Great weekend of training last weekend!  We were able to get in SL and GS work and the kids seem to be skiing great!

 

For this weekend, Okemo 1 is home training both days and Okemo 2 is home on Saturday and at Killington on Sunday for a GS race.   Training days at home are according to normal schedule, with normal meeting place.

 

Saturday: Saturday will be a GS training day for both teams. 

 

Sunday: Okemo 1 will train SL at home in preparation for next weekend’s Stubby SL.  Okemo 2 see details below for info on the GS race at Killington.

 

 

Second Annual Okemo Mountain School Winter Festival! I hope you all received my email invite last week to the OMS Winter Festival on February 18 from 7-10 pm.  It will be a lot of fun – great wine, beer, and food to sample, a silent auction, and music!  Please also consider supporting OMS through our accompanying fundraising drive. 

 

 

Thanks,

Mariel

 

 

Great weekend of training and racing last weekend!  It was another cold one, but the kids did well and toughed it out!  Just a quick reminder to remind your children to always dress appropriately for the weather — cold days = more layers + face protection + mittens instead of gloves!

Okemo 1 was met with fierce competition at the Pico race.  However, despite losing the Boot, there were some outstanding individual performances and I think each athlete is showing tremendous progress!  See below for a race re-cap!

 

Easy weekend – Both teams are training at home according to our normal schedule, meeting at our normal meeting place this weekend.  GS skis for Saturday and SL skis for Sunday (if your children have both). 

 

OMS Valentine Victory Camp: OMS Valentine Victory Camp is almost at capacity!   If you want to sign your child up, please act ASAP.  See last week’s email for all info and attachments!

 

 

Well, it was another chilly day, but the sun managed to shine through and help warm things up!  We also had some shining performances from all members of Okemo 1.

 

J6 Girls: Our J6 girls were stars on Sunday!  Katie Killian led the charge to bring home the Gold for J6 girls.  First run she was actually the fastest girl OVERALL beating all 9-12 year olds!  Isabelle Gerrard was right on her heels in second and beat her first run time with her second run by almost a whole second! And in a field stacked with lots of competition, Erin Kelleher and Sophie Brett both skied great and placed 18th and 21st respectively. Nice work girls!

 

J6 Boys:  Another category stacked with tough competition, the J6 boys group was exciting to watch.  The skiing out of these guys was truly impressive – some big boy skiing out of our littlest ones!  Drew Visnic led the bunch in 4th place, which he won by bettering his first run time by almost 2 whole seconds in the second run!  Brennan Hynes took 6th and John Kelleher 8th.  Charlie Beney made some fantastic progress after reluctantly agreeing to buckle his boots a bit tighter , and placed 19th.  Way to go boys!

 

J5 Girls:  Killington and Pico were worthy competitors in this category, but Connie Brogden represented Okemo 1 well with a great second run to place 5th.  Emma Nelson also stood up to the competition placing 7th.  Brooke Moran had a great second run that beat her first by over two seconds and finished just out of the medals in 11th.  Lizzie DeGraw skied very consistently in both runs and finished 13th.  Honor Brogden and Gracie Childs also made improvements in their second runs to finish 19th and 31st respectively.  Awesome job girls!

 

J5 Boys:  Killington and Pico had a strong showing in this category as well, but the Con(n)ors worked hard to ensure they would not sweep the medals.  Connor Visnic was our top J5 boy who used a strong second run to place 8th.  Conor Hawkins showed that his hard work the season is paying off, by taking home the 9th place medal.  Sean Feingold was 25th in a tough field in his debut Devo race!  Doug Beney bettered his first run time in the second run to place 29th.  Great work J5 boys! 

 

J4 Girls: Paige Ludl led the J4 girls with a great bronze medal finish.  Maddie Young managed to shave nearly 3 second off her first run time to place 11th and Charlotte Young also improved on her second run to place 13th.  Nice work girls!

 

J4 Boys: The J4 boys had a fantastic showing at Pico!  Jonah Tobin had Okemo 1′s run of the day for sure though!  In only his second Devo race, Jonah came on skis a-blazing and placed first in both runs to take home the Gold.  Jack Shea was right on his heels though – only 0.13 behind – to win Silver.  Camden Filoon had a great second run to finish 5th.  Ries Faller, Spencer Tretter, and Kyle Stuart also all snagged some hardware placing 6th, 7th, and 8th respectivey.  Jack Feingold finished just out of the medals in 13th.  Nice work boys!

 

 

 That’s all for now!  Have a great week and I will see you on the hill soon!

 

Mariel

 

Well, we have seen every kind of weather over the last few days – rain, snow, sleet, freezing cold, warm and foggy – but things are looking great for the weekend!  PLEASE read this post carefully as there is a ton of important info!  I will start with info on the weekend and move into some other important announcements.

 

 

Registration will begin at 7:45 am (NOT 7:30 am) downstairs in the Main Base Lodge (park on the right hand side of the main parking lot and go straight through the condos – base lodge is on the right).  Entry fee is $30 (payable in cash or check), which includes your child’s lift ticket.  Again, please make sure they put their bibs on immediately and do not lose them! 
 
Coaches at the race will be myself, JD, Mike, Al, Rich, and Greg.

Please note: Parent lift tickets are available for $45 but only two per racer are allowed. They must be purchased at the main ticket office between the parking lot and the base lodge.  In the past they have only been sold until 9:00 AM and you had to know your child’s bib number – be prepared! As many of you know, the race can be viewed on foot without lift access.

We will meet the children at the base of the B-slope lift (go out of the base lodge and go left if you are facing the mountain) at 8:15 am to go for a free run and inspect the course. 

The race is scheduled to begin at 9:30 am and will take place on B-Slope – to the left of the base lodge if you are looking up at the mountain.  Second run will start about 10-15 minutes after the conclusion of the first run.  Help your child manage their time to be at the start 40-50 bib numbers ahead of their own.

Awards will take place in front of the ski club, which is basically at the finish area, after the free-skiing program (about one hour after the conclusion of the race).

To get to Pico:  Head north on Rt. 100 – make a right to stay on Rt. 100 just before Jackson Gore.  Turn left on Rt. 4 and go past the Bear Mtn. gondola for Killington and the Killington access road.  About 2 miles past that, you will see The Inn at Long Trail on your right – Pico will be on your left just down the hill.  It takes about 35-45 minutes to get there.  Beware of cops in Plymouth on Rt 100 when the speed limit drops!!

 

 

1) MVC Ross Series Stubby SL Camp at Quechee!  Friday, February 10th will be the MVC Ross Series slalom camp at Quechee.  Please email me by January 27th to sign your child up – I can take 20 children with me, so first come, first serve.  The day will proceed much like a race day in that you will drive your child to Quechee in the morning for a 7:30 am registration, where you will pay the $30/athlete cost.  Your child will then join up with a group of other similarly aged racers from all of the MVC mountains to work through a series of freeskiing and gate drills focusing on slalom.  After lunch (your child will need to pack a lunch or bring money to buy a lunch), there will be a dual stubby slalom set for the kids to run.  At 2:45 there will be an ice cream social and pick-up will be at Quechee about 3 pm.  Feel free to leave and run errands during the day once your child is registered!   It will be a fun day of SL training with coaches and athletes from the other Mid-VT mountains.  
 
2) OMS Valentine Victory Camp: Check the emailsent this week for the registration information for The Okemo Mountain School Valentine Victory Camp, held February 13th-17th this year.  This camp is run by OMS and not by the weekend program, so there is an additional charge to participate (see details on registration form).  To hold a spot for your child, you may email me, but in order to secure your child’s spot you must send in the registration form with a check or payment info, the health summary, and the waiver (unless your child did this year’s Hammer Camp – I have those on file).  These forms can be emailed, faxed (802-228-1511), or mailed (53 Main St. Ludlow, VT 05149).  The deadline for registration is Friday, February 3rd and the camp will fill up fast, so act quickly. Please read through the attachments carefully and then let me know if you have any questions.  If you sign your child up for the camp, you will receive further instructions and details on the week later.

 
3) President’s Week: There will be Devo training during the President’s week holiday from 2/20-2/24.  This is included in the weekend program fee and the daily schedule will likely be identical to a regular Saturday or Sunday. This is not an OMS camp and therefore there is no school offering during the day.  We will take one day off during the week – most certainly Wednesday, but the final determination will depend on weather forecast.

Some basic race day info that is good to know (or review):

1) For any regular season Devo race (the ones on Okemo1/Okemo 2 schedule), I do all of the entries.  So any child who was signed up for Okemo 1 and Okemo 2 AND is current with USSA and VARA is now entered into the race.  All you have to do on a race day, is show up to registration and check your child in, pay the entry fee (which this year will be $30 except at home), and get your child’s bib.  Have them put their bib on immediately.  On top of their GS Suit and under all their other clothes.  If they need to go to the bathroom, they should just leave it hanging around their neck – every year one or two get left in the bathroom and they need a bib to take their run.  MAKE SURE THEY DO NOT LOSE OR MISPLACE THIS! 

 

2) Races are run in bib order for both runs.  There is no change to the running order for second run.  J6 girls will go first, then J6 boys, J5 girls, and so on.  Please help your child plan accordingly to make it to the start in plenty of time for their run (about 40-50 bib numbers ahead of time is good).  First and second runs usually run pretty much back to back since we don’t re-set for the second run.

 

3) Parents are not allowed on course during inspection or near the starting gate, but are welcome up at the top of the course anywhere outside of the designated “line-up” area.  Any parents who are skiing are asked to help in the portage of clothing to the bottom.

 

4) PANTS UN-ZIP FROM THE BOTTOM UP! : )

 

5) We are continuing with the MVC Ross post-race free-skiing program from last year – to promote more time free-sking (the key to ALL your children’s success!), a love of free-skiing, and getting to know other kids and coaches from other mountains.  We ask that all racers return to the finish area at the end of the second run (there will be reminder announcements) to be divided up into groups to go free-ski for an hour – they should have their jackets and pants back on over GS suits at the point.  The groups will ski for about 45 minutes to an hour.  Awards may happen before the free-ski or just after depending on the venue.  Your child is then free to go!  It is going to be a really fun way to make sure that kids don’t lose that precious free-skiing time on race days and to meet new friends!

 

6) Skis should always be tuned and race ready!

7) Put your child’s name in EVERYTHING! Pants, jackets, sweatshirts, helmets – everything!  Also having some kind of identifying thing on pants (since most are all black!) is a great idea.  I have seen colorful ribbon tied on to the pants, which is great at helping to identify them.

On a cold day, I suggest bringing some extra clothes to have at the bottom of the course with you in case their clothes don’t make it down from the top right away.

 

That’s all for now!!

 

Thanks,

Mariel

 

Wow what a wonderful first race this past Sunday!!  All of the coaches and I are so proud of the way all of the children stepped it up to perform above and beyond our expectations in the first MVC Ross Series race of the season!  Medals were brought home in each of the age/gender classes and I couldn’t be happier with each child’s personal results.  Improvements were seen across the board.  Many second year Devos placed far better than they did last year, and quite a few first year Devos burst onto the scene with podium finishes!  And very importanly - WE BROUGHT HOME THE BOOT –  Way to go kids! 

 

Results for any race can be found on the VARA website at http://vara.org/news/resultsonly.asp.  I will endeavor to write race recaps for our races but they may not come with my weekly emails due to time contraints!  Where is that 25th hour in the day???

 

This weekend is an easy one – just training at home according to our normal 8:30-10:30am/12-2pm schedule meeting both am and pm at the top of the AB.  We will be working on SL all weekend though, so please send your children on their SL skis if they have some (again, no big deal if they don’t have any!).  We will train some stubby gates, but no full size gates, so armor is not necessary.  Shin guards are ok if your children have them and want to use them, pole guards are not necessary but fine, but no chin guards.

 

There will be no training on MLK Monday – please take this day to ski with your kids or just have a relaxed travel day home!

 

Paige Ludl was unable to find her pants after Sunday’s race.  If anyone has them by mistake, please email Dirk at dludl@ludl.com.   The pants are Spyder Boy’s Force Pants,
Color is Black/Black, size 14.  Her name is inside on the white label inside the pants.

 

On that note – remember not only should you put your child’s name in everything, but you should remind them to look for their name when they put on a jacket or pair of pants at a race.

 

Remember these Save the Dates:
Friday, February 10th will be the MVC Ross Stubby Slalom Camp at Quechee.  This was a huge success last year and tons of fun!  I will send out an email requesting sign ups in a few weeks, but just wanted to get it on your calendar. 
 
OMS Valentine Victory Camp: February 13 – 17th.  This is similar in format to the Holiday Hammer Camp, but will be open to all DEVOs including first years.  I will send out A TON of info on this later, but the basics are that it is 3 days of morning on-hill training with academic study halls and dryland training at OMS in the afternoon and 2 days of full day on hill training.  The cost is $400 for the week. Again, just wanted to give you a heads up on this – more info and sign ups to follow!
Please do not email me now to sign up for either camp.

 

Ok that’s all for now!  I look forward to seeing you all this weekend!

 

Best,

Mariel

 

Happy New Year!

 

Please read ahead CAREFULLY and COMPLETELY!!  Lots of important info!

 

A few quick items before getting to this weekend’s plan:

 

This Saturday, January 7th will be the rescheduled from December OMARA meeting – it will be at 6 pm at Willie Dunne’s (Okemo Golf Course Clubhouse) – not at the Sitting Bull.  This both serves as the yearly meeting for the organization, of which you should all be members, and an informational session, plus a chance to socialize with other program parents.  Elections will be held for new OMARA board members.  Please plan to attend.  Kids are welcome, although the program is more for the parents.

 

Friday, February 10th will be the MVC Ross Stubby Slalom Camp at Quechee.  This was a huge success last year and tons of fun!  I will send out an email requesting sign ups in a few weeks, but just wanted to get it on your calendar. 

 

OMS Valentine Victory Camp: February 13 – 17th.  This is similar in format to the Holiday Hammer Camp, but will be open to all DEVOs including first years.  I will send out A TON of info on this later, but the basics are that it is 3 days of morning on-hill training with academic study halls and dryland training at OMS in the afternoon and 2 days of full day on hill training.  The cost is $400 for the week. Again, just wanted to give you a heads up on this – more info and sign ups to follow!

 

 

Saturday (1/7) is GS training.  Our time schedule will change slightly.  We will meet at the top of the AB at 9 am and ski until 11 am.  We will then have a long lunch break and reconvene at the top of the AB at 1 pm and ski until 3 pm.  We needed to make the time change in order to get some hill space for GS gates on Wardance after the end of the J3 race.

 

Sunday (1/8) is our first GS race!!  Both Okemo 1 and Okemo 2 are racing and it is a home game at Okemo on our very own Wardance!!
 
Registration will be in the upstairs of the comp center (by Eric’s office) from 7:00 – 8:15 am.  The entry fee will be $15 for Okemo kids.  All of your children are already entered into the race – you need not do anything before Sunday to enter them.  You just need to go to registration and pay their entry fee and pick up their bib – do not be late for registration! 
 
We will meet the kids at 8:10 am at the yurt/gate shack area at the bottom of Wardance (NOT top of AB).  They should have their bibs and be ready to go for inspection and a couple of free runs.  The race will start at 9:30 am and will go J6 girls, J6 boys, J5 girls, J5 boys, J4 girls, then J4 boys.  Bib order will reflect start order.  The race will run from below the work road (not the start house) on Wardance to the bottom of the trail.  Since this is the first race, please help your child keep track of time and be on time for their run!
  
If any child chooses not to race, there will be no other training on Sunday.
  
Some basic race day info that is good to know:

1) For any regular season Devo race (the ones on Okemo1/Okemo 2 schedule), I do all of the entries.  So any child who was signed up for Okemo 1 and Okemo 2 AND is current with USSA and VARA is now entered into the race.  All you have to do on a race day, is show up to registration and check your child in, pay the entry fee (which this year will be $30 except at home), and get your child’s bib.  Have them put their bib on immediately.  On top of their GS Suit and under all their other clothes.  If they need to go to the bathroom, they should just leave it hanging around their neck – every year one or two get left in the bathroom and they need a bib to take their run.  MAKE SURE THEY DO NOT LOSE OR MISPLACE THIS! 

2) Races are run in bib order for both runs.  There is no change to the running order for second run.  J6 girls will go first, then J6 boys, J5 girls, and so on.  Please help your child plan accordingly to make it to the start in plenty of time for their run (about 40-50 bib numbers ahead of time is good).  First and second runs usually run pretty much back to back since we don’t re-set for the second run.

3) Parents are not allowed on course during inspection or near the starting gate, but are welcome up at the top of the course anywhere outside of the designated “line-up” area.  Any parents who are skiing are asked to help in the portage of clothing to the bottom.

4) PANTS UN-ZIP FROM THE BOTTOM UP! : )

5) We are continuing with the MVC Ross post-race free-skiing program from last year - to promote more time free-sking (the key to ALL your children’s success!), a love of free-skiing, and getting to know other kids and coaches from other mountains.  We ask that all racers return to the finish area at the end of the second run (there will be reminder announcements) to be divided up into groups to go free-ski for an hour – they should have their jackets and pants back on over GS suits at the point.  The groups will ski for about 45 minutes to an hour.  Awards may happen before the free-ski or just after depending on the venue.  Your child is then free to go!  It is going to be a really fun way to make sure that kids don’t lose that precious free-skiing time on race days and to meet new friends!

6) Skis should always be tuned and race ready!

7) Put your child’s name in EVERYTHING! Pants, jackets, sweatshirts, helmets – everything!  Also having some kind of identifying thing on pants (since most are all black!) is a great idea.  I have seen colorful ribbon tied on to the pants, which is great at helping to identify them.

On a cold day, I suggest bringing some extra clothes to have at the bottom of the course with you in case their clothes don’t make it down from the top right away. 

Any other lingering questions you may have, please be sure to consult the DEVO 101 document and then feel free to ask me.

 

Thanks and see you all this weekend!!

 

Mariel

Wow the week is flying by!  Just a quick update with info for Friday’s Time Trials.  All of the info for tomorrow’s race still remains the same as my last post/email, as does the info for Saturday, December 31st.

One reminder: If you haven’t already, please sign your child up for Okemo 1 or Okemo 2 by going to the comp center and adding your child to the appropriate list (lists are on the door between Eric and Peter’s office).  The lists will be there until January 1.  Please do not email me to sign your child up, unless you aren’t going to be here until after January 1st and you haven’t already signed your child up.

Info for Friday, December 30th: