We are now at the penultimate weekend for the GDHL. The season has been unfolding in wonderful fashion with many feel-good stories, and successes. This week’s newsletter is loaded with information on the events taking place during the remainder of our season, including the End of Year Banquet, and the Interclub Championship Race. You will also find a short summary of the race last Sunday, and the updated team and individual rankings which are starting to paint a clearer picture of where everyone will end the season.
Big John Slalom
It was another Big John Slalom for the GDHL! This one was just as fun as the first, with similar excitement. The course was set down the middle of Big John, with a nice rhythm, and lots of rhythm changes. The early leader was Bridgitte Mingay, who finished 2nd overall on the ladies’ side, with a time of 47.72. Very soon after, Cheryl McConachie continued her Slalom dominance, laying down the 4th fastest time of the day, 43.31 to lead the ladies’. Mackenzie Irwin finished in third with a 47.78. This was Bridgette’s first appearance on the podium, while both Cheryl and Mack are vying for the overall ladies’ lead.
The men’s side became interesting when many of the top racers skied out in their first run. This gave an opportunity for different looking top 10 racers, however there weren’t any surprises on the podium. Ben Williams won the race with a time of 42.69. Alex Libert followed closely with a time of 42.97. Gordie Bruce continued his impressive campaign, finishing in third, with a time of 43.22.
The top ten had only Greg Cavers representing the “not in their 20s” crowd. In possibly the race of his life, Robert Vitols finished 10th. You may have to go through lots of old Alpine Ontario results to find the last time he finished top 10!
Next Up: Big John GS, Sunday, February 24, 1 30 PM Start time.
Rankings
Rankings can be found here. Start to review them, find your rival, plot your success, and check in on the team ranks too! The top three teams are very competitive with only 72 points separating Team Comet in first place, and team Vortex in third. Sandwiched between those two is Cornice. You can also sort by gender (Cheryl and Mack!) to see how close you are to the overall title!
Now onto the guest writers. Find below info on the End of Year Banquet and the Interclub Finale!
End of Year Banquet, Saturday, March 2nd
From Carrie Lenauskas:
Sadly, it's the end of the year almost. Only 2 races are remaining, but this means that we have our end of the year banquet coming up!
Not only will we find out who the big winners are on both the team and individual side, we will also see who won the family competition as well as all the other awards we have!
The event start at 7pm with some awesome music from BAM, Craigleith's resident pump up man. We will have appetizers, a family style dinner and of course, dessert. Lost Craft Brewery will be there will be there with some samples as well.
Corkage is $10/bottle (paid at the bar).
Everyone is welcome! Ticket are $35 or $25 for intermediates 35 and under – Available at the front desk starting today.
Last Year’s GDHL Harware on display at the end of year banquet
InterClub Finals are this Saturday!
From James Mathers:
Since the last update, Craigleith's Interclub masters team has completed an undefeated regular season with victories at Jozo Weider and the Peaks. One key to success was a Few Fast Females. Thanks are due to Anne Mathers, Mary Riopelle, Tiana Boyman, Kate Veer and Samantha Higgins, who collectively ensured that we had the minimum number of women required for a full team at each race, without which we wouldn't have been undefeated, and scored lots of points to boot. I tried to find an "m" word to replace "fast" and achieve a more alliterative version of Many Fast Men, but the thesaurus offered none. It did suggest "debauched," "dissolute," "profligate" and "loose" in addition to "speedy," "expeditious" and "winged." You can decide which best suits LaChance, Sutherland, Blaylock, Fregren, Winstone, Burnes, Raymond, Patten, Cavers, Shipton, Simms-Brown and Ruffolo, among others, all of whom contributed notably to the team's success.
The local heroes will now seek a record-setting eighth consecutive victory at the Finals, to be held on home slopes. Captain Taylor Simms-Brown has some tough choices to make in choosing a final roster from all the "prompt" talent. Come out and help celebrate or, if necessary, console on Big John this Saturday afternoon (and drop off your completed proxy at the South Lodge while you're at it).
See you on the slopes!
-Doug Jarvis