Big Sky Ski Team

Camera Found at Black Bear

A camera was found at the Black Bear in Big Sky that may have been misplaced by someone who attended the BSSEF fundraising dinner the evening of February 17th.  If it is yours, contact Cheryl Creed.

Update Regarding YSL Championships at Whitefish Mountain

• Tickets for the YSL awards banquet scheduled for Saturday, March 8th, must be purchased by Friday, March 7th.  Tickets can be purchased at the race registration desk or at a ticket window.
• Due to the large number of competitors, the start for the tech (GS/SL) events will be at 9:45AM rather than 10:00AM.

Team Photo Scheduled for 3/15/08

Crystal Images is taking a team photo at 9:00AM on Saturday, March 15th.  All team members—Nordic, Big Mountain Freeride, Masters, and Alpine—should plan to meet at the Race Shack by the Ramcharger Lift at Big Sky Resort at least 10 minutes early.

2008 BSSEF Fundraiser Details

Who: All members, friends, and supporters of the BSSEF

What: Banquet, Silent Auction, and Live Music!

When: Saturday, March 15, 2008.  The doors open at 5:00PM; dinner is served at 6:00PM, and the band—Archers Mob—begins playing at 8:30PM.

Where: Buck's T-4 Ballroom

Why: To raise money to support all of the Big Sky Ski Education Foundation's programs

Price: Tickets for the buffet dinner are $35 for adults and $15 for kids (includes the band).  The cover charge for latecomers (doors open at 8:00PM) who just want to listen to the band is $5.

MSU Sends Six to NCAA National Championships

Dan Brelsford's MSU ski team is sending six competitors to the NCAA National Championships being held at Bridger Bowl on March 5-8.  ChiChi Williams and Toby LaMar are competing in the Alpine events; and Anders Folleraas, Gunnar Kristianson, Kaelin Kiesel, and Claire Rennie are competing in Nordic.

Dan and his team are valued supporters of the Big Sky Ski Team.  Kerry Corcoran Brelsford is one of our coaches; Silver is part of the Buddy Werner Team; and Sam combines Big Mountain Freeride with a little racing on the side.  Members of the MSU team regularly compete in Northern Division events at Big Sky, which helps our Junior racers by lowering race "penalty" points.

Thanks, and good luck at the national championship!

Molly and Kelly Ryan Shine at Regional Alpine Championships

Big Sky Ski Team alumni Kelly and Molly Ryan showed they are among the best collegiate ski racers in the country this past weekend.

Molly, who skis for Denver University, was selected to be among the 74 men and 74 women who will compete at the NCAA National Championships to be held March 5-8 at Bridger Bowl.

Kelly represented DU at the United States Collegiate Ski Association (USCSA) Western Region Championships held at Brundage Mountain Resort in McCall, Idaho.  She placed 2nd in slalom and 3rd in GS.

YSL Race Results Available in Real Time

The unofficial results from this coming weekend's YSL races at Bridger Bowl will be available in real time via the Live Timing website.  On the day of the race:

• Use your web browser to go to http://www.live-timing.com/
• Click the "View Races" button.
• Look for the link labeled "USA, MT, Bridger Orthopedic J4 Qualifier."

If we can figure out how to extend Big Sky Resort's wi-fi coverage to the timing shack on Hangman's, we'll start using Live Timing for the races at Big Sky, as well.

Lone Mountain Ranch Sponsor of Gallatin Glide

Just a note to acknowledge that the folks at Lone Mountain Ranch are co-sponsors and co-organizers of the upcoming Gallatin Glide.  LMR has been an extremely generous and valued supporter of the BSSEF Nordic Team.  Thank you!

Yellowstone Rendezvous

Thanks to Melissa Cronin for the following report and photos from the Yellowstone Rendezvous Nordic races today:

The BSSEF Nordic team members Lousia Locker, Micah Robin, Frances and Garrett Cronin, Ethan and Julianna Greene and friends Tom Owen, Hans Schernthaler and Alexandra Greene traveled to West Yellowstone this morning to compete in the 29th annual Rendezvous Race. This year saw around 475 competitors, down from past years by about 200. Organizers believed this was because of the earlier than usual date and conflicts with other major races such as the Birkibiener.

This race has become famous all over the west for it's grueling, but fun, 25 and 50 km categories. Shorter races of 2, 5, 10 and 15 km are also offered for the younger and older competitors. Today we saw competitors from 3 to 85 years old, this doesn't happens at very many events and it was very inspiring to see. Many of the racers falling between 13 and 50 are national class athletes that are considered at the top of their game. All the races started with a bang, literally, with the firing of a reproduction brass cannon (pictured) lit and loaded by a motley crew of explosive experts/mountain men.

Thank you to the organizers, participants, families and coach Kelli for a great Rendezvous Race!

Our team and friends did very well with the following results:

• Louisa Locker 7-9 years, 2 km, 4th
• Frances Cronin 7-9 years, 2 km, 6th
• Garrett Cronin 7-9 years, 2 km, 9th
• Julianna Greene 10-12 years, 5 km, 15th
• Michah Robin 10-12 years, 5 km, 8th
• Ethan Greene 10-12 years, 5 km, 19th
• Alexandra Greene, 13-17, 10 km, 7th
• Tom Owen, 50 km, 20th
• Hans Schernthaler, 50 km, 36th

Need Electronic Timer Operators - No Experience Necessary!

We need help in the timing shack on March 1st and 2nd for the Junior Open GS and SL races at Big Sky.  No experience is necessary.  If you are interested in helping out, contact Dave Bayless by e-mail or phone (406-581-3212), and he'll arrange to give you 30 minutes of dryland training over a cup of coffee next week.

One of the great bits of volunteer news this season is that three parents—Lance Trebesch, Zach Anderson, and Sarah Hetherington—have already learned how to help out in the timing shack at alpine races.  However, all three are going to be at Bridger Bowl watching their kids race in the YSL races during the weekend in question (and helping our BSF friends with the race, no doubt).  Consequently, we need one or two more parents to take the timing plunge.