Prince George Citizen
Ted Clarke – January 19, 2017

Unseasonable warm and rainy conditions the past week have wreaked havoc on local ski hills and the speed skating oval but the show will go on for this weekend’s Western Canada Ski Cross Series event at Tabor Mountain Ski Resort.A total of 46 racers from seven clubs (Prince George, Smithers, Whistler, Quesnel, Grande Prairie Edmonton and Lake Louise) have entered the two day event, with racing set for Saturday and Sunday. Racers will compete in under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18/open class categories.Each racer is eligible to compete in a minimum of two heats each day.Tabor owner Fern Thibault says his crew has been working hard the past two days to prepare the course for this weekend’s events. Tabor hosted Nor-Am ski cross races last weekend.“The races are a go, it’s been freezing here and it’s colder than in town so the snow is workable,” said Thibault. “There are lots of people coming from out of town for this one so we didn’t want to cancel it out.”Today will be a practice day. Racing starts at 1 p.m Saturday and Sunday.Unfortunately for cross-country skiers and skaters, the city’s outdoor facilities are closed.The 400-metre ice oval at Exhibition Park looked more like a lake Thursday and until the weather cools and volunteers can build the ice back up again it will remain closed.At Otway Nordic Centre just west of the city, the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club made the decision to close its trails Thursday due to unsafe conditions. School group sessions were canceled and the club’s evening programs were directed off the normal routes to proceed on safer trails. More information is available on the club’s website, caledonianordic.org.

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Prince George Citizen
Jason PETERS – January 18, 2017

A shortage of snow on local mountains hasn’t stopped the Prince George Alpine Ski Club from going full speed ahead with its season.

With yet another late start to winter in this part of the province, members of the local ski club went south in search of snow in November. They took two trips to Sun Peaks, near Kamloops, and trained for a total of 10 days on natural and man-made snow. Then, during the Christmas vacation, they gathered at Powder King, north of Prince George in the Pine Pass, for another 10 to 12 days of practice.

The travel – south and north – proved extremely beneficial.

“We had some excellent training (at Sun Peaks),” said club coach Kali Holahan. “There were quite a few clubs from all over the province that were training there as well to catch the snow.

“Then we were driving back and forth to Powder King through the Christmas break to get some training up there and it was fabulous, actually. For (Powder King), they even have less snow than normal but there was more than enough to get some gate training in. That mountain has always been very supportive of having an alpine team up there – they’re very accommodating.”

With a solid number of training sessions logged, PGASC athletes were back at Sun Peaks last weekend for the first meet of the season. All nine of the club’s under-14 skiers competed in slalom and giant slalom races, and a few of them – Melinda Kobasiuk, Charlotte Gibson and Jacob Hoskins – posted top-10 results. Kobasiuk had the best placing, a third in women’s slalom on Sunday.

“She’s not tentative,” said Phil Soicher, a new club coach with the PGASC this season. “When she starts, she’s a little bit more comfortable, I think, than some. So when she started, at least in the slalom, it was evident that she was willing to go.”
Kobasiuk’s podium finish came in a field of 31 skiers. She also placed ninth out of 32 in women’s giant slalom on Saturday.

Gibson, meanwhile, was sixth on Sunday and eighth on Saturday. As for Hoskins, he crossed the line 10th of 40 in Sunday’s men’s slalom and was 19th of 40 in Saturday’s giant slalom.

Other results were as follows: Sunday, women’s slalom – Amelie Brulotte, 11th; Ella Francis, 12th; Erica McCallum, 18th; Isabelle Lindsay, 19th; Saturday, women’s giant slalom – Brulotte, 17th; Francis, 18th; McCallum, 23rd; Lindsay, 24th; Sunday, men’s slalom – Jack Logan, 23rd; Ben Cook, 30th; Saturday, men’s giant slalom – Logan, 24th; Cook, 33rd.

Soicher, the new club coach, was at Sun Peaks with the team while Holahan remained in Prince George for the Nor-Am races at Tabor Mountain (see other stories). Soicher, 24, was hired out of Fredericton, N.B., where he had been instructing with the Crabbe Mountain Race Club. The PGASC also has a new head coach and program director, Dan Hadley, a former coach at Vancouver’s Grouse Mountain.

“Phil is on for one year – we’d love to keep him longer but we’ll see how he enjoys being out in B.C.,” Holahan said. “And Dan I believe is going to be up here for a few years. He has kind of wrapped up his coaching career down south and is, I think, enjoying the smaller team atmosphere up here.”

In regards to hiring staff, Holahan said the club is “pretty well set financially” because of its fundraising initiatives.

“The club does a major amount of sandbagging – we hand-make sandbags every single year, like a good 20 to 25,000 sandbags and we sell them to gas stations around town,” she said. “And then in October every year we also do wood chopping. We generally get donations from the mills in town and chop birch and also other wood and deliver it to families around town and sometimes even out of town.”

This coming weekend, the PGASC is hosting the Western Canada Ski Cross Series at Tabor. Club members will be racing in the event and a handful of the younger athletes will serve as forerunners.

On January 14th, Tabor Mountain will be hosting a NorAm Cup Ski Cross event, where you’ll see the next generation of World Cup superstars vie for victory! Tickets will be 50% off.

Tickets: $22

Every ski season we set goals. Whether it is a goal for the season; how you would like to perform or feel throughout the season; or daily goals as we work on mastering a specific technique or skill. Here is a list of things to think about while considering goals for the upcoming ski season.

Goals
Goals give individuals something to work toward. If they are used properly, they give direction, motivation and focus.
Here are some suggestions for integrating goals into your training:

• Set a goal for every training day. The goal should relate to something you are working toward.
• Before each drill decide what you want to do and exactly how you want to do it.
• After each drill, identify what adjustments you need to make for that skill next run.

Imagery
Imagery helps individuals learn new skills, and refine and prepare for high pressure situations. Positive images also help develop confidence and belief. Here are some suggestions for integrating imagery into training:

• Before practice imagine yourself free skiing or successfully doing a specific drill.
• During practice, before each run, take a moment to visualize the run in your mind.
• When the coach gives you feedback, imagine or feel what you are being asked to do before attempting it again.

Feelings
Feelings and emotions are a big part of performance. Individuals can learn how to make their feelings work for them as opposed to against them. Here are some suggestions for integrating feelings into training:

• Before practice, you can listen to music to get yourself pumped up for training or racing.
• During practice, you can come up with good personal reminders (images, words or feelings) of how you would like to ski or perform.
• Take a deep breath and relax before at the top of the hill and in the start gate before you start your run.

Thoughts
The things individuals say to themselves can help them focus or can distract them and make them lose focus. Here are some suggestions for integrating thoughts into your training:

• If you start to talk negatively to yourself and it makes you lose focus, you can say “STOP” to yourself and replace the words with positive statements.
• Find key words or phrases that help you push yourself when fatigued during a tough workout, or long training session or course.

Support
Performance can be supported by planning and preparing properly leading up to, and during training and racing.
Here are some suggestions for integrating support into training:

• Follow a routine to get yourself ready for training and racing.
• Approach mental focus like you do physical skills and warm it up slowly from simple to more demanding focus challenges.
• If you lose focus, have a plan for getting your focus back. For instance, talking to your coach and taking a free run before jumping back into the training course; or performing some warm up stretches away from the rest of the team to give yourself time to refocus.

Mind in Motion Consulting. 2005. Sports and Your Mental GIFTS. Laura G. Farres, Ph.D., Ch. P.C. Accessed: September 23, 2016. Retrieved from: http://www.mindinmotion.ca/sport.html.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR SKI CROSS EVENTS

January 13-15, 2017 NorAm Ski Cross at Tabor Mountain

January 20-22, 2017 Western Ski Cross at Tabor Mountain

Call for volunteers for netting crew, courseworkers, gate judges, officials, etc. for the ski cross events noted above.

If you are interested in volunteering please contact Audrey at rowellaudrey@gmail.com