Going Looking for Snow

We've just been through the warmest ever January in Vancouver so we've had to go looking for snow. Cory's first big race of the season was just this last weekend when he participated in the Western Canadian Para-Alpine Championships at Sun Peaks near Kamloops, BC. Before that, he had been training mostly at Whistler with Coach Mark Anderson (a former Canadian Ski Team member), participating in some Kokanee Races, and a bit of training with his VASS Blue Streak teammates at Grouse.

The Kokanee Race Series is open to anyone and Cory entered one race a couple of years ago and finished last in his age group. Many of those participating have been racing for many years and some of them are ski coaches. As part of Cory's plan to improve, he needs more race experience and Kokanee certainly provides that. And on much more difficult race than he would normally race on in Special Olympics or even with VASS. Cory understands that it doesn't matter that he may finish last, just the experience and the enjoyment of race day is what's important. That, and the free Kokanee beer at the end of the day, that is!

His first Kokanee race of the year was a Giant Slalom on January 7 on Ptarmigan at Whistler.

Checking-in at race registration:





Then some course inspection work with Coach Mark and Blue Streak teammate Mark:








And a look at the finish area:






This course had a very steep start, probably the steepest race course Cory's ever been on. He had a late starting number and by the time it was his turn, there were quite a few ruts near the 3rd gate down from the start. Of the 5 racers before Cory, 3 of them all fell at that gate. So when Cory set off, I was very concerned that he would crash at that gate as well, and you can hear me voicing that concern. But he made that gate and all the rest of them. Skiing cautiously for sure, but he got through the entire course.

Now on his second run, taken further down the race course:

And the official race results, with the 3 racers who crashed showing a disqualification:

MEN 19-29
1 ANTON SODERBERG (108) 1.04.93 1.04.86 2.09.79 100.00
2 IAN STIRK (98) 1.08.03 1.09.20 2.17.23 80.00
3 TOM FRANCIS (205) 1.09.37 1.09.01 2.18.38 60.00
4 DAVID EASTWOOD (100) 1.10.98 1.11.46 2.22.44 55.00
5 ROGER ZOGG (105) 1.11.87 1.11.50 2.23.37 51.00
6 KOKI OZAWA (102) 1.11.71 1.12.71 2.24.42 47.00
7 TOM BROTHERTON (107) 1.12.49 1.12.84 2.25.33 43.00
8 SOZO MUNEMASA (99) 1.20.98 1.24.03 2.45.01 40.00
9 CORY DUHAIME (104) 1.31.35 1.34.33 3.05.68 37.00
MAARTEN TURNER (106) DNF 1.28.17 DSQ
YUMA MAEOKA (103) DNF 1.33.76 DSQ
CHRIS BROWN (101) DNF 1.17.86 DSQ

After a Kokanee race, the racers gather at a local Whistler pub for video review, prizes, and of course a Kokanee. Here's Cory's first run taken from the large screen in the pub:






And on this day, the Olympic torch made an appearance and Cory proudly held the Torch for a photo:

His next Kokanee race was another Giant Slalom on January 14, this time on Gandy Dancer on Blackcomb. Whistler-Blackcomb has had record-setting snowfall this winter, and sure enough it was snowing on race day too (over 31 feet of snow as of February 1/2010!).

Here's a clip of one of his two runs. Unfortunately, Cory did miss a gate on his other run and was disqualified:

From the pub:

And the official results

MEN 19-29
1 ROGER ZOGG 92 1.21.04 1.22.31 2.43.35 100.00
2 IAN STIRK 86 1.22.26 1.22.24 2.44.50 80.00
3 KOKI OZAWA 95 1.25.58 1.22.61 2.48.19 60.00
4 TOM FRANCIS 218 1.25.05 1.23.19 2.48.24 55.00
5 TOM BROTHERTON 89 1.23.78 1.27.18 2.50.96 51.00
6 JIM HUGHES 93 1.28.96 1.29.55 2.58.51 47.00
7 CHRIS BROWN 85 1.35.74 1.36.82 3.12.56 43.00
8 YUMA MAEOKA 87 1.40.00 1.36.82 3.16.82 40.00
9 JAMES HUTCHINSON 90 1.40.77 1.41.72 3.22.49 37.00
10 RICHARD LOGAN 96 1.49.98 1.42.30 3.32.28 34.00
11 JUN OKANO 88 1.36.72 DSQ DSQ 31.00
CORY DUHAIME 91 DSQ 1.38.71 DSQ
DAVID EASTWOOD 84 DNF 1.24.88 DSQ

Then on January 21, Cory's first chance to race a Super G. 28 gates in a long course that winds its way down Raven & Ptarmigan on Whistler. A beautiful day, as we prepare at the start:

The usual race day "hurry up and wait" routine:

About half way down, the course takes a long turn to the right down over a ridge. Cory loses track of the course and unfortunately makes a wrong turn - not disqualified, but it added about 30 seconds to his time. Once again, dad here has a reaction to what he sees:

For this Super G, the racers were allowed two runs (usually only one run for a Super G) and the best time of the two would be used. So this time, Cory does not finish last, as he does his second run in 1:20:81 and beats one racer's best time of 1:21:43.

MEN 19-29
1 FEDERICO MALANOTTI 94 1.03.94 1.05.17 1.03.94 100.00
2 TOM FRANCIS 84 1.06.08 1.05.27 1.05.27 80.00
3 IAN STIRK 218 1.06.72 1.05.76 1.05.76 60.00
4 TOM BROTHERTON 90 1.06.70 1.07.83 1.06.70 55.00
5 DAVID EASTWOOD 87 1.07.71 1.07.23 1.07.23 51.00
6 KOKI OZAWA 89 1.08.67 1.07.81 1.07.81 47.00
7 MARC NYELAND 91 1.10.09 1.08.85 1.08.85 43.00
8 JIM HUGHES 92 1.12.02 1.11.92 1.11.92 40.00
9 CHRIS BROWN 85 1.14.66 1.13.77 1.13.77 37.00
10 EVAN KOSIC 88 1.17.83 1.17.63 1.17.63 34.00
11 CORY DUHAIME 86 1.48.20 1.20.81 1.20.81 31.00
12 RICHARD LOGAN 93 1.21.43 DNF 1.21.43 28.00

His second run:

When viewing the video from the other racers' runs, we saw that Cory wasn't the only one who had difficulty with this course. Several other racers made a wrong turn too, some on their second run through the course.

The pub video:

So back on Grouse Mountain for some training now, a nice day with some good snow up on the Peak run:

And now the big race weekend at Sun Peaks - the Western Canadian Para-Alpine Championships. One day of training and two days of racing, all on a run called OSV, which is the run used by the Austrian Ski Team as their North American training centre. Hey, only what's good enough for the world's best racers is good enough for Cory!

Great snow at the top - with Blue Streak teammate Mark:

Sun Peaks Resort below, with Mount Morissey in the background:

And a training run for Cory on a "stubby" course, which I also had the opportunity to race through a few times with the resultant and rather expected crash or two (but no video of that!):

Then early the next morning, it's time to get ready to race, with BC Provincial Coach Phil in the foreground. Giant Slalom will be the race for today - two runs, combined time:

Blue Streaks at the front of the chairlift line, snow starting to fall:

With the remaining racers behind:

And a very special pre-race visit from Nancy Greene-Raine, Olympic Gold Medalist in 1968 in Grenoble:

And Cory's first run:

And a silver medal presented by Nancy Greene Raine later that night:

The next day, a slalom race, under much brighter conditions. Cory has had little experience in slalom and this course is long and with a number of challenging elements such as hairpins and flushes. But he learned about these at Mount Hood in 2007, so after a good course inspection and some discussion with me at the starting gate, he attacks the course with confidence and earns another silver medal:






And it's a Blue Streak podium sweep with teammates Mark & Jesse. Surprisingly, Cory beat Jesse by over 4 seconds in each run, so it's encouraging news as Cory's opportunity to compete nationally will very much depend on his continuing success against Jesse.

So, in spite of difficult snow conditions so far this year, Cory continues to have the opportunity to learn, improve his skills, and put them to the test in competition. Getting to Whistler a few times and a weekend in Sun Peaks means he's been on snow about a dozen times, not much less than in previous years at the end of January.

Now though, the Winter Olympic Games come to town and access to race courses is very limited. So we'll enjoy the Games - hoping for Canadian podiums in Alpine Skiing of course - including attending the Ladies Super Combined at Whistler on Valentine's Day. And Cory's next big race will be the Special Olympics Regional Qualifier at Silver Star near Vernon in mid-March.

Look for an Olympic update in February. And leave us a messagge, we do love to hear from you.