The ski season is just around the corner and despite the warm weather of late, if you are like me you are casting an eye toward the north shore to see if there is a dusting of white on the lions! The Cypress Ski Club board together with our director, Shona Park (formerly Crawford - she got married this Fall!) have been hard at work planning for the new season. As you can imagine it is exciting that our mountain, Cypress, is hosting Olympic 2010 events and many members are involved in various volunteer and other roles, the Olympics have also created a unique year for the club and the coast zone. I'm happy to say that with the help of Cypress, our sister mountains and clubs, we have been able to schedule a full year program at all levels! We will take a break for the Olympics but if the snow gods are agreeable, we will not lose any training or ski days.

At every level we have the same great events like the Sun Peaks NGSL festival in March, K1 and K2 provincials and coast zone races, and some new events like our own Cypress NGSL event in April to close off the season. We also aim to host club socials and fundraisers to get members together more often and help support our kids on the mountain.

This year we have a new web site that is a product of the hard work of two graduate students I work with, Jack Stockholm and Kevin Muise, and CSC stalwart and past Alpine Chair and resident tech guru, Jacek Pawloswski. Our aim is to create as much an online community as our community on the hill, and to better communicate between parents, staff, racers, board, and volunteers. If you have any suggestions or see any problems just let me know at president@cypressskiclub.com.

Lastly, over the summer I was elected Club President and we've added many new members to the board. I would really like to thank past members who in the spirit of community and volunteerism served the club very well. I'd especially like to thank Colin Boyd, who has served as president for more years than he'd like to count and has graciously stayed on the board as Alpine Chair to catch me when I stumble. Colin's shoes were far too big for any single person to fill so many others on our board have stepped up their involvement and contributions. We look to you and others to either join the board or volunteer to support the club. In fact, at our upcoming AGM on October 23, we will open up all board positions so everyone has a chance to serve if they would like to. More on this soon.

As for now, welcome back after a wonderful summer. Let's keep our fingers crossed for a wet, cool, and rainy end of November here in the lower mainland full well knowing that the Lions and Cypress will be receiving a full frosting of snow to start our season off quickly! I urge you to register soon and let us know if you as parents want to get involved.