Wachusett Mountain Race Team provides excellent programs, coaching, competition and support to junior alpine ski racers. WMRT develops strong base level skills to allow athletes competently participate at USSA junior races
U.S. Ski & Snowboard is also canceling all sanctioned and scheduled events beginning Monday, March 16. This includes all club-level events for all disciplines and any unnecessary gatherings, including banquets, awards, and end of season presentations, etc. Expect further updates on future events, including U.S. Ski & Snowboard Congress.
You should expect to hear if you have not yet, that this means the cancelation of the U14 Finals as well as the 16's Eastern's and Finals, the 19's, etc.. I say expect because individual host organizations may make the decision to run unsanctioned events.
The safety and well being of our athletes, coaches, and parents is always our highest priority. In response to the USSS announcement and the ongoing developments of the Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic, WMRT is making the conscientious decision to cancel the remainder of our season effective immediately. This means this weekend's upcoming practices, race support, and the banquet.
Skiing continues to be inherently safe, the mountain still has snow, and as of this writing plans to remain open this weekend. If you're comfortable with it come free ski this weekend and race your kids or parents in the Saturday Super G on Challenger!!
It’s hard to believe we’re already in the middle of Championships!! Good luck to the U12’s and U16 ‘s this weekend and any parents racing in the Crowley, Great or Good Races.
That said, we still have a lot of skiing to do with post season events, open races, and training before putting the skis away! We even get an extra day this month!
Fencing- Thanks to all that came out on Tuesday night to set the fence for this weekend's races at Wachusett.
Volunteer Opportunities - Several more opportunities will be coming out soon. BNet back into the container, Chip Gilroy Race beach related, and WMRT End of Season Banquet.
Chip Gilroy - T-Shirt Race at Sunapee - Unless you’re at a postseason event this will be our final race of the season. Start planning what you want to bring/showcase on the Sunapee Beach BBQ, the biggest of the year.
As of this morning there are 236 athletes registered. This race will fill up. I believe they cap at 300. Sign up todayhere.Remember: ***NHARA HAS DESIGNATED THIS RACE AS A NON-SUIT RACE*** THIS FOR ALL CLASSES U10 – U16***The new U12 Equipment rules will apply - see pg 164 of the 2020 Alpine Comp Guide*** Awards will be given to the top 10 racers, and best costumes - start planing!!
Last day of training - Our last day of weekend training will be Sunday April 22, 2020, and night training will continue until the mountain changes it’s nightly close time.
Banquet - The Banquet has been set for Saturday April 4th. We understand this is in the middle of the Sugar Slalom, but the prior weekend is booked for the Night LEague Banquet, the 5th is Pond Skimming (they get a big crowd this day), and the following weekend is Easter. Please consider donating an item for the raffle, and if you have Ski industry or camp/academy contacts reach out to them for donations.
Terrain- Reminder - We’ve had some great access to terrain this year, especially GS on Upper Smith on Tuesday And Thursday nights. I hope the athletes have enjoyed it. All athletes are REQUIRED to assist with pulling the course and slipping the course prior to it being opened back up to the general public. This applies to all WMRT racers.
Please remember to Thank Mountain Mgmt for their support this year.
Welcome to WMRT race weekend at Wachusett Mountain!!
Thanks to everyone that came out last night to fence Smith Walton. We started at around 6:30pm and the last of us swept the trail at 9:30pm. Well under a 3 hours to complete.
Volunteer Registration: Please register to volunteer if you haven’t already. There are still spots open. If you login and they are full check back, as peoples plans change and somebody may need to drop out, opening up a spot.
Race Weekend:The weather seems to be cooperating with us, somewhat. The rain appears to be starting late Saturday and ending in the early hours of Sunday. Please try to carpool to leave as many spots open for the general public that may want to come out and ski.
WMRT Team HQ & Race Registration: We’re back in the Maple Room (where we had the Parents meeting) for the entire weekend again this year. This will be WMRT’s dedicated Team Race Room for the weekend. ALL WMRT athletes are invited to change, prepare, eat, socialize and cheer on their teammates in the Team Race Room. The only thing we ask is that they clean up after themselves, neither the Board, Coaches, Volunteers or the Mountain staff are there as maids.
Registration: enter the Maple Room from the hallway, tables and/or chairs will be set up to the right as you enter the room, creating a barrier separating the registration area from the WMRT athlete area. Registering families walk straight ahead, check in at the registration table (on Left), and continue down the stairs at the far end of the room and back into the Granite room. Our families of course are welcome to hang out in the athlete area behind the registration table. Please Note: registration will only take place from one side of the table.
Late / Walk-In Registration: As previously communicated there is no late or walkin registration available.
Volunteer Check-In and Check Drop off: There will be a table set-up on the right side of the room, just past registration, this is where volunteers are to check and volunteer checks are to be dropped off. No check, no bib.
Volunteer and Coach Food: We will have sandwiches, chips, fruit, cookies, water and Gatorade available for lunch in the Maple Room. This is for Volunteers and WMRT Coaches only.
Happy Race Weekend, and we’ll see you at the mountain!!
What a weekend! We were afforded the opportunity to have both Lower Smith and Lower Challenger dedicated to our use until about noon both days. Today the U10’s, U12’s and U14’s got to help Gayle test out the Nastar timing systems - Click here for the results. I see some coaches’ names too. From what I could see, there were a lot of smiles and there should be some tired legs.
I would like to thank the athletes and coaches that took the time to clean up the trails after they were done training. I skied Lower Smith today and Lower Challenger yesterday after we were done, and they were both left in excellent condition.
We are training tomorrow, off Tuesday and Wednesday and back on Thursday and Friday.
If you see someone from Mountain Mgmt, Thank them for the support. If you need a last-minute gift, see Mike and his team in Mountainside Ski and Ride and support your local ski shop. Support is a two-way street.
As we come to the end of another year and look forward to spending time enjoying the Holidays with family and friends, my hope is that you will find joy, peace and the true meaning in this Holiday Season.
Wishing the best to you and yours for a happy and healthy Holiday Season and a prosperous New Year!
Regards,
Scot Haigh
WMRT President
A Couple Quick Housekeeping Reminders!!
Volunteer Program Check - Please bring your postdated checks (March 31, 2019) to the mountain during the Christmas break camp. Hand them to myself or another board member. Continued delinquency will result in the suspension of athlete privileges
Program Fees - Please log in to the website and settle up any remaining balances.
I hope this letter finds you well. Below you will find some important updates and general news about the upcoming season. I hope you’re as excited as I am to get back on snow!!
Registration is now open!!
The Board discussed at length the athlete population we had last year and felt that we were at or just beyond our comfortable and effective maximum. While we have no specific targets per age group, we will be watching the total registration numbers and age groups and comparing to historical numbers.
September has been filled with lots of preparation for the upcoming season the highlights are:
The majority of the 2019/20 Programs and Program fees will remain the same as last year. The Board discussed and voted on the following changes:
Start Time - we will start this year when the mountain opens. If the lifts open at 7:30 that will be our start time for the day. Last year the 7:30 opening began in January and I would expect the same this year
Remove the U8 Program from our offerings. After careful consideration it was decided that this population would be better served through one of the mountains offerings specifically geared toward this age group.
Those athletes that were first year U8’s last year will be offered the opportunity to participate again this year, but no new U8’s will be accepted.
Increase the Program Fees for Program 1 (U10 Sat Only) and 2 (U10 Sat/Sun) this brings the cost of these programs in-line with the other programs offered.
Volunteer Program will be returning this year. Collectively it was felt that this proved valuable over the course of the season in distributing the workload needed for a safe and successful race season. As an example, last year we had 7 maybe 10 people show up for the Sept. BNet inspection, this year we had 20, and we were done before noon.
Some changes you can expect to see - the early posting of all known season volunteer requirements at once, one time opportunities will still be offered on an as needed basis, the use of SignUp Genius to track hours vs units allowing you see where you stand at any given time.
Race Schedule - not finalized yet
U10’s - there are discussions about possibly opening up the opportunity to ski in some Buddy Werner races, but this is not final. We’ll keep you posted as this evolves.
We should expect the U12 & U14 race schedule to be similar to last year, and the same for the U19+
U16’s - while not finalized the approach being used this year is back to back races at relatively close mountains - for example a Saturday GS at Berkshire East followed by Sunday SL at Bousquet
Video - Late last year we acquired two cameras and began using them on a trial basis. Our goal this year is to have each age group videoed during training a minimum of three times over the course of the season.
Dryland Training Schedule - see dates below
USSS Registration: Adults and those turning 18 (this is new this year) during the season will be required to complete SafeSport training and an annual SafeSport Refresher training if you completed the training last year.
Your 2019/20 WMRT Board of Directors and Operations Leads are:
David Chandler has stepped down as the U12 Parent Rep and will continue to support the Board by hosting the meetings and assisting on special projects over the course of the season. Joel Bradford will be backfilling Dave. Joel currently has a 2nd Yr U12 and 2nd Yr U10. Nicole and Maddie Wilkinson will not be returning this year. Maddie has been selected a starting forward middie for the URI Rams Jr team, and has decided to focus on this opportunity. We wish them the best of luck and look forward to seeing them at the mountain or a race at some point this season.
Please consider stepping forward if you’d be interested in any of the open positions.
2019 / 20 Season
WMRT BOD & Opereations
Board Positions
Name
President
S Haigh
Past President
M McCaughy
Vice President
M Ayotte
Treasurer
L Desio / Intern Oppty
Secretary
J Lee
10 Parent Rep
Open
U12 Parent Rep
J Bradford
U14 Parent Rep
C Pride
U16 Parent Rep
D Riley
U19/21 Parent Rep
C Fish
Volunteer Coordinator (x2)
Open
Operations Positions
Name
Head Coach
B McBride
Race Chairman
M McCaughy / D Schlussel
Race Coordinator
S Haigh
Chief of Timing & Crew
M Dahan
Start Crew
J Dade
Marketing / Store
L Desio / Intern Oppty
Tri-State Officials Chair
J Higgins
I’d like to Thank those that came out for the preseason fence inspection on Sunday September 15th. We had 20 WMRT volunteers and about 30 from the WPI Ski Team participating.
Below are some dates to keep in mind:
Oct 2 - WMRT Registration Opens
Oct 2 - Tri-State Fall BoD Mtg
Oct 10 - 14 - Columbus Day weekend - Ski Swap at Wachusett
Oct 13 – MAASRA Dryland Training w ELITEAM’s Doug Lewis at Catamount – Reg Required
Oct 15 - USSS Early Bird Registration ends at 5pm Mountain Time - price increases after that
