Seasons
News and Announcements
January 2021 Update
Here we are end of January and, all things considered, we are having a solid season thus far! Our holiday camps were well attended, and the skiing has been excellent vs. a year ago. The report from the coaches and what I have witnessed myself on the mountain, we are seeing tremendous development at all levels both free skiing and gate training. There certainly has been no shortage of free skiing which goes a long way in promoting excellence in our fundamentals. Great skiers become great racers!
I want to say a big thank you again to WB for providing the new snow making equipment towards the finish. It has been a great improvement and Dale is working closely with grooming and the snow making crew to create some of the best training conditions we have seen in years. Thanks Dale!!
We have had a new member zoom call and ski around which were well attended. Thanks to Carmine Boskovich for organizing this. These events were a big success and a great opportunity for member engagement in these COVID-challenged times. We plan on hosting these new member ski arounds several times, along with a Level One Officials Zoom Course, over the next 4-6 weeks. Keep your eye out for more details to come!
Event Update
As everyone understands, our scheduled racing events have been put on hold until the public health restrictions are eased and BC Alpine gets the go ahead to execute races. We still have in the schedule a possible FIS series in March and a scaled down Whistler Cup for April (ap 15-18). In the event that restrictions are lifted and we are permitted to host other cancelled races, we will try to fit these events in March and early April. In the meantime we will continue to provide timed training opportunities and other unique on hill environments for our athletes.
Other News
XC Saturdays have been a terrific success and we anticipate other opportunities at Olympic Park
We had several of our WMSC Alumni home for an extended period of time (Nov – Jan) which allowed our next generation of racers to witness these athletes train. This was a big hit and thanks to those that contributed!!
Thanks also to Roman Thorn who is now providing World Cup video each week in our e-news. We certainly hope you have witnessed the WMSC Alum on the world stage, so proud!!
Midyear athlete reports will be coming your way mid Feb.
COVID-19
As I am sure you are aware, Whistler is currently seeing a surge in positive COVID tests. We are very fortunate to have one of the few ski racing programs in operation in Canada right now. We must all do everything we can to preserve this incredible opportunity the club has in these challenging times. We therefore ask that now more than ever, you and your families vigorously follow the daily health checks and remind the kids that we must be COVID diligent at all times, even when they are no longer under our care on the mountain.
Finally, during these times, I wanted to remind the membership and athletes of our Teamship Values and provide an examples of how they are relevant right now -
Excellence in Behaviour – Follow the public health guidelines to the best of your ability, on hill and off. Wear your mask and excel in lift line etiquette!
Excellence in Effort – Even though we are unable to race, make the most of the training opportunities you have this year. Many athletes have no training opportunities right now.
Excellence in Communication – Be actively supportive of teammates who are setting a good example and most importantly, if you are not feeling well, let people know.
Excellence in Reputation – Show leadership in setting a good public health example with your teammates, your coaches, WB staff and the skiing public. Say thank you.
Stay safe and make the most of the incredible opportunity we have to be in this spectacular mountain playground!!!
Regards,
Bob
January 2021 Update
Here we are end of January and, all things considered, we are having a solid season thus far! Our holiday camps were well attended, and the skiing has been excellent vs. a year ago. The report from the coaches and what I have witnessed myself on the mountain, we are seeing tremendous development at all levels both free skiing and gate training. There certainly has been no shortage of free skiing which goes a long way in promoting excellence in our fundamentals. Great skiers become great racers!
I want to say a big thank you again to WB for providing the new snow making equipment towards the finish. It has been a great improvement and Dale is working closely with grooming and the snow making crew to create some of the best training conditions we have seen in years. Thanks Dale!!
We have had a new member zoom call and ski around which were well attended. Thanks to Carmine Boskovich for organizing this. These events were a big success and a great opportunity for member engagement in these COVID-challenged times. We plan on hosting these new member ski arounds several times, along with a Level One Officials Zoom Course, over the next 4-6 weeks. Keep your eye out for more details to come!
Event Update
As everyone understands, our scheduled racing events have been put on hold until the public health restrictions are eased and BC Alpine gets the go ahead to execute races. We still have in the schedule a possible FIS series in March and a scaled down Whistler Cup for April (ap 15-18). In the event that restrictions are lifted and we are permitted to host other cancelled races, we will try to fit these events in March and early April. In the meantime we will continue to provide timed training opportunities and other unique on hill environments for our athletes.
Other News
XC Saturdays have been a terrific success and we anticipate other opportunities at Olympic Park
We had several of our WMSC Alumni home for an extended period of time (Nov – Jan) which allowed our next generation of racers to witness these athletes train. This was a big hit and thanks to those that contributed!!
Thanks also to Roman Thorn who is now providing World Cup video each week in our e-news. We certainly hope you have witnessed the WMSC Alum on the world stage, so proud!!
Midyear athlete reports will be coming your way mid Feb.
COVID-19
As I am sure you are aware, Whistler is currently seeing a surge in positive COVID tests. We are very fortunate to have one of the few ski racing programs in operation in Canada right now. We must all do everything we can to preserve this incredible opportunity the club has in these challenging times. We therefore ask that now more than ever, you and your families vigorously follow the daily health checks and remind the kids that we must be COVID diligent at all times, even when they are no longer under our care on the mountain.
Finally, during these times, I wanted to remind the membership and athletes of our Teamship Values and provide an examples of how they are relevant right now -
Excellence in Behaviour – Follow the public health guidelines to the best of your ability, on hill and off. Wear your mask and excel in lift line etiquette!
Excellence in Effort – Even though we are unable to race, make the most of the training opportunities you have this year. Many athletes have no training opportunities right now.
Excellence in Communication – Be actively supportive of teammates who are setting a good example and most importantly, if you are not feeling well, let people know.
Excellence in Reputation – Show leadership in setting a good public health example with your teammates, your coaches, WB staff and the skiing public. Say thank you.
Stay safe and make the most of the incredible opportunity we have to be in this spectacular mountain playground!!!
Regards,
Bob
New feature of e-news – World Cup Corner presented by Roman Torn!
Our very own Roman Torn, former Alpine Canada ski team member, Olympian, WMSC member, coach and parent has offered to highlight World Cup races each week throughout the World Cup season. We certainly hope that you and your racers enjoy the first segment. Thank you Roman for this awesome offer!
Kranjska Gora Women’s GS
If you want to watch the race go to Brian Stemmle’s colourful commentary:
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1844213827601
Highlights
Meta Horvat charging skiing GS on a very icy hill. Solid run earns her 3rd place. Check out 1.21 sec in how well she moves forward and pick up the early edge on a very icy challenging slope.
The winner and best GS Women’s skier right now. Bassino!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHfY6XQliUY
Honourable mention to Valerie Grenier for finishing a solid 15 and 16th in the points both days and Cassidy Gray finishing 26th starting 57th in her first World Cup GS.
Flachau, Austria
Men’s Slalom, day 1 exciting race to the very end.
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1844225603764
Check out the “Attack from the Back” racer of the day at 18:56 sec. Starting 43, finishing 8th overall and 2nd second run! Aerni Luca.
Winning 2nd run and overall! Can’t win if you don’t try and go for it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRI6XIdZIX8
Honourable mention for the Eric Read finishing 26 and 27th in the points both days.
Next week the speeds are picking up with DH and SGS with the superbowl of skiing, Kitzbuhel for the Men and Crans Montana for Women.
Daily Health Checks | ON HILL and / or OFF HILL | Due before 6:30 am the day of training
Please complete your athlete(s) Online Health Check daily before 6:30 am the day of training. Coaches will be checking this list every morning and if your athlete hasn’t completed the form, he/she will not be permitted to join.
For quick access, you can find the links in our website front page
Extra Training Days | Available Thursdays-Saturday | Registration Opens on Sunday late afternoon and Closes Tuesdays at midnight
Extra training days are available as below and are subject to availability. Pricing U12-U14 $75/day and U16-U21 $80/day.
❖ U12 Sunday Athletes can sign up for Fridays and/or Saturdays
❖ U12 Core Athletes can sign up for Fridays
❖ U14-U21 Core Athletes can sign up for Thursdays and/or Fridays
❖ U14-U21 Core Plus Athletes can sign up for Thursdays
SIGN UP U12 | U14 | U16 | U21
e-News January 7 | Cross Country at WOP | DHC | Extra days | HH Gear
Cross Country Skiing | Saturday, Jan 9 – 2:15-4:30 at WOP
By popular demand, Cross Country Skiing sessions are back! For this Saturday, registration is open until Friday at noon. If this is your first time, please complete the WOP online waiver
Register Now! Cross Country Skiing- Sat, Jan 9
Daily Health Checks | ON HILL and / or OFF HILL | Due before 6:30 am the day of training
Please complete your athlete(s) Online Health Check daily before 6:30 am the day of training. Coaches will be checking this list every morning and if your athlete hasn’t completed the form, he/she will not be permitted to join.
The Daily Online Health Check is completed from your Family Active Online Account. Parents, if you would like your athlete to be responsible to complete this form, please provide him/her with your login credentials. Please do NOT open a new account.
Online Health Checks must be completed regardless of which Program athletes are enrolled to. (Sunday, Core, Core +, Extended)
For quick access, you can find the links in our website front page
Extra Training Days | Available Thursdays-Saturday | Registration Opens on Monday and Closes Tuesdays at midnight
Extra training days are available as below and are subject to availability. Pricing U12-U14 $75/day and U16-U21 $80/day.
❖ U12 Sunday Athletes can sign up for Fridays and/or Saturdays
❖ U12 Core Athletes can sign up for Fridays
❖ U14-U21 Core Athletes can sign up for Thursdays and/or Fridays
❖ U14-U21 Core Plus Athletes can sign up for Thursdays
Helly Hansen Merchandise Available
We have a few items from our HH team uniforms collection available for purchase. Interested? check our inventory
Executive Director Update
Holiday Season Update
Well, it certainly has been a unique start to the 2020/21 season!! I am very pleased to say that our membership and program sign-ups have been in line with our expectations and that we were able to successfully commence our full programming on schedule on December 3rd! After everything we have all been through, I cannot tell you how fantastic it is seeing our club athletes up on the mountain ripping around!!
The number one objective since my last note and our kickoff video has been to get the season underway in compliance with the new WB and Public Health COVID guidelines.
The uncertainty and moving targets have put the club through incredibly demanding times and I would like to give special mention to Blanca, your head coaches (Conrad, Drew, Henry and Mat), Richard Jagger our Technical Director, Christine Cogger and Kevin for their tireless hours each has contributed towards our successful opening.
Critical issues impacting how the club would operate for the 2020/21 season have had to be resolved over the past several months. We were successful in many of our initiatives with the mountain and how best to operate throughout this unique season. A few examples of how we worked with WB to roll-out our programming are:
- Our ability to bypass the WB reservation system for the entire season for all ski days, not just Thurs-Sun, for all Athletes and Coaches.
- Our arrangements with WB for early load utilizing Fitz and Garbo lifts.
- Obtaining the approval of WMSC’s COVID protocols with WB in time for WMSC to open on schedule Dec 3rd, when the mountain was facing tremendous operating uncertainties and scrutiny of their own.
On behalf of the club, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the WB team starting with Geoff Buchheister COO WB, Doug MacFarlane and Cate Webster who have been tremendous partners throughout the entire process. We also must thank WB for installing new snowmaking on the lower part/finish area of the training center over the summer, which will allow for much better coverage in the early season!
I also want to say thank you to all members and athletes for taking the adaption of our new policies and procedures to heart, especially how we operate on the hill, as it is critical to our ability to continue to operate our programs. Masks, physical distancing, the daily health check, and early loads have now become part of our daily routine!
Programs
- We are fully staffed and are fortunate to have the majority of our coaches returning from last year. Retention and attraction of new coaches proves difficult each year in Whistler with the high cost of living and accommodations being the main deterrents.
- Programs have begun and there is no doubt everyone was excited to return to snow. It has been tremendous to see how well the Lead Coaches and Richard Jagger, our Technical Director, are working together to assemble the best possible programming for the season, under our current situation. Richard’s alpine racing experience and knowledge are a tremendous asset to the club, and we are thrilled to have him leading the tech side of our initiatives.
- New HH uniforms arrived and have been well received although we have had some sizing issues which we are working on resolving
- The training center has opened as planned on Dec 18th which is a big win for the club and the team.
- We have revamped the existing report card process to streamline the entire process for both the athletes and parents.
- We continue to seek alternatives for dryland as all the valley indoor facilities are currently closed or are too small for our programs. Zoom fitness and X-C skiing on Saturday are working at the moment. Other outdoor possibilities may include the Sliding Ctr and Whistler Olympic Park.
Races
As the BC Alpine race schedule continues to be highly uncertain, we are planning on hosting three club races and three new activities (house-league time trials) for the athletes throughout the season, 6 in total. Skill assessments will run throughout the season as well. Dec 30th is our first planned Club individual timed environment for all to participate, stay tuned for details from your Lead Coach.
New Member Zoom Call
Will be scheduling a new member zoom call on Tues Dec 22nd to meet and greet all of you and answer the many questions we know new members have about the Club and its programs. New members check your inbox for the call details.
Other News
- The SWAP was a successful occasion held at the Fairmont Ballroom. Members appreciated the opportunity to both sell and buy equipment.
- Program Parent Zoom meetings took place late October; tremendous attendance for all programs including athletes.
- 2019/20 AGM was completed on Zoom in early November. Special thanks to our outgoing Chair John Legg for his tremendous dedication and significant contributions. We welcome Robert Toole as the new incoming Chair.
- Kickoff presentation/video was extremely well received, thanks to all that contributed and special mention to Conrad Pridy who was the executive producer of the production.
I would like to thank everyone for their patience as we work through all the challenges of these very unique times. I look forward to seeing everyone up on the mountain and I wish each of you and your families a safe and happy holiday season.
Regards,
Bob