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.