From our CEO-Peter Stokloza
 

· The training we have had in the last few weeks has been phenomenal.  Our athletes are racing and training all around the country and representing WVA and BBTS with pride.  A few of our athletes and alumni have even reached the highest levels by qualifying for the US Ski Team or winning a World Cup.  Congratulations to Kayla Snyderman and Hannah Kearney-we are very proud of you!

· BBTS held its first events over the weekend and once again they were a great success. Thanks to all the volunteers that helped with these events.

· Our athletes are not only learning skiing and riding skills-they are also learning many other valuable skills-for example the Mitey Mites are learning to carry their skis and equipment and put it on independently; the JV’s are learning how to get their bibs, be on the start on time and be responsible for their clothing; the JIV’s are starting to learn mental race preparation; the J3’s are starting to develop conditioning skills and knowledge of the rules and regulations of competitions; the JI’s and JII’s are learning how to be flexible and live on the road.  And all of our athletes and coaches are learning how to interact as a team.  These are skills that will help our athletes succeed in the sport and also in life.

· Please have a safe and enjoyable holiday season.  I look forward to seeing you all over the Christmas vacation week.

Pete
 

From the Desk of Director of Development and Communications-Sharon Schmidt

· I wanted to take a moment to remind you of the events which WVBBTS hosts at Waterville Valley Ski Area throughout the season through the tireless efforts of our members.  There are two alpine events going on during the holiday week along with a snowboard competition sponsored by the ski area and a Rail Jam sponsored by WVBBTS and the ski area.  Please come by and cheer on our athletes!  You can find out details about these events in the Upcoming Events section below.

· Volunteers Needed at the Holiday Party-I could use the help of a few people at the Holiday Party on Thursday, December 29 starting at 5:45 pm.  Please e-mail me at sschmidt@wvbbts.org or call me if you are able to help.

·  I want to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season with friends and family.

From the Desk of the Headmaster-Gary Benedix

· The past two months have gone by so fast!  I find it hard to believe that we are already getting ready to close the Academy on Thursday for Christmas break.  Classes will not resume until the second of January but the dorm will re-open on Monday the 26^th at 5:00 PM for the BBTS/Academy Christmas training camp. It should be noted that those students who return for the training camp are expected to spend their days on the hill and the Academy will be closed during that time.  Lunch will be available for boarding students but they must bring it with them when they leave for the mountain in the morning.  The house will re-open at 3:30 PM daily and dinner is served at 6:00.  For the rest of us, we will have to wait until the second of January to partake in those excellent lunches that Susan has been preparing for us.

· Progress reports went out last week.  Grades close for the semester on January 20th and Report Cards will follow shortly thereafter.

· Student athletes enrolled for our January – March term can begin moving into the dorm on January 1st.  Both boarding and day students are to be in Pickering Hall on Monday the 2^nd of January at 8:30 AM for our regular morning meeting after which I will hold a short orientation meeting (for the new students) and distribute schedules.  All students should be in their respective classes before the end of the first period!

· Parents, keep your calendar open for Parents Weekend (January 20 – 22).  You should have already received your invitation from our development and communications director Sharon Schmidt.  Please RSVP to Sharon before January 12^th using the form provided so that she can be prepared.   I look forward to seeing you there.

· Looks like a white Christmas.  Let it snow, let it snow!

Gary Benedix

From our Alpine Director-Tom Barbeau

· Coach Peter and I decided this year’s motto for the Alpine racers would be “drive it deep into the turn and you better bring it every run”. For you race car aficionados, you understand “driving deep into the turn”. What we would like for you to discuss with your children is, “bring it every run”. I have seen many ski racers who may not ski perfectly, but they attack and go as fast as they can so their results are great. Mike Driscoll gave me a piece of crystal with the definition of the word “race” on it. Everyone is invited into our office to read it. We talk to the athletes about this constantly. Help us (athlete and coach) by talking about being hungry, giving your best effort and having no regrets. The results will follow and if they do not then it does not really matter if you truly tried. It is not a beauty contest out there-it is a speed contest. 

· Not only has the race season started, but it has started at Waterville Valley. This past weekend was the double slalom Pat Hardy on our World Cup trail. Thanks to our two Chief of Races, John Roche and Jim Stein, and their respective crews the races went off extremely well. On Saturday, for our ladies, Meghan Weiler won the silver medal and Elena Jacobson was 6^th. For the men, Jack Dings and George Packard were 9^th and 10^th. On Sunday, Molly Testwuide was 2^nd with Katy Belanger in 8^th and MacKenzie Carroll in 10^th. George was our lone man in the top 10 with an 8^th place.

· The FIS season has also begun. We sent a group of ladies up to Val St. Come, Quebec Canada for a pair of slaloms Dec 10/11. On day one, Erin Fucigna was 12^th and on day two, Catherine Warchal was 25^th.

· Presently, we have a large group of athletes at Sugarloaf, Maine for a week long series of FIS races. In the first slalom, ex-BBTS racer Sean McNamara (UVM) was 2^nd and Alex Heath was 13^th. Two noteworthy performances were Neil Hansen starting number 112 and finishing 44^th and Andrew Hawes starting 116 and finishing 48^th. For the women, ex-BBTSer Emily Sampson (Bates) was 15^th. We had some solid skiing from Ali Ewanouski 84 points, Catherine Warchal 88 points, and Erin Fucigna 89 points. Three racers halved their start numbers with Maddy Packard going from 94 to 43^rd, Ashley Hawes 101 to 47^th and Kia Mosenthal 113 to 50^th. The second day of slalom had 4 ex-BBTSers in the top 10, Andrew Everett (Middlebury) 3^rd, Sean McNamara (UVM) 4^th, Craig Leaman (UVM) 8^th and Emily Sampson (Bates) 8^th. The highlight of the day was Mark Mikos (17^th) who won the second run. Again Neil Hansen moved from 124 to 26^th and Andrew Hawes went from 127 to 31^st. Great effort, guys! As of the first GS, August Felix was our lone bright spot starting at number 128 and finishing 49^th.

TOM BARBEAU

From our Freestyle Director-Nick Preston
 

· First, in order to keep you all up on the big stuff, here’s a quick summary.

· Hannah Kearney, 19, wins the Tignes, France mogul World Cup, earning her a place on the 2006 US Olympic Team.

· Kayla Snyderman, 17, selected to US Freestyle Ski Team, having placed 2^nd overall in the US Selection Events. This also awards her starts in the Olympic Gold Cup, (Steamboat, Dec. 31^st),  and in both the Deer Valley and Lake Placid World Cups in January.

· Now for some more recent, really cool stuff!

· US Ski Team mogul skier, Tim Preston, WVA ’02, wins the Park City Nor-Am on December 18 with a score of 26.10. Keep up that 26 point skiing at the Gold Cup and we could have another Olympian in the club!

· US Ski Team mogul skier Kayla Snyderman, (I’ll bet coach Butter likes how that sounds.), placed 6^th in the Park City Nor-Am.

· Dylan Ferguson places 4^th in Aerials at the Park City Nor-Am on December 17^th, while Scott Kiesel placed 8^th. In the women, Alicia Cavanaugh was 8^th and Allison Lee, 10^th.  Four in the top ten at a Nor-Am, I’ll bet coach Wes likes the sound of that.

· At the Killington EQS Mogul Opener, December 17^th,  BBTS skiers Kyle DeGrace, Cody DeGace, and Kyle Keating placed 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th respectively in the overall field of 98 skiers.

· On the second day of the Killington EQS Mogul Opener, 11 year old Nessa Dzieman captured 2^nd overall and 1^st in her F4 age group scoring a 21.75. Not to be upstaged by sis, Nic Dzieman won the M4 age group and took 3^rd overall in bumps, scoring a 20.69.

· A little coach speak at Killington awards went like this:

          Dan : “Those two Dziemian kids sure bring a lot to the team.”

          Nick: “You know, Tad and Jo Anne [mom and dad Dziemian] just said something like that to me, but the other way around. Good chemistry, I’d say.”

· I’d like to add that at Killington, Coach Dan did an outstanding job in the start with our EQS team. Dan prepared them in every way to bring their best skiing to the hill. Great coaching there, Dan D!

· Your training schedule for the next week is as follows:

Dec. 20-21: WVA and weekend program training, all invited.

Dec. 22-25: Christmas break, but ski a ton if your up!

Dec. 26-31: Training 9AM-3PM.

Jan. 1: OFF

Jan. 2: Got a school holiday? Let us know and we’ll provide coaching. WVA starts classes. No WVA training.

· I’ll see you all after the Christmas weekend on the 26^th at 9AM, ready to go. Have a terrific Holiday. More cool news on the way.

Nick Preston

From our Snowboard Director-Bill Enos
 

· SNOWBOARD

· Congratulations to all are riders that competed this weekend in the US Chevy Grand Prix and the USASA Slopestyle at WV. 

· In Colorado at the Grand Prix Waterville team riders rode well in practice, but had a tough outing in qualifiers, with some tough crashes. Timmy Humphreys has a world class run going right now- he just has to become more consistent. Timmy’s Half pipe run starts off with a straight air into a front side corked 720, to a Hawkin flip (which is a switch inverted cork 720) into a flat spin 900 to a Backside 900. Once Tim lands this run he will be a force to recon with.  Surprised Half pipe ringer Luke Henning impressed me with big airs cab 9’s and backside 9’s-all Luke needs is to clean it up a little, add a frontside 7 and we will be seeing him in finals.  Pat Moore-former WVA rider-hurt his ankle the day before the first event and could not compete in the first two Olympic qualifiers. After watching Pat in practice this week, I can tell you for a fact, he might have been one of the only guys out there that could hang with Mr. Shaun White-hopefully Pat is healthy for the third Grand Prix at Mt. Bachelor. Without exaggeration, Pat’s riding is truly amazing.

· Back in WV at the slopestyle on Saturday, the 18^th, young Waterville riders held there own in what looks like some tough competition. In the Menehune Boys Jared Lucas took first while Kai Wiggins just got edged out of the third position.  This age group has become super competitive. In the Breaker Boys Merrick Joyce finished first with Brett Pogoda in second and Collin Hart just getting edged out of 3^rd..  In the highly contested Youth Men age group, Ian Hart took home first place.  Ian beat out a large field of youth men.  In the Junior Women Mackenzie Robb finished third just ahead of Aly Weare. It’s good to have Mackenzie back in our program.  In the Junior Men Sam Hulbert finished third-Sam will be an awesome addition to our team this season. We actually dominate this age group-most of our kids in this age compete at a pro level/ open class. Peter Hotzberger had a good showing in fourth, look for him to move to one of the top spots before long. In the open class Cam Egan posted the highest score of the day for the win.  Cam tears it up for the 525 EAST team.  Eamon Aldridge took second in his first USASA –way to go Eamon.  In the Breaker Birls Milli Chapman, who is ranked second nationally for her age group, continued with her winning ways.

· No matter where you finished in this contest, I am proud of you for going out and trying. Contests are a good way of seeing where we stand and seeing what we have to do to get better.  We will be working on some different things this coming week to help separate us from the other riders in this series. The main thing is that we stay positive and have fun snowboarding-winning isn’t everything.  Sure it’s fun, but progressing is even more fun on the path to something bigger and better.  I can’t wait to see everyone the day after X-mas- Happy Holidays.

· Dear Santa – I have been very good this year, if you have time could you please put these items on your list:  1 west coast chopper – 1 a cool super powered bb gun – 1 radio controlled helicopter – and x-box 360.

· Scratch that Santa – please send the money from those items to a fund for the families in need in New Orleans ---I have everything I need, I get to hang out with 60 young aspiring snowboarders for the winter. I couldn’t ask for more.

Happy Holidays

Bill

Student Corner December 19, 2005

· Jamie Mills is a first year student at WVA and an alpine snowboard racer.  (She would be a J3, if she were a skier.) She is a freshman at Wayland High School in Massachusetts.

· Question:  Jamie, tell me about being a female snowboard racer at WVA.

· Answer:  It’s a lot different being the only girl because there’s not another girl to hang out with.  It’s also weird being the only full-time snowboard racer at the Academy, except for Mike Trapp, and he’s always away at competitions.

· My coach Pete Thorndike is a great guy.  Everyone may not know that Pete is a 2002 Olympian and has been on the World Cup Team for about five years.  He helps me with my technique and with my other racing skills.

· Anton Pogue, another of my coaches, travels with Mike Trapp and also races, so I don’t see much of him.  When he is in the Valley, he uses his racing experience to prepare me for upcoming events.

· I hope in the coming years that other girls, freestyle or racers, will attend the Academy and train with me.

Upcoming Events

· Tuesday, December 27-Rail Jam-for snowboarders and skiers of all ages-jointly sponsored by Waterville Valley Ski Area and WVBBTS.  Registration starts at 3:30 pm in the Main Lodge.  The Rail Jam starts at 4:30 pm.  T-Bars will be open late that day.

· Wednesday, December 28-Dan Cardillo Race for Excellence-Alpine GS-JIII/JIV/JV-9:30 start

·Thursday, December 29-Pfosi Memorial Race-Alpine GS-JI/JII-9:30 start

· Thursday, December 29-6-8 pm-Holiday Club and Academy Family Party-6 pm -8 pm at the SpeakEasy and windowed Dining Room at the Conference Center in Waterville Valley.  There will be a cash bar for adults.  Tickets must be reserved in advance by December 22.

· Friday, December 30-Little Slammer Competition-Snowboard 16 & under-daytime