Things Get a Bit Chaotic

Weather and other challenges are requiring us to be adaptable.  Be alert and read carefully!

Schedule Updates

• Super G is Saturday at 1 pm.  Inspection is before that.  Watch for a special bulletin with Super G rules.  Among other things, no hard-eared helmet or no inspection equals no race. 
• The next GDHL race is Sunday, 12 February at 1 pm - long SL starting in the Millennium hut and running down Venture.  After that, GS on Big John, Sunday 19 February at 1 pm.
• Interclub is at Alpine, also on Saturday afternoon, so there will be a lot of scrambling from one race to the next.
• Fast & Female and Adult Tech will have gate training on Buttonhole at 9:30 on each of Saturday and Sunday.
• The main Adult Gates sessions will be "big GS" on Millennium Friday and Big John Saturday morning, and "regular GS" on Comet on Sunday.

Results

Sunday's GS saw another fine display from the Coyotes, this time clearing a substantial snowfall on our Big John course, while managing a concurrent race on Comet.  Alec Libert comfortably won both runs to record his third straight GDHL win, followed by Phil Ruffolo, Scott McLorie, Greg Cavers and Doug Jarvis.  Craig Shibley just missed catching Trent Winstone to finish 8th in his first race back from injury, while Brook Dyson, Richard Usher-Jones, Will Andrew, Bryce Conacher and Glenn Blaylock were among the ranking beaters in the top 20.  Sarah Latimer was the first woman in 30th overall, followed by Leslie Sims (38th) and Alison Banfield (40th).  Other big improvements on ranking were posted by Jamie Coulter, Paul Woodhouse, Josh Kester, Roger Chiu, Vern Gomes and Murray Sarafinchin.

All this followed Saturday's trip by the Interclub team to take on their closest rivals, Georgian Peaks, at the Peaks.  Your representatives prevailed by 26 points, the largest margin of the season.  Craigleith's women dominated, with Mary Riopelle winning her age group by almost six seconds, new recruit Patti East (adopted from Osler) winning by three and Kate Veer winning by over four.  While the margins weren't as large, the men also did well, led by the 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 finishes by Jeff Sutherland, Trent Winstone, Craig Shibley, Jeff Craig and Ian Latimer in the largest age group of the day, which accounted for 132 of the team's 441 points.  Phil Ruffolo, Taylor Simms-Brown and Scott McLorie also won their age groups, while Al LaChance, Glenn Blaylock, Rob Burnes, Greg Cavers, Keith Farnand and Alec Libert all scored at least 23 points.

Faces in the Crowd

Pictured above are Kate (Grieve) Veer and Rya (Kirkwood) Prozes, who are building on the recent '80's theme by picking up their rivalry from that era, when Kate was on the Ontario ski team and Rya represented BC and Canada in the 1988 World Junior Championships.  Rya joined the Club this year after spending 15 of the intervening years without owning skis, and is now learning about the joys of shaped skis and other new technology.

Meanwhile, regular readers will have noted the frequent references to Sarah Latimer in the results reports.  Sarah apparently had a low profile junior racing career but was one of the first of her age group to join GDHL.  She's now in her fifth GDHL season and during that time has diligently, or perhaps dutifully, attended gate training with her father.  As a result, she has won a Greg Lee award as one of the most improved female skiers in GDHL two seasons in a row, become a dependable Interclub contributor and now leads the season's standings for GDHL women.  Notably, this past weekend Sarah also beat her father, who trailed by a few hundies on each run.  This coming weekend, the family will be joined by younger sister Erin, who is expected to forerun our Super G after returning from the World Para-Alpine Championships.

Enough for now.  Be sure to read the special Super G rules coming soon and get ready for the second half of our all too brief race season!

James Mathers

Coyotes Rule Our Outdoor Sport

A week of warmth?  No problem!  Give the Coyotes a morning for maintenance and we have the best second run slalom surface we've seen in ages.

Here's what they started with.

Not much left over!

It reminded me of someone having pointed out the irony of the Vancouver Olympics spending millions on security at ski venues, while having massive quantities of fertilizer and diesel fuel in close proximity to the slopes.  More about the outcome below, but first read closely, as the weather and snow conditions have necessitated adaptability.

Weekend Schedule Changes

• GDHL SUPER G IS POSTPONED and will be held Saturday afternoon, 4 February.
• This weekend's GDHL race will instead be GS ON BIG JOHN, SUNDAY AT 10:00 AM (9:15 inspection)
• We will likely change the Comet race on 26 February to SL, but first things first.
• Friday training is GS on Millennium - contact Laurel to register
• Saturday morning gate training is GS on Venture for both 8:30 and 9:30 sessions
• Sunday morning gate training CHANGES TO SATURDAY AFTERNOON AT 1:00 - GS on Millennium
• Adult Tech and Fast & Female will continue as usual at 9:30 each morning
• Interclub remains at 1:00 Saturday at the Peaks

Results

In Sunday's slalom on Comet, Alec Libert won the first run by over a second, despite almost grinding to a halt halfway down the course, then improved his time and won the second run by over two seconds as first run DNFers scrambled for a result.  Greg Cavers and Scott McLorie displayed their usual strong slalom form to finish second and third overall, while Keith Farnand confirmed the credentials displayed in his GDHL debut two weeks ago, finishing fourth, and Dave Raymond followed with his best GDHL finish in some time.  Alex Mathers capitalized on the first race in his brief GDHL career that didn't feature a lost ski, finishing seventh, closer to P. Ruffolo than ever in his junior career.  J-F Courville jumped from his 20th ranking to finish 10th, Rob Burnes went from 35 to 13, followed by Kate Veer, who led all women in 14th (ranked 41).  Sarah Latimer, Alison Banfield, Leslie Sims and Rya Prozes were the next women in 29 to 33.  Others posting notable improvements on rankings included Glenn Blaylock, David Henderson, Steve Jarvis, Duncan McEachran, Bob Waite, Mary Riopelle, Elspeth Gaukrodger and Murray Sarafinchin.  And demonstrating the value of just showing up, Marlene Jackson, although not seriously challenging anyone for second last, improved 29 places on her ranking.  As usual, complete results can be found on gdhl.org.

Brad boys both in black

The Brad Boys Index showed unusual movement.  The BBB+ ranking grew to 46 members, while there were but four in BOB and 35 in BBM.

Meanwhile, Saturday's Interclub GS took place on a salted surface at Blue Mountain.  It didn't hold up as well as the Coyotes' handiwork, and the team captains concluded that only those many who had first run DNF's would be allowed a second.  Full results are on interclubski.org here.  Craigleith continued its winning ways, prevailing by nine points over the Peaks.  Mary Riopelle, Keith Farnand and Alec Libert were the only age group winners for the team and Alec was also fastest overall, but Chris Clark, James Mathers, Jeff Craig, Ian Latimer, Bryce Conacher, Greg Cavers and Phil Ruffolo all scored at least 24 points and Kat Zoricic scored points despite racing the last three gates with only one ski as part of a full team effort.  While checking out the results, sign yourself up for the winning team.  The next two weekends are likely the last chances for you to participate in two races and be eligible for the finals at home.  Next up is GS at the Peaks on Saturday afternoon.

Here's Who They Are

Darren De Ruiter, our youngest member, finished 9th on Sunday

Keith Farnand and Stu Macfarlane

More Good Stuff

The Coyotes have not only provided on snow excellence, they've kindly sent us some reminders of race course protocol.

• If you miss or straddle a gate, you may hike to pass the gate properly only in SL, and then only as long as you don't interfere with the following racer.  Otherwise, clear the course, do not cross the finish line.
• Not crossing the finish line if you haven't skied the course properly is essential.  Doing so can disrupt timing etc.   Usually the Coyotes can figure it out, but it wastes time.  (Watch Stu Macfarlane.  He has a lot of practice with being DNF it seems, and when he misses a gate, he's off the course and into the showers before Bill can declare him abandonee.)
• If you encounter a missing gate or an obstacle on the course, you may continue to race as if the gate was in place, or avoid the obstacle.  If you do, you're committed and won't get any relief.  Alternately, you must exit the course immediately and request a rerun.

We don't have a lot of race officials at GDHL races, but there are always lots of interested observers and miscreants risk being shunned.

Next, a reminder from Cindy Pedlar and her fellow committee members about the annual athletic fundraiser on Saturday evening, 11 February.  Three easy ways to contribute:

• Donate an auction item - anything that will appeal to the sophisticated, high-rolling, dedicated supporters who attend the event.  Get a donation form here.
• Buy a raffle ticket for a chance to win annual dues.  Use this link. 
• Buy tickets for the event in the members' section of the Club website.

Finally, a look at Lindsey Vonn winning last weekend's DH in her latest comeback from injury.  Couldn't find video of Phil Brown's first World Cup slalom points, but that's big news too!

See you on the weekend!

James Mathers

Interclub #1 and More

No GDHL results to report, although there was excitement and controversy at the first Interclub race of the season.  But first:

This Weekend's Bullet Points

• Friday training is slalom.  Sessions are at 9:30 and 1:00 .  A great way to get training in a small group and pay as you go.  Contact Laurel to register.
• Adult gate training is SL at 9:30 on each of Saturday and Sunday, and the new 8:30 Saturday session.  Look for a sign at the National chair for hill space.
• Adult Tech meets at the bottom of the National chair at 9:30 on each of Saturday and Sunday
• Fast & Female meets at the signs by the start ramp on Partridge at 9:30 on each of Saturday and Sunday
• Sandy Nattress has organized a waxing and tuning clinic with a rep from Holmenkol, Saturday at 1:30 in the basement of the new ski patrol building
• GDHL race 2 is SL on Comet, Sunday at 1:00.  Inspection is 12:15 to 12:45.
• Interclub race 2 is at Jozo Weider (Blue Mountain) on Saturday at 10:00 a.m.

Training Tips

We're delighted that the various adult race training programs are growing at a rapid rate and welcoming many newcomers.  For those who are new to slalom, here's a link to an old newsletter containing some hopefully helpful thoughts.  Remember that sideslipping at the end of the training session is part of the deal.  See here for some tips on sideslipping technique.  For the first time this year, participants in adult gate training have been assigned to one of the coaches for particular attention.  Ideally, those assigned to a particular coach should spread themselves out in any line-up for the course so that the coach can spend a bit of time with each racer before turning to the next one.  Use the radio that is often at the starting gate to let your coach know you're on the way.  Your coach can help you establish a goal for each session.  Don't change it too often, focus on it each run and don't expect feedback every time.  Other coaches may give you feedback occasionally but they will want to know what you're working on, rather than possibly introducing conflicting objectives.

Looking at Landslide

It's too bad in some ways that the Super G wasn't this past Saturday, as Landslide was in pristine condition awaiting Sunday's FIS GS.  Glenn Blaylock and I skied it after the GS - fun but really not scary when trying to follow the dye lines from the GS.

View from the start ramp

Coming onto the pitch

And that's it!

Results

My results reporting got off to a bad start last week as I inadvertently overlooked Leslie Sims and Alison Banfield, who finished ahead of those I identified as second and third in the women's standings.

It seems these things happen to others as well.  At the social gathering following the first Interclub race on Saturday at Devil's Glen, it was announced that the Peaks had prevailed by 17 points over our Craigleith representatives.  This puzzled many, including Messrs. Libert and Ruffolo who, like most of our team, had done pretty well.  Subsequent inspection disclosed some errors in the necessary manual adjustments to the scoring program, which led to a one point reduction in the Craigleith score but a 19 point reduction for the Peaks, leaving Craigleith with a one point margin of victory.  Full team results are here and individual results are here.  Glenn Blaylock was named men's MVP of the day, as he won the largest age group of the day, scoring 30 points.  Daina Dunlop, Kate Veer and Greg Cavers also won their age groups, while Chris Fregren, James Mathers, Trent Winstone, Jeff Sutherland, Rob Burnes, Alec Libert and Phil Ruffolo all scored at least 23 points.  Jeff is due special mention, despite not winning his age group as he's accustomed to doing.  He's been racing while in the midst of recovering from some health concerns.  (I will be calling him for inspiration if I'm in the same boat.)  On top of that, a fall in a warm up run led the ski patrol to complete their "Bleeding Victim Refused Assistance" form.  And, he convinced his wife to race, giving the team the necessary complement of female racers.  Without Suzanne and the other women, we would have really lost by more than 17 points.  If you're interested in joining the Interclub team, contact Taylor Sims-Brown and sign up on the Interclub website.

Sponsors

GDHL is fortunate to have six very generous sponsors, who allow us to operate in financial comfort.  Their contributions allow us to provide draw prizes and the like at the Calcutta and a subsidy for the jackets many of our racers are proudly wearing.  However, we are also able to make substantial contributions to the Club's racing infrastructure such as by purchasing gates and other equipment to be dedicated to GDHL and adult training programs and funding the upgrade of the live timing software that carries our GDHL races so that it displays "best of two runs" results.  You can learn more about our sponsors by using the links in their logos, but I'm pleased to profile two of them below.  The others will be featured later in the season.

Royal LePage Locations North

Royal LePage Locations North has been part of the real estate landscape in ski country for decades. Their commitment to delivering personal, professional and progressive real estate services has made them the most productive brokerage in their trading area in MLS® sales.  With offices in Collingwood, Thornbury and Meaford, they have ski country covered.

Their commitment to Craigleith is long standing.  A number of their team members are also members of the Club and, in addition to their sponsorships, they have been holding their annual ski day to raise money for a local hospice at the Club for years.

They look forward to their ongoing relationship with the Club through their GDHL sponsorship and urge you to reach out to them for any of your present or future real estate needs.  Their website is www.locationsnorth.com

Sutherland Insurance

Sutherland Insurance is a 5th generation, family business that believes in earning your trust …year in and year out with one of a kind customer service.

For your business, your home and your car – For All That You Value. 

Sutherland Insurance, since 1870.

Visit them at www.sutherlandinsurance.com

See you on the hill!

James Mathers

Who Are Those Guys?

You could ask that question about a lot of racers on Sunday.  More about that below, but first

What You Need to Know for This Weekend

• Friday training is slalom.  Sessions are at 9:30 and 1:00 on Venture.  A great way to get training in a small group and pay as you go.  Contact Laurel to register.
• Adult gate training is SL on Birches at 9:30 on each of Saturday and Sunday, and for the new 8:30 Saturday session (see more below)
• Adult Tech and Fast & Female meet at the National chair at 9:30 on each of Saturday and Sunday
• No GDHL race this weekend, but it's the opening race for Interclub at Devil's Glen on Saturday at 1:00 (see more below)

So, Who ... ?

By race time Sunday, we had 110 GDHL racers registered, of whom 22 are new to GDHL and 16 are returning after an absence of a year or more.  Results are here.  The top nine racers in the rankings filled those spots in the results, in almost correct order.  They were led by Alec Libert and Phil Ruffolo, who led after the first run and, like many, improved on their times in the second run as the skies cleared a bit.  Newcomer Duff Isberg put everything into a tumbling finish as last man down the hill, to claim third.  Duff wasn't a complete unknown to your committee, having won the Club championship GS a couple of years ago, but fourth place finisher Keith Farnand was more of a mystery.  Your committee's diligence disclosed that Keith is a past Craigleith coach and NCAA racer with FIS points in the mid-30s.  The committee's allowance for a bit of rust proved unnecessary as it appeared that Santa had been good to Keith in the form of a new race suit and GS skis.  Stephen Kurtz (10th place from 22nd ranking), Richard Usher-Jones (up 12 to 13th, Brook Dyson (15th from 29) and Brad McMullen (18th from 40) were the biggest climbers in the top 20.

Sarah Latimer, Kate Veer and newcomer Rya Prozes (who represented Canada in the 1988 World Junior Championships and raced against Kate at that time) were the top three women in what looks to be a wide open race for fastest female.  Meanwhile, Chris Knight, David Henderson, Ron Statler, Alec Innes, Bob Waite, Michael DeAngelis, Roger Chiu, Bob Attrell, Samantha Cowan, Steve Power, Murray Sarafinchin (back from Zermatt and going again) and George Hayhurst were those improving at least 20 places on their rankings in the balance of the field.

Simplified Rankings (BBI)

Your committee had an onerous task ranking the 38 racers who weren't in the league last year.  It was surprising how many newcomers compared themselves to Brad McMullen and Brad Sproule.  They entered the GDHL in 2014 and have since been consistently climbing the standings.  They are also inseparable to the casual observer, although they assured me when they arrived together to collect their GDHL jackets that this isn't strictly the case.

The Brad boys, Sproule and McMullen

Not knowing much about them beyond the GDHL database, I was tempted to characterize the bigger Brad as the brawn and the other Brad as the brains, but must acknowledge that the bigger Brad displays a certain savvy when it comes to selling Gelato Fresco, house made pot pies and kale salad fixings to the citizens of Rosedale and Moore Park from Summerhill Market.  In any case, the committee will in future ask newcomers to characterize themselves in one of the following categories of the Brad Boy Index (BBI):

• Beat Both Brads (BBB+) - highly accomplished, investment grade racer (top 17 this week)
• Beat One Brad (BOB) - solid middle class, upwardly mobile racer with potential (top 49 this week)
• Both Beat Me (BBM) - room to improve, but an increasingly large group as the market makers continue to train hard (37 this week).

Below, See More

Here's a repeat of the message I circulated on Sunday from Alpine Programs regarding the new 0830 training sessions:

Due to the popularity of our Saturday & Sunday Adult Gate Training program, we have decided to add another opportunity to train on Saturdays, in an effort to help meet the demand.

We are offering an early morning option on Saturdays at 8:30am.  This will be offered as a one hour session prior to our regular 9:30 session.  This session will be capped at 15 participants, so there will be no line ups, and we can make the most of the shortened session.  In addition, we will offer video analysis in real time on the hill via I-pad.  This will allow us to make the most of the shortened time frame, and to ensure maximum time on snow, and high value training.

We will need a minimum of 6 participants to commit in order to offer this additional training opportunity.   Please register by emailing Laurel Armstrong.  (Laurel has been recovering from the high volume holiday season and won't be back in the office until Thursday.)

Cost $250.00 plus taxes

And now for Interclub.  Craigleith is currently the five time defending champion after a long dry spell.  Details of Interclub can be found here.  New racers are welcome, especially women.  If you're keen, or even willing, contact Captain Taylor and go to the nascent Interclub website to register for the Craigleith team.  By the way, the new website is funded with the help of our GDHL sponsors.  It will be adding content in the coming days, including a scoring and results database to help bring Interclub out of the darker ages and into the golden GDHL age!

More Not Above

Several people have asked about changing their addresses for receiving this newsletter.  For GDHL newcomers, the first email address we get is from the Club records, and often belongs to a parent or spouse.  Just go to any gdhl.org page and click on the black "Newsletter" button in the top right corner to add new addresses.  Then click on the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of any newsletter you receive at the wrong address.

The times for last Sunday's forerunners were 40.31, 44.37, 41.28, 45.48 and 37.12, in order of their descent, with Alpine Programs Director Dave Campbell leading the way from the back.  If you're not racing and interested in forerunning, contact Carrie Lenauskas or Doug Jarvis.

Our Treasurer, Trent Winstone, and his team did a great job with team auction results.  There were a few racers who didn't indicate whether they want to participate in the buyback of their respective teams.  Would Leslie Sims, Alan Shaw, Mark Shillum, Darren De Ruiter, Vern Gomes, Josh Fraser Kester, Brad Sproule, Richard Usher Jones, Julian Pope and Mark Arthur please email Trent and let him know whether or not you want to participate.  We'll assume you don't if we don't hear from you pronto.

The details of the preferred bibs won in the draw at the Calcutta can be found on the schedule page of gdhl.org here.  These are transferable but no racer may use more than one per season.

MORE THAN ENOUGH!  See you on snow.

James Mathers

Game On!

As I write, we've almost finished two weeks of gate training camps, the nine week programs are ready to begin and, best of all, the Calcutta and the first race are barely hours away.  Big improvement from last year, eh?

Weekend Schedule

• Nine week programs for Adult Gates begin on Saturday and Sunday at 0930 - GS on Big John
• Nine week programs for Adult Tech and Fast & Female begin on Saturday and Sunday at 0930 - meet at the National chair
• Calcutta on Saturday at 5:00 pm in the South Lodge - details below
• First GDHL race on Sunday at 1:00 pm - GS on Big John - be ready to inspect at 12:15 and finish inspection by 12:45

Calcutta Details

SWAG ETC. FOR ALL RACERS

• $30 gift card from Squires
• Card for free 30 minute massage from Sonya Lee Reimer of Living in Balance - more details below
• Beer tasting from Side Launch (I was discouraged from announcing FREE BEER, but you don't have to pay)
• And don't forget to pick up your bib

DRAW PRIZES

Buy a $20 ticket (cash or member charge) for the chance to win one of the following:

• Bib 10 or bib 20 in one of the first six GDHL races - these are transferable, but no racer may use a preferred bib more than once a season
• Sync Athlete Pack (not a black hole)
• Sync Burrito 4 Pair Ski Bag (would also take two skis and a medium sized child if you're economizing on airfare)
• Leki World Cup Racing SL Poles (slightly revised paint job this year, but same great pedigree)
• Leki Fore Arm Protectors (fend off gates or spouses)
• Reusch racing gloves (possibly not exactly as shown but very neat in any case)
• Oakley Canopy Prizm Goggles (premium low light lens)

And there are three special separate draws, each for a $250 Squires gift card.  Two draws are for those GDHL racers who have never participated before and one is for those who have participated before but are being welcomed back after at least one year's absence.  No ticket needed for those eligible. 

JACKETS

I'll bring the remaining jackets for distribution at the Calcutta.  We offered jackets to our long-time sponsors.  Michel Pratte is hopefully now wearing his in Aspen.  However, Ron Warren and Squires have generously donated theirs back to the cause, so the last two of these great jackets will be available by silent auction at the Calcutta.  Men's black, with the full colour logo - one medium and one large.  If you've decided that your jacket doesn't fit or doesn't match your eyes, you can bring it to the Calcutta.  No promises but, if it's in new condition, we'll try to include it in the silent auction.  Any profit on resale to GDHL. 

MASSAGE!

Sonya Lee Reimer is a Registered Massage Therapist who has very generously offered to provide a free 30 minute massage to every GDHL racer at her home clinic, Living in Balance, located at 29A Fourth Street West in Collingwood.  This offer is valid until 15 March 2017.  You will probably want to go right away, but if you think you can store up a season's worth of tension and aches, then the offer will still be valid after Club Championships!  Read more about Sonya's services on her website or talk with her at the Calcutta, where she will be distributing cards for the massages.  You can reach her via sonya@livinginbalance.ca to book an appointment.

LIVE AUCTION

Rip and Mary Riopelle will again officiate over the key Calcutta event, the live auction of teams and goodies.  If you need a refresher on the team auction and buyback process, see the "Calcutta" paragraph here.  The race is wide open this year.  There are over 30 racers who weren't in GDHL last year, and over half those are brand new.  Trent Winstone and his team will be tracking auction results.  Have your member number ready if you're bidding.  If you're on a team, please let Trent know whether you want to participate in the buyback as soon as the auction for your team is complete, and give him your member number if you do.

We will also have six great opportunities to buy the best stuff at auction.  We have a pair of Dynastar masters GS race skis and a pair of Dynastar FIS slalom skis, each complete with Look bindings, courtesy of our sponsors Squire John's and Ron Warren (rep for Dynastar, Lange and much more).  Suggested retail price of these combinations is $1150 to $1200, plus tax.  You may get a slightly better price than that at Squires, but the auction is the place to get it now!  Squires will do their best to accommodate size exchanges if needed.

http://www.dynastar.com/en-ca/product/speed-wc-master-r21-wc

And we have a top of the line Sweet Protection FIS approved helmet - the hottest model from the hottest new brand, and in short supply to boot!  Used by the Attacking Vikings, Norway's national team.

https://sweetprotection.com/sp_no/snow/helmets/helmets/rooster-discesa-rs-helmet

Price on the manufacturer's website is 5,499 Norwegian krone or about $880.  A more generous racer price may be available at Squires, if they have them, but for sure we will have one!

And we have three training camps from our sponsor Pratte International.  The first is the signature Zermatt camp in September 2017.  It includes 10 nights double occupancy accommodation (you can upgrade to single if you don't take your sweetie), nine days lifts and training, plus breakfast and excellent dinners.  Regular price is $3500.  And we have two more camps, which allow you the choice of either the Sun Peaks camp in November 2017 (six days lifts and training only) or the Tremblant camp in December (six nights double occupancy accommodation and five days lifts and training).  Regular price is $1275 to $1375.  More details here.  And check out the video from Zermatt below.

More than enough to digest for now.    See you on snow!

James Mathers

... But Were Afraid to Ask

This will be a chattier than usual version.  If you're not in the mood, please at least note the following:

• Registrations are coming along nicely.  It's possible that hardly anyone will have a triple digit bib number this year, but that's mostly because we've replaced a bunch of bibs that have gone missing over the years.  BUT DON'T WAIT.  If you want to be on a team, registration deadline is Wednesday at 4 pm.  If you want to race as an individual, it would be really good if you sign up by end of day Thursday.   
• There will likely be at least two more newsletters this week.  One will have details of who has registered, who wants to be on a team etc.  The registration process didn't pick up team vs. individual very successfully, so please look at this newsletter quickly and let me know if your details are wrong.  The second one will have details of all the great things happening at the Calcutta (Saturday the 7th at 5 pm in the South Lodge).
• Welcome to our new sponsor, Sutherland Insurance, thanks to Jeff and Suzanne.  More about our sponsors in newsletters to come.
• I'm down to the last two boxes of jackets.  They will be at the Calcutta, but if you reply to this message I'll happily bring your jacket to the Club this week.
• There have been some minor changes regarding the last two races of our schedule.  See here for the current version.

Now For Your Questions

The GDHL committee received an email today suggesting that the "Long Slalom" on Millennium and Venture and the Super G on Landslide were technically too difficult for most GDHL racers, which led me to ask myself whether GDHL is too hard.  I suppose in one sense it is.  Most of us know that we will be beaten by the U-14 forerunners, and not just because they have a pristine track.  We aren't pictures of grace either trying to make the next gate or standing around in our speed suits.  But I don't think that means we have to make all the races easier (although this year's schedule includes GS races on Venture and Comet, which may be less rigorous than Millennium).  The Long Slalom is a test of endurance but technically may be less difficult than our usual Comet slaloms.  

The Super G is different.  Unfortunately, running it on Partridge is no longer possible, and the Cruiser / Bowie route has its quirks, so we're going to try Landslide.  There will be a few turns that will be pretty fast if you want them to be, but there will also be a lot of gliding on terrain that is flat, but not as flat as Cruiser.  When I first started GDHL, Dan Hadley told me how much fun it was to be able to ski as fast as you could on a well prepared track with no one in the way.  He was absolutely right.  And the only time I've ever been in the top 10 of a GDHL race, or even close to it, was the year the Super G was extended to finish near the National chair.  I somehow got the right line coming off the bottom of Partridge on my 207's and managed to hold a good tuck around the corner into the finish.  I keep hoping every new year will be the one when that happens again, even if I have just as often had my ski catch in the netting trying to skate out of the start on Cruiser.

Lots of people don't ski as fast as they might be able to on the Super G, but that's okay.  Once Lindsey Vonn didn't take off her down jacket and warm up pants to ski a DH training run that she had to run in order to be allowed to race the following day, because she wasn't fit to go full out and needed a braking system.  I can't remember whether she recovered and won the race or they discovered she had a broken leg, but she adjusted for what that day would allow her.

Basically, I think that GDHL is fun, and that you can find fun in lots of different ways.    I'm pretty sure it would be fun to be talented and fit and to race like the people on television, but unfortunately I'm unlikely to be certain.   Still, I know it's fun for me to train for GDHL on and off snow, and to try to recreate that great moment at the bottom of Partridge.  And I know that Bob Callow has done the Super G every year since he started ski racing at age 72, so I hope he's having fun too.

Q&A With Sandy Nattress

Sandy is the head coach for our adult race training programs and course setter for GDHL races.  He has been kind enough to answer a few questions that I hope will be of interest.

1.      How do you deal with the challenges of setting a course for GDHL when there are so many different skill levels involved?

We typically try to set as straight forward a course as possible, and avoid anything overly "tricky". This way everyone is able to ski to their own potential and level of comfort. The fastest will ski it faster which creates its own challenges, as everything happens much quicker.

2.      How do snow conditions affect your course setting decisions?

Conditions are probably the biggest factor to consider when setting. When the snow is soft, or there has been a lot of fresh snow we need to be concerned with ruts. Similarly if it has not been cold the course can develop holes if turning areas are too abrupt, especially on the pitches. To keep the track smooth in soft conditions we often set a little straighter to try to avoid ruts from people grinding turns.  When it is solid and hard, we can include more offset without being concerned the surface will break down.

3.      How does a GDHL course differ from a FIS course in terms of distance between gates and offset?

 The distance between gates is pretty similar. Our offsets are going to be less in GDHL however. World Cup and NorAm athletes generate a lot more energy in their skis than we are able to. This allows them to create more dynamic and powerful lateral transitions. They are able to swing their feet out laterally much more than we do, which means they can ski a bigger offset, while maintaining good flow and momentum.

4.      How do you foresee setting the Super G for GDHL on Landslide?

I think the top section will be very straight forward, and we will begin to control speed coming onto the pitch and down the first half of the pitch. We will then open it up so all the athletes can carry good speed and momentum to the finish. We will use a little more offset coming onto the pitch, and tighten it up for two or three turns, before opening it up again.

By the way, one GDHL competitor told me about skiing a junior Super G on Landslide some years ago, that ran back up the hill on skier's left at the bottom of the pitch, leading to a long jump that landed somewhere down Buttonhole.  Rest assured that we aren't contemplating recreating that part of history, even if the fence wasn't there to prevent it.

Watch for more news soon, and let us know if you aren't having fun.

Cheers,

James Mathers

Welcome (Back) _______________

Time to get serious about sign-up!  See incentives below. But first:

• Jackets can be picked up by those who ordered them on Thursday from 3:30 to 4:30 in or around the Snow School supervisor's desk in the cafeteria area of the South Lodge.  If you can't make it then, reply to this email, watch for me on the hill or come to the Calcutta (which you were going to do anyway of course)
• The final-until-something-changes schedules for GDHL and Interclub can be found here (a clever way to increase our click-through count don't you think?)
• Watch for local and even national heroes around the Club in the next days, as they gather for FIS races on Millennium.  Likely to be the highest caliber races of the season (outside of GDHL, but we like to keep a low profile)

So back to GDHL registration.  Those of you who always wait 'til the last minute are at it again.  This year, if you want to be on a team, we need you signed up by Wednesday, 4 January at the latest so we can get things organized in time for the Calcutta on the 7th, at 5 pm in the South Lodge.  JUST DO IT!  New this year at the Calcutta:

• All those 2017 racers who have never before participated in GDHL will be entered (at no additional charge) in an exclusive draw for two chances to win a $250 gift card from Squire John's.
• Those 2017 racers who have been in GDHL before but missed last year will be entered in an exclusive welcome back draw for one $250 gift card from Squire John's.

Old favourites returning to the Calcutta:

• Gift cards for all racers
• Buy a ticket for a chance to win great ski gear or a preferred starting bib you can use yourself or give to a friend (one only per racer per season)
• Live auction for top race skis and trips to Pratte camps, and of course the teams
• Good food, fine company (and maybe free beer)

Christmas camp is now underway.  Tuesday was firm, but way better than last year.  Meanwhile, Erin Latimer (daughter and sister of GDHLers Ian and Sarah) has recorded four World Cup Para-Alpine podiums this season and, among those women whose races are more frequently televised, Mikaela Shiffrin continues to also do well.

See you on snow!

James Mathers

Coming Soon to a Ski Hill Near You!

Biggest news is Friday's view of the Club:

White in November is always encouraging!

And the jackets have arrived and are most excellent - a few people who were in the right place at the right time are already wearing them!

Some of the many sizes and colours waiting to be distributed

Thanks to Carrie Lenauskas, you can watch this and count the Craigleith people you see:

And thanks to the support of our great sponsors and the general success that comes from so many people being engaged in GDHL, we have been able to support upgrading the timing system at the Club so that it will display "best of two" results during the second run of GDHL races (no more embarrassment at being shown as 112th when there were only 84 starters), and to provide a much bigger collection of gates and cameras for adult race training programs at the Club.  Plus, we're expecting to announce more great news on the sponsor and support front very soon.

Planning for the GDHL schedule is well underway.  The biggest news is that our Super G will be held on Landslide for the first time, so get ready for less skating through the woods and a few exhilarating turns once you drop over the lip and onto the pitch.  I'm still lobbying for the course to run up the side hill to the bottom of Manitou, then down Vortex to the Millennium finish line, but one thing at a time :)   We're also hoping that the logistics work for a night dual slalom on Little John or Zipper, perhaps on an exhibition basis until we determine how many of our racers are allowed to leave the house after dark.

So how do you get to be part of this?  Just log in to the members' section of the Craigleith website and get signed up for GDHL and all of the great training programs offered in our new consolidated Alpine Programs department.  We're now in the traditional slow period between the end of the early bird rate offer and the week before the season starts.  We have almost exactly the same number of people signed up as this time last season.  Several are new Club members, or at least new GDHL racers, and they will continue to bring down the MRA (mean racer age, not that we allow mean racers).  But why wait until the last moment?  Take advantage of this time to get signed up so you can concentrate on skiing when the Club opens.  And please look for the question on the sign up form that asks whether you want to be on a team.  The new form has made that a bit more obscure and you will look silly trying to blame your spouse when you find you're not on a team and wanted to be, or whatever.  If you didn't note your preference on the form when you signed up, please reply to this newsletter and let me know.

Or even if you don't want to race but want to be part of GDHL, be like Julie Hughes Workman and join our GDHL committee.  Volunteer for a little or a lot, we're glad to have you!  Reply to this if you're keen.

DIVERSIONS

Once you've done all that, turn your attention to skiing.  Hopefully you've been working at your fitness for a while.  If not, check out this S-Media series on preparing for skiing.  And here is an interesting article with some simple tests designed to assess your functional mobility when it comes to skiing.  We spend a lot of time working on ski technique, but our ability to do what we see racers doing on television is often subject to physical limitations.  Being able to do these movements won't make you the next Ted Ligety or even Kate Ryley, but not being able to do them might prompt you to seek some personal training to help you get there.

And where is there?  Well, Tessa Worley was there on Saturday, winning the women's World Cup GS in Killington.

Enough for now.  See you skiing soon!

James Mathers

Time to Get Geared Up!

Registration is open for GDHL and adult gate training!  Go through the members' log-in on the Club website to get the early bird discounts and first choice of days for training.  Special rates continue for those 35 and under.  The calendar allows for two holiday camps this year, one before New Years and one after.  The Calcutta will be on Saturday, 7 January.  With a bit of co-operation from the weather, we'll be skiing long before that!

While you're signing up for GDHL and training, think about whether you'd like to be part of the J-F's team of GDHL organizers.  Any level of contribution is welcome on our committee.  Send us an e-mail to discuss what you might do.

For those of you who ordered North Face GDHL jackets last spring, the cost will appear on your October Club account statement.  The jackets have arrived and are being embroidered.  As a practical matter, we won't be able to distribute them before the Club opens.   We'll see whether we can arrange something before the Calcutta.  For those of you who have had trouble with commitment, there is a last opportunity to order a jacket.  Click here for full details and just do it.

Several Craigleith racers have been to Michel Pratte's camp in Zermatt, But it's not too late for you to sign up for his Sun Peaks camps in late November and early December.  Just click on the Pratte logo to get to the website for details.

And now, to get you thinking about skiing again, Kate Ryley has been kind enough to do a Q&A:

Not from GDHL, but pretty good all the same!

Q:  You told me last season that, since you stopped skiing as your main focus, you were starting to “lose your mojo” on the hill. How much time did you devote to skiing in the past?

A:  Skiing was a full time job. If I asked an entrepreneur or a sole-proprietor how much time they committed to their jobs, it would be a tough answer! It’s hard to put a number on the amount of hours but if I had to guess I would say we had about 50 days off a year- if you weren’t skiing, you were in the gym (which aren’t off days!). I’ll probably ski once, maybe twice a week this winter. Probably none of which will be in gates. I loved GDHL last season; the camaraderie, the energy, the competition. It was difficult (and quite honestly a bit frightening) to have had no training and still expect to go down that hill and HAVE IT! On a personal note, I’m the kind of person who is either “all in or nothing”. The fact that skiing isn’t my full time sport anymore is a challenge! My point is, you need to commit so much time to this sport if you want to improve (just like golf), let alone stay par to where you ended off your last season. 

Q:  Most of us wouldn't see any loss of mojo, but what did you feel that you lost from previous seasons?  Is it more due to lack of practice of technique or lack of physical conditioning?  How much time does that cost you in a race?

A:  Practice, practice, practice. You know that saying we all know “If you don’t use it, you lose it!”  Well, that certainly applies here! Honestly, I think the GDHL last season was much harder for me than any racing I’ve done! Why? Because I was out of practice!  I was terrified! With lack of training and continued experience, you slowly lose your confidence, you lose more of your muscle memory, you lose your timing, your reaction under your skis. You become less and less comfortable. You can’t have too high an expectation for yourself or anyone else.  As far as physical conditioning goes, that’s another huge factor. I never, in all my years of skiing, doubted my physical ability. It didn’t even cross my mind. It was second nature. If you weren’t skiing, you were in the gym. Now? It’s something I think about and if I ever get back in that start gate, it will be an added variable. This is one of the reasons I have so much respect for everyone in the GDHL- It’s HARD! And it can be dangerous. Skiing this season will definitely feel different. Last season I at least had some fuel left in the tank from the end of my last season… now I’m running off fumes and bitty workouts!

Q:  Your NCAA career featured great success but also great consistency despite you racing against people who were also racing World Cup.  What were the biggest factors in those great results?  What were the differences between NCAA and the other elite races in which you skied?

A:  Some people think school is the “end of the road” for your ski career. For many of us, it was only the beginning (Robby Kelley, Tim Kelley, Dave Chodounsky, Kristina Riis-Johannessen, Jonathan Nordbotten, Hig Roberts, Michael Ankeny, etc).

Prior to attending UVM, I think I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform well in every single race. I mean after all, I was doing this full-time! I had no excuse not to, right? When I went to school though, I had more than skiing - I was also balancing my sport with an education. I had 75% fewer days on snow than my non-NCAA competitors, so when it came down to race day I naturally lowered my expectations and it therefore took the pressure off to perform. My consistency stemmed from two things; firstly, my hate for not finishing. I always did whatever it took to get to the finish line. I took my inspection seriously - inspection is key! Finding those parts in a course that not everyone sees, where you can “let it go” and turn it up, or on the contrary where to keep an eye out. I always had a game plan after my inspection. And I trusted it. Of my 4 years at UVM, I had 53 races, 40 podiums, 22 golds, 13 silver, 5 bronze, and NO DNF’s! Of those, in my senior year I finished 12 out of 12 college races (winning 8 of them ;)

Secondly, I didn’t want to let my team down. College skiing was tough in the sense that you couldn’t always put everything on the line… your team relied on you to finish in order to get team points. Though it helped my consistency, the other side to the argument is that I also think I could have been faster. Skiing isn’t about making it to the finish line… it’s about making it down as fast as you can.

Q:  Are there things that have been important to your skiing that we lesser mortals can try to implement? Was there anything in particular that you did, that you think we should know about?

A:  Free skiing has always been key for me. Gate training is really important, but free skiing is equally as important. One of the things I always had to do, especially on race day, is free ski. I always did tons of free ski runs between race runs- there was never a reason not to (well, I guess one could argue to save your energy, but I also didn’t think sitting in the lodge all day was any better!) On race day for example, if I had a good run I would want to free ski to keep the feeling going. I almost felt as though if I didn’t keep skiing I would forget! On the other hand if I felt like I didn’t have a good first run, I knew the only way to fix it was to ski. The only thing that ever helped this angst and calm my mind was free-skiing. Whether I had a good first run or not, skiing between runs ALWAYS made me feel better.

On a more technical level, things like equipment setup and video footage are seriously important. Get your coach to video you, and make sure prior to ski season you get someone to set your boots up and talk to you about your skis (bevel and edge sets). As far as general day-to-day stuff, I personally always ski down a hill with a goal in mind. I’m always working on something. For me, that’s what makes skiing so much fun!

I have always been an over-thinker. My long time ski manager, Jeff Ryley, always told me to “keep it simple, stupid”. I couldn’t turn my head off. I was always thinking about skiing. What calmed my mind down was picking one or two cues. For example, if I happened to just ski down the course in training and have an amazing run where I smoked everyone out of the park but I didn’t have a cue that run (in other words I thought about absolutely nothing), I was like “SHOOT! Well… what did I do? How can I mimic that again? Maybe it was just a fluke?” However had I gone down that course with a cue and had an amazing run, I would feel so much more settled and confident knowing “OK, that worked. I thought about this, I thought about that, and it worked. When I go out and race next week, I am going to think about that in the start gate”.  My phone was (and still is) full of notes to myself, usually taken after a run or a good day of training. I would quickly write it down before I forgot! 

Q:  How has your ski-racing career influenced your life now?

A:  It’s hard to know who I would be today had I not ski raced. I don’t know what is innate, what is nurtured, etc., but it can’t be denied that in the real world I continue to be competitive with myself; I strive for the best and never settle for mediocrity. Characteristics that can’t really be taught, that come naturally to me now, are engraved in me - things like drive and work ethic. I’m your ultimate A type … a to-do list sort of girl. I’m at my best when I have a lot on my plate. I like being busy! All of these things have influenced my life outside of the sport and I hope they will continue to help me along my path to success in the “real world”! 

Kate in the real world

Many thanks to Kate for sharing these thoughts.  Be sure to schedule weekday showings with Kate (kate@blueelephantrealty.com) for Toronto properties, so that you and she are free for weekend skiing!

Think snow for November!

James Mathers

JARVIS EXONERATED! (and buy your jackets now)

I have been enjoying a hiatus from newsletter publication, but am moved to write by this week's news, which would bring joy to the hearts of AIDWYC and Bob Dylan.  Keen observers of the Club Championship results (found here for less keen observers) will have noted that Steve ("Hurricane") Jarvis was scored as DSQ in the GS.  Reaction to this was varied.  "Anyone with a moustache like that musta done something wrong.  Them Coyotes don't throw people out for nothing" (guy wearing #Trump2016 t-shirt in the Base Lodge). "Oh, the shame.  I'll have to marry the first woman who will have me and assume her surname" (guy usually wearing bib 105).

Hurricane was not actually imprisoned for this transgression, so habeas corpus was not required, but the following week brought an email protesting his innocence.   Furrowed brows ensued among our esteemed race administrators.  The wheels of justice ground a bit slowly, but this week news emerged that there had perhaps been a case of mistaken identity (not that anyone looks like Steve, but the true culprit may have been wearing a similar bib).  Unfortunately, the restoration of Steve's result did not put him on the podium in the hotly contested 55 to 59 age group, so we cannot readily characterize him as a reverse Beckie Scott (winner of bronze, silver and eventually gold in the same race as her opponents were successively disqualified).  At first, I thought there was some consolation to be found, as Steve's restored first run was marginally faster than his second run, which was counted for race 7 of the GDHL.  It was enough to move him from 56th to 53rd (his third such GS placing of the season).  Sadly, Steve needed to be 52nd to get the one extra point in the GDHL standings needed to tie him with Chris Clark, and fell three hundies short.  Complications could still have ensued, as those who were bumped down the standings were on Big John and Millennium, which were battling neck and neck for third place in the team standings.  However, it appears that the result is that Millennium will be three points shy of third, rather than two, once the database is updated.

Fleeing the scene, or just going about his business?

Many more pictures from the Club Championships can be seen here.  A more manageable sized selection of SL photos from Lou Montana is here, and Lou's GS pics are here.

In the end, however, Steve's quest for justice will be recognized going forward by the implementation of a formal notification and protest procedure, to be enshrined as the Steve Jarvis Rule, with a view to avoiding this anguish being suffered by others.  (Bib 105 will not be changing his name, but is still keen to meet women.  #Trump2016 wants to build a wall to keep out people from the Peaks.)

In other news, we have had lots of interest in the North Face jackets and will be placing our first order on Monday.  Click here to get all details and the link to the order form.  There will be a bit more time after Monday, but why wait.  Acting now will give you a better chance of getting the colour you want.  

And there are still a few of you who haven't returned your bibs.  Please drop them off with Kylie.

Skiing is still pretty darn good, so enjoy the sunshine Sunday, and think of Steve's battle as you sing along with Bob below.

James Mathers

Fashion For Everyone

As promised, here's the scoop on our plan to offer you a chance to get a great jacket at a great price:

• Thanks to Jenn Atkey (wife of bib 81), we are able to offer you North Face Thermoball jackets.  These are high end liner jackets, much nicer than your kid got in the race program.  The suggested retail price is about $250.
• We are competing for stock with the people who are going to charge $250, so rather than put everyone in black (which New Zealand has sort of occupied in the sports field), we're going to offer you a choice of colours, all bearing a tasteful Craigleith Masters Racing logo, thanks to Ingrid Stein (wife of bib 26), with the caveat that if your choice of colour isn't available you'll get the signature little black jacket.
• As a GDHL racer, you can get one of these jackets for only $50 plus HST.  There's no "but wait, if you act now, we'll give you a second jacket absolutely free, just pay separate shipping and handling."  GDHL is providing a generous subsidy for these jackets, so only one per racer.  If you'd like to buy another for your sweetie, we'll try to accommodate, but it will cost $110 plus HST.
• Many of you tried on samples at the GDHL dinner.  If you can catch me around the Club on the weekend (or my wife is around during March break), you can check them out.  Most of them will be size medium (men's and women's), but it will help you get an idea of how they fit.  Generally they are a bit generous in their fit.  (Trent Winstone and I have concluded that our trim athletic shapes are best suited to small jackets.)
• If you click here, you'll see a page with the colours that are available for men and women. The ones that are marked with a big X aren't available.  In some cases, availability is limited. Size XS for men is also very limited.  To place your orders, CLICK HERE and complete the form.  You need to act quickly to get this price and to have the best chance of getting the colour you'd like.  We will place our initial order as soon as we have a good quantity.  Everything needs to be done by the end of March, so don't dawdle!
• Your Club membership account will get charged for the jacket.  Delivery will be at the beginning of next ski season.  ONCE YOU'VE ORDERED, YOU'RE IN!  NO REFUNDS OR EXCHANGES THROUGH GDHL.  Anyone wanting to develop a secondary market is on his or her own :)
• See below for a couple of pictures of your friends in our samples, both medium.
• No jacket for you if you haven't returned your bib.  Drop it off with Kylie in the race office if you haven't done so already.

Stephanie Pennal, bib 37

Ed Barnicke, bib 46.  This sample has a hood, but we're not going there.

See you at dinner!

James Mathers

Down to the Wire

First, apologies to Lou Montana, who I incorrectly identified in connection with his photos last week.  Hard to get good proof readers these days.  Maybe I was thinking back to Leapin' Lou Fontinato.

Now, the last week of racing is upon us.  And don't be late for dinner, while keeping time for some other excitement.  Read on!

GDHL Awards Dinner

Saturday evening is the annual GDHL dinner and awards presentation in the Base Lodge.  Tickets are now on sale through the Club website's members section or the front desk - $45 or $30 for GDHL racers under 35 and their guests, plus HST.  The evening will start at 7 pm with cocktails and tapas.  We'll do a few awards before dinner at 8, featuring live music.  Then we'll do the rest of the awards, including recognizing the winning teams, and taxi and shuttle service will start at 9:30.  And don't forget you can bring your own wine and just pay a $15 corkage fee.  But, YOU HAVE TO BOOK NOW, so we can tell the caterer how many are coming.  Avoid the risk of having your friends tell you what you missed by getting in touch with the Club right now!

Skiing Schedule

• Race 7 of GDHL will be combined with the GS race from the Club Championships on Saturday morning.  (The Fast & Female group is ready to race in the CC.)  Starts will be by age group in accordance with Club Championship practice, and you will need to pick up a CC bib in the South Lodge on Saturday morning.  If weather and course conditions allow, a second GS run will be held for GDHL participants only.  It will not count for Club Championships, but the better time from the two runs will count for GDHL purposes.  If a second run is possible, there will be a delay of 15 or 20 minutes after the first run, so that the Coyotes can complete their results for the Club Championships. The usual SL portion of the Club Championships will be held on Saturday afternoon.

• The final gate training session of the nine week program will be dual paneled SL on Sunday morning at 9:30.  Fast & Female will do the Club Championships as their final session, while Al and his Adult Tech group will have a session on Sunday at 9:30.

• Sandy will be offering Friday GS training at 9:30 on Comet.  Afternoon training will only proceed if there are sufficient commitments.  We know how the sirens of Ladies Day may cause the poor gatetrainers to founder at lunch time!  Contact Laurel if you want to train and are feeling sufficiently Odyssean.  Sandy will also be offering GS training on the Monday of March break week and SL on the Friday.  He is also willing to offer more weekend training if there is sufficient demand.  Contact him directly or let Laurel know.

GDHL Race 6

Race 6 was only the second GS of the season, held on Big John.  J-F Courville took advantage of a donated bib 20 to take an early lead (eventually finishing 19th), but was supplanted by Meghan Barber, who remained first woman throughout and finished 13th overall.  Meghan remained in the hot seat until her teammate Jeff Sutherland squeaked a few hundies past, then the triple digit bib boys went to work.  Greg Cavers was the first to break 32 seconds, and was tied by Scott McLorie soon after.  Two racers later, Phil Ruffolo recorded a 31.21 that held up through the first run.  There were few improvements made by those who took second runs, and Phil was looking in good shape after almost matching his first run time with his second.  Sadly, Chris Barber, although reportedly quite tired, was kept sufficiently alert by the screaming orange of his brand new Volkl 196 cm 35 m radius GS skis (as if Men's Day wasn't punishing enough) to beat Phil by five hundredths, only to be immediately topped by Alec Libert, who broke into the 30 point somethings to take his first GDHL win of the year.  Results were very tight throughout the top half of the standings, with finishers 14 through 25 all in the 33's and 26 through 44 all in the 34's.  Among the day's big gainers over ranking were Warren McD (encore!), J-F, Brad McMullen (returning to old ways), Rich Lavery, Sarunas (although Carrie's forerunning time smoked him), Rob Bruce, Doug MacCon, Dougie Craig, Ed Barnicke, Elspeth Gaukrodger and Murray Sarafinchin.

Going into the final race, several of the individual races are locked up, but the team standings are very tight.  Only 14 points separates second from fourth.  And one member of the third place team is still carrying a ten point absence penalty, that can be overcome with an appearance on Saturday.  Remember that it's important for all team members to show up, even if they have four good races, to make sure that members of other teams don't score more points by virtue of a smaller field.

Elsewhere

At this weekend's AOA Master's GS, Jeff Sutherland recorded the fastest overall time (not just age group), despite being only a week or two into what was to have been six weeks off skis.  Jeff attributes his recovery to using cabbage leaves to reduce inflammation.  Who knew Jeff was so attuned to natural remedies?

And also Marie-Michelle Gagnon took her second career World Cup win, although much of the attention seemed to focus on Lindsey Vonn competing despite what has now been determined to be a season-ending broken leg.

And Finally

Your GDHL committee is working very hard on putting together a great offer for North Face jackets for GDHL members at a very attractive price.  If it all comes together, try on opportunities will be available at the GDHL dinner Saturday.

On more reason I'll see you there!

Cheers,

James Mathers

Illustrated News

Hopefully a picture is worth a thousand words, but a few words first.

This Weekend

• Friday training would be GS, but since it's Men's Day there will only be training if there are sufficient advance commitments. Last I heard, there weren't enough people confirmed, so contact Laurel immediately if you can commit.
• Adult gate training will be GS at 9:30 on each of Saturday and Sunday.  Fast & Female will be 9:30 Saturday.  Adult Tech will be 9:30 on both days.  Watch signage and Natalie's news for locations.
• GDHL is GS on SATURDAY on Big John.  Inspection at 12:15, start at 1:00.  Bibs 10 and 20 belong to John Barber and Brook Dyson.  These guys will want to keep them, so no need to remind you that you can only use a preferred bib once a season.  Please leave your bib in the finish area after the race, or drop it off with Kylie in the race office.

Next Weekend

• Club Championships will be held on Saturday, 5 March, with GS in the morning and SL in the afternoon.  GDHL participants are automatically entered.  If you have friends who may want to join the GDHL in the future, please encourage them to ski in the Club Championships this year.  It will make life much easier for the GDHL ranking committee.  They can sign up on the list on the racing bulletin board in the South Lodge.
• Race 7 of GDHL will be combined with the GS race from the Club Championships.  Starts will be by age group in accordance with Club Championship practice, and you will need to pick up a CC bib in the South Lodge on Saturday morning.  If weather and course conditions allow, a second GS run will be held for GDHL participants only.  It will not count for Club Championships, but the better time from the two runs will count for GDHL purposes.  If a second run is possible, there will be a delay of 15 or 20 minutes after the first run, so that the Coyotes can complete their results for the Club Championships. The usual SL portion of the Club Championships will be held on Saturday afternoon.
• Saturday evening is the annual GDHL dinner and awards presentation in the Base Lodge.  Tickets are now on sale through the Club website's members section or the front desk - $45 or $30 for GDHL racers under 35 and their guests, plus HST.  The evening will start at 7 pm with cocktails and tapas.  We'll do a few awards before dinner at 8, featuring live music.  Then we'll do the rest of the awards, including recognizing the winning teams, and taxi and shuttle service will start at 9:30.  Get tickets quickly, as sales will close before the day of.  And don't forget you can bring your own wine and just pay a $15 corkage fee.
• Check next week's newsletter for details of training, but expect Saturday's programs to be deferred to Sunday.

Interclub Finals

After an unsettled season, it was perhaps fitting that last Saturday's finals on Big John should be held in difficult snow conditions with many teams struggling to field a full complement.  Craigleith, however, was able to fall back on depth of talent and the diligence of team members in getting enough regular season races to qualify for the finals and overcame injuries to big scorers Jeff Sutherland and Jeff Craig to record a fifth consecutive championship.  GDHL alumni Lou Montana has a great collection of photos from the day, which can be found here.  Right click on any image to get Lou's email if you would like to get a copy for posterity.  Some examples are below:

The Winners, except someone forgot to remind Kate R that there was a party after the race :(

Trent Winstone, high point scorer on the day

Paul Atkinson, fastest individual

Kate Ryley, fastest woman

Paul Atkinson was first individual overall for the second straight year, followed by Phil Ruffolo and Scott McLorie.  Kate Ryley was fastest woman, with Kate Veer second, as Craigleith dominated the individual results.  Team results were a bit complicated, as two sets of scores were created, one with all racers included and an official one with only those who were properly qualified.  Trent Winstone stepped up in Jeff S's absence to be high scorer of the day with 30 points.  Anne Mathers, Mary Riopelle, Kate Veer, Kate Ryley, Scott McLorie (unofficially) and Paul Atkinson all won their age groups, while Craig Shibley, Ian Latimer, Al LaChance, Chris Fregren and Chris Shipton all scored at least 24 points.

Diversions

See here for some interesting training drills in Norway.  

And a couple of pics from The Globe and Mail's report on winners of an international photography contest:

Ondrej Bank at Beaver Creek

The offseason has some interesting weather too!

See you at the start!

James Mathers

Interclub Interlude

No GDHL race this week, but plenty happening nonetheless.

Rat a Tat Tat

• Regular Friday gate training is GS at 9:30 and 1:00.  Contact Laurel to register.
• Training is on the usual schedule - gates will be GS at 9:30 Saturday and Sunday, Adult Tech will meet at the National chair at those times and Fast & Female will be Saturday at 9:30.  Look for signage and Natalie's newsletter for hill space details.  (I hope you've noticed the detailed signs for gate training and GDHL in the new notice boards at the entrances to the lodges.)
• Interclub final race is at Craigleith on Saturday afternoon - GS on Big John starting at 1 pm, winner takes all.
• Next GDHL is GS on Big John on Saturday the 27th and the final GDHL race will be combined with the GS race in the Club Championships on Saturday 5 March.
• The GDHL closing dinner will be held on the evening of 5 March - Marlene Jackson is arranging another splendid social.  Cocktails at 7 pm, dinner at 7:30.  Tickets will go on sale through the Club starting this Friday - $45, or $30 for racers under 35 and their guests.  BYO wine and pay only a $15 corkage charge.  Also live entertainment, by which I think Marlene means someone other than J-F, Doug and Randy.  And taxis and shuttles to get you home safely.

The Long Slalom

It's become a tradition to have one GDHL slalom each year that's a bit longer than the rest.  Previously on Partridge, we've recently moved to a start at the top of Millennium, a run along the ridge, then a hard left down Venture and all the way to the Millennium finish line.  Sandy Nattress set a generously spaced course that allowed the big shots to fly, but it was still a good workout.  Rich Lavery set the early pace from his preferred bib, eventually finishing 14th, then was surpassed by Cheryl McConachie, who finished 12th and first female.  Allan LaChance had the next turn in the hotseat, but Chris Barber drove no. 111 to his fourth first of the season, thereby establishing an unbeatable mark for the season's spoils.  Alec Libert was second (despite losing a ski at the first gate in his second run), followed by Phil Ruffolo and the Jackson two. Sarah Latimer, who is quietly having a fine season, was second woman, followed by Stephanie Pennal.  Jeff Sutherland, Allan LaChance and Craig Shibley were leaders among the mature gentlemen, while Leslie Morgan, Mary Riopelle and Elspeth Gaukrodger were their distaff counterparts.  Warren McDougald continued his unsurpassed run in the mis-ranked overachievers category, finishing 10th overall, followed by increasingly usual suspects Ed Barnicke and Bob Waite.  Both members of the Jarvis family had good days, while John Barber continued his successful sophomore season.  Full results are here.   Don't forget to check out the team standings as well, since we have a rather tight four way race for three spots in the money.

Meanwhile in Other Competition

Mikaela Shiffrin won gold in her first race after a couple of months recovering from injury, with Mitch Gagnon taking third for Canada.

More importantly, Kate Ryley made her interclub debut for Craigleith at the Caledon SL the day before.  The field was a bit depleted when the usual challenge of the drive to Caledon was compounded by the climate.  Kate prudently remained in her down parka throughout the race, but beat the entire field by nearly a second in a less than 22 second race.  Greg Cavers, Jeff Sutherland and Craig Shibley led the Craigleith men at a respectful distance, while the rest of our representatives succeeded in securing the "regular season" title for Craigleith and setting us up for more success in this weekend's final.  Full results are here and here.  Enthusiasts can make a good case by comparing margins of victory over common opponents that Kate could beat a stronger field of men at the final, but she demonstrated a fallible side at Sunday's GDHL race.  Despite wearing bib 44, Kate started just after Chris Barber.  Whether this was a sporting attempt to level the playing field or the result of a late arrival from the metropolis is unclear.  In any event, Bill Barclay soon declared her to be "abandonnee" and, acknowledging that she was a bit tired, she eschewed a second attempt.

Diversions

HOW TO START A FIGHT – Someone’s wife (to be clear, not mine!) sat down next to him as he was flipping channels.  She asked, "What's on TV?"  He said, "Dust."  And then the fight started...

A bit of a reminder of Saturday's temperatures, but mostly I just like the song.

Watch a few guys who are even older than Mick go ski racing along with the rest of the interclub finals field on Saturday.  See you there!

James Mathers

Elephants, Real Estate and More

More to come on these seemingly unrelated subjects, but first

This Week's Bullet Points

• Track 3 Ski Day is Friday at the Club- Margaret Isberg has organized another great day for a great cause, with gate training, races and much more.  Click here to get more details and register.
• Regular Friday gate training is SL at 9:30 and 1:00.  Contact Laurel to register.
• Training is on the usual schedule - gates will be SL at 9:30 Saturday and Sunday, Adult Tech will meet at the National chair at those times and Fast & Female will be Saturday at 9:30.  Look for signage and Natalie's newsletter for hill space details.
• Interclub race is at Caledon on Saturday afternoon - TSB and his deputies have been busy putting in place the building blocks for the finals at Craigleith on Saturday the 20th - a trip to Caledon is key for many of the team members.
• GDHL this weekend is the long SL on Sunday with inspection from 12:15 to 12:45.  The race starts at the top of Millennium and runs down to Venture, then all the way back to the Millennium finish line.  Oxygen bottles prohibited on course.  Bibs 10 and 20 are held by Rich Lavery and Steve Jarvis, respectively.  Remember, they can be transferred but no racer may use a preferred bib more than once in the season.
• No GDHL next weekend, but we will have a GS on Big John on Saturday the 27th and the final GDHL race will be combined with the GS race in the Club Championships on Saturday 5 March.
• The GDHL closing dinner will be held on the evening of 5 March - find a date and save the date.

So What Am I Talking About?

Sunday afternoon in GDHL land brought the season's second slalom on Comet.  Think back to our opening weekend when Kate Ryley made history as the first female overall winner of a GDHL race.  This time, Kate was busy fueling the overheated Toronto real estate market on behalf of Blue Elephant Realty, but the elephant was still in the room, or at least at the finish line, as spectators wondered whether an asterisk would loom over the day's results.  Meghan Barber set the early pace, ultimately finishing 12th, before being surpassed by Allan LaChance and then the nemesis of the ranking committee, Warren McDougald.  (Warren's continuing success led me to revisit my notes to confirm that I had indeed received advice from an otherwise fairly accurate source suggesting Warren was about on par with a guy who finished 85th last year. There's one every year!)  Jeff Sutherland (5th) and Greg Cavers (4th) had stays in the hot seat, but Chris Barber's first run left little doubt as he finished almost three seconds clear of the rest of the field, helped by DNF's from two of his usually close rivals.  Phil Ruffolo put together the fastest second run of the day to tie Spencer Jackson for second on the men's overall podium, while Kate Veer and Jayne Clarke followed Meghan in the women's overall. There really is some magic in the slalom helmet and poles that Chris and Meghan seem to share!  Other notable performances towards the top of the table included Craig Shibley (9th), Patrick Pedlar (13th), Glenn Blaylock (17th), Jamie Deeks (19th) and J-F Courville (22nd).  The biggest movers, after Warren, were Bob Waite, Ed Barnicke and Dougie Craig (up 45, 44 and 43 places, respectively, with solid jumps from Mark Reidl and Sarunas Lenauskas, as well as all those lower in the rankings who showed up and took advantage of a smaller than usual field to score big points.  Full results are here.

Turning to other business, I had an email about 6:15 am on Monday from a racer wondering why the data base was crediting over 200 points on the season to someone who had only one finish.  The answer is that, after four races are completed, the data base makes season-end adjustments for those who don't have four races.  The formula is that those who are short of finishes receive average points less 10 per race for their missing races.  This means that team standings will now be less affected by poor attendance, but remember that it's best four races to count, so you can at least get rid of the penalty for missed races and hope to replace your weaker scores with strong ones in the last races of the season.

On the theme of growing the GDHL, I've heard that there may be even more younger members ready to join us next year.  If you know them or anyone else who's a candidate, please encourage them to race in the Club Championships this year so that the ranking committee will have some results to review in the hopes of not relying on memories of performances in days of yore.  

And before we forget real estate, your interclub team would be delighted if you stepped up to buy the house that Mary Riopelle is supposed to be having an open house for on Saturday, so she can come to Caledon with a clear conscience, and we'd all be happy if you turned to our loyal sponsor Locations North for some advice in that connection :)

Diversions

Families that cross-block together stay together - Liam, son of Glenn Kilmer and temporarily retired GDHLer Tory McKillop

Nothing to do with ski racing, but very amusing I think.

And finally, a man was seated next to a boy in an airplane.  The man turned to him and said "Let's talk."  The boy replied "Okay, what do you want to talk about?"  Thinking he would have a bit of fun, the man said "How about nuclear power?"  The boy countered "That's a very interesting topic.  But let me ask you a question.  Horses, cows and deer all eat grass, but deer excrete pellets, cows produce flat pies and horses have big clumps of manure.  Why is that?"  Puzzled, the man said "I don't know, what does it matter?"  To which the boy replied "Do you really feel qualified to discuss nuclear issues when you clearly don't know sh*t?"

See you on the weekend!

James Mathers

Who Are Those Guys?

Newcomers continued to impress in GDHL, although last season's battle for male supremacy continued with the almost narrowest of margins separating the main protagonists.  But first:

What's Coming At You This Weekend And Beyond

• Friday training will be SL at 9:30 and 1:00.  As always, contact Laurel to register.  Many of your competitors are finding that this is the best training opportunity of the weekend and no long-term commitment is required!
• All of the weekend training is on the usual schedule.  Gate training will be SL at 9:30 Saturday and Sunday.  Fast & Female is Saturday at 9:30 and Adult Tech is both days at 9:30.  Watch for Natalie's email to members and signage for hill space.  (Signs are now being posted in the new display cases around the lodges as well as at the National chair.
• GDHL is SL on Comet on Sunday.  Inspection from 12:15 to 12:45 and start at 1:00 pm.  Kate Ryley will apparently be back this weekend, giving the men another chance to step up their games.  Bibs 10 and 20 are held by Mansell Nelson and James Mathers for this race.  These bibs may be transferred by the holders, but no racer may use either of these bibs in more than one race each season.
• And looking a bit further ahead, remember the Track 3 ski day at the Club on Friday 12 February - training, racing, good sluicing and browsing - a great day, a great cause and a good bargain.  See here to register and get more details.
• Finally, save the morning of Saturday 5 March for the combination of Club Championships and the final GDHL race of the season, then save that evening for the annual GDHL closing dinner.  Celebrate your successes with your friends and rivals.  More details will follow, but we anticipate repeating the reduced rates for younger racers and their respective guests and hope that our caterer will agree to repeat the bring your own wine arrangements (paying only a modest corkage fee) that have been offered in recent years.

GDHL Race 3

The weather forecast on Saturday had J-F fretting about cancellation of Sunday's race, but we dodged the bullet.  It was warm, but fortunately the rain held off until the lifts closed.  The GS set from Sandy Nattress on Millennium was universally recognized as fast during inspection, but the reduced offset and great course maintenance from the Coyotes resulted in many racers being faster on their second runs.  And it was not only fast but close.  Alec Libert led the way on the first run over Chris Barber.  Both improved on the second run, but Chris slightly more so, as he won overall by just two hundredths in 27.47.  Jesse Shepherd was third, followed by Ian Malcolm in his season's debut and Trevor Jackson, with Jeff Sutherland finishing first parent and first over 50.  (Order is restored after Jeff twice failed to heed his own advice about the tricky finishing gate in last week's SL.)  On the women's side, Cheryl McConachie made her GDHL debut a short one, finishing in 30.00 on her second run and 19th overall, followed by Meghan Barber in 25th overall and Jayne Clarke in 40th.  Trent Winstone (14th) and Craig Shibley (15th) were second and third men over 50, while Leslie Morgan and Elspeth Gaukrodger were the leaders in the women's over 50.  The tight results weren't just at the top, as there were 19 racers between Cheryl and Ian Latimer (37th at 30.92) and another 13 between 31.03 and 32.05.  

As usual, some racers distinguished themselves in comparison to their rankings.  Those reaching the lodge monitor podium this week are repeaters Doug MacCon and Dougie Craig, tying for third with 33 place improvements, Bob Waite with plus 39 (didn't see whether he borrowed Cyndy's race suit in her absence) and Warren McDougald (again) with plus 42.  Ed Barnicke, Jamie Deeks and Sarunas Lenauskas were close behind.

Full results can be found at http://gdhl.org/results-database/ (i.e. in the database that you get to from the results dropdown on the home page), or just click here.  Remember they're available on live timing (click "live timing" on the same dropdown) and on the finish line monitor (although without the benefit of a touch screen to scroll through).

So Who Are Those Guys?

Cheryl McConachie and Meghan Barber, two of the new fast girls

Warren McDougald - expect to turn that 66 upside down next year!

Interclub

The second Interclub race of the year was contested at the Peaks on Saturday afternoon. There was a big field, although Craigleith now appears to be the only team populated entirely from one club.  Unfortunately, the population was short one woman needed to meet the minimum requirement, so we scored one fewer racer than the other teams.  Full results are here.  Our average score per racer was the best, but in the end it wasn't enough and we lost to Peaks plus by a bit less than the woman would likely have scored.  Captain TSB will be working feverishly to get people into enough races to qualify for the big finale.  

As it was, Craigleith finished 1, 3, 4, 6 in the largest age group of the day, led by Jeff Sutherland scoring 31 points, followed by Trent Winstone, Craig Shibley and Jeff Craig.  Greg Cavers, Glenn Blaylock and Paul Atkinson also scored at least 25 points, while Anne Mathers, George Hayhurst, Kate Veer, Scott McLorie and Justin Kowal all won their respective age groups.  Meghan Barber made her Interclub debut as the second fastest woman on the day, while Paul was the third fastest male overall.

Race Etiquette

Here are a few things to remember as we aim to get races completed quickly and smoothly.  We're working on having a better shot at two runs for the Super G next year, and these will make a big difference then.

• We want to close inspection 15 minutes before start time, so do your best to get to the course in plenty of time.  (We know there are kids to be dropped off and hopefully everything will fit in.)  Do your inspection efficiently and get back to the start.
• Although we have had some fine displays of backwards and one-legged skiing, if you lose a ski, please clear the course as fast as you can, and don't try to resume your run.  If you miss a gate, please don't ski through the finish line or if you can't avoid doing so, be sure to declare yourself to the finish hut.  We have officials watching for DSQ's, not just your competitors, but everything is smoother if we don't have to rely on them.
• Although we all enjoy watching the fastest guys with the final bibs, the price of having an early start is that you need to leave the finish area early to prepare for your second run, if you want one.  We have asked the Coyotes not to allow people to start in random order as that appears to have incited unseemly jostling on Sunday.  If you think about it, if you're a MAMIL, wouldn't you rather wait a moment in your assigned place while reflecting on life's innocent pleasures, instead of having all the young ladies behind you speculating on whether Spyder and Karbon include a bursting volume test in their product quality protocols?

Diversions

Here's another in Morgan Rubes's series of goggle-cam videos, from our 2016 Super G.

As no one has sent me any good jokes recently, I thought I would revive some that received popular acclaim in their first appearances.

Things that are difficult to say when you're drunk: cinnamon, indubitably, innovative, preliminary, proliferation

Things that are VERY difficult to say when you're drunk:  British constitution, loquacious trans-substantiate, passive-aggressive disorder, speciality

Things that are downright IMPOSSIBLE to say when you're drunk:  "Thanks, but I don't want to have sex."  "Nope, no more alcohol for me."  "Oh, I just couldn't!  No one wants to hear me sing."  "You are quite right, I can't jump over that table."

Some places have lots of natural snow right now!

And finally, a song for TSB in his Interclub recruiting role

See you in the starting gate!

James Mathers

Hello, Hello, Hello

Welcome to all of our GDHL newcomers after their first races.  More about their results and others soon, but first here's what you need to know about this weekend:

• Friday training is GS at 9:30 and 1:00.  Contact Laurel to register.
• Adult gate training is GS at 9:30 on each of Saturday and Sunday. Watch for updates from Natalie and signage at the Club regarding location.
• Fast and Female and Adult Tech meet at the National chair at 9:30 on Saturday.  Adult Tech is back at same time and place on Sunday.
• The Interclub team is off to the Peaks for a 1:00 GS start on Saturday.  Contact Taylor today if you're interested.
• The GDHL race is GS on Millennium on Sunday.  Inspection will start at 12:15 and close at 12:45, and the race will start at 1:00.

First Two Races

Handicapping GDHL newcomers is often a challenge.  Some are well known, but others haven't raced since they were 14 or 15, have skied in the park since then or have added a lot of muscle.  Seems to be less of an issue for women, but 20-something men are a challenge.  So, your ranking committee was eagerly anticipating the weekend's results.

With any luck, the monitors in the lodges at the Club will now display GDHL results, including those who have distinguished themselves by finishing farther above their respective rankings than the others.  Sadly for Brad McMullen, this comes after a hiatus in his two years of almost unbroken over-achievement.  Of course, the monitor will also feature the overall winners, who in our first race were Chris Barber, Alec Libert and Scott McLorie among the men and Kate Ryley, Meghan Barber and Kate Veer among the women.  (This distinction will become more important shortly.)  Kate took over the hot seat by almost two seconds from early leader Jerry Patten and held it until Scott finished a tenth faster in bib 106 and then Chris broke into the 68's.  Kate ultimately finished 5th in the overall overall.  Full Super G results are here.  Also among those in the top 20 were Patrick Pedlar (9th from 25th rank), Colin Gaffney (10th from 30, as it appears we were too generous in allowing for time on twin tips), Jerry Patten (12th from 28), Thomas Squires (16th from 44) and JF Courville (17th from 49).  However, those on the first list will be Warren McDougald (19th from 77, up 58 spots), Doug MacCon (up 42 to 24th, new skis) and Dougie Craig (up 39 to 51st).  

Moving on to Sunday's SL, Kate took the lead at bib 44 and on a deteriorating course Trevor Jackson at bib 107 was the first to come within five seconds of her time.  Phil Ruffolo and Andrew Athey got a bit closer, then Chris Barber came within a second, but no one did any better, except Chris who managed to shave a few hundies on his second run.  Chris was gracious enough to say that maybe the holes in the course slowed him down just enough so he didn't ski out.  I should have such a problem.  So, men's overall leaders were Chris, Alec Libert and Jesse Shepherd, women's overall leaders were Kate, Meghan Barber and Brittany Stainer and, for the first time in GDHL history (as recalled by me), the overall overall winner was a woman.  Congrats Kate!  Full results are here.  Biggest movers were Warren McDougald (up 53 to 24th) and Ed Barnicke (up 50 to 49th), followed by Steve Jarvis and David Arthur, each up 38.  Stephen Kurtz finished just off our virtual podium both days, up 38 on Saturday and 36 on Sunday.  

On to our first GS weekend.  Another chance to adjust our DIN settings and hope that we'll emulate Eric Guay on a good weekend, instead of the one where he skied out before the fourth gate.  Remember, as long as 4 out of 7 ain't bad, your teammates will be happy, and we've got 5 left.  There's a lot of video analyzing crashes at Kitzbuehel, mostly with German commentary, but here's a happier piece from Julia Mancuso via Morgan Rubes.  See you on the weekend!

Special Super G Edition

Quick Updates

• Friday training will be higher speed GS on Birches, morning and afternoon.
• Saturday's Interclub results are (actually) here.
• Pick up your GDHL bibs from Kylie in the race office if you still haven't done so.
• The Coyotes expect to provide live timing of all GDHL races.  To connect, go to gdhl.org, click "results" on the top ribbon, then "live timing" on the drop down.
• Adult gates will be SL on Venture at 1:00 Saturday and on Birches at 9:30 Sunday.
• Both Fast & Female and Adult Tech will move to 1:00 Saturday.
• The Snow School adult apres ski is at 2:45 on Saturday in the South Lodge loft.

Now for the Super G

The Super G is Saturday morning.  (Despite the juniors changing to a GS race for the Pod Cup, we still get Super G.)  The course starts at the top of the Funnel chair, runs along Cruiser to the top of the Comet chair, down Bowie to the bottom of pitch, then along the cross-over past the bottom of Porcupine to the finish by the timing hut on Comet.  Last year, we had over 90 starters.  The winning time was just over one minute, four seconds, the median time was about 1:12 and a few racers were approaching 1:30.  The previous year, the times were nearly 10 seconds slower.  Here is some video that Morgan Rubes shot during last year's inspection, which will give you an idea of what to expect. 

Remember that we need help from all racers in removing the netting that will be erected around the course.  The Coyotes can't do it all, and our big numbers can make a big difference.  We'll have hot chocolate and finger food in the finish area to reward those who help.  Many of these nets are courtesy of the NZ Foundation, so roll for Nik!  Someone suggested that we take attendance and not score the race for those who don't help.  We won't go quite that far, but that's the right spirit, and take your chances if you run into that guy and haven't helped out.

Now for some key special rules relating to this race:

1. You must have a helmet with full, hard ear covering.  It may not have a camera or camera mount attached.  Your ski poles must have baskets and may not have slalom guards attached.
2. You must inspect the course or you will not be allowed to race. Inspection is from 9:10 to 9:40, but you must start inspection by 9:30. You must check in with the appropriate race official at the start, who will check you off on the list.  Inspection ends promptly and early in order to allow sufficient time for final course preparation before the race starts.  We have at least one participant who knows this rule is for real.
3. The ski patrol must be on site before racing starts.
4. Only authorized people may be inside the netting that has been erected around the race course. This means racers, officials, coaches, ski patrol and Coyotes. It doesn’t include friends, family and other spectators.  The Coyotes will try to identify and announce an appropriate place for spectators who want to watch from above the finish line.
5. Movement on the course will be controlled by race officials using radios. If there is any unauthorized movement on the course, racing will be stopped.
6. Racers will be started at regular intervals. This will likely mean every 30 to 45 seconds, but will be adjusted as appropriate.  The spacing will probably be longer at the start, shorter in the middle and then longer for the last few racers to try to avoid waiting for reruns at the end of the race.
7. If a racer falls, the following racer(s) may be flagged down with a big yellow flag. During your inspection, watch for "yellow zones" where flagging may happen.  If you are flagged, stop racing immediately. You will get a rerun.  Even if you aren't flagged, you should stop if you come upon a crash, and you can ask for a rerun.
8. If you are watching the race and see a racer fall, don’t enter the course. The ski patrol and others will assist as soon as race officials have made sure that the course is clear, for the safety of those assisting. Please spread the word on this to spectators.
9. We hope to be able to complete two runs, but time is limited and this race takes longer to run than usual. Therefore, it may have to end without two runs for everyone who wants them. The ability to offer two runs depends on avoiding delays with inspection, being lucky in avoiding delays for crashes etc. and having the course stay in good condition.

This race is a lot of fun if you approach it properly.  We don't often get a chance to ski as fast as possible on a controlled course.  Just be sure to be on your toes at all times.  Here's another of Morgan's videos, this one featuring Maddy Irwin as a forerunner a couple of years ago.

See you on Saturday!

James Mathers

Get Ready to Go!

This Week's Schedule

• Speed-oriented gate and gateless training with Sandy Nattress, Wednesday through Friday, mornings and afternoons.
• GDHL first race - Super G on Saturday morning.  There will be a separate newsletter later in the week with special Super G details, but remember you must be there by 9:30 to check in and inspect, or you won't be allowed to race, you must have a helmet with hard ears and you must hang around after the race to help roll the nets.
• Adult gate training will be SL.  Saturday's session will be in the afternoon instead of the morning and will start at 1:00 pm or when the nets are all rolled.  Sunday's session will be at 9:30 as usual.  
• Fast & Female will start at 1:00 pm instead of 9:30 on Saturday.  Watch for a possible schedule change for Adult Tech on Saturday as well.  Sunday Adult Tech will be at 9:30.
• Snow School's annual apres-ski event for adult participants will be on Saturday afternoon.  I suspect it's in the President's Loft in the South Lodge at about 2:30, but I'll try to confirm details.

Last Call For Team Buy-in

Those who are on a team are entitled to buy a 5% interest in any season-end cash winnings from the Calcutta by paying 5% of the purchase price of the team.  Full details are in the recent Calcutta Wrap-Up edition of this bulletin.  BUT, YOU MUST DECLARE BEFORE RACING STARTS, i.e. before 10 am Saturday.  If you want to buy, send an email to our treasurer, Trent Winstone, including your member account number.

Weekend Results

Saturday afternoon saw the first Interclub race of the season.  Things looked a bit dire when only ten roster places were taken by midweek, but soon after the roster was full.  The Stairway slope at Devil's Glen was certainly firm, but not quite as precarious as at the time of the 2014 final.  Craigleith rolled to a decisive victory.  Full results are here.  Alec Libert and Phil Ruffolo made memorable Interclub debuts, finishing 1, 2 overall, with Alec winning by over a second.  They were followed by Paul Atkinson in third.  Captain Taylor Simms-Brown was fourth fastest man on his new skis and with little recent racing, followed by Jeff Sutherland.  However, Julia Roth of DG was fourth overall, just a few hundies behind Paul.  Kate Veer, at slightly more than twice Julia's age, finished as the third fastest woman.  Jeff Sutherland won the newly introduced MVP award by scoring the most points, i.e. winning the largest age group.  Jeff picked up 30 points, while Allan LaChance won his age group and scored 28.  Margaret Isberg was co-MVP on the women's side, scoring 24. Craigleith won all but two of the age categories in which we had an entrant, and finished second in those two.   Mary Riopelle, Tiana Boyman and Chris Shipton also won their categories, while Craig Shibley, Trent Winstone, Chris Fregren and Rob Burnes all scored 25 points or more.  Next race is Saturday 30 January at the Peaks.   P.S., if you have a bit of time on your hands, see whether you can find someone in the results who did rather better than his GDHL ranking suggests.  Stay tuned for recriminations!  And check out this short article on masters' racing from Escarpment Magazine.  The author might not have been so kind to Jeff S. had he known Jeff would beat him by 14.5 seconds at DG. 

Meanwhile, Kate Ryley took the opportunity of a vacant GDHL schedule to win both of the women's NZ Cup FIS slaloms at Craigleith over the weekend.  It seems traditional that a retiring star will participate in local races to bring the benefit of his or her low FIS points to help aspiring racers reduce their points.  (Julien Cousineau took this role on the men's side at Craigleith.)  Apparently the trick is to win, but not by too much.  Kate actually lost the first run on Saturday to Jackie Atkins of Craigleith, but won overall by 0.64.  Sunday, she took the first run by 1.40 and beat Jackie overall by 1.99, although I had the impression watching her last run that she remembered the "not by too much" rule about the fourth gate from the finish.

Fashion News

Regular readers will recall that these missives have frequently been graced by portraits of Carrie Grinter-Lenauskas (recently retired adult race coach, chair of the Ladies' Day committee, wife of the famous Lithuanian GDHL racer, Ironman finisher etc.) sporting outfits from her personal collection and the corporate collections of Spyder and Karbon.  One highlight is below.

However, Carrie has, at least for the moment, departed the ski industry and is now working with a swim suit and outdoor apparel company.  No doubt her wardrobe remains well stocked, but we may have to wait until next year to see next year's outfits.

FIS Points Porn

The Internet is a wonderful place for those wanting to exercise their imaginations.  (Gentlemen!! This is about ski racing.  If you can't read "swim suit" and "porn" in proximate paragraphs without losing focus, I don't know what the world is coming to.)  Alec Libert and Phil Ruffolo (1, 2 in last Saturday's Interclub and 1, 6 in last year's GDHL overall) were recalling before their matchup with Julia Roth that the last time they had lost to a female was when they were 13 and racing against Kate Ryley and Larissa Yurkiw.  Many are eagerly awaiting the first GDHL match-up between Kate and her many former Craigleith Nancy Greene and Mackenzie team mates about 13 years later.  But where can we go with handicapping?  Well, Alec beat Julia by almost 1.3 seconds on Saturday, or about 4% on a short course, while Phil beat her by about 0.3.  Then FIS tells us that the last time Kate raced Julia, about 13 months ago, Kate won by 2.50 seconds or about 2.6% over two runs and that Kate beat Julia by almost exactly 4% the day before that.  In the same races, Jackie Atkins beat Julia once and lost to her once.  And checking the results of last year's Club Championships on our own GDHL site, we learn that on the same course Jackie (who was beaten by Kate in the NZ Cup) finished less than a second behind Alec and less than 0.7 behind Phil in GS, and beat Phil by 2.1 seconds in SL.  (Phil may have overlooked this.)  Alec was DNS in the SL, but Jackie lost to Paul Atkinson by 2.6 in the SL and of course Alec beat Paul fairly handily at the Interclub GS.  Still losing focus guys?  This is awesome!  Show up Saturday and Sunday to see rather than speculate.

GDHL Forerunners

Contact Doug Jarvis if you know someone who would like to forerun at a GDHL race.  

Track 3 - A Great Event, a Great Cause and a Sweet Deal!

The Track 3 Friends and Family Race Day is on Friday, 12 February, just before Family Day weekend.  Tickets are $100 for members, and a charitable tax receipt of about $75 brings the net cost below $65, less than what most of us pay for a half day of gate training.  Here is what your ticket buys you:

• morning gate training
• a 2 run GS on Big John in the afternoon
• great food all day...morning, lunch and apres
• complimentary beer, wine and cider until 4PM (please...no RUI's...racing under the influence!)
• guided snowshoeing, morning and afternoon yoga, and lots more for your valentines who don't share your love of snow
• a fun apres and awards ceremony with cool medals
• the chance to support Track 3, and be inspired by the many current and former Ontario Para team members who will be special guests

Buy your tickets here.

Diversions

Here's a nice compilation of highlights from the Norwegians' domination at Wengen last weekend, as a reward for sticking it out to the end.

See you in the start gate!

James Mathers

Season's Schedule

The Interclub team is set to debut at Devil's Glen tomorrow.  As previously announced, our GDHL season will start on Saturday morning, 23 January with the Super G.  But it will be not just a bang, but a bang, bang start, as we will follow that with a SL on Comet Sunday afternoon.

Here's the entire schedule, including the remaining Interclub events:

Race #1             Sat. Jan. 23 AM – SG on Cruiser/Bowie

Race #2           Sun Jan 24 PM – SL on Comet

Interclub          Sat Jan 30 PM - Georgian Peaks

Race #3             Sun. Jan. 31 PM – GS on Millennium

Race #4             Sun. Feb. 7 PM – SL on Comet

Interclub            Sat. Feb 13 PM - Caledon

Race #5             Sun. Feb. 14 PM - SSL on Millennium / Venture

Interclub              Sat. Feb 20th Craigleith Big John PM

Race #6               Sat. Feb. 27 PM – GS on Big John (This could be switched to AM if the Interclub race proceeds)

Interclub              Tentative Sat Feb 27 PM - Alpine

We are investigating the possibility of using the Club Championships GS on Saturday 5 March as our seventh race.  More details will follow.

Train hard this weekend, think about some mid-week speed training, have fun at the Interclub if you're going, check out the NZ Cup on Millennium, and get ready to rock next weekend.

Cheers,

James Mathers