All Hail the Chinook!

We've paid our dues.

With Temperatures pushing -30 out east, Calgary is experiencing near West Coast temperatures for the last two weeks. We've been able to paddle both at the Kananaskis this week and at the 'Meadows' in Calgary. With temperatures like this who needs to go to Mexico?

Snow Camp

What an epic week! The temperature only thawed above -20 on the last day and we saw the thermometer at -35 Celsius. For 7 days we trekked like explorers around Banff and Canmore. Snowshoeing, Cross Country Skiing, Downhill, Caving and even a Summiting to round out the adventures. A huge thanks to Mike Shaw for the caving and Sue Clark for organizing the Sunshine ski tickets!

Don't be fooled by Matt's bare hands. It was cold on the top of Ha Lin Peak
Marrissa Silhouetted against the Ten Peaks

Ben and Toby lost underground.

Breath freezes on everything.

Aggressive Sheep

Don't let anything but your eyes stick out.

Backside of Castle Mountain

Snowshoeing. Snowboard works better than crazy carpets to get down!

Skating

What an amazing day! Because it hadn't snowed yet all the lakes in the mountains had perfect ice. 3-4 inches of crystal clear ice. We were even able to chase fish around under the ice and some saw a muskrat cruising around underneath.

Cascade mountain

Dogs off leash on the ice, in the National Park is ok right? I mean, they're allowed to swim off leash.

Erie feeling, being able to see the bottom of the lake. Maybe Jesus was walking on a frozen lake?

More boats for sale

Two good boats for smaller people. See information below.

Vajda 350
size s-bow xs-stern
12 months old, used 8 months
$1500

Vajda 350
size s-bow xxs-stern
6 months old, used 3 months
$1900

My new boat just cost me $3300 so this is a pretty good deal. Let me know if you have any questions. I can ship it anywhere.

Sarah Boudens sboudens@hotmail.com

Chinook Arch and 'The Meadows'

You have to love them! No pogies at the end of November, and amazing sun sets. This is what many evenings look like in Calgary. And there is still enough snow if you want to ski, and no ice to be seen on the river. What a month!

For those of you who know Nottingham, this is a different Meadows. Much less scary, and far fewer burnt cars.

EWP Polo Tourney

This weekend there is a polo tournament in Edmonton. Anyone interested should contact Dale O'Brien at dalob@shaw.ca

The details of the Tournament are as follows:

Date: Saturday, November 29 / 2008

Event: EWP Recreational Canoe Polo Clinic and Tournament

Location: Kinsmen Pool Edmonton 9100 Walterdale Hill

Clinic: Playing 1 pm to 3 pm and Referee 2 pm to 3 pm

Pause to organize equal Teams from those present.

Tournament: 3:30 pm to 10 pm

Cost: $30

Equipment Provided although players may feel free to bring their own.

Water to Snow

Oh baby! Tuesday we were training on the water and today we got our first taste of X C skiing. So good! Can't have a better transition than that. After a hot tip from Ronni we found the ski racers secret early season training center, and only blocks from my house. So it has begun, and we are going to be the fittest ducks around. The only downside to the day was that within 2 minutes on skis I broke my pole so I had to hobble around with one pole. Luckily Toby isn't fast enough to make it too hard to keep up:)

Cheers

Team Trials 2009 Ottawa, ON

Check out better pictures of the Pumphouse at: http://www.ottawariverrunners.com/photo_gallery_detail.php?id_gal=7. Good pics by Tim Cutts.

You can use this as part of your preparation for Team Trials in Ottawa May 29,30,31 2009.

Boat for Sale

Design: It's a Nomad, Force 360. Constructed by Double Dutch.
Weight: Built for a small paddler weighing about 50kg to 60kg.
Details: It has custom knee cups. Which, in my opinion, are a huge step up from stock thigh braces.
Appearance: Blue deck and carbon hull. In need of some minor repairs. The hull is stiff, and the boat is still under 9kg!
Price: $600

Contact Anna: williams-ac@hotmail.com

Meadows race series - #3

Well, the pollsters predicted it. Graham Jobe won his first race of the series! In a tight contest Graham punished the competition on his third run to win by over a second. Well done. You know what this means Graham...your handicap just decreased.

Tuesday October 28th will be a big race. Warm weather and lots of athletes itching for that elusive victory.


How to get there:
See google map below. Parking is in gravel lot under Glenmore Tr bridge. Paddle 3min downstream to the canal.
http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=google&ie=UTF8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ll=50.984775,-114.029717&spn=0.006781,0.013561&t=h&z=16

Meadows race series

We have now successfully completed two races in the fall Calgary 'Meadows' race series. So far Toby and Connor each have one win apiece. The handicap will continue to get harder so that everyone has a fair chance at the prize and to push everyone to compete.

Format:

• 60second course, as many tries as you'd like.
• Best run wins.
• Each athlete is assessed a handicap with the goal to give everyone a shot at the win.
• $5 to race. Everyone puts two dollars towards the day's race, two dollars towards gate improvements, and one dollar towards the most improved athlete at the end of the series.
  

So far we have seen 12 athletes compete in these races, with athletes from as far as Medicine Hat, Edmonton and Canmore. Everyone is eligible to race, in any boat. We will do our best to make you a fair handicap. For directions, email: mholroydcoach@gmail.com

See you out soon!

Jessica wins at American Open

Jessica Groenveld, of Innisfail, won last weekend's final World Series race for the season. The event was held at WISP in Maryland, one of North America's newest purpose built whitewater sites. The course is pushy and boily and tests even the most veteran paddlers.

On the flight to WISP Jessica's boat was crushed beyond repair, so she was forced to use her team mates' boats for the race. Luckily fellow HP athlete Anna Williams's boat was similar enough that Jessica's superior whitewater skills prevailed on the final day.

Jess said she was very happy with the race despite the obvious setback. She will use her race winnings to buy a new boat and celebrate Miley Cyrus's birthday in Disneyland.

Provincial Championships

What a turnout!

Thanks to the great organization of Joanne Cole and Lynn Jobe, among others, we had 38 athletes competing this year. 15 senior racers, 14 Juniors and 9 cadets makes this one of the biggest Provincials that I can remember. Congratualtions to all the racers for some inspiring performances. I was especially impressed by the cadets, many of whom had only been on the river a couple times. You all did wonderful!

A huge thanks to all the coaches who helped out over the weekend, coaching and safety boating, to take care of the new, current and elite athletes. Saskia, Amy, Kyle, Marissa, Matt, Connor, Glen, Graham & James. You guys did a great job and everyone appreciates your efforts.

I big thanks to Chuck and Rich and other volunteers for all the river upgrades and work on the gates so we had a great race course and novice course.

Now we're into fall & winter training. Continue working hard to improve your fitness and when spring comes you will see another big jump in your abilities. Everyone should check out 'Evil in the upstream' on YouTube. It is a movie put together for the International Canoe Federation (ICF) that explains the sport of Slalom Kayak from the point of view of some of the top athletes in the world. Alberta's own David Ford has a large role. If you think about paddling even when the water is frozen, you will get better.

Good luck to Jessica Groenveld this weekend at the final World Series Race in WISP Maryland. After a stellar performance last weekend at provincials we are hoping for more successes.

Stay fit, Have Fun. Hope you see you all at a pool race this winter.

Mike
Alberta Slalom Canoe/Kayak Head Coach

Junior World Championships

We're back in the homeland now after an exciting finish to the trip.

We had the pleasure to watch Alberta's very own Marissa Dederer and Bryce Shaw compete in the Junior World Championships. This is Bryce's last year before he moves up to the big leagues whereas Marissa has two more kicks at the can.

Both athletes competed well and had some good paddling on the day. Marissa was in good stead with her first run but just missed out of the semi-final, 43rd, due to touches on her second run. It was a good start to her international Junior career. At next year's Junior pre-Worlds in France we will be looking continued improvement. In 2010...lookout!

Bryce attacked with his usual vigor on the first run, but touches at the top of the course made it difficult to mount a comeback. To his credit he re-worked his plan on second run and made a go of it. He was 5 seconds faster overall on his second run, and more importantly confused the National coaches with his solid, good paddling.

A big Thank You to Alberta Sport Recreation Parks and Wildlife Foundation for their help making this trip possible. Their Above and Beyond grant enabled us to send a coach for our junior athletes.

This weekend is Alberta Summer Games in Medicine Hat, followed closely by the Canadian National Championships in Jonquiere, Quebec the following week. Keep checking for the results of your favorite athletes.

Red Deer River/Alberta Cup #2 Canceled.

The Red Deer River Camp and Alberta Cup #2 on the Upper Red Deer are canceled. Connor will be coaching at the Kananaskis Saturday and Sunday, and if there is interest he can be available Friday. Please contact him at kayakercon(at)yahoo.ca of 403-282-3374