We are ready for our first Interclub race. Please register in advance, as provided on yesterday’s post. This process is new this year. We have just posted a Parents Guide to Race Day on the web site on the info page. There will be a meeting at 11:30 this Saturday at the Taconic Lodge to discuss the race.

We will need volunteers for the Catamount Interclub Race for registration, gate keeping, score keeping, bib collection and awards. Holding a home race is dependent on volunteers. Please contact Peter Chudy at peterchudy@mac.com

Please keep in mind that there will be a statewide qualifier for the Piche Invitational at Wachusett Mt on Saturday, Feb 27, for U12 and U14 racers. Both Tri-State and Interclub will qualify racers to attend the race at Wachusett. This is the only way to qualify for Piche. Details are provide on the Web Site on the Info page.

The TriState U12-14 race scheduled for Sunday 1/10, has been rescheduled to February 21st. So there will be practice on Sunday for this age group at Catamount.

TriState and NJ will sponsor a speed camp (Super G skills) at Stratton U16-19 -Monday Feb 8th and U14 Tuesday Feb 9th.

REGISTRATION for the Tri-State / NJ Speed Elements Camps is now open and posted to the web site (Located on the front page as well as under U14, U16 and U19 Schedule) http://www.tristateskiracing.org/

Registration for the two camps is limited to 70 athletes
Payment is through Adminskiracing only. Link located on the Tristate web site

Coaches for the speed camps are needed:
Coaches please sign up via the link on the Tri-State web site. It is a free to sign up and register through Admiskiracing.

The committee is looking for USSA certified Coaches, speed experience is highly recommended and preferred.

Interested coaches with further questions should contact Kim Hanlon, Childrens Committee Assistant – hanlonboys@charter.net

We are finally starting the season and we are starting fast. We will have practice this weekend and we also have races. There is a U19 SL race at Berkshire East this Saturday 1/9, which is also open to U16’s. Recognizing the limited training they will have some pre-race SL training set up. They will also have some post race GS training, as U16’s have a GS race there this Sunday 1/10. BEAST has made some big moves to help TARA racers. There is also a TriState U12-14 SL race at Butternut on Sunday 1/10. This is tough without training but the schedules for all the age groups and USSA Championships do not provide flexibility. The first Interclub race has been rescheduled for 1/24, Thanks Blandford.

So please ensure USSA registrations and Catamount registrations are all in order. As A lot of snowmaking this week is allowing for the races to take place, so please check the TriState website for updates.

Registrations are now happening on line, you can link in on the TriState web site. This includes interclub, which is a major change, so we can speed up race day process.

Pete Chudy

At this point the first practice may be the 26th but forecasts are still not good. We will see 3 nights dipping into freezing but it warms up again all the way through northern VT. I will be available at 11AM this Saturday ,19th, to hand out jackets. I will be at the timing shack in front of the main lodge at the bottom of the Catamount Trail.

The web site has a market place function so please put up your items or items wanted. Sonia is looking for a used size 12 and/or 14 Catamount Spyder coat. Has a used size 10 in excellent condition for sale/swap. I also have a size 16 that is very lightly used, and an unused adult small available.

If you have been trying to ski and may need some good tuning services from all the rocks please look at the following options. Coach Mike Steven’s Black Diamond Tuning Center in Great Barrington. Coach Steph’s bike shop Ride of Pleasantville in Westchester and you can pick up some last minute Bike gifts, and Steiner’s in Valatie, NY.

Peter Chudy

The weather forecast is looking bleak and we are now planning, dependent on weather, to have our first practice on December 20th. This will be opening day. The struggles with snow making extend up into VT.

The Team Jackets have arrived at Catamount. I will begin the process of sorting them and will try to set up some time this weekend if people want to stop by. Timing will be dependent on if I can chase some snow this weekend.

The race schedule is up on the Tri-State web site with the exception of Interclub which is provided below.

Blandford GS – 01/10/16
Butternut GS/SQ – 01/31/16
Catamount GS – 02/07/16
Otis SL – 02/21/16 (U10+)
Bousquet GS – 02/28/16

Blandford Piche Qualifier – 02/27/16 (based on criteria TBD)

Peter

Today may be warm but we are getting close to starting up the race program.

Catamount is making some significant changes for this season. The most noticeable will be a new magic carpet from the current learning area to the Triple. I know some parents with young ones will miss the workout of pulling or carrying kids & skis up the hill to the lift. You will just have to spend more time in the gym.

As part of that change, the bottom of Holiday will be reconfigured into an expanded learning area. Holiday traffic will be routed to the right. This will provide entry level skiers a much better opportunity to develop some basic skills.

They are clearing a glade skiing area between Ali’s Ally and Colonel’s Caper. This will be the first glade option at Catamount and will be welcomed. Please remember that tree skiing elsewhere is considered out of bounds and subjects the skier to the mountain’s disciplinary process.

Over the offseason Steve and I made a formal proposal to management about hosting a Tri-state race on Alley Cat. Given the big changes mentioned above, Management has delayed a decision but is positive. The most significant difficulty is moving some of the snow guns but our project may fit in with some other plans.

Catamount is also offering two new programs. An All Mountain Development Team for 13-15 year olds who will ski and ride as a group on weekends. The focus will be on moguls, powder and terrain parks, as well as, general skiing skills.

There will also be a Junior Snow Sports Instructor program for 13-15 year olds. This program is focused on developing the participants into junior instructors within a year or two. These are exciting options for young dedicated skiers who may not be focused on racing.

Team Jackets have been received in Canada, and will be shipped shortly to Catamount.

One of our race families has a rental available. Newly Renovated 3 bed/3 bath on 10+ acres – centrally located to Catamount and many other local ski resorts. Link to listing and additional details -below.

http://www.vrbo.com/714979

Some Notes from the fall USSA Tri-State meeting

**U14 and older will require FIS conforming helmets**. These came out last year and have a sticker on the back. These will be required at the Tri-state races this year. U12 skiers at the races do not require these helmets even though they are at the same race. Interclub races will not require FIS conforming helmets. Make sure the sticker is not covered or removed.

The U18 age group is now replaced with U19.

Event Qualification Changes

Fundamentals Camp U14
In place of future stars, Tristate with have a U14 fundamentals camp at Berkshire East on December 19/20 for about 50 kids. This is part of a USSA change to have larger development camps at the regional level. The Tristate children’s committee is developing the process for invitation to the event based on race results from last year. The split will be 30 spots for 2nd year U14’s and 20 spots for first year U14’s

U12 Festival
There will be a U12 Festival at Wyndham on March 26-27. This will be joint New York, PA, NJ, SARA, and Tristate. Tristate will get 20 spots and is determining the qualifying procedures. This is a new event.

U14 Eastern Championship Qualifying
The qualifying procedure for Eastern’s at U14 Championships will no longer be based only on runs. The scores will now be based on the standings of the 4 individual runs and the two race finishes. The top the values from the set of six will be used. The goal is to reward racers to complete races, while ensuring a DSQ-F in a single run would not exclude a strong racer.

Piche Invitational
There have been several meetings regarding the Piche Invitational over the off-season. Gunstock Race Club has asked that Massachusetts develop a process to send the best racers in the U12/U14 category. It was decided that there will be one qualifying GS event open to racers in the Tri-State, Interclub and Buddy Werner divisions. The Eastern and Western MA, divisions will determine their nominating processes.
This has been a complicated process as historically the Buddy Werner league in Eastern MA had the relationship and spots for the Piche Invitational. As Tristate has gotten more spots over the years they have lost an important goal for racers. Starting with this race, no one division is guaranteed any spots at Piche.

The race will be limited to roughly 240 athletes (girls and boys) and will be held Saturday February 27th at Wachusset. The race will be a 2 run GS.

The expected Piche quota is 36; 20 U12 athletes split evenly between girls and boys
16 U14 athletes split evenly between girls and boys

U12’s that go to Piche will not attend the U12 festival at Wyndham. U14’s who qualify for Eastern’s will not attend Piche.

Please click on link below for details

Hillsdale Ski Rental 2015-2016

Orders need to be in today, please see the team website or previous email for link to the order form

Thanks

Peter