Training 30th November........and now the video!

Thanks to David Alexander for these videos from today's training.

Training Report November 30th.

Wow, what a day of training for Gordon Skier's today. The rain finally cleared and the Gordon Racers were shining as bright as the sun. I'm taking a well earned break from decorating the Christmas Tree to report on today's activities.

It seems the timing gear has really got everyone motivated. I don't know the times this week, but Paul will be publishing them separately.

Two Reminders

Two reminders for you all.

• Firstly we need all those planning on coming to Alford Golf Club for the Christmas Lunch to fill in the form to let us know your choices from the menu.  Deadline for this is Next Sunday.  Our order will be going into the golf club on the Monday.  Christmas Menu Form
• Secondly we need you all to complete the snow training form.  Deadline for this one is Sunday 14th December.  We need forms completed and fees paid by then so that we can finalise everything before the Xmas / New Year break.  Snow Training Form

Timings From Training, 30th November

So that's how he got his fast time!  : )

The timings are in!  So who are the cruisers and who were the losers??  Read on!

In the battles of parents V children, David Alexander is clinging on ahead of Hamish....... but it is getting close and Beth has the bragging rights in the Whatford household tonight!

2014 SSSA Indoor Skier/Boarder Cross

There were some great performances from Gordon Skiers at the 2014 SSSA Indoor Skier/Boarder Cross Race at Braehead on Thursday.  Gordon Skiers were representing a number of local schools with strong contingents in the Alford, Banchory and Robert Gordons teams.

Dry Mat Training Sunday 30th November

Evening Folks, again this week we will be splitting the training between indoors and outdoors, so please come prepared.

Sunday's coaches will be James, Jamie, Malcolm, Kenny and myself.  The format will be the same as last week

• Perf 1 , Dev 1 and Dev 3 will be on skiing first.
• Perf 2, Dev 2 and Dev 4 will be on fitness first.

A reminder of the times for all. Ready to ski at 9:00 am, for the first group and 10:30 am for the second group. Please do your best to be ready to go on time, as it really helps the coaches stick to the teaching plans.

Timings From Yesterday's Training

Here are the times from yesterdays timed runs which your skiers may well be interested in!  Gary, you might like to note that your daughter's time is getting extremely close to your own with a mere 8/100 sec in it!! Good also to see Hamish Alexander leading his father home by 2/100 of a second!

U16 and Above Boys	Time		U16 and Above Girls	Time
Kieran Troup	6.81		Rachel Brown	7.21
Andrew Simpson	7.12		Tabby Allan	7.57
Erik Rasmusen	7.32		Vicky Rasmusen	8.17
Hamish Alexander	7.6		Hannah Morrison	8.35
Graeme Campbell	7.77		Rachael Morrison	8.58
Callum Duff	8.31		Lauren Liversidge	8.66
			Kathleen Rae	8.82

Training Report November 23rd

What a fantastic training day for the Gordon Skier's today. I'm not sure if the sunshine made a difference, but everyone was beaming.

We had a bit of a change of theme today, with timed runs for most racers. I must apologise to Development Squad 2, as it's my fault most of you didn't get a timed run. I promise you'll all get times next week.

Gordon Skiers Christmas Lunch

If you are planning on coming to the Christmas Lunch then please complete the form below to book your place and make your selections.  If you have not filled in the form we will assume you are not coming.

Christmas Raffle Prizes

Many of you will have noticed that we have not had are usual Ceilidh this year.  We had hoped to hold it in the autumn season however we have just not had the resources to organise it.  As a result we have lost one of our main fundraisers.

To make up for this we are planning to have a raffle at the Christmas Lunch.  We are looking for donations of prizes so if you, your employer or any friends could donate any prizes they would be gratefully received.

Dry Mat Training Sunday 23rd November 2014

Evening Folks, again this week we may be splitting the training between indoors and outdoors, so please come prepared.

This week's coaches will be James, Jamie, Malcolm, Kenny and myself.

It seems I wasn't clear enough last week and caused some confusion.  The format will always be the same for the plastic training, so athletes and parents know what to wear for first session.

Perf 1 , Dev 1 and Dev 3 will always be on skiing first.
Perf 2, Dev 2 and Dev 4 will always be on fitness first.

Congratulations to Ben Morris, as you have have made the step up up to Development 3.

The plan is for Me to run the first fitness session. The grass is soaking wet, so I'll set up (hopefully) indoors, with Kenny on Perf 1, Jamie on Dev 1 and Malcs on Dev 3.  The second fitness session will be run by Kenny, with myself on Perf 2, Jamie on Dev 2 and Malcolm on Dev 4.

Looking forward to seeing you all on Sunday.

Gary W

Training Report, November 16th

Many Thanks to all who came to training today. It was a very wet start and I saw plenty of soggy skiers at the half time break.

We managed to secure the use of the Alford Scout Hut, to keep the fitness training in the warm and dry. A bit of a change for the fitness and the feedback, so far, has been positive ”fitness today with the video was great fun” (Thanks Ellie) Thanks to Alistair and Mark for helping out with the fitness. (Alistair even managed to put quite a few of the Athletes to shame by completing the whole session, in his denims)

Dry Mat Training Sunday 16th November 2014

Evening All, I hope you're all ready to train hard tomorrow.

For fitness, please remember to bring a water bottle. We're going to be working hard on fitness tomorrow and I expect everyone to work up a real thirst. The land training we do is really important for ski racing. It's designed to increase the stamina and stability of the athletes, as well as build on the core strength that's essential for high level skiing.

We'll be splitting the training between indoors and outdoors, so please come prepared.

Tomorrow'c coaches will be James, Jamie, Malcolm and myself.

The plan is for James to run the first fitness session, with myself on Perf 1, Jamie on Dev 1 and Malcs on Dev 3.  The second fitness session will (probably) be run by me, with Jamie on Perf 2, Malcolm on Dev 2 and James on Dev 4.

Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow.

Gary W

PS, I'm hoping to pass on some info, before skiing tomorrow, so would appreciate is athletes and parents could hang around just before 9am.

PPS  A wee reminder to change in the changing rooms and no kit or changing in the hallwat

Gordon Skiers Xmas Finale 2014

It’s coming up to that time of year again where Christmas plans are underway. Gordon Skiers will be hosting their annual fun Christmas Races at Alford on Sunday 14th December during the normal training session. The action packed morning will be followed by a Christmas Lunch at Alford Golf  Club. The morning will see any members who wish to race put into mixed teams and racing between all teams will take place, who will be champion this year? Details on the racing will follow in due course.

Winter Race Dates

A short update from our racing convenor James.  The dates for this winter's races are now published and can be seen on our Calendar page.  Most important date for your diary is weekend of January 24/25th when we will be hosting the Gordon Skiers Open, hopefully at the Lecht snow permitting!  Dates of all other races are published via Snowsport Scotland and can be viewed on our own Calendar page which incorporates the Snowsport Scotland calendar.

Please remember that we will need a lot of volunteers to allow the Gordon Skiers Open to run so please keep that weekend free and make yourself available to help James.

Other dates are:-

• Glenshee Winter Games 7/8th February
• Cairngorm Open 21/22nd February
• Scottish Championships Cairngorm 14/15th March

But remember these dates can be subject to change so watch the club calendar page for updates

Training Report, November 9th

There was some great skiing out there today, especially from the younger skiers!  Pity the same could not be said of the coaches!!  Fras here demonstrating how not to do it!  Sorry Fras but we could not turn down such a golden opportunity!  In fairness the subsequent recovery was very impressive.

In the racing it was a win for Kenny's team who were undefeated!  A special mention also for Kathleen Ray who stepped up to make up the numbers in the coaches team.  Gary would especially like to remind the Performance Squads that it was again a win for the coaches!  : )

All the skiers should take note that we will be refocusing on the fitness training and assessments next week.  So for those in the Performance Squads........ there is relegation as well as promotion!

A selection of photos have been posted on our Facebook page.

See you all next week.

SSSA Alpine Races. Schools Matchmaking Service!

This seasons SSSA Alpine Race series are now accepting entries. Many of our Gordon skiers have participated and will do so again this season as part of one of their schools teams.

This note is for those parents whose children's school struggles to make a team of four racers and thus attend the qualifiers. This year, as in the past, the rules permit two schools to join in order to provide opportunity to our smaller schools and typically more rurally located ski racers to compete. I am aware some parents have coordinated "mergers" in the past but for this season I am happy to assist and help communicate between our skiers parents with this issue. The basic details for the Alpine race series are as follows....

Housekeeping Notices

Following our committee meeting after training today there are a number of housekeeping notices.

• Parents, please sign your skiers out at the end of training, we need to know who has been collected for your children's safety.  Whilst signing out has improved it is far from perfect and there are some recidivists out there!
• Can all skiers please use the changing rooms to change.  The centre has asked us to ensure nobody changes in the hallway as this has been blocking fire escapes in breach of fire regulations.  This is for our safety.  There are no football teams using the changing rooms on a Sunday morning at present so we do have sole use.
• We are looking for parent helpers to help with running the fitness sessions.  Please offer your help to Gary and he will put you in contact with the coaches running the fitness sessions.
• We still have an issue with parents of the younger skiers not being present at mid-morning break to help them change into and out of skiing gear,  If they are not able to do this themselves, you need to be there to help them please.

Committee Members Needed

Finally and most importantly, we are in need of committee members.  We have lost 3 committee members (through no fault of theirs or ours!) mainly due to relocation away from Grampian.  We are looking for a Sponsorship convenor and two ordinary members.  If you want to know what is involved speak to any of the committee members and if you wish to offer your services please speak to Graeme Brown the chairman.  

Snow Training 2015

Important Notice!

Well, the first snow has been falling up on the hills so time to start thinking about on snow training!!  We have now finalised details for winter 2015.  The first Sunday of training will be 11th January, the first Sunday after schools go back and will run weekly through to 29th March, a total of 12 weeks.

We are pleased to be able to keep snow training fees to £20 per session or £240 in total for the third year running.  Can we remind any of you who have not been training on dry slope and who have not yet paid their club membership fees that you will need to do so at the same time as paying for snow training.

The deadline for applying and paying for snow training is Sunday December 14th.  We need to have this finalised prior to the Xmas / New Year break.

As with dry slope training please use our online form for registering for snow training and pay online using paypal or online banking.  Details are on the application form.

Training will run from 9AM to 3PM with a break for lunch.  This means that skiers must be ready for skiing at 8.45AM.  The coaches will leave with their groups at 9AM and will not wait for anyone not present, (even if they are in the car park getting their boots on!).

Snow Training Application Form

Dry Slope Training, 9th November

Welcome back to dry slope training after the half term break.  The groups remain the same as does the order of play with Performance 1,Development 1 and Development 3 skiing first, Performance 2 and Development 2 and Development 4  will be doing fitness first.  Please be kitted up and ready to start at 9AM sharp.

UKCP L2 Alpine Course for Les Houches in January (11-16th)

Message from Snowsport Scotland

"Dear Club Contact,

Yesterday we announced the dates for a scheduled UKCP L2 Alpine course for Les Houches in January (11-16th). This will take place just after the Anglo-Scottish/BSA Champs (3-7th) and the Scottish FIS Races (5-6th and 9-10th) in the Chamonix Valley.

Gordon Skiers in Hoodies

Dear all,

Having had several enquiries, we are now looking to take orders for Gordon Skiers hoodies, softshells and fleeces: one bulk order will be easier for the supplier to handle than individual orders and also lowers the costs a little.

Clothing items will be sourced from Team Spirit Promotions (www.t-spirit.co.uk).

Bairns and Lassies, Race Report from Gary.

Many Thanks to all the racers and supporters (Parents) that made the trip South for the Bairns and Lassies race on Hillend on Sunday.

As Graeme has mentioned, this is the toughest plastic piste in GB to ski and race on. Bearing in mind we had 5 racers in the Bairns category and 2 of them had never even skied on it before they did amazingly well. Two clean runs from Daisy Cowie and a top ten finish.

LSRA Bairns and Lassies :- The Video.

Many thanks to Neil Walker of LSRA who has posted this video of the day. Watch carefully and you will see a few Gordon Skiers in action!

Bairns and Lassies, A Message From the Chairman!

A massive thanks to all racers, parents and coaches who traveled to Hillend for the Bairns and Lassies race at the weekend. It was a fantastic turnout with 16 racers from the club competing. A special mention goes to those racers competing in their first races.