WVBBTS December Update

December Club Update

Hi everyone –

It feels like we’re coming into the heart of the season, and once we get through the holidays it’s basically a three-month long sprint. Welcome to the greatest time of the year!

Events and Calendars

Thanks to the amazing hard work of our volunteer Development Committee and our tireless coaching staff, we’ve calendared a full roster of events for this year. Maggie McGovern, our excellent new U12 coach and Director of Communications and Alumni Relations ( mmcgovern@wvbbts.org) has helpfully tried to list everything in one place below. We’ll keep this feature in forthcoming Club Updates so that you can one-stop-shop on BBTS social events and competitions. If you have anything to add to the calendar, please share it with us! Maggie will continue working on a master calendar (huzzah!) which feels long overdue.

High Country

My most recent information from Tim is that High Country T-bar is in its final preparations for opening, but will not be open for the December holiday week. There have been some setbacks regarding the electrical connections that the team is working through now. The final hurdles to overcome are to get the electrical connections finished, spin the lift without the T’s, install the T's, test everything, and then to complete the inspection. Tim’s outlook remains positive that we will be riding the lift within the next few weeks. He's also stated that the mountain is committed to make snow on High Country as soon as weather cooperates. High Country snowmaking has been increased since last year: the lines along skiers left were reinstalled now that the lift is in place, and the efficiency guns that went in last year will be firing soon! Overall, making snow on High Country is significantly easier, faster, and more productive than ever before. We will of course keep you informed as things evolve and things come into clearer focus!

Bradford weeknight training

We are always championing efforts for kids to ski more, since that’s the thing that ultimately makes the biggest difference in their trajectories: skiing more, with good coaching, is the not-so-secret recipe to success. We’ve been looking for more creative ways to support our kids, and we’re extremely excited to release the details of our partnership with Bradford Ski Area in Haverhill, MA. Dave Lorrey is going to be staffing this (he’s a hero!), and Gilly will lay out the details below. We’re super excited to bring BBTS down to you during the week, and hopefully we’ll have lots of interest in this supplemental opportunity!

So far, so good

Now I’m just actively tricking you into continuing to read…thank you for making it this far in the update! Please keep going!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday, whether here in the valley or in your homes across New England. Enjoy your families, drink a lot of eggnog, eat tons of cookies, take a few naps, and we’ll see you soon.

Best,

Tory

Save the Date:

Snowboard Pot Luck- Saturday, December 22nd

New Years Eve Celebration - Monday, December 31st

WVBBTS Masters Camp - Thursday/Friday, January 3rd -4th

Freestyle Pot Luck - Saturday, January 5th

New Member Reception - Saturday, January 12th

BBTS Winter Fiesta - Saturday, February 9th

Waterville Athletic Calendar:

December 29th - USASA Rail Jam

December 30th - Dan Cardillo GS

January 3rd+4th - Master's Camp

January 5th+6th - Preston Cup Weekend

January 6th - Rev Tour Qualifier

January13th-18th - Rev Tour

January 19th - USASA Slopestyle

January 19th + 20th - Soper Memorial Weekend

January 27th - U12/14 SL Qualifier

February 8th-10th - World Pro Ski Tour

February 15th-17th - Rosemary Bowl

March 15th +16th - U.S. Freestyle Championships

March 23rd-25th - U.S. Alpine Nationals

March 27th-29th - U.S Junior Nationals

March 30th - Dan Bean Memorial GS

SYNC Orders

We are re-opening the Online SYNC store for apparel. There are a number of items that are sold out or have low inventory, if the size you want doesn't appear in the item dropdown menu in the store, then it is not available. All orders must be in by 12/28. This will mean the orders will come in sometime in the begining of February.

The link to the online store is provided here. The Organization Members password is BBTS

SYNC Online Store

Gilly's Update

Hello All,

I wanted to check in and say how impressed we are with your children’s efforts the past 3 weekends. They have been working hard on the hill and I’m sure at home – balancing travel, late nights, and academics. This can be a challenging time of year with everyone being busy with the holidays and the additional tuning, races, and equipment punch lists to chase. Google calendars and Amanda’s daily reminders help keep me on point!

We’ve completed two excellent races on World Cup, Sosman Memorial and Pat Hardy Memorial on a fantastic surface so that our WVA/BBTS/ athletes had 2 slalom opportunities. Congratulations to the place holders! Well done coaches, race crew, and volunteers! The Cardillo Race (U12/14) is next with entries closing on Dec 26 ^th and racing on the 30 ^th .

Bradford Training Option

As Tory mentioned above, we’ve partnered with Bradford Ski Team to offer extra training opportunities for our BBTS athletes who are looking for more days on snow. Dave Lorrey will be staffing these sessions. The cost for the Bradford training sessions is $225 – that’s two nights/week for the season! Bradford has fast turnaround, and although it can be crowded in the evenings, that fact is happily offset by its convenience to many of your weeknight lives.

To register for the Bradford sessions – click here: https://www.activekids.com/haverhill-ma/winter-sports/skiing-camps/practice-only-2018?int =

Use the code IMATRAILSMASHER (not case sensitive) in order to waive the “late registration” penalty. The code will also help us track registrations.

Tickets to Bradford can be purchased daily in the base lodge (not at the ticket window) with cash only at a rate of $27. Alternatively, you can purchase a 5 or 10 pack of tickets with a credit card, also in the lodge. They can’t take a credit card for the daily ticket.

Please plan to arrive at 6 P.M, and skiing starts at 6:30 P.M. Upon registration, you’ll start receiving standard emails from the Bradford Ski Team about schedule updates and training plans. In some cases, Dave may alter our specific programs depending on our needs, so keep an eye out for communication from him as well.

This training is specifically oriented toward U12 and U14 athletes, but others are welcome to enroll with that understanding.

Happy Holidays Everyone,

Gilly

Meet the Coaches:

Matt "Biggie" Crowe

Freestyle

H i, my name is Matt Crowe!

I come from a family of 5 adopted kids! I’m a Jamaican/ Italian. My lovely parents introduced me to skiing when I was 3 years old, at King Pine Ski Area and that’s where my family learned to ski! We then moved to Mount Ascutney in Vermont, where we skied on the weekends for about 7 or 8 years (I’m not quite sure how long). During that time, I joined the alpine program and raced for about 3 years! I soon lost interest in alpine racing and found myself way more into freestyle! I spent most of my afternoons building jumps at the bottom of Terminator, with Peter Hoops, (Harrisons Hoop’s older brother). Unfortunately, Ascutney had to close and so we started skiing at Killington Mountain, “The Beast”. That’s when I decided to join the freestyle program! I competed with Killington Mountain School for about a year, and then moved to Waterville Valley, where I joined the BBTS weekend program as a senior in high school!

After coming to Waterville, I worked for the Preston Family at the Mountain Fair Inn as an inn keeper. This allowed me to continue my training, as well as afford some food and shelter. When I graduated high school, I decided to delay going to college and focus on my goal of one day competing in slopestyle for Jamaica at the Olympics. Unfortunately, in 2015 I broke my Tibia Plateau very badly which resulted in the end of my competitive career. During my down time I fell deeply in love with fitness. I became a certified personal trainer and a fitness model signed to a modeling agency in Boston. I am currently continuing my education by furthering my personal training certifications. In 2016, I moved back up to Waterville to become a coach! I am now on my third year of coaching and I love it! I have the most amazing group of kids with big dreams and they all working so hard every day chasing them! I couldn’t be in a better place right now!

Respectfully,

Matt Crowe

We've got WVA and BBTS athletes scattered across the globe at early season competitions right now, so please check out our Instagram channels for photos and updates: @watervillevalley.bbts, @watervillevalleyacademy, and @wvafreeski and tag us in your photos!