They may not stay for long, but the cold nights are certainly here. And on an evening that inspires thoughts white capped rolling escarpment hills, it seems appropriate to publish an update on your favorite adult, alpine, ski racing league.

As you have surely been told before in these newsletters, this will be a bit repetitive yet informative. With such a diverse crowd, it is the position of the GDHL committee that everyone needs to read information at least three times before it sinks in. With that in mind, read along to learn about the DownHill Suit ruling for the 2021 season, a full list of who has signed up for this year an optimistic outline of what the race season will look like on the hill, AND a call for action for our 2021 Fantasy GDHL League!

Before we get too far along, if you would like to race this year, and you’ve not signed up, click here to do so.

We will be cutting off registration on December 15th to enable the committee time to plan and manage the beginning of the season. We have had enough curveballs thrown at us this year, we do not need a drastic change in our racing numbers to add to our workload. If you are on the fence about racing this year, continue reading as you may find yourself an answer.

Downhill Suits in 2021: NO

The Downhill suit ruling of last race season will go down as the most contentious in recent history of our race league. Skiers across Ontario were devastated to realize that they would no longer spot old, big-bellied gentlemen cruise across the top flats over to the Big John race hill. And Club members were upset to know that they would no longer have to line up for bathroom stalls as ski racers were trying to tug away their skin suits one last time before their run. But the future was knocking and the future of Adult ski racing at our great Club has pushed race suits to the side. We will be without racing suits in the GDHL this year for the second time in a row. For those rejoicing, please ensure this decision was not in vane, and invite your fellow ski racers who would like a casual racing experience to join up.

There are some who will be disappointed (your editor included), however the saving grace is that there will be multiple occasions which you can still strip down to that old tattered FIS suit with smelly armpits and torn thumb holes. The Club Champs will be DH suit optional; the fast Giant Slalom down Landslide will be as well; and during slalom races, racers may wear a DH suit on their bottom half to protect against gate damage to racers nice snow pants.

Now we expect each racer to bring their own sartorial flare to the race courses, whether it be in the way of a classic sweater, a faux-fur jacket, or as last year proved, the exciting and popular option of jeans in memory of Nik Zoricic.

Registration Update:

Early Bird registration has passed us by. The cut off was November 15th, and we are now into normal rates. As mentioned above, it is important you get yourself registered ASAP as cut off will be early this year. So far, 55 of you have registered, which is pretty on par with a normal year. There is a complete list of registrants as of November 18, at 10 pm at the bottom of this email!

So who is registered so far? Well in this world of racing, it is intriguing to see who beat who to the ‘submit’ button on the bottom of the registration page!

Brayden Irwin keeps his record as fastest of the Irwin family, and he even beat his nemesis Paul Peterson to sign up
Mike Schwartze was so excited to join up following success in his first year of racing GDHL that he registered twice!
Mack Irwin, though slower than her taller brother to the ‘submit’ button is returning with aspirations of taking the top female spot in 2021
Chris Barber makes his return to GDHL, competing head to head with his brother-in law Mike Welton, while Meghan Barber is locked in for a second straight year
Dave Raymond is registered and looks to lead a very strong contingent of Fast and 50+ gentlemen (though no Jeff Sutherland yet…)
And there is a great list of new names, which is always great!

Once again, a full list of the registrants is at the bottom of this email and on the webpage.

Race Structure and Schedule for 2021

This will not be the last time you will read this: it is impossible to commit to anything in the near future as it pertains to schedule and events for 2021. Now with that out of the way, the GDHL has committed to an amazing race year! With some fresh blood, and renewed vigor a schedule is being hammered out with the race office to include at least one dual slalom, the super fast GS down Landslide, and multiple events that appeal to racers of all skill levels. With no indoor engagements, this season will surely feel different, but we believe that we can make it up to you, our racers by improving the on-hill experience.

If you have any thoughts or suggestions about the 2021 season, do not be a stranger. Hit reply to this email and send along your ideas. Just please do not be disappointed if not all your ideas are adopted for this season.

Fantasy GDHL

Last year one of our big successes was launching the first season of Fantasy GDHL. This year will we be bringing it back with huge improvements, including a phone app, and up to date results. If you are interested in Fantasy GDHL this coming season, we will be asking you to register on the GDHL website. A notice will be provided once we have everything connected on our end.

We are in search of your ideas though, so if you feel strongly, please copy and paste the three questions below and send them and your answers to Dave Henderson dghhenderson@gmail.com, with the subject line “Fantasy GDHL”

Would you be interested in spending more than $10 per entry? If so, what amount?
Would you be interested in entering multiple teams?
Would you like to be able to pick your team on a weekly basis?

We will collect your interest and do our best to launch the best gen2 GDHL Fantasy we can!

That is all for now. As winter approaches expect lots more of these and many more repetitions of the same information. Sign up before December 15th!

In alphabetical order, last name, below are the registered racers as of November 18, 2020, at 10 pm

Mark Arthur
Peter Ashworth
Brian Athey
Andrew Athey
Meghan Barber
Chris Barber
Graeme Blair
Derek Brodie
Gordon Bruce
Robert Bruce
Roger Chiu
Jamie Coulter
Jeff Craig
Christopher Crowe
Michael DeAngelis
Brook Dyson
Peter Dyson
Richard Eakins
Vern Gomes
David Henderson
Brian Holland
Alexander Innes
Brayden Irwin
Mackenzie Irwin
Marlene Jackson
Stephen Jarvis
Gordon Jennings
Ross Kappele
Gregory Killburn
Ian Latimer
Steve MacDonald
Brianna Machej
Paul McCool
Spencer McCool
Scott Mclorie
Philip Ottaway
Jerry Patten
M. Patrick Pedlar
Paul Peterson
Brandon Popalis
Dave Raymond
Megan Ryley
Mike Schwartze
Craig Shibley
Mark Shillum
Taylor Simms-Brown
Kelly Smith
Brad Sproule
David Staples
Madison Staples
Andrew Turnbull
Richard Usher-Jones
Kate Veer
Mike Welton
Peri Wiseman