Rivalries

Rivalries, both real and imagined, are a great part of the fun of masters racing.  We're coming to the point of the season at which the rivalries get resolved temporarily and those who may perceive that they've come up short this time have months to plot their next moves.

Things to think about in the meantime:

• Adult gate training is GS on Millennium Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the usual times
• Adult Tech and Fast & Female meet Saturday and Sunday at the usual times and places
• The next installment in the great Interclub rivalry will be resolved on Big John Saturday afternoon, as Craigleith seeks a record setting seventh consecutive Finals championship
• GS continues on Big John Sunday afternoon, with the sixth GDHL race at 1:00 pm, inspection at 12:15 - please leave your bib at the bottom of the corral when you've had your run(s) or drop it in the race office
• Club championships are on Saturday 3 March, GS in the morning (which is also race 7 for GDHL), SL in the afternoon - GDHL racers are automatically entered but we will have a different start order and bibs - others look for sign up sheets outside the race office
• The GDHL "Finish Line" dinner is Saturday 3 March as well - more details below

GDHL Results

A rare Saturday start for GDHL saw firm conditions that led to five of the first seven placers in the SL having a DNF as their second result, but allowed many second run improvements for those who judged the opportunities correctly and saw those who are truly skilled at this pastime set themselves farther apart from the rest of us than usual.  

The Healey family celebrated patriarch Ron's life on the run that is named for him (Healey's Comet) by forerunning or racing.

Janeva Healey, Keira Lavery, Dave Healey and Rich Lavery

When all was said and done, Alec Libert had avenged his Super G loss to Joel Charron, recording a most impressive 33.96 on his first run, although he may have had some nervous moments after his second run DNF, as Joel improved from 34.84 to 34.08 on his second run.  Keith Farnand rebounded from his narrow loss to Cheryl McConachie in the long SL and finished third, while Cheryl bounced back from a first run DNF with a 35.92 that was almost two seconds ahead of the fifth place finisher.  Allan LaChance, Stu McFarlane, Colin Gaffney and Dave Henderson all posted second run improvements to finish in the top ten, while Brianna Machej and Samantha Higgins were second and third women behind Cheryl, finishing 12th and 13th overall.

Cheryl McConachie and Samantha Higgins in their Austrian team suits.

Other notable improvements over rankings from last year's results included Jamie Coulter with a GDHL career best 20th, Mark Shillum and Paul McCool.

As we go into the last two races, Alec Libert in first, Cheryl McConachie in fourth and Keith Farnand in fifth are all still carrying 10 point penalties for missing races, which they can eliminate with one more finish.  (Sorry Cheryl, no more slaloms though.)  Joel Charron, meanwhile, isn't far back and is carrying 20 points in penalties, so good attendance and results could see him challenge Alec by the time we're finished.  Things are tight in the team standings as well, with several of the leaders having opportunities to eliminate penalties.  Remember that, even if you have your four races, missing one may let your rivals finish one place higher, and that can mean 10 points difference for a team.

Finish Line Dinner

• Saturday 3 March in the Base Lodge
• Drinks and nibbles at 7:30 pm, awards at 8:00, very nice dinner shortly thereafter
• $25 per person for those 35 and under, $35 for those over
• BYO wine with a modest corkage fee, or buy at the bar
• Opportunities to compete at other refreshing activities, supplies graciously provided by GDHL
• Generally a fine time to be had by all
• Tickets through the front desk or online soon

Finally, we may have to offer sew-on labels for soft goods to complement last year's equipment stickers.  In the meantime, if you have the wrong pair of black Karbon slalom shorts with suspenders, please contact Roger Chiu.

See you on the weekend!

James Mathers

The Hits Keep on Coming

Another exciting weekend behind us, and more to come:

• Track 3 Ski Day is Friday.  Register here for training, racing and more in support of a great cause.
• Regular Friday training will include SL.
• There may still be room in the special Friday Night Lights dual SL - registration is limited but try here.
• Saturday gate training is SL at 0900 and 1045 on Venture.
• GDHL is SATURDAY at 1300 (inspection at 1215) - SL on Comet
• Sunday gate training is GS at 0900 on Venture
• Fast & Female and Adult Tech will meet at their regular times on Saturday and Sunday

Looking farther ahead, Interclub finals are at Craigleith on Saturday the 24th.  Club championships are the following Saturday.  GDHL racers are automatically entered and the GS will be our seventh GDHL race.  Please encourage friends who are interested in GDHL to take part in the Club champs, so we have some info for ranking.  That same evening is our "Finish Line" dinner and awards event.  More details will follow, including those for booking tickets.  Generous pricing, some great swag and lots of fun for racers and their guests.

Long SL Results

The traditional race from the Millennium start hut down Venture threatened to be a second Cheryl show, as Ms. McConachie (bib 46) laid down a 51.1, which was 8.5 seconds faster than the then-current leader.  Greg Cavers eventually got within shouting distance, and Keith Farnand was about 0.2 back, but it wasn't until bib 108 that Phil Ruffolo didn't get chick'd.  Phil's lead didn't last long, however, as Alec Libert was next down and posted a 48.75, that ultimately proved to be the winning run.  Cheryl was one of several racers who improved on their second runs, posting a 50.39 that eventually left her in second, followed by Keith and Phil.  Farther down the standings, Colin Gaffney cut 2.3 seconds off his first run time to finish 9th from his 21st ranking, Stu McFarlane continued his strong second season in 14th from 33, Dave Henderson overcame a DNF to finish 15th, Pete Dyson took advantage of the "best of two" rule that might have helped his earlier career, finishing 17th, followed by Mark Shillum in 18th from 58th rank.  Samantha Higgins (21st overall) and Leslie Sims (27th from 63rd rank and looking like a candidate to be put back in the second women's start) were the next two women. 

Lou Montana was on hand again to record the proceedings.  The full gallery is here.  Samples below:

They don't call it the Long SL for nothing

Definitely Long!

Cheryl Almost Made It Two in a Row

But Alec Prevailed in the End

Finally, a shout out to Jeff Sutherland, who missed the Long SL.  As we've seen, travelling to Caledon to race can be a challenge.  Jeff not only ventured past Stayner, he ventured past Stowe to Okemo Vermont for the US Masters Nationals, where he finished 3rd in Super G, 2nd in Combined, 1st in both GS and SL and 2nd overall in his age group.

See you on the long weekend!

James Mathers

Mid-Season Form?

This weekend marks the mid-point of the nine week training programs and the fourth of seven GDHL races.  As an aside, once the fourth race is posted, the database will automatically start making year end adjustments, awarding average points less 10 point penalty for missing races.  Don't worry though, just get your four finishes and you'll avoid the penalties.

This week's schedule is:

• SL training for Adult Gates, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the usual times.
• Fast & Female and Adult Tech meet at the usual spots Saturday and Sunday at 0930
• The GDHL long SL is Sunday at 1300, with inspection at 1215.  Start is from the Millennium hut, running down to Venture and all the way to the Millennium finish line.  Have your oxygen tanks ready!

Interclub Results

Last Saturday was the fourth and final regular season race for Interclub.  Craigleith dominated the top of the standings, finishing 1, 2, 4 and 5 overall with Taylor Simms-Brown, Alec Libert, Greg Cavers and Jeff Sutherland, respectively.  However, the charms of Caledon and the Forks of the Credit weren't sufficient to overcome the logistical challenges of getting a full team out, and the rest of the standings featured far fewer of our heroes than usual.  In the end, the team finished about one average score short of defending the overall regular season title.  The Devil's Glen / TSC / Milton Heights combine took those honours.  All is not lost however, as the Finals will be held at Craigleith on 24 February and the team will be out in full force for the occasion, seeking a seventh straight title.

Chris Fregren, Jeff Sutherland and Ian Latimer at Caledon

Murray Sarafinchin and Anne Mathers

Miscellanea

No one reported that the link to our new race management principles in last week's newsletter was password protected, so I assume no one looked and I'll provide them in full here:

1.           Safety of racers, race crew and others is the paramount consideration.

2.           Because of the difficulty of re-scheduling races to another date, races may be run in less than perfect conditions, and start times may be subject to reasonable delays.  The GDHL committee will endeavor to notify racers of changes and status during delays and the Club will endeavor to allow a reasonable time for racers to reach and inspect the course before a race is started if it is delayed, but racers are ultimately responsible for being at the start when a race is held.

3.           The decision to hold, cancel, abandon or delay a race is made by the Club.  If the problem is a general operational one, such as lift operation, extreme weather etc., the decision will be made by the Club’s General Manager or his nominee.  If the problem relates to race operation or safety, the decision will be made before a race begins by the Club’s Alpine Programs Manager or his nominee, and during a race by the course setter (Sandy Nattress in 2018), assuming the course isn’t set by a racer.  The decision maker may consult the race crew (Coyotes) and members of the GDHL committee if desired, but committee members who are racing should not normally play a significant role in a decision. 

4.           If deteriorating conditions or time constraints mean that not all racers can be given an opportunity to have a second run, it is acceptable to allow only those who did not finish their first runs to attempt a second run.

5.           The GDHL committee retains the right, on very rare occasions after notice to GDHL racers, to exclude the results of a race from the GDHL standings or to award reasonable scoring adjustments to individual racers who are differently affected than other racers by factors beyond their control.

Remember the Track 3 Race Day at Craigleith.  Get the Family Day weekend off to an early start with training, racing and much more, all for a great cause.  Register here.

Finally, Lindsey Vonn is rounding into form just in time for the Olympics.  Watch her 81st World Cup win below.

See you at the Club!

James Mathers

Mostly About Youth

The Super G was dominated by under 30's, at least among the men.  More below, after you absorb a few details about this coming weekend.

• Adult Gate training will be SL on Vortex for Friday, Saturday and Sunday sessions at the usual times.  Next week, we'll be back to GS.
• Adult Tech and Fast & Female will meet in the usual places on Saturday and Sunday at 0930.
• Interclub is SL at Caledon on Saturday afternoon - there is usually less competition for places in the lineup for Caledon, so be sure you're signed up at interclubski.org and contact Taylor Simms-Brown if you're interested.  Need to be on the list for 0900 Friday.  Thanks to several of you who've heeded the call for reinforcements!
• Sorry, no GDHL race this weekend.

Super G Results

Watch Morgan Rubes's annual Super G video, shot with his goggle cam while forerunning.

Despite a few potential challenges, the Super G went off without a hitch.  A few racers were apparently uncertain about the somewhat daunting Landslide course, which seemed slick during side slipping,  But once again, looks were deceiving and everyone completed the course without incident.  Many racers were able to post faster times on their second runs.  Francis Pope was most notable among them, cutting 6.4 seconds. I was about to congratulate Steve Power on gaining 4.1 seconds to finish a career best 46th, when I received his email saying that wasn't his time.  On a quick examination, I think it was Roger Chiu's, but will leave that for tomorrow to sort out. 

At the top of the table, Joel Charron led after the first run in his GDHL debut, only to see defending overall champion Alec Libert better him by a hundie on his second run.  Joel returned the favour however, recording the only sub-47 second time of the day.  Gordie Bruce finished 3rd, while Keith Farnand was the only over 30 representative in the top seven, which was completed by Phil Ruffolo, Fraser Bruce and Trevor Jackson.  Stu McFarlane rode a quicker second run to his first GDHL top 10.  Other notable finishers were Jerry Patten (14th from 43rd rank), Anthony Ruffolo (24 from 52), Mark Shillum (27 from 58) and Brad Sproule with a career best 29th.  Leslie Sims led the women with a strong 26th place.  Thanks to those who helped with net removal afterwards.

Lou Montana was on hand again to record the event.  Remember that GDHL participants are entitled to one free digital image from one of Lou's collections.  See the latest gallery here and a few samples below.

Leslie Sims
 

Alec Libert

Joel Charron

Interclub Results

The third Interclub race of the year was GS at the Peaks.  Once again, Craigleith's women dominated, with Anne Mathers, Mary Riopelle, Patti East, Daina Dunlop and Kate Veer (fastest woman overall) all winning their groups.  For the men, Allan LaChance, Jeff Sutherland (top point getter overall), Greg Cavers (soundly beating John Mealey of the Peaks), Scott McLorie and Alec Libert (fastest overall) all won their groups, while Trent Winstone, Craig Shibley, Doug Deeks, Glenn Blaylock and Chris Shipton scored 25 points or more.  Craigleith beat the Peaks by 22 points overall to remain unbeaten on the season.

Not Results, But Still Important

• Because of the confusion following the delay of our opening race, the GDHL committee and the Club have established some basic race management principles.  They've been added to the GDHL information page on gdhl.org.  See here.
• Remember that GDHL racers are entitled to a free 30 minute massage from Sonya Lee Reimer of Living in Balance in downtown Collingwood.  Highly recommended!  Contact Sonya by email or text her at 705.606.0880 to book an appointment.
• Last but not least, remember the great Track 3 ski day at the Club on Friday, 16 February.  Training on Big John in the morning, fun racing in the afternoon, great food and refreshments all day, excellent silent auction items, guest appearance by Todd Brooker and a tax receipt to boot!  Register in advance online and you'll get a free Gogglesoc.

Caledon for me on Saturday.  See you on the Sunday! 

James Mathers

One Last Thing

Or maybe a few.

For Sunday's Super G, make sure that you've read the special instructions here.  Especially remember that we need help removing the netting after the race!

Circumstances permitting, we're going to try a little innovation for the Super G.  A couple of brushes will be set below each gate, to help show you the line to the next gate during inspection.  Once inspection is over, a dye line will be painted between the brushes and the brushes will be removed.  The line will be set so that your outside ski should run along or just above it.  Hopefully this will assist less experienced racers in finding a good line, with the result that any ruts that appear will be in a place that is less dangerous for those who follow.  If it works, we'll try again for future races.

Finally, I want to share with you another element of GDHL that is particularly relevant to the Super G.  I trust you're all aware of the generous support we receive from our sponsors, whose logos are displayed on newsletters, website pages etc.  While the GDHL committee uses some revenues to provide mementos to our participants, our sponsors' generous support has enabled us to put aside some money to support racing infrastructure at Craigleith, and specifically things that benefit the adult race programs.  In the past we've purchased gates and other equipment for those programs, but over several years accumulated a sufficient sum to allow us to underwrite the cost of the new start hut on Landslide, which is used for FIS GS races and our GDHL Super G, among other events.

I'm attaching pictures of the plaque that is now affixed to the start hut to recognize the support of GDHL and its sponsors in constructing the hut.

Landslide Start Hut

This is how good things can happen!

Have fun in the Super G!

James Matehrs

And Time for Super G Rules

As promised / threatened yesterday, there are more details surrounding the Super G than our usual races.  It's on Sunday afternoon on Landslide.  Check out the new start hut, which has been constructed with the financial support of GDHL and our generous sponsors.  Two key things right up front:

• If the weather doesn't cooperate, we may need extra slippers to help maintain the race track.  Please be prepared to help with side slipping between racers if you're not on deck yourself, and follow instructions from the Coyotes carefully when doing so.
• Whatever the weather, the nets lining the course for our safety need to be removed after the race.  Please don't leave without rolling a few.

Now for a bunch more important things to absorb:

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 12:10 to 12:40, but you must start inspection by 12:30. 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 past would-be 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, Coyotes and racers who are asked to side slip. 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 fall, miss a gate, come to a stop etc., you must abandon your run and leave the course immediately.  Getting up, hiking etc. is not permitted.

9.    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.

10.   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.  If it isn't possible to offer two races for everyone, it's possible that only those who didn't finish their first runs will be allowed to attempt a second one.

11.   The top of the course is narrow and there isn't a lot of room in the start area.  If you can avoid being there during the race, other than for your run, that's best.  Otherwise, please pay strict attention to the Coyotes concerning egress.

Understood?  Good!  See you there!

James Mathers

Super G Time

It's many people's favourite weekend of the year - the GDHL Super G is on tap.  Watch for a special edition tomorrow with full details and rules you need to read.  And don't be apprehensive about Landslide as the venue.  It's really Partridge with a longer pitch.  Or think of the race as a "modified GS," as some in the race office do.  It's a blast!

Full Weekend Schedule

• Adult Gate Training is GS on Millennium all weekend - Friday, Saturday at 0900 and 1045 and Sunday at 0900
• Fast & Female meets at the top of the National chair at 0930 Saturday and Sunday, while Adult Tech meets at the bottom of the National chair at those times
• Interclub is GS at the Peaks at 1300 Saturday - see more below
• GDHL Super G is on Landslide at 1300 Sunday - see more in tomorrow's special edition

Pics

You'll remember that Lou Montana is the official GDHL photographer this year.  Lou will be capturing our collective glory at three races this year.  All the pics from the opening GS on Big John are here.  Remember that each GDHL racer is entitled to one free digital image from Lou this season.  Contact him through the website to get yours.  I thought this week's collection was particularly exciting.  Here are some samples:

Scott McLorie on his way to the win.

Sarah Latimer was the leading woman on the day.

Is that a shadow under Phil's outside ski?

No shadow, but still an awkward moment!

Max shadow!

Interclub

While it was an off week for GDHL, last weekend saw the second Interclub race of the season, a GS at Blue Mountain, hosted by the Jozo Weider race club.  When all was said and done, especially some debate about the scoring rules, Craigleith won by 26 points, while the spread between the other five teams was 25.  On the women's side, Mary Riopelle, Patti East (our Osler import), Leslie Sims and Rya Prozes all won their age categories.  Leslie's margin was over four seconds, while the others were in the range of two seconds.  Jeff Sutherland led the way for the men, overcoming an atypical first run deficit to score 28 points, while Doug Deeks, Jerry Patten, Chris Fregren, Craig Shibley and Phil Ruffolo were the highest scorers among the other men.

Things are looking promising for our heroes, but it all comes down to the finals at Craigleith four weeks hence.  Racers must start two previous races to be eligible for selection to the team that will seek to break the record for consecutive season's championships.  Sign up at interclubski.org if you're new to this game, and also let Captain Taylor Simms-Brown know that you're interested.  There's only one regular season race after this weekend, but being away at Caledon, there's always a call for all hands to make the jaunt.

Enough for now.  Watch for more tomorrow.

James Mathers

Results, Results, Results (and Some Other Stuff)

Lots of results on which to report.  That and more below, but first:

Weekend Schedule

• Gate training is GS all weekend, i.e. Friday, Saturday at 0900 and 1045 and Sunday at 0900.  Hill space isn't available as of press time, but watch for the Club race bulletin (for which you must subscribe separately from the weekly update bulletin). 

• Adult Tech meets at the bottom of National Chair and Fast and Female meets at the top, 0930 Saturday and Sunday

• Interclub race is GS at Jozo Weider (Blue Mountain) Saturday at 1000 - sign up for the season at interclubski.org and let Captain Taylor S-B know by email that you've done so if you want to be considered.

• GDHL has an off weekend.

More Race Etiquette

As was evident with the windy conditions of the first race, GDHL doesn’t have a fancy system of on-hill officials, juries etc.  Sometimes this leads to a bit of scrambling, but mostly it lets you get on with enjoying your race and not be burdened with formalities.  Since we don’t have gate judges, we mainly rely on self-policing.  This year’s second race showcased a different aspect of our legal system.  On Sunday evening, I had a note from a racer saying he felt obligated to disqualify himself after he realized he shouldn't have skied a number of gates during inspection.  That is something one isn’t permitted to do.  (Inspection is sometimes for sideslipping and sometimes not, depending on what the Coyotes tell us.  It’s not a practice run.)  Turning oneself in like that is unusual but certainly commendable. I had notes from more than one other racer pointing out that there had been several other racers taking practice during inspection and asking that I emphasize that this is not done.  Consider yourselves admonished.

I had another note from a racer who saw the results and thought that another racer had erroneously been given a time for one run despite missing several gates.  The other racer readily acknowledged having done so, and thought that the timing hut would have seen the problem and entered a DSQ.  In fact, the timers rarely do that.  It isn’t their job.  In other races, the jury would make the ruling, but since we don’t have a jury, we ask that racers who ski out of the course stay out of the course and don’t cross the finish line at all.  If you can’t avoid crossing the finish line despite not completing the course correctly, please go immediately to the timing hut and ask them to change you to a DNF.  

In short, we rely on people to police themselves, always recognizing that there are sharp eyed interested parties in the vicinity who may raise a hue and cry if you don’t.  Changing the results after they’re posted is a nuisance for which we pay our programmer and, despite that, he gets a bit grumpy about doing so :)

Illustrated Interlude

The video above shows a practice run by Daron Rahlves on the Streif course in Kitzbuhel.  There's a little compass in the top left of the screen that allows you to rotate the view through 360 degrees.

Results

Sorry it has taken longer than usual to get results posted in the database.  FYI, we can’t set up a new season until registration is complete, which inevitably seems not to happen until after the Calcutta.  This year, a few other elements of life took precedence thereafter.  GDHL results are found on gdhl.org in the Database under the Results drop down. Before they’re posted, they can usually be found through the Live Timing site, which is also accessible under the Results drop down.  Finally, Interclub results are available on interclubski.org, for which a link also exists under the Results drop down.  As of the time of writing, the DSQ relating to missing gates hasn't been implemented yet (oh the suspense!) and the rankings recorded in the database are indeed rankings but not the ones we normally publish.  That may all be done by the time of reading, just to confuse matters.

So, what actually happened on the hill?  In the opening GS on Big John, you will recall that reaching the immaculately prepared course was delayed by high winds shutting down the chair at a critical juncture, but people sprang into action once Mother Nature co-operated.  Scott McLorie, who reminisced during the delay about racing when one inspected a course on foot from bottom to top, and professed a willingness to hike to the start, didn't need the advantage many thought that would give him.  Although the GDHL database shows only one race in which Scott has finished outside the top 10, and many in which he's been top 5, it didn't show any wins until 7 January 2018.  Scott had the fastest time in each run, ultimately winning by 0.3 over Phil Ruffolo, with Jeff Sutherland grabbing third, the Bruce brothers taking fourth and fifth and the preferred bib holders (Trent Winstone and Doug Jarvis) following them.  Richard Usher-Jones and Patrick Pedlar broke into the top ten for the first time in a while, sandwiching Duff Isberg.  Other notable placings included newcomer Aaron Maybin (a Peaks refugee) in 11th, Peter Dyson (14th) and Chris Knight (first top 30).  Defending champion Sarah Latimer led the women in 26th, followed by Leslie Morgan (first top 30, at least recently) and newcomer Brianna Machej.

Weekend 2 saw the first Interclub event of the season.  There's some question, at least in my mind, whether Craigleith is seeking a record-breaking 7th consecutive championship season or a record-breaking 8th consecutive championship season, but in any event the quest got off to a fine start at Devil's Glen.  Despite being short one woman and the database scoring being caught off guard by one of the teams changing its name since last season, Craigleith won by 13 points over the Peaks.  Leslie Sims, Al LaChance, Glenn Blaylock, Kate Veer, Jeff Sutherland (leading a 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 in the biggest category of the day), Greg Cavers, Keith Farnand and Duff Isberg all won their age groups, as Craigleith won all but one of the categories in which we started.

Weekend 2's GDHL race (SL on Comet) brought more excitement.  I'm told the course set was challenging, particularly towards the end.  In any case, Cheryl McConachie apparently found no difficulty, as she impressed the onlookers in winning by an even second over Jeff Sutherland, who's now tied for first place in the overall standings with Scott McLorie, who was fourth on the day.  Cheryl became the second woman to win a GDHL race.  You can find the results of the first female conquest here and decide for yourself which was the more dominant.  Greg Cavers was third, Trevor Jackson fifth, Samantha Higgins joined the fast and female team in eighth., and Allan LaChance was ninth.  Brianna Machej was third female in 13th.  David Henderson (17th) and Chris Knight (29th) continued their consistent improvements in their sophomore seasons, while J-F (The Schnoz) Courville struggled bravely a bit further back.

One More Thing

Last but far from least, Margaret Isberg sends us an early reminder of the Friends and Family Race Day in support of Track 3.  It's a great chance to train, race, eat, drink and have fun in many other ways, all in support of a great cause.  It's Friday, 16 February at Craigleith.  More details and tickets here.  More reminders will follow.

Cheers,

James Mathers

Robbie Burns Day Comes Early

What do I mean by that title?  Well, you'll have to read a bit, because first there are some important details for this weekend.  But no, don't hold your breath Rob Burnes (bib 79).

Weekend Schedule

• Friday gate training is SL on Birches at 0930 and 1300 - contact Laurel Armstrong to register
• Saturday gate training is SL on Comet at 0900 to 1030 and 1045 to 1215
• Sunday gate training is SL on Birches at 0900 to 1030
• Fast and Female meets at the top of the National Chair Saturday and Sunday at 0930
• Adult Tech meets at the bottom of the National Chair Saturday and Sunday at 0930
• GDHL race is SL on Comet Sunday at 1300, inspection at 1215
• Interclub is GS at Devil's Glen Saturday at 1300 - more details below

Gate Training Etiquette

As we all know, racers leave ruts racing.  So do racers training.  Other skiers like skiing in ruts even less than racers, especially when there aren't gates to warn them that there may be ruts.  The last few minutes of each gate training session will be devoted to sideslipping the course.  Click here for details on techniques.  Please don't leave (aka bugger off) without doing your part.

Interclub

Interclub is another great way to take part in ski races, in a different format from GDHL.  Click here for details.  Desirable qualifications for racers are being reasonably fast for your age, if you're male, being able to finish the race, if you're female, or being willing to race at Caledon, if you're either of the above.  Go to the interclub website and "Sign Up Now" if you're new, or log in to your account and register for 2018 if you're a vet.  Craigleith is seeking an unprecedented seventh straight championship this year, but it's not too late to jump on the winners' bandwagon.

Calcutta

A splendid time was apparently had by the assembled multitude, with enthusiastic bidding on teams being a highlight.  

Did the folks who bid $2700 on Team Cornice think Peter Dyson has been sandbagging?  Have they seen his record of DNF's at fis-ski.com?

Could they possibly be worth 2.7 times this fine group of Team Manitou members? 

Thanks to Lou Montana for his pictures.  See more here.  Remember that GDHL racers are entitled to one complimentary digital picture from Lou this year.  Contact him through his site to arrange.  Lou will take pictures at three races this year, and we'll post them through the newsletter.

Newsletter Subscription

I've added all of this year's racers to our newsletter distribution list based on the email addresses in our records.  Sometimes these are the addresses of a racer's parent or spouse.  Sometimes racers have multiple addresses.  If you're getting more copies than you need, just "unsubscribe" at the bottom of the one you don't want.  If someone you know isn't receiving a copy, subscribe at gdhl.org.

So, On to Mr. Burns

"The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men Gang aft agley, An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, For promis’d joy!"  Or to put it another way, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."   Despite many more than satisfactory elements to the season opening, your committee had a couple of agley club moments, notably around 1232 Sunday.  So:

• Thanks to the Club and the Coyotes for succeeding in running a great race and being prepared when Mother Nature unexpectedly cooperated.  
• Sorry for some contradictory communications from the committee as we tried to manage our end of the situation, and thanks to racers for adapting quickly.
• We're aware of a few racers who may not have started Sunday as a direct result of contradictory communications.  If you think you're one of them, please let us know by replying to this newsletter email pronto.  Those considered justifiably aggrieved may be awarded the average of their best three race scores in place of their DNS's.  This will happen at the end of the season only if it affects team or individual prizes - if it doesn't we will not disrupt the programming of the database, which affronts my son the programmer.
• We are developing a policy to deal with similar situations, which will be published in due course.

The lovingly prepared sheets on which team members indicated their interest or otherwise in buying a 5% interest in their respective teams went missing.  Through some desperate logic, this has been blamed on the Winstone family puppy, which is young enough to get off with a suspended sentence.  Most team members have already responded to a follow up email from Trent on Tuesday.  If you haven't, please do so right away if you want to buy in.

Results

To maintain the suspense a bit longer, but really because the database isn't updated quite yet, you won't yet find the results from Sunday in the usual place.  Unofficial results are available on Live Timing here.  Full commentary and illustrations will follow when the database is updated.

Enough for now.

James Mathers

Making Lists & Checking Them Twice

Not so much about naughty and nice as fast, faster and fastest - all made much easier when people register well in advance :)

For those of you keeping score at the Calcutta, here are the following lists:

• racers by ranking, with bib number and team, if any
• bibs by name 
• bibs by number, with team, if any
• teams with rankings and bib numbers

If you missed the Calcutta you can collect your bib at the Race Office, chez Kylie and Steve.  You can also collect your Squires gift card from them.

Training continues Sunday.  Gate training for those registered for Sunday morning is 0900 to 1030 - GS on Big John.  Try to warm up before 0900 so you are ready to do a quick slip and inspection at 0900 and then run gates.  Please don't run away before helping to tear down and slip the course (fill the snow back into the ruts at the end), all of which will start about 1015.

And of course the first race is GS on Big John - inspection at 1215 and start at 1300.

There are two (very) late additions to our GDHL family.  Bib 121 will be starting between bibs 42 and 43 and bib 122 will be starting between bibs 90 and 91.

PREFERRED BIBS

In all of the excitement of the Calcutta (thanks to all of the enthusiastic bidders), we didn't have a chance to draw for bibs 10 and 20 during the event.  This was completed immediately afterwards with the following results:

• First race - Bib 10 Warren Finlay, bib 20 Trent Winstone
• Second race - Bib 10 Mike Suska, bib 20 Trevor Jackson
• Third race - Bib 10 Colin Gaffney, bib 20 Al LaChance
• Fourth race - Bib 10 James Mathers, bib 20 Rob Bruce
• Fifth race - Bib 10 Patrick Pedlar, bib 20 David Henderson
• Sixth race - Bib 10 David Arthur, bib 20 Mark Arthur

There's no actual bib change.  Just show up with your regular bib at the premium spot in the starting order.  These bib rights may be transferred, but no racer may use more than one premium spot during the season.

Cheers,

James Mathers

Last Call & Calcutta Details

UPDATE AS OF 3:30 PM FRIDAY

(This part wasn't on the site when I circulated the special message Friday morning.)

• Adult Tech will meet the bottom of National chair Saturday and Sunday at 9:30 am.
• Fast and Female will meet at the top of National chair Saturday and Sunday at 9:30
• Adult Gate training early will be Big John GS 9:00 am Saturday and Sunday and 10:45 Saturday only.
• For the Adult Gates, you're expected to be in the session for which you're enrolled.  There's still room for Sunday.  If the early Sunday session fills up, a 10:45 Sunday session will be offered if there's a minimum of six participants.
• We have had a late surge in registrations, especially among the younger and faster - even some yet to be confirmed Ryley sightings!

THINGS YOU MAY ALREADY HAVE READ

Condolences to those of you who haven't been at the Club recently.  Conditions continue to be stellar.  A few days of corduroy, but mostly just more and more fresh snow!  The next couple of days will be on the chilly side, though "mainly sunny," but Sunday will be comparatively balmy as we break out race suits for our inaugural competition of the season.  (I've never had so much interest in my Boot Gloves as in the last few days - indeed they're very effective.)

In the meantime, there's lots to think about:

• While many of us believe competing in GDHL is an effective part of an anti-aging regimen, the Club's computer seems to have felt the need to contribute to the feeling by lowering almost everyone's age by one year.  This has been corrected as best we can.  The usual round of changes from team to individual and vice versa has also been processed.
• ONLINE REGISTRATION WILL CLOSE AT NOON FRIDAY.  We've had a dozen or more people sign up in the last day or so.  Delighted to have you, of course.  Please make sure that others experiencing similar uncertainty do it now.  On Friday afternoon, you may be able to register by contacting Kylie Deacon directly.  I could make it easy for you by putting in a link to her email but I'm going to make it easy for me by suggesting you find it or her phone number on the Club website.  Anyone managing to enroll after that will be wearing a bib in the 120's, which will identify him or her as egregiously tardy, albeit charming and persuasive.

Calcutta 

It's at 6:00 pm on Saturday in the South Lodge.  This will give you time to enjoy the 60th anniversary apres, and Marlene and Julie have considerately arranged a nice storage area (my words, I'm sure it will be comfortable, entertaining and safe) for your children during the event, so bring them along if you wish.  You're welcome to bring other family and friends who aren't GDHL racers, especially new members.

As soon as you arrive:

• Pick up your bib
• Buy a ticket for the raffle - $20 gets you chances to win one of half a dozen or so great ski racing prizes from Squires and Ron Warren Sports or bib 10 or 20 in one of our GDHL races (bibs are transferable but no racer may use more than one each season) - I haven't picked out the prizes yet - if there's something you really want to win, send me an email suggestion :)
• Claim your $25 Squires gift card
• Claim your personalized ski equipment stickers from last season if you haven't picked them up yet

After that:

• Enjoy complimentary tastings of the wares of the Thornbury Village Cider House and Brewery
• Buy drinks at the bar if you want bigger servings
• Chat with Sonya Lee Reimer of Living in Balance and get a card for a free 30 minute massage - more details below
• Watch the slide show provided by Lou Montana, featuring all of his great shots from last year's races - again, more details below
• Listen attentively to welcoming remarks from our Chair, Marlene Jackson

And then, when you thought you couldn't possibly have more fun, Rip and Mary Riopelle will officiate at our famous live auctions, featuring:

• the GDHL teams - remember that team members are entitled to buy an interest (likely either 1/16 or 1/20, depending on team sizes) in their team for that fraction of the selling price - please indicate whether you're in or out on the handy sheet as you leave the stage
• one pair of Dynastar GS Masters skis and one pair of Dynastar FIS SL skis in each case with Look bindings
• a Sweet Protection - "top-of-the-line and no-compromise alpine ski race helmet ... the most advanced race helmet on the market"
• the signature Zermatt camp in September 2018 from our sponsor Pratte International - 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 - I've heard you may have to outbid Jeff Sutherland because he had such an awesome time this year
• two more Pratte camps, which allow you the choice of either the Sun Peaks camp in November 2018 (six days lifts and training only) or the Tremblant camp in December 2018 (five nights double occupancy accommodation and five days lifts and training)

Details, Details, Details

• 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 31 March 2018.  You will probably want to go right away, and keep returning like our esteemed immediate past Chair, but the offer will still be valid after Club Championships if you can wait that long!  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.
• Lou Montana has been engaged as our official photographer this year.  He will be taking pictures of three races during the season.  Images will be posted online, with details to come in the newsletter.  Every GDHL racer will be entitled to one free digital copy of a picture from Lou this year - if you see one you like at the Calcutta then go for it, but Lou will bring a slide show of this season's pictures to the final dinner and you can pick one then, or order online during the season.

And Ski This Weekend Too!

• Nine week programs begin on Saturday and continue on Sunday
• First GDHL race is GS on Big John, Sunday, with inspection at 1215 and start at 1300

See you there and everywhere there's snow!

James Mathers

Important - Review Registration Details

All,

Please review the list here.  It contains details of GDHL registrations in our records as of noon on 2 January.  Please do the following:

• Reply to this email if your name is on the list but details aren't correct, and provide the correct details.
• Contact Kylie Deacon in the race office if you think you registered but can't find your name on the list.
• Register in the members' section of the Club website if you still haven't done so.
• Get your friends and rivals to register if they haven't done so.

The Calcutta is on Saturday at 6 pm in the South Lodge.  Experience tells me that there's no point in trying to finalize things before Friday, but it's no fun doing it on Saturday.  Please don't wait until the last minute, but if you've changed your mind about being on a team, reply to this email and we'll try to make adjustments.  Teams will be filled based on first come, first served, and of course we need to have a nice round number for teams.

Skiing is awesome.  Come out and make some turns!

See you on the hill.  Watch for an email in a couple of days with full Calcutta details.

Cheers,

James Mathers

Merry Christmas From GDHL

I hope that all of you have safely reached your Yuletide destinations and are enjoying a festive family day before turning or returning to the Craigleith slopes, which have been spectacular so far.  I'm just writing to offer a bit of news and a few things to which you can turn your mind in a quiet moment, should one arise.

Your committee had its season opening meeting in October in the halls of the Dynasty Restaurant on Yorkville ("Richmond Hill quality Chinese food conveniently located in the downtown core").  After the usual catching up, during which it was disclosed that one of our members had a better than normal reason for eschewing spirituous beverages, it appeared the time had come to select a new leader.  After the mysterious and sacred process was complete and the smoke cleared, Marlene Jackson was proclaimed Chair for the forthcoming season.  Fortunately, succession isn't dependent on the death of the incumbent, and J-F will remain a member of the committee as past Chair.  Please join me in thanking him for a very significant contribution over the last years, and in again recognizing Mark Reidl, who has stepped down after a much longer tenure as Chair and past Chair. 

No momentous changes are proposed by the Committee, which is to say that they will continue to chase down those who haven't yet enrolled for the coming season.  Please do so pronto.  The new Club website works very nicely in that regard.  Remember that latecomers will not be able to participate on teams if the numbers don't work. 

Also, now that you're back and the Club is in full swing, please return your bib from last season to the race office if you haven't done so - the Club prescribes a $75 charge for those who don't.  And you can claim your personalized set of GDHL stickers to identify your skis, poles and other equipment if you didn't pick it up at last year's closing dinner.

Calcutta is on Saturday, 6 January and the first race is a GS on Big John the following afternoon.  In the meantime, there will be training almost daily and, apparently, many opportunities to gloat over your foresight in stocking up on balaclavas, boot warmers and the like. 

I'll close for the moment by offering a couple of distractions passed along by Glenn Blaylock.  The first is pretty much just ski porn - glorious sunshine and close ups of freshly tuned edges slicing through spring Alpine snow.

The next is more serious.  Watch it to prepare yourself for that awkward Christmas dinner moment when the new boyfriend spills the soup or the drunken uncle spills something else.  It will enable you to deftly turn the conversation to a comparison of the GS runs put down by Marcel Hirscher and Ted Ligety at Beaver Creek, confident in your ability to point out where Marcel gained those tenths after hearing the analysis of Reilly McGlashan, whose own skiing was featured extensively in our last newsletter.

Watch for more GDHL news soon, and check out gdhl.org for the season's schedule (coming very soon).  Happy holidays, and see you at the Club!

James Mathers

Technique From Glenn B

The snow guns were on at the Club on Friday.  The early bird discount on GDHL and training programs ends on 15 November.  With some luck, we might be skiing in three weeks.  Things are starting to get serious! 

Many of you are aware of Glenn Blaylock's completion of his Alpine Canada Performance Level coach training, not to mention his competitive success.  I'm pleased to share Glenn's description of turning technique.  Glenn cites this video as a good example of what we can aspire to.

Here's another video clip of the same skier, showing both front and back views.

Here's Glenn's description of the steps to a successful turn:

• Start with an athletic stance, with your skis shoulder width apart. When making shorter turns, your skis can be closer together to allow more mobility.  (My two cents is that shoulder width seems to be about the width of your foot wider than your normal walking stance.)
• You should feel shin pressure in both boots at all times throughout the turn including the transition to the new ski.
• Start the new turn by flexing and rolling the ankle of the new ski forward in the direction of the new turn.  If you just roll your ankles without this ankle flex, there is a good chance you will be forced backwards.
• Extend the outside leg by pushing your foot against the new outside ski at the top of the new turn.  This action will bend the ski and create centrifugal force.  Focus on applying 100% pressure on the new ski.  While the flexing and rolling of ankles and pushing your foot against the new ski are important parts of the turn, this is really one movement.
• A millisecond after you have started pressuring the new ski, roll the inside knee over and down towards the snow. There is an important sequence here. You need to start the ankle flex first to engage the new ski before rolling the inside knee, otherwise you may fall over.
• Your ski tips need to be nearly level to allow the inside knee to roll over towards the snow.  If your ski tips aren't nearly level, pull back the inside ski as you roll the inside knee. The steeper the hill, the harder you need to pull back the inside ski.
• Both hands need to be in front to allow you to move your core forward over your skis as the skis move under you during the transition. A good pole plant on steeper pitches will help you keep forward.  Don’t let your inside arm fall back.  A good turn is made waist down and ruined waist up.
• Focus on making complete turns when free skiing. On steep pitches, ensure your skis come across the hill under you. Work on breaking the “Escarpment Curse,” which is letting your speed increase down the pitch and recovering by gliding on the flats. This causes many racers to scrub their speed in the second gate off the pitch, as they are not really in control. As a drill, when skiing steeps make complete turns (try a wide slalom turn or tight GS) and maintain consistent speed down the pitch and onto the flats.

There’s a lot here to remember, so when skiing or training try to concentrate on one movement each run.  Of course, what makes skiing so much fun and so challenging, is that execution depends on many factors, including snow conditions, visibility, pitch, speed and equipment.

In this video, Ted Ligety describes how he puts 100% pressure on the outside ski and starts the new turn with his knees.

Here's another video of Reilly McGlashan.  Focus on each component of the turn.

Finally, click here for some video of Edith Rozsa talking about skiing the steeps.  It's a good method of breaking the Escarpment Curse.

Happy mental training, until the Club opens!  Thanks to Glenn.

James Mathers

Countdown Begins

I hope everyone has had a great summer.  With a bit of help from the weather, we could be skiing at Craigleith in eight or nine weeks, so time to start focusing your dryland training and making sure your equipment is organized.  Click here for some dryland training suggestions from S-Media.

Registration is Under Way

I trust you're all aware of the Club's new website, the need to re-enter your credentials to get access to the members' section of the site and the need to sign up for the new Alpine Programs newsletter.  Sign-up for GDHL and adult training programs is also available through the Club's site, and discounted prices continue until 15 November.  However, that doesn't mean that space will remain in the most popular programs, so best to get going ASAP.

Details of the programs are now found by logging into the Members' section of the Club website, then hovering over the Alpine Programs tab in the top line menu and choosing Adult Programs from the drop down menu.  You'll find that GDHL pricing remains unchanged, so it's still an amazing deal for those 35 and under, especially if you register early.  The schedule for the Fast and Female and the Adult Tech programs remains the same as well (0930 to 1130 on either Saturday or Sunday), but you'll see a big change in the Adult Gate Training schedules.  There will now be two sessions on each of Saturday and Sunday, limited to 25 participants per session.  The early sessions will run from 0900 to 1030 and the second sessions will run from 1045 to 1215.  This should allow for a bit less crowding at peak times, and still give racers as much training time as most people used in the past two hour sessions. 

The customary five day Christmas camps from 27 to 31 December continue for all programs, and this year's calendar allows for a four day New Year's camp from 2 until 5 January before the nine week programs begin on 6 January (also the day of the GDHL Calcutta).

So don't delay, enroll today!

Diversions

Here are some bits of video for your entertainment.

First, a short on Lindsey Vonn:

Next, Mikaela Shiffrin in Squaw Valley, a bit longer:

These are part of a series, so you can just keep letting them load and watching if you want to.

Finally, for those of you who haven't switched out of summer mode, some lovely footage of high end bike racing around Lake Como in Italy.  This is the promo.  Following it in the YouTube lineup is likely the highlight package from this year's race.

 Newsletters will be occasional for the next while, but your GDHL committee is beginning its seasonal deliberations.  If you have suggestions or would like to volunteer, send us a note by clicking here.

Best,

James Mathers

Stand Easy

When I started to compose this message, "ski twin tips if you got 'em" was the appropriate follow-up to "stand easy" after our competition season was complete.  (See bib 89 enjoying some extra-provincial turns below.)  Now, it's more about riding and other dryland.  Still, there are a few reminders:

• Some bibs remain outstanding.  Twenty-something women are disproportionately represented among the laggards.  Please drop them (i.e. the bibs, not the young women) off in the race office (sometime before next Christmas).
• If you didn't get your personalized GDHL equipment ID stickers at the closing dinner, you can claim them in the race office.

Still winter in some places!

Results

The Club Championships took place in glorious sunshine and firm conditions.  Results can be found on the Archive part of the Results tab at gdhl.org here.  Alec Libert, Phil Ruffolo and Taylor Simms-Brown were the overall podium placers in men's GS, and Alec, TSB and Keith Farnand occupied the SL podium.  Sarah Latimer, Kate Veer and Rya Prozes led the women's overall GS and the order was reversed in SL.  Alec and Sarah were overall Club champions, while Jeff Sutherland and Daina Dunlop were champions in the more senior category.

The SL portion of the Club Champs also represented the final GDHL race of the season, and proved critical in several respects.  Alec Libert, Keith Farnand and Phil Ruffolo took the first three GDHL places overall, but were followed by Jeff Sutherland, Allan LaChance and Glenn Blaylock, who took advantage of early bibs under the Club Champs starting order to post their best GDHL results in a while (or ever in Glenn's case).  Jeff's finish enabled him to improve his season's standing by 11 points and edge out Dave Raymond for the GDHL over-50 title by just two points.  Allan improved his season's standing by 10 points, and saw his team claim third place in the standings by just six.  Other solid improvements on rankings among the men were posted by Max Rosenfeld, Randy Dalton, Chris Fregren, Alistair Athey, Jamie Coulter, Ron Statler, Duncan McEachran, Steve Gailits, Roger Chiu, Vern Gomes, Steve Power and Murray Sarafinchin.  

On the women's side, Kate Veer entered the race needing to finish at least 32nd and beat Sarah Latimer in order to overtake Sarah for the overall women's championship.  Rya Prozes was the first woman in the race, finishing 27th overall.  Kate beat Sarah, who was disadvantaged by a late bib, but Kate finished 34th, enabling Sarah to retain a one point edge in the final standings.  Janeva Healey capped off a good day at the Club Champs, jumping from 96th ranking to finish 60th.

Lou Montana has provided another great gallery of pics from the SL.  Find it here.  Lou didn't shoot the GS, as he was busy racing for his own account.  Some examples follow: 

Jeff Sutherland finished 4th.

Allan LaChance was 5th.

And Glenn Blaylock was 6th.  Ask him about 100% on the outside ski and getting the inside knee out of the way.

So what about the team results you say?  As mentioned above, team Sous Bois took third place by only six points ahead of Vortex and seven points over E.D.  Sous Bois won $2088 or $104 for each of the participating team members.  Overall victory went to team Cornice, which featured a balanced group of over-achievers and finished 19 points clear of Manitou.  Cornice won $5220 ($261 per and an extra $2610 for enthusiastic owner Bob Callow), while Manitou won $3132 ($157 per racer).  Both Manitou and Sous Bois were owned by the Team Futures consortium, led by David Allen.  Proceeds were credited to Club accounts last month.

GDHL team competition doesn't end at the finish corral!  Boat races at the closing dinner.

Sponsors

The support of our sponsors supplements our other GDHL revenue.  Apart from helping us supply swag to participants from time to time, it allows us to support other projects.   Among other things, in the past year, we've purchased gates and other equipment for use in the adult race training programs, paid to upgrade the live timing feed so that it shows best of two results, upgraded the data base software that keeps track of our race results and sponsored the construction of the interclub website and database.  It's been a good investment - we haven't lost an interclub race since we moved to the new system :)

I've recognized four of our sponsors earlier this year, and want now to acknowledge two more.  Ron Warren is our local rep for Dynastar skis, Lange boots, Sweet helmets, Reusch gloves and much more.  He is a long time Craigleith member, husband of Jenn Warren, who was recently recognized as one of Alpine Canada's coaches of the year and a long time volunteer leader in the provincial skiing organization.  Squire Johns is perhaps the backbone of our sponsorship arrangements for GDHL and other parts of the Club.  For GDHL, they work closely with Ron in supplying Calcutta auction items and giveaways.  Be sure to use your Squires gift cards wisely, and if you didn't do so during the ski season, they're good for bikes, barbeques and more during the summer.   

Enjoy the summer.  Work on your dryland and imagine those great turns next season!  See you soon.

James Mathers  

Race Time, Dinner Time and Trophy Time

A big Saturday for the Interclub team to look back on, and a big Saturday for everyone to look forward to!

• Club championships are on Saturday.  GS on Big John at 10:00, one run only.  SL on Comet at 1:00, with a second run available for GDHL racers only if conditions allow, as this will be race 7 of the GDHL.  Pick up your bibs in the South Lodge loft Saturday morning early.
• Adult gate training will be a dual SL on Sunday at 9:30.  Keep your heads up for details of other offerings in our race training world.
• The GDHL awards dinner is Saturday at 7:30 in the Base Lodge.  All welcome, $35 a ticket and only $25 for those 35 and under.  This includes a cocktail on arrival, appetizers and dinner.  Live entertainment and the always popular bring your own wine and pay a corkage fee, plus distribution of the snappy stickers for your stuff.  Tickets must be purchased right away on the member's section of the Club website or by contacting the front desk of the Club.  Sales will be closed before the event.
• Many of you haven't yet returned your GDHL bibs, which aren't needed for the Club Champs.  Drop them off at the race office please.  So far, the 90's have the highest return rate of any group of ten.  Only Greg Cavers hasn't returned his.  A broken neck is worth a couple of weeks' grace, but most would conclude that just bringing the bib back will be less stressful.  Fortunately, Greg is recovering well and will no doubt have his bib back soon.

Interclub Champs

Craigleith came up big for Saturday's home final race despite missing Greg and some other reliable contributors.  The team took 7 of the first 10 places overall, led by Alec Libert and Phil Ruffolo.  Anne Mathers, Mary Riopelle, Daina Dunlop, Kate Veer, Allan LaChance, Jeff Sutherland, Chris Shipton and Keith Farnand all joined Alec in winning their age groups, with Chris's win giving him the men's MVP award as the highest scorer of the day.  The usual juggernaut of Sutherland, Winstone, Shibley, Craig and Latimer took five of the top six places in the men's 55 to 59 category, while Doug Deeks, Chris Fregren and Rob Burnes each contributed at least 25 points.  The end result was a 32 point margin over the Peaks and Craigleith's six straight season's title, tying the Peaks for the longest winning streak in league history.

The winners!

Get those dinner tickets now and see you Saturday!

James Mathers

Crunch Time!

Unfortunately the snow may be a bit less than crisp this weekend, but it's time to bear down and make a big finish on several fronts.  Here are the opportunities in sight:

Schedule

• No GDHL race this weekend, but the Interclub finals are on Saturday afternoon - GS on Big John - Craigleith seeks a record-tying sixth straight victory.
• Unfortunately details of training haven't yet reached me.  As it's men's day at the Club Friday, best check with Laurel about training possibilities if you seek a more contemplative environment.  Saturday and Sunday programs will run at the usual times.  Watch for Natalie's newsletter to get details.  
• Club championship races are a week Saturday - one run GS in the morning on Big John and SL in the afternoon on Comet.  The SL will also be our final GDHL race, and will offer a second run for GDHL racers only.  GDHL racers and all other participants in race training programs are automatically registered for the Club champs.  Others should sign up on the lists near the race office.
• The final GDHL dinner is also a week Saturday.  Details below.
• The Nik Zoricic Foundation's annual Ski4Nik race and after party will be held at the Club on Saturday 11 March.  This year features the traditional endurance race from dawn until noon and dual slalom after lunch.  Details and registration here.
• The Peaks Super G and the Provincial Masters races will be held at the Peaks on Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10 - 12 March.  Details here.

Results

Another challenging day for surface preparation Sunday on Big John.  As it turned out, about 95% of the surface was in great shape, but the rest featured crevasses and craters.  As has become customary, Alec and Phil fought it out for first.  Phil had the upper hand after run 1 for a change, but Alec took the second run convincingly in the fastest time of the day.  Scott McLorie, Keith Farnand and Andrew Athey followed.  Richard Usher-Jones took advantage of bib 20 to record a career-best 6th, while Stephen Kurtz was 7th and Max Rosenfeld was 9th, all with jumps from 20-something rankings.  David Henderson continued to show a steep learning curve in his inaugural competitive season.  David professes never to have raced before this year, which he convincingly demonstrated in his first slalom training session, by enthusiastically cross-blocking gates that had been upended for removal.  Sunday he reached 14th place, just edging out Rob Burnes, who was followed Brook Dyson, Glenn Blaylock, Jerry Patten and Brad McMullen among the bigger gainers in the upper middle class.  Alison Banfield, Kate Veer and Sarah Latimer were the first three women, separately by only 0.03 seconds in 31st through 33rd overall.  Duncan McEachran, Brad Sproule, Josh Kester, Roger Chiu, Steve Gailits, Janeva Healey, Dave MacDonald and Heather Andrew were among the other standout improvers.  Times for the forerunners were #1 - 36.00, #2 - 35.94, #3 - 35.72, #4 - 37.18 and #5 - 35.60.  Not sure who was whom, but all pretty quick and I'm informed that at least one of them kept his Cool and soundly trounced his proud father.

David Henderson, in his newly acquired race suit, is a leading candidate for rookie of the year and the Squire John's award for retail enthusiasm.

Lou Montana has kindly provided an even bigger album of photos from the GS.  Find them here.  Samples below:

Phil led the first run, but is still seeking his first GDHL victory.

Sarah was a few hundies away from the women's lead on Sunday, but is still in first place overall.

Meanwhile, it's been a busy season for Sandy and the slippers!

If you didn't return your bib at the end of Sunday's race, please drop it off in the race office as soon as you can.  The snappy name stickers for your equipment have already arrived, but will be held back from those who haven't turned in their bibs.

An Evening With the GDHL

Our final social event of the season takes place at 7:30 pm on Saturday, 4 March in the Base Lodge.  Tickets are $35 each (this reflects a bit of a subsidy from your committee) or $25 each for those 35 and under.  Attendance isn't limited to GDHL racers - all those looking for an elegant evening in sophisticated company are welcome.  The price includes a cocktail on arrival, appetizers and dinner, with live music.  If all goes according to plan, the final scoring for the season will be done live too.  Alec and Phil have clinched the top two spots in the men's overall, but Keith Farnand, Scott McLorie and Duff Isberg all have a shot at third place.  On the women's side, Sarah Latimer leads Alison Banfield, with Kate Veer in third.  Kate, however, is presently counting a 53rd place finish and if she can come close to duplicating her 14th place finish in SL on Comet from earlier this year, Sarah will need more than her consistent 30ish finish to hold Kate off.  On the team side, Cornice has only a 20 point lead, but could add to it with better attendance and there are four teams within 42 points of third place money.

Tickets are available through the member's section of the Club website, if not now then very soon, or through the front desk at the Club.  Please book pronto, as we will have to close off sales before the day of, to ensure that the caterer has time to organize. 

See you Saturday - go Craigleith!

James Mathers

Into the Home Stretch

Distressingly, the clock is already winding down on our racing schedule.  This weekend sees our second last GDHL race, but it's a busy long weekend.

Schedule

• Friday offers two options.  Regular Friday training will be GS on Millennium at 9:30 and 1:00.  Alternately, the Track 3 Ski Day offers GS training in the morning and a two run race in the afternoon, along with many opportunities for sluicing, browsing and socializing.  Tickets available here (last week's link was out of date).
• Adult gate training will be GS at 9:30 on each of Saturday and Sunday on Birches
• Fast & Female and Adult Tech will be on Buttonhole Saturday and Sunday at 9:30
• GDHL is GS on Big John at 1:00 on Sunday, with inspection at 12:15.
• Special makeup day for Adult gate training is SL on Millennium, Monday at 9:30 and 1:00

It's looking like a warm weekend, so please co-operate with slipping the course, both during and after training.

Results

Sunday's sticky surface made the long slalom live up to its name, as only nine racers broke 60 seconds, compared to 41 last year.  (Not quite up to the Partridge slalom though, which would see 15 times over 90 seconds.)  It was shortest, by a long way, for Alec Libert, who won the first run by over three seconds, then was one of the few who improved on his first run, while his closest rivals didn't start.  Phil Ruffolo, Keith Farnand, Andrew Athey and Scott McLorie had the rest of the top five spots.  Like Keith, Max Rosenfeld is a tween-aged returnee to racing.  His 11th place on Sunday from his 23rd ranking was his best result of his inaugural GDHL season and he was followed by J-F Courville, who continued his strong slalom results.  Other big gainers towards the top of the table were Ross Kappele, Rob Burnes, Alistair Athey and Jamie Coulter, who took full advantage of bib 10 to finish a career best 22nd from 60th ranking.  Rya Prozes recorded her first GDHL victory in the women's standings, finishing 26th overall, followed by Sarah Latimer (beating Ian on best of but not combined) and Ali Banfield.  Other strong improvements on rankings were posted by Mark Shillum, Steve Jarvis, Ron Statler, Alec Innes,  Mark Reidl, Paul McCool, Mary Riopelle, Steve Gailits and Brian Holland.  Full results at gdhl.org.

Diversions

Some video from the FIS site with highlights of the men's World Championship downhill, in which Erik Guay won his second medal of the week.

In the same stream of videos is an interview in a gym between Mike Janyk and Mitch Gagnon, in which the latter displays the leg muscles one needs to succeed at the world level.

Other Things For Your Consideration

• The link for Lou Montana's Super G album didn't load properly in last week's newsletter.  Here's the proper one.  If you haven't noticed, all newsletters are available on gdhl.org, and the link was fixed there in fairly short order last week.
• If you have friends contemplating joining GDHL next year, encourage them to race in this year's Club Championships, on 4 March.  It will give them a taste of what we do every week, and give the rankings committee some reliable data.  GDHL racers and those in adult race training programs are automatically registered for the Club Champs.  Others should look for a sign up sheet in the vicinity of the race office.
• A couple of lost and found reports have reached me.  If you're in a medium size of the original black Karbon GDHL jacket (with Canada on the back) as of the end of the Super G and should be in a large with a hood, see Al LaChance.  If you have a pair of 125 cm Leki poles with aero shafts and slalom guards and should have a pair of 130 cm poles with round shafts after Sunday's race, see Ian Latimer.  With a view to reducing the incidence of these events, your committee is arranging a year end distribution of stickers for your equipment.  We expect to have them for the closing social event on 4 March.  Sample below.

Ten for every GDHL racer (with your own name)

Sponsors

I'm happy to profile two more of our sponsors.  

Budget Propane offers residential, cottage and commercial propane service throughout central Ontario, with numerous delivery and payment options to suit your needs.   Budget Propane is a leading supplier of propane fuel across Central Ontario, including Huntsville, Parry Sound, Orillia, Bala, Bracebridge, Gravenhurst,  Muskoka, Midland, Barrie, Alliston, Collingwood, Orangeville, Uxbridge and all the communities in between.  Budget Propane is owned and operated by the Callow family, who are huge supporters and participants in Craigleith racing programs at many levels.

Pratte International is owned by Michel Pratte.  Michel is a former member and coach of the Canadian national ski team and for over 20 years has been offering off-season and pre-season camps for adult and junior racers, as well as ski improvement, now held in Whistler, Zermatt, Colorado, Sun Peaks and Mt. Tremblant.  At the camps, Michel works frequently with Matt Kerr, also a former national team coach and a video guru, and has worked with Jacques Reid of the Craigleith coaching staff.  The camps are notable for great locations and course-setting, insightful coaching and video analysis and a great off-snow atmosphere.  GDHL competitors have been attending Michel's camps for several years and sought out Michel's sponsorship so that others may be more aware of the opportunities that they offer.

Michel has offered the GDHL discounts on places at his Zermatt, Sun Peaks and Tremblant camps that are auctioned at the annual Calcutta and the net proceeds go to the GDHL. 

And don't forget to contact Sonya Lee Reimer to redeem the coupon for a free half hour massage that attentive attendees of the Calcutta will have obtained.  You can reach her via sonya@livinginbalance.ca to book an appointment.

Enough for now.  See you on snow!

James Mathers

What a Saturday!

Super G and Interclub successes at the same time and excitement in combining them.  Details below but first, no schedule changes (for a change) but schedules nonetheless:

This Weekend's Schedule

• GDHL Long Slalom starts at the top of Millennium, then runs down Venture - Sunday at 1:00, inspection at 12:15
• No Interclub until the finals at Craigleith on Saturday the 25th
• Friday training is SL morning and afternoon on Birches
• Saturday and Sunday Adult Gates will be SL on Millennium
• Adult Tech and Fast & Female will be on Buttonhole at 9:30 Saturday and Sunday
• Save the date for the GDHL closing dinner on Saturday 4 March - details will follow soon

Results

Saturday saw the first-ever GDHL Super G on Landslide, although in many ways it was the historic Partridge course with a bigger pitch in the middle.  Pictured below are four of the five forerunners, Paralympian Erin Latimer, Danielle Kinsie, Carrie Lenauskas (aka Lenoskis) and Glenn Kilmer.  The fifth forerunner, Morgan Rubes, was busy concentrating on the task at hand, to good effect it seems, as his time of 47.71 would have placed fifth in the actual race.

The course itself featured some features in the first few gates, which enabled the thrill seekers and the unwary to get some early air.  Access to a right foot turn at the top of the pitch was assisted by the natural bank on skier's right, which fed into an icy crossing of the course that drew great attention during inspection but proved to be quite manageable.  One return crossing and then it was a question of conserving speed and navigating a final feature to the finish line.  Greg Cavers, Scott McLorie, Phil Ruffolo and Alec Libert were the earlyish pace setters, getting a somewhat advanced start before departing to the Interclub race and eventually finishing 5, 6, 4 and 3.  In the end, Alec suffered his first GDHL defeat of the year as the more "mollig" (well rounded) rivals Keith Farnand and ultimately Duff Isberg prevailed.  Duff apparently didn't break out of the bullet for the entire run, despite recovering from three fractured ribs, a concussion and a separated shoulder (according to his mother) that resulted from his first race finish line crash.  Thomas Squires (8th from 25th rank), Stephen Kurtz (10th from 22) and Brad McMullen (14th from 40) were the gainers in the upper echelon.  There were 16 finishers with 50 point something times, starting with JF Courville at 50 flat and ending with Alistair Athey who had a pair of 50.99's.  Sarah Latimer, Mary Riopelle and Erin Kaufman were the first three women.

Morgan Rubes has again compiled a video record of the event with his goggle cam.  See below.

And Lou Montana has kindly provided an almost complete collection of pics of the field on the Landslide pitch.  Find them here, and samples below.  

Alec Libert

Duff Isberg

As an aside, since we've now completed four races, the GDHL database is calculating standings using the year end adjustments for racers who don't have four scores.  They get the average of their other scores, less 10 points, for each missing race.  As a result, Duff Isberg, who has a third, two DNS's and a first, has 220 points for his two finishes (110 average) and gets 100 points for each of his two DNS's, giving him a current score of 420.  By finishing two of the remaining three races, he'll be able to eliminate the 10 point penalties and maybe pick up some extra points by winning another couple of racesl

A contingent of GDHLers left the Super G early to skate or otherwise get to Alpine for the final regular season Interclub race as Craigleith sought to clinch the cumulative points regular season title.  Some serious recruiting in the face of the scheduling conflict saw nine members of the Craigleith roster making their season and in some cases career debut at Interclub.  Despite two women being kept in the metropolis by gainful employment, leaving the team one short of a full complement, Craigleith scored a season high 434 points, winning by 36 over the hosts and distancing their closest rivals from the Peaks, who didn't put the same enthusiasm into overcoming their own conflict.  Anne Mathers, Rya Prozes and Patti East all won their age groups, while among the men Bebe Zoricic, Chris Shipton, Taylor Simms-Brown and Alec Libert won theirs and Alec claimed the overall victory as well.  More significantly, Allan LaChance scored 29 points, Greg Cavers and Doug Deeks followed Chris Shipton's 30 with 29 and 28 in the same age group, Craig Shibley and Dave Raymond scored 26 each, Chris Fregren added 25 and there were enough other bright spots that we didn't count some 23 point scorers.  Full results are here and an explanation of the scoring system is here in case you're a bit mystified.  Special mention for enthusiasm is due to Phil Ruffolo, who not only skated over to Alpine with others, but made an extra round trip after the first run at Alpine when the skis he'd borrowed weren't performing as he wished and his reliable regulars were back at Craigleith.  His efforts were rewarded with a second run improvement of over a second.

Other Events

Don't forget the Craigleith Hoedown on Saturday evening.  Last I heard, tickets were still available through the members' section of the Club website.

Then, returning to the subject of Duff's mother, Margaret is again organizing the Track 3 ski day on Friday, 17 February.  

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 those 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

Tickets are available at http://www.track3.org/events/familyfriends2016.aspx.

Other Competition

Erik Guay has become the oldest ever world champion, winning the Super G at St. Moritz.  Video is below.  This is Erik's second world championship, as he won the downhill worlds six years ago.  Sadly, I remember that was also the day that our friend and coach Greg (Sumo) Lee suffered his ultimately fatal stroke while enjoying Saturday lunch on a sunny deck at the Club.  So I hope that everyone has been well today, and that we'll have another sunny Saturday to remember our friend.

See you on the weekend!

James Mathers