Valley Alpine Ski Team hits the Mountains!

Submitted

Even though the weather has been warm and the snow is sparse the Valley Alpine Ski Team (Nancy Greene Ski League) has been strapping on skis (and boards) for a number of events over the past few weeks.

On Saturday, Dec. 3rd, Tiana Gamroth, Jacey Gamroth and Maven Boddy attended the first of five Legends Club projects for the 2011-12 season.

Sixty-eight girls, ages 11 to 14, from every corner of Alberta, participated in a joint initiative between the Alberta Alpine Legends Club and Fast and Female.

The day began with Zumba dancing in the morning at the Canmore Nordic Centre, followed by a talk from Sports Psychologist, John Coleman on the importance of ‘dreaming big.’

In the afternoon, the girls made their way to the Winterstart Lake Louise World Cup, where they had VIP access to watch the downhill and cheer on Canadians Tess Davies and Sarah Freeman.

After watching only a handful of the first racers of the day, the girls soon congregated in the ‘kid zone’ where they had first access to the World Cup athletes for autographs as they exited the finish corral.

To cap off the day, the girls headed into the day lodge at Lake Louise where Britt Janyk spoke about her career and the importance of staying positive.

“The Fast and Female event is a great opportunity to bring our sport’s role models together with our young athletes. Through the support of our Legends Club program, we’re able to partner with Fast and Female for this fantastic opportunity.
“It’s important that we build a strong cohort of young athletes from across the province for the long term success of our program,” said Alberta Alpine’s President, Adam Hull.

This marks the second year that athletes from The Valley have attended this fantastic event.

On Dec. 9th, Trey Nichols, Reece Nichols, Nathan Hataley, Bobby Gilbertson and coach Garry Thompson headed out to Nakiska Ski area to train for the Alberta Winter Games Snowboard trials.

After just one day on the snow they headed back to Red Deer to compete in the trials on Saturday December 10.

Trey Nichols and Nathan Hataley earned spots on the Zone 4 team and Reece Nichols is a first alternate. Bobby Gilbertson will represent Zone 4 on a team for older athletes.

While the boarders headed to Nakiska, twenty skiers, their families and coaches headed to Lake Louise Ski Area for a pre-season warm-up from Dec. 9 to 11th.

With the Alberta Winter Games Alpine Skiing trials less than three weeks away it was definitely time to strap on the skis again.

Athletes trying out for the winter games trained on Saturday and Sunday morning but the emphasis of the trip was simply to get back on the snow again.

Great early season conditions and good weather helped to make the weekend a success.

The Alberta Winter Games Zone 4 Alpine Skiing trials will be held at the Valley Ski Hill, Alliance on Dec. 30th, 2011 (Alternate date January 7th, 2012).

Be sure to come down and cheer our athletes as they compete for a spot on the team.

The Alberta Winter Games will be held Feb. 10-12th as a joint effort between Spruce Grove, Parkland County, and Stony Plain.

The Alpine Skiing will be held at Rabbit Hill Snow Resort while Snowboarding and Freestyle will be held at Tawatinaw Valley Alpine and Nordic Centre.

For more information on the games check out www.2012awg.ca .

All this activity has certainly made the athletes excited to start another season of skiing at The Valley Ski Hill.

Season opening information will be posted at www.valleyskihill.ca and www.valleynancygreene.com when it is available.

See you on the slopes!