Hello WMSC athletes, members, & coaches:

We have certainly benefitted from incredible conditions thanks to the recent Arctic outflow. The hill has been in amazing condition for training, racing and free-skiing the pistes. Now as we head into the warmth of spring, our team is right in the middle of ‘March Madness’ with all divisions racing at home and away.

This update is also attached as a PDF, and covers:

Respect in Sport
Race Mode
Event Recaps:

• U18 – BC Cup FIS races (Whistler, Grouse & Red Mountain)
• U16 – Canada Winter Games (Nakiska) / Western Championships (Panorama) / Parsons speed training & races / Japan Cup (Naeba)
• U16 / U14 Enquist Slalom (Mt. Seymour)
• U14 – Cypress Zone race
• U12 – Tyee Cup (Grouse Mountain)

Upcoming events:

• U14 Provincials (Purden)
• U12 Skills Comp & Janyk Cup, Sun Peaks NGSL festival & Big White U12 event
• U16 Provincial series round 3 & U18 Apex BC Cup FIS series (Apex)
• U16 FIS races (Tarnaby, SWE)
• Canadian National Championships (Mt Edouard, QC)

Respect in Sport
We are now close to our goal of having every family complete the Respect in Sport Parent Module. Feedback continues to be extremely positive, with many parents writing to thank the Club for incorporating this into our programming, and we will be making the Respect in Sport Parent Module a pre-condition to registration for next year. Many thanks to all for taking the time to complete this.

Race Mode
It’s the time of year when our athletes put their training to the test in races.

The ‘Learn to Race’ phase of the Alpine Canada Long Term Athletic Development Model technically begins in U16; this being the stage that there are accumulated rankings throughout the season, and they start to compete in races that qualify for events such as Canada Winter Games, Team Canada for the Folgaria Cup in Italy, and Team Canada for Whistler Cup.

Those who qualify must then learn to manage the expectations that they put on themselves to get results, and to race against the fastest skiers from elsewhere. Those who do not qualify must learn from their experiences to understand why and continue training to close the gap.
Simply put, racing is a huge learning experience for all athletes, as well as a lot of fun!

For our younger athletes, learning how to maximize a race day is an incredibly important part of the journey. Race day is an exciting time for athletes, coaches, and parents, but inevitably with that excitement comes a huge amount of emotion. Joy, sadness, elation, frustration, euphoria, and disappointment to name but a few.

During races, it is amazing the effect emotions can have on everyone involved; one way or another everyone is exposed. Regardless of what role we play, everyone is trying their best to facilitate a great, fair, safe race, or to convert their best from training to competition and produce a performance they can be happy with.

So how do we manage those emotions?

As coaches, we have a lot of time to think about this standing on the side of a hill waiting to see how our athletes perform. Did I talk about the right line in inspection? Have I provided the right training leading up? Do my athletes have the strength to make the big turns and the fitness to last to the finish?
As parents, we carry the stress of our children, layered with an urge to reach out and help them. Volunteering is a great way to manage this.
Ultimately, it’s too late to change much on the day of the race, so what can an athlete do? In my experience there are 5 simple rules for race day:

1. Relax. Get a good night’s sleep, eat well, drink plenty of water and set yourself up for a clear mind.
2. Enjoy. It’s what you have been preparing for and what you are here for.
3. Believe. Stick to your plan. If you have a clear plan and something to stay focused on throughout the day, you don’t have time to get inside your own head. Have a plan and stick to it.
4. Accept. Treat good results and bad results as equals. If you tried your best throughout the preparation, then the result is simply an indicator of what to focus on next. If you get past the emotions, then you can get to a place where you can learn.
5. Review. Look back on the day and the preparation to know what you did well and what you would change.
   It’s important to enjoy the moment and to remember that there are always more races and more opportunities. Those who prepare the best—plan the best—and give it their all walk away knowing that they did all that they could.
    
   Event Recaps: March madness!
   There are a lot of recaps here. Hopefully you will take the time to review the races that each division of our WMSC team have been at.
   The one thing that stands out through all of this is the incredible work that volunteers do. The volunteerism across the Province, the Country and the world is incredible. Without you volunteer parents, alumni parents and ski racing fans, there is no ski racing.
   Many, many thanks to all of you volunteers for everything that you do!

U18 – BC Cup FIS races (Whistler, Grouse & Red Mountain)
Last month our U18 racers finally got to race at home. The series started with 2 days of slalom in Grouse, followed by 2 SG & 2 GS races on home snow in Whistler. The competition was mostly from BC, Alberta and a few athletes from the US and it was great to see WMSC alumni from the BC team and Canadian development team in action here.

See the full report here 2019-FIS-BC-Cup

Following a short training block the local series was then followed by a red mountain series last week with another 4 races, 2 SL and 2 GS. This gave many athletes the opportunity to take away some learnings from the Whistler races and put them into practice in Red Mountain where most of the team got some good FIS point results in the long climb up the FIS point ladder.

U16 – Canada Winter Games (Nakiska) / Western Championships (Panorama) / Parsons speed training & races / Japan Cup (Naeba)
The U16 team have had an incredibly busy few weeks with a group of 7 athletes racing for BC at the Canada Winter Games, while the rest of the team raced at Westerns in Panorama.

Regardless if racing in Panorama or Nakiska, these were great opportunities for our athletes to race against others form across Western Canada and the whole of Canada for some. An opportunity to measure yourself against others is always a blessing and very often a real motivation to come away and think that ‘with a little more work, I can do that too’.

Canada Winter games
Western Championships

Following these races, we then had the Parsons Memorial speed training and racing. It was the 40th Anniversary of the Bob Parsons memorial which was started in order to create progressive and safe development of the skills for ‘speed’. Bob Parsons was the father of our own Jim Parsons, Chris Leighton and grandfather of Julian Parsons who were all there this week and we even had Julian Forerunning and Jim (who won the first ever Bob Parsons Downhill) set the SG on Sunday.

Bob Parsons review

At the same time as the Parson’s memorial 4 athletes were accompanied by Richard Jagger to the Japan Cup in Naeba, Japan. WMSC was eligible to send a team as the Naeba Cup is a Japanese invitational event and the qualifier for the team to represent Japan at the Whistler Cup . This being their 20th year they were keen to have a WMSC team, so we received a late invitation to send a team which was selected from the PRS rankings and offered to the next ranked athletes that did not qualify for Canada Winter Games.

U16 / U14 Enquist Slalom (Mt. Seymour)
WMSC had athletes from both U16 and U14 at the Enquist slalom. Not part of either the U14 zone series or the U16 Provincial series, the Enquist slalom is an open event and great race to get some race practice and particularly for the younger athletes it’s a great opportunity to challenge the U16s.

Enquist Slalom

U14 Zone race (Cypress)
Our U14 team had the good fortune to race Cypress in incredible conditions which makes it a truly spectacular place to ski. For them it was only their 2nd zone race series and a long-awaited opportunity to race against the coast zone athletes.

For many athletes it was their first away zone race, and their first race at Cypress. It’s amazing how different the sport can be when you go to another hill. Everything is different from knowing the resort, to where to warm up, knowing the terrain on the race hill and even the snow feels different.
All of this compounds to make a great experience and learning opportunity in the first steps towards the world cup racer when you are away from home for the winter where you learn to perform your best in all conditions racing in different resorts, on different hills, on different snow.

U14 Zone race

U12 – Tyee Cup (Grouse Mountain)
The U12 team finally got their turn to race at Grouse Mountain. For many athletes their first experience at an away race, for some at any race and those with more experience were there to ‘go for the cup’.

All the team showed their strength and determination with many athletes doing some of their best skiing yet. It is a valuable skill to be able to put the excitement aside, stick to the task and perform when it really counts. A skill that takes many years to develop but an essential skill for our young athletes to be developing (and by all accounts mastering) at this stage in their journey.

Tyee Cup

U14 Provincials (Purden)
Our U14 team have all made the trek up to Purden for the U14 Provincial series where they will get the chance to compete against athletes from around the Province this weekend.

Again, an opportunity to go somewhere new, feel a different race environment and try out the skills learnt in training. It is these times when the ‘retention’ and ‘transfer’ of skill is are important. To have repeated a skill in as many environments as possible and as much as possible enables you to retain that skill in a new environment and transfer it to a competition environment.

U12 Nancy Greene Skills Event & Janyk Cup, Sun Peaks NGSL festival & Big White U12 event
This weekend sees the U12 team in action at home on the Dave Murray National Training Centre with the Nancy Greene Skills event on Saturday followed by a U12 social at the Club Cabin, and then the Janyk Cup on Sunday.

The Skills event will challenge the foundational skills that make up the complete skier from gliding to skating, short turns to medium to long turns. It is these skills that will serve the athlete well over the next years of their journey and as with any monument, it’s only as strong as the foundation it sits on. This being the reason behind the skills assessments which Nancy Greene had the foresight to make into a league to ensure that generations would keep working on the basic skills that are so essential to develop ski racers like herself.

The Janyk Cup on Sunday will then give the opportunity for the athletes to try out the skills in both a Giant Slalom and a dual Glalom. There will be plenty of space for warming up above the course to remember the drills and technical focus that will create a good feeling to take into the race course.
The U12 team will then take to the road, with some athletes travelling to Sun Peaks for the following weekend and Big White the weekend after that. Both events offering the opportunity to ski new hills, make new friends and get some more races under the skis!

U16 Provincial series round 3 & U18 Apex BC Cup FIS series (Apex)
Our U16 team will head to Apex for the 3rd and final Provincial series of the season, and they will be followed immediately afterwards by some of the U18 athletes who will be there for 2 FIS races.

As we start to head into the second half of the season for our older 2 age groups most athletes have had a few races under their skis, learnt a great deal from their races, put it back into training to find another gear and are now ready to go again.

Ski racing, like any sport is a roller-coaster ride for athletes with successes and failures, trials and tribulations, but everyone is rewarded with the chance to kick out the start gate and race down the mountain!

U16 FIS races (Tarnaby, SWE)
The Whistler Mountain Ski Club have been given permission from Alpine Canada to send a team to the Swedish Children’s FIS race in Tarnaby, Sweden which is similar to the Whistler Cup. The race is called the Ingmartrophen, named after Ingmar Stenmark and will be raced on the Ingmar backen (slope) and Anja backen named after Ingmar Stenmark and Anja Paerson, two legends of our sport.

This is a great opportunity for the athletes who get the chance and athletes will be offered the chance to take part based on the Apex Provincial series which offers athletes the opportunity to compete for places based on their current form.

More details here

Canadian National Championships (Mt Edouard, QC)
The U18 team will again split with some athletes heading across to Quebec for the Canadian National Championships. This race presents a great opportunity for these 7 athletes to compete against not only their U18 counterparts from across Canada, but also against the athletes from the University, Provincial and National teams fresh from the Nor-Am and World Cup finals.
While many of these athletes are tired from long hard seasons on the road racing, it is a great opportunity for younger athletes who are building their program with FIS races interspersed with training to pit themselves against the best in the Country.

Best of luck to all of our teams over the next weeks!

I hope to see you all on the snow or in the Club Cabin soon!

Best regards

Mark Tilston
Whistler Mountain Ski Club
marktilston@wmsc.info

Follow the race on WMSC Live Timing

Teamship Values – Excellence in Behaviour

As we head into the latter stages of the season and the real nuts and bolts of the competition phase I wanted to take the opportunity to discuss our Teamship Values. Over the next several weeks I will circulate discussion points on each of the 4 values, beginning this week with Excellence in Behaviour. Athletes, please take the time to read these emails; parents please take the time to review them with your children.

We Excel in Behaviour: Behaviour is the core of who we are as a team and reflects on our club, our community, our sport and our country. The fundamental characteristic of WMSC Behaviour is respect.

• We Respect Others: We always treat others as we would want to be treated. We consider the impact of our actions on others. We give full attention in meetings and respect the rights of others to be left alone.

Respect for others defines who we are and what we stand for. It is very easy to get drawn into feeling that we know better than others, that others are not giving us the respect that we deserve or to get caught up in our challenges and not consider those that others have. We all need to choose the higher road and be aware of each other.

• We Respect Feedback: We give, and accept, all feedback – both positive and constructive – with good grace.

Our sport, and life in general, presents many challenges, which will result in mistakes and failures as well as accomplishments and learnings. In order to learn and develop, we must try, accept that we will sometimes fail, and recognize that this process is essential and must be respected. For many of us this is often a challenge, but the ability to both accept and give positive reinforcement and constructive criticism, be it sensory, verbal or visual is the hallmark of all great athletes.

• We Respect Equipment: We care for all of our and other’s equipment. We seek permission before using and promptly return, anyone else’s equipment.

Our sport requires equipment that is both extensive and expensive and the condition of that equipment impacts enormously on the outcomes. We must take the time to learn how to prepare and maintain our equipment and ensure that we follow-through so that our training efforts are not frustrated by a lack of preparation. This respect must extend to the Club’s facilities and equipment, including the Club Cabin, the Garbo Hut, the Dave Murray Training Centre, our home mountain of Whistler Blackcomb and the Clubs, Mountains and hotels that we visit.

• We Respect Time: We are on time for meetings, sessions and departures. 5 minutes before start is on time. If held up we inform the organizer as soon as possible.

“Time is of the essence” in our sport, both literally and figuratively. It is all too easy to reach for the lazy excuse that “I didn’t have time” but more often than not this just means: “I didn’t make the time”. We must budget our time wisely and not waste it. Each athlete must commit the required time to their development model in order to achieve the goals that they have defined. We must always respect the time of others, and value their time at least as highly as we do our own.

• We Respect Effort: We congratulate effort even if it results in better performance than yours. We act compassionately towards those whose performance is below their expectations.

“It’s better to try and fail, than to fail to try”. This statement underpins the very notion of being a champion in life and in sport and is the foundation of the other components of Excellence in Behaviour. If we do not respect the efforts of others, they will not recognise our efforts and help us to our feet when we try and fail. If we do not give constructive feedback to others on their efforts and seek honest feedback for ours, if we do not give 100%, or if we do not properly prepare and maintain our equipment and if we do not commit the required time to the development model, we will never know what we are truly capable of.

It is an honour to be a part of this team and to be associated with so many great people who continually strive for Excellence in Behaviour.
Best regards,

Mark Tilston
Whistler Mountain Ski Club

WMSC athletes: Sara Stiel, Fiona McInnes, Jaden Dawson, Chase Burns, David Wood, Mathias Shorter and Adam Usher are part of the BC Alpine Team competing at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, Alberta from February 15th to March 3rd.

The athletes were selected from the first round of BC Teck Open races (2 GS & 2 SL) held at Sun Peaks, January 10th to 13th. They will compete in four events; Super-G, GS, Slalom and Ski Cross. The Ski Cross competition is scheduled to take place at Canyon Resort near Red Deer on March 2nd.

Join us to wish them the best!

2019 CWG Team BC Coaching Staff:
Montana Molyneux (Fernie Alpine Ski Team)
Drew Hetherington (Whistler Mountain Ski Club)
Katie Spittlehouse (Red Mountain Racers)
Daimion Applegath (Sun Peaks Alpine Club)
Johnny Crichton (BC Alpine Ski Association)

Race Report by Laura and Hubert Lai

114 athletes took part in last weekend’s Teck Open races, which were hosted at Kimberley on Saturday, February 9 and Sunday, February 10. The Whistler Mountain Ski Club (WMSC) was well represented, with 8 women and 14 men in the field.

Race conditions were firm and the weather was extremely cold throughout the weekend. The low temperatures challenged all the racers, coaches, and volunteers. Many people had frostbite and were using tape on their face to block the wind.

Originally, the organizers had hoped to run slalom races under the lights but the extreme weather conditions made this difficult so, in the end, the
Kimberley event consisted of a total of 2 Super G races for each of the men and the women.

Women’s Super G Race 1 (Saturday):
On Saturday, WMSC athletes comprised 8 of the 50 women who successfully completed the Super G race. It was a stupendous showing for the WMSC women, with four of them finishing in the top 10: Emeline Bennett won the race, with Jaden Dawson and Sara Stiel completing a sweep of the podium. Fiona McInnes came in 5th.

Women’s Super G Race 2 (Sunday):
Sunday was another truly outstanding showing for the WMSC women, with four of them finishing in the top 10: Once again, Emeline Bennett won the race, with Jaden Dawson and Sara Stiel completing a sweep of the podium. Fiona McInnes improved one position for her Saturday result, finishing just off the podium in 4th. What incredible results for these talented and hard-working athletes!

As with all the athletes, double-race-winner Emeline Bennett certainly noticed the cold: “It was hard to feel like your muscles were completely ready because of either not warming up for long enough because it’s cold or staying inside too long be cause it’s cold!”
When asked about the secret to her success, Emeline was graciously modest: “During the week I go to the gym up to four times and then usually only train Saturday and Sunday but I try to get some extra Thursdays and Fridays in, whenever I can. I chug a lot of water before warm up. I don’t usually have two pairs of skis so I like to do some runs on the ones I will race on and I do a lot of visualization and usually take the maximum time for inspection. I have no clue in Super G. It’s my tuck for sure and, other than that, I don’t know!”

Men’s Super G Race 1 (Saturday):
On Saturday, WMSC athletes comprised 14 of the 53 men who successfully completed the Super G race. While the victory went to Grouse athlete, Taylor Nellis, WMSC men crushed the field, with 7 of them finishing in the top 10: Graham Seltzer and Sam Fuller took 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Just off the podium was Matthias Shorter in 4th. Rounding out the WMSC men who achieved top 10 finishes were Adam Usher in 5th, David Wood in 6th, Hayden Harley, in 7th, and Nick Katrusiak in 10th.

Men’s Super G Race 2 (Sunday):
On Sunday, WMSC men were dominant, securing five out of the top 10 places. This time, a WMSC man took the victory, with Graham Seltzer securing the top spot. Grouse athlete, Taylor Nellis, who had won the Super G on Saturday, swapped places with Graham, coming in 2nd on Sunday. Apex athlete, Heming Sola, rounded out the podium in 3rd. WMSC men took the next 4 places, with John Nicolls in 4th, Hayden Harley in 5th, Adam Usher in 6th, and Matthias Shorter in 7th.

Race winner, Graham Seltzer, observed, “This weekend, the line was extremely important. Many people who ski well but do not have the correct line will not be fast. In inspection, you need to find the right line and commit to it unless a coach tells you otherwise on a course report.” He added, “I had two good inspections with good advice from coaches and concentrated on executing my plan.”

He was very pleased with his results, especially because he does not live in Whistler and isn’t able to train regularly on Thursdays and Fridays.
Speaking of the Grouse competitor with whom he swapped positions, Graham was very complimentary, saying, “In the speed event I think Taylor Nellis is the largest competition for everyone particularly on a straight course like both of these ones. This is because he is a pretty big guy and mostly goes straight.”