Super G

The Super G was a great success on many fronts.  More about that below, but first

What You Need to Know Next

• Friday training is SL at 9:30 AM and i:00 PM.  Contact Laurel to register.
• Gate training is SL at 9:30 AM on each of Saturday and Sunday
• Technical training is at 9:30 AM on each of Saturday and Sunday, meet at the National chair
• The first of the new technical free ski / gateless training sessions is on Saturday from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM.  These are freeing skiing sessions with Jacques Reid, using drills with a technical focus aimed at improving your skiing in gates.  The focus will be personalized for participants based on their goals.  Contact Laurel to register.  Participation will be limited to 10 unless there are more registrants then that by the end of the day on Friday, in which case an additional coach will be added.
• The third Interclub race (GS) will be at Alpine on Saturday afternoon.  Contact Taylor Simms-Brown if you are interested.
• The fifth GDHL race is the "endurance" SL and starts at 1:00 PM on Sunday.  Inspection is from approximately 12:15 PM to 12:40 PM.  The plan is to set the course beginning at the top of Millennium, running along the access route then turning downhill on Venture and ending at the finish line back on Millennium.

Super G

It's not often that we have a National Team member as a forerunner, but Madison Irwin was the first skier to take on the new Super G course last Saturday, recording a time of 1 min. 13.88 seconds, with an interval time of 35.83 seconds.  I'm pretty sure that the course got faster as the morning wore on, but when Maddy hits the really big time, some of our racers will be able to boast of having beaten her time in at least one race.  Results are here.  As is often the case for the Super G, the field was a bit smaller than for other races, and the chatter in the start area suggested that some of the fast guys had been held up by bad weather.  Ian Malcolm took full advantage to win with a comfortable margin, recording the time of 1 min. 8.84 seconds and becoming the youngest GDHL winner in recent memory, with Doug Macmillan placing second.  John Banfield confirmed expectations that he would return to his pre-hiatus form with a strong third place, followed by Greg Cavers and Jeff Sutherland.  Morgan Rubes finished sixth, followed by Tom Caswell, who moved up decisively from his 29th ranking.  A quick look at the GDHL database shows that both Morgan and Tom have historically done well in the Super G.  Conversely, Brook Dyson has missed the Super G for the last three years, but made amends by vaulting from his 33rd ranking to finish 10th.  Other top 20 finishers who improved significantly on their rankings included Peter Ardill (12th from ranking 25), Rob Burnes (15th from 34), David Lash (18th from 37) and Patrick Galligan (20th from 48).  Glenn Kilmer (26th from 50), Will Andrew (28th from 69 – again) and Rick Lapas (31st from 59) were also big movers, while Leslie Morgan led the women in 33rd, followed by Brittany Stainer and Lisa Warll in 35th and 36th.  (Jamie Coulter jumped from his 82nd ranking to finish between them in 34th.)  Michael Thompson, Tiana Boyman and Dougie Craig also jumped nicely into the middle class overall.

Other Notable Results

Kevin LaChance, known to many for his assistance with Saturday gate training sessions, cut a fine figure in his race suit on the podium at the Special Olympics event, after winning his age group and finishing second overall with the fastest overall time in the second run.

Meanwhile, in a Super G a bit farther from home, finish times were a bit tighter than we are accustomed to.  At the Hahnenkamm Super G in Kitzbuehel on Sunday, being one second behind the winner left you in 35th place and being another second behind left you in 65th!

More Super G

This year we have interval times to whet your appetite for detail.  They are posted here.  Interval times were taken in the vicinity of the Comet start hut.  I was surprised when Michael Walker told me that they were taken in the same way as at most World Cup races, namely with a manually operated stopwatch connected to the main timing system.  Michael says they're usually pretty accurate, but that occasional unexpected variations in interval times that pop up when you're watching a race on television may be due to the timing operator being distracted.

The Super G also provided some good examples of what the GDHL is, and is not, all about.  First, we don't have gatekeepers so, except when someone contrives to miss the last gate, we rely on racers to disqualify themselves if they miss gates.  The easiest way, of course, is simply not to ski across the finish line if you have missed a gate along the way.  You can also do as one racer did on Saturday when he promptly went to the finish hut to withdraw despite having had the fastest time to that point in the race.  Or, if you're not quite sure at that time, if you contact the GDHL committee, we can make adjustments after the fact as we did on Tuesday of this week when another racer came forward to identify his concerns about having perhaps missed a gate and a committee member was able to identify possible witness, who in fact confirmed those fears.  (If you looked at the results on Monday or Tuesday, check again and you may find that you have moved up a place.)

Second, it was great to get a lot of help with removing nets after the race on Saturday.  (By the way, the yellow nets, and the trailer that carries them around to different races, belong to the Nic Zoricic Foundation and represent their first investment in promoting skiing safety.)  This prompted a note from the Coyotes, which I am happy to pass along below.

“What a great weekend!   Your Coyotes hope you had a great time with your speed event this weekend.   It was great fun to watch all of you (and sometimes hear) a few of you come down that awesome course!

We especially want to thank you for the thoughtfulness of preparing us food and hot chocolate to sustain us through our long day!    I don’t think hot chocolate ever tasted that good!  It really meant a lot.  Hungry Coyotes are not happy Coyotes, and  you certainly helped avoid that!

And we really would not have made it through the day if it weren’t for the many hands that helped us tear down all of the B-Net!  Thank you! Thank you!  On behalf of all of us!

Proudly Coyote,

Jen & Mick Gillard”

Unfortunately, there is one less positive matter to be noted.  The "suitability test" on the home page of our website is intended to indicate that we don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do expect civilized behavior.  We will tolerate occasional fits of poor-performance-induced pique, as long as they aren't directed at someone else.  We will not tolerate misbehavior directed towards others, especially the race crew.  Concerns on the race course may be raised politely, preferably with Jacques Reid, but tantrums are liable to result in a "time out" from future races.

Self-Improvement

Improvement is a goal for everyone.  Please complete the survey here to provide feedback concerning your gate training and other adult racing experience at the Club.

Shelley Johnston has directed me to this short analysis of a Ted Ligety GS turn.  And here is a collection of Ron Lemaster race photography.  The images are both artistic and instructive.  An additional example featuring Ted Ligety appears below.

Finally, an invitation to meet another keen group of racers on Saturday afternoon.

"Please join us this Saturday Feb 1, between 3 and 4 at the Craigleith Coyote Race Crew Hut, beside Squire John's location at CSC.

Help us give support to our AOPRT Paralympic team before they head to SOCHI, Russia, March 7 – 16.  The team, their coach and parents will be present.  Have your photo taken with them.

Please drop in to meet these great athletes, as some of them are expected to 'podium' at the Paralympics!

Hosted by Craigleith Coyotes.  Contact: Linda Housser 705-445-9821"

See you on the weekend!

James Mathers

Things Even Out, and TSB is Back

After last week's second run carnage on a deteriorating course, a hard surface and a well set course allowed many to have faster second runs in Sunday's GS on Vortex.  Meanwhile, Taylor Simms-Brown, in his first race in two seasons, overcame the pressure of being late for baby-sitting duty and the need for a rerun to set the fastest run of the day and lead Craigleith to victory in the second inter-club of the season.  More below, but first,

The view from the start ramp of the Super G.

Starting to glide!

Heading for Bowie - possible gate locations.

Super G Weekend!

The pictures above show some of what you can expect from the Super G on Saturday morning.  It will start at the top of the Funnel chair, run along Cruiser (hopefully not into a head wind, or through new snow), past the top of the Comet chair, down Bowie, then back past the bottom of Porcupine to the finish line on Comet.  It will be hard to get lost with the large amount of B-netting that is being erected. Be sure to arrive early (9ish) for inspection, as the Super G course is often closed down for a longer period than usual before the start, to allow for final preparations.  Remember too that you must have a full helmet with hard ear coverings and that, as there will be several racers on course at a time, it is possible that you will be flagged down if there is a fall ahead of you, in which case you should stop and return to the start line for a rerun.

When the race is over, please stick around to help tear down and roll the nets.  There is a huge amount of work that goes into preparing a course for us to run this very exciting race, and the Coyotes can't do all the work themselves for this one!

The Rest of the Schedule

• Speed camp runs Wednesday and Thursday mornings, including training on the Super G course, and all day Friday with higher speed GS on Vortex.  Contact Laurel to register.
• Saturday adult gate training will be SL at 1 pm.  Sunday's session will be SL at 9:30 am.
• Adult tech sessions are Saturday and Sunday at 9:30.  Meet at the National chair.
• The annual Snow School apres-ski for adults is Saturday at 3:00 in the South Lodge loft - come have a beer and munchies on Cindy.

GDHL Race 3

Results are here.  Unlike last race, 13 of the top 18 finishers had faster second runs on Vortex last Sunday, although the end result, a win for Alec Libert, was a repeat.  The young guns swept the first four places, as Trevor Jackson took 2nd and his hirsute younger brother Spencer placed 3rd in his GDHL debut, followed by Ian Malcolm.  Greg Cavers and Jeff Sutherland led the veterans in 5th and 6th, followed by older newcomer Doug Macmillan, who is quietly establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with.  Craig Shibley lost a fine first run by repeating last year's trick of skiing the wrong side of the last gate, but rebounded with the identical time in his second run, while John Banfield is starting to work himself into the conversation after a slow start to his return from retirement.  Brittany Stainer led the women, finishing 25th overall, while Lisa Warll came out ahead of Leslie Morgan in another close contest, as they finished 36th and 40th, respectively, less than 0.2 seconds apart.  Lisa was tied with Will Andrew, who this week finished only 33 spots ahead of his ranking. Brad McMullen finished 44th, confirming the opening week's assessment that the rankings committee needed more data.  Rob Bruce and Jamie Coulter scored solid improvements on their rankings (based on prior years), while Stephanie Clark edged out her progenitor by a mere hundredth.  Offspring also prevailed in the Darlison / Dunlop family, with daughter Rowan establishing a more decisive margin from her forerunning position, while Austin Gust couldn't quite match his father's fine 12th place time but showed little consideration for his mother / fellow forerunner or his grandfather.  (Have we ever before had three generations participate in the same GDHL race?)

See below for part of the reason it's so hard to get ahead in a GS race these days.  And now you can get the same ski in a Dynastar livery as well!

Market share -  Rossi Masters on the Millennium Chair after Sunday's GS

Kate Ryley

As an aside, Kate Ryley, who was a teammate of Libert, T. Jackson and Ruffolo in their Nancy Greene and Mackenzie league days, is off to a flying start in her NCAA races, having won the first three of the season.  This includes one GS victory with a 3.64 second margin and a personal best 15 FIS points.  Kate entered her final year of NCAA competition having been named an All-American in her first three years.  Dare we hope for a 2015 return to the escarpment and the glories of the GDHL and Druxy's masters racing?

Interclub Race 2

Last Saturday afternoon saw the second race in the remodeled Interclub series, this time featuring a fifth team in the form of a joint Toronto Ski Club / Devil's Glen entry, and the announcement of a fifth race to be held at the Glen on 15 March.  Craigleith's performance wasn't quite as dominant as in recent races, but was sufficient for an 11 point victory over the Peaks on their home hill, with Alpine claiming third.  Jeff Sutherland, Bebe Zoricic and Glen Blaylock finished 1, 2, 3 in the men's 55 to 59 age category, racking up big points as usual, while Trent Winstone, Craig Shibley and Ian Latimer scored well in the 50 to 54 group.  Anne Mathers, Margaret Isberg, Tiana Boyman, Greg Cavers and Patrick Brown (returning from a long absence) all won their categories.  But it was TSB, claiming not to have even tuned his skis while recovering from surgery last season, who surprised and delighted most of the crowd with a first run that gave him almost a half second lead in the overall standings.  Others ate into that margin on their second runs while TSB was attending to the twins, but couldn't spoil the triumphant return. Full results are here.

Self-Improvement / Live in Hope

It may have been a plan destined for failure from the start, but the flags placed on the stubbies in last Saturday morning's GS training course lasted only a couple of runs.  It wasn't the stiff breeze that left them littered all over the course.  The point is that there is a trade off between skiing the absolute minimum distance by pinching the gates and giving your feet some room to create edge angle without putting your upper body in harm's way.  See the picture below of Ted Ligety skiing GS, something at which he's reputed to be pretty good.  See the edge angle.  See the distance his feet are from the gate.  Look up the results.  Coincidence? I don't think so!

And just think how well he could turn on the Dynastar Masters ski!

And here is some pretty sophisticated home video of the first run of the Comet SL shot by Morgan Rubes on his goggle camera.  More of the similar is to be found on his YouTube channel.

Finally, don't forget to get Family Day weekend and Valentine's Day off to a good start with the Track 3 Race Day!  Full details are at the end of this message.

See you at the top of Cruiser!

James Mathers