GDHL News

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Fast Runs and Big Air!

We’re halfway through the ski season, with two more GDHL races on the calendar…

In this newsletter:

  • Super G Recap

  • Upcoming Races

  • Standings

  • Awards Party

  • Ski Cross Club Champs

  • Adult Racing Update

  • Athletic Fundraiser

Super G Recap - thanks to Sutherland Insurance

What a race! With no NFL games on the calendar this past weekend and everyone still buzzing about Jack Crawford’s blistering downhill win, all eyes were on the highly anticipated Super G (aka The Sutherland Cup). With National and Big John semi-closed, the pressure was on Craigleith’s elite athletes to rival past glories on our very own World Cup Ski Cross track.

As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, the winning team from the Super G race will be awarded the Sutherland Cup at our upcoming awards party.

A big thank you to all that assisted in the tear down of safety netting on National and Big John. It went very quick this year!

Many of our racers participated in the Super G this weekend. Whether it was the opportunity to ski fast, break out that downhill suit, break some sort of record standing in the winner’s circle, or come over those last two pro-bumps, all racers had a great ride down the Ski Cross World Cup hill.

DJ Eddie The Eagle provided some great tunes at the start area, the Coyotes kept a safe track running efficiently, and our GDHL superfans provided a jolt of energy at the finish line.

Duff Isberg moved up the standings with a blistering 3rd place finish. Not long after, you may have witnessed the run of the year if you saw Super G winner Griffin Copp come down a full 1.21 seconds ahead of second place Mike Welton. (You know what else took a full 1.21 seconds? The spread between 2nd and 9th place…)

GDHL sandbagger rookie Pete Valin finally had a result outside of the top 20, continuing his inevitable downhill slide after peaking in race #1. Fellow veteran Craigleith coach Alex Addison improved his rankings with a great finish in this race, closing in on fellow Dealer’s Cup contestant Dave Raymond in the standings.

Meg Robinson and Jenn Price battled it out on Sunday, with only .08 seconds between the two of them, making this one of the closer battles this season.

Charlie Nogas managed to ski the course with three pieces of equipment after his pole said “Abandonee” in the start block. Charlie’s got to be thinking about how much equipment to leave behind next race, after having his best result of the season.

Connor Clarke continued his pursuit of rookie of the year, finishing ahead of GDHL veterans and committee members Peter Dyson and Chris Knight. Hot tip: if you want a well-run race and a beer ticket after the race, these probably aren’t the two veterans to mess with!

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but Brent Robbins has completed 4 GDHL races already this year. We will make sure that info gets out to current (and past) teammates. At this point, Brent’s just pushing himself further up the bib numbers for 2026. What a season!

Card-carrying “slalom specialist” Mark Shillum had a great speed race to pull even with Jon Price, who himself is sitting only one spot ahead of future GDHL newsletter writer Steve Cryer.

All three Veers (Kate, Max, Jack) managed to lay down some fast results this weekend, while the Sultmanis brothers saw their standings gap narrow with two great looking finishes.

TRIVIA BREAK: The GDHL analytics department has crunched the numbers and found that there are 79 GDHL racers this year that are racing with another family member, with a total of 32 families making a start this year. We’ve checked the archives deep in the secret caverns below the South Lodge, and there hasn’t been close to this number before in GDHL history.

Pop quiz: which Ottaway is faster in Super G? Trick question! Not enough data to determine.

Great race everyone! Another Super G in the books.

The standings (see below) are starting to become more clear, as we have more racers joining the 4-finish club. Stay tuned for the last slalom and our Dual Slalom.

Upcoming Races

Two more GDHL races to go:

  • Saturday February 8th - PRESENTED BY RAYMOND JAMES - Slalom (SL) - ‘Lil John at 1pm

  • Sunday February 16th - PRESENTED BY LYSANDER FUNDS - Dual Slalom (SL) - ‘Lil John at 1pm

BONUS RACE: Ski Cross Club Championships - Details To Come from the Club

BONUS BONUS RACE: Plain Old Regular Club Championships - Details to Come from the Club

Standings

  • Updated standings can be found here.

  • Standings from a decade ago can be found here.

  • Jack Crawford’s winning Kitzbuhel run can be found here.

  • Paul Peterson and Ed Barnicke can frequently be found here.

  • ***Fun fact: The top three teams have very good attendance so far…

Awards Party

From Carrie G-L:

Travis Kelce is ready for this weekend... will you be on March 1st?

We teased in the last email. There have been rumors.

The GDHL has never had a party like this before.

Ever.

Like I said in the last email; book the babysitter now.

Here's the big reveal:

The GDHL Awards Party will be in the South Lodge.

That's right, get ready for one last bash before Dave MacDonald and Miley Cyrus come in with wrecking balls.

Find out who the big winners are! Who sh!t the bed. Which team will take home the glory and gloating for the year! Who will be top dogs on the podium and most importantly, cheers to the most amazing season!

The important info:

  • What: GDHL Awards Party

  • When: Saturday, March 1 - 6:30pm until you can no longer dance or we make you leave around midnight-ish

  • Who: GDHL racers, spouses, families, team owners, friends and fans (so pretty much anyone 19+)

  • Where: South Lodge

Get ready to dance and sing with 'Friends from Work'

Have some last minute competitions with your rivals in the games area.

Feast on a plethora of appetizers, a pig roast, late night pizza, Craig's cookies and a candy table! 

Stay hydrated with beer, wine, sparkly, cider, ready to drinks, bar rail and non-alcoholic drinks! 

All included for the very tantalizing price of $70


Here's the kicker - there are only 275 tickets available. When they are gone, they are gone. Sucking up to your favorite GDHL committee member will get you absolutely nowhere. That's right, texting a committee member at 4:25pm the night of the party asking to buy a ticket like Riley Keast did last year won't work. You will end up at the village alone. Sad.

Tickets go on sale, Friday, February 7th at 9am on the club website.

Ski Cross Club Champs

  • Saturday February 15th

  • Location: If you need to be told…

  • Mandatory Course Inspection at 12pm, Race Starts at 1:15pm

  • All GDHL Racers are automatically entered

  • Note: you will need to pick up a new bib for this event. Details to come in your weekly BLE Club newsletter.

Adult Racing

Message from Glenn Blaylock, Head Coach, Adult Race Programs

We will be training Slalom on Friday.

  • Date: Friday, February 7

  • Time: 9:30 to 11:30 am / 12:30 to 2:30 pm

  • Hill: Lower Vortex – Confirm on the White Board at National Chair

  • Discipline:  Slalom

  • Equipment: Slalom skis, and appropriate Safety Gear

  • Register On-line by Thursday evening

  • Coaches: Al LaChance and Eugene Jacta

Coach’s Tip:

Race Start: A well-executed start can greatly improve your race time. Learn how to launch from the start gate with confidence and speed. Tap here: https://alpineracemethod.com/race-start-1

Thank you for slipping the course and removing the race gates at the end of the training session.

 Ski with Purpose

 Glenn

Athletic Fundraiser

This Saturday February 8th - details below. You don’t want to miss this!