five of the first seven placers in the SL having a DNF as their second result, but allowed many second run improvements for those who judged the opportunities correctly and saw those who are truly skilled at this pastime set themselves farther apart from the rest of us than usual.

The Healey family celebrated patriarch Ron's life on the run that is named for him (Healey's Comet) by forerunning or racing.

*Janeva Healey, Keira Lavery, Dave Healey and Rich Lavery*

When all was said and done, Alec Libert had avenged his Super G loss to Joel Charron, recording a most impressive 33.96 on his first run, although he may have had some nervous moments after his second run DNF, as Joel improved from 34.84 to 34.08 on his second run. Keith Farnand rebounded from his narrow loss to Cheryl McConachie in the long SL and finished third, while Cheryl bounced back from a first run DNF with a 35.92 that was almost two seconds ahead of the fifth place finisher. Allan LaChance, Stu McFarlane, Colin Gaffney and Dave Henderson all posted second run improvements to finish in the top ten, while Brianna Machej and Samantha Higgins were second and third women behind Cheryl, finishing 12th and 13th overall.

*Cheryl McConachie and Samantha Higgins in their Austrian team suits.*

Other notable improvements over rankings from last year's results included Jamie Coulter with a GDHL career best 20th, Mark Shillum and Paul McCool.

As we go into the last two races, Alec Libert in first, Cheryl McConachie in fourth and Keith Farnand in fifth are all still carrying 10 point penalties for missing races, which they can eliminate with one more finish. (Sorry Cheryl, no more slaloms though.) Joel Charron, meanwhile, isn't far back and is carrying 20 points in penalties, so good attendance and results could see him challenge Alec by the time we're finished. Things are tight in the team standings as well, with several of the leaders having opportunities to eliminate penalties. Remember that, even if you have your four races, missing one may let your rivals finish one place higher, and that can mean 10 points difference for a team.

Finish Line Dinner

Saturday 3 March in the Base Lodge
Drinks and nibbles at 7:30 pm, awards at 8:00, very nice dinner shortly thereafter
$25 per person for those 35 and under, $35 for those over
BYO wine with a modest corkage fee, or buy at the bar
Opportunities to compete at other refreshing activities, supplies graciously provided by GDHL
Generally a fine time to be had by all
Tickets through the front desk or online soon

Finally, we may have to offer sew-on labels for soft goods to complement last year's equipment stickers. In the meantime, if you have the wrong pair of black Karbon slalom shorts with suspenders, please contact Roger Chiu.

See you on the weekend!

James Mathers