NOTES FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL
 
Dear Members of the GMVS Community,
 
On Monday afternoon during the second run of the T-Bar slalom, I skied up to one of our students to check in. She was wearing a bib to identify her, but it didn't have a number on it. Instead, it read "GATEKEEPER." We were only just beginning the men's second run, but the sun had gone behind the mountains leaving Inverness in the shade, and she was, in her own words, "freezing."
 
Imagine what it's like for race volunteers on a more typical Vermont day when the temperature never gets above freezing, when the arctic breeze blows in from the North, and there's no chance of seeing the sun. Although it was easy for Killington to find gatekeepers for the World Cup -- in fact, they recruited former U.S. Ski Team athletes -- volunteering at a race is more typically far from glorified. At its best, volunteering affords parents and community members the opportunity to interact with happy parents and athletes at competitions. At its worst, you get the wrath of frustrated or disappointed ski racers -- who sometimes have tempers.
 
But, we couldn't do what we love -- ski race -- without the help of volunteers. And, for the two injured GMVS students who volunteered as gatekeepers on Monday, the unsung benefit was giving back to the ski racing community at large, supporting their teammates, and learning a little bit more about the sport of ski racing.
 
So, as we head into competition season, let's remember to treat the men and women shouting at you to get in the start or to take off your bib before you exit the finish arena with the respect and compassion inherent in our school values. And, to those of you who volunteer, thank you!
 
Think Snow!
Tracy Keller
Head of School
 
RUBBING ELBOWS WITH WORLD CUP ATHLETES
Jack Despres '17 in the gate at Beaver Creek
 
The World Cup doesn't make many stops in North America, let alone the United S tate s. As a result, rubbing elbows with the best ski racers in the world in person (or even watching ski racing on TV) is an elusive goal for many Americans. Over the last two weeks, we were blessed with the opportunity to witness World Cup racing in person at both Killington and Beaver Creek. Most of us watched from the grandstands ringing cowbells as our heroes careened down Superstar or Birds of Prey, but a few members of the GMVS community got a little closer to the action.
 
Forerunners for Killington and Beaver Creek included four Gumbies: Abi Jewett '18, Ellie  Curtis '17, Jack Despres '17 , and Drew Duffy '13.

In addition to witnessing ski racing's premier events on home snow, the return of the World Cup to Killington and Beaver Creek provided us with an outstanding opportunity to connect with Gumbies from across the country. GMVS community members from the New England area made a statement at our Pickle Barrel Apres Ski event following the women's GS at Killington, and Doug Lewis caught many alums for photo ops at Beaver Creek.
GMVS HOSTS FIRST RACE OF THE SEASON

Thanks to great early season temperatures and excellent snow conditions, GMVS was able to host its first race of the season on Monday, December 4th.  Nearly 150 competitors took advantage of the conditions and a beautiful sunny day to kick off the race season in the East.
 
Other than the World Cup, this was the first race held in Vermont. The slalom course provided great spectator viewing and was an awesome opportunity for all the kids to compete after a long fall of training.
 
Early season training conditions have enabled top to bottom skiing on Inverness where we hosted the UVM and Middlebury ski teams over the weekend.
Jackson, Markus, Raymo and Moro visiting DU
COLLEGE COUNSELING UPDATE: FOCUS ON JUNIORS

Ever wonder what GMVS college counselors do after seniors submit their applications to colleges? After making a big early push to help students confirm their lists of schools and complete applications, they keep going!

During the alpine camp in Colorado last month, Andrea Harris brought a group of interested juniors into Denver for a tour of the DU campus. Soon after, on our first night back on campus, we kicked off the first in a 9-session ACT Prep course we're offering this year. While many students opt to buy prep books and study independently, and others find the free Khan Academy SAT program to be helpful, we do recommend that each student do considerable prep for either the SAT or ACT.

Generally speaking, we encourage students to put the same amount of time into test prep that they put into a GMVS class in their junior year. At GMVS, we are very proud that our senior classes over the past couple of years have averaged just over the 90th percentile in both SAT and ACT scores. And, while we attribute that success to our bright and hardworking students, and our dedicated and talented faculty, we know test preparation also plays a large part.

And speaking of test prep, the PSAT results will be released soon! Jere Brophy, Director of College Counseling, will host an informational session for all students who took the test, along with their parents, on Wednesday evening, December 6th, at 7pm in the auditorium. Jere will help test takers understand and use the PSAT Score Report in order to inform the next phase of their test taking prep.
 
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Annual Holiday Party
Saturday, December 16 at 5:00pm
Hostel Tevere

Winter Parents' Weekend
Friday & Saturday, January 12 & 13

Alumni Winter Carnival
Friday - Sunday, March 23 - 25
 
GUMBIES IN THE TOP 10 OVER THE LAST TWO WEEKS 
 
Surefoot CO Cup SG, Copper
November 30
Surefoot CO Cup GS, Copper
December 1 
Surefoot CO Cup GS, Copper 
December 2 
4.  Jimmy Krupka '16 
5.  Abi Jewett (W)
8.  Jimmy Krupka '16 (M) 
2.  Thomas Woolson '12
     
VARA Open SL, Sugarbush
December 4 
VARA Open SL, Sugarbush
December 4 
 
1.  Tucker Marshall 
2.  Tiaga Tomii  
3.  David Frisk '15
8.  Casey Segal  
 
Also of Note:
12.  Andrew Postal (1st U16)
18.  Morgan Apple (2nd U16) 
1.  Arabella Ng 
3.  Anna Duffy
4.  Ariana Turner 
5.  Penelope Hughes (1st U16) 
8.  Lydia Riddell 
10.  Molly Quinlan (3rd U16) 
 
 
We encourage you to check out complete results at the VARA, Live-Timing, or FIS websites. 
 
PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

Each week we select a "Photo of the Week" to share throughout GMVS communications. Anyone can submit images! Email images to: photos@gmvs.org.
This week's Photo of the Week taken by 8th grader Liam Kelly who caught this visitor sitting outside Witch's Hat earlier this week. Nice catch Liam! 


Last Week's Photo of the Week from  Coach Mumford:
Corduroy comes to the Mad River Valley,
making for some awesome training days at Sugarbush this week! 

 
A FEW SNAPS FROM OUR RECENT ADVENTURES

Check out great photos of GMVS activities on SmugMug, a photo-sharing website where we post pictures from races, games, camps, theater and other weekly campus events.

The website is gmvs.smugmug.com and the password is: GMVScommunity (it is case sensitive).Visit GMVS SmugMug now!
Nordies back on home snow Monday morning at Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, VT
Former teacher and coach Ky Koitzsch and his wife Lisa spoke at Assembly this week about their wolf research in Yellowstone Park

GMVS student spectators at World Cup at Killington

Alumni Doug Lewis '82 and Thomas Walsh '13 at Birds of Prey last weekend

Al Hobart and Mackenzie Laurion at the first Sugarbush race of the season

 
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