Alpine

THIS YEAR'S COURSE IS BEING OFFERED TO PARTICIPANTS FREE OF CHARGE THANKS TO A GRANT FROM THE NSW DEPARTMENT OF SPORT AND RECREATION

Where: Library Building, Jindabyne Central School, 8 Park Road, Jindabyne

When:  Thursday, 1st July 7:00pm - 9:00pm

NSWACT Alpine is pleased to announce that it will be joining with Perisher Winter Sports Club and Thredbo Ski Racing Club again this season to offer this exciting Award to talented Interschools racers without previous race club experience.

Brad Wall, Alpine dual Olympian (Salt Lake City 2002 and Torino 2006) visited Redlands in Cremorne recently to present the NSW Alpine School of the Year Award for 2009.

The award was introduced in 2007 to recognise the important role played by schools in supporting skiers who compete in events other than Interschools and is based on results in the TSRC Cup, Blue Cow Cup and FIS National Championships (held at Thredbo each year).

The NSW Alpine Annual General Meeting was held on 16 March 2010 with a good turn out of members in both Sydney and Jindabyne.

The following members were elected unopposed to the Committee for the coming 12 months.

Chair: Annette Pilat

Secretary: Greg Lewis

Treasurer: Angus Thompson (new this year)

Committee: Felicity Coates, David Chrystal, Shayne Coomber, Ted Karlowatz, Markus Mueller (new this year), Gabi Robertson

Jenny Owens and team mate, Katya Crema both put down some excellent runs in women's Olympic skier cross at Cypress Mountain making it through to the quarter-finals of the event.

In terrible conditions, with wet snow dumping down on the Snowboard and Ski Cross Stadium, Jenny and Katya both won through from their qualifying round and first head to head heat, before both crossing the line in third place during their respective quarter-finals.

Scott Kneller  produced the best ski cross racing of his short career to finish 7th in the Olympic debut of this event. 

Scott was the lowest ranked competitor entering the event on Day 10 (Sunday 21 February) but produced four quality runs down the challenging course to almost land himself in medal round.

After weather delays prevented the Downhill getting underway, our two NSW alpine Olympic athletes, Craig Branch and Jono Brauer pushed out of the Downhill start gate at Whistler Creekside. Both performed extremely well, with their performances being all the more impressive given both started well back in the bib numbers and they have both battled ongoing injuries during the season which significantly impacted their preparation.

Twelve NSW Snowsports athletes have recently been awarded scholarships by the South East Region Academy of Sport (SERAS) for their 2010 program.

Craig Branch has started the World Cup season strongly with a top 30 finish, the 3rd of his career, in the opening downhill event of the season.

Starting in bib 63, the Perisher racer finished in 28th place, just one place shy of the career-best 27th he obtained in the Val Gardena downhill two seasons ago.

Branch skied the Lake Louise course in a time of one minute 52.31 seconds and finished exactly two seconds behind the winner, Switzerland's Didier Cuche. 

Congratulations go to the following racers who have been selected in the NSWACT Alpine Children’s Team for 2010:

Jack Adams, Campbell Baster, Sarah Dennis, Max Hough, Zac Kelly, Michela Mueller, Nadia Mueller, Georgia Stadelmann, Hannah Sugerman and Oliver Thompson

10 NSWACT Alpine racers have been selected in the recently announced National Children's Squad.

Scott Kneller has taken out the ANC ski cross title after the third and final event of the season in Cardrona, New Zealand, was cancelled due to inclement weather.

Congratulations to Elizabeth Pilat who was recently selected by SERAS as the SERAS Snowsports Athlete of the Year.  The award was based on both Elizabeth's skiing achievements this year and her participation in the SERAS program over the past two years.  Elizabeth won the recent Australian National Junior Championships in GS and was runner up in the National Open Women's GS.  In Europe last January, Elizabeth won Gold, Silver and Bronze in National Junior J1 events in Italy.

You're invited to celebrate the conclusion of the season with fellow alpine families and to congratulate the winners of the 2009 FIS and Children's NSWACT Awards.

The NSW Alpine Presentation Evening is being held on Saturday, 31st October 2009 from 6.00pm at the Middle Harbour Yacht Club, Parrawi Road, The Spit, Mosman. 

Invitations have been emailed to members.  If you haven't received one, please email us at nswalpine@live.com

Jono Brauer Fundrasier - a fundraiser is being held to assist Jono Brauer on his way to Vancouver. It will be a night of all things skiing and all NSW Alpine members and friends are invited. It is beng held on Thursday 15th October from 6.30pm at the Kirribilli Ex-Servicemans Club.

Jenny Owens Olympic fundraiser - a trivia night will be held on 12 November at the Sydney Swans Club to help Jenny on her way to Vancouver. Cost is $50 per head and includes an arrival drink, dinner, prizes and of course the trivia night! It will be a night of fun and loads of prizes including holidays, chocolates, Skins and ski gear.

With the coveted ANC "Yellow Bib" up for grabs by the best placed Australian or New Zealand racer in each of the four disciplines, Super-G, Super Combined, Giant Slalom and Slalom, cross Tasman competition was fierce at ANC races in both Mt Hotham and NZ.

Congratulations to all our NSWACT Alpine child racers who competed in the recent Australian Children's Championships at Mt Hotham.  As always, the level of competition at the Nationals was very high and the Snake Gully course presented plenty of challenges for the racers. For the first time, the program also included Skier Cross as well as the traditional alpine events of Giant Slalom and Slalom.

Congratulations to the following Interschools racers who were selected to receive a NSWACT Alpine Rising Stars Award based on their excellent performances in the Regional Interschools competition. The Award provided a weekend of race training with a race club, free entry to the Blue Cow Cup Children's Alpine event and an Award Certificate. Racers from Divisions 5, 4 and 3 from Northern, Sydney and Southern/ACT Regions, who are not members of a race club, were eligible to be considered for the Awards. With limited places available, the selections were tough.

The Annual General Meeting of NSW Alpine on 5 May 2009 was very well-attended and we have a new-look committee for the year ahead:
Annette Pilat (Chair), Greg Lewis (Secretary), Hazel Shepherd (Treasurer), David Chrystal, Felicity Coates, Shayne Coomber, Colin Hodkinson, Ted Karlowatz and Gabi Robertson.

Gary Banks, Kim Easdale, Sara Kneller, Joan McDougall and Carolyn Parry retired from the committee and, on behalf of the new committee, we thank them for their hard work and contribution to the sport. We would like to make special mention of the contributions made by Carolyn Parry and Kim Easdale, the retiring Chairperson and Secretary. Carolyn and Kim have dedicated many years of tireless effort to the advancement of alpine racing in NSW and their enormous contributions are acknowledged.