From our CEO-Peter Stokloza

• We had a great weekend in our races and events.  Everyone is working hard to provide the best training and competition events for our athletes whether they are away or at home.
   
• The mountain is doing a great job recovering from the tough January thaw that we had last week.  We look forward to the weekends’ events at Waterville where we are hosting the JIII Eastern Regional events.  We are still looking for volunteers for these races that run from Saturday through Tuesday.  If you can help please give Sharon Charron a call at 603-236-8601.  We also have USASA snowboard competitions taking place on Saturday and Sunday at Waterville.  Stop by these alpine and snowboard events and cheer our athletes on.

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

• Many thanks to all the parents, teachers, coaches and WVA students who participated in the first Waterville Valley Academy Parents Weekend this past weekend.  And a very special thanks to Molly Testwuide for capturing so many great WVA moments in a slide show which she created for WVA parents this past weekend!

• Don’t forget about the WVBBTS Kids Dance for athletes of all ages-(that means you too Mitey Mites and GROMS!) this Saturday evening, January 28 at the Waterville Valley Recreation Center from 6:30 pm-8:00 pm.

From the Desk of the Headmaster-Gary Benedix

• What a difference a day makes!  Monday’s snow got everyone back into the spirit and fortunately it was enough to make the conditions great again but not too much to cancel classes.  The lab students even made it to PSU and completed their labs.  I must say that after getting out for a couple of runs on Tuesday, I found it quite nice!

• It was great to see all the parents who made it to Parents Weekend.  Friday night we had several parents who came to the Town Square classrooms, met with the faculty, and enjoyed, with us, some conversation and the absolutely fantastic desserts.  Saturday evening’s dinner was also great.  We were all treated to the first viewing our new WVBBTS/WVA video and Molly Testwuide, one of our students, also put together an amazing photo show, set to music, that was shown at the dinner.  We only had a few parents for breakfast on Sunday but it was a nice ending to our first annual Parents Weekend.  I would like to say a big thank you to Sharon Schmidt and her assistant Kate Gallagher for putting in all the time and effort to make it all happen.

• A note to parents:  We are in the process of collecting grades. Grade reports will be going out starting the end of this week.  Some of our home schools are still finishing the term so those grades will be compiled a little later.  Reports, with each student’s work, will be going to the schools and a copy of those reports will also be going to the parents.  I am in the process of scheduling the semester II courses and we have begun transitioning into the new schedules this week.

• February begins next week!  It should be noted that our mid-winter break is on the 9^th and 10^th.  There are no classes on those days and the dorm will be closed.  The dorm will actually close at 5:00 PM on Wednesday the 8^th and re-open at 5:00 PM on Saturday the 11^th.  It is a short but well deserved break and I hope everyone can get the chance to get away.

From our Athletic and Alpine Director-Tom Barbeau

• Icy courses are fine for alpine racers. It makes for a more level playing field. A late starting racer has a good chance of scoring, of having the “attack from the back”.  However, going from the soft conditions to ice takes an adjustment period and practice. Add to this the fact that the skis must be very sharp and the bases prepared properly. This past weekend the majority of athletes who had problems on the ice had them because their skis were dull and/or railed. Railed means the edges are higher then the base so on the ice the ski goes straight and it cannot be feathered into the turn.

• It is easy to check for a railed ski. Run your fingernail from the base towards the edge. If it catches on the edge then the edge is high and the ski is railed. Skis become railed 1) because they get “freezer burn”  where the extremely cold snow burns the base away from the edge, 2) because the base has been sanded/scraped down,  3) because of machine belting or a poor stone grind or 4) some new skis come railed as you are suppose to set the bevels. Please check your children’s skis as will the coaches. Also, if you have them done at a shop ask to make sure they are flat filed or checked after a grind.

• The coaches are recommending a .5 to 1 degree base bevel, for J4’s and under a 2 degree side bevel (1 degree is fine for our youngest) and for the J3’s and older a 3 degree side bevel.

• RESULTS: Congratulations on some fine results over the past 2 weeks.

J5 BWL at LOON: (These are by individual runs and overall)

Girls: Macaela Wright 1, 1 and 1^st; Grace Glennon 2, 2  and 2^nd; Chole Ewanouski 4, 5 and 4^th; Elena Tomlinson 5, 8 and 6^th; Torey Brooks 8, 7 and 8^th; Jeanee Crane-Mauzy 9, 4, and 7^th.

Boys: Henry Tomlinson 1, 5 and 2^nd; Jay Kranuelis 6, 7 and 6^th; Daniel Lannon 7, 8 and 7^th; Alex Katz won the second run.

J4 BWL at LOON: (These are by individual runs and overall)

Girls: Alice Anastasia 10, 6 and 6^th; Annie D’Elia 6 and 9^th overall; Berkley Singer 9^th in the first run; Kerry Daigle 10^th second run; Eliza Cowie won the second run.

J4 BWL at LOON: (These are by individual runs and overall)

Boys: Brian McLaughlin 1, 2 and 2^nd; Garrett Quimby 3,1 and 1^st; Mike Sampson 4,3 and 4^th; Pete French 5, 7 and 6^th; Sam Macomber 9, 5 and 7^th; Mike Bancroft had a 1oth and a 9^th overall; Adam Dropkin had an 8^th place run.

J3 Gunstock GS Qualifier:

Devon Wright 6^th and John Kalinsky 10^th

J3 Cannon SL Qualifier: (These are by individual runs and overall)

Girls: Abby Fucigna 1, 1 and 1^st; Jamie Crane-Mauzy 2, 2 and 2^nd; Amanda Engelhart was 4^th in the first run; Erica Hamiln was 9^th in the first run.

Boys: Nico Anastasia 2, 4 and 2^nd; John Kalinsky 4, 5 and 4^th; Tim Brick 7,7 and 6^th; Brennan Smith was 2^nd in the second run; Devon Wright was 8^th in the first run.

J1/2’s Tecnica Cup at Wildcat GS:

Eric Demers 7^th and Thomas Lampert 9^th

J1/2’s Macomber Cup at Dartmouth GS:

Catherine Warchal 6^th and Erin Fucigna 7^th

August Felix 4^th and Julian Jacobson 8^th

J1/2‘s NHARA Super-G Champs at Attitash: (2 Races)

Catherine Warchal 1^st and 4^th; Kia Mosenthal 2^nd and 3^rd; Ali Ewanouski 3^rd and 1^st

Neil Hansen 6^th and 3^rd; August Felix 8^th and 7^th ; Mark Mikos had a 5^th

From our Freestyle Director-Nick Preston

WVBBTS Hosts 33^rd Rosemary Bowl-Allison Lee wins Women’s Bowl

• WVA’s Allie Lee won the prestigious Rosemary Bowl on Sunday, joining a long list of many fine athletes whose names appear on the trophy for freestyle skiing’s longest running event-names like Nikki Stone, Chuck Martin, Wes Preston and Dylan Ferguson.  Allie’s combined victory to claim the bowl was a result of a superb and decisive Slopestyle win on Saturday, where her back flip and 360 in the park earned her 1^st place.

• Also standing on the podium for Slopestyle was Holderness/WVA skier Henry Holdsworth, whose switch cork 7 and cork 9, spiced up with two rail grinds earned him second place in his 1^st USSA outing ever.

• Sunday’s mogul event on True Grit presented the athletes the challenge of skiing hard and fast on very hard and fast snow.  Kenna Nash turned in a 2^nd place run skiing plenty fast with 2 excellent airs along the way.  Calli DeGrace finished 3^rd earning herself her second podium of the season.  In the men’s field of 56 athletes, Reed Snyderman finished 5^th with a 20 point run, proving himself to be one of the top J3 bump skiers in the East.

Nick Preston

From our Head Mogul Coach-Mike Macomber

• What season are we in?  I know on Saturday we celebrated Spring, and then on Sunday Winter came roaring back in.  Despite the constant fluctuating weather the Waterville Mogul team finished another great weekend at home.

• After finishing a great Big Air event the day before our athletes were ready for Moguls.  The moguls were not their normal friendly selves but our athletes did a great job of adapting and making the best of the situation.  Two of our men finished in the top ten with Henry Worobec laying down two great runs and finishing in 7^th place and Reed Snyderman finishing in 5^th with the second fastest run of the day.

• Our men were not the only ones who found their way into the top ten.  Kiki Adams stepped it up on her second run and found herself in 5^th place with Calli Degrace edging her out by two and claiming her second podium of the year in 3^rd place!  And sharing that podium with Calli was Kenna Nash who skied a fantastic first run that managed to hold out during the finals and maintain her spot.

• I want to thank everyone who was out there and enjoyed the lovely weekend with us.  I really appreciate all the volunteers who helped make all this possible.  After a great weekend at home our teams return to the road with the majority of our athletes heading to Lake Placid for the week for a ton of jumping and some more competition this weekend.  At the same time a few of our athletes are heading out to Deer Valley for the second Nor AM of the season.

• Stay in touch and we'll let you know how it all turns out next week.

Mike Macomber

Head Mogul Coach

From our Snowboard Director-Bill Enos

• Half pipe at Loon on Saturday – perfect day – perfect pipe – great results. Our team had the top four out of five scores in the pipe for the day.  Ian
• Hart and Wes Walsh had the best scores while Merrick Joyce and Nick Doucette were forth and fifth overall.  Milli Chapman held it down with the women’s highest score.  Brendan Hart got robbed out of the top three but both he and Kai Wiggins had awesome showings in their age groups.

• Race day at Loon on Sunday was – sunny, cold and icy.  The group of young riders really got after it in their first race of the season.  Mike Trapp and coach Anton posted the fastest times of the day in the GS while Jamie Mills posted the fastest women’s time.  Mike is on his way to Junior Worlds and it won’t be long till Jamie makes her way there after her showing this weekend.  All the race coaches have done an awesome job with her!  Newbies to the race world Carly and Libby really showed that they are going to be a force to recon with.

• In the slalom Anton laid down the fastest time of the day winning by a combined time.  A giant on the women’s side was taken down; Milli Chapman aka “the millinator” was upset by Kelsey Gough.  Good racing girls.  Libby Aldridge showed she’s a force to reckon with in her group.  Also Kevin Stein “world pond skimming champ” showed his stuff, now after he shaves he should be winning.

• Good job to all the first time competitors: Pat Fallon, Olivia Wiggins, Eamon Aldridge, Peter Cyr, Brian Johnson, Doug Stearns, Tyler L’Heureux, Libby Aldridge, Carly Robb, Danielle Goglia, and mad man Billy Weare. I am so proud of all of you for going out there and trying so hard!  Keep working hard and keep smiling.

Bill

Weekend Results for Half Pipe

Saturday, January 21

GROM Girls:

2^nd Olivia Wiggins

GROM Boys:

2^nd Eamon Aldridge

3^rd Peter Cyr

Menehune Boys:

2^nd Kai Wiggins

4^th Jared Lucas

5^th Brendan Hart

8^th Brian Johnson

Breaker Girls:

1^st Millie Chapman

Breaker Boys:

1^st Merrick joyce 

3^rd Andrew Aldridge

6^th Collin Hart

7^th Brett Pogoda

Youth Men:

1^st Ian Hart

2^nd Wes Walsh

4^th Nick Doucette

5^th Ben Chapman

8^th Tanner McCarthy

9^th Tyler Covell

11^th Brendan Chadwick

13^th Devon Carelli

14^th Tyler L’heureux

16^th Doug Stearns

19^th MacKenzie Joyce

Junior Men:

3^rd Kevin Formalarie

4^th Randal Zimbone

6^th John Frawley

8^th Pat Fallon

Weekend Results for Slalom

Sunday, January 22

Menehune Girls:

2^nd Libby Aldridge

3^rd Carly Robb

Breaker Girls:

1^st Kelsey Gough

2^nd Millie Chapman

5^th Danielle Goglia

Youth Men:

2^nd Ben Chapman

4^th Mac Joyce

9^th Billy Weare

Youth Women:

1^st Jamie Mills

Junior Men:

3^rd Matt Conaty

6^th Kevin Stein

7^th Mike Trapp

8^th Pat Fallon

Legend Men:

1^st Glenn Chapman

Weekend Results in Giant Slalom

Sunday, January 22

Menehune Girls:

2^nd Carly Robb

3^rd Libby Aldridge

Breaker Girls:

1^st Millie Chapman

4^th Danielle Goglia

Youth Men:

3^rd Ben Chapman

6^th Mac Joyce

11^th Billy Weare

Youth Women:

1^st Jamie Mills

Junior Men:

1^st Mike Trapp

5^th Matt Conaty

7^th Kevin Stein

8th Pat Fallon

Legend Men:

2^nd Glenn Chapman

Hope I didn’t miss anyone – sorry if I did

A Few Words from the Famous – Tim Humphreys

Jersey grand prix:

By Timmy Humphreys

• The Waterville team just returned from a trip to the Chevy Trucks Grand Prix at Mountain Creek, New Jersey.  The team pretty much slayed the competition with 7 members making finals for the slopestyle.  Riders included Greg Maxwell, Tim Humphreys, Ian Thorley, Cam Egan, Tanner Pendleton, Adam Dyroff, and Sam Hulbert who qualified in second position but had to be pulled from the finals after wrecking himself on a frontside tail scooter in the regular park right after qualifiers.  In the finals, Greg Maxwell came out with 7^th place followed right behind by Tim Humphreys who took 8^th place.  Everyone else finished out of the top 10, but it was one of the best showings of the Waterville Valley Snowboard Team at a Grand Prix. 

• I’m off to Jr. Worlds next week, which will be held in Korea this year. This is like the 10,000^th trip I have taken this year, and I am glad that WVA has been so helpful and supportive of me, even though I am away so much.

• Sorry Gary, I’ll keep up with my work.

• On Sunday in the Junior Jam Merrick Joyce age 12 finished 3^rd in a large field of GROMS in Jersey.

• They competed on the same pipe as the riders that just made the Olympic half pipe team. Way to go Merrick

A Few Words from Michael Trapp

Sunday’s Race at Loon

By Trappy

·    The Waterville Valley Alpine Snowboard Team podiumed in just about every age group at Loon.  Anton Pogue slayed the GS overall and in the open class. Also in GS Jamie Mills and Mille Chapman won their age groups by one second.  Trappy also won his age group.  Matt Conaty had great runs in both GS and SL with Kevin Stein right behind.  Ben Chapman placed 3rd in his age group just missing 1st and 2nd.

·         I’m off to Idaho to train PGS for a week to get ready for Junior Worlds, and then it’s off to Steamboat for a race for the Cup. These are pretty high points’ races, 500 points.  Then it’s off to Korea on the 30^th.  I’m pretty stoked to have this chance.  I have been working for it since the 6th grade, when I first started going to the Academy.  I was lucky enough to train with Michelle Gorgone when I was younger.  Michelle recently made the Olympic team in GS, and is off for Torino, Italy soon.  That’s my next step.

Injured reserve list:

James Lucas – collar bone last weekend

Sam Hulbert- concussion in Jersey

Training Schedule:

Freeride

Friday-leave for Killington with riders competing in the revolution tour with Sam and Aaron

Saturday-freestylers  that are not BX ing , meet all other coaches for training in the park

Race

Saturday-Racers/bx’ers –race at WV-meet coaches Adam, Pete, and Chris in the morning – All GROMS please enter race

Sunday-race training with coach Glenn and coach Pete;

Prep for next race and train some bx

On Thursday Michelle Gorgone who just made the Olympic team will be doing an interview at WV for CBS.   I am sure she would love to meet anyone that can make it. I’ll keep you posted.

Bill

Student Corner

Gordon Ellinwood is a second year student at WVA.  He is a JIII racer who trains with the WVBBTS Alpine team.  He is a freshman at Concord High School in Concord, NH.

‘Gordon, what do you do for training and races?”

“I’m racing giant slalom, slalom, and super G.”

“Would you compare racing style more to Bode Miller or a more classic skier?”

“Probably more like Ted Ligety, if I had to, I guess.”

“Gordon, What is a good thing about living in the dorm at WVA?”

“It’s a lot better than having to get up at 5:30 every morning and drive from Concord, like we did last year.”

“If you could improve one thing in the dorm, what would it be?”

Upcoming Events

·         WVBBTS Dance for "Kids" of all Ages-Saturday, January 28

o        6:30 pm-8:00 pm

o        Waterville Valley Recreation Center, Noon Peak Road

o        Music with DJ Chuck Noel

o        $5 per person/maximum $20 per family

o        Purchase Tickets at the Door

o        Think Tropical/Think Beach!

o        A huge WVBBTS tradition from Mitey Mites and GROM on up--don't miss it!

·         Saturday, January 28-USASA Halfpipe Snowboard Competition at Waterville Valley

·         Sunday, January 29-USASA Boardercross Snowboard Competition at Waterville Valley

·         Eastern Regional Alpine J3 Series Competition at Waterville Valley

o        Saturday January 28, 2006 – Slalom

o        Sunday January 29, 2006 - Giant Slalom

o        Monday January 30, 2006 - Super G Training

o        Tuesday January 31, 2006 - Super G