Performance Squad Trials 2016

For all existing members of Gordon Skiers who wish to be considered for the Performance Squads the trials will be held on Sunday August 21st 2016 at 9AM sharp.  The assessments will be the same as previous years with both fitness and skiing assessments.  Remember there are no guarantees for last years Performance Squad members.

If you wish to be considered please complete the form below so that we have an early idea of numbers in order to allow us to arrange coaches, assessors etc.

AGM Report

Many thanks to everyone who attended the AGM last night especially some of our young athletes (Andrew Simpson, Rachel Brown, Sophie Ross and Ellie Green)

Reports were presented, positive, constructive discussion followed and then the new committee was elected.

Thanks to Isabel (treasurer), Paul (communications/blog), Maggie (admin) and Lynne for your support and hard work over recent years.

A very warm welcome to our new committee members, Philip Carry, Rob Marshall and Alastair MacKay.

The new committee will be kept in order by a sub-committee of our young athletes represented by Andrew, Rachel and Sophie.

Gary (coaching convener/head coach), James (racing convener), Alistair (development) and myself (chairman) were re-elected and look forward to working with the new committee.

The club has enjoyed a very successful year, welcoming new members, seeing great commitment from the racers and the coaching team, good progress in performance from our athletes and some excellent racing results. The club has been represented at almost all Scottish races, has enjoyed fun/training trips to Braehead and Hillend and has strived to forge closer links with other clubs. (please visit our blog for more details and great photos showing what we have done this year!)

We have some exciting new plans for the coming year so please keep an eye on the blog.

Dates for your diary......dry mat training dates now on the blog and trials/open day 21/8/16 Alford 9am

Gordon Skiers AGM, 7.30pm, Tuesday 21st June 2016, Broadstraik Inn, Westhill

A final reminder about our forthcoming AGM at 7.30pm on Tuesday 21st June at the Broadstraik Inn at Westhill.  This is your opportunity to give some feedback to the committee on how you felt the club has been run over the last year and to influence it's development over the coming year.  We would really appreciate a big turnout so please make some time in your busy schedule to come along on Tuesday evening.

• Gordon Skiers AGM 2016 Agenda
• Gordon Skiers AGM 2015 Minutes

Braehead Weekend

Hi All,

I hope you're all ready for a great weekend of racing in Glasgow this weekend.

As this is the first (Indoor) snow race of the season, the Committee have agreed to fund training for those registered to race this weekend.

My plan is to be there for as close to 7pm as I can be, ready to train. We will have access to gates, but these need to be paid for. They can either be booked in advance, for £18, or on the night, for £20. This should be paid when purchasing your ticket.

Myself and James will be available for training. The first gate session runs from 6:30 - 8:00 and the second will run from 8:30 - 10:00.

We also have some new members coming along to join in the fun, so we should have a great evening.

There is no acceptance list yet but I believe timings are the same as were on the entry form so registration at 8am.  So racers please be kitted and ready to go for 8am when practice opens. 

Hope to see you all on Friday.

Gary W

First FIS Win

A huge well done to Rachel Brown for taking her first FIS win in one of the biggest Races of the Summer.

The Twin Peaks has grown in Momentum over the years. Day 1 is raced on Firpark and day 2 is raced on the formidable Hillend.  For those that haven't stood in the start gate at Hillend, I'd recommend it goes on the bucket list. It really does get the heart racing.

Rachel entered the U18 category this year and faced some tough competition from National Squad Skiers. However she stormed the hill on her second run to take the Gold.

Well done Rachel and well done to all Gordon Skiers. The coaches tell me there was some fantastic skiing from Gordons.

Gary W

Gordon Skiers AGM, 21st June, Broadstraik Inn

It's just two weeks to the Gordon Skiers AGM at the Broadstraik Inn on Tuesday 21st June.  It would be great to see a big turnout from our membership so please make the effort to come along and have your say on how our club is run.  We have made a lot of changes over the last year, this is your opportunity to feed back to us on the changes we have already made and to shape the future direction of our club.

We have a number of  opportunities for those that wish to become involved with running the club, but don't worry if you would rather not be, you won't be press ganged into joining the committee!

We look forward to seeing you at the Broadstraik.

Agenda of Annual General Meeting (AGM)

Date: 21st June 2016

Location: Broadstraik Inn, Westhill

Time: 730pm

1.  Welcome and agree agenda

2.  Agree previous AGM minutes

3.  Matters arising

4.  Chair’s report 

5.  Communication officer’s report

6.  Club development plan

7.  Coaching convener’s report

8.  Racing convener’s report

9.  Treasurer’s report

10.  Election of office bearers

11. AOCB

Braehead Weekend, 18/19th July. Last Chance To Enter!

Ski Racers, You may think it's the height of Summer, but that just means it's the height of the Summer Ski Race Calendar.

If you've raced at the indoor snow slopes before, then tell your ski buddies all about it, as we all know it's great fun.  If you haven't raced at an indoor event before, why not come along next weekend and try it out?

Training will be available on the Friday night, before 2 days of racing. The details of the training are still to be announced, but I'll have gates (and stubbies) available for you to practice on.  James has all the details required to register for the race, so drop him a line and come along. ENTRIES CLOSE TOMORROW (10TH)

The format on both days will be a Slalom race. 2 courses will be set, so each race is different. The Bairns will race on stubbies.  Mums and Dads can browse the many shops at the Braehead centre, go for an ice skate or take in a movie.

As ever, if you have any questions or need encouragement don't hesitate to contact me.
Gary W

Twin Peaks 2016 Day 2, Hillend

Sunday saw leg two of Twin Peaks taking place the infamous slope of Hillend. Gordon Skiers had 4 U14 + racers and 6 U12 racing on a glorious sunny day.

Athletes, parents and coaches enjoyed a slightly more relaxed start to the day compared to usual race days , with the bib collection not till 1pm. Few of the races plus James headed to Hillend mid-morning for a quick ski and to claim the ‘Gordon Skiers Spot’ where we set up base for the day.

Jamie travelled across from Glasgow and had the responsibility of the older racers whilst James took control of the group of 6 Bairns.

The over 14 athlete’s skied two different courses whilst the Bairns had 3 runs on their own course on the other slope.

‘Wee Emily’ did very well in her first dry mat race, after getting slightly lost in the first run and missing the finish, she then put down some solid runs and come away with second U8 Female.

Daisy was back on form today and performed well completing 3 very presentable runs on quite a technical bairn’s course.

Molly, who didn’t want to leave the slope on Saturday night, recovered well after a slight slip on the first run and then proceeded to put in two more good runs and building on her confidence. Paul Marshall grew in confidence each run and put together 3 solid runs, his start on the third run was super fast (great waxing combination J ) .

Finlay was skiing some of the best I have seen him ski, very smooth and good lines to once again complete 3 runs.  Nathan ( Mr Critical) was skiing really well, not sure of final ranking but he was competing well in a tough category against a lot of the local kids.

Over on the main slope the older athletes skied two exciting course with the second course running considerably faster than the first.

Ellie skied the top half of run 1 well and unfortunately had a slight slip up about half way down resulting in her coming out the course. She made up for it on her second run and put in a splendid run, her big smile said it all when she walked back up after her run.

Neil S was on form today, attacking both runs, trying to gain speed out of every turn towards the flatter sections which resulted in very respectable times.  Andrew managed to put together two runs…… well done Andrew. A very solid first run placed him in the top 10 males going into run 2, after producing another great run Andrew finished fifth in U18 Male, which is a very competitive category this year.

Rachel B was on fire today, sitting in the top 5 females after run 1 and then had a storming second run beating a lot of the males and all the females bar 2 to give her the third fastest female time in run 2 to win the U18 Females for the day.

A great day as part 2 of a great weekend for the club.  Happy kids, happy parents and happy coaches!!  Next up is Indoors weekend 18/19^th June at Braehead, Glasgow. Entries are still open  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1h3Z9aLOwCy8tJsglEbx5voEmIjAXaYA03nBl2Vhvzjc/viewform

Dates For Your Diaries

Dates for your diaries, following our committee meeting last week we have set the following dates for dry mat training at Alford.

• 21/8/16 - performance squad and club trials day (0900 - 1300)
• 25/9/16
• 2/10/16
• Half Term Break
• 30/10/16
• 6/11/16
• 13/11/16
• 20/11/16
• 27/11/16
• 4/12/16
• 11/12/16 Final dry mat and Xmas Dinner

(Dry mat training will be at the usual time of 0900 - 1300)

Twin Peaks 2016 Day 1, Fir Park Tillycoultrie

Nathan Smith tucking in for the finish as he takes U12 Bronze

Congratulations to the Gordon Skiers racing at Fir Park today.  Thankfully we were greeted with much better weather than last years downpour, the day dawning with low cloud that soon burnt off to give us a warm sunny day.  Much more suitable for Maggie's barbecuing!

The format of the day was a run for the U14 upwards which was then converted to 2 runs of stubbies for the U12 and under before a second course was set for the older skiers.  The courses were challenging and a number of skiers skied out of the course.  Andrew Simpson straddled a gate at the bottom of the course that went unnoticed by the gate judge if not the photographer and was given an award for the most honest skier after he owned up to it.

Two Gordon Skiers took home medals from day 1 with Nathan Smith picking up bronze from a very competitive U12 group, his times for the course were hard on the heals of some of our older members!! (so watch out you older skiers!).  Rachel Brown also picked up a bronze in the U18 age group against some equally strong opposition.

Once we had finished at Fir Park it was a quick run down the M9 to Hillend for a couple of hours training at Hillend in glorious sunshine!  Everyone is looking forward to a great day of racing tomorrow.

Rachel Brown on her way to U18 Bronze

Presentation to Alex Tilley

Many thanks to the Gordon Skiers who turned up to Alford Ski Slope on Monday evening.  As most of you will know by now, Alex is our very own world cup skier having come up through the ranks of Gordon Skiers and now moved on to greater things as Britain's number one female skier.  At the end of the ski season we held a fundraising disco to help Alex towards her quest to be up among the top skiers on the world cup circuit.  Last Monday we all met up at Alford ski slope to present Alex with the cheque.

Graeme  provided a brief introduction and then Gary gave a quick resume of Alex's career to date and then Graeme presented Alex with a cheque for £2000 from our fundraising efforts. It was great to see Alex who was taking a short break from her summer training to come and receive the funding which will go towards supporting her racing expences.

Alex is Britain's number one slalom skier and has just completed her first season on the World Cup Circuit, picking up her best result of 19th in Leinz in Austria.  This coming season Alex will also be working with our very own Kenny Morton and hopes to improve on her results, looking towards gaining more consistency in her finishes.  We wish her the best of luck with her forthcoming summer training in Germany and Italy and her second season as a World Cup racer. We suspect there will be a few Gordon Skiers glued to Eurosport watching her progress next winter!