World Schools Skiing Championships

20 pupils were selected by the Scottish Schools Snowsport Association (SSSA) to represent Scotland at the World Schools Ski Championships 2016. The competition was held in the Abruzzo area of Italy, near Rome last week.

5 of us were from the North East and have trained with local clubs including 4 from Gordon Skiers, Beth Whatford, Kieran Troup, Ruby Still and me. There were 4 teams from each country, under 16 and under 18, male and female.

I was in the Under 16 girls team. We arrived in Italy on Saturday 20th of February ahead of the opening ceremony on the Tuesday where each country paraded into the town square with banners and bagpipes accompanied Scotland too.

The races started on the Wednesday and each team member did two runs of slalom and giant slalom over two days. The fastest 3 times from each team counted towards the final result. Our team came 4th out of eleven which was a great result, ahead of the home nation and other Alpine countries.

A big part of the event was to meet people from around the world and to understand the different cultures. There were social events including an opening and closing ceremony, a cultural tour of the area around L’Aquila and also some parties. By playing the bagpipes, wearing kilts and being friendly, Scotland won the Fair Play award which was a big achievement.

The World Schools Championship has been an amazing experience and has introduced me to an international skiing event, something which I will never forget.

Rachel Brown

Alex Tilley, Training Video

A few runs from training over the past week in Hinterstoder, we got some sweet conditions and had a lot of fun with all...

Posted by Alex Tilley - Ski Racer on Sunday, 28 February 2016

Sunday 28th February. Training at Glenshee

The view from the top of the race piste this morning.  What's not too like!

Just a wee reminder that training tomorrow is at Glenshee and NOT The Lecht!  Weather up at the race today was fantastic and the forecast for tomorrow is more of the same so looking forward to seeing everyone up there.

For those just training, please be ready to ski and meet the coaches at the bottom cafe at 08:45. The chances are lunch will be taken on the hill, so please bring money, as packed lunches will be difficult to coordinate.

For those racing, arrangements are the same as today, bib collection was open around 8.15.

See you all up there.

Scottish Childrens Champs, Nevis Range

Can everyone who has entered or plans to enter please drop James an email at racing@gordonskiers.com to let him know.  We need to get an idea of numbers so that we know how many coaches we will need to send over.  If we can get numbers early we can book the coaches rooms early and keep the costs down (which keeps Isobel our treasurer happy!).

Many thanks.

Weekend of 27th/28th February, Glenshee Winter Games / Training

Evening folks, this weekend is the Glenshee Winter games and we have a very strong entry from Gordon Skiers.

The plan will be for everyone to relocate to Glenshee for the weekend.

If you're registered to race, then please check the times for bib collection. Coaches will be in the bottom cafe, ready to go.  The Bairns are racing GS on Saturday and a combi on Sunday, set by our very own Gary W.  BASS will be on Slalom, set by Big Kenny. (I'm not sure which run he's setting)

The Bairns will use Butcharts access Poma for the racing and, I believe, the BASS races are on the Slalom Race Piste.

For training, please be ready to ski and meet the coaches at the bottom cafe at 08:45 on Sunday.  The chances are lunch will be taken on the hill, so please bring money, as packed lunches will be difficult to coordinate.

As ever, feel free to ask for any clarification.

Gary W

Scottish Childrens Championships, Nevis Range 12/13th March 2016

Just a quick reminder that the entries for the Scottish Children's Champs and Bairns Bucket close on this coming Friday, 26th February.  Whilst late entries will be considered they will also attract a late entry fee of £20 so get your entry in now if you have not already done so.

Last year the majority of us stayed in the Premier Inn in Fort William and had a meal together in the pub adjacent to the hotel.  Rooms are currently available as I have booked one tonight but again, experience from last year was that most of the racers from all the clubs will be staying there so it will book up fast.  Given Scotland's fickle weather we would suggest paying the extra that allows cancellation up to 1pm on the day of arrival.

Having said that, last year we all had a fantastic weekend with some great racing on the Goose Gully under alpine conditions with clear blue sky and spectacular views.

• Scottish Champs Invitation
• Scottish Champs Entry Form

Gordon Skiers Ceilidh / Alex Tilley Fundraiser

A Date for Your Diary

This year Gordon Skiers are holding our ceilidh on Saturday 23rd April at Westhill Golf Club.  This is a great  end of season get together  for all the family and this year there will be a slight difference.

Many of you will be aware that we are one of only two clubs in the UK to have a World Cup skier among it's ranks.  Alex Tilley is the British number one female skier and has spent this winter competing in the technical disciplines of slalom and giant slalom on the World Cup circuit gaining some strong results.  We would like to use the proceeds of the ceilidh to support Alex in her quest to break into the top 30 skiers in the world!

So please put the date in your diary and come along and support Alex and the Gordon Skiers.  We plan to have a raffle as part of the evening and would welcome any prizes you are able to offer, it does not have to cost you anything, why not pledge your time to do something?

Blogmaster Is On Tour

The blog master is heading off to Courchevel for a week to be dragged round the mountains desperately trying to keep up with his daughter!  So for news of training please go to the Gordon Skiers Racing Facebook page for details.  Normal service will resume a week on Saturday if he returns intact (unlikely as a certain G Whatford is also involved!).

James and Graeme are in charge for the next two weekends.

Upcoming Races at Cairngorm and Glenshee

Few busy weeks coming up so your cooperation is appreciated to allow us to organise coaches accordingly.

• 20-21 Feb Cairngrom Open- entries are still live for this event and close on Monday 15th. Entries can be made at Cairngorm Entry Form
• 27-28 Feb Glenshee Winter Games, this event has been postponed from 6/7 Feb but entries are still live. Entries can be made at Glenshee BASS Entry Form  Glenshee Bairns Entry Form

If you are attending either or both of these races please let James know by email by Tuesday 16th Feb so that we can organise coaches. Please detail which trainees and which events clearly. racing@gordonskiers.com

Further posts on the next events will follow closer to the time but please check www.britski.org to see what is coming up as the rest of the season is pretty full on. Any questions please feel free to ask James (racing@gordonskiers.com).

Cheers

James

Training This Weekend 13/14th February

Evening Folks,

Since we missed training last week, I’d like to gauge interest in the opportunity for an extra day’s training this Saturday.  If you choose to train, fees will be transferred.

I realise it’s short notice, but if you could respond, at the latest, by Friday I’ll see if we can sort out extra training. Please respond either by posting a reply on Facebook or emailing gary.whatford@btinternet.com

The Lecht isn’t looking too great, so we may need to move training to Glenshee.

Hope to see you Soon, Gary W=

Committee. Your Club Needs You!

Would you be interested in joining the Gordon Skiers committee?  We are looking to recruit some new members to the club committee.  We have a number of posts that will be vacated at this years AGM in May/June and are looking for expressions of interest from club members.

We have three main roles to cover

• Administrator (currently Maggie Simpson)
• Treasurer (Currently Isobel Morrison)
• Coaching Convenor (currently Gary Whatford)

Don't worry if you have no experience, the existing holders of these posts are happy to stay on and support / mentor any new recruits until you are happy you have the hang of things.  If you would like to consider any of these roles please feel free to speak to Graeme Brown our chairman or any of the current post holders to get a more detailed idea of what is involved.

Training Sunday 7th February CANCELLED

Afternoon Folks, I've held off on making a call for tomorrow's training, in the hope that the snow would come in.

One of our coaches was there yesterday and informs me, with confidence, that there is very little to gain from training at the Lecht tomorrow. The uplift tracks are breaking up and the snow on the pistes is very thin.  Although the lifts may well be open tomorrow, I don't think the main runs would support training.

Unfortunately there will be no Gordon's training tomorrow.

Gary W

Training Sunday 7th February 2016

Afternoon All,

I was hoping the snow would hold and that I wouldn't have to make a late call on training this week, but it's looking more likely now.

Given the deterioration of the snow today, I'll need to watch what's happening for the rest of today and tomorrow. The snow is creamy brown just now and not the best for training, however some light snowfall is in the forecast. Fingers crossed it picks up.

GW

Training Sunday Feb 7th 2016.

Those entered for the Glenshee Winter Games races next weekend will have had the email to advise them of the cancellation of the races due to lack of snow at Glenshee.  In light of this we plan to run normal training at the Lecht subject to conditions.

The forecast for the next 5 days is variable.  They had a significant fall of snow today and are working hard to piste this onto the windblown areas at the top.  Over the next few days the forecast suggests both more snow and also a slightly milder period so who knows what conditions Sunday will bring.  For this reason a decision on training will necessarily be a late one but rest assured we will do our best to keep you appraised via this blog and the Facebook page.  We are doing our best to give our skiers as much training as possible despite the conditions the Scottish weather throws at us!!