Congratulations to all GDHL’ers, we have finished our racing! The GDHL Committee, had a blast hosting this season’s races and watching you participate in fine form. Our season is not completely finished, we still have some important events on the horizon, but as far as GDHL-points racing, we can relax.
It has been an incredibly fun season! Our daytime races enjoyed the best ever turnout of racers in the history (or at least recent history) of the GDHL, each with 95-115 finishers. The night slalom had 80 finishers plus many non-GDHL’ers as guests and finished with 90+ competitors. Clearly there has been a great infusion of young, talented, good looking racers this year.
The results for our races are all on our results page here: https://gdhl.results.mectiming.org/. There is an extreme warning for those investors getting their hopes up that their team has succeeded in winning. As it stands, all results are unofficial and subject to audit per our internal GDHL competition committee. The final results will be announced at the GDHL end of year banquet.
Banquet
On the evening of Saturday, March 4th, we will be hosting our annual GDHL end of year banquet. We will be recognizing this season’s award winners, the winning teams, and those who made us laugh the hardest. There are a lot of details about this event to share, and they will be provided in a dedicated email early next week, with a link to purchase tickets.
This Weekend
There is nothing on the race calendar this weekend. It is a perfect opportunity to rest you weary, broken body that has seen you through another gritty year fighting the elements and performing at the highest level. Be sure to kick your ski boots off early on Saturday afternoon, secure a great seat at the base lodge après, and rest up for next weekend.
Club Championships
Club Championships will be on Saturday, March 4th. This is a two-race day with GS and Slalom on the docket. As it is not an official GDHL race, you may wear your downhill suit all day. All GDHL’ers are automatically entered in the races. More details will come on this next Thursday, in preparation for the final race-weekend of 2023.
Last Weekend – Dual Slalom
Finally, a reflection on last weekend’s dual slalom. Since… a few years ago, the GDHL has hosted a Dual Slalom with reception. It has taken time for us, the committee, to find a way to include all skiers, to keep it fun, and to make sure the competitive feeling was still resonating. Last weekend we explored the format again, with a simplified race that included just two runs, against the same opponent, one run on each course, and the feedback was positive. We are excited to continue to tweak this event to make it as involving, compelling, and crowd pleasing as possible. Any and all feedback on last-weekends race is welcomed and can be sent to gdhl@gdhl.org.
A lot of fun was had! The camaraderie developed by racing against your fellow competitor is unique to the dual events in alpine skiing. The start gate created an added level of excitement, some racers could barely contain their energy as the mistimed their starts as the gates opened. At the finish line many hugs, high fives and handshakes were shared as racers found themselves fully stoked and smiling ear to ear. The results as individual runs, are shared here. The (*) asterisk denotes a 1 second penalty for a DNF on a run. Racers who DNF’d one run had their successful run time doubled, then 1 second added.
The winners were:
Men:
Mike Welton (35.16) combined
Ben Williams (35.32) combined
Kyle Farrow (36.10) combined
Women:
Meg Ryley (37.57) combined
Devon Clarke (38.04) combined
Meghan Barber (39.17) combined
The racers above have had fantastic seasons, and Saturday was another chance for them to show off their prowess and poise. Other racers in the pack felt the pressure too and rose to the occasion. The following racers all finished with their best performance of the season on Saturday:
Jeff Sutherland – 11th
Richard Usher Jones – 15th
Dave Raymond – 16th
Jerry Patten – 19th
Pat Pedlar – 20th
Peter Dyson – 22nd
Robert Emery – 30th
There seems to be a common theme among the gentlemen listed above. This could be called the top 30 over 30 (years old), group as they really come alive in the event that pits them head to head against their competitors!
Other notable finishes:
Leslie Sims, sweet talked her way into bib number 4 this year, but do not be fooled by it. On Saturday she finished with a time for 43.98 good for 57th place – not even her best result of the year.
Brayden Irwin 47th took down Paul Peterson 67th in the battle of young, tall real estate agents. The two have been embattled for years now, and unofficially, this result puts Brayden 6 places ahead of Paul in the season standings. Rumour has it that the winner gets to list the house of the Tambro Construction president, as he is clearly fleeing the country.
Close Calls and Ties
Since Covid, ties have gone out of style, rarely being brought out of the closet, and only for the best occasions. Yet in Sunday’s races, we had a couple. Meg Ryley and Scott McClorie tied in 6th with a time of 37.57; Craig Sievenpiper and Ed Barnicke tied in 36th with a time of 41.66, and Jason Turnpenny was just 00.01 behind them (41.67); And though not technically a tie, Brad McMullen (42.34) beat out Lesley Leech (42.35) by one millisecond, who in turn beat out Tessa Benson (42.36) by the same margin.
Coaches Corner with Glenn Blaylock
Craigleith Head Coach, Adult Race Programs
Friday Training, February 24, 9:30 and 12:30 pm:
Hill: Comet, Giant Slalom.
Equipment: GS skis, forearm guards and hard shell helmet.
Register On-Line by Thursday.
Thank you for slipping the hill after your last run through the course.
Coaching Tip: Race Mantra
Congratulations to the Canadian Alpine ski team for their best result ever at the World Championships earning 4 medals tied with U.S.A and Italy and ahead of France. Special recognition to Laurence St Germain for winning the World Championship Slalom beating the greatest female racer of all time, Mikaela Shiffrin. The last time a Canadian woman won a World Championship slalom was 63 years ago. To appreciate how long ago, the win was eight years before Nancy Greene won her two Gold Medals at the 1968 Olympics. It was also eight years before Pierre Elliot Trudeau (Justin’s father) was elected Prime Minister of Canada. It was nine years before Apollo 11 landed on the moon and sadly seven years before the Toronto Maple Leafs won their last Stanley Cup.
The Race Mantra is a word or phrase you repeat to yourself when racing. During a race you will need to let your mind and body perform the actions required to perform the skills you’ve learned during training. Skiing is a complex sport and you won’t have time to think of all the bio mechanical movements needed to navigate through a race course. High level racers will sometimes use a Race Mantra to keep them focused on one objective. For example, it may be helpful to say to yourself during a race the word “Early” to help you focus on starting your turn as you pass the gate. Race Mantras are very personal as a word or phrase that works for one person may not resonate for someone else.
St Germain’s victory is reviewed by the following video. Be sure to watch her interview after the race where she explains how she kept repeating to herself “Go Down, Go Down” to encourage her to move her body down the hill.
Watch your email early next week for updates on the Banquet and the Club Championships. We are excited for all the fun to be had to finish out the season!
See you on the slopes,
-Doug