It was an action packed weekend just a few short days ago. Now on to Race #2!

In this newsletter:

Sponsors
Calcutta
Teams
Race #1 Recap
Race #2 - Presented by CDNGlobal Corporate Real Estate Advisors
Schedule Update
North Lodge Apres - January 24th
Adult Racing Update

Calcutta

Thanks again to Paul Peterson, the Depot sound system, and Rip and Mary Riopelle for taking us through the Craigleith Institution known as the Calcutta! There’s not yet an official number on how many were in that room, but it was packed. Thanks to everyone from the Craigleith community that participated.

For the third consecutive year teams went for record-breaking amounts. There will soon be a full layout of who owns what, as the accounting is still being finalized. Please see note below about buybacks and team purchases.

Once team buybacks are finalized, the in-season standings will be updated. Please be patient while we get everything in order.

Buyers – if you were a successful bidder and now own a team, we will be in touch to discuss any consortium / team share breakdowns. Alternatively, feel free to proactively reach out with your ownership details @ cmknightrider@hotmail.com.

Racers – if you were not in attendance, but would like to own a share of your team (either 4% / 2% / 1%) please let us know prior to the race on January 10th @ cmknightrider@hotmail.com. Any emails sent after that time will not be accepted.

Teams

‘Training? We Don’t Need No Stinking Training!’

Race #1 Recap by Mike D

The buzz was palpable across the escarpment, the excitement could not be contained, it was the talk of the club… that’s right, the GDHL season was finally upon us! (or maybe it was just beer prices coming down that got everyone giddy, but just go with it).

Racers were coming into this season in peak form (drinking form obviously). They were amped up and had trained hard- okay not quite as hard as they were intending, seeing as weekend gate training apparently doesn’t start until this coming weekend (somebody did know this, just not any actual members). But there was always New Years training camp, oh wait, that was cancelled. Friday gate training? Notta. I guess good intentions to gate train would have to suffice. In the end, it was going to be what it was going to be, 228 GDHL’rs hitting Big John without a lick of gate training, what the hell could go wrong?

First up though, there would be time trials! (aka gate training, woohoo!). No surprise that the time trials were well attended, and the course was set, well.. freaking tight! (not quite as tight as Paul Peterson’s lid, but tight). If you were late on turn three, then turn four and five (and six and seven and eight.. you get the idea) were likely a problem for you.

Yes, gates were missed, gates were straddled, and curse words were heard consistently all morning (son of a..!). But crucial racer data was gathered (not just that GDHL’ers are allergic to turny courses) and the committee is ultra thankful that the club let us run an alternate date after the freezing rain debacle cacked the original race- especially the rankings committee who led the team with the most difficult and controversial task of racer rankings. Bravo guys, it’s a thankless job because you never hear from those who are happy with their bib numbers (I am for the record, so is Mark Shillum and Brad McMullen, basically old people are happy). But we do occasionally hear from those who feel they got ranked incorrectly (way too many of them to list).

So, after that ‘artful’ course set on Friday, racers confidence levels were at the lowest levels since the time trials the prior year. Racers moped around the bar, some contemplated the future of their race careers, others contemplated why they do this to themselves, but most just contemplated pints versus pitchers. And then Sunday finally arrived, another powder day at Craigleith, ideal for ski racing (and that’s because we have the Coyotes, best race crew around, were going to make the track race ready!). And ready it was, and this time much to the relief of the crowd it was a perfectly set GDHL course. They showed us mercy, never a doubt. Hey, we’re a competitive bunch and we have a super talented field, but we do want to make it to work on Monday (ideally without a walking boot). The lesson learned here is that next year when the course setters f!ck with us again at time trials, don’t freak out, don’t throw your little fit (my fit was minor I swear) just know you are being f!cked with and everything will be just hunky dory come race day.

With the record breaking GDHL numbers (holy crap we have a lot of racers!) it was always going to be one run situation on Sunday. And some blistering one runs we saw, wow wow wow! The top five shook out like this- Jack Veer carved hard for 5th place, just off the podium in 4th was Austin Gust who looked super solid. Gordon Bruce skied like a Bruce and grabbed 3rd spot with a smoking run and Ben Williams skied like Big Benny always does, crazy fast, good for 2nd on the day. But it was Mike Welton who laid down the most bad ass run of the afternoon and topped everyone! Amazing job gentlemen, the rest of the crowd is now trying to catch you! BTW how about the always impressive Scott McLorie (in the over 50 category it should be noted), coming in 6th spot!? He’s loving that bib number, 69, in fact he brought his own bib 69 and wore that! That’s just all kinds of awesome.

The top ladies were equally impressive on Sunday. Laura Peever made it look easy taking top honours, Meghan Barber and Madison Staples looked silky smooth as well coming in 2 nd and 3 rd respectively. Rounding out the top five and hoping to take a run at the podium in this weekend’s race were Ciara Gaffney and Kate Veer. That’s how it’s done ladies, keep it up!

Did you hear Dave Henderson beat Greg Cavers? I just assumed he told you because he told everyone else within shouting distance on Sunday. Well done Dave, killer race buddy! Did he peak at race #1? Time will tell, but the safe money is on him continuing to tell everyone about beating Cavers for the rest of the season. Cavers is having none of it though, if we know Cavers, watch the f!ck out next race!

Others worthy of the newsletter shout out- Scott Cryer had an impressive GDHL debut, he put aside his concerns about the radius of his skis and once he got off the pitch was super happy with those bad boys, he’s one to watch going forward! How about Rowan Darlison? Not only was she out there encouraging racers at the start gate and keeping them well fuelled, but she obviously partook herself because she skied like a rock star.

And then there is Tristan Jeanneault, his last GDHL race was pre-Covid and he skied his ass off (great skier, even better beer, hopefully you sampled 5 Paddles at Calcutta!). And Stephanie Henderson quietly put down the fastest race of her GDHL career, nice job!

In Dave Robinson news, he skied awesome. But more importantly we now have 2 Dave Robinson’s in the GDHL. No punch line, for real, not only do we have the ‘OG’ fan fave Dave Robinson, we also have ‘New’ Dave. I’m confidant we’re going get ‘New’ Dave a better nickname but welcome aboard man! Imagine the dual slalom with head-to-head Dave’s Robinsons! My mind is already blown.

Evan Brisley was having a brilliant run until he wasn’t, with about 2 gates to go, visibility wasn’t his friend and team Millenium saw their racer bite the dust in a most dramatic way. But the future is looking bright for Evan, little doubt he will crush the next one.

Andrew Ottaway was another one who went down in epic fashion, but the man dusted the rust off, went back to the top and pulled out a top 30 finish. Super impressive!

The always fought over auctioned bibs 10 and 20 didn’t go to waste, Phil Ottaway and Brent Addison both blazed. Richard Usher Jones and Patrick Pedlar, a couple of GDHL journeymen finished .01 seconds apart, these guys refuse to slow down. Gents, let’s get a wager going between you two for the next race. Winner gets a drink ticket.

And that’s a wrap on race #1! Didn’t get a mention this week? Relax, there is a hell of a lot of you to talk about this year, your time will come, just keep showing up! And the best part is, no matter how you did this past weekend, race #1 is so last week, it’s all about race #2 now. We have another date with destiny on Big John, let’s do it do it…

Race # 2 - Presented by CDNGlobal Corporate Real Estate Advisors

Get ready for our 2nd Giant Slalom of the season!

Race is on Big John - 12:30pm start - 11:00am inspection.

A reminder that hard-eared helmets are MANDATORY.

If you have a DNF (Did Not Finish), you are able to take a re-run. Please let the finish referee, start referee, or a GDHL organizer know that you would like a re-run.

Schedule Update

Please note that the January 17th Slalom has been moved to January 24th.

North Lodge Apres

After the much-anticipated slalom on January 24 th , join us as we make our way to the iconic North Lodge for the mid-season après (also frequently referred to as the GDHL can’t miss event of January).

We’ve all been a victim to breakfast ending too early (in our opinion) and missing out on our morning craiger. Fear not GDHL’ers… Say goodbye to insanely early breakfast times and hello to afternoon craigers with a side of home fries, live music, great company, and maybe even a little dosey doe.

Beer and wine will be available thanks to our generous sponsors and drink tickets will be available for GDHL racers, this is a high-performance beer league, after all.

Ryan (aka Chef Nomad) will be slinging creggys on the grill (and other light snacks will be provided).

Feel free to bring the whole crew - we will have kid-friendly activities available downstairs.

Date: January 24, 2026

Location: North Lodge

Time: 3:30pm – till we boot you out

Save the date, bring the whole dang family (or not), and come ready to throw down. Let’s celebrate our athletic accomplishments and the middle of the season in true GDHL fashion!

Adult Racing Update

From the Adult Racing coaches:

Welcome to the first weekend of adult race training. We have hill space available on Comet for all 3 days on the skiers left hand side. Our training schedule for the weekend follows.

Friday January 9th
9:30 - 11:30 GS
12:30 - 2:30 GS