Announcements
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Racing notes from DH race
Racing to race, not skiing to finish: Parents, I very much understand not wanting to travel several hours each weekend to watch your athlete DNF, but falls and missed gates are simply part of ski racing. The best ski racers will ski out and/or crash from time to time (sometimes just a few gates from the finish) because they are charging down the hill and racing for a good result. The best time to practice this is in the first 2-3 runs at training-treat them like race runs. After that, it’s time to dial the aggression back and work on some technique/tactics. Paying attention during inspection (especially at races) and…
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Thanks to Wilmot DH families!
Outstanding volunteer work over the weekend! I have heard from multiple teams that we stepped up and were noticed. This was the first time a WIJARA race was held at a non-member team resort. It was so great to see so many willing Wilmot volunteers as I skated to the lift just after 6am each morning before sunrise. You all knocked it out of the park – thanks again – we have a special group! Oh, and the kids showed some nice results as well as we sit 3rd on the season standings with one race weekend remaining. The most common question coaches get. Is of course, what does my…
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Video review and tuning at DH
We will show video of Saturday races at the pizza party. And back by very popular demand: Bring your bench and tuning gear. We will tune skis! Well, that was the royal “we”… YOU will tune skis and your teammates and coaches will help teach you. New families should plan to bring skis and have a coach take a look at your gear. For more individual video review and movement analysis, please download your still photos – all of them, and your videos from our google drive. Coaches will review these with parents and racers upon request on your phone or iPad. Race day details coming soon. Ski fast! -Coach…
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Devil’s Head Race Info & Volunteering
Info has been posted in the calendar under the Devils Head race – final start orders, fact sheet, hotel info. We will send more info on race day procedures shortly. We only have a handful of our 80 racer families who have selected a volunteer job other than gatekeeping. This must be done now! https://signup.com/go/JFVMqVK North Wall is U14 and olderPtarmigan is U12 and younger Also note: these are not the actual names of the runs at Devils Head. These are Cascade runs from last year, so it is a little confusing. We will all help cleaning up and taking down the courses and arena at the end of the…
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Slipping/Inspection
Team, this will be the FINAL communication regarding slipping and inspection runs during practice. Just as you would not race without an inspection run, racers must also not train without a slip/inspection run. If an athlete is late, it is THEIR RESPONSIBILITY to take a slip run or inspect from the side of training has already started. Inspecting from the lift is not acceptable. We understand that this may have been unclear to newer athletes, but athletes that have been on the team should know that this is the standard. Moving forward, coaches notice that an athlete takes a training run without slipping/inspecting prior will be asked to do inspection…
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MUST RSVP for weekend
This weekend 2/4, 2/5: We have 3 races at different WI and MI travel destinations plus scheduled training at home. We need EVERYONE on Team Snap to select one of these events so we can balance our coaching staff. I also think some of you have a valid point in that we still have a few team members who are NOT on TeamSnap or are on here but have not downloaded the app and do not stay up to date. Thanks Chris Carrier and several others for pointing this out. Again, for 2/4 and 2/5: EVERYONE needs to RSVP for one of our 4 events. If you are not planning…
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Helmets and Training
We had a number of “illegal” race helmets today during SL training. While surprising that it is nearly February and we still have racers with improper race gear, we did allow smaller athletes to train the smaller SL training courses with soft sided helmets. For GS, racers will not be allowed on course with soft sided or SL helmets. No exceptions. This is a safety issue. Also a reminder to remove chin bars (and pole guards) for GS. Racers meet coaches at the big tree promptly at 9:30am. Coaches absolutely notice when racers hide or disappear during morning skills and drills and show up only for gates. Skills and drills…
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Slipping and Course Inspection
A couple of notes in slipping/course inspection during practice: When coaches instruct athletes to “slip” the course at the beginning of practice or after a reset, the athletes should also be inspecting the race course on their own. This is not a time to just ski the course slowly, but to look at the course and push away any soft or loose snow to improve the surface for racing. This should be done slowly, and nobody should be skipping gates or neglecting the last few gates of the course. As coaches, we have been noticing that many athletes are not paying attention the course at this time, but simply going…
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WIJARA Devil’s Head Race
Please review this race on the schedule section We have updated the details to include the volunteer sign up link. We are co-hosting this race. All of our parents must sign up for a volunteer job. If you do not sign up for a job, I will assign you one. Please note: this is the same sign up we used last year at Cascade so the names of the ski runs are those from Cascade just to save time. I will also be sending messages to families who have not yet attended a race weekend. As there are only two WIJARA races left, racers who have not yet attended a…
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Sundown Race Info
It looks like we have over 60 racers attending. Final start orders will be out today. We will be the first inspection group at 8am. Both courses meet at the same start shack at the top. U8/10/12 are on skiers right of the shack. U14/16/18/20 are on skiers left of the start shack. Sundown is another “upside down” resort where parking and the chalet are at the top. The lodge is small so it’s best to arrive early and boot up at the car and walk directly to the start. Lift tickets are in the Mountain Center and can be picked up Fri night or at 7am Sat morning. If…