Mont St-Sauveur QC : May 10 & 19, 2014 – Last weekend at the beach – redux

Saturday May 10
Month 104
Day 78

On this weekend only three ski areas remained open in the East and MSS was again the last in Quebec and amongst the last three open in the East. Jay and MSS had announced that Sunday May 11 was their last day of the season; a season started on October 30 for Mont St-Sauveur. All three ski areas were now on limited operations with Killington open Friday to Sunday while Jay and MSS were only open for the weekend. Actually that isn’t entirely true, MSS had been spinning midweek everyday from 7am to 11am rain and shine for ski race camp on the “MSSI Glacier”. That is the main reason why public skiing in May at MSS only started at 11am the last two weekends.

Part of Mont St-Sauveur with an open Hill 70 and Nordique. There is still a good amount of snow on Hill 71 on the right.

Contrary to the previous weekends, the weather was clear and sunny. I couldn’t ski last weekend, but the plan for this beautiful weekend was to hit MSS and Jay for their last hurrah. The drive from Ottawa to Montreal via MSS is only an extra 30 minutes. The hill was charging $20, but my Edelweiss pass is valid when Edelweiss isn’t open. Mont St-Sauveur’s traditional both late/early season runs were still open. Hill 70 West and the steeper Nordique trail serviced by l’Étoile quad.

I started skiing at 1:30pm and squeezed in 26 runs until last chair alternately between the steeper Nordique and the more popular Hill 70. The Nordique bottom pitch managed to get the legs warmed up before a shape turn and skip over a puddle. The surface wasn’t your typical May surface, especially when the temperature was closer to the July average. It was so hot that even if I was skiing in a short sleeve t-shirt; I was sweating. I believe the temperature hit 28c in the sun and made it warmer with the snow reflection. It was like a day at the beach with some skiing in shorts, bikinis tops or even shirtless. Not a good day to forget to bring water. 😦

Closer look at the two open runs : West Hill 70 and Nordique

Most of the hill had been salted to harden the snow for the race camps, so it wasn’t really the peel away corn or only loose granular. Impressive conditions for the racers…not so impressive for those looking for soft edging, loose snow and bumps.

The coverage was still great on both runs and the snow depth was generally close to 5-8′ on most of Hill 70 and a bit less on both of Nordique’s pitches. The middle flat on Nordique was thinner and won’t necessarily survive to another weekend, but Hill 70 shouldn’t have an issue making it for a while, unfortunately the word was out: “Sunday May 11 is our last day”. Some people were hoping that MSS would change their minds as there haven’t been many good Spring weekends for skiing. Maybe the steady turnout, a good forecast and leftover snow is going to motivate to open next weekend? I recognized a few people I had seen before including Frankontour with his young son.

Monday May 19
Day 80
Last day of liftserved in the East.

Lunch on the patio for the Final day

Leftover snow on Nordique’s pitch

I returned for the “Last weekend of the 2013-14 ski season again”. The news came Friday morning that there was too much and the weather was perfect again for an extra weekend; which happened to be a Victoria Day Holiday weekend in Canada. I was happy as I couldn’t get away from Ottawa on this weekend, but I was free to go skiing on Monday. I had hope to make a return trip to Killington this season if they went further into May, but it wasn’t meant to be and I ended up, somewhat surprisingly, returning to MSS for one more time to close out Eastern liftserved ski season.

Middle Nordique

Iop of Nordique

Father and daughter

Today I managed to get my teen Morgane to come along for the drive and the skiing. I had promise her a late wake-up call and a warm bluebird t-shirt day. It wasn’t as hot as the previous Saturday, but it was still over 20c. As expected, the skiing was down to Hill 70 West. The snow on the Nordique trail was all gone, minus a few patches on both pitches. The temperatures across the East from Vermont to Quebec had been warm and above seasonal averages. So much so, that Killington announced that this was also their last weekend. Their last day of the season was May 18; one day earlier than MSS. Was this a surprise? Not really as MSS had added an extra weekend last season also closing on the Sunday May 19 and didn’t open for the Holiday Monday due to the uncertain forecast.

We stopped get some food at the grocery store in Morin Heights as my daughter wanted to eat as it was noon already; she was hungry and wanted to eat. No rush as a few hours on Hill 70 would definitely be enough. The snow was still a few feet depth in some places, the surface was corn and the final pitch was bumping up nicely (although bumps on Superstar are better), but was somewhat thin on skiers’ left.

Similar to last week, some familiar faces showed for another “last weekend”. Wake was hitting the rare bumps on the final pitch without counting on Maximini that seems to follow me this May. There was even Powdermonsieur and Bellezébuttes from Zoneski that showed up with telemark gear that the couple rented that morning in Laval, just North off the Island of Montreal. The people at the store looked at him strange; “late May and returning a telemark rental the same day? WTF?” This was only their second time on teleskis, as he mentioned, they needed some challenge; “it is after all only MSS”.

Morgane at the top of the final pitch

The middle flats

We started at 2pm and skied just short of 20 runs until last chair at 4:55pm. As I loaded on the chair, I said to lift operator…”see you next weekend”. He was hoping so, but not all the MSS employees shared his enthusiasm for skiing…they wanted to move to other things like getting ready for the opening of the waterpark on June 9. On the drive back, we stopped at Lowe’s Dairy for an ice cream and frozen yogourt in Lachute; a business connected to Hockey All-Star and six-time winner of the Stanley Cup Kevin Lowe’s family. There is also a ski connection with Lowe as he is married to Canadian Skiing Hall of Fame, Olympics and World Champion medalist Karen Percy.

Final pitch

MadPat’s Gallery:
Mont St-Sauveur QC – 10 & 19 mai 2014

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Edelweiss + a bit of Fortune QC : January 25-26, 28-29, 2014 – Back on course

After the bad week and last episode of rain 14-days ago, the awesome 2013-14 Winter was back on track. The Polar Vortex 2 moved in time for the Ottawa Masters to use their no skin suit rule last Wednesday. The temperature moved away from the deep into the -20s just in time for Saturday.

Saturday January 25 : Edelweiss

The Strief ski run opened for the previous weekend, but we were away racing at the neighbouring hills. Prior to the trail opening, Strief had a few big mounds of snow on it which was probably moved after the rain, then it got real cold.

Saturday morning was covered with 10cm layer of fresh snow. As usual, instead of making fresh tracks, coaches were making a fresh course down a steep Streif. I couldn’t believe the amount of snow that was blown at the entrance and in the pitch of a still closed Shotgun trail. I’m taking meters high. A few poachers defied patrollers and ducked the rope or sketched down on the edge of Strief behind the pipes.

Today was the return to awesomeness of our great winter weather with fresh snow, big flakes falling and -6c in the afternoon.

Sunday January 26 : Edelweiss

Our Winter hasn’t been only about the snow, but also the cold spells. A freezing -29c start which would warm up to -18c later in the afternoon. Shotgun mounds of snow were roughly flatten, but I think the trail was still closed and some people were still poaching it.

It didn’t matter, it was a hero snow day on Strief. When it is this cold, snow doesn’t slide much. Hard lovely carveable cold artificial snow on the steep pitch, I could have stayed for hours if it wasn’t for my frozen hands and toes. Morgane was giving her ski lessons, not easy to ski with young kids when it is this cold.

Tuesday January 28 evening : Edelweiss

Another 10cm feel on Ottawa on Monday with continued cold conditions, awesome skiing and -18c. Coaching on Strief again, but with the U10s and U12s for a training evening under the lights. For the three outings in four day, I still skied exclusively on Streif.

Wednesday January 29 evening : Fortune – Back on course (Racing)

So Winter was back on course…now it was time for me to get back on course. Back to ski racing. I’m taking babysteps in Winter 2014 in my return to Ottawa Masters ski racing after a hiatus due to health issues. I’m still not over them and I’ve been skipped two of the first three races struggling with my anxiety. Wednesday was my first slalom race since March 2011. A slalom on Slalom was the order of the evening. I hesitated before leaving the house, however I managed to overcome my demons for this night. The stress level was slightly better than my first race back two Wednesdays ago, but the results were again far from my normal handicap. Skiing at 88%, second last in the Beer Points again. Although the conditions were nice, the course was down to the blue ice layer from the rain event. The skis weren’t tuned, but that wasn’t important, the goal was showing up for the race.

Next race is already tomorrow: a GS at Edelweiss.

Tonight’s Results and Beer Points

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Edelweiss QC : The Eleven days of Christmas Holidays 2013

What did I go during the Holidays? Not sure other than ski many days at Edelweiss and watch hours of Doctor Who episodes. We also got away for New Year Eve Celebration at Titus Mountain, New York.

Saturday December 21

On the first day of Christmas,
Ullr and MSSI gave to me:
Yodeler, Chute, Trou du Diable, Easy Street and Chemin des bois trails to ski.
A snowing drive after the previous day long snowing drive to and from Tremblant.
A nice -7c and smooth skiing.
One coach off to Newfoundland and the another at Tremblant resulting in me skiing with the U10s.
Great day with the exception of one hour of freezing fog and a young racer being plowed by a snowboarder on Chemin des bois.

Sunday December 22

On the second day of Christmas,
Ullr and MSSI gave to me:
Yodeler, Chute, Trou du Diable, Easy Street and Chemin des bois trails to ski.
Woke up by some ice pellets hitting the window.
No snowplows on Ottawa streets and crazy slow snowing drive after I managed to hit the highway.
A nice -6c and 12cm of fresh snow with a layer of sugar on top with was hard for the U10s.
Freezing windshield and goggles weather turned us into skiing glazed donuts.

Monday December 23

On the third day of Christmas,
Ullr and MSSI gave to me:
Upper Zoomer is added to Yodeler, Chute, Trou du Diable, Easy Street and Chemin des bois trails to ski.
Brushes on Upper Zoomer for the younger kids to brush up on their stance and pole plant while older kids got full gates on Lower Yodeler.
Again nice -7c and awesome groomed packed powder skiing.
So good that I added a couple of extra runs after the training was done.

Friday December 27

On the fourth day of Christmas,
Ullr and MSSI gave to me:
Upper Zoomer, Yodeler, Chute, Trou du Diable, Easy Street and Chemin des bois trails to ski.
Skiers’ Boxing Day…after wrapping, unwrapping and shopping in the last 3 days, it is time for the folks to hit the slopes.
The Strief chair opened for the first time this season, but no extra terrain open.
An 8am arrival for my daughter Morgane’s CSIA Level 1 Instructor Course even if the lifts only opened at 9am.
One coach gone and two were back – Christmas Camp is starting for the whole race program.
Brushes and stubbies on Upper Zoomer and Full gates and hand timing of slalom runs for older kids.
Conditions were awesome in the morning, but I was helping to set the course.
Deep cold as moved in those days, but the cold morning temperature, turned out to blue bird and -7c again.

Saturday December 28

On the fifth day of Christmas,
Ullr and MSSI gave to me:
Upper Zoomer, Yodeler, Chute, Trou du Diable, Easy Street and Chemin trails to ski.
Second day of CSIA course for Morgane, second day of camp for the race program.
Racers skiing GS while younger kids begged me to take them in the “bumps” which was in fact ungroomed mounts of snowmaking on the skiers’ left of Upper Zoomer.
Warm day in Ottawa with a -1c at 7am, temperature hovered around freezing all day.
A very light spitting like on Day 2.
The top of hill was covered with a fog/mist when we left.

Sunday December 29

On the sixth day of Christmas,
Ullr and MSSI gave to me:
Upper Zoomer, Yodeler, Chute, Trou du Diable, Easy Street and Chemin trails to ski.
Morgane passed her CSIA Level 1 and follows in the tracks of her grandfather more than 60 years later.
Christmas camp day two and I’m with the U12s today as we set on Upper Zoomer.

Congratulation Morgane!!!

Monday December 30

On the seventh day of Christmas,
Ullr and MSSI gave to me:
Upper Zoomer, Yodeler, Chute, Trou du Diable, Easy Street and Chemin trails to ski.
Cold -20c and the snowguns are back on Zoomer.
Frozen U10 kids in and out of the lodge a few times.
My whole family is at the hill and Morgane’s season pass snapped in half while training GS with the U16s.
Warmed up to a -18c in the afternoon.

Thursday January 2

On the eighth day of Christmas,
Ullr and MSSI gave to me:
Upper Zoomer, Yodeler, Chute, Trou du Diable, Easy Street and Chemin trails to ski.
Car had difficulty to start when it was time to leave the hill.
-29c makes for a freaking cold day, almost record-breaking, wind chill warning in Ottawa, frozen toes and frostbite at the end of nose to end the day… even if it had warmed up to -24c. Hard to believe that it could be colder than earlier in the week.
We had the hill to ourselves, except for a few brave frozen souls.
The kids trained GS top to bottom on Yodeler on a Polar Vortex day.
Too cold for the radios to function; awesome groomed conditions.
Huge mountain of snow on Zoomer…can’t wait to have it flatten so we can have another run open. There was also limited snowmaking operations on Easter Bowl and Streif for the first time.

Friday January 3

On the ninth day of Christmas,
Ullr and MSSI gave to me:
Mountain of snow on Zoomer are flatten.
The rest of Zoomer is added to Upper Zoomer, Yodeler, Chute, Trou du Diable, Easy Street and Chemin trails to ski.
Another -29c start at a freaking cold day, wind chill warning, frostbite on nose and frozen toes as it warmed up to -25c.
Stubbies slalom instead of full gates due to cold and the risk of breaking them.
As for my body, I thought my nose would fall off.
Incredible skiing on incredible new grabby hero snow on Zoomer.
Snowmaking on Easter Bowl and Strief.

Saturday January 4

On the tenth day of Christmas,
Ullr and MSSI gave to me:
Zoomer, Yodeler, Chute, Trou du Diable, Easy Street and Chemin trails to ski.
Couple centimeters of fresh snow and Slalom training on Zoomer.
Much warmer day forecast gave us a still cold -22c to start and increased wind. Temps managed to crawl up to -14c, but still had frozen toes and nose.
And Mikaela Tommy visiting her coaching brother and giving back to her club and community. Never saw someone ski so fast in a course without touching the gates.
18-year old Mikaela received the rockstar welcome from the kids.

Sunday January 5

On the eleventh day and last day of Christmas holidays,
Ullr and MSSI gave to me:
Zoomer, Yodeler, Chute, Trou du Diable, Easy Street and Chemin trails to ski.
Great conditions and awesome skiing with fresh snow again. You know its good when a World Cup skier skis Edelweiss on fat skis.
People tracking powder when we are setting.
Mikaela was back in the afternoon with her race gear to ski with the club and her dad, Mike Tommy (twice Olympian and Canadian Champion in the 1980s), gave a few pointers to the racers and coaches.
It was a great conclusion to the last day of the Holidays. Awesome snow conditions, awesome skiing by the kids and awesome pointers from World Cup skiers.
And real warm day compared to the last few days; -12c to -4!!!

Last Holidays were real good, but the 2013 Christmas Holidays skiing at Edelweiss was overall the best in over 5 years!!!! The Ottawa region was blessed by Ullr this Christmas, let’s just hope he doesn’t take too much of a break this Winter and keep delivering.

Pictures courtesy of Julie from the Edelweiss Ski Racing Team

U12s on Lower Yodeler

Mikaela skiing the awesome conditions

Maddie U16 training slalom on Zoomer

Adam

Chris

Xavier

Mikaela and her fans!!! You can even see a piece of MadPat in that picture

Support Mikaela Tommy : Make A Champ website

S-Media : Q&A with Canadian Rising Star Mikaela Tommy by C.J. Feehan

FIS website : Mikaela Tommy’s biography and results

Bob and Doug McKenzie : Twelve Days of Christmas
Truly is the Great White North!!!

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Titus NY – December 31, 2013 & into 2014 – New Year Celebration

Celebrating the New Year in New York!!!

Ti..s is the place!!!

Not TIMES Square at the centre of Manhattan, but TITUS Mountain on the Northern edge of the Adirondack mountains a few miles south of the Whippleville near Malone, New York.

In the last days of 2013 I received an email from Titus informing me of their plans. I thought it would so cool. I had skied a number of times on the first day on New Year, but never at the stroke of midnight.

Quote from Titus:

This New Year’s Eve, we’re pulling-out all the stops to ring in 2014 & you don’t want to miss it!

Great food & beverages, LIVE entertainment, nightskiing & much, much more!

Our lifts will be OPEN ’til 1am on New Year’s Day! For the FIRST TIME, you can lay down the FIRST TRACKS of the New Year!

As midnight approaches, you can enjoy our Torchlight Parade down the main slope in front of our expanded lodge & patio area . . .

. . . and, at the stroke of midnight as the last torch goes out, the FIREWORKS explode over the mountain!

The North Country has never seen a New Year’s celebration like this! Join us & welcome in 2014 the Titus way!

It was something that I had looked for New Year 2000, but I didn’t find. Now we were going into 2014 and a family ski area few miles south of the border was going to make it happen. The month of January 2014 was also a personal skiing milestone for myself.

Wait at US Customs on New Year’s Eve

Although I was skiing locally at Edelweiss almost every day during the Holidays, the family thought it would be so cool to drive to Malone, New York. The forecast was calling for an extremely cold night, but the lowest temperatures of the week was pushed back 24 hours making me breath a sign of relief as my youngest daughter had a hard time the previous day at Edelweiss. We hadn’t planned to ski for the whole day, but the last few hours of the year and getting first tracks of the year past midnight was on a “Bucket list somewhere”. We left Ottawa after 6pm to make the 100 miles 2-hour journey across the border. Between the traffic, slippery roads with snow and the cold below -21c, the longer than average wait at the US Border and the odd extremely slow driving individual such as 30mph in a 55mph zone (they were either drunk or never drove when snowing types): the drive took us over 2:40. We arrived shortly after the torchlight parade (which had been moved earlier in the evening) which gave us a parking spot not far from the lodge.

Sign to Titus

Base Lodge

Party in the Base Lodge with band playing some Guns

We walk through the the bar which was rocking with lights and a live band playing stuff like Guns N’ Roses. It was passed 9pm when we got our lift tickets. This was my third trip to Titus: the last one involved us showing up at unfortunately closed ski area during a terrible Spring Break 2012. The only visit which featured actual skiing was in February 2005. Morgane was only 7 at that time and it proved to be an excellent family ski area. It is a 1200′ vertical area with 3 small mountain with a calm atmosphere. The night skiing is limited to two sides of the smaller of these hills.

Ski Map

Ready for some turns

Sunset at the base of Chair I

Chair I

This was the ‘least’ good and the iciest conditions I had experienced in 18 outings so far this season. I have to say that the conditions for the last month have been consistently amazing. It was snowing and there was a nice layer of fresh snow, however the base was slick and firm and would have called for sharpen skis to fully appreciate it. It is true that ski areas north of the St.Lawrence divide hadn’t suffered any real thaw this season, unlike near or south of the border.

A trip to Titus is a bit of travel to simpler time with old lifts, old lighting and quieter trails. I always love skiing at rustic ski areas. The terrain offered to us didn’t add any extra value to make the trip from Ottawa, especially for the night skiing. The skiing isn’t steeper and the vertical isn’t really greater than the Ottawa locals have to offer. For the same distance, you can make it to Tremblant, but you won’t be able to find that rustic feeling, excellent family, quiet and beginner ski area.

Snowing on Chair I

Main Side and Chair IV

Our late evening started with a slow ride up the triple and a descent towards the other side of Moon Valley. Morgane mentioned that the black run wasn’t that much harder than Edelweiss’ green run Easy Street. There was maybe 7 various descents to be skied on this night. The plan had to ski non-stop until next year, but it was a cold night. The temperature was warmer than anticipated with a -14c compared to the -20c it was in Ottawa when we left, but it didn’t stop us from taking a small break to warm up.

Warming up

Fireworks and snowflakes galore

Our last moments of 2013 we done riding the slow double. Certain trails had their light shutoff and the trail closed by a simple chair during the fireworks so we could ski back to the main side from our location. With a few other skiers, we watched the fireworks from behind the chair then heading down the still blackened trails. The darken trails reminded me of night skiing when I was in High School in the early 1980s.

The run on the side of the double chair (chair I) with runs like Whistler, Sunset and Milky West-Ravine Run were more interesting than the flatter main side with chair IV with Milky West, Little Dip/Meadow Run, Chocolate Chip and Ridge Run, however that more remote Pine Run was nice and quiet. The Face was a sheet of ice-covered by small layer of snow. Besides the entertainment inside the Base Lodge, there was also a few people riding the beginner handle tow, in the novice terrain park or at the snowtubing park. A wonderful evening to spend outside.

First turns of 2014 in the dark

Tara and my wife were cold and called it quits for the night with maybe 30 minutes left. Morgane and I closed off our evening until last chair on the main side at 1am. It was a wonderful evening and I could see a better great way to celebrate the New Year and reaching month 100 in the ski streak. I have a voucher for Titus and I might make a return visit when the bigger mountain is open, because 2-hour
is a long drive for this skier to only ski 155 meters (508ft) vertical which is smaller than the hills next door. Still I wouldn’t have wanted to be at another place on this day.

MadPat celebrating the 100-month mark

Happy New Year everyone in the Ski Mad World.

MadPat’s Gallery:
Titus NY – December 31, 2013 – New Years

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Edelweiss QC : December 15, 2013 – Powder Training

After a brutal cold -23c Saturday in Ottawa, it was time for a +23cm powder day at Edelweiss.

Unfortunately I couldn’t go skiing on the cold part of the weekend 🙂 as it was that time of the year for Christmas shows and kids. So one week after my last outing on groomed awesomeness…it was time for a rare real local powder day.

Not sure how much snow had fallen on Ottawa when we left, I just know that it was deep trackless driving on my street. We arrived shortly after 8:30am and the lift had open earlier than announced. I hurried up and joined the team. As we got to the lift, it might have been the first I’ve seen the GM ski. We joked that he had the lift turned on and was skiing since 3am.

The kids were training their stances and balance in light champagne powder. No gates on a powder day. Give them some mileage and work on some different conditions. Morgane was also out with the team to get some practice runs.

The guns were blazing on Yodeler, but Ullr wasn’t being out gun by machine; it started really puking in the afternoon.

In one week, Edelweiss had added Trou du Diable, Pitch and Rue principale to Easy Street and Chemin des bois. The patrol dropped the rope on the steeper Yodeler and the short Chute. They were also busy trying to bust people for skiing closed runs like Zoomer.

I started skiing with my old Atomic slalom skis as the kids all had they race skis, but I had issues with one binding which popped off a few times. Not sure what was wrong there? The afternoon was spent on my fatter skis with a touring binding.

It was a big day, 24 runs at Edelweiss. The day started ungroomed and trackless; definitely one of my deepest days locally. The only people at the hill in the morning where the racing plus those in instructor training or coach taking the course. In the afternoon the mounds of loose snow were building up as the snow was being tracked up fast.

It is an awesome start to the season, just hoping it continues that way.

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Calabogie ON : March 17, 2013 – St. Patrick’s Dual

After a two-day Spring Break in the Green Mountains (Sutton and Mad River Glen), we were back in town for one last weekend of racing for adults and kids. Back-to-back Edelweiss Masters Final and the Final final race in the kids season at Calabogie before everyone get back to school and work.

A very short night for St. Patrick’s Day and Dual race at Calabogie Peaks. Tuning skis to fix Morgane’s race ski from that rock “hidden under powder” damage and a long drive for a very early arrival at the hill. It’s hard getting at the hill for 7:30am when you have more than a one hour drive. Let’s just say that I was pushing it … a bit. At one point, I remember passing a familiar minivan on Highway 17…good, we won’t be last from the club to make it to Calabogie. 🙂

Early morning look at the Dual Slalom Course

It was a cold morning for late March which was a good thing for the race. So it was the usual hurry up to get at the hill and wait type of day. Tara, Mrs. MadPat and I hooped on the chair just prior to 9am and started skiing corduroys run after run!!! We started skiing the long green Ole K&P which is the further run west then started moving right to left on the map skiing afterwards Fiddlers, Buckshot and Shanahan’s. My face and feet were slightly frozen.

Tara and Caroline

Tara going skiing moose imitation

At 10am we headed down towards Face of Tiger; I felt like I was skiing on pre-edge skis. The race start was set below the face. When I found out they was the race start was going to be detailed, I informed Caroline and Tara to continue skiing for a few more runs, because it was going to be awhile before Morgane’s turn. I wanted to set up for some picture of the kids.

The short delay, became longer and longer. We found out that there were a number of athletes that hadn’t preregistered or shown up, so organizers had to sort out the pairing in order to make sure racers skied against someone about the same caliber or not alone. All U14, U16 and U18 were invited to this special end of the year Dual.

Morgane’s first run

Stephen taking off

Adam letting his hand down

Filip heading towards the finish

Nick off the jump

Each skiers would be getting 1 run in each course paired up and race head-to-head in the same competition in a dual format. After over one hour delay to the start, the race was on. I’ve participated in a couple of Dual races in the 1980s and they are always spectaculars. It can be a bit nerve-racking for parents. Morgane started off strong in dual and was running neck-and-neck at one point, then she feel behind and landed hard after second jump, lost both skis and crashed hard with a face plant on the bullet proof snow. 😦

DIN setting!!! The DIN setting is a touchy issue, especially after she broke her leg in a crash when her ski didn’t release. She didn’t have any issues of skis popping off this season, but she didn’t race on Dual jumps either.

I increased the DINs for her second run. The course was getting rough in a few places, especially the gate at the biggest jump and landing area, many skiers crashed or lost their skis. She was more tentative and wasn’t as fast out of the start blocks on her second run. She completed her run and I was proud of her and her season, especially coming back from a major injury. By the time that all the kids got their two runs in, it was already 1pm. The fastest 8 per age categories would move on the elimination round.

The Start

Maddie and the coaches at the start

Shinning icy Face of Tiger and start of the Dual : Maddie on the right

Morgane’s second run

Xavier ahead, but…

…he would get a rerun.

A previous skier was hurt at the finish and Xavier is charging towards him. Xavier would make the Final 8 for the U14’s in the afternoon.

Chris’s first of 8 runs in the day. We would eventually get a bronze once it was all over.

Simon (left) would just make the Final 8 (U16) with this run

Lunch

A close team : Xavier, Morgane and Maddie

Once lunch was over, everyone gather to hear who would get to race in the afternoon. The matching was fastest against 8, 2 vs 7, etc. Two runs, the fastest combined time win and moves to the next round. Got it? Now the time for the maths. Let see…

8 skiers
x 3 categories
x 2 boys and girls
x 2 runs
96 runs in the first elimination round.
48 runs for the top 4.
48 runs for the Final and 3rd place.
Total amount of runs : 192

Rounding it up at one run every 30 seconds makes for a total of 96 minutes, but that is very generous considering the re-runs, race stoppages and rides back to the top. In fact, they were 16 skiers in the U18 category racers either, so…

At the start before the Elimination Round

Maddie (left) is in a tight race in the Quarter Finals

Xavier in the Elimination Round

It was about 2:30pm when they got started and Calabogie doesn’t have any night skiing. To speed things up, the top 4 were getting ski-doo rides up the slope along the 21-25 seconds course. By the time everything was over, the chair was closed. The two 4 racers in the day would have done 8 runs in the course for a total of under 3 minutes in their day, but make no mistake, ski racing is tiring and the were some close calls and a few crashes. The course was pretty beaten up with 192 runs, but it would have been so much worse if it wouldn’t frozen solid in the morning and the temps would have closer to a typical St. Patrick’s Day.

Few racers still racing – coaches and racers waiting for it to end

Snowmobile rides for the racers

Chris racing in the Semi-Finals

B Final, to determine who will get the Bronze. Both skiers are tired at this point. Chris lose his pole at the gate above the jump.

Chris skiing without pole and glove.

Second run of the B Final. Eight run for both of them. The margin was tight, skiers tired. Chris was slightly ahead when his competitor crashed.

The family got a bunch of runs in, Morgane stayed at the start to encourage some of her teammates that made the elimination round. As for myself, I got 6 before the race and only 3 more in the next 6 hours. I might not have gotten many runs, but a did get many pictures from the kids from the team.

The St.Patrick Après-Ski was back in a Kanata restaurant with the kids and some of the kids and parents from the U12 Championship race at Ste-Marie. Celebrating an excellence an excellent season and the last of the early early morning wake up calls.

End of the day and the race season

U16 Podium

Days’ Log

MadPat’s Gallery :
Calabogie Peaks – March 17, 2013 – U14 & U16 Dual

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The Edelweiss Masters Finals : March 16, 2013

After a 1AM arrival from March Break with the last two days on both side of the Québec – Vermont border: it was time to get up real early and head for Edelweiss to work for the Masters Finals. For the second year in a row, I wasn’t in it. Instead of playing with the camera as role of photographer like last year’s Finals at Cascades; this year I had a drill and some gates.

As the previous weekend at Edelweiss, I was working the race. However a Masters’ race is easier going than the U16 Championships. The whole family was out for this one. Morgane and the other U14 and U16 racers were going to forerun the first of either the GS or the Slalom runs. After two days of pain in her knees, Morgane was feeling better. Morgane would have been 3rd fastest girl if she could enter the race. Maybe in a few years? 🙂

To my surprise, the race was being held on Zoomer instead of the initial planed Strief. They were some concern that Strief was going to be real fast with hard conditions, so they was a decision on making it safer for everyone. The conditions were bullet proof. The start was set just above the pitch. Dan also set the course in order to contour problem spots with little snow on Zoomer with made an interesting line for GS and the Slalom. The slalom was going across the upper pitch then lined up to one of the quad chair pylons.

Last year I made 24 runs during the race: this year it was 10 over 6:40. The Masters Finals are always fun: its day time, not freezing cold and dark. After the race people have time to chill or make a few runs before heading inside to the end-of-the-season door prizes.

Instead of repeating Gary’s detailed description of how it went down; I’ll quote the Ottawa Masters Ski Association prez for the most of the rest.

The Edelweiss Finals

Wow! What perfect model for how to run a great race!

The day started chilly, -12.5C by my thermometer. Light clouds and lots of sun. The temp held, climbing only to -8C throughout the day. The conditions were perfect for a ski race. Groomed corduroy, hard fast snow and great viz.

In the morning, the scene was humming. Gates were going up. At the finish hut, they set up score boards, outdoor PA for time announcements, aligning the beam and hay bales.
They set up a corral and then, they decided to expand it. I head Pat say they were doing it for Gary. I piped up and said “Thanks Pat, that’s awfully thoughtful of you” To which Pat replied, “Not you, Fast Gary.” Hmmmm. So I guess that makes me, what? Aahhh, Slow Gary? The Presidents Curse strikes again.

The World Cup points race was on the line. Benoit was leading the series all winter and wearing the yellow bib. But Gary J, with 5 wins in a row was slowly catching him up. By Saturday morning, the deficit was cut to 28 points, which meant Gary had to win 2. It was looking good but then Bob showed up. Everybody knows Bob is strong in the Slalom and he was there to win.

The Ladies division was pretty much clinched by Kathleen and Carmen, but the bronze was still open for the taking. Sarah was holding that spot, but she was out west. Erin was coming back from a soccer injury. Could she do it?

The World Beer Cup Points was led most of the season by Vladimir. He has been training like a madman. As the defending beer cup champion, he was looking repeat with back to back wins. Never been done before. The beer points is the most volatile division, you just never know who’s get it all together and win the 100 points on the day. In this division more than any other, it is never over, till it’s over. Only about 150 points separated 1st from 5th. Would Greg Z or Chris Z step it up? Would Vlad choke on the foam?

At the end of the day, who took it?

This is what happened on Zoomer that day:

Podium GS race Mens / Ladies / Beer Points:
Gold JONES, Gary / DEVOST, Karine / MALEY, Shane
Silver BERNIER, Benoit / CONNELLY, Kathleen / DESAULNIERS, Roger
Bronze SUDERMANN, Robert / HALL, Erin / PACHNER, Martin

Podium SL race Mens / Ladies :
Gold SUDERMANN, Robert / DEVOST, Karine / WISMER, Laura
Silver JONES, Gary / WISMER, Laura / MALEY, Shane
Bronze BERNIER, Benoit / PORTER, Carmen / SUDERMANN, Robert

So Gary won his 6th race in a row in the morning, but finished 2nd to Bob for the slalom. Although Ben made it on the podium for both race, it wasn’t enough to maintain is lead. Gary finished ahead of Ben by one step on the podium in both races.

In the Ladies, past Canadian Masters Champion Karine took a break from being a busy mom to show to everyone that she still had ‘it’ winning both races.

Here is who won what at the end of the year Banquet:

2013 Ladies Champions:
Gold CONNELLY, Kathleen
Silver PORTER, Carmen
Bronze HALL, Erin

2013 Mens Champions:
Gold JONES, Gary
Silver BERNIER, Benoit
Bronze BLEW, Brian

2013 Beer Points Champs:
Gold ZULIANI, Chris
Silver MARTINCEVIC, Vladimir
Bronze DUVAL, Melanie

2013 Dave Gowan Award:
This years award winner is an individual who has been with the masters organization for a few years now and is a stalwart member of the new skool gang – the group of young, fast, die-hard skiers, out to make us grey hair bifocal wearing fuddies wish we were in the bar. He attended 10 out of 12 races. He was one of 4 racers who improved his beer points handicap in both disciplines. His sense of humor and Masters spirit was set when he raced in a Green Morph Suit at Cascades.
The deal clincher was set when he flew home on the Red Eye from Cuba landing at 5AM so that he could attend the finals. Leaving someplace warm, to race in the Finals? Now that’s dedication to the craft! And that’s why this years winner is:
Chris Evans

The staff and members of the Edelweiss Race Club pulled out every stop and delivered an amazing race. The races were set perfectly, started on time. The course crew were efficient and friendly. The lunch was excellent and prompt. The bar party was great. Thanks a lot to JS, Ken, Jonathan, Patrick and the rest of the Edel Race team and staff.

Good Job, Well Done.

I hope you all had a great season and you all come back next year for some more Ottawa Masters Ski Racing Fun!

This was the end of the Masters racing, but my daughter still had one race to go. The following day was another early start with the U16’s Dual at Calabogie Peaks. Another early morning where everyone had to be at Calabogie Peaks for 7:30am for that Sunday race and they are a good 60 minutes from our house in Ottawa. Courage…it is the last race.

Full Slalom Race and Beer Points results
Full Slalom Race and Beer Points

Pictures courtesy of the Ottawa Masters Ski Association

John Irvin, founding members of the Ottawa Masters

Dominique and Sophie at registration. It couldn’t happen without them. Note some of the door prize behind

Shaun Fripp, Canadian Ski Hall of Fame member and one of the founding members of the Ottawa Masters

Shaun and Kim Fripp – uncle and nephew, both member of the Canadian Ski Team at one point (Kim for Ski Jumping at the 1976 Olympics). The Fripp family have been called Ottawa’s Von Trapp Family 🙂

Skis are race ready

Morgane and the other U16 Edelweiss Team Forerunners

The race is about to start with veteran Peter Kunstadt in the gate

Gary J on his way to win the Championships

Combine Alpine and Breakdancing?

Kim looking at the results and repeating the Masters’ Motto : “The older we get, the faster we were

Group picture

Click HERE to see the rest of the album from Ottawa Masters Edelweiss Finals.

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Edelweiss QC : March 3, 2013 – U16 Slalom and the Chief of Course POV

In a Day in a Life of Chief of Course for U16 Slalom Championship Race. It was a busy weekend, after the end of the awards presentations for the GS Championships at MSM on Saturday, a few of the Edelweiss parents headed for Edelweiss to make sure everything was ready for own big day instead of back home in Ottawa. It was a short evening…and an early morning. A few teenagers weren’t too happy with the detour.

It was already a challenge as the whole family at the hill for 7:30am. I finally managed to get out of the race room and on the lift at 7:50am. I needed to work on the race coral, finish coral, gates, fencing, work on the start, coordinate course crew, etc. The temperature was a nice sunny -7c. This was the only U16 race at Edelweiss this season and the only race on Strief with has a pretty intimidating pitch. The Edelweiss coach had set a similar course for Tuesday night training in order for the kids to get ready for Strief race.

Conditions were almost perfect as it was bullet proof with no major course work needed. The new brush gates don’t pop out as much as the old strew gates. It’s funny, when the screw gates arrived on the race scene, it was the best thing since slice bread.

I stayed at the start or at the top of the pitch for the whole race, so I didn’t really get to ski much; maybe a bit of boots skiing from the start to the pitch. Let’s just say that it was a much easier day than the nightmare 2011 Finals two years ago when everything went wrong and the power went out. We had to scrabble to find forerunner; it was eventually a few coaches, unfortunately one of them injured his knee.

As for my day, I did one run to the bottom prior to the race to start, one quick just prior to the inspection of the second run in the afternoon followed by three others at the end of the race in order to coordinates the stuff (B-netting, fencing, gates) brought down from teardown. I had to make two more trips to the top to bring stuff at the top for the upcoming Wednesday night’s Masters race. The total of nine hours on the hill was only Five runs: a long day, at least it wasn’t -1000c.

Here is a small video from skirace802 on Youtube that some people who ever race could relate:

Here are some of the few pictures from the start or top of the Strief Pitch as seen from the Chief of Course.

Testing the timing

Edelweiss team at the top of the pitch

Waiting at the start with Patrol on Stand-By

Caroline

Morgane

Boys’ turn : Coach and Tristan

Chris

Heading for a 10th fastest time. Unfortunately didn’t finish the second run like over one-third of the Boys.

Tristan: Just behind Chris in the 1st run with an 11th place. He would finish 11th overall

Nick

Course setting for a 44 gates second run

Course measuring distance between gates

Chief of Race and Start Ref looking at the second run start list

Second run under way – last picture before the battery died

MadPat’s Gallery
Edelweiss : March 3, 2013 – U16 SL

Race results : Boys and Girls

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Ste-Marie QC : March 2, 2013 – U16 GS Championships

Already 3 months since that last U16 GS Race. Another weekend and another race at MSM for the second weekend in a row. After last week’s Art-Tommy race, it was time for the U16 GS Championship race. It is also a good thing, it is the first time Morgane had made the Championships after having missed out the previous two years due to injuries.

This was my 3rd time driving the 95km drive from our house and 7th time Morgane was skiing the highest mountain in the Outaouais. It is also the longest drive and a late departure from town made us arrive behind schedule at the hill. It was still earlier that the ordinary crowd, but not for racers. The coach and the other team racers had left for Cheval Blanc side for course inspection on Outaouais. He had left me a radio, I hurried to get ready and ran out of the lodge at 8:30am. Inspection was already underway when Morgane and I got on the chair. The coach was already halfway down the course when we arrived at the start corral.

I got to coach my daughter and do a fast inspection with her. This was the second GS of the season at MSM and like I mentioned on the first race in January, you have to be ahead of the game and know where the gates are, sometimes they are hidden behind the numerous big rolls.

One free run then the race was on as I radioed back to the coach at the start from different vantage points on the course. Temperature was around -10c in the morning and there was a little freshies on the hill from the snow that had fallen in the last few days; it was under one foot, but nicely groomed for that one free run down Betsy prior to the start of the race. I managed only two more runs, the last one being the long traverse back to the Lodge and the Vanier side on the Frank-Pouliotte trail.

Back across to Cheval Blanc for the second run inspection; this time Morgane was with the coach and the rest of the team as I headed to the old double black Klotz trail that is no longer on the map. It was one of the few trails that I had never skied in the Outaouais, today I saw one set of tracks and ducked rope. It isn’t the hardest trail I’ve skied, but there are a few tricky turns and very different from all the other trails in the region. In hindsight, it reminds me a bit to the old Lower Lower Ryan trail in the pre-Intrawest days where most of it is flat until the sharp drop at the end. Klotz had a similar feel to it, plus you could ski over the mountain bike turning bridge instead of dealing to a rework dropoff slope to prevent erosion. After that run, you’re back on the Vanier side, so I pushed off again to get back to Cheval Blanc.

Mont Ste-Marie 1998-99 Ski Map

The race was about to start, so I stayed around. As I rode the chair, I noticed people skiing fast a steep section in the woods. Found out some locals had cut-it and headed there not once, but twice, as the kids were participating course teardown. A steep, mogul, glades and some fresh snow, I was getting some practice for a most anticipation return to Vermont for Spring Break. To cap off the day, I returned to the Vanier side via the Klotz trail again. So after 3rd time this season and 15th time lifetime, I skied 4 of my 6 afternoon runs on terrain I had never skied before. It gave me a different perspective of MSM, especially when there is a small layer of fresh snow and more in these unmarked runs.

Another big day tomorrow, Slalom Championships at Edelweiss and I’m working the race, so no sleeping in tomorrow morning either. Courage, it is almost over.

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Mont Ste-Marie QC – February 24, 2013 – Speeding past MadPat

I believe this might be a first? For the first time ever, Morgane had more ski days than me at anytime during a ski season. Heading into this Sunday, she was at 25 days versus MadPat’s 24 total. This was her 6th day at MSM this season and she was going to return next weekend for the GS Championship race.

Morgane and the rest of the team left Ottawa early Wednesday to head to Speed Camp. She trained, skied and raced Super G for the last 4 days. This was the Art Tommy race which Morgane missed out last season due to her breaking her leg only 3 days prior to the Camp.

The whole family was up early for this one: MSM isn’t next door. We showed up to the cottage that the team was renting, but everyone had cleared out. I did a few runs with the family including the steep Betsy with Tara. The snow wasn’t slick first thing in the morning, but it was going to change as skiers skied, slide or side-slipped it. Formidable looked icier from the get-go. While I was waiting for the kids to ski in the race, Caroline and Tara continued to make some runs on the Cheval Blanc side.

The kids were using most of the Outaouais trail with its drops, turns and rolls, which is one of the favorite runs in the region. The race was using the entire trail, so to leave the start area you either needed to climb back up a bit for a traverse or do like a I did, bushwhack out towards Betsy eventually.

The race was a super combine in which the 2nd run would be a slalom in the afternoon. Even if Morgane is light and racing on 175s versus the bigger girls on 195s, however her overall results were much better in speed events versus Slalom, especially this season. This was also the case today.

At lunch, Tara had seen two of her friends that belonged to a ski club which bused kids from Ottawa to different hills every weekend. They managed to tag up to each for the last few runs of the day on Vanier, the main side of the ski area. Not as steep and added some variety to the limited runs on the Cheval Blanc side. Once the race was over, I did a few runs on Vanier and managed to tag up with them. Although there was a layer of fresh snow in the morning and snowed most of the day, the snow on scrapped off to the slick side the steeper runs. I noticed a new glade on the Vanier side, but it looked even more scraped off.

Next weekend is the Finals with a return trip to MSM for the GS championship and the first U16 race of the season; the slalom championship. It’s been a busy season.

Morgane at the start

With coach and Caroline

Tara is tired of waiting for the race to start

Caroline

Morgane

Finish area

Tara skiing Betsy

Mrs.MadPat and Tara at the bottom of Betsy on Carousel

Chris

Nick

Simon

Tristan

Skiing across the other side on Frank-Pouliotte

Vanier side within sights

Ski Chalet at the bottom of Vanier side

Afternoon inspection prior to Slalom Run

Start area has been lowered for Slalom Run

Morgane’s slalom run

Chris

Tristan

Nick

Simon

Trails on the Vanier side from the top of Cheval Blanc

Skier on Vanier side ; Cheval Blanc’s trail in the distance

A glade : this is new

The fairly new Sudermann Side trail on the South side with no lift back

Upper Serenade

Mrs.Madpat with Tara and friends on park’s edge

Tara in the park

Podium for the U16 Boys

MadPat’s Gallery:
Mont Ste-Marie : February 24, 2012 – U16 SC

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