ABOUT GNAR

GNAR is a non-profit freeride ski team dedicated to training big mountain skills and preparing athletes to compete in big mountain competitions. Our athletes are a group of passionate young skiers who want to advance their big mountain riding abilities. GNAR is often seen as the next step for skiers who have learned all they can learn from KHMR’s Freeride Connections program. GNAR athletes should already have at least two years of formal training in another ski program and have advanced to expert riding ability.

GNAR was founded in 2009/2010 season. Its premise was to fill the gap for a freeride specific coaching environment for young skiers at Kicking Horse. The terrain offered at Kicking Horse is some of the best in-bounds skiing available in North America, and is the perfect breeding ground to develop very high calibre young athletes, given the right coaching environment.

We have an amazing team of coaches with a diverse set of skills, qualifications and experience. Our coaches provide high quality ski training with a particular focus on building strong technique, taking athletes’ big mountain skills to even higher levels, preparing for competition events, and instilling skier discipline. We also coach our athletes to become ambassadors for KHMR at competitions and while skiing at KHMR.

• GNAR’s Program Mission is to produce exceptional athletes who are capable of competing at regional, provincial and national levels or are capable of establishing their careers as ski industry professionals.
• GNAR’s Guiding Principle: GNAR athletes in Freeride and Freestyle events epitomize the best young skiing athletes among all skiers in the youth ski programs operating at KHMR.
• GNAR’s Core Function is to provide ski line analysis and skill development training, instill skier discipline, educate regarding mountain safety and prepare athletes to succeed in big mountain competition events. We also coach athletes to become ambassadors for KHMR at competitions and while skiing at KHMR.
• GNAR’s Core Values: We are a non-profit organization that generates enough revenue to maintain operations, and uses any surplus funds to serve athlete infrastructure needs such as training equipment, services and supplies, group facilities, team identifiers, and year-end events.

OUR PROGRAM AT A GLANCE

Coaching / Training

Our program runs for 14 weeks (December 16th 2017 - March 31st, 2018). Athletes train on Saturdays throughout the season. We will have a different camps available throughout the season for athletes interested. Cost and dates are TBD, please keep an eye on our website calendar for details.

Training is a full day with a half hour lunch break. Athletes get the opportunity to train with different coaches throughout the season. We keep groups small for maximum training quality. Our athlete to coach ratio is 6:1.

GNAR athletes will have use on training days to the GNAR jump site at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort. This jump site is owned and used by the GNAR team only.

Avalanche Skills

GNAR will be offering a bonus day in the early season to learn and practice avalanche skills. GNAR received a grant to purchase transceivers, which allows us to practice transceiver searches at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort. In the spring we would like to plan a backcountry trip to Rudy’s Ridge, just outside the ski area boundary. This day will be offered to age appropriate athletes and is dependant on weather and avalanche conditions.

Competitions

As our program is geared towards preparing and supporting athletes in competition, we provide support for coaches to accompany athletes competing in competitions. We encourage all athletes to compete in the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort Junior Big Mountain Challenge, sanctioned by the International Freeskiers and Snowboarders Association. http://www.freeskiers.org

GNAR will run as a camp during the KHMR Junior Big Mountain Challenge. There will be no regular GNAR scheduled on the Saturday of this competition. It is expected that the majority of our athletes will compete in the Junior Big Mountain Challenge; however, it is not mandatory. A minimal camp fee to cover coaching costs will be charged. This fee is to be determined and is dependent on the end result of club registrant numbers and fundraising. Parents must also volunteer at this event.

For the Lake Louise Junior Big Mountain Challenge event, GNAR sends a coach to this event for our athletes. Cost and dates are TBA. We would also like to send a coach to either the Fernie or Kimberley competitions. The practicality of this will be determined as the season progresses and is also heavily dependent upon fundraising.

Pre-season conditioning: In the fall we offer training at the Kicking Horse Gymnastics Club with Christine Muise. She is certified in Air 2 with the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association. She offers us a series of Freestyle Ski Trampoline Clinics. The cost and dates are TBA.

GNAR offers free dryland training to all of our athletes. This is to help get in optimal shape prior to the winter season and we encourage all our athletes to participate. It will begin the week after Thanksgiving and the day and time is TBA. Location is in the gym at the Alexander Park Elementary School. Calgary location TBD. We require parent volunteers to run dryland training in both Golden and Calgary during the months of October and November.

Program cost

$770 per athlete plus insurance with the Freestyle Canada. Fees go towards coaching, coach training, and equipment to support our program (e.g., building/maintenance on our jump site, operating costs and program development).

Parent volunteers are critical to help making GNAR a success. We require 10 hours of volunteer hours per family. At time of registration we require a $200 volunteer bond cheque post-dated for February 15th, 2018. If the volunteer hours are met, your deposit will be returned. GNAR's volunteer areas are listed in the registration form.

For our "Year at a Glance" calendar, please click here.

Acknowledgement of Risk Form - parents are required to complete the acknowledgement of risk form in order for their athlete to participate in our programme.

OUR TRAINING APPROACH

The coaching staff at GNAR boasts former and current competitive skiers from many different disciplines (racing, freestyle, freeskiing). GNAR coaches take an interdisciplinary approach to their coaching and believe the best skiers are produced by exposing athletes to all the different competitive genres. GNAR skiers will be exposed to mogul skiing, air safety, take air and landings for both natural and manmade features, and be encouraged to carve fast turns on groomed terrain. Most of the coaching and training takes place at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort. The terrain offered at Kicking Horse is some of the best in-bounds skiing available in North America and is the perfect breeding ground to develop very high calibre young athletes, given the right coaching environment. Coaches work with athletes to help them achieve their individual goals, and provide progress reports through the season. Competition preparation is also a key training focus.

REGISTRATION

Registration opens on September 1, 2017 and closes on October 6, 2017.

Please apply on our website by clicking here.

Visit us at the Golden Community Connection Evening at the Golden Rec Plex on September 6th from 5:30 - 7:30 pm. We need TWO parent volunteers to help at this event. Please contact Danielle Deitch: danielle@goldenalpinerippers.com to volunteer for this event.

Registration Waitlist

In the event that the program has contained 18 registrants before the registration deadline, GNAR will open a wait list.

If the waitlist reaches 6 athletes, GNAR will look into hiring another coach.

Late Registration

In the event GNAR is not at capacity and the registration deadline has passed, GNAR will review late applications. There will be a $50 late fee charged to the registration cost.

Contact Us

www.goldenalpinerippers.com

Our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/GNAR-Golden-Alpine-Rippers/ 275849239125051 (Please “like” the page if you haven’t already and set your notification so that you are notified when a new post goes up)

Our snail mail address: GNAR Society, PO Box 581, Golden BC V0A 1H0

POLICIES AND OTHER DETAILS

• Program is run as a full-time program. No part-time or drop-ins. Full fees apply to all members, even if athletes cannot attend all training sessions. All fees are to be paid in full at time of registration.

• All parents and athletes must sign the GNAR Code of Conduct. Failure to do so will result in a registration not being accepted.

• If an athlete sustains an injury, s/he may be required to provide a note from their doctor or physiotherapist to confirm when they are clear to ski/snowboard again.

• If an athlete has an accident, a Freestyle Canada Accident Report must be completed within 24 hours. It is the coach’s responsibility to complete the Accident Report.

• The Freestyle Canada insurance requirement (up-to-date membership license) must be met before an athlete can ski with the team.

• We do not cancel training for cold weather. Because our athletes are at age where they are capable of making sound decisions about when they need to go inside to warm up, we run training even on cold days. Therefore, assume that training will proceed, no matter the condition. Therefore, please bring proper layers. If there is a change or cancellation due to extremely adverse weather or some other extreme event, we will send out an email notification to everyone with as much advance notice as possible.

• Helmets are mandatory for all athletes. Mouth guards and back protectors are encouraged but not required. If you would like to discuss recommendations for safety gear for your athlete, please get in touch with one of the coaches.

• If you are unable to attend a training day, please provide us notification of your absence. We will be setting up GNAR on TeamSnap which should facilitate communication of attendance.