Dear CSC Members,

I want to thank everyone for your enthusiasm and incredible attitude during the last weeks of training leading up to the Olympic Break. We have become a travelling band of skiers that move from mountain to mountain while always showing the Cypress Ski Club spirit!

Lucky for us, the conditions on Whistler mountain were ideal during the two weekend sessions we held. I’m happy to report that of the 65 skiers in NGSL, approximately 40 attended on Jan. 17th and over 50 skiers on Jan. 31st! I know the kids had a total blast and you could just see it in their faces when we picked them up at Creekside. I also really enjoyed seeing all the parents who came to Whistler on both weekends. I’m sure you enjoyed some fantastic skiing or time in the village. During January, the K1 and K2 racers trained regularly and participated in speed camps (to train Super-G) in Whistler. Kstar and Kstar+ skiers joined the K1s in their speed camp, so watch out for those speed demons now! The K2 Parsons Race was held during the K2 Speed Camp. Check the BC Alpine web site (bcalpine.com) for the results of our K2s. You can also find some great photos taken by Gordon Kwan, Jim Davie, and others on www.flickr.com (just search “Parsons Whistler”).

I also want to thank our sister mountain, Mount Seymour and our sister club, Mount Seymour Ski Club for graciously hosting our skiers during this time. They have been fantastic in accommodating us during this period, sharing training runs and providing discount lift passes for the racers and complimentary passes for our coaches! If you happen to see Jonathan Mosley, Director, Ski and Snowboard School at Mt. Seymour, or Mount Seymour Club coaches like Rob Lahti or Marketa Kapur, or Linda Brown the president of the club, be sure to say hello for CSC and to thank them for their support. The turnout by our club to Mt. Seymour has also been very high, over 70% of the skiers each session. The K1s, K2s, Kstars and Kstar+s have also enjoyed night training at Seymour.

Speaking of Mount Seymour, their club hosted a wonderful NGSL race on January 10th. Our NGSL racers won 29 medals but more importantly they enjoyed competition in a fun and festive event. It was a good opportunity to meet other NGSL skiers from other clubs and put to the test all that they’ve learned. Shawn Precious, a board member was on hand to take photographs. I promise to nag him to upload them to the web site! If anyone else has photos please upload them or contact me and I will help get them on our web site (www.cypressskiclub.com).

More recently, our K2s were in Panorama last week for the first of two K2 provincial races. The racers raced Super G and GS and our team had some breakout performances! You can see the results on the BC Alpine web site (bcalpine.com) and soon a summary will be posted to our web site. During the Olympic Break, K1s and K2s will continue to train when conditions permit and they will be on a joint camp to Apex next week to get in some intense gate training in preparation for the upcoming Provincial races.

So you know, mid-season reports on the racers have been handed out or mailed to those who were not at Mount Seymour last weekend. I want to take this chance to thank our coaches for the fantastic job they have done. I’ve not met a parent yet who does not feel that their child has improved his or her abilities and or love of the sport. This is in large measure due to our coaching staff and Shona Park, our program director, who has been indefatigable and excellent in managing the programs throughout the season. Thanks Shona!

Last to report, the board has been active the last month or so. We held a workshop in January to begin the planning and budgeting for next season and to improve upon things for the remainder of the season. We have also launched a sponsorship campaign to raise $22,500 and we are well on our way. Watch for an email from Tina Massey, our sponsorship chair soliciting your help in sponsorship. We are completing mid-season reviews of coaches and staff. We would like your input on the evaluation through a survey, so watch for that. We are also looking at ways to develop strong leadership and teamwork in our racers at all levels, and to improve discipline and conduct within the club. We have started planning the NGSL race that we will host at Cypress Mountain March 28th (we will need parent volunteers for this so get ready to give a helping hand!). Lastly, we continue to work with Vanoc and Cypress Mountain to respond to Olympic planning and ensure a role for the club in Olympic legacy planning.

I apologize for the long report but it has been a busy few weeks! In closing, enjoy the break, especially those of you who have tickets to events. Enjoy watching live or on TV the best alpine athletes in the world! Of course, be sure to watch our Canadian Alpine team of Canadian Cowboys and Speed Queens go for gold! I will see you all when our season resumes at the Mount Washington Toy Race on Feb. 27th!