Balmain Cup 2006
Report Courtesy of Brindabella's 'Christie'
The team awoke to less than optimal snow conditions for the 2006 Balmain Cup interclub race. After a night of hot wind, much of the snow had melted, replaced with a layer of dirt. The organisers found it challenging to maintain a course, often shovelling snow between racers and returning gates which had popped out of the shallow base. The down-hill Giant Slalom and Snowboard events were reduced to one run, the racers finding the odd grassy patch or cross-rut from the previous slalom.
For the cross-country, the racers and supporters had a hike to the top of the Perisher Nordic trails to find enough snow. The course was reduced to 1600 meters and the snow would swallow you up like quicksand if you did not stay strictly to the groomed track.
A special mention to Karl Knapp for his excellent time in the downhill events; to Sam Higgs, our youngest ever snowboard racer who gained the team’s fastest time; to Rachael Bass who was racing in the Balmain Cup for the first time and to Shannon Cuthbertson for bringing elegance and style, both on and off the course. Georgina made a surprise appearance in the cross-country, having turned up to support and found herself racing after a no-show. Next year, she’s bringing wax and something a little more glam than tracky dacks.
The presentation dinner was held at the Sundeck in Perisher after drinks at the Canberra Alpine Club. Cooma Hut took back the trophy from Guthega Ski Club and Brindabella came consistently 3rd in all events.
The 2006 Balmain Cup Report by CAC club captain Andrew Frain
We lost. And I got suburnt.
But that is the extent of the bad news. Everything else was great. For one thing everyone got to make fun of my new bright red forehead. It could have rained, but if held off and visibility and weather was great (again evidenced by my forehead). The snow itself held up just enough for the competition. Although Guthega seemed to be fast becoming a swimming pool, the tireless shoveling of the race department and other volunteers meant that the grass skiing was kept to a minimum.
Team CAC instantly gained the respect of Kerri Pinkerton and the other competitors by providing a veritable army of course officials. Special thanks are therefore due to Teresa Harrington, Martine Russet, Lynette Boast and Andrew McIntyre.
The downhill team was up first, consisting of myself, Stephen Peel, Tim McIntyre, Nevin Agnew, Emily Frain, and Claire Boast. Overall everyone put in great performances. Stephen Peel did crash in the slalom course, but had a great time in the giant slalom and (annoyingly) beat me. Emily Frain also stacked in the slalom, despite bragging minutes earlier about her reliability in Balmain cup races, but also had a great run in the giant slalom. Overall everyone did terrifically, but we were unable to secure a top three finish in the club rankings.
The snowboard was a wholly different story. Never before have we performed so strongly in this event. Our team, consisting of Mark Mylek, Chris McIntyre, Reece Brandon, Michelle Smith, Richardo Guseli and Dan Dicks, dominated the rest of the field. While Mark Mylek provided some experience as a Balmain cup veteran, the team was otherwise filled with newer faces. Apparently these new faces were our snowboard salvation as we convincingly won this event. Hopefully we will see a similar team make-up and similar success in subsequent years.
The cross country event was a little more unsuccessful but still enjoyable as ever. While Ben Sim made his usual standout appearance, some of our usual XC stalwarts were unfortunately unavailable. Therefore Kathy Saw, Jenny McLeod, Nevin Agnew, Emily Frain and myself stepped up to fill the void. Nevin performed respectably and although the rest of us put in some serious effort, we were a little less than competitive. I believe that it was well worth the 1km hike to the course just to see Emily and myself classicking into the finish line.
So overall were most unsuccessful club on the day and Cooma Club took out that illustrious award. However our snowboard team reminded everyone that we are still a force to be reckoned with.
Just as importantly, our performance as hosts of this year’s Balmain Cup was fantastic. Amanda East, Lynette Boast and Angela Ivanovici did an amazing job of hosting pre-dinner drinks. We received many compliments that night about our lodge and our ability to feed the instant crowd of roughly 60 people, but, most importantly, our ability to make those people feel welcome and comfortable.
This same feeling carried over to the dinner at the new sundeck. Cliff and the sundeck crew did an amazing job of feeding the ravenous mob. The food was great, and distracted the tribe just enough from my apparently loud presentation.
Cooma accepted their award with all the humility of Anthony ‘the Man’ Mundine and the day wound up with some very happy clubs. So once again thank you to everyone who helped out. I invite you all to witness our amazing victory next year.
| CLUB | GS | SL | SB | XC | TOTAL |
| Cooma | 95.39% | 100.00% | 82.70% | 100.00% | 378.09% |
| Guthega | 100.00% | 98.38% | 88.05% | 82.88% | 369.31% |
| Brindabella | 93.81% | 92.95% | 95.66% | 69.84% | 352.26% |
| Tate | 91.08% | 91.69% | 98.35% | 68.12% | 349.24% |
| CAC | 91.51% | 84.57% | 100.00% | 66.82% | 342.90% |
| Slalom | Andrew Macdonald (Cooma) |
| Giant Slalom | Thomas Reitstaetter (Guthega) |
| Snowboard | Jamie Pinkerton (Tate) |
| Cross Country | Anthony Evans (Cooma) |
| Dudzinski Trophy | Rupert Winkler (Guthega) |
| Dudzinski Trophy - Female | Morgan Evans (Tate) |