Sunday Dec 4th Training Report

What a "Stomping" Sunday we had today at Alford. A great mornings training to round up the final weekend of formal training for Gordon Skiers this autumn. Next weekend sees the very exciting and tightly contested annual Xmas races followed by Xmas dinner and presentations.

It was another brisk morning and the mat was once again frozen resulting in James and Malcolm having to call in the trusty friend ‘the pickaxe’ to enable course setting to take place.

RD3 and 4 took on the course this morning with their timed runs and from what I could see there were improvements among all the kids (once some of them worked out the route) and I am sure this was reflected in the times. Some of you may have noticed that the lower end of the club has slowly been growing over the last few weeks as we have been trialing some siblings all of whom have been successful, so a big welcome to all our new members.

Performance squads were working hard with Alex and James working on some individual skills followed by some gate practice. The Christmas tunes were blaring and the spirits were high.

RD1 and 2 endured fitness first outside in the cold followed by some more energetic skiing working on similar drills from previous weeks.

The head to head team races at the end were as close as ever with Andrew Campbell’s team going away as winners. A good indication of how successful a training session is, is when we have to physically pull the course from in front of the final skiers on the hill (and no it wasn’t James this time).

For those following the Gordon Skiers Facebook page you will notice that James (our acting head coach) has been getting many comments on his unique style. He is the master of what has been termed "The Alford Stomp!" Whilst amusing this highly developed "technique" by James is actually very likely to lead to a technical straddle and disqualification in the bigger world so please consider before trying to mimic! James was emphasising "The Alford Stomp" to the max today as can be seen in numerous photos on Facebook and above. Enjoy but don't copy folks - James has this technique not only perfected but patented!!! He is throwing down the gauntlet to everyone at next weeks fun Christmas races to showcase a different style that will catch the photographers lenses!!!

Todays times for both PS1, 2 and RD 3 and 4 are shown below.

HOT NEWS: Watch the blog and Facebook for a caption competition with prizes to be awarded at next weeks Christmas lunch.

Your friendly GDN committee

Perf Squads	Time	Dev 3 and 4	Time
Andrew Simpson	6.67	Eva Sinclair	9.88
Ollie Bailey	6.79	Louisa McIntosh	10.11
Rachel Brown	6.91	Rasmus Ipsen	10.6
Neil Simpson	6.92	Oran McGurran	11.03
Beth Whatford	7.09	Romily	11.11
Graeme Campbell	7.32	Keira Henderson	11.21
Jack Morrison	7.64	Carys Henderson	11.41
Andrew Howell	7.78	Struan	11.73
William Lennox	7.93	Emily Carry	11.79
Paul Marshall	7.96	Olivia Sinclair	12.06
Ellie Green	7.97	Catriona Brown	12.13
Sophie Ross	8.19	Owen Campbell	12.13
Vicky Rasmussen	8.25	Glen Liversidge	12.21
Rachel Morrison	8.25	Shea Campbell	12.31
Ben Whatford	8.47	Jennifer Brown	12.59
Finlay Carry	9.15	Thomas Paterson	13.1

Santa Special - GDN at Rugby Plus

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Order asap either through the website or by contacting Rugby Plus 

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* Availability dependent on suppliers stock

Sunday December 4th Alford Training

It’s that time of the week again to start to dig out the ski kit and get ready for Sunday training at Alford. This Sunday is the 8th week and the final week before Xmas races on Sunday 11th December. We are back to week 2 schedule which sees D3 and 4 on timed runs, D1 and D2 on fitness first whilst Performance Squads are ski training.

Please remember clean shoes for indoor fitness training as we keep making a mess in the gym hall.

Coaches for this weekend are;

PS1   – Alex
PS2   - James
RD 1 - John
RD 2 -  Andrew
RD 3 – Callum & Kathleen
RD 4 – Malcolm & Mark

This week for fitness in the gym hall we are going to work on some High Intensity Interval Training comprising of the following drills. We will do each drill for 2minutes in pairs or small groups and then rotate round the stations with a 1minute rest with the aim to carry out to full cycles. Coaches will adapt depending on the age and ability of the group.

• Press-ups
• Sit-ups
• Burpees
• High Knees
• Sprints
• Bench Dips 
• Plank

Last week we were treated with Cafe2U and Blues both in attendance. The sausage rolls and ski prep demos that went down so well last Sunday sadly won't be available this week but "Fear ye not" as normal service will be resumed with soup and tray bakes to keep you fed. That and the regular friendly chats, cycle rides and all round family atmosphere. 

More details on Xmas races will follow by email shortly.

See you Sunday
The GDN team

Coming to a hill near you very soon.....

We can't give away too much right now but there are lots of exciting new offerings to be released by Gordon Skiers in time for Christmas! Something for everyone - young and less so young, member and non-member, ski racer or novice, teacher or student. It's going to be one heck of a winter season from our club base at The Lecht!

Follow us at www.gordonskiers.com or on our Facebook page to get all the latest information and offers from ski racing, training, events and offers from Grampian and across Scotland.

Winter snow training and race support are now open for booking.

Sunday November 27th Alford Sunday and Bairns and Lassies

A great weekend for the club with skiing on Saturday for some at Hillend followed by the normal Alford Training on Sunday.

Saturday saw 11 athletes competing in the Bairns and Lassies race held at Hillend, Edinburgh. The day started off with a 7.30am bib collection (little bit antisocial) followed by course inspection and then 2 runs down a GS from the top. U12 racers needed 1 run to count and U14 and U16 needed combined times. We had 9 U12 racers and 2 U16 girls competing, this is a great number of U12 racers and hopefully this number will continue to grow. Race Support was led by acting head coach James and assisted by Calum S, there was no stoppage between runs so was a pretty busy morning with 120 racers for two runs. All the Gordon Skiers skied exceptionally well especially those who were skiing Hillend for the first time, Hillend is not the most forgiving of slopes and can be a little bit daunting when stood in the start gate of a 450m dry slope. Beth W put in two solid runs with a 0.3second improvement on her 2nd run to give her 1st place in U16 Female whilst two of our youngest members , and Hillend first-timers, were on the podium in the U8 boys with Glenn L taking 3rd and Finn R coming away with 1st. Well done to all racers especially those that podiumed and hopefully this is the start of excellent race entries and results for the season to come.

Sunday was a slightly busier day than normal at Alford with Blues and Datawax doing ski prep demos and giving advice whilst Cafe2U were serving hot drinks and bacon/sausage rolls which seemed to be going down well with parents and children alike - some even choosing to ski and eat on the go!

 

Due to most coaches being available today I decided to take the day off and do some observation , a task Gary wanted to do earlier in season but coach numbers didn’t allow, to see how coaching was progressing and see the general atmosphere in the club. The coaching seems to be going down well with all the kids coming off smiling and the improvements in their skiing are clear and the feedback from parents is positive and rewarding. 

RD1 and RD2 were on timed runs this morning on a slightly more challenging course than they have had previously with a hard left legged turn after a combination. Despite the course being tough both groups were giving it their best shot and the times were improving throughout the session. PS1 and PS2 were continuing the work and progression they have been on during the season and included some synchro skiing and Jamie has PS1 doing some circus tricks (balancing poles) whilst skiing down. RD3 and RD4 again were continuing to build their skills and week on week the level is improving whilst the coaches challenges the skiers to new drills.

The Head to Head races were exciting as usual with some very tight races and those that fell bounced back to continue racing. Today was exceptional in the fact that some teams had to have 2 skiers on the course to try compete against another team but I think the prize for ‘bending the rules’ goes to Mark R team who managed to have 3 skiers on the course at once in the hope to chase down the winning team today. The honours of winning team go to the acting head coach and his fellow team mates.

Name	Time
Kieran Lennox	8.65
Daisy Cowie	8.92
Logan Duncan	9.14
Torin Liversidge	9.62
Archie Duncan	9.68
Murdo Reid	9.73
Harvey Sleigh	9.93
Ruaridh Rogerson	10.11
Jack Sleigh	10.19
Kizzy Scott	10.31
Jacob Ipsen	10.46
Finlay Cooper	10.54
Alex Hay	11.34
Findlay Cormack	11.34
Dylan Driver	12.27

Sunday 27th Training

It’s that time of the week again for us to prepare for Sunday morning training at Alford. We are on week 7 of training out of 9 so are back to the beginning on the rotation again. Please find below this week’s training schedule. We have RD1 and RD2 on timed runs this week with RD3/4 and PS1/2 on the head to heads at the end.

This week’s coaches are;

Jamie- PS1
Alex – PS2
John –RD1
Andrew- RD2
Callum & Kathleen – RD3
Stuart & Mark – RD4

James will be present and will be popping between groups helping out where needed this weekend.

Reminder – we have Blues and Datawax coming along on Sunday morning to do a Ski Prep/Maintenance demo and they will be able to answer any questions on ski prep that you have so please go and see them. We also have Cafe2U serving hot drinks and bacon/sausage rolls during the morning.

Christmas Lunch Deadline- we need to know numbers by middle of next week at the latest so if you haven’t already signed up then please do so on Sunday morning.

Well done to all club members that took part in the SSSA races this week, it was delight to be involved in and see Gordon Skiers competing. I saw some excellent skiing and it was great evidence of all the hard work that has gone in so far this season. Hope you are all refreshed and ready for Sunday . Good luck to all those competing tomorrow at the Bairns and Lassies in Edinburgh and I will see you all bright and breezy tomorrow morning for a 7.30am bib collection.

See everyone on Sunday.

James (Acting Head Coach)

Sunday November 20th Arctic Alford Sunday

Gordon Skiers are a great bunch. Real enthusiasts on every level.

Saturday we had the Introduction to Mountain Safety day with 19 attendees, 16 of them Gordon’s Members. We covered everything from snow tension on convex slopes to practical exercises with transceivers. The weather was perfect - minus 6 with blue skies and frozen ground.

Kettle and a Pick Axe - Arctic Alford Course Setting

Then today, we had Alford powder with a mat that was frozen solid. Skis were gripping and the skiing was so hot the ice was being turned to steam.

Today’s timed runs were PS1 and PS2. The course was tricky with a big right foot turn 2 gates from the finish beam. It was challenging and a few skiers weren’t too happy with the course setter. Great gains were made and the competition was fierce. Andrew and Jamie were fighting for bragging rights and Andrew managed to pull it out of the bag on his last run, taking the lead from Jamie by the tiniest of margins.

Ellie Green wasn’t feeling it for the first few runs, but once she realised her skiing was more than capable of making the turns she nailed the course and her times came tumbling down. What a smile Ellie.

Race Development 3 and 4 were doing some great work shadow skiing and looking to take parallel skiing to the next level.

Race Development 1 and 2 were pushing themselves hard with testing drills, before testing their skills in the head to heads.

As for the fitness sessions. Great to see the skiers committing to the sessions and even managing to encourage some of the parents to join in. I’m sure I even saw smiles today after fitness - of course that could just have been the cold getting to my brain!

The head to head races were very close today, but Kathleen’s team took the honours. Annabel wasn’t happy with the clean win as she wanted a final. Well done Annabel (and Kathleen) in a great team performance.

Let’s hope the cold weather continues and brings in plenty of snow.

Gary W

Today’s Timed Runs

Winning Team Leader Kathleen and Kieran bowing to the stronger team

Skier	Time
Andrew S	6.81
Jamie R	6.84
Rachel B	7.03
Neil S	7.29
Beth W	7.3
Gary W	7.6
Jack M	7.79
William L	7.93
Nathan S	8.21
Ellie G	8.35
Graeme C	8.45
Paul M	8.61
Ben W	8.72
Rachel M	8.78
Sophie R	8.84
Andrew H	8.98
Finlay C	9.16
Alex	DNF

Training Sunday 20th November

Evening All,

Week 6 of training means we’re at the end of the second cycle of training. The Schedule is as per below

	Group B (Perf 1&2)	Group A (Dev 1&2)	Group C (Dev 3&4)
9:00-9:30	Timed Runs	Ski Training	Fitness
9:30-10:00
10:00-10:30	Ski Training		Break
10:30-11:00		Break	Ski Training
11:00-11:30		Fitness
11:30-12:00	Break
12:00-12:30	Fitness	Head to Head	Head to Head
12:30-13:00

Coaches this week will be

1. James RD1
2. Alex PS1
3. Kathleen RD3
4. Jamie PS2
5. Andrew RD2
6. Mark RD3
7. Callum RD4
8. Gary PS1

It’s going to be cold tomorrow with the mat covered in frost, so we should see some exciting timed runs and races. Please keep this in mind and wrap up warm.

Looking forward to seeing everyone for a good session tomorrow.

Gary W

Whizz Kids Cup Round 2 Slalom Garthdee Friday 18th November

Daisy, Kieran, Nathan and William do it again!

On a freezing cold night at Garthdee the Gordon Skiers racers were on fire again at the second instalment of the Kids Whizz cup.

Daisy Cowie once again won the girls event and showed her class and speed through the gates over this weeks slalom course. 2 out of 2 for Daisy so anyone wanting any tips on her success should catch up with her this Sunday at training!

In the boys it was a full house again but in an unfamiliar order this week. Younger brother Kieran Lennox took top spot from William Lennox with Nathan Smith edged out into third. It's great to see William vs Nathan nip and tuck racing at every event and training session with Gordon Skiers but it appears now they will have to keep a much closer eye on Kieran.

A HUGE well done and congratulations to all four!

It was a shame that Gordon Skiers couldn't have a few more attendees at tonight's event but once again other activities (sporting and otherwise) kept them back and not just the chill at Garthdee tonight!

Next installment of the Whizz Kids Cup is in a weeks time on November 25th when I believe a mini GS course will be set for all those not venturing to Edinburgh and the Bairns and Lassies on Saturday and the SSSA skier cross in Glasgow on Wednesday/Thursday.

Gordon Skiers will continue to run their Alford mid week training/race league on Wednesday despite some absences. Should be a great opportunity to pick up some high scoring league points so please let us know if you want to attend. email admin@gordonskiers.com

Mountain Safety Course - Saturday 19th November

As a reminder, Introduction to Mountain Safety day is taking place this Saturday.

It will take place in the Alford Community Centre, where we run the fitness training.

Alford Community Campus
Greystone Road
Alford
Aberdeenshire
AB33 8TY

The day will run from 10am until 4 pm and the costs are as per below.

· Adult Member £30
· Child Member £20
· Adult non-Member £35
· Child non-Member £25

If you have a transceiver, then please bring it along, for practice. It would also be useful to bring along probes and shovels, of you have them too.

The course will include a practical examination of safety kit and different types of touring kit, transceiver practice, single and multiple burial scenarios intro to the SAIS web site and how it works, route planning and line choice.

Let ’s hope for nice weather too, but as some exercises will be run outdoors, please bring waterproofs. I’m sure the Community Centre has vending machine, but best to come prepared with lunches etc.

Gary W

Gordon Skiers Open Weekend 23/24 Jan 2016

Now that the snow has arrived in the hills it is time to start turning our thoughts to the 2016 snow races.  The 2016 Gordon Skiers Open will be held over the weekend of the 23rd/24th January.  We are currently putting the finishing touches to the arrangements but details can be found on the Gordon Skiers Open 2016 page.  We had a record entry last year who were treated to a great weekend of racing so don't miss out, get your entry in now by completing the form at the foot of the Gordon Skiers Open Page.