Worldcup II: Plans for 3-2-2013

This past weekend a number of our athletes participated in the Fitch-Gilpatrick fund raiser race on Ego.  Those not racing helped with setting, organizing and timing.  Following the race athletes worked on ski fundamentals with their coaches. With the great conditions we have this spring it is important for all athletes to return to fundamentals as spring skiing is actually the start to next years race season.

For this weekend (3/2/13) we will have our second Worldcup race, this time being a GS.  For the final (3/9/13) we will have one run of GS and one run of SL followed by annual results and awards.

For this weeks GS several of our team leaders will be away at the high school shootout, working to earn a spot on the Maine team for the high school New England Finals.  Therefore the co-captains will take over the leader position for this weeks race.

Team 1 - Pierce for Annika
Team 2 - Sarah for Colleen
Team 3 - Erin for Chris
Team 4 - Hayden

If you don't remember what team you are on please refer back to the blog post dated 2/2/13

The schedule for the day will be as follows:

8:30 - pick up bibs
8:45 - 10:00 - free ski and warmup with captains/co-captains
10:00 - 10:30 - course inspection
10:45 - first run GS on Boris (from headwall down)
Second run immediately following first run

Lunch
Free ski with team - coaches will join in after lunch

Parents should feel free to help with organizing and handing out bibs, helping to set the courses, helping to organize athletes at the start, sideslipping the course, collecting bibs at the end of the race and of course cheering and ringing cowbells!  Please see the coaches at 8 am to get organized.

Let's be ready to go out the door at 8:30 so that we can get the race going on time.  Thanks, Coach Reis

Fitch/Gilpatrick Memorial Race Information

Brewster Burns, silver medalist in
last year's Fitch-Gilpatrick Memorial,
shows off the hardware. 

The Sandy Fitch & David Gilpatrick Memorial Race will be held on Saturday, 2/23. This race is sponsored by the Mt. Abram Ski Club and all proceeds will benefit the Maine Cancer Foundation in honor of Sandy & Dave. Many of the race kids have helped make this a successful race in past years and the Ski Club looks forward to your help once again! Coach Courtney will be setting the course on Egomaineah, and we ask that racers meet her at Westside by 9:00 a.m. to help set the NASTAR-style course, assist with timing, and take down the course after the race. Race groups will ski in the afternoon.

The race will begin at 10:00 a.m. and is open to the public. A $10 registration fee includes two runs -- registration will be at the West Side Lodge. We invite all parents and friends to join us and help raise money for the Maine Cancer Foundation (other donations are always welcome!). Ski school programs will also be running at Westside and we hope most of the classes will also be able to enjoy the course!

Thanks in advance for your support and help in making this a great event for the Mt. Abram Ski Club, Maine Cancer Foundation and Mt. Abram Community!!

Class A States Debrief and Plan for 2-23-2013

Click HERE to see a gallery of all Oxford Hills Skiers, Mt. Abram skiers & forerunners.

Congratulations to our Oxford Hills girls for their part in winning the State Championship earlier this week!  Leading the way for the team was Colleen Stauder with an 8th place finish in GS and a 7th place finish in SL.  Current Mt. Abram skiers who are on the Oxford Hills team include Annika Kahkonen - 10th in GS, Chris Burns 8th in GS and Amanda Hanning 15th in SL and 16th in GS.  Due to their top ten finishes, Colleen, Chris and Annika will be competing in the High School shootout to select a Maine team to compete in the New Englands.  Joining them are Mt Abram alumni and current OH skiers Ben Brown (6th SL and 7th GS) and Matt Michaud (8th SL and 9th GS).  Also congratulations to our own Hayden Pearson (Marshwood) for a very respectable showing in GS (28th) and SL (21st).

Thank you to our forerunners who showed the great level of skiers we have at Mt Abram.  Any of the forerunners could have skied in this Class A competition.  Thanks again Pierce, Sean, Sarah, Erin and Kaylie!

For a training plan this week we will be working on Free Skiing and Technique.  Please bring your SL skis (no need for protective gear).  The weekend will be busy with USCSA regionals on Saturday and Sunday (Boris) and the Fitch-Gilpatrick race on Saturday (Ego).  I will be checking in with USCSA to see if we can provide forerunners out of our older age group.  For those athletes please come prepared to race SL on Saturday and GS on Sunday if we can get you in.

See you at 8:30 Saturday, ready to ski!  Coach Reis

Training Plan and Congratulations!

Congratulations to the Mt. Abram athletes that have recently competed in their Middle and High School division championships this week.

KVAC SL at Titcomb

Colleen Stauder - 3rd Women
Anikka Kahkonen - 4th Women
Amanda Hanning - 8th Women
Chris Burns - 13th Men

CCC Conference Championships at Shawnee
Abby Condon - 6th Womens GS
Chloe Noack - 10th Womens GS
Ella Novick - 12th Womens GS

Abby Condon - 8th Womens SL
Ella Novick - 9th Womens SL
Chloe Noack - 16th Womens SL

SMAA Championships at Shawnee
Hayden Pearson - 7th Mens GS
Hayden Pearson - 7th Mens SL
Several more top 15 results from our Sunday group Marshwood HS

WMC Conference at Shawnee
Keaton McEvoy - 17th Womens SL (Skimeister)
Keaton McEvoy - 24th Womens GS (Skimeister)
Piece Stevens - 26th Mens GS

Training Plans
This week we will train SL on Boris with the older athletes course set over the headwall.  Please bring your SL skis and protective gear.  Next Tuesday and Wednesday Mt Abram is hosting the Class A High School State Championships.  If anyone is interested in forerunning at this event please see Coach Reis on Saturday.  Also, we have a lot of B-net to place on the hill on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning.  If any parents or athletes are available to help place this protective netting any help will be appreciated.

Plan for 2-9-2013

With the impending storm knocking at our door we will be free skiing this Saturday.  Bring out those twin tips and rip up the mountain!  We'll get back in the gates when the snow stops falling :-)  Coach Reis

Week 7 Recap

Despite the challenging conditions the athletes had a great day on Saturday with their first Worldcup race.  We set a SL for this race due to hard snow conditions and this was a first for many of the younger athletes.  The captains did a great job warming up their athletes and doing a good inspection.  Everyone figured out where they needed to turn (the combinations can be confusing) and skied quite well.  In the afternoon we had groups that went off to Tele ski and others worked on technique in small groups.  Either way, it looked like everyone had a good time.

The results from the race are: (Captains, I need your team names)

First - Team 1 with Chris Burns as Captain

Second - Team 2 with Annika as Captain

Third - Team 3 with Colleen as Captain

Fourth - Team 4 with Hayden as Captain

One thing to keep in mind when considering the results.  There were several key racers that were not able to race this weekend.  Be prepared for some shakeups to the results when everyone is present.  Have a good week and check in Thursday night for the weekend plans for week 8.