by Kathy Stahr | Nov 4, 2013 | Member News
One of Canada's easiest ways to get kids healthy and active this winter is now available. The Canadian Ski Council's SnowPass is available online. It's an unbeatable offer: it provides three lift passes at each of the 150+ ski areas nation-wide for Canadian kids in Grade 4 and Grade 5.
SnowPass Advantage: "Introducing children to skiing and snowboarding at an early age gives them lifetime access to these healthy winter sports," says Patrick Arkeveld, President and CEO of the Canadian Ski Council. "It keeps them fit, less prone to obesity, and outside and active during the winter months. Better yet, skiing and snowboarding are sports kids can do with the entire family for a lifetime."
How It Works: The Canadian Ski Council's SnowPass gives kids in grades 4 and 5 (born in 2003 or 2004) three lift tickets at each participating ski area all across Canada for the entire winter; providing them with an opportunity to ski or snowboard hundreds of times over the winter season. You only need to apply once for the SnowPass and the pass is valid until the end of grade 5. This means if you apply in grade 4 the pass is valid for two years.
Applying is Easy: To sign up, visit www.snowpass.ca, and you have a choice of either uploading your child's picture, enter your payment and their proof of age, or our printed option that allows you to fill out the information, print the application to mail in to the Canadian Ski Council with a photo, proof of age and payment; all for a one-time administration fee of $29.95 including taxes. Signing up online is the quickest and easiest way to apply for your child's Grade 4 & 5 SnowPass card. SnowPass cards will be mailed to you beginning in mid-November, before the December 1st SnowPass season start date!
Where to Use it: The Grade 4 & 5 SnowPass is a national program and is valid at over 150 ski areas across Canada including 32 ski areas in British Columbia, 19 ski areas in Alberta, 1 ski area in Saskatchewan, 2 ski areas in Manitoba, 33 ski areas in Ontario, 57 ski areas in Quebec, 8 in Atlantic Canada and 1 in the Yukon. With ski areas participating across Canada, families will not have to travel far to put this SnowPass to use. Kids can easily track how many lift passes they have left by visiting www.snowpass.ca.
Grade 4 and 5 SnowPass information and applications are available online at www.snowpass.ca or www.passeportdesneiges.ca. Application forms are also being distributed to elementary schools across Canada beginning in early November.
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The Canadian Ski Council is a national, not-for-profit ski and snowboard organization whose mandate is to increase participation in recreational skiing, snowboarding and cross country skiing in Canada. The Canadian Ski Council was founded in 1977.
For more information on the Grade 4 and 5 SnowPass program, contact the Canadian Ski Council, tel: 705-445-9140, e-mail: info@skicanada.org, web: www.snowpass.ca
by Kathy Stahr | Oct 20, 2013 | Member News
We are pleased to announce the election of Hugh MacNaught of North Vancouver as new Chair of the BC Alpine Ski Association Board of Directors heading into the 2013/14 season.
Hugh is a married father of two with a long-standing passion for the sport of ski racing. For more than a decade he has volunteered at the club (Alpine Chair) and zone (BC Coast Zone Chair) levels and is keenly interested in developing stronger athletic programs in the province. In his professional life Hugh provides transformational leadership to companies ranging from technology ventures to multinational corporations and has expertise in strategy, finance and governance. He is a mentor within the Simon Fraser University Venture Connection program and currently serves on the Core Evaluation Team for Genome Canada’s Genomic Applications Partnership Program.
"I look forward to working with the BC Alpine board and members to build on its past successes in sustaining a strong level of community engagement in the sport, while developing elite athletes." said MacNaught
Filling the role of Coast Zone Chair is prolific Whistler volunteer Dr. Rosie Steeves, who we know will be a tremendous asset to the BC Alpine Board.
We wish to express our sincere gratitude to outgoing Chair John Rea, whose thoughtful and steady leadership style has been a pleasure, and whose valuable contributions to our organization will be appreciated for years to come.
BC Alpine Board of Directors and Zone Chairs
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Hugh MacNaught – Chair
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Bruce Holliday – Vice President, Athletics
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Diana Haight-Arn – Vice President, Finance
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Mike Giannelli – Secretary/Treasurer
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Rosie Steeves – Coast Zone Chair
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Roger Carry – Kootenay Zone Chair
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Karen Wells – North Zone Chair
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Mark Schwenck – Okanagan Zone Chair
BC Alpine Board of Directors (back row left to right) Bruce Holliday, Mark Schwenck, Hugh MacNaught, Roger Carry, John Rea (front row left to right) Dee Dee Haight-Arn, Karen Wells; (missing, Mike Giannelli)
by Kathy Stahr | Oct 8, 2013 | Member News
Sandra and her sister Ella are cycling from Vancouver, down the Pacific Coast and through Mexico, to raise awareness and funds for Right To Play, to bring the benefits of sport to the most underprivileged countries in the world. Their goal is to bike 4,000 km and raise $15,000.
Click HERE for all the details
by Kathy Stahr | Oct 3, 2013 | Member News
"Portillo is one of the best, if not the absolute best place to train, and the BC Ski Team staff and athletes alike are very grateful to all who make it possible for us to trek down there and take advantage of the opportunity. The sheer volume of training, the quality of the snow, the collaboration of the mountain, and the interest that the staff there, from the Purcell family who owns the resort to Manuel (the trail boss) who works with us as though he's on our staff and Michael Rogan the director, all these things make Portillo a unique and cherished place where we love to train." ~ JP Daigneault, BC Ski Team women's coach
Click HERE for report from JP Daigneault
by Kathy Stahr | Oct 1, 2013 | Member News
La Parva, Chile
Sept 28, 2013
Twenty two young athletes from BC, ages 15 – 19 will soon be returning home from Chile with a new set of skills, motivation and love for the sport of ski racing. BC Alpine and WMSC collaborated their efforts on a high performance Southern Hemisphere camp where ten select HPP athletes joined forces with WMSC campers for two weeks if spring snow training.
“There’s nowhere else you can get such a clinical, textbook training situation as we get here in La Parva,” boasted WMSC’s U16 head coach Jeff MacLennan, “The kids are a captive audience, surrounded by an atmosphere of excellence with high level teams striving for the same thing – to refine skills and achieve goals”.
An excellent cross section of conditions ranging from frozen spring to soft pack to firm to caulky snow surfaces challenged them through all disciplines in the 12 days on snow. A bonus was 25cm of fresh powder one morning which made for some fun warm up runs and big smiles – many of which were captured on film thanks to Big White Racers’ Derek Trussler and his new camera.
“We have worked closely with Whistler and that has been going well,” HPP Head coach Trussler reported. “There has been solid improvement and progression from all of them and I think those who haven’t been here before are getting a really great cultural experience.”
In the time training at 3000+m some serious mileage was racked up which undoubtedly will bring successful payoffs come winter time.
|
Free Ski
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69
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Runs
|
|
|
Sessions
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Runs
|
Gates
|
|
SL
|
5
|
34
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1402
|
|
GS
|
7
|
68
|
734
|
|
SG
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4
|
38
|
708
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“This has been the most productive camp I’ve ever had here” noted WMSC FIS head coach Ryan Jazic. “Some of the older racers even had a couple days of DH training with the Canadian Men’s Development Team. This was a real inspiration to them.”
Also training were the Austrian Women’s Speed Team, Alberta Provincial Team, US Men’s Development and Western Regional teams.
It was a near perfect combination of circumstances that provided great training conditions for the 100+ athletes booked to train in late September. A low snow season left the lower slopes almost bare of snow and the resort had closed to the public for the season. But the upper slopes were still in excellent shape and mountain manager Raul Anguita saw the opportunity for the teams to capitalize on the situation, so lifts and grooming were organized to run just for the racers.
“I’m really happy with the way things worked out” said Anguita, “No teams went away without accomplishing what they came here to do”.
To wrap up our combined WMSC/BC Alpine HPP camp we held the inaugural “Canine Cup” (named after the many friendly/stray dogs which the athletes befriended and often followed us up the hill each morning). Four mixed teams raced four runs of GS, averaging their team times to crown the winners,. The Beasts took the Cup, beating out Still Not Chile by a narrow 7/100ths of a second! The Outsiders were 3rd while Let’s Get Tropical just missed the podium. Awards will be held later this afternoon on the beach in Vina del Mar where athletes and coaches are taking a well deserved, low altitude recovery break before returning home.
“Ten out of ten” commented Max Kirshenblatt on his camp experience, “I really look forward to returning next year!”
“Eleven out of ten!” upped Max Peiffer, “best camp I’ve ever had”.
This sums it up pretty well and the coaches agree! From Derek Trussler and Rob Boyd on behalf of BC Alpine; Ryan Jazic and Jeff MacLennan for WMSC, we’d like to pass on a big thanks to all the campers, parents and organizations that collaborated and supported this fantastic athletic and cultural experience for our future champions!
Rob Boyd, HPP Coach
Athletic Director – Whistler Mountain Ski Club
2028 Rob Boyd Way, Whistler, BC, V0N 1B2
Tel: 604-932-4644 Fax: 604-932-1180 Web: http://www.wmsc.info
