New Addition to the Paddling Community

Welcome Erik Paul Holroyd to Alberta. Don't worry it's not always this cold.

First Ski of the Season

Thanks to our ski friends for their top secret early season training location! Great snow for classic. Only -18 so it was a pleasant easing in to the season.

Snow Time!

The Alberta Clipper that came through Monday night chased me all the way back to Calgary after a successful evening of training in Sundre. A dedicated bunch of athletes met up in Sundre for 3hrs of hard slalom training. Sprints, Aerobic disguised as Technique, short lactic, core, weights and visualization made for a tough evening. Kudos to the athletes for their energy and enthusism.

The snow is here to stay now! Get out your x-country skis and tune up your technique, before the Snow camp in Canmore.

To those HP athletes headed to the Eastern US for a couple weeks; 'you are going to pay when you come back to ski'. I'll have an extra few weeks, so good luck keeping up.

Mike

ASCK Hell Week - (Winter Snow Camp) - 2010

ASCK Hell Week - (Winter Snow Camp) - 2010

Camp Dates:

December 17 – 22^nd

This winter camp is open to anyone who wants to see how they can push themselves. It is open to HP and Winter Training athletes, families and coaches. I would prefer all the athletes to start on the 17^th and if you have prior plans you can leave early. Parents are welcome anytime, depending on the accommodations. This year we are going to mainly xc ski, as long as the weather isn't too bitter. We are going to put in as many kilometers as possible, so that the Christmas break is well deserved. If it is bitterly cold we will modify the program to be more diverse and less hard on the lungs. Skate Skiing or Classic Ski will work, though it will be easier to get max KM on Skate. While this all sounds really tough, it we will maintain an emphasis on fun. If you only want to ski 50km, that ok. Weather is likely to be the biggest determinant of activity, so we'll know what it looks like about a week out.

Deposit Due Dec 7th/09:

$150. Remainder due on return. Please make this payable to ASCK and deliver it Chuck Lee, Box 162 Lundbreck, AB T0K 1H0

Transportation:

We will car pool as needed including the Van. Cost to be in the Van for the camp is $30

Accommodation:

Alpine Club of Canada:

The Bell Cabin is booked from the 17-22^nd . $300/nt – up to 15 people

Food:

We will cook and eat together. @ $70. Ten dollar reduction for people bringing a 5 serving pre-cooked meal.

Facilities:

$30-$35 = 5 x $6-7.5 (youth/adult) - Canmore Nordic Center – 10% off for groups of 10

$14 = 2 x $7 Bill Warren Training Center (if cold)

$54-$76 - Sunshine Ski area

Total cost: (approximate, will be based on actual receipts)

Travel: $30

Accommodation & Food: $165

Sunshine Pass - $54 or $76 (-+18)

Facilities: $50

Program fees: HP athletes – included

Development athletes – Included

Other Club athletes - $75 (athletes who bring a club coach will be have the cost reduced by $25)

Chaperones and club coaches: free

Approx total: $290

Approx non-program: $365

Training sites: Canmore Nordic Center

Bill Warren Training Center

Ski trails – Cascade, Moraine lake, Goat creek, etc

ASCK AGM - Come one Come all!

Do you want to be part of an organization looking take on the World? Then become a board member or help support our sport through your club. If you are coming from over 100km away we will be offering a travel rebate.

Alberta Slalom Canoe Kayak - Annual General Meeting
November 6th, 2010

Elbow Park Community Hall,

Calgary, AB

10:00 am to noon - Workshop Sessions - Clubs (Programming, Grants, etc), Coaches (Summer review, looking forward), Athletes/Kids (Agility and core training)

12:00 to 1:00 pm - Lunch courtesy of ASCK

1:00 pm to 4:00 pm - Annual General Meeting including elections; Athletes (aerobic run)

NOTE: An Athlete Rep will be decided upon at this meeting. It is important that athletes attend to pick their representative and to participate in the workshop.

Need directions? Check out the map here: http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=800+-+34+Avenue+SW,+Calgary,+AB&sll=50.928629,-114.090847&sspn=0.008304,0.018067&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=800+34+Ave+SW,+Calgary,+Division+No.+6,+Alberta+T2T+2A3&ll=51.023258,-114.080658&spn=0.132594,0.289078&z=12

Winter Training Day Schedule

Hello,

The first Winter Training Day of the 2010/11 season is upon us. 

What: Full day of training and learning about Canoe/Kayak training
When: Sunday, October 31st
Where: Calgary (various)
Coaching Cost: Program athletes - free ; Coaches Free ; Drop in $40/day
Facilities: Mt Royal $7.09 ; SAIT pool $15 to Waterwerks Kayak Club
Confirmed athletes: Ryley, Hannah, Lissy, Levi , Luke, Darius, Alexandre, Sam,
Confirmed Coaches/Parents: Mike, Jessica,
Transport: Van $5 (Mike, + 4 with boats); Jessica; ???,

Schedule of events:

• 10am -11am          Carburn Park - Forward Stroke (MAP)
  
• 11am - 12pm         Deerfoot Meadows - 'Other' Slalom moves (Spins, backoffs, bogeys, dives) (MAP)
  
• 12:30pm - 2:30pm Boston Pizza - Lunch, Group Cohesion & Training Nutrition
• 3pm - 4:30pm        Mt Royal Gym - Agility & Core (MAP)
  
• 5pm - 6pm             Subway - Dinner
• 6:30pm - 8pm        Sait Pool session - Halloween Fun + Candy (hosted by Waterwerks) (MAP)
  

Contact: Mike Holroyd - 403 282 3374 or 403 479 8017

Please Let me know if you are planning to attend and if your parent/coach will also attend.  Please forward to anyone else who might be interested.

Thanks,
Mike

--
Michael Holroyd
Alberta Slalom Canoe/ Kayak High Performance Head Coach
http://albertaslalom.blogspot.com

National Training Camp

Thank you to Michal Staniszewski for coming out and running a National Camp on the Kananaskis over the last two weeks. It's been a great opportunity for the athletes and coaches to work together and forward all our skills. With the exception of one day, the weather has been phenomenal. We look forward to next year's camp!

Message from Our Sundre Dutch Girl!

Hey guys,

On my vacation in Holland I got to paddle with my favorite Olympic kayaker 'Robert Bouten'.
It was AMAZING! I had alot of fun & the water was crazy. He had a great time too & if he finds the time he wants to come to Canada.
Here are some pictures of Dutch Water Dreams.

Dutch Girl~~~~(Lissy)

Alberta Provincial Championships

Alberta Provincial Championships were this past weekend at the mighty Kanbiezi River in Kananaskis Country. Despite the coming of the monsoon season, the event was well attended and everyone had a smile on their face. It's kayaking--you're wet already!!

The event was action packed to say the least. Eight competitive events, multiple clinics in Slalom and freestyle, and an overall title for the most points across all the events. And oh the food! I personally was in kayaking heaven! Special thanks to all the provincial clubs who brought out their volunteers, stoves, pots and pans and provided us with scrumptious breakfast and dinner daily! I liked the Keg of Grizzly Paw beer, the kids liked the Grizzly Paw Hand Crafted Sodas, and you just have to celebrate 5 types of pasta, steak, corn, pancakes, sausages, bacon and McMuffins!! As Greg Hunter would say "OOOOOOOO DOGGGYYYYY!"

Of course with all that food, you had energy to burn, and you needed it out there on the river. The Boater-cross was the first action-packed, exciting event with a perfect course that involved no shortage of strategy and paddling savvy. Western paddle hero Mikkel St. Jean-Duncan proved this wasn't his first rodeo as he stole top honours in the Open division, holding off five of Alberta's most trained and talented whitewater slalom paddlers-- Quite a feat! Mikkel followed up this win by taking the top spot in the Open Freestyle held on the Green Tounge of Death. Jordie Mackenize showed his bag of tricks to take the runner-up spot. In the overall title Mikkel was off to a big head start.

But the paddlers needed to reach deep-- way down to their fifth pancake and fourth piece of bacon-- to take the prize on this weekend. Next up was the Wildwater sprint-- a very fast and curvy course through the slalom rapids. This time the power of Paul Manning-Hunter shone through as he tackled the oh-so-tippy Wildwater boat class and bested Toby "Kanga" Roessingh and Connor "The Cannibal" Curson. With a strong finish in the freestyle event, Paul was crawling back into the picture.

There was also a novice slalom where some new faces hit the course to try their luck in the gates! The safety boaters were kept warm in the rain chasing swimmers, and I, as one of those safety boaters, got in all the training I need for next year's downriver sprint chasing waterlogged boats down the river! But I commend those brave soles who gave it their best try and hopefully had a fun introduction to whitewater slalom. It is always great to see new smiling faces after they did their first gate sequence in a race! Excellent job guys and hopefully we will see you next year!

The monsoon finally relented on Monday morning-- never has there been soooo much rainfall so late in the season. The B.C. coastal rainforest just crept a few inches closer to Alberta! But it was replaced with the Arctic Cold Front and all those wet tents and paddling gear turned to solid ice! Only in Alberta are the paddlers brave enough to face such climactic challenges! Nothing like drying your gear over the fire at 9 in the morning to head out on the course! Of course it wasn't only Alberta-- Saskatchewanians are pretty tough too, as Cadets Ben Lapointe and Kylie Zirk, and ex-Albertan Brendan Curson of Saskatoon proved by braving all events and showing the Alberta cadets that those flat prairies can still raise some champions. Thanks for coming out guys!

Monday brought the final two events where only the fast and the furious could contend-- Advanced Slalom and the Downriver Classic. In the hotly contested men's class Power Paul proved he had the chops. Mikkel put in an exceptional slalom performance, but it was not quite good enough to clinch the weekend's overall title. Paul ended up being crowned with the Champion's Tiara. Toby Roessingh took top spot in the DR showing he still has some guns holstered under that 9 to 5 suit. In the Cadet categories, Lissy "The Flying Dutchman" Methorst from Sundre stole almost all events in the Cadet Girls. Also from Sundre, Ryley Penner took the top prize overall in Cadet Boys. It is nice to see the resurgence of my old stoping grounds and the resurgence of Sundre in the Slalom game! Good work guys! In the Junior Categories it was the Southern Alberta sweep, as Veronica "Vern" Oczkowski iced the cake in the girl's class, and Adrian "Cookies" Cole took the boy's title (and then stole and ate Vern's Cake). C-2 was also a hotly contested class with more teams combining for the event then ever before. The Purcell brothers obviously won, but another brother duo, Manning-Hunter x2, proved the best of the rest! And let's not forget the decades long dominance of Mr. Greg Hunter, answering all comers in the Masters Class! It was a family day on the podium for the Edmontonion legends. Great job everyone.

So, a special thanks to all the volunteers for making the event one for the books. I'd say, that after attending 15+ provincial championships that this was the best one I've been too, despite all that rain and cold! And I didn't even win my races, so that's saying something! ;-) Thanks Chuck Lee at the AWA for spearheading the event and thanks to all the clubs for pitching in on the volunteering, organization, and food! Let's try to top it next year!!!

Guide to tieing boats

How to Tie Boats from Dagger

Learn that trucker's hitch and straps are a think of the past!

Sick Vid of Slalom!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAnEPcd4tMM&feature=player_embedded

Night Training in Brat

Following the race we had two more days of training in Bratislava. Monday evening we got to paddle under the lights which is always a different experience!

Is that Gretzky?
Start of the Session...that's the moon

Assistant coach

Hastings on a cross

Ben Hayward

Slovak Open - 2011 Pre-World Championships

A mixed Canadian team represented this weekend at the Slovak Open. Development Team members Paul Manning-Hunter and Thomas & Daniel Purcell joined National Team members Jessica Groeneveld, Ben Hayward, John Hastings and David Ford, in the Pre-World Championships. All but Hastings are Alberta born and raised so it great to see the depth of Alberta's development over the years.

For the first time in 7 years the Bratislava organizers ran the tough left-left channels on the Danubia course. The slalom course here allows for at least 4 different channel configurations. Left-left will be the channel used for next year's World Championships and Olympic Qualifier.

It was a good showing for the Team. All but Manning-Hunter qualified for the Semi-Finals. The Purcell brothers made they're first semi-final along with all the National Team members

From the Semi Finals, Hayward was the one to step up and qualify for his first ever Final! With two good runs, Ben qualified 7th, and then followed it up with a similar run to finish 7th overall. With fastest splits on both runs he was happy to be on an upswing going in to the next month of training and racing.

One more day of training Bratislava and then we head to Tacen, Slovenia to prepare for the World Championships.

Cheers, Mike

Canadian National Championships - Minden, Ontario

A return to Minden for the National Championships will be the highlight for many Canadian athletes this year. The site, which is arguably the best in Canada, has hosted Team Trials, National Championships, and World Cups over the years. In 2015 it will be the host site for the Toronto, PanAm Games.

Alberta entered 19athletes in the 2010 edition of the National Championships. A good contingent given the three day drive to get there. Our youngest athlete Hannah (12) was just over a fifth of the age of our wiley veteran, Greg Hunter. With three coaches, a strong contingent of cadet, junior, senior paddlers and a cohesive team we put our mark on the event. Congratulations to Ontario in re-capturing the Brian Creer Cup on home soil.

Alberta athletes won a dozen individual slalom medals (Jessica, Ben x2, Purcells, Haley, Marissa x2, AJ, Hayden, Ryley, Hannah, Matt A, Greg). They also won handfulls of downriver medals dominating the points in the DR classic, while Ontario athletes were the ones to beat on the short course. All sorts of teams were thrown together on Sunday for an exciting Team race on the lower course.

Following the race, Mikkel and Brace lead 8 athletes on the Ottawa River and Sturgeon falls for a week on the way home. Superb surfing was had by all, even if some of it was longer and in bigger holes than intended! Thanks to Owl Rafting for putting up the Team on the Ottawa!!

Well done Alberta on a successful Canadian Championships. Next year's edition should be in BC and we're looking forward to a slightly shorter drive and a dominating performance from Alberta.

Alberta Summer Games - Peace River

As usual the host community put on a great event and were extremely supportive of the Games. A huge thank you to the local volunteers!

51 athletes from across Alberta competed in the Canoe/Kayak events of Polo, Slalom and Downriver. Some great Zone rivalries were re-ignited, yet everyone was very supportive of one another. Many new friendships were born and some long time friends were re-united. Some 150 slalom, polo and downriver boats were brought out by a dozen club coaches who did a great job training and supporting thier athletes.

Three days of setup were required for the different venues and in the end all three worked out great. The biggest challenge was the changing water levels on the Peace River for the Slalom course. When race day came though, the water came up and we were able to host a great event.

Well done to all the athletes who participated. Hope to see all your names on upcoming Alberta Cup races and tournaments!

Southern Alberta Summer Games - Brooks

Here's some pics from last week's Southern Alberta Summer Games. These games are open to all ages from Zone 1. The site is on a irrigation canal outside Brooks. Good job Chuck and Dan for setting up the course, and thanks to the irrigation district for turning on the water, depite the fact that the farmers didn't need it!

Sam Hosoya - Athlete spotlight

Welcome to Sam Hosoya, our newest HP athlete. Sam is 15 and comes from Japan. He has been paddling for about three years and is now attending high school at Bishop Grandin in Calgary while trying to learn some english and improve his kayaking. Please make him feel welcome.

Sam's First Day on the Kananaskis, November 30th 2009 during a reconisance trip to Alberta. Why did he come back you say?

Zone 2,3 Pre Alberta Summer Games Camp

Great Back Stroke Pivot Technique - Levi

Nice Open Draw - Graham

K1s, C1s, C2s!

The Whole Gang!

A great three days on the Red Deer River near Sundre. Mikkel St Jean lead the team of coaches, Brace, Gayle, Jesse, Graham & Jim to a sucessful camp designed to get everyone ready for Alberta Summer Games. Slalom, Polo & Downriver were all on the agenda and everyone got in lots of paddling.

I saw some great C1 and C2 skills as well and solid river running skills on Thursday. Good luck to all at the Summer Games!

Junior World Championships

The Junior World Championships were held in Foix, France this past weekend. Alberta had two members competing for Canada, Marissa Dederer and AJ Cole.

Marissa had three very respectable runs earning her a 21st place in the World. AJ struggled on the last couple of gates on the course and ended up 61st.

The rest of the Canadian Team also went well with Michael Taylor of Ottawa in 13, Jazmyn Denhollander of Chilliwack in 15th, Alex Mcgee in 16th.

I hope to get some pictures from them soon to upload. Good Job Canada!

Alberta Cup #3 - Whirlpool River, Jasper

Thank you to Parks Canada for allowing us to host this race in the National Park. Thank you Al for coming out and talking about the Park. Thank you parents and coaches for helping make this event a success! Check out ASCK.ca for the lastest Alberta Team standings.

World Cup 2 - Seu d'Urgell, Spain

After two World Cup competitions, Canada is on a roll. This weekend in Spain 4 athletes made the semi-finals. Jessica Groeneveld of Innisfail had her personal best finish of 27th on the World Championship course from 2009. Jess was pleased with her performance and feels that an increased increased internal focus helped her along. Good lesson kids; there's no point worrying about what others are doing, because all you can control is yourself.

David Ford, John Hastings & Cam Smedley placed 13th, 27th and 28th respectively. Unfortunately Edmonton's Ben Hayward acquired a nasty bug in Prague and was not yet on form for the weekend of racing. I guess he didn't drink enough Coke to kill the bacteria in the water.

This weekend is Augsburg, Germany. Clean water, nice forests and lots of spectators await. Good Luck to all!

World Cup 1 - Prague, CZ

World Cup 1 was run in Prague, Czech Republic despite high water conditions. This is the first of three World Cup weekends with Seu d'Urgell, Spain and Augsburg, Germany following it up.

In Prague, Alberta's Jessica Groeneveld and Ben Hayward failed to qualify for the Semi-Finals after dissapointing runs and an extremely tight field. In the men's kayak class only 4.5seconds separated the top 40 paddlers!!!

The good news of the weekend was Canada's John Hastings dominating the kayak semi-final and finishing 7th in the Final. Well done Johnny! Read the article!

Alberta Cup #2 - Pincher Creek

Pincher Creek without wind; Is it possible?

Yes! Great weekend for racing in Pincher Creek on the Old Man River at Boulder Run. With barely a breath of wind, conditions were perfect for the second Alberta Cup of the season. A long course, over 2 minutes, was set on this classic Alberta race site.

The race was hotly contested in many classes. K1w cadet was dominated by Sundre as Lissy Methorst snatch the win from Hannah Penner. Sundre also dominated the men's kayak in cadet as Ryley Penner won from, fellow club member, Matt Alliban and Innisfail's Darius Ramrattan.

The Junior division lost National Team member AJ Cole to sickness the night before the race, giving Levi Severtson of Innisfail a clear run to his first Alberta Cup win! Idan Wolach of Calgary and Matt S from Canmore were 2nd and 3rd respectively. In the women's junior class it was hometown duo Veronica Oczkowski and Jordyn Appleby in first and second.

In C1 Hayden Daniels of Calgary won the junior race, while Veteran Vince Osborne of Banff won the senior race and Chuck Lee of Pincher Creek the Master's class.

Haley Daniels doubled winning both C1 & K1 in the women's open class.

Calgary was dominant in the Men's K1 as former Naitonal Team athlete and Alberta Head Coach, Mike Holroyd, eaked out a win over fellow coaches, Toby Roessingh and Mikkel St Jean.

Great weekend of racing! We're looking forward to race three which will see slalom return to Jasper after more than a decade of absence.

Full results will be posted at asck.ca

National Team Trials - Whistler

Alberta had a solid showing at Senior Team Trials in late May. The weekend got started with Canmore's Chris McTaggart stealing a win in race 1 putting the pressure on the incumbant team. Ben Hayward of Edmonton remained solid through the weekend looking for his third year on the Team. Paul Manning-Hunter was decent through race 2 & 3 but needed something special for race 4 in order to advance.

Paul got the better of race 4, finishing just behind 99 World Champion David Ford, but it was not enough to beat Hayward for the third spot. Manning-Hunter would have to settle for the Development Team. McTaggart struggle to regain his race 1 performance and finished further back. The Men's Team is: John Hasting (ON), David Ford ( BC), Ben Hayward (AB).

In the Women's class it was Jessica Groeneveld of Innisfail taking the top spot on the Women' Kayak Team. Jess tied Ottawa's Sarah Boudens in races but won on aggregate percentage for her first time as #1 boat. Team: Jessica Groenveld (AB), Sarah Boudens (ON).

In C2 the Purcell Brothers were up against the clock to qualify. They paddled well on the narrow difficult course, but finished just outside of percentage and put themself on the Development Team. The Cutts (ON) were the only C2 to make the required percentage.

C1 was dominated by Ottawa, with Cam Smedley sneaking in late in the weekend to beat Julian Potvin. Veteran C1 Vince Osborne of Banff made his return to Team Trials competition after 10 years away. Osborne was the warrior of the weekend continuing to race despite cuts to his hands from Saturday. C1 women was won by the lone paddler from Quebec, Cindy Audet.

Great two weeks of racing in BC and the organizing commitee did a great job of hosting a flawless race. Thanks Shelly & Shonnett!

Mamquam Training & Black Bear Visit

Junior National Team Trials

Junior Trials were held over the weekend in Squamish BC on the Mamquam river. Athletes from accross Canada came to earn their spot on the Junior National Team. Alberta had six athletes competing, from the 2x veteran Marissa Dederer to 12 year old Hannah Penner. None disapointed.

Marissa claimed a solid second place for the weekend by making percentage every day and being consistent, for her third year on the Junior Team. AJ Cole of Crowsnest Pass made the junior team for his first time with a great run out of the gate, on day 1. From there on he kept cool under pressure and held his spot.

Hayden Daniels in C1 finished just off the team but has shown great improvement from last year. Levi Severtson and Ryley Penner traded days with some great idividual runs that were 4th and 5th respectively. Hannah Penner improved all weekend and was making some great moves on the final day. All four of these youngsters have a bright future with a combined 15 years of being juniors still ahead of them.

Marissa and AJ will represent Canada at the Junior Worlds in France in July. Hayden and Levi will also be representing Canada at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August.

Congratulations to all!

Good luck to the Senior athletes this weekend in Whistler!!!

Alberta Cup #1 - Kananaskis

A great big Thanks to Bow Valley Kayak Club for hosting Alberta Cup #1! In generous Alberta fashion the weather took a break from its storming and allowed us to have a great weekend of paddling, food and friends. While only the really brave (I don't count because I had a trailer) camped, Canoe Meadows was full of excitment as everyone geared up for summer. Results

The Alberta Cup races are also opportunities to make the Alberta Team. Through the year you can race to improve your position on the Team and get reductions on swag.

After 1 race the Teams are:
A
Jessica Groeneveld (k1,c1)
Marissa Dederer
Ben Hayward
Chris McTaggart
Toby Roessingh
Paul Manning-Hunter
Ryley Penner
B
Bryce Shaw (c1,k1)
Hayden Daniels (c1)
Graham Jobe
Matt Frank
AJ Cole
Levi Severtson
Idan Wolach
Greg Hunter
Veronica Oczkowski
C
Vince Osborne
Lissy Methorst
Hannah Penner
Roni Wolach
David Manning

This is just the first race and you have three more tries to make the A Team. Train hard and we'll see you in Pincher Creek, June 12th, for Alberta Cup #2.

Penguin Race - by Marissa Dederer

Check out Marissa's Blog at http://theflowofthings.com/?p=410

Calgary Penguin Race

The 2nd Annual Penguin Race was a great success. 40 athletes competed on a decent day at the Deerfoot Meadows. The moderate temperature and weather held on just long enough for us to leasiurly get the program done, though 15min after leaving the site, I was driving in a full blizzard. Spring in Alberta!

Congratulations to all the competitors! For some it was your first Slalom experience, for some it was a tune up for racing season. Regardless I was impressed with how much everyone supported one another and it made for a great day.

The Overall speed winner was Ben Hayward, knocking reigning champion Paul Manning-Hunter out of top spot. Marissa Dederer again took the spirit of the event to heart and came up with the most creative costume. Both Ben and Marissa have been imortalized on the Penguin Trophy.

Thank you to all the parents and volunteers who help the event run smoothly and fed our hungry athletes. With competitors from Germany, Australia, Innisfail, Sundre and Banff, the Penguin race is quickly turning into an international event. Thanks for travelling to the mighty Bow River.

Full results can be found Here.

I hope to see many of you at next weekend's Alberta Cup at the Kananaskis River!

ASG Zone Trials

Check out the current Results for Alberta Summer Games zone trials. Some great times there! These will continue to be updated until June 21st. Good luck!

For more info on the Games click Here.

NOC training

Australia 2010

The month of February was a warm one for Alberta paddlers. 6 athletes and I ventured down under for three and a half weeks for a warm water/weather training camp. Tons of whitewater and a couple of races felt good after two months of skiing. Penrith Whitewater Stadium is still the place for internationals to go to train in the winter months. The set up is just too easy to train, to pass up.

Days off are always full. A trip the blue mountains revealed Kagaroos, a giant lizard, kookaburas, and big spiders. Swimming at Jelly Bean pool helped to cool us off on a 40 degree day.

As exciting as Penrith is, the beach is the major draw for days off. Those talented enough surfed while the fairer athletes, just soaked up the rays on the beach. Sunscreen is recomended while surfing (Paul, Ben). We also did a full lap of Sydney seeing the madatory Opera house, circular quay, downtown and Darling harbour. One of the highlights of the walking day was trying to watch Olympic results in a random computer store downtown. We watched as Jennifer Heil's sivler medal results slowly loaded up. Not as exciting as CBC coverage, but then the cricket match that was on tv was surely more important?

We were all sad when the camp came to an end and we returned to Calgary. Fortunately the weather in March can be borderline and we should be able to paddle some, before heading to North Carolina for the lone North American ICF ranking race.

Crushing it in the gym!

Olympic Torch passes through Alberta

For anyone lucky enough the see the torch this week it was pretty cool. Just the sight of it was enough get the heart racing and brighten the day of all involved. It reminds us of a higher purpose of improving humanity through sport. I saw only saw it on Mcleod Trail but Matt Frank had the great opportunity to touch the flame this week in Medicine Hat. He was one of the chosen ones to run with the Torch last Sunday. Here's a couple pictures.

Jasper Slalom in January

Thank you Sean and Rebecca for having me up to Jasper for the weekend. We had a great slalom session in the pool with 11 talented paddlers and a circuits session. I expect to see all of you walking on your hands, and rolling the C1 by the time Alberta Summer Games come around!

The drive up the parkway was beautiful, and I was even able to get out for a powder run on Parker's Ridge and a paddle on the Kananaskis on the way home! Gotta love January in Alberta.