Archive for the 'Devo’s Announcements' Category

Hello Devo Families!
 
 
I am very excited to say that training this weekend will be on our normal 8:30 – 10:30am/12:00 – 2:00 pm schedule meeting at 8:30 and 12 pm at the top of the A/B Quad.

Given that it is only our second weekend on snow, we are going to continue to focus more on SL in our freeskiing, so SL skis both days if your child has two different pairs of skis.  If your child has only one pair of skis – do not worry, they can use a SL for GS and vice versa.  In fact, new parents, I generally recommend that first year Devos use only SL skis as they are better for training fundamentals and turn mechanics and work just fine for the GS courses they will encounter.  We are still dealing with limited terrain and lack of snow base, so gates are not yet an option for us.  However, we will get the children in the End of the Year Open on GS skis and into some GS gates as soon as we can.
 
Our Annual Devo/Council Parent Information Session is this Saturday, December 17th at 7 pm in the Gold Room at Willie Dunne’s – Okemo Valley Golf Course.  This is a great chance to meet other families in the program and to get a ton of important info regarding Devos, Council, and all of those crazy acronyms!  Please plan to attend!

***A few important reminders***
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Hello All,
 
We have been given the, shall we say, yellow light to train this weekend.  Terrain is still quite limited, but we finally got some snow and colder temps have set in, so the snowmaking crews are hard at work to turn this place into a winter wonderland!  
 
Here is the plan for the weekend.  Note that we are not following our typical schedule:
 
Saturday: It is anticipated that the base quads still will not be running and that we will either be riding the Magic Carpet to the Sachem Quad or still taking the bus.  Therefore, we will meet at the Summit Lodge – gathered near the rear entrance to the building (side closer to Buckhorn) – at 8:30 am.  We will ski only a morning session until 10:30 am at which point the children will be dismissed at the Summit Lodge.  Please have a careful plan for meeting your child since we are dealing with possible downloading of lifts.  I would suggest that either you plan to drop your child off at the Summit Lodge and meet them there again – particularly if they are young or a first year Devo!
 
Sunday: Subject to change, but it looks like the base quads will be running by Sunday and so we will go back to our regular meeting place – the Top of the A/B Quads (you will know you are in the right spot by the mob of children) – at our regular time 8:30 am.  We will again ski only a morning session, but this time a longer one until 11:30 am (in anticipation of more open terrain).  We will follow our normal protocol of dismissing the children from where ever we are at 11:30 am.  There will be no afternoon session.  WE WILL PROCEED WITH THIS PLAN FOR SUNDAY UNLESS I LET YOU KNOW OTHERWISE VIA EMAIL AND BLOG POST. 
 
Other reminders:
 

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*** SCREENING UPDATES ***

We are still anticipating the B Quad being open tomorrow; giving us access to the Sugar House.

In the event the B Quad is CLOSED – MEET AT THE BASE OF THE SACHEM QUAD

We will not be having any screenings on Saturday 12/10.  We are not planning to have skiing access to the Sugar House that day.

We are planning to have top-to-bottom skiing by Sunday!!!   No promises at this time, so don’t hold us to it.

That said here is the schedule:

ALL DEVO SCREENINGS – Wait for an email from Mariel regarding the regular training schedule.

Any screening scheduled for 12/10 or 12/11 will be held on SUNDAY 12/11 at 9:00 AM at the Sugar House.

ALL HOPEFULS SCREENINGS – NO REGULAR HOPEFULS GROUP THIS WEEK

Any screening scheduled for 12/10 or 12/11 will be held on SUNDAY 12/11 at the following times.

Last Name begins with:

A-F please meet at the Sugar House at 9:00 AM for your screening.

G-M please meet at the Sugar House at 10:00 AM for your screening.

N-Z please meet at the Sugar House at 11:00 AM for your screening.

Freestyle – Regular Programs – look for Mike’s info on training

Screenings meet at Base of A/B Chairs at 9:00 AM as scheduled.

Snowboard – Regular Programs – look for Luke’s info on training.

Screenings meet at Base of A/B Chairs at 8:00 AM (might be closer to 8:15 AM) as scheduled.

DEVO PG – Look for an email from Mike or Bill about where regular groups will meet.

Meet at the Sugar House at 10:00 AM on Sunday 12/11 for your screenings.

Hello All,
 
Well, we are still in a holding pattern trying to figure out whether or not we can train on snow this weekend.  Frozen precip and colder temps are in the forecast for the end of the week, so this may be a last minute decision. I will email and post to the blog the plan for the weekend once it is solidified, so stay tuned.  For now, though here are some important reminders, so please read carefully. 

 
Please keep in mind that if you are receiving this email, but your child is scheduled for a screening, they need to go through the screening process before attending regular DEVO practice.  Instead they will be meeting with me at the Sugar House at their screening time which you scheduled through Eric Evans in the competition center. 
 
A few important points – Please read carefully as there is a lot of info:
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Hello All,
 
Well, we were waiting with fingers crossed to hopefully have enough snow to ski with the kids this weekend, but unfortunately there just isn’t enough open terrain to safely ski as groups.  However, the mountain is open and I would encourage you to take a few early morning runs with your children. 
 
We will meet as a group for some fun dryland activities at the Ice House in Jackson Gore from 11:30 am – 1 pm on Satuday and Sunday.  Please send your child dressed in sneakers and workout clothes, but dressed WARMLY.  It is basically outside, so gloves, hats, and a jacket should be worn. 
 
The dryland sessions are in no way mandatory, but will be a fun way for your children to reconnect with coaches and team mates or meet for the first time.  They will also learn some fun exercises to take home with them so that they can continue a fitness routine on their own. 
 
Hope to see you all tomorrow!
 
Best,
Mariel

Hi folks,

The weather has not been kind.  We are making plans for the weekend based on snow coverage and snowmaking that can go on over the next several nights.  J1/2′s, J3′s, Council, DEVO, Snowboard & Freestyle groups will meet this weekend.  Stay tuned for updates from each of your own programs for specific group meeting schedules this weekend.  Most likely plan on some dryland training as part of the programs this weekend.

On to you new folks, we have postponed all screenings for the weekend.

Anyone with a 12/3 (Sat) screening is now scheduled for 12/10 (Sat)

Anyone with a 12/4 (Sun) screening is now scheduled for 12/11 (Sun).

The times and meeting locations have not changed.

Hopefuls – 9:00 AM Sugar House

DEVO’s – 9:00 AM Sugar House

Freestyle – 9:00 AM Top of A/B Quad

DEVO PG – 10:00 AM Sugar House

OMST – 8:00 AM Sitting Bull

Remember only 1st Year Athletes or athletes moving from Hopefuls to Devos without prior coach recommendations need to be screened.

Thank you.

Contact Eric Evans in the Competition Center if the new date will pose a problem to you.

eevans@okemo.com

802.228.1483

Hello All,

To those of you who are receiving an email from me for the first time – WELCOME TO DEVOS!  To the rest, welcome back to the weekly email and blog post grind I know you all have missed !

Well, Okemo is open and I hope that many of you were here this weekend to enjoy the beginning of ski season!  I am hopeful that we will be able to begin training as normally scheduled on December 3rd at 8:30 am.  Please note though that we do need more open terrain than what is available now in order to train on snow.  In the event that we are not able to train on snow, I will organize a dryland activity for all of the Devos.
That being said, please look for an email/blog post later next week confirming training plans for Saturday, December 3rd!

Also, please plan to attend the OMARA Parent Informational Meeting and Social this Saturday, December 3rd at 7 pm in the Sitting Bull!!

Please read this entire post, as there is a lot of info that will be helpful for everyone – particularly, parents of first years.

Continue reading this whole message after the jump! (more…)

Hey Folks,

I know not all of you were planning on making the trip up this weekend, especially those of you who do not have programs meeting this weekend.

J1 & J2’s & J3’s will meet at 8:00 AM by the A/B Quads on Saturday and Sunday.

The Council & Freestyle teams are on a similar schedule.

The mountain will be opening with VERY LIMITED TERRAIN.

Skiing at appropriate speeds for the situation are strongly encouraged by the staff and Ski Patrol. Please be courteous to others.

Our groups will be on the hill until about 10:00 AM each day. They will be freeskiing only.

Okemo will be opening Thursday at 9:00 AM.

Spread the word!

Thank you and have a great Thanksgiving!

Hello all and welcome back to Okemo for another season!

Whether you are joining us for the first time this season, or working on your second (or third) decade, we have been working hard to make Okemo Competitions and OMARA one of the best and biggest skiing, riding and freeski programs in the country.

We have some changes for 2011-12 and here’s a quick, and incomplete, rundown of them.

Freestyle Skiers and Snowboards will be pleased to find the park on Timberline has moved to Blackout.  The lift access via the Black Ridge Triple and The Pull will dramatically improve the number of laps you can make in a day.

This opens Timberline back up for your cruising pleasure.  It also means Race Arena will be returning to Bull Run.  Actually, it will start on Lift Line and curve back to Bull Run and finishing just above the base of the A Quad.  Kudos to the Okemo crews who are moving the snowmaking tower, clearing trees and moving some dirt around for us to make this happen!

New to the cast of coaches this year is Bruce Johnston, he will be heading up the J3′s as well as serving as our Head Coach.  Bruce comes to us full of energy and ready to go for the season!

Photos of our events will be taken, once again, by Donald Dill.  He’s been the photographer of our events for quite some time.  With the departure of Photos by Reflex, Donald will be handling the photos himself.  All of them will be available on Donald’s web page at smugmug.  The direct link is here: http://tootsie.smugmug.com/

That is all for now, stay tuned for more updates!

Think Snow!