Hey U19’s!

It’s with mixed feelings that I write our season wrap up. On one hand, we had numerous racers qualify for U19 Eastern Finals @ Gore only to have the season abruptly end and the event cancelled suddenly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, we had great highlights as recently as our speed training on Upper & Lower Alley Cat & End of the Season Party. As we hunker down with closed schools, long lines/limited supplies at the grocery stores and the isolation “social distancing” creates, I’d like to highlight some of the great things that happened this past season with our amazing U19 Race Family.

U19 Eastern Finals @ Gore

Congratulations to the following on qualifying for U19 Eastern Finals this year! It was the result of all of your dedication and hard work this season!

Girls – Emily Chudy, Clare Howard, Delphine Cohen, Winnie Mann, Frannie Mann, Ava Amuso & Chloe Gagnon (alt)

Boys –Dax Roy, Hayden Claussen, Ethan Leifer, Henry DiVecchio, & Oliver Thompson

Tristate End of the Year Party hosted by Colleen & John Manning

Big thanks to the Mannings for hosting the End of the Season Party, taking over the tradition from the Cashens, as Chris and his family deal with his torn ACL/lmeniscus. Thanks to Coach Troy, Coach Doug & Coach Mark for their input with the paper plate awards. If you weren’t able to come to the party just let me know and I’ll send you your paper plate award and Catamount Racing swag courtesy of the Parent Association. Thank you Winnie and Frannie for your awesome video! Perhaps you could upload it on Sprongo on our team page?

End of the Season Racer Evaluations

Your coaches have completed your evaluations for the 19-20 season. Please contact me through Remind to give me the email you would like to be shared the document otherwise it will be shared with your parents’ registered email. I’ve changed the format this year back to include coach feedback with an additional space to give your own. Your feedback will help to improve our training next season!

Congratulations on your hard work this season!

On behalf of all the U19 coaches, I’d like to extend a hearty congrats to everyone for their hard work this past season. We’ve seen some great improvement in every racer on the team. Some of you really worked on your “mental game”, while others were working on their carve on steeper terrain. Some racers really improved your commitment of weight to the outside ski, while others worked on earlier pressure before the fall line and earlier release just after the fall line. Some of you really improved your SL clearing technique while others really improved your pole plants which also helped your timing. It was great to see is how motivated you all were and with such positive attitudes that you brought to the mountain every day of training. It inspired us to work that much harder for you.

Thanks so much to Ski Patrol, Steve and the race crew for all of their help and organizing; bringing gates and B-netting up to the top of Upper & Lower Alley Cat and Race Slope as well as their help in setting up and breaking down fencing and courses. I know that we all appreciate how much the safety factor for all of our racers has improved this season.

Thanks so much to our volunteer photographer & videographer, Raphael Kummer-Landau. Not only did he video many of our practices to be posted on Sprongo.com, but he set up an account on Smugmug (password: “catamount”) and uploaded close to 5,000 photos from the entire season. If you haven’t already, please consider contributing $10 or more for his work. Look for his account name: “@raphaelkl”

Big thanks to Coach Colin & Coach Bruce for their leadership and “make things happen” attitude that’s enabled us to have a such a great season.

And finally a special thanks to the parents of our team. You took care of registrations, drove to the mountain early in the morning and late at night, made sure that equipment was taken care of and ready for training and races, video’d our races, volunteered to set up and break down B-netting and courses (even in the rain!). It is your support and help that makes our program possible!

Cheers to a great season and to the next! Take care of one another and be safe.

Coach Pat : )

Hey all! This is from Mark Colman, our resident Tristate U19+ Chair:

To U19+ Athletes, Parents and Coaches:

A reminder that the final qualifying race of the season is this Sunday 2/23 at Bousquet, and this will be your last chance to improve your standings. The program is attached and on the Tri-State website. Please check that you’re registered before the late fee applies Thursday at noon.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sVlntgO369zl1i9TpoNTsZ0B5hkeO-Zc2uHxDLEXhFQ/edit?usp=sharing

https://adminskiracing.com/node/245077

As previously mentioned, due to the many race re-schedulings and some field size limits, qualification for the U19+ Eastern Finals at Gore (March 19-22) will now be based on the best 2 results, not 3. Preliminary rankings including the Blandford Parallel SL are attached and posted on the Tri-State website. While PSL is not scored for USSS points this season, we used it for internal ranking purposes since Gore plans to include a PSL event. 

https://tristateskiracing.org/schedule/u19

Tri-State has 42 guaranteed quota spots, which will be equally split by gender. We typically receive another dozen spots, so some alternates should be included. Final rankings will be posted early next week, with a confirmation requested by March 2. Team jackets (picture attached) will also be available for ordering. 

Looking ahead, Berkshire East will be hosting an open SL race on Sunday March 8. While this isn’t a qualifier for the post-season, it is scored and will be a great chance to stay in race mode over the next month. 

https://adminskiracing.com/node/244611

Good luck and ski fast. 

Mark Colman

U19+ Competition Chair

Saturday, February 8th – SL Training on Catamount

Please meet at the Quad @ 8:25am to warm up & stretch as a group. Take a warm up run towards Catamount and practice one ski skiing on the flat and Elephant Hops down the pitch with a pole plant. Cycle around until the course is ready to inspect. Any U19’s interested in helping Sonia, Charles, Doug and I set, please contact us through Remind and be ready for early load @ 8am.

Sunday, February 9th – SL Race @ Sundown

Just a reminder that registration ends at noon tomorrow!  Make sure to register at adminskiracing.com. Here’s the info for the race!  Ski Sundown SL info.  Let’s meet up in the Great Room under the 2nd floor.

See you on the hill!

Coach Pat

“Ski Fast…Take Chances…”

Hey U19’s!

Coach Sonia, Coach Chris DiVecchio and Coach Mark will be at the mountain tomorrow afternoon around 4pm to set a practice SL course on Catamount. Please let Coach Sonia know via Remind if you plan on training tomorrow.

Also just a reminder the U19 Qualifier Double Header is this coming weekend at Jiminy Peak! Below is a link to the message we received from AdminSkiRacing.com:

Jiminy Peak Race Info

Also a reminder to have your edges sharpened and bases waxed, scraped and buffed! Check out the hourly temperatures to give a general guide to the type of wax you should use. Foodie, Sylvie Cohen, has chosen Hotel on North in Pittsfield for dinner on Saturday night @ 6:45/7pm. Please contact her to let you know you are coming. 917-756-8255

https://hotelonnorth.com/ 297 NORTH STREET, PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS
413.358.4741

Looking forward to seeing you all this weekend!

Coach Pat

“Ski fast…Take chances…”

Hey Parents!

Can you please contact me ASAP that you are able to help set B-netting tomorrow on Lower Alley Cat so I can put you in teams with the Race Crew? Please board the Quad @ 8:30am and wait at the Pump House until a Race Crew member takes you on their B-net team. If you see any rolls of B-netting in the flat off Sidewinder, please bring it down to the start.

Thanks in advance for your amazing help!!!

Coach Pat

(914)882-1403 (c) or on Remind or liupatrickm@gmail.com

“Many Hands…Light Load”

Hey Parents and Racers!

It’s been an incredibly busy few weeks for me personally and I have to apologize for my sparse posts. I just want all the parents and racers to know just how grateful I am of all of your hard work and willingness to pitch in whether its showing up on time, volunteering to video at races, breaking down and slipping courses and of course B-netting. The upside of getting all of the new fencing is that the safety factor for all of our children has gone way up. The downside of course is … well you know.

This Saturday the U19’s will be alone on Lower Alley Cat with only Colin, Bruce, Doug, Troy and the Race Crew to set the course and put up almost 30 panels of B-netting. We can really use everyone’s help in setting up the fencing. Can parents please help us with this huge task by boarding the Quad @ 8:30am, dragging rolls of B-netting to the start, and/or grabbing a drill from the pump house and in teams of 2 or 3 help with setting up B-netting? Colin & Bruce have gotten the ok to leave the fencing up overnight for the U12’s/14’s so that they can train on Lower Alley on Sunday. Your continued effort & support inspires me to work even harder for us.

GS training Saturday on Lower Alley Cat

Please bring your GS gear and meet at the Quad at 8:25am to warm up/stretch & take a warm up run! Swing by the start to check with Doug, Troy, Colin & Bruce to inspect

GS race @ Wachusett Mtn Sunday

Check in begins at 7:30am. Please click here for race day details.

SL training Sunday on Catamount

Please bring your SL gear and meet at the Quad at 8:25am to warm/stretch & take a warm up run! Swing by the course to check with Pat, Doug, Troy & Mark to inspect.

Gratefully!

Coach Pat

“Many Hands…Lighter Load”

Hey Catamount racers!
Registration at the Beast starts at 7am on the 2nd floor of the main lodge. Course inspection begins around 8am and the race begins at the end of inspection around 9am. Make sure to get there early so your racer can get a proper inspection of the course. They are responsible for making their way to the start BEFORE their bib # is called. If a racer misses their start, they will automatically be placed at the end of the run. The order of this race is as follows: Women first, then Men. Seeding will be based upon current USSA points by discipline. Random Seed Draw for the 15 athletes with the lowest points. 990s will be randomly seeded after racers with points. Second run start order will be flip 30 format based upon first run finish time. DSQ/DNF will be random draw after seeded racers. At the end of the 1st run, the course is reset and then opened for inspection. The 2nd run usually begins about an hour after the last racer finishes from the 1st run.

Since B-Netting had to be taken down before the storm, it will have to set before the race begins. They are still hoping for a 9am start but be prepared if there’s a delay.

U19 Coach’s Pat, Troy, Doug and Mark and U16 Coach’s Sonia, Charles and Greg will be at the race! Please see your coaches for inspection instructions.

Good luck to everyone!

Coach Pat and Coach Sonia

Hey all!

In spite of the weather and challenging snow conditions we had some excellent training this week! We saw great improvement with pole planting and timing, refamiliarizing ourselves with combinations and changing pitch and turn shape in SL on Thursday and Friday. We also saw big improvements in turn shape, early pressure and course tactics in GS on Saturday and Sunday.

Thanks so much to all of our racers and the Parent Ambassadors with their eagerness to learn, share, to help slip, roll B-netting, and break down courses. As a group we saw some real teamwork and cooperation at all levels.

Special thanks to our directors, Bruce Diamond, Colin Bargar, and Steve Adams, Guest Coach, John Borwick, from Berkshire School, Greg Meindl for traveling to World Cup Supply at 4am to transport new gates and B-netting, Michael Leifer for organizing the Parent Ambassadors and Raphael Kummer-Landau for his tireless work videoing and photographing the racers throughout the week.

Raphael is not being compensated by the mountain for his work. Please consider contributing $10/family (or more) for his time and effort. U16’s should see Coach Sonia and U19’s should see me ASAP!

Click here for Raphael’s Race Camp Pix on SmugMug (password: “catamount”)

Please see Coach Sonia and Coach Pat for access to video on Sprongo.com

A reminder that we will conclude our week of training tomorrow with a Tuning Clinic/Pizza Party tomorrow at 12 noon in the Taconic Lodge. Please bring your tuning equipment/dropcloths, skis and knowledge to share. Bruce and Colin will also be there to provide video analysis of the week’s video footage (provided by “Coach” Raphael).

See you all tomorrow!

On behalf of U16 Coaches Charles & Greg, U19 Coaches Troy, Doug, Mark & Lars, thanks for a memorable week!

Coach Pat and Coach Sonia

Hey U19 Parents and Racers!

Welcome to the 19-20 season! Your coaches are very excited to meet and work with you to improve your skills and get faster! Your coaches this year are: myself, Troy Amuso, Doug Mann, Mark Colman & Lars Andersson.

We’ve had some great work by all on Sunday, Dec 15 on fundamentals with the focus on balance & stance while getting our ski legs back; and this past weekend as we worked on an active inside ski and the role of a pole plant in SL stubbies and full gates.

Holiday Race Camp

Race camp this year begins on Thursday, December 26th and ends on Monday, December 30th. Be prepared to ski SL on Thursday & Friday with pole guards, shin and chin guards. Our first race will be GS on Monday, December 30, and SL on Tuesday, December 31 @ Berkshire East (Beast). So we will begin GS specific gate training for it Saturday and Sunday. Training on Monday will TBA. There will be no official training from December 31 – Jan 3.

Tuning & Equipment

Just a few notes for the start to the season. First, make sure that your equipment is properly tuned and waxed. SL skis should be tuned to a 0.5 (or 1) degree base bevel and 3 degree side bevel. GS skis should be tuned to a 1 degree base bevel and 3 degree side bevel. This should first be done by a reputable ski shop. In lower Westchester, I recommend Hickory & Tweed and Pedigree Ski shops (Pedigree has a new Wintersteiger machine!). Up near the mountain we currently recommend Mike Steven’s Black Diamond Tuning Shop and are looking to others as well. Boots should not only fit correctly but should have the appropriate flex. Please ask your coaches if you have any questions regarding equipment.

Video and Still Photography

Special thanks to Raphael Kummer-Landau for volunteering to take video and stills of training at Catamount. Stills will be available through the following link: SmugMug link (password: “catamount”). I encourage your racer to purchase a training bib through Raphael Kummer-Landau and Ethan Leifer to more easily identify them during video sessions.

Video analysis will be conducted at the end of each training day in the Taconic Lodge at 2pm and available at Sprongo.com by email invitation. If you’re not a member yet, please contact me with your email address.

Finally we really need parent volunteers to take video during our races. Not only is it great visual feedback for our racers afterward but also proof that our racers did not DSQ or DNF if a protest is needed. Please let me know if you’re able to help out the team this season!

Looking forward to a great season with your continued support!

Coach Pat

“Ski fast…Take chances”