|
Monday, December 21, 2009
Winter is here....the Season is upon us.
Today is the first day of winter and the season is in full swing with many BVSEF and Bear Valley Mountain updates.
Race Team met for the first weekend of the season on Dec 12 with the Devo, Freeride and All Mountain teams kicking off their season on Dec 19. We are pleased to see a great number of new members on all teams. We also are welcoming a number of new and very experienced coaches.
Congratulations go out to our Race Team Head Coach, John Cashman, who was named the 2009 Far West Coach of the Year. Coach John led the Bear Valley Race Team to an impressive performance last season.
We all will miss Bear Valley's Snow Sports Director who passed away Thanksgiving weekendafter a tough battle with cancer. Jon Mahanna will step in to direct the Snow Sports efforts as well as Mountain Operations.
posted by Editor |
7:35 PM
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
The Season is Just around the Corner!
Well, last weekend saw the season's first snow fall and many of us are getting excited for another season. The Bear Valley Pre-Season Team meeting will be held on Sunday October 18th at 11 am in the Sunroom at the resort. In addition to welcoming new families and explaining the programs, BVSEF will host a Ski Swap and provide lunch.
We are currently investigating whether there is interest in Adult Team programs similar to our youth programs. Last season, during the Slush Cup 4 or 5 parents mentioned how fun running gates was and that they would love to get a bit of coaching. Other parents have exhibited interest in all mountain ski groups, so we will see where this goes. According to Jim Gentling, BV COO,Vail just announced an Adult Team program so we would be one of the few to have this sort of offer. Judging from the response we received from the organizers and participants of the Bay Area Council Ski Race, Bear Valley did a great job with the clinic we conducted. There seemed to be real interest in more of the same.
Another bit of interest is that Bear Valley will be among the first resorts in the Far West to pilot online race registration for the Rasmussen Classic J4/J5 Slalom race in January. If successful, this will greatly improve the ease of race registration and could be extended to other events at Bear Valley.
We hope to see you at the pre-season meeting and for sure when the snow falls!
posted by Editor |
5:30 PM
Monday, April 20, 2009
Bear Valley Skiers Shred J4/J5 Championships
Mammoth Lakes, CA- The Far West J4/J5 Championship Ski races concluded with Sunday’s re-run of the Super G and Big G events that had been postponed on Thursday due to high winds. Bear Valley skiers notched significant victories that had teams from around California talking about the high-flying kids from “that little mountain in the central Sierra”.
The FarWest J4/J5 Championship involves over 15 teams from throughout California and Nevada representing the northern, central and southern California series’. Over 400 racers competed in a variety of races- Super G, Giant Slalom, and Slalom during four days of competition. In addition to skiing a really big mountain, many for the first time, Bear Valley racers got to ski against some of the best junior skiers in the country and even got to rub shoulders with coaches and athletes from the US Ski Team who were in town for another ski race being held on the adjacent hill.
J5 Girls Keeley Cashman, a first year J5 racer (ages 10 and under) led the stampede for Bear Valley, winning all 3 disciplines and besting the field in the Giant Slalom by nearly 2.5 seconds in a 61 second race! As reported on the Far West Skiing site: “With so many athletes from Tahoe it’s not hard to understand how tough it is for a Southern or Central California athlete to find a spot on a crowded Tahoe or Mammoth podium. That is, until Bear Valley’s Keely Cashman showed up to theparty. She packed a broom in her ski bag and did a little sweeping, as in all three events, 1-1-1.”
Keeley’s accomplishments earned her the coveted Richmond Cup, a prize given to the best overall skier in both the women’s and men’s J5 category during the championships. The award ceremony coincided with her 9th birthday and the crowd burst into an impromptu round of “Happy Birthday” complete with a dancing wooly Mammoth, the mascot for Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, the host of the event. “She joins a pretty select group of Bear Valley racers to win the overall title at the Championships,” said Mark Phillips, general manager of the Bear Valley Lodge and unofficial course observer for the Bear Valley team. Other notable finishes by the Bear Valley J5 girls included Libby Rimmer and Claire Bertrand each of whom competed strongly in all of the races scheduled finishing consistently in the top ¼ of the pack of approximately 85 racers. Bear Valley’s Sarah Pye, a second year J6 racer did extremely well for her age overtaking at least a dozen other racers.
J4 Girls Bailey Rimmer, racing in a stylish new orange POC helmet and Taylor Davidson made up the BV girls contingent in the 75 racer-strong J4 girls category. Bailey’s strongest showing was in the GS on Saturday when she finished 24th. She DNF’d in the slalom on Friday and placed in the top half of the Super G. Taylor, a first year racer, topped a dozen other seasoned racers in all the events and demonstrated that she will be a force to contend with as she gains experience as a racer.
J5 Boys Karl Arvidsson led the Bear Valley J5 men’s division winning the GS (after nearly having a tooth knocked out during a pre-race wrestling match) and taking second in the SL. Arvidsson had a late start in Thursday’s GS when the wind kicked up and likely cost him significant time as he finished 11th. The second run was postponed when winds gusting up to 90 mph caused lifts to be closed and coaches literally blow back uphill. His second run on Sunday was the fastest time overall and helped to move him up into 6th place in that event. (Karl also earned an honorable mention in the Ice-Cream Eating contest during the Championship celebration by taking on the girls and finishing near the top of the pack.) Other notable finishes by the Bear Valley J5 men included Cooper White and Gennady Sytnik who finished consistently in the top ¼-1/3 of the pack. Kyle Voightlander, Sawyer Alford and Christian Davidson jockeyed with each other in all of the races besting ¼ of the other racers while Noah Cashman, a 1st year J6, upset numerous older racers placing towards the top half of the J5 division and raised the discussion of what they’re putting in the water over there at the Cashman household.
J4 Boys The J4 boys managed to get a training run in the Super G in on Thursday before the race was postponed due to those famous Mammoth winds. The Fearsome Threesome from BV of Erik Arvidsson, Jordan Cashman and Mikael Proper were consistently towards the top of the pack with Erik grabbing the bronze in Saturday’s GS after falling twice in the first run and was in the top 5 during Sunday’s Super G finishing 4th. Jordan was in the top 5 in the SL and Mikael was in the top 10 in Sunday’s Super G finishing 9th. Sean Berry placed in the top 3rd of the pack for all the races while Jamey Wilson skied competitively finishing towards the top half of the pack in every race but the slalom which he DNF’d. Unfortunately, Nick Cooke had a run-in with a gate during Thursday’s training run of the Super G that left him battered and bruised and unable to compete in the slalom on Friday. He made a heroic comeback on Saturday skiing through lower leg pain (and a scary reflection in the mirror) to finish 68th out of 100 racers. Matthew Smith fought hard to overcome a dozen other racers in both the GS and Super G while he DNF’d in the SL. Adrien Ziegler fought through a stomach virus to finish ahead of 1/3 of the field in Friday’s slalom before having to drop out of the Championships due to his illness.
The Championships at Mammoth were a great experience for everyone involved with great skiing, a lot of camaraderie and a whole bunch of excitement for athletes and spectators alike. |
|
posted by Editor |
7:29 PM
Thursday, March 19, 2009
The USSA Farwest Central Series Shredded Their Way To the Summit! ~By Kim Hamilton
Huntington Lake, CA...Sierra Summit Ski Team played host to another USSA Central Series Farwest Ski Race. This time a large field of competitors took to the longest course of the year. Their Super G and Big G courses ran almost 3/4 of a mile. It was a weekend to breakout the long sticks and get ready to go fly. This twisty, long and fast course had the young racers skiing fast and furious. In addition to Bear Valley, Dodge Ridge, Badger Pass & Sierra Summit two additional teams swelled the ranks of the ranks of an already large field. Team Mountain High from Wrightwood, CA, and the Snow Summit team from Big Bear Lake... The teams provided two days of nonstop action. On Saturday and Sunday Bear Valley's Flying Arvidsson brothers took home top honors. Erik Arvidsson, 12, led the way for the older boys and Karl Arvidsson skied to the top podium spot for the J5 boys.
This is as dominate as we have seen a brother combination in quite a while. Older brother Erik was also fresh off his convincing win at the J4-Festival that qualified him to go to the J4 Festival or J4 Junior Olympics in Idaho which he is attending with Coach John Cashman this weekend.
On Saturday in the J4 Boys Bear Valley's Mikael Proper earned the second spot while on Sunday Dodge Ridge's Trenton Powell slid into second spot and dropped Mikael into third. In the third spot on the podium on Saturday was Bear Valley's Jordan Cashman.
In the J5 boys the top three were identical for both days. Bear Valley's Karl Arvidsson followed by Dodge Ridge's Spencer Crist and Trevor Powell of the flying Powell boys.
On the Girls side Bear Valley's Keely Cashman turned another great performance with a win on Satruday in the J5 girls class. She was followed closely by Emily Ryan from Dodge Ridge and Ashton Pecknpah from Sierra Summit. On Sunday Emily Ryan from Dodge Ridge earned the top podium spot followed by Ashton Pecknpah and Bear Valley's Libby Rimmer.
posted by Editor |
4:59 PM
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Bear Valley Race Team Carves Their Way to Multiple Podium Finishes!
By Kim Hamilton
The Annual Bear Valley Slalom rolled into Bear Valley this last weekend. Young Ski Racers from Sierra Summit, Badger Pass, Dodge Ridge and Bear Valley spent two days going from gate to gate and run after run to decide the winners in the various classes of USSA Far West Skiing.
Many of these young kids skied their hearts out this weekend. Some of their performances lived up to their expectations and for some of them those dreams of a top finish will have to wait until the next race. The Home Bear Valley Race Team did very well and won this race with the most points scored In fact on Saturday in the J4 men's category Bear Valley took the top four spots. Bear Valley also took home wins in many of the other classes as well.  The J4 Boys "Triple Threat", Erik Arvidsson, Jordan Cashman and Mikael Proper from Bear Valley took the podium both days. Erik 1st, Jordan 2nd and Mikael 3rd. Sean Berry from Bear Valley took 4th place on Saturday. From Dodge Ridge, The Powell brothers, Trenton and Tobiah also came in the top ten for J4 boys with a 5th place for Trenton and 7th for Tobiah on Saturday.
For the J5 Boys on, Karl Arvidsson from Bear Valley takes takes 1st place both days. Trevor Powell of Dodge Ridge took 2nd, Spencer Crist from Dodge Ridge 3rd, and Gennady Sytnik from Bear valley takes 5th on Saturday. Noah Cashman flew into 7th place on Saturday as well. And Kyle Voitlander also from Bear Valley comes in 9th on Saturday.
For the J4 Girls, Bailey Rimmer of Bear Valley takes 1st Place on Saturday and Sunday. Bianca Nieh 2nd and Gracie Flad 3rd, both from Dodge Ridge on both Saturday and Sunday. Keely Cashman of Bear Valley Takes 1st Place both days for the J5 girls. Ashton Peckinpah of Sierra Summit 2nd place, Emily Ryan 3rd of Dodge Ridge on Saturday and Sunday as well. Libby Rimmer 4th of Bear Valley and Claire Bertrand of Bear Valley slides into 5th for both days!
For the J3 Men's on Saturday, Matthew Bender of Sierra Summut Ski Team comes in 1st Place. Clancy McConnell 2nd Place, and Walter Wesson 3rd, both boys from Dodge Ridge. And on Saturday and Sunday for the J3 Women's Kendyl Colonias takes 1st Place for Bear Valley. Taylor Howell 2nd of Dodge Ridge for Saturday, Kori Munk of Dodge Ridge 3rd also of Dodge Ridge. Aline Bertrand 4th Place for Bear Valley and Shelby White also of Bear Valley comes in 5th. Another Bear Valley Racer, Sydney Nikoloff takes 8th place for Saturday
On for Sunday, for the J4 Boys Sean Berry of Bear Valley takes 11th with a couple of new J4 boys this year, Adrian Ziegler 16th and Adrian Relic 18th. For the J5 Boys, Cooper White of Bear Valley comes in 3rd with a new J5 Boy this year, Gennady Sytnik taking 7th. Kyle Voigtlander 10th and Noah Cashman 11th also of Bear Valley. For the J3 Girls, Shelby White takes 4th and Mackenzie Comstock 5th on Sunday. Awesome job everyone and thanks to all of the coaches and volunteers who made our weekend another success in Bear Valley History! We pushed out most of the races live and we also helped get the results pushed out to Live-Timing.com so parents and friends could follow along in real time.
posted by Editor |
7:11 PM
Monday, January 05, 2009
Bear Valley Racers, Take Tahoe by Storm....Literally!
By Carol Arvidsson
Boreal, CA....The Auburn Ski Club Associates, Inc. played host to the Open Boreal "Give a Christmas" USSA/Far West Giant Slalom J4/J5 Ski Race this past weekend. This was a race for J4-5 Athletes who are between 9-12 years of age. This Open Race was a great chance for some of Bear Valley's top J4-5 racers who had had some early season training, to see how they could compete with Tahoe racers, who generally ski 3-4 times a week and in some cases every day. Many of the Tahoe athletes had been to training camps in Mammoth and Colorado this Fall. Bear Valley will not soon be forgotten in the North! .....
Keely Cashman won both of the J5 races, once with just a .006 second margin.
Karl Arvidsson also a J5 was 2nd on Sunday and 5th on Saturday.
Then came the TRIPLE Threat of Bear Valley boys J4 boys: Erik Arvidsson, Jordan Cashman and Mikael Proper. All three boys finished in the top 10 both days, Erik with a 4th place, Jordan with 9th and Mikael, returning after a bad leg injury finished 10th.
On a very snowy Sunday these same three athletes skied into 4th , 5th , and 6th.
Most of the other people in the top 10 were from Squaw Valley. Bear Valley was SECOND in terms of numbers of racers placing in these ages.
Bailey and Libby Rimmer raced also and Bailey was less than a second off of a top 10 finish.
Way to go Bear Valley and Coach John Cashman!
posted by Editor |
2:17 PM
Friday, October 31, 2008
Justice Rasmussen Named As One Of 10 Winners Of Dick Goetzman Scholarship Justice Rasmussen was among 10 winners Far West Skiing has announced of the Dick Goetzman Scholarship, with $500 awarded to each deserving athlete to help pay for racing expenses over the coming season. Dick Goetzman was a long time Mammoth skier and strong supporter of junior ski racing, whose foundation donated $12,500 for scholarships over a three year period. “We had 43 applicants this season, which makes selecting the 10 recipients a tough task,” said Peter Sprock, a member of the selection committee. “While there were certainly more than 10 who deserved strong consideration, we believe these 10 stood out for a variety of reasons.” Please see the Far West Skiing site (http://www.fwskiing.org) for other winners. Congratulations, Justice.
posted by Editor |
10:08 AM
|
|
|
|
