GDHL News

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The 2023 Ski Season is Here

Right on cue, the snow has fallen and your GDHL newsletter is here to usher in Ski Season 2023. It feels good to be back!

We have been gone a while. How are you? Did you train this summer, and dream of carving slalom gates through the heat waves of October? Good, us too.

The GDHL season is around the corner, starting on January 8, (schedule details below), but before then we have some housekeeping to look after, all detailed below. This newsletter covers off:

  • Registration (it is open), and early bird discount

  • Preliminary schedule for the season

  • A glimpse at the social events

  • Visual inspiration for your upcoming racing season

Keep reading and enjoy the first of the season’s newsletters.

Registration:

Registration for the 2023 GDHL Race season is OPEN! It feels like it has been forever since we enjoyed our end of season banquet in March. Now it is time to rush over to your Craigleith profile and sign yourself up. The Early bird discount has been extended and will run until next Friday, November 25. Here is the full breakdown of costs:

  • 18-35

    • $104 before November 25th.

    • $120 after November 25th.

  • 35+

    • $225 before November 25th

    • $290 after November 25th

New Racers:

Please invite new racers to join us. We are excited to have a great contingent of skiers that are learning or relearning to race, and we invite everyone, of all ski levels to ski with us. For those that want to try before they buy, we will be attempting to host a “time trial and practice race” early in the season – more on that in future newsletters.

Schedule:

We are far from locking in all details of our 2023 schedule, so details here are subject to change, however this is a pretty good picture of what you can expect.

  • Saturday, January 7th: Calcutta

  • Sunday, January 8th: First Race of the Season – Expect GS down Big John

  • Season will also include:

    • 2 GS races

    • 2 Slalom races

    • A Dual Slalom race

    • An evening race under the lights

    • A Super G race

The races will follow a similar pattern to last year, and the club is very excited to have us using the lighted hill, as well as the Dual Slalom start gate. It is going to be a fantastic year!

Social Calendar:

The social calendar at Craigleith is always busy. Our first GDHL social event will be the Calcutta, on January 7th – this should give you lots of time to recover from New Years Eve. We will also make an event of our night slalom, like we did last year, with lots of ways to enjoy racing, and watching others race. The third social event for GDHLers is the end of year banquet in March.

Before you get sucked down the rabbit hole of content below, here is a little sign off. This season is shaping up to be even better than last. With increased services available to us, and a great trust placed in us by Craigleith Ski Club, we have an opportunity to make the best GDHL season yet. We look forward to having you join us on the hill!

If you would like to get involved, or have any questions for the GDHL Committee, please email us at gdhl@gdhl.org (or reply to this email).

See you all very soon!

-Doug

Visual Inspiration:

Next weekend is the 2022 Lake Louise Downhill. Alpine Canada will no longer be running this race (as of today’s rumours). Take a couple minutes to ride the track like this racer, to feel the rush of running a world cup race!

From one famed downhill track to another, take a look at this fantastic video from Red Bull highlighting the Streif! Hosted in Kitzbühel, this is the iconic race that many of us watched the crazy canucks conquer.

For those of us afraid our leg workouts have not readied us for the upcoming season, take a watch below! This 20 min exercise requires no equipment and it may just help you shave 1 second off your Big John GS time.