Report Cards!

As we discussed with Maja at the beginning of the season
she has to keep up on her schoolwork if she wants
any chance of ski racing again next year. She has
done an excellent job.
Maja received her report card for the spring last week.
As of March 1st she had missed 26.5 days of school,
almost entirely to skiing. What a bum. A ski bum that is.
Maja managed to bring home five "A's and three "B's after
missing all that school during her first year in late French
Immersion. Way to go Maja, keep up the good work.
Not to be outdone, her little sister came home just one
"A" shy of all "A"'s after jumping up a grade this year.
Yes, we are proud and can't resist bragging a little.

Coast Zone Finals

Maja's next event will be the last race of the season and it will
be held at Mt. Washington! We will host the Coast Zone Finals
from April 2-4. The racers will compete in Super Giant Slalom
for the first and only time this season, first time ever for Maja.
Super G is a full on speed event, one step down from the always
risky and exciting Downhill event.
Maja's little sister, Sylvi, will also be competing. She was one of
5 skiers from Mt. Washington chosen to compete at the
K-Star level, which includes ages 9-11. Sylvi turned 9 in February.
This was unexpected and will be Sylvi's first race of this level and
first time skiing Giant Slalom.
We would love to see you all on the hill cheering them on. It will
be an exciting event and with over 600cm of snow on the hill
you'll get some great skiing in too!

Paranationals at Mt. Washington

Mt. Washington Hosted the Paranational Nor-Am Finals March 25-27.

This was a huge event put on by the Ski Club and Mt. Washington.

There were competitors from all over North America.

Maja was chosen to forerun one of the events. Forerunners race

the course right before the competitors to ensure it's ready, safe and

all systems such as timing are functioning.

The local skiers got a chance to meet with some very high caliber,

world class athletes, such as Canada's Lauren Woolstencroft, who

took home FIVE Gold medals at the Paralympics in Vancouver.

Maja and Sylvi chased her down for a photo.

Provincials at Red Mountain

The K1 team competed in the Provincial Championships at
Red Mountain March 19-21. There were six events in total,
2 slalom, 2 giant slalom and 2 kombi. Maja had a very solid
weekend, this time posting her best result in Slalom.
There were a lot of excellent racers from all over the
province at this event. There were 95 k1 females , 45 of them
first year racers like Maja. Maja's best result was her first
slalom on day one.
She finished 31st overall and 12th out of the first year racers.
Nice skiing Maja, 31st of 95 and 12th of 45 for all of B.C.
Her team mate Keegan McCooey finished 44th overall,
also a great result.
Maja's other results were well placed in the middle of the field.
I'll list her overall placing, then a backslash followed by her
placing amongst the first years, and Keegan's overall results as well.
Day one Salom#2 48/19, Keegan 46.
Day two GS#1 60/19, Keegan 64.
Day two GS#2 61/18, Keegan 72.
Day three Kombi#1 53/19, Keegan 48
Day three Kombi#2 47/16, Keegan 68.

The boys had a phenomenal weekend. Kole Harle placed
15th overall in the GS, 4th among the first year racers and
earned himself a qualification to compete at the Whistler Cup.
Awesome.
Liam Gilchrist also placed 15th in the Kombi,
also 4th among the first years.
Logan Frame placed 21st overall in the Kombi and had four
placings in the top 30 of his six events.
Robbie Yelland placed 37th overall in the Slalom,
10th out of the first year racers.
Cole Anserson placed 19th in the Slalom.
There were 101 male K1's, 42 of them first year racers.

The Mt. Washington Team Van.

Maja's 1st GS Run

Maja's 2nd GS Run

Little Sister Peaks at Sun Peaks

Sylvi Travelled to Sun Peaks March 13 & 14 for the

Nancy Greene Festival. There were team events and

some individual events for slalom, kombi, moguls

and jumping. The kids all got to meet Nancy and Sylvi's

team took home the Gold Medal for Team Slalom.

They didn't award individual times for slalom

which is unfortunate as this was Sylvi's best event.

She posted the second best result for Snow Star

level 2, for both the boys and girls!

Number one for the girls!

She tied 4th in jump, 6th in Kombi, 13th in moguls

and tied 4th for speed. There were 37 girls in her

age group (8 years old as of Dec 31, 09).

The Gold Medal Team!

Sylvi, Emily Johnston, Sam Purcell and Kieran Nilsen.

Missing are Kieran Harley, Shea McCooey

and Justin Watt

Hanging Out with Senator Greene

Sylvi Skiing Slalom

Photos and Video from B.C. Winter Games

Check out the photos and video provided by Maja's Grandpa Craig
from the Winter Games in Terrace.

See the earlier post for results from this race.

The Mt. Washington K1's

The Mt. Washington K1 Girls

Course Inspection

The Giant Slalom on Slow Snow and Ruts!

B.C. Winter Games Results

Maja returned from Terrace absolutely exhausted. Sleeping arrangements consisted of 30 kids on the floor to a classroom and they were up at 5:30 the first two days and about 4am the last day. Bedtime after activities was around 10 pm so these kids were pooched. Conditions at Shames were not very good as there was so little snow that training was cut to a couple of runs on training day as the kids were skiing right through the snow into the dirt after a couple of runs. Shames usually rivals all other resorts in North America for snow pack. Maja trained again this weekend and will leave for the next race at Red Mountain on Wednesday.
It's been a busy week so we will post some results for now and add photos later.
Maja skied very well and is consistently placing in the middle of the pack for the K1 group for both first and second year skiers. She definitely prefers the speed of the giant slalom and is getting better results in this event so far this year.
The first day of racing was the GS event with two runs and a combined time. Maja placed 26th of 46 overall and 5th of 17 for first year K1's. A very good result against some great competition from all over B.C. Nicely done Maja. Her team mate Keegan McCooey finished well at 31st overall.
Day two was slalom, also with two runs and a combined time. Maja almost fell but recovered and finished her first run, then managed to put in a good time for her second run to still finish 33rd of 46 overall and 10th of 17 for first years. Keegan put in two great runs coming in at 29th overall. One first year from Vernon finished in the top ten.
Day three was a single slalom run. Maja matched her GS spot at 26th of 46 overall and 8th of 17 for the first year racers. Keegan finished right behind Maja at 9th or 30th overall. The same first year girl from Vernon again made it into the top ten. For the most part the top 15 spots were held by second year K1's for all the events.
This was a tiring trip for all the kids and for a bunch of 12 and 13 year old kids they did very well we think to make it through the event without an exhausted meltdown.

Off to the B.C. Winter games

Maja left for the B.C. Winter Games in Terrace

on Wednesday afternoon. They left on a bus for Comox

at 4pm, fly out of Comox at 7pm, arrive in Terrace at 8:30.

Their breakfast is at 6am, then dryland warmup.

They will compete in Giant Slalom on Friday and Slalom

on both Saturday and Sunday. It looks as though they may only

get a single run each day as there is almost no snow on

Shames mountain, which usually has one of the biggest

snow packs in North America.

Opening ceremonies are on Thursday evening and closing

ceremonies on Sunday at 1:30. There will be all kinds

of fun events for the athletes such as swimming,

a video dance party and a hypnotist. The kids all sleep in

classrooms in groups of 20 to 30 kids. There are over 1100

competitors in everything from Badminton to Biathlon

Maja will likely be exhausted coming home. They fly out of

Terrace at 11:50 pm Sunday, arrive in Comox at 1:25 am Monday

and into Campbell River by bus at 2:15 am Monday morning!

Only her Grandpa Craig could be more tired after this trip.

He left on Tuesday morning and is driving up and back,

all by himself just to cheer the kids on.

Now that's dedication.

We will post more information after they return.

Little Sister Steals the Spotlight

Mt. Washington Ski Club held their annual Nancy Greene Toy Race

on February 27 & 28. This event had age groups from 4 years old

to 10 years old. Every competitor gets a toy and a medal.

There were events for speed, long jump, parallel slalom

and Kombi. Sylvi competed in the 8 year old girls category

as it represents your age as of Dec 31, 09.

Sylvi had an excellent weekend, finishing 3rd in jump,

2nd in speed ,1st in Parallel Slalom and 1st in the Kombi.

Sylvi had the fastest Kombi time in her age

group and had the 11th fastest time of all the age groups for

boys and girls. There were about 8 to 12 competitors in each

age group for the boys and girls, so for the 8 year old group

and up there would be about 30 competitors her age and older.

Nice skiing Sylvi.

Lorena Joy Doyle- February 14, 2010

The family was all shocked with the sudden passing of Nana on Valentines Day. Joy had been ill for the last few weeks but no one suspected we would lose her so suddenly. Joy was Maja and Sylvi's Great Grandmother, Mother to Jenny's dad, Craig and his sister Kerry. She was a wonderful, sweet Nana and will be missed deeply by the whole family. A service and a celebration of life for Joy was held on February 23. So many family events and gatherings will never be the same without Joy.

The race season has been on hold mostly due to the Olympics with training three days a week ongoing but no events. Maja leaves for the B.C. Winter Games in Terrace on March 3 ,returning on March 7. It will be an exciting trip for her and the K1 team. They will be flying from Vancouver and her steadfast groupie, Grandpa Craig will be driving up to cheer her on.

Grouse Race Cancelled

The team was supposed to be racing at Grouse Mountain

for the weekend of January 30-31, but the event was

cancelled at the last minute due to lack of snow.

Unfortunately they waited too long to announce the

cancellation so there was not enough time to transport all

the equipment that travels around the Coast Zone to

set up these races. It was offered to hold this event at

Mt. washington if there had been enough notice.

Mt. Washington will host the Coast Zone Finals

in the spring as they usually do.

The Grouse race may be made up at a later date

at Norquay Resort. Due to the Olympics there is an

unusually long break during February without events, largely

due to so many of the trained and experienced race directors

and course workers from the province being employed and

utilized at the Olympic Winter games.

The team trained on hill instead.

Maja trained Friday, Saturday and Sunday

morning then travelled to play soccer

in Campbell River against Port Alberni

with her Junior Development team at 12:30.

The team won 2-0.

Hemlock Race

The second race of the season was at Hemlock B.C.

This was a Slalom & Giant Slalom event for the K1 racers.

This was another Coast Zone event with Whislter, Cypress

Grouse and others among the attending teams.

Only Maja's Grandpa was with her on this trip and we haven't

viewed actual times or results other than we were

told Maja placed in the top half of the field for all

her runs. As always this includes 1st and 2nd year K1's

so she has also placed very well at this event. We have not seen

a breakdown for her age group only for this event.

The goal at this stage in her competitive career is to place well

and reduce her points to improve her start position at these races.

Having start positions towards the bottom of the pack is the

biggest hurdle to get over for first year competitors.

It is a huge disadvantage as the course gets severly

rutted out as the field of skiers runs through.

The star first year K1 at this event was Kole Harle

of Campbell River. He placed third , which is an outstanding

achievement at this level. All of the Mt. Washington

competitors placed well in this event and were

able to reduce their points, which means they

raised their standings.

Waiting for course inspection.

Dinner time.

Couldn't leave this one out as we're

sure Mr. Logan Frame would be

very upset if it was.

King or Queen of Fashion Sense?

One of Maja's Giant Slalom Runs.

Group Photos

The Ski Club took group photos with

the Olympic Torch and an actual Gold medal

from the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

Local Andrew Crosby was a member of the

coxed eight rowing team which won the medal.

This is the Competitive Race Level

K1 & K2 team for the 2009-2010 season.

Somehow Maja has placed herself front and center!

Hmmm, how'd that happen?

Courier Islander Article

There was a small article in the sports section of the

Campbell River Courier Islander Friday January 29th edition.

The article summarizes the results of the Campbell River

members of the ski team. There is a photo in the actual

newspaper that doesn't appear online. The photo caption reads

as Clinton Wood but the actual racer in the photo is

Mt. Washington FIS racer Mathieu Leduc.

The following is a link to the article on the Courier's website.

http://www2.canada.com/courierislander/news/sports/story.html?id=fd174f0c-7827-4be0-8f02-42d8a1cd846e

Maja Turns 12

Maja turned 12 on January 7th, the day the team

left for their next race at Hemlock. Team mate Keegan

McCooey spent the night to leave the next morning and

the girls made cupcakes for the whole team. This is the rule,

the birthday person must supply cake for the whole team!

Maja decided last year she was done with winter birthday

parties and postponed her party till the summer, which she

decided was a good program for this year as well. We did of

course have the family get together as soon as she returned

from Hemlock.

Ahhh , the sweet life of Maja!

Surprise!

I believe Maja was surprised to get an Ipod

mostly due to her Draconian Father's attitude that

cellphones and mp3 players are evil in the hands

of youth and she will be the last of her friends to

have either. Mission accomplished.

She has waited patiently and now doesn't need

to be the outsider in the team van trying to

sit close enough to hear her friends music.

The Birthday Song and Candle Scene.

Those are big hoops on those little ears.

Whistler race Photos and Video

Olympic Rings above finish corral on Dave Murray Downhill.

Start Gate on Dave Murray Downhill. Gear Everywhere.

Pre-race Preparation. Focus and Visualize.

Be the Tuck, feel the burn.

Giant Slalom

Maja-through the safety barrier netting.

Maja going through the finish line.

Maja's 2nd GS run.

The Speed Suit. Looks fast.

Lunch Time and a well deserved break.

Whistler-First race of the season.

Maja was pretty nervous about this one, understandably so. The week of training at Apex helped but she was feeling the pressure and she handled it very well. This race was for K1 and K2, meaning kids from age 11 to 14/15. They raced two Giant Slalom events on Saturday and the two Slalom events on Sunday were reduced to one run due to the horrible weather and snow conditions.
There was 81 female competitiors with 79 actually posting runs. Maja's times put her in 47th, 47th and 39th overall for the three events. This includes all the female racers in all age groups and categories. She placed 17th,16th and 19th in the K1 group out of 48. This includes second year K1's who are a year older and have a year of racing experience under their belts. She placed 3rd,3rd and 7th out of 18 if we compare her times only to the other first year K1's. She had a great weekend and came out feeling much relieved and certainly more confident. On her very first competitive run(ever), she was in tears at the bottom because somenone had taken her skis at the start area. Her coach finally told her to get into the first pair of skis that would fit her boots. She ended up skiing on skis that were 5cm longer than hers. In the end it turned out one of the K2 girls from her own club had jumped into her skis by accident so it all worked out in the end even if it was a little extra stress for Maja.  This event had a fairly high pool of talent and the Whistler racers dominated most of the events on the podium. The Coast Zone is considered the toughest to compete in for B.C. skiers mostly because of the strength of the Whistler team. Our club did have three boys place in the top ten in Slalom, and Kole Harle placed third overall in the boys K1 slalom, awesome.
Hope to post some photos and videos soon.

Apex Training Week

The Mt.Washington group spent a week of training at Apex Resort.

They were joined by several other Alpine Ski Teams from around

the province as well as the B.C. Masters. There were also several

International Aerials Teams there training at the same time.

Jenny and Craig(mom & grandpa) chaperoned for this event

and they thought the aerials teams were absolutely incredible

to watch. They had to prepare meals for 20 athletes every day.

The athletes were outside at 7 am each morning for

warm up/dryland training then breakfast and out onto the hill.

They also had afternoon dryland training and homework sessions.

All these athletes including the first year K1's are responsible

for tuning their own equipment daily.

Welcome to Apex!

Deluxe
Living!

Soccer at 7am?

What a way to start the day!

Pj's for early morning warmup

at minus 15degC!

A little Coaching to get things started.

Finally a little action!

...and a little attitude.

Dinner.....

homework,

...and tune the skis to

do it all again tomorrow.

Friends.

...and of course the Star

of the show.