Alpine News
The second annual ACT Schools Cup was held over the weekend at Perisher. 100 skiers entered the Alpine Course as well as 40 Snowboarders, from just under 20 Canberra Schools. The race is run similar to Interschools, whereby teams and individuals are entered in their school division. The rain was threatening to appear on race morning but the course at Mother in Law held up very well and we were finshed before the weather came in!
Greg Healy from Radford College announced the team and individual winners of the day. A point score from the team events was conducted to determine the best Male and Female Overall School. In the Female Champion School point score, St Clares narrowly missed out on winning by 4 points and the victory went to Radford College. Radford won the Male Champion School award with Canberra Grammar Junior in second and Marist College third.
Click Here for the Results
The 78th running of the Balmain Cup was also held over the weekend. Australia's longest running race is an inter club event and there are currently 5 participating clubs. Each club must field 4-6 competitors in Slalom, Giant Slalom, Snowboard Giant Slalom and Cross Country. Guthega Ski Club won the Balmain Cup this year, with Brindabella second and Cooma Ski Club third. Rupert Winkler won the overall George Dudzinski award, for the best individual to perform in 3 out of the 4 events. Elizabeth Pilat won the Best Female Performance.
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The Blue Cow Cup was held over the weekend in Sunny Perisher. Lucie Winkler won the Slalom & Skier X in her J1 category. Tatiana Skwarko placed first in C2 in the Skier X on Sunday.
Genevieve Baird & Jakob Winkler also performed well over the weekend.
Click Here for the Race Results for the ACT Citizens Race
Check out Race Photos from our Facebook Page
NSWACT Alpine, Perisher Winter Sports Club and Thredbo Ski Racing Club have combined again this season to offer this exciting Award to talented Interschool racers without previous race club experience.
9 Alpine racers from Divisions 4 or 5 across the Sydney, Northern and Southern/ACT regions have been selected for this year’s Alpine Rising Stars Awards which offer the successful racers:
- a weekend of free race training with a Race Club
- free entry to the Blue Cow Cup Children’s event
The purpose of the Awards is to encourage talented Interschool Alpine racers to experience the next level of Alpine training and racing.
Congratulations to this year’s ACT winners: Isabella Davis (Canberra Girls Grammar) and William Hyles (Canberra Grammar).
The ANC Alpine races are traditionally held in Mt Hotham before crossing over to New Zealand, however with the late start to the season, the Mt Hotham races were cancelled in August and three of these races were re-allocated to other resorts. Thredbo Ski Racing Club successfully hosted the first of these races, the ANC Slalom. National Team member Hugh Stevens finished 5th (and 1st Australian!) with a career best 17.90 FIS points, after being crowned Australia's National Slalom Champion at the National Championships held earlier in the week.
The ANC continued in Coronet Peak New Zealand, 3 days later, where the Giant Slalom featured many of the USA and Canadian World Cup team members, including Bode Miller and Ted Ligety. Hugh was the 2nd placed Australian in this very competitive field. In the Slalom, Hugh placed 12th and was the 1st Australian.
The series continued on September 2 in Coronet Peak, where Hugh came 20th in the Giant Slalom. At the finals in Mt Hutt, Hugh came 10th in the Slalom and narrowly missed out on receiving the yellow jersey. The Yellow Bib in each discipline gives the winner World Cup entry an expenses and preferred start places in the Europa and NorAM Cups.
Report by Rupert Winkler
The team went to Austria first and trained for 2 weeks in Saalbach-Hinterglemm before travelling to Slovenia for the first World Winter Masters Games on January 25-31.
We had a few more Aussies joining us to make a team of 15 competitors in the Alpine events. Everyone was doing really well considering we only had 2 weeks of skiing under our belt.
The first competition was GS and being the biggest event and some organisational problems it was cut down to one run only. This was disappointing, because Heimo Thaurer (ACT) was sitting in 9th position and I was sitting in 4th position with only 8 hundreds of bronze medal. Damian von Demleux (ACT) having never raced an alpine event before, finished in 35th place.
Our next event was the SUPER G and the organisation committee did a great job to keep the course in good condition. Heimo didn't race this event and had a rest day. This time Damian had a bit more experience after the first race and managed a 27th place. I had a bumper run, but crashed just before the finish.
The last event was the Slalom and finally a medal for AUSTRALIA, Snowsport ACT and the Guthega Ski Club. Heimo had 2 fantastic runs and with only a small margin on the winner secured silver for our team. I finished 11th after 2 consistent runs and Damian was disqualified after his first run.
All the other Australians did really well. We had a few more 4th places and consistent top 10 and top 20 results. Thank god there were no major injuries, just a couple of scratches and bruises and maybe the odd headache, but that wasn’t from skiing the ski racing.
The 7th World Winter Transplant Games were held in January in the small village of St Foy, near Val D'Isere. The Games attracted some 200 participants and accompanying persons from 20 countries. The Games are held every two years, and are organised by the World Transplant Games Federation.
Lisa Cuthbertson, a bone marrow transplantee, competed for Australia. To the surprise of some Europeans who are not aware there is snow in Australia, Lisa won the women's slalom, and was second female in GS and Super G. She also competed in the 5km cross-country, and in the parallel slalom - a short fun event. Along with Stephanie Theobold, an Australian now resident in England, they were the only Australians competing. Stephanie, new to skiing, entered the snow-shoe event, and slowly, but successfully, wound her way through the slalom course.
Apart from the usual alpine events, there was a snowboard race and a
snow-shoe race; while cross-country events include a biathlon, the 5km race, a one hour race where the winner competes the most rounds of the course; and a team of three race. Medals are awarded by age groups, which encourages performers of all standards and ages.
The objective of the Transplant Games -summer and winter - is to increase public awareness of the success of organ transplants, of the need for donors, and very importantly, to show appreciation of, and respect for, donor families. All events are held in a spirit of fun, with lots of hot drinks and cakes available for freezing spectators, as well as competitors.
Alongside the main events, the Nicholas Cup is held. This is a social week organised for transplanted children, age 4 to 17, who are novices at skiing. They are introduced to skiing and other snow games, with an easy slalom on the final day. A team of volunteers looked after some 50 children all week. This Cup is held to honour the memory of Nicholas Green who was killed in a drive-by shooting in Italy, and whose organs saved seven lives. A similar camp - TACKERS (Transplant Adventure Camps for Kids) is also offered in Europe for transplanted children to enjoy a week in the snow, with all equipment and clothing supplied. See www.tackers.org
The 8th Winter Games will be held in Anzere, in the Valais region of
Switzerland, 3rd -10th March, 2012. It would be good to have more
Australian transplant skiers competing there. Visit the website www.trans-forme.org for more information.
20 Australian Masters skiers will be competing in the 2010 World Winter Masters Games in Slovenia in January. 
More than 2,000 people from 42 countries have already registered to be part of the World Winter Masters Games. By now more than 500 alpine skiers, around 400 cross-country skiers, 200 ski jumpers, 100 competitors in biathlon and over 30 ice hockey teams have registered to have an “Olympic” style experience. In addition, futsal teams from many countries have decided to register. Registrations are open till Decemeber 25.
The aim of the World Masters Games is to support the Olympic movement and encourage mature athletes to practice sports regularly and participate in Masters Games. The first World Winter Masters Games 2010 will allow anyone over the age of 25 to participate in an Olympic style experience. There is no qualifications or national teams, only age criteria.
For more information, visit www.2010mastersgames.com
Congratulations to ACT Skiers Ben Hood and Alia Moore, who have been selected as members of the Australian Alpine Children's Squad. Ben and Alia will be competing in two International Children's races in the northern hemisphere season; Topolino and Whistler Cup.
The ANC (Australian New Zealand Continental Cup Series) yellow bibs are awarded to the best placed Australian or New Zealand racer in each of the four disciplines.
The winners of these bibs earn the right to start no worse than 31st position
in the coming seasons Europa Cup and NorAm race series, and if they qualify, have a personal quota spot with expenses in the World Cup.
Bryce was awarded the Slalom yellow bib and was runner up in the Giant Slalom. Meanwhile, Hugh recieved the yellow bib in Giant Slalom and was runner up in the Slalom.
100 men from 20 nations and 63 women from 18 nations competed in this year's ANC series.
At the Ski and Snowboard Australia National Children’s Championships at Hotham, Ben Hood was awarded equal overall champion in his age group. Alia Moore also had a success champs, placing second in the Giant Slalom 2 and Slalom 1.