Mt Baldy Ski Team Season is Here

Hello All Racers and Parents;

The ski season is finally here and hopefully you all are geared up and ready to start training on snow. As stated previously we are starting our training on Sunday January 4th at 9:30am. Meet at the usual place between the Lodge and the Snow Sports Centre.
Just to update you on the tentative racing schedule for the year, we have our Okanagan Zone (South) race at Mt Baldy on January 31st. The Okanagan Finals are at Apex this year on March 7th and 8th. We'll also be trying to put together another Baldy Cup Challenge race with some of the other Southern teams and we'll update you as the information becomes available.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and we'll see you on the hill.

2008-2009 Season Is Around The Corner

Hello Parents, Racers and Skiers alike:
Well, the weather is starting to turn and racers are getting outfitted for the coming year. Hopefully everyone is keen to start racing again. We certainly had a successful season last year and our team should be just as strong this year.

Dates & Info for this year:
Start date: January 4th
Payment due date: January 4th
Price: $250

For parents still outfitting their racers what follows is recommended ski lengths by weight for E1 and E2 racers and a rough boot fitting guide. Remember to purchase good junior racing equipment because we don't want to hold back our racers full potential with poor equipment.


E1 Ages 6,7,8
weight 40-50 lbs ski size 100-110 cm
50-60 lbs 110-120cm
60-70 lbs 120 cm

E2 Ages 9,10
weight 60-70 lbs, ski size 120 cm
70-80 lbs 125-130 cm
80-90 lbs 130-140 cm

Boot fitting guide
Skier to try boots on without liner and push toes to front. There should be 1.5 to 2 finger distance between heel and liner maximum and err on the small side
With liners back together, boots on and done up skier should be able to easily flex forward in room temperature conditions
Boot cuffs shouldn't be too big. If the skier needs the upper cuff done up to max then the boot cuff is too big
Have the coach check your racer's boots if unsure of fit

Nancy Greene Wind-Up

Sunday March 23rd was our Nancy Green Wind-up day with a dual slalom against the parents and the lunch put on by Mt Baldy. The racing action was fast and furious with the kids determined to beat all the parents, not just their own. There was even some races against grandparents who were shown no mercy by the kids. The lunch was excellent and hats off to the Mt Baldy kitchen staff for the excellent food.

The snowstars certificates were then given out. These show the kids where they are on the snowstars scale of 1 to 7. Following that we gave out the most improved trophy for 2008. That went to Will Foster for his impressive skill development this year.

Once again thanks to all the parents for their support. Thanks to Mark Weigeldt, Maxine Davison and Warren Everton for all their hard work coaching this year. Also thanks to Annika Everton for all her organization efforts. In the meantime please spread the word about our great racing program hear at Mt Baldy. See you next season!

K1 Provincials - Grouse & Cypress Vancouver

March 15, 16 and 17th marked the K1 provincial finals in Vancouver. Madeleine and Silken were racing in the Slalom, Kombi and GS events along with 185 athletes from around the province. Madeleine's best finish was a 27th in the stubby slalom which was a great result for her first year in K1. The top twenty was dominated by the 2nd year K1s and amongst the 11 year olds she was 5th. In the Kombi and GS she posted a 48th and 56th. Silken had some great runs in Kombi and GS with a top placing of 4th in Kombi as well as a 4th in GS. She was ranked the number one K1 female in the Okanagan zone going into the provincials and should stay there with these results. Next up for the girls is the Okanagan zone finals at Apex March 29th and 30th. As well, we'll have Sebastien Larivee racing with other 10 year old E2s in this final k1 race. E2s are invited to this race to give them a taste of what K1 will be like next year.

After the Okanagan Finals Silken will be heading off to the Whistler Cup which hosts the best K1 and K2 racers from around the world. It should be another exciting race series. Good luck to Silken and good luck to the Canadian team which won the event last year for the first time in 15 years.

Okanagan Zone Nancy Greene Finals

Well the little squad that could, did it again! Mt. Baldy's E1 black* team took the silver medal at the Okanagan Finals at Big White over the weekend. There were a hundred and seventy racers from Sun Peaks, Harper Mtn, Revelstoke, Silver Star, Big White, Apex and Mt Baldy. It was great race on the lower Paradise that challenged the kids with some steepness and icy turns. The only team that finished ahead of ours was Silver Star's best team. There were more successes for the Baldy squad through the weekend starting with our blue team finishing in seventh place.
On Sunday it was the E2s turn with Mt Baldy fielding three racers including Ella Pasin, Foster Kane and Sebastian Larivee. The field was 115 strong this time but our team still managed to do quite well. In the nine year old girls category Ella was 20th. In the ten year old boys category Sebastian cracked the top ten taking the tenth place medal with Foster following in 18th.
Congratulations to all the kids! Not only did they perform but they were the sharpest dressed on the mountain with their new team vests.

We will have some professionally taken pictures posted later in the week. Stay tuned.

*(Black - highest skill level, Blue - mid level, Green - beginning level)

Mt. Baldy is not resting on it's success just yet. We are off to the Provincial K1 (11 & 12 yr olds) championships at Grouse Mtn and Cypress Bowl in Vancouver this weekend. Racing starts Saturday with slalom, then turns to the kombi event on Sunday, finishing with the GS on Monday. After that we have Apex coming to Baldy to train on Friday March 21st. We are hoping to use the lower shaft for some GS and Slalom training. Then the Okanagan K1 series wraps up with the finals at Apex on the 29th and 30th. Our E2s are invited to that race to give them an early taste of what K1 will be like next year. It should be another fun and exciting weekend.

Ski Club Update

Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks for the ski club. After our big Baldy Cup win the K level kids had a race at Revelstoke on the 15th and 16th. It was an awesome weekend for Silken with two firsts and a fourth in the three GS events. Madeleine had a crash in the first race but did well in the second placing 13th. The revelstoke club did a wonderful job of putting on the event and built lots of fun into the weekend with an after race social gathering on Saturday. The mountain itself is very impressive with the expansion of terrain giving it almost 5000 feet of vertical. A few parents were able to break away from the race action to sample a few runs on the upper mountain. Everyone was very impressed.

The schedule remained busy for Silken for the following week Feb 22-24th. She was part of a select group of kids from the Okanagan to race at the BC Winter Games in Kimberly. Some of the highlights for her were an 8th in GS and 6th in Kombi. The kids from the Okanagan really dominated which helped put the Thompson-Okanagan zone over the top for the overall win.

In the meantime the Nancy Greene kids have been training hard for the upcoming Okanagan finals at Big White on March 8-9th. The kids are very determined this year and have shown it in the results so far. Training is set again for this sunday at 9:30 am as usual. Any parents wanting to help out with course setting can meet out on the Face at 8:45 am.

More details to follow on meeting times for the Big White race and also for the wind-up festivities. It looks like we'll have our wind-up on either March 22nd or 23rd. We are planning to have a parents against the kids race and a lunch in the lounge.

Baldy Cup Mountain Challenge Race

Well, it's official. The Baldy Cup has returned to its riteful owners and it did so in a big way. Our team racked up an impressive set of medals to pull in front of Apex, Phoenix and Sitzmark to reclaim the coveted trophy. Way to go kids!

Our medal total included, in the five year old category, Adam Koczij with gold and Yolanda Fenwick-Wilson winning silver. In the six year old girls category Agatka Koczij won gold and in the boys Mitchell Townsend took gold with Daniel Everton in the silver position. For the seven year old category Mia McBryde won gold in the girls group with Nils Rauhala winning gold and Samuel Foy in fourth for the boys. In the eight year old category we had Jessica Schoyen with gold for the girls and a Baldy sweep of the podium in the boys. This included Nicholas Everton winning gold, Will Kane in the silver position, Nathaniel Larivee in bronze, Ben Myers in fourth and Jack Fenwick-Wilson in sixth. In the nine year old girls group Ella Pasin won bronze. In the ten year old boys group we had Jake Townsend in the silver medal position, Sebastian Larivee in bronze and Foster Kane in fourth. In the last two groups we had Madeleine Everton winning gold in the eleven year old category and Silken Rauhala winning gold in the twelve to fifteen year old category

Nancy Greene Race #1 Apex

Great results for Mt. Baldy at the Apex Nancy Greene race February 2nd. Our E1 blue team (Agatka, Mia, Daniel, Mitchell, Jack and Adam) took the gold in the blue event and our E1 black team (Jessica, Nathaniel, Ben, Nicholas, Will and Nils) took the silver in the black event. Way to go E1s!

Our E2s also did quite well considering the depth of the Big White and Apex teams. Ella Pasin placed sixth in the E2 9 yr old girls category. In the 10 year old boys category Jake Towsend was 6th, Sebastian Larivee 7th and Foster Kane was 10th. Check out the link to the left for great shots of the race.

Next up for the Mt Baldy race team is our Club Challenge Baldy Cup Race this Saturday, Feb 9th at 9 am. Check the race schedule in the earlier post below.

Mt Baldy Training for NG Race No.1

January 27th was a great day of training for the Nancy Greene kids. We trained dual slalom in the early part of the day and switched to singel GS near the end of the day. All the kids were really pumped and worked hard on their techniques. This coach feels that we have a very strong team that should do well next weekend at Apex.

For the Apex race, meet at the Apex Ski Club Cabin left of the T-bar at 8:45 am. We are putting together two teams for the E1 race and the E2s will race individually following the E1 race.
See the following link for the official race notice...
http://bcalpine.com/dyndata/calendarfiles/389.pdf

Big White K Level Slalom

January 19th and 20th K level slalom at Big White was a success for Mt. Baldy. Madeleine Everton placed 11th in the first race and 17th in the second. Silken Rauhala placed 4th in the first race and 5th in the second. It was a very well run race by Big White and the coaching staff was gracious enough to let our team train with them on Friday befor the races. The attached picture is Madeleine in the 1st stubbie slalom course on Jan 19th.

Nancy Greene Training

Well, the first two training days are complete in the Nancy Greene Racing season. Mt Baldy has been very supportive, giving us the Face run to use for gate setting. Coaches Warren, Maxine and Mark have been impressed with the level of skiing with this year's athletes. It looks like Mt Baldy has a team to be reckoned with. Parents have been great supporting the program each week. Thanks to parent volunteers for all your time and effort.
Just a reminder that fees are due and the first race in on February second at Apex. Our club challenge race will not be held January 27. We are now trying to arrange it for February 9th.