Today's news re: Sassi

Updated at 2:45 PM ~

See post below re: new start times for tomorrow's Sassi race.

Transportation:
We will have a van departing Desert Rd at 7:45 AM.  If you want a seat on this van, you must let Susan know by 5:00 PM today.  If you haven't touched base with Susan about a ride, do not count on a seat on the van.

Skiers driving themselves or getting a ride with their family should be at Black Mountain 2 hours before their start time.  When you arrive, look for John in the wax building.  Start times can be found here under Sassi Memorial Start Lists and Course Map:
http://mainehighschoolskiing.com/

There may still be snowy roads for travel tomorrow.  Any skier (or their parent) that is not comfortable traveling on the van in the snowy weather is welcome to ride with their parents or to not attend the race at all.  If you are scheduled to race and want to scratch, let Susan know as soon as you know.

Tomorrow is expected to be cold and windy, so be sure to dress for the cold.  Extra layers under the race suit are a good idea, as well as face and eye protection.

Indoor spaces will be very crowded at Black Mountain tomorrow, as this is a huge race and a cold day.  Remember there is also indoor space on the first floor of the wax building.  Any time you are NOT inside at a table (either in the main lodge or the wax building), move your gear to a cubby or tucked away on the floor.  We cannot keep our gear on a table or otherwise in the way, as other people will need to use the table and space when you are outside.  Black Mountain thanks you for this.

Enjoy the snow day!

Sassi Info

Start times for Saturday's Sassi race have been pushed back.  Race times are now:

12:00noon U16 Boys

12:45pm Men

2:00pm U16 Girls

2:45pm Women

We plan on taking one, possibly two vans to the race, and will leave Desert Rd between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m. (exact time TBD on Friday, based on weather).  Any skiers wanting a ride on the van must email Susan by Friday at 5:00 p.m.

Any skier (or their parents) that is not comfortable traveling on the van in the snowy weather is welcome to ride with their parents or to not attend the race at all.  If you are scheduled to race and want to scratch, be sure to let Susan know as soon as you know.

Most transportation and race info will be posted as we have it.

Race at Libby Hill today

Sorry for the late hour in confirming plans for today.  We were waiting for confirmation about the race and for info about tonight's play.

The race is on as originally scheduled - boys race at 3:30, girls race at 4:00.  Everyone should plan on being at Libby Hill at 2:30.  Mr. Barham may be in touch directly with certain 9th and 10th graders if he wants them at the Community Hall before 6:00 call.

Susan will be driving one van from Desert Rd to the race, leaving Desert Rd at 1:55.  It is our hope that some parents will be driving kids to the race and that we won't need more than one van.  If you want a ride on this van to the race, you must email Susan by 1:00 today.

Susan will also be driving the van back to Desert Rd as soon as the races finish.  We have 6 students that let us know previously that they want a ride on this van.  These are: Davis, Fiona L, Emma, Calla, Ava, Fides.  If you are one of these 6 and no longer want a ride, email Susan asap.  If you are not one of these 6 and now want a ride, email Susan by 1:00 today.  Also, if you are riding the van back to Desert Rd, be ready to go immediately after the race is done.  We need leave promptly.

We are still planning on providing pizza and salad for dinner for those skiers that placed orders.  If any plans have changed about that (you previously ordered pizza but no longer want it -or- you didn't order earlier and now want pizza), email Susan by 1:00 today.

So, you may have gathered that Susan needs to know everything about transportation and pizza by 1:00 today :-)  Otherwise, we'll see everyone at Libby Hill at 2:30!  Thank you all for your patience and flexibility in waiting for all the info to be known.

January 28 skate race at Libby Hill

Happy snowy day!

So far it looks like our race is on for tomorrow.  GNG will be working hard to get the course ready for the race Wednesday.  Check the Wax Info tab for, you guessed it, wax info.

In the event of school cancellations on race day, stay tuned for race updates as we might still be able to race if the weather breaks and roads clear.  The current plan is wave starts of 12 – one skier from each team.

Boys start at 3:30, girls start at 4:00.

Also, Sassi Race update:

We have all of our skiers registered for Sassi this Saturday except Graham, Ava and Calla.  Most race and travel info will come later this week.

Expected logistics for Monday's race at Stark's Hill

See Race Schedule tab for specific race details.

Transportation - Two vans will be headed from Desert Rd to Fryeburg and back.  At this point, we expect to depart Desert Rd around 8:00 a.m. and return around 3:00-3:15ish.  Skiers can call home from the road when a more exact return time is known.

We are expecting all skiers to ride on the van unless they tell Susan they have their own ride.  Having your own ride is fine, but you need to let Susan know (send email to highschool@merriconeag.org).

Be sure to check the blog on Sunday evening in case anything has changed regarding transportation or race info.

As everyone hopefully knows by now, Stark's has porta-potties but no indoor facilities.  Skiers and spectators should come well prepared for spending 4 hours outside, bringing warm clothes, water and food.  Folks that want to sit may want to bring a foldable chair.

Merriconeag Hosts WMC Race on Wednesday!

Hope everyone can come out to Pineland (Oak Hill section) on Wednesday afternoon (January 14) when Merriconeag hosts the weekly WMC race.  Other teams include Yarmouth, Falmouth, Freeport and Scarborough.  Come cheer on all the skiers!

Clarification of start times for races

So that everyone is clear on the start times of the weekly races, for this week and for Wednesday, January 28, the BOYS will start at 3:30 and the GIRLS will start shortly after the last boy starts off.  This means the girls will start before 4:00.

Early season note from John

The team had a very productive four day ski camp after Christmas in Rangeley.  Thanks to the Pierce family and Pat Phillips for hosting.  Also a thanks to all the families for support with food and transportation and to Jason for helping out coaching.  Although the conditions were not as good as last year, the trails were good enough that we were able to get in plenty of skiing and finished off the camp with a time trial that got the team ready to start the racing part of the season.

We traveled to Bethel on Saturday at the end of vacation week and competed in the Telstar Relay. This year the course was moved to the Gould Academy Trails and, thanks to lots of work by the host, they were able to provide a challenging course.  Due to caution Samantha sat out the race to rest an injury.  This provided Olivia the chance to ski in the A heat with the first team.  She, along with Fiona A., Graham and Forrest, posted the fastest time of the day.  Our second A wave team of Tucker, Nick, Fiona L. and Louise were a strong 10th out of 34 teams.  Zack had the fastest time in the individual race, and Eli and Jannis also had strong results in their first high school races (for Jannis I believe it was his first  race ever!).

The team contested our first WMC race on 1-7-15 against the strongest teams in the conference, Yarmouth and Falmouth, as well as Fryeburg.  Due to first race organizational snafus, Fiona A. and Samantha were late to the start.  Sam was able to ski right on in the nick of time to her appointed spot and won the race.  Fiona was slotted in at the end of the race but it appears the timers failed to give a finish - too bad as she did ski a hard effort.  Olivia skied a great first WMC race and finished 4th, Louise and Fiona L. rounded out the girls scoring.  The boys had a great race as Forrest, Tucker and Zach went 2,3,4 and Eli finished 12th.  The boys were one point back of Falmouth for a 2nd place team score.  Congratulations to Olivia, Louise and Calla for their first WMC races, to Thomas for his first WMC race wearing the MWS colors, and to all the skiers for their fine efforts, regardless of whether or not they were scorers for the team.

Merriconeag will host a WMC race Wednesday 1-14-15 at Pineland - come out and cheer the team on!

John

Race tomorrow at Pineland

The race is on for tomorrow, January 7, at the Oak Hill area of Pineland.  Boys start first at 3:30.  There will be another high school race taking place at Pineland at the same time over near the Y, so don't get confused and go to the wrong race.

Remember that we do not provide late van service back to Desert Rd after a nearby race such as this.  Anyone having problems finding a ride for after the race should contact Susan asap, and we'll work to figure something out.

Check the Wax Info tab for race wax information.

Go team!

More Telstar Info

Telstar is on for tomorrow, Saturday, January 3, and we have 14 skiers planning to race.  A few things to know about this race ...

1.  The venue has changed from the usual Telstar High School location.  CLICK HERE for new venue info.

2.  There are no indoor facilities at this new location, so everyone should bring plenty of warm clothes, food and water.  There will be porta-potties.

3.  There is no spectator parking at this location.  Click on the link in #1 (above) for shuttle info, as well as checking here: CLICK HERE for parking and shuttle info.

4.  Race times are shown below.  We expect to have skiers in all three races.
11:00 - A Relay wave
12:00 - B Relay wave
1:00 - Individual waves

5.  Transportation - There will be two vans going to this race, departing from Desert Rd at 8:00.  All skiers should be on the van unless they have let Susan know they have alternate transportation plans.  We expect there may be a few extra seats on the vans, so if a parent wants a ride, please contact Susan today to check if there's room.  Anyone finding their own transportation should plan to be at the race site before 10:00.

6.  Wax - Wax recommendation can be found under the Wax Info tab on the blog.

7.  Start lists - CLICK HERE for start lists