Every Bad Day has a Silver Lining

March 21, Individual Sprint Free Technique Juvenile and Junior B & G

Mont St Anne, Quebec

As I am hearing the weather in Vancouver is wintery with snow pounding down in the mountains and the city, who would have thought that I could go to Quebec in March and return with a sunburn. It was a scorcher today here at Mont St Anne with sunscreen flowing and racers and spectators alike hunting for shade. Once again the National Ski Team (NST) superstars were out for a training ski. The younger athletes were goading each other into getting autographs and become much bolder when they discovered that the likes of Chanda Crawford and Devon Kershaw were pretty friendly and happy to chat with the kids.

As it turns out the balmy weather we are enduring and sloppy race conditions are somewhat the fault of the NST. The Haywood Ski Nationals were delayed a week so to accommodate the end of the World Cup, allowing Canada’s (and now the world’s) top ski racers to be present. Apparently the City of Quebec was very keen on the races taking place on the Plains of Abraham, The conditions at last Saturday’s Sprint on the Plains were marginal to say the least, and now its even worse with more grass there than snow. Even still the city was willing to pay for the 200 truckloads of snow required to cover the race course. But race organizers said Non, and todays Open Men/Women race will take place at Mt St Anne.

After a somewhat disappointing day yesterday, everybody was looking forward to today’s Individual Sprint. If there is something Hollyburn Racers are good at, it’s sprinting. Lucas got the ball rolling with the fastest qualifying time for Junior Boys. After that Zayne was 5^th Fred 17th and Adam 20th. Sam Morris 31^st by a mere 0.4 seconds missed out on qualifying in the top 30. On the girls side everybody made it into the top 30. In Juvenile, Kate Weaver qualified 3rd, Jenya and Lauren from Whislter, 12^th and 29^th respectively. Jenny Wildi 22^nd made it into the Junior Girls top 30. Despite excellent efforts, Quinn and Kayden didn’t qualify for the heats.

At the coaches meeting the night before, Jake had lobbied, to no avail, to start the race an hour earlier knowing that the soft snow was going to make for challenging conditions. After the qualifier the heats were delayed an hour so melt water could be pumped from a pond that was threatening to overtake a section of the race course. The race course was quickly turning to mash potatoes. For the past two days coaches were busy swapping the limited supply of big baskets amongst the racers.

This is where the day started to fall apart as conditions were going to favour the lighter racers. Lucas at 210lbs, who had posted the fastest qualifying time on the early morning frozen snow finished last in the 1^st heat. Skis sinking and poles plunging. Zayne one of our lighters skiers crashed in the 1^st 50 m and chased the pack to finish 3^rd., and had it not been for the crash Zayne would have advanced for sure. Fred and Adam had equally frustrating races, but Fred made it into the next round as the fastest 3^rd place finisher officially known as “Lucky Loser”. (Tough crowd eh?) Fred finished 9^th in the B final.

But today was Katie Weaver’s day! She was solid through the quarter and semi-finals and made a herculean effort to close the gap on the leader putting her in contention for first place. It was obvious from her uncharacteristic stumbling as she approached the finish line that she operating at the limits of exhaustion. Barely able to support herself in the finish area she still had energy to give and get hugs from all her rivals. She finished third but the first place skier was an American skier and doesn’t qualify for National medals. So Silver for Katie!

Haywood XC Ski Nationals - Quebec City

Day 1 Haywood Ski Nationals – Quebec City

Team Sprint – Plains of Abraham (POA)

The interesting thing about ski racing or racing of any kind is that you never know when it will be your day. And while it may not be your day, somebody else can be having a good day. When you have done everything you can to prepare, Luck or sometimes, lack thereof can play a big part in the outcomes.

While the Nationals are situated at Mont Sainte- Anne, race organizers decided to hold the sprint races on the historic POA. Situated near Old Quebec City, just off trendy Rue Grand Allee. Unseasonably warm conditions made for mushy, dirty snow and on some sections of the course it was clear that some snow had to be shoveled onto the racecourse to make do. BC Team’s skis were heavily rilled and structured to help evacuate water film build up and eliminate suction from the ski base. Team BC’s skis were clearly faster than other skiers.

The team sprint format sees two competitors per team with each team member completing 3 legs of the .8 km course. A lap takes a little over 2 minutes. The fastest 2 -3 teams (??) advance to the final round. A total of about 6 kilometres of sprinting in mushy snow by the day’s end, gruelling to say the least.

Hollyburn saw four athletes make it to the final, Lucas Putnam-Rea/Fred Weaver and Zayne Heyes/Sam Morris as well as two other BC Team members from Larch Hills: Thomas Hardy/John Connor. I’m not 100% certain on this, but I believe luck helped out John and Thomas a bit. While they were looking strong and about to qualify, John got his ski, and legs, crossed in the hand off zone, once he got untangled he put in a great chase to finish third in the heat. So he either qualified as a Lucky Loser, or they were qualifying to 3^rd place.

The first lap Lucas lead out of the gate and pulled away from the group up the first hill and Zayne was sitting about 5^th but still in contention. After the hand off to Sam they were still in a good spot and Sam was looking strong, but this was where Luck threw a curve ball. In the pack, another competitor stepped on Sam’s pole yanking the basket off. He tried to get over the top of the hill with a few extra pole pushes, but snapped the shaft. BC Team coach Darren Deroche was at the top of the next hill where he handed Sam a pole but despite a big effort with only one pole, he had slipped back a few spots.

On the final lap John Connor attacked on the downhill section and made a strong push to jump from 3^rd spot to second. Fred crossed the finish line a good 10 + seconds ahead of John giving BC a One - Two podium finish and Hollyburn its first ever Gold Medal at a National Champs. Zone 4 results showed only a 4 second lead but Fred cruised into the finish taking it easy.

Other Hollyburn Athletes who competed today.

Katie Weaver, Jenny Wildi and Quinn Wildi are veterans of 1 previous Nationals.

Adam Woods who is having his best race season ever and should excel in the distance races.

Kayden Sim - Didn’t compete today but look for good things from him later in the week. This is his first Nationals.

Kalum Utley – May race later in the week but he is suffering from a recent soccer injury.

Thursday’s Forecast for Quebec City 21 degrees!!

2012 PENGUIN PLUNGE the 30th YEAR!

Greetings All...here we go again!

Come join us for the Deep Cove PENGUIN PLUNGE, New Year's Day, January 1st, 2011...
12:30pm to 3:00pm in Panorama Park
Music, Festivities, Refreshments, Costume Prizes (judging at 1:30pm)
PLUNGE at 2pm sharp!

This will be our third year back organizing the annual Deep Cove PENGUIN PLUNGE and this year marks the 30th year of the Penguin Plunge.
It's amazing that this celebratory tradition has been going for this many years in our community so let's take a moment to send out a big THANK YOU to those who started it (thanks Merv and gang), kept it going all these years, (especially the Mount Seymour Lions) and also a big THANK YOU to all of you who come to Deep Cove and take the PLUNGE!

This year we encourage you again to challenge each other to gather PLEDGES for Plunging with all Pledge proceeds raised going to support the Seymour Art Gallery. You can get PLUNGE Pledge forms at LaLa's or Deep Cove Outdoors and we will be your first $5 sponsor or you can download the form online at www.deepcovekayak.com or www.penguinplunge.com

We also encourage you to Share Your Plunge Stories from the past...Who, What, When, Where, WHY??? Please come on to the blog and add your stories too...

Cheers and best wishes for a Happy, Healthy, Holiday from all of us at Deep Cove Canoe and Kayak and Deep Cove Outdoors and we look forward to seeing you this coming New Year's Day for the 2012 Penguin Plunge in Deep Cove.

10 Reasons Why Vancouver Road Weenies should Skate Ski during the Winter

The cross over benefits from cycling to cross country skiing are well known. Vancouver has a

mild climate which makes it possible to cycle 12 months a year, but you have to be pretty dedicated. Soggy clothing, limited daylight hours, dangerous riding conditions all conspire to keeping you off the bike during the winter months of November to March. Instead of banging your head against the winter brick wall of cycling why not change it this winter and try skate or classic Nordic skiing. In Vancouver we are lucky to have two great facilities for you to cross country ski at. Cypress Cross Country is only 40 minutes from downtown and Whistler Olympic Park Nordic Centre only 90 minutes.

1. Night Skiing at Cypress Mtn, Its easy to whip up the mountain for a few fun laps. There are lots of cyclist up there skiing in groups and pace lines.
2. Tuesday Night Toonie Ski Race, get a work out when you would normally be on your trainer, or in the gym. Hey Tuesday is already your UBC race night. Keep it booked!
3. You don’t have to clean your bike, nor do you need to mount fenders or sacrifice a water bottle to extend the fender. Cycling in the rain sucks and to make it worse, then you have to clean your bike. When its pouring rain in Vancouver it’s a winter wonderland up at Cypress. Why don’t they make fenders longer anyway?
4. Your fit legs will help you up the hill and your core and upper body will get a work out. XC Ski is well known as being the #1 full-body work out, and you don’t have to buy a new wardrobe, Lycra tights and Bike Jersey’s will do.
5. This one is for the guys…there is a higher ratio of women xc skiing than cycling.
6. -5 degree temperature skate skiing is nothing, -5 and cycling at 30kmh….brrrrrr, not fun!
7. Callaghan Valley, Whistler Olympic Park is a world class Nordic Facility, just up the road at Whistler.
8. Get fit for the Payak Loppet, 15, 30 and 50 km loppet. 500 participants last year. Last year’s inaugural “Loppet” (Citizen’s Nordic race) had it all, a 30 skier peloton at the lead, grueling uphill’s, gut clenching downhill’s and a whole bunch of fun rolling terrain, big smiles by everybody coming across the finish line.
9. 100 year old Hollyburn Lodge at Cypress, Warm up from your ski with Red Curry Thai Chicken Soup!
10. Skate Ski packages start at $ 500! Chump change compared to a $5000 Cervelo Frame. Top of the line gear, One Way High Modulus carbon fiber ski poles - $500, Fischer Carbonlite Hole skis- $850,Madshus Nanosonic Boots $475, Xcelerator NIS bindings = $120.
11. OK one extra.....You get to exercise your trunk and shoulder muscles….that’s the part of your body above your legs. You use them in cycling when you grab a Clif Bar out of your jersey pocket. In Nordic skiing up to 60% of your forward movement comes from trunk and shoulders.

Where to Ski:

Cypress Cross Country

Whistler Olympic Park

Dakota Ridge

Where to Buy:

Deep Cove Outdoors - North Vancouver

604-987-2202

Skate Ski Packages starting at $500

Race Scene:

Loppet is a Norwegian word that translates into “Citizen’s Race”. Participation is the focus. The goal is to complete the distance in a fun manner. At most races there is a fun, family inclusive atmosphere, feed stations and lots of young kids. There are also lots of people who giving it there best shot and going for it too. Cross Country BC is also the Provincial Sport Body for Classic and Skate skiing.

Cypress Tuesday Night Twoonie Race – Starts as soon as night skiing starts. 6:30 check-in, 7 PM race. Each week is as different course.

Sigges Payak – February 25

Cross Country BC Competition Schedule

Bob Putnam is owner of Deep Cove Outdoors and was a bit of a road weenie "back in the day". Now he is just a Weenie.

Team THINK, Canada Heads to San Francisco

The US Surf Ski Championships is just around the corner and what seems to be a developing tradition, there is a contingent of British Columbians heading down to San Francisco for the competition. For the past 3 years Daryl Remmler, who is THINK Kayaks, has dragged a trailer loaded with surf skis down to the event, organized accommodation and brought in his stable of elite paddlers who gracefully tolerate a group of tag-a-long weekend warriors.

Personally, it is one of the highlights of my year, hanging out in the coffee shops of Chestnut Street, San Fran in the mornings, paddling the tumultuous waters of the SF Bay in the afternoons, and frequenting the pubs and restaurants in the evening.

Here is the list of paddlers from BC who will be heading down this year.

Matt Kelly – Has had an on and off paddling season this year and is not in as good form as he has shown in previous years. Too much work? But Matt relies on his exceptional surfing and rough water skills he has attained from many years of whitewater and downriver paddling.

Ken Stanick – Ken is in top form! I know, I spent many hours in the gym with him this past winter training at Jodi Boates Athletics. He has taken his training very seriously. He has just returned from the Wildside Relay where he was honing his downwind paddling and rough water paddling skills. Expect to see Ken crack the top 30

Sean Gibson –I have just learned that he is injured and won’t be racing but will still come to help with shuttling etc. Thanks Sean! Here is what I was going to write: Sean is taking on all the big races this year. Unlike most people who work their way up to the toughest races, Sean is doing it the opposite way. Tackling the granddaddy of all surf skis races this past spring, The Molokai World Champs. Sean will test himself in the cooler waters of The SF Bay.

Shane Martin – Shane lives the paddling lifestyle and probably logs more miles than anybody else on this list. Lots of power, great surfing skills. Shane had partnered with Ken at Wildside relay. Look for Shane to be top 30 again maybe crack top 20 if he has a good race!!

Gareth Tudor-Jones – Gareth had the best showing of any Canadian at last years race with a 16^th place finish. There is no reason to suspect that Gareth will do any worse this year. He has been on a solid training regime. However, the higher up you get on the ladder, the greater the spacing of the rungs. It will be no easy feat to pick off the likes of Rami Zur, Carter Johnson or Olympian Phillipe Boccara who finished just ahead of Gareth last year.

Warren Bruce – The Veteran of the group. Warren is lways solid in his conditioning, spending half the year in Baja, Mexico. Warren has been working hard on his rough water skills. Warren is my main Canadian Competition in the Senior Masters division (over 50)

Bob Putnam – I’m feeling better this year than last and am hoping to be able to challenge the course whereas last year’s effort was just a matter of survival. I had a good winter of training with Ken and Jodi and it’s made a huge difference for myself. I’m hoping to finish top 5 in Senior Master (blue hair division) I’m looking forward to the big downwind in the last half of the race. My time spent paddling the Ambleside Tide Rip has been awesome to help prepare the rough water paddling skills, cause it doesn’t matter how good your conditioning is, if you can’t paddle in the rough water you won’t do well.

Rob Hansen – Rob hales from Campbell River and like Gareth has South African roots. Paddling is in his blood. Rob had a good spring of paddling in Vancouver while he was doing a stint at UBC’s Sports Med Clinic. This is Rob’s first trip to the USSSC and look for him to put in a good performance. Rob has a superior fitness base and good rough water / downwind paddling skills.

Daryl Remmler – Daryl has been a busy boy not paddling as much as he has in the past years. But more than anybody else Daryl has the ability to draw on his years of racing experience and “pull it out of the bag” on race day.

Sean Rice – Looking for a 1^st place finish, nothing more needs to be said

Linda Warren – Our token female!! Linda is a big promoter of “Girls and Skis” It will be great to have Linda join the group. It’s her 1^st USSSC. Linda has been keenly preparing for the big event and just had a great race at the Jericho Oceanman. Hopefully in future years more women will take part

Thanks to Viv for her great photos. USSSC takes place this Saturda August 13 / 14.

Bp

SPRINT RACE EXCITEMENT

My favorite event is sprint racing. More thrills and spills than any other XC event. More can go wrong and opportunities can be created at any minute. As a racer its important to never give up, even if you are in last place because there can be crashes, broken poles and protests, and it all happened today.

Sprints begin with an interval start time trial. The course for this age was posted at 800 metres, but GPS were showing 1.1 km. The course was fairly flat with the exception of an steep uphill hairpin turn, the point of all the excitement. After the qualifying time trial the top 30 competitors move on to heats. At Midget Champs all the kids qualify but here at Nationals they have to limit it to 30 competitors so as to get all the categories through.

Katie Weaver continued her amazing performances. She is not yet old enough to compete at Nationals, she's not 1 year but 2 years away from being old enough. Despite that she qualified 15th out of 66 competitors!! Jenn Wildi had a slip on the nasty hill and she didn't qualify. A couple of seconds can represent several place positions in this competitive field.

In the Juvenile category, Quinn was still recovering from his sickness didn't qualify but had his best race yet. Zayne Heyes qualified13th and Sam Morris qualified 23 for Juveniles. In the Junior category, Lucas was 6th, Fred 9th, Nic just missed out of top 30 by less than 1 second, but was able stick it to his twin brother in their hotly contested rivalry. Adam and Kalum were mid-field.

I decided to camp out at the hairpin with a few extra poles as I thought this would be the most likely spot for contact. i wasn't terribly excited about this as there was a really great spot where everybody was standing and you could run and see various sections of the course.

As it turned out this was where all the action was going to take place. The fastest two skiers in each heat advance. Katie was a respectable 3rd very much in the chase. Zayne and Sam were in the same heat, which is never good, unless they are #1 and #2. This heat came through very tight with Sam in 3rd and Zayne in 6th but very much in the race, anything could happen and it did when the guy in front of Zayne slipped and Zayne got tangled and that was the end of Zayne's race. Sam finished 3rd in the heat and didn't advance.

Lucas' heat came through and he finished second and advanced. Fred was up next and this is where Fred made his second heads up move of championship. The younger kids were hugging the inside of the corner and having to ski the steepest part of the hill. I had relayed this info to Jake who was at the start and he told Fred and Lucas. Fred entered the corner wide in third place. The first place guy was tight on the inside and the second place guy was wide in front of Fred. Fred spotted the "hole shot" an went for it! With a few quick steps he was in the middle and away like a robber stealing 1st place. It was a thing of beauty!

Lucas's semi-final was a tough one and he finished 4th. Good enough to make the "B" final. In Fred's heat he was charging up the hill in second place when there was the all too familiar crack of carbon fibre. Fred looked like a wounded duck and was screaming "Pole! Pole! Pole!" I had a moment of dyslexia as I tried to figure out left or right pole. I ran across the track and handed him the pole and then almost got ran over by racer #3. When the dust settled the Race Jury Official came over to me and said, "May I have a word with you" It wasn't the cleanest hand off...but it worked, Fred finished second and advanced.

Prior to the awards there was a protest on the final heat and at this moment the race jury is deliberating.

Ezekiel Williams entered the corner in 1st place with Stefan Sander-Green of Kimberly came charging hard on his right and Julian Locke-Hinke, 2010 Canadian Sprint Champ, hard on Stef's heals. Fred was in 5th or 6th. Ezekiel went down, Stef was like a heat seeking missile shooting into the lead, Julian right behind and Fred found his way around the pile up and was in Fourth. That's how it wound up. Stefan is a great kid that puts a huge effort into every race, a great competitor.

This is the same jury that gave a warning to the team sprint Nakkertok team that made a tag outside the exchange zone. So who knows.

Note: Subsequently Stefan Sander-Green was charged with obstruction and moved down to 5th place. The #2,3 & 4 were advanced one place so Fred Weaver ended up with a Bronze medal. Cross Country BC will appeal the decision.

Bp

Battle of the Skis

Today's race should prove to be an interesting one. Junior/Juvenile Boys 7.5 km Classic, Junior/Juvenile Girls 5 Km classic. The boys are doing two laps of a 3.75 km course. Weather forecast for today is a high of 10 degree. Girls start just before 1:00 PM, Nic Foellmer is the first junior boy to start at 1:48!! What will be the snow conditions?? That is the big question. Wax techs were testing everything yesterday. Klister, hairies, Zero skis. Its easy to make skis glide fast, but in warm conditions it is difficult to give skis grip without slowing them down. Making "hairies" is a last resort attempt to get grip when all waxes and klister has failed. Aggressively sanding the grip zone of your skis makes tiny hairs which help the skis grip in the right conditions. Zero skis are a relatively new type of ski that has a rubberized grip zone that helps making hairies easier. Some of the athletes have Zero skis in their quiver of skis and some don't.

Aggregate Points Battle:

Most of our guys are 1st Year Juniors born in 1994, Adam, Seb, Nic, Kalum, Lucas and Fred, this means they are battling against athletes born in 1993 who have a extra of growth, conditioning and experience. A podium finish for these guys would be an excellent achievement, but unlikely in this competitive field. For the past 3 years due to category changes these boys have been the underdogs in their categories. Nationals has Year of Birth (YOB) aggregate points awards. Fred Weaver has done very well in the last two Nationals placing in the top 3 (or better, sorry i need to check this fact).

Based on Monday's Individuals skate race, Currently Lucas is 8th, Fred 16th, Adam 27th and Nic squeaks on the board with 30th. So it will be interesting to see how the race shakes out. Seb is not far off the top 30 positioning and he an his twin brother are always battling back an forth. Typically Seb tends to be the better classic ski but often Nic can show grit and determination. Kalum didn't race on Monday due to a chronic injury which flares up when skating, so he will be excited to show his stuff today. Adam tends to excel in classic races too. Fred is a talented classic skier, which is ironic, because as kids he loathed classic skiing. Fred has been working hard all winter and was clearly not happy with his race on Monday. Lucas see the flat sections of this race course working in his favor he is strong in double poling and he doesn't have the same conditioning as Fred.

In the Juvenile boys, this is a longer distance than Monday's race. Zayne was very happy with his Monday's race and hopefully can carry the positive feeling into today's race. Sam looked solid on Monday and will step it up a bit today.

Jennifer and Katie are looking to gain some more experience in today's classic race.