Race News Archive - 2006
WMSA Fun Races
12th November 2006
The final leg of the West Midlands region inter-club competition took place on Sunday at Stoke.
The results show that we came 3rd. Pictures are available via
the gallery, courtesy of Phil Deller.
This is the first year that we've run such a competition and it was principally aimed at less experienced racers (i.e. those with 250+ seed points at the start of the year). Each team nominates six racers with the best four to count. Despite coming 3rd we still achieved some very good individual results - congratulations to Chris for winning the U14 group yesterday!
We will be running the competition again next year and we'll definitely being holding one of the races at The Ackers.
Gloucester Summer Race League Final
17th October 2006
Many congratulations to everyone who's raced in the GSRL this season! The final round took place on Saturday and I'm delighted to report that the A team finished in 2nd place - our best position for some years. What really bodes well for the future is that the B team came 5th and easily beat their main rivals in Gloucester B (9th) and Slalom Plus B (10th). And the Hawks, in their very first season, finished in 13th place - also beating their Gloucester and Slalom Plus counterparts!
The lifting of the seed point restrictions for the final round made for an extremely tough day ahead of us. Did that bother us? Not a bit! Despite the presence of several English and Welsh national team racers we really did ourselves proud with four of our racers finishing in the top 10 overall - Dan (3rd), Stuart (5th), James (9th) and Mark (10th). As for the points, Rog lead the way with 27 - followed by Mark (24), Adam (23), Dan (22), Stuart (22), Robbie (21), Dave (20) and Jane (20).
Not content with winning 'crash of the season' in 2005, Stuart was determined to retain his crown with an awesome display of aerial acrobatics. Although not this time caught on film, Stuart decided to surprise us all by completing his death-defying stunt whilst practising for the head to heads during the lunch break! The heavy thud of head, shoulders and arms on the matting was recorded at level six on the Richter Scale sending a tidal wave down the nearby River Severn. Dazed and confused, he still managed to complete his head to heads (despite everyone's best advice!) to pick up 3 vital points - it just won't be the same without you next year Stuart!
Performances of the day go to Dan for his 3rd place overall; to Adam for his 23 points in the tough U13 age group; and, of course, to Rog for his 27 points.
Many thanks to the Lee family for once again hosting our post-race bash - as always, a great time was had by all.
During the course of the season there's been loads of highlights - far too many to mention in this note - which I'm sure will be remembered and celebrated at our awards presentation at the Christmas Party. I will be producing shortly a set of statistics (average positions, points, etc.) and from this will identify the much-anticipated 'top racer' award. So, watch this space!
As for me, this is my last report as GSRL manager. After 3 years in the role I feel the time is right for a managerial change - call it squad rotation! I'm going to be proposing to our racing 'grandees' how I think we can build on what we've achieved from a racing perspective in recent years. The GSRL has to be viewed as an introduction to racing which provides the platform from which we can develop more of our young racers to compete successfully on the Snowsport England circuit - including racing on snow. I'd therefore very much like to continue as the club's overall Race Manager, but will be passing on responsibility for organising our GSRL teams to someone else - and I have a few ideas as to who!
I'd also like to thank all the parents who have provided so much support - bib distribution, start, gate and finish marshalling, recording of times, etc. Above all, many thanks to Rog for his hard work and expert coaching in developing the MSC as a serious player amongst the more specialist UK racing clubs. Our racers at both race league and national circuit level have certainly raised a few heads this year!
Finally (and without wanting this to sound like an Oscar acceptance speech!) can I thank everyone for the very generous gift of wine and chocolates. A tremendous selection of fine wines which will be much savoured - provided I can hide them from Phillippa!
Gloucester Summer Race League 2006 Results
Gloucester Summer Race League - September
19th September 2006
Once again, well done to everyone who raced on Saturday in the GSRL - some really impressive performances!
Without wishing to sound defeatist I think we have to accept that the chances of the A team reversing a 55 point between them and the current leaders, Slalom Plus A, are pretty remote. So, securing second place (which would still be a great result) has to be our realistic goal come the final round of the competition on 14th October. There are 36 points separating us from Gloucester A in third place and with the seed point restrictions lifted (one racer per team) in October we really will need all of our top points scorers to be available.
The B team remains in 5th place, 54 points ahead of Wessex in 6th place. By no means guaranteed, but a 5th place finish (out of 15 teams) would be a brilliant achievement and would place them significantly higher than the B teams for Slalom Plus and Gloucester.
The Hawks, in their first GSRL season, also remain unchanged in 13th place. As with the B team, they are comfortably ahead of their Slalom Plus and Gloucester counterparts. There's loads of young (and sometimes 'older') talent in the Hawks and they will no doubt continue to go from strength to strength.
With all the leading teams back to full strength the competition for top-10 individual places was very tough. So, many congratulations to Stuart (4th=), James (4th=), Dan (6th) and Mark (10th). With the fastest racers coming from the mega-competitive U18s and U30s, top-3 age groups positions were achieved by James (2nd) and Dan (3rd) in the U18s and Stuart (3rd) in the U30s. It's also worth mentioning that in the U18s we also secured 7th (Alex), 8th (Chris) and 10th (Harry) places. And, with 44 and 35 racers competing in the U10s and U13s respectively, Nick was 9th in the U10s and Adam was 8th in the U13s - great stuff!
20+ points scorers were: Dave (25), Dan (24), Mark (24), Stuart (23), James (22), Robbie (22), Phil (21), Chris (20) and Rob (20).
A testing course in the head-to-heads made for some very exciting duals with maximum points being scored by Olivia and Phil. The last dual of the day saw Stuart beat the hitherto unbeaten (all season) Rorie Scott of Slalom Plus A - a good result or what?!
Many thanks to the Lee family for hosting the post-race festivities and to all the parents supporting me with the scoring, gate marshalling, bib distribution, etc.
GSRL Results Guy
SSE Races Update
13th September 2006
With no MSC racers competing in the British Championships at Sunderland this weekend (it
clashes with the GSRL) the results for all MSC racers completing in the 2006 Snowsport
England dry slope season have been updated. It also includes the latest seed lists
which show reductions for Emily and Sarah - congratulations to both!
MSC 2006 Racers and Seed Points
Welsh Open and National Championships
13th September 2006
The Welsh National and Welsh Open championships took place this last weekend. We had two racers
competing - Harry and Chris.
England and Wales National results
All England Championships
4th September 2006
Congratulations to all MSC racers who qualified for and competed in the All England Championships that took place at Hemel Hemsted on Saturday. Despite the very blustery conditions and two challenging courses the club produced an excellent set of results!
With over 30% of both the male and female fields not finishing or being disqualified, the Championships produced very exciting racing of the highest standard. The leading MSC female racer was Emily Dawes (34th out of 75 starters) and the top MSC male racer was Dan Yeomans (44th out of 149 starters).
England and Wales National results
Gloucester Summer Race League
4th September 2006
I've now received the
results from the last Gloucester Summer Race League meeting held a couple of weeks ago.
The A team remains in 2nd place some 50 points behind the leaders, Slalom Plus A. The B team continues to perform really well and moved up to 5th place - once again showing the growing strength and depth of the club. The Hawks are now in 13th place and could easily move up a position come the next races on 16th September.
Top-ten overall places were achieved by Dan (2nd), James (4th), Mark (6th) and Harry (8th). Dan also won the mega-competitive U18 age group.
Nick and Maxine continue to produce excellent results in the U10s and Adam L had a great result in the U13s.
Eleven MSC racers scored 20 points or more: Mark (28), Roger (28), Adam B (25), Dan (25), James (23), Adam L (23), Harry (21), Robbie (21), Alex (21), Dave (21) and Phil Del (20).
Maximum points in the head-to-heads were achieved by Fergus, Lucy, James M, Mark, Adam B, Roger and Phil Duffield.
Gloucester Summer Race League
24th July 2006
A great effort by all three teams on Saturday! Despite lots of very good individual performances, the A team unfortunately lost more ground
on the leaders, Slalom Plus A, to now lie 43 points behind in second place. The B team hung on to sixth place and Hawks continued their climb
up the table by moving in to 12th position. In fact the Hawks had their best score of the season by some way!
With the August race coming up next, all is certainly not lost as a full strength A team would almost certainly see the gap reduced. If you can't make August can you please let me know as soon as you can - I'm already aware of several people being away but I'm sure they won't be the only ones.
Any way, back to Saturday's results. Many congratulations to Stuart who came joint first overall! The 20 points and above scorers were: Roger (25), Robbie (25), Stuart (23), Phil Deller (23), Adam B (23), Dave (22), James (22), Alex (21) and Mark (20). We also had four racers scoring maximum points in the duals - Alex, Emily (who also had a blistering run in the morning), Jake and Phil.
Let's keep battling all the way and keep as much pressure as possible on the leaders just in case they slip up!
Llandudno SSE Race
17th July 2006
Here are the latest MSC SSE racing results
which include last weekend's Celtic Cup races at Llandudno.
These were the last races at Llandudno before it gets resurfaced with permasnow.
This, sadly, means that next season we won't be able to race at Swadlincote, Chatham, High Wycombe and Llandudno.
And, possibly, at Hemel if it gets planning permission in time to start rebuilding as a snowdome.
The good news, however, is that Ipswich successfully made it's first appearance this summer and Rossendale is supposedly making a comeback next year.
So, there will still be plenty of slopes up and down the country homologated to hold SSE races.
Losing Llandudno will be a great shame: as you can see below it's a great place to ski (click for larger images).
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Snowsport England Races and Seed Points
12th July 2006
MSC 2006 SSE Races and Seed Points now includes Saturday's Club National at Gloucester. And what an amazing set of results they are too! Every MSC racer who competed produced their best results of the season by a long way - many congratulations!
With so many great performances it wouldn't be right to highlight any individuals, so here's a list of all the MSC racers and their 'best of season' improvements:
Emily -33%, Stuart -33%, Chris -26%, Dan -23%, Freddie - 19%, Olivia -19%, Adam -13%, Sarah -11% and Sophia -9%.
And, although the 'minis' don't qualify for race points there were excellent performances from Nick, Lucy, Sam and Elisabeth!
Gloucester Summer Race League
12th July 2006
The next round takes place on Saturday, 22nd July. I'm still trying to finalise the teams but hope to complete this by the end of the week.
I also understand that the May family is kindly going to host the post-race BBQ - please bring a pitch-fork as Martin has umpteen thousands of acres that need harvesting!
Snowsport England Races and Seed Points
3rd July 2006
Last weekend's races at Stoke saw a fine return to Snowsport England competition by Stuart Wickson. Not surprisingly, Stuart's results mean that he immediately joins the growing band of MSC racers now ineligible for next season's Gloucester Summer Race League. Chris May and Freddie Meyer also recorded their best points of the season!
This Saturday will see most of our SSE-registered racers competing at the Gloucester Club National. So far this season, the MSC has had 16 racers competing in Club Nationals and 6 racers competing in Grand Prix events. These have to be the largest numbers the MSC has had in years and, with more and more juniors coming through the ranks, these figures are all set to increase further next year! And, dare I forget, we also provided four officials at Sunday's (WMSA) Grand Prix - Nigel Dawes, Dave Hancock, Phil Deller and Dave Lee.
The SSE inter-regional championships take place this Sunday at Gloucester. Unfortunately, the unavailability of several MSC racers means that Stuart is our only representative in the WMSA team. Good luck Stuart - break a few poles!
Gloucester Summer Race League
26th June 2006
Well done to everyone who raced on Saturday in the GSRL! Click here for the results and
check the gallery for photos.
The competition remains very close with only 18 points separating our A team (who are lying in 2nd place) from the leaders, Slalom Plus A. With the school holidays approaching, the next two rounds in July and August will no doubt have a big impact on the final outcome of the competition. Provided we can field pretty much our strongest A team then we'll have every opportunity of closing the gap and, possibly, even taking a lead in to the final two rounds - we've got to remain positive!
The B team is in 6th place and the Hawks have moved up a place in to 14th position. Once again, both of these teams played a valuable role in taking points off of the A team's closest rivals! And with the growing number of racers now training with the club, it was great to see five first-timers all performing really well and contributing good points.
Top score of the day went to Roger Crombleholme with 28 points (out of a maximum 29). Those youngsters now snapping at Rog's heals in the timed morning runs will just have to try again! Top-10 overall positions were achieved by Stuart Wickson (3rd), Mark Hawkins (6th) and James Hornsby (9th). And we had another six racers in the top 30 - Adam Beardmore (12th), Roger (19th), Robbie Beak (22nd), Alex Ponsonby (23rd), Harry Hornsby (24th) and Sarah Dawes (29th).
20 points and above scorers were: Roger (28), Robbie (25), Adam (25), Dave (24), Mark (24), Stuart (23), James (21), Harry (21) and Phil (20). Special thanks to Olivia and Alex (twice!) who both had to give way to A team racers in the afternoon's head-to-head races.
The next round of the GSRL takes place on Saturday, 22nd July. Please can you let me know as soon as you can whether (or not) you'll be available for team selection. Thanks.
Snowsport England Races and Seed Points
26th June 2006
Five MSC racers were in action over the weekend in the Celtic Cup series at Pontypool - very tough courses on both days.
Updated seed points have just been issued and these see a number of MSC racers (Dan, James, Harry, Freddie, Emily, Sophia and Olivia) achieving reductions - many congratulations!
MSC 2006 SSE Races and Seed Points.
Next weekend will see a large number of MSC racers competing at Stoke in Saturday's Club National and Sunday's Grand Prix. Elisabeth Thomas will be starting her first CN and Stuart Wickson is making a return to the circuit - hope Stoke has enough gate poles to cover breakages!
Good luck to everyone competing!
Pendle Club National
19 June 2006
Saturday saw seven MSC racers competing in the Pendle Club National. No seed point improvements, but the results certainly don't reflect the quality of the performances. Located high up on the moors of Lancashire, Pendle is a tough slope on which to score low points. Firstly, it has a steep, rolling top section and then flattens out considerably. Therefore, if you don't build sufficient speed in the top half (easier said than done!) and carry this through to the flat section then you're going to really struggle. Secondly, the matting is dark green and (believe it or not!) this does take a bit of getting used to. And, finally, there's the Ryding factor. Both David (GB male alpine team) and Jo (England female alpine team) chose to compete and subsequently destroyed the field - with the added advantage of Pendle being their home slope! As a result, the penalty points were -5.62 for the men and +3.72 for the females (the minimum penalty points for a Club National are +10).
Definitely an excellent learning experience - plus, the weather was (unusually) very kind to us. And, although he straddled a gate on his final run, it was good to see Chris back racing after his injury! MSC 2006 SSE Races and Seed Points
A few pictures from Kate May (director of Photography!) - click for larger images
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SSE Races
12 June 2006
Just the two MSC racers - James and Harry - at the Ipswich Club National on Saturday.
It was very hot, but both managed to record their best results of the season so far.
MSC 2006 SSE Races and Seed Points.
This was the first time that a Club National event has been held at Ipswich. It's a very good race slope (mixing steep sections with rollers) and has excellent viewing. See picture below (Click for larger picture). I'd certainly recommend it to other MSC racers for next year.
Snowsport England Races and National Seed Points
5 June 2006
Saturday saw nine MSC racers competing in the Arrows club national at Pontypool. Dan maintained his excellent run of form and Emily and Sophia both recorded their best results of the summer season. Also, congratulations to Lucy who successfully completed her first club national event.
MSC 2006 SSE Races and Seed Points.
Snowsport England Races and National Seed Points
30 May 2006
After the rain-soaked GSRL on Saturday (see below), only 3 MSC racers competed in the Club National at Southampton the following day - Olivia, Matthew and Harry. MSC 2006 SSE Races and Seed Points.
The 2006.2 seed list has just been published and this reflects event points scored at Llandudno (CN) and Hemel (CN and GP). Big improvements for lots of our racers - Dan, Harry, Freddie, Adam, Olivia and Sophia. Version 2006.3 is due to be published on 18th June and this will take in to consideration races up to and including 18th June. So, there's still lots more opportunities for everyone to reduce their points!
MSC racers competing at next Saturday's Pontypool Club National include Lucy (first ever CN), Sam, Nicholas, Sophia, Sarah, Emily, Dan, Harry and Adam. Good luck to all!
Gloucester Summer Race League
30 May 2006
Congratulations to everyone who raced on Saturday in the GSRL. Despite the rain and the mud (which doubles up very nicely as a race wax!) all three MSC teams performed really well.
MSC Gloucester Summer Race League Results 2006
The A team lies in second place - just 8 points behind Slalom Plus A and 11 points ahead of Western Counties.
The B team is in 5th place - 48 points behind Gloucester A and 5 points ahead of Exeter.
The Hawks are in 15th place - with only 6 points separating the bottom four teams.
With the B team scoring a whopping 158 points (compared to their usual average of 125 points with 12 racers in the team rather than the 10 per team this year) and the Hawks scoring 76 points from their first outing, this really does show the club's increasing strength in depth. More importantly from a GSRL perspective, it means that we have the racers capable of taking points off the A team's two closest rivals (Slalom Plus A and Western Counties). For example, in the head-to-head races the B team and the Hawks took 8 points off Slalom Plus A and 7 points off Western Counties.
20 points and above scorers were: Dan Yeomans (28), Dave Hancock (26), Roger Crombleholme (25), James Hornsby (23), Adam Beardmore (23), Stuart Wickson (22), Rob Weeks (22), Phil Deller (21), Ian Chamberlain (21), Harry Hornsby (20) and Alex Ponsonby (20).
In total, there were 148 competitors representing 15 teams. We had 3 racers in the top 10 - Stuart (3rd), Dan (8th) and James (9th). Another six racers in the top 20 - Mark (11th), Roger (13th), Adam (16th), Harry (18th), Alex (19th) and Jake (20th). And one more racer in the top 30 - Sarah (29th).
Top-3 age group places were achieved by: Dan (2nd in U18), James (3rd in U18), Stuart (2nd in U30), Roger (1st in U50) and Dave (2nd in U50).
Special mention must also be made of Nick Phelps and Maxine Hancock who came 6th and 11th respectively in the U10s.
The next round of the GSRL takes place on Saturday, 24th June. Please can you let me know as soon as you can whether (or not) you'll be available for team selection. Thanks.
Guy
PS If you want to see the performances of all 148 competitors you'll find them on the Gloucester Ski Club web site (race results section).
Snowsport England Races and National Seed Points
22 May 2006
The results from this weekend's SSE races are below. Top honours go to Dan who recorded his best-ever points score of 111.77 - a great result that sees him smash the GSRL seed points cut off. Many congratulations!
Also, well done to Nick and Sophia who successfully completed their first Club National event.
Snowsport England Races and National Seed Points
16 May 2006
Here are the latest seed points for MSC racers and their Snowsport England
race results so far this season.
WMSA Inter-Club Competition - Current Standings
11 May 2006
Round two of the West Midlands Ski Association inter-club competition took place at Telford on 30th April.
The full results are here.
Unfortunately, we didn't pick as many points as we did in round one and now sit in third place. Team points are here.
The final race in the series is due to be held at The Ackers - date to be confirmed (but probably in September or October). Let's hope that home advantage will help us turn things around! For new racers - anyone will be able to enter this race with the best four scores (out of a nominated six racers) to count. Any one with less than 250 SSE seed points can enter but their scores can't count.
Guy
PS Good luck to Adam Lee, Sam Lee and Harry Hornsby who are competing in the Celtic Cup at Llandudno this weekend (Harry on Saturday, Adam and Sam on Sunday)