Hi All,

It’s with a heavy heart that I must announce that the 2012 Subaru Velocity Challenge and FIS Speed Ski World Cup at Sun Peaks Resort, B.C. Canada to be held March 8^th to 11^th 2012 is “officially” cancelled.

Unfortunately this year’s event has succumb to the current economic pressures being felt by many in the sporting and business world and we are unable to secure enough sponsorship funding at this time to successfully host our speed skiing event in a manner acceptable to the many people, sponsors and organizations involved in running this historic speed skiing event.

While we are unable to host the event this year, we will be pressing forward in the coming months with our efforts to once again host events in 2013 and beyond and we look forward to working with all the people, businesses and organizations involved to make this event even better in the future.

I would like take this time to thank all our long time and amazingly dedicated volunteers and sponsors for their continued support. The Velocity “Safety” Crew, The Velocity Medical Team, Sun Peaks Resort Corporation and staff, Tourism Sun Peaks, Subaru Canada, Zimmer Autosport, Canadian Snowsports Association, Speed Skiing Canada, the community of Sun Peaks and all our other dedicated sponsors and suppliers for their continued support over the past decades. Without the support of these many groups, businesses and organizations this event could have never got off the ground so many years ago.

I also truly wish to thank all the speed ski racers from around the globe that have made an annual pilgrimage to Sun Peaks Resort to race on the Headwalls Speed Ski Track over the past many years, as without these intrepid souls and their support of our event and their true passion for racing and the sport of speed skiing, this event would simply never be. We wish you all the best during your 2012 racing season. Be safe and go fast.

In closing please pass this “ Cancellation Notice” on to all departments, staff, fellow racers, ski federations or anyone else this notice should get to and please correct any online calendars or event sheets that list the March 8^th to 11^th 2012 dates.

Thank you all for your support of the Sun Peaks Velocity Challenge and we’ll see you next year.

Kind Regards,

Adam Earle

Organizer

It was a bitter sweet day for Team Canada at the 2011 FIS Speed Ski World Championships in Verbier, Switzerland yesterday.
Tuesday, April 19th was the first “Official” race day of the World Championships and only one of us made the cut to the top 25 racers that move onto the final day Wednesday. Neil Munroe from Silver Star was the top Canadian in 9th place with a speed of 194.60 km/h. Unfortunately, my last run to make the top 25 was not my best run and I missed the cut by a mere .46 km/h, finishing in 26th place with a speed of 184.55 km/h. Only the top 25 racers move into the final day and then the field is cut to top 15 racers after the first run.
The final top 15 men and seven women then race off the top for the 2011 FIS Speed Ski World Champion title. Speeds should reach 210 km/h in the final on Wednesday.
While disappointed to not make the final 25 in my last run, not all is lost. My speed of 184.55 km/h was a personal best speed ever in competition and the photos show exactly what went wrong and where. Live and learn, because tomorrow is another day is a saying that comes to mind.
Thanks to Kerry VanSickle (Neil’s wife) for all the great pics. Tough to be spectator today but will support Neil in any way I can. I will be on track again Thursday training for the Speed Masters Pro event which runs on Friday and Saturday.
Looking back on Tuesday it’s strange how sometimes irony shows up wherever you are. After the race run on Tuesday, my calculations had me in 25th spot and advancing to the final. Guess I miscalculated on the score board somewhere. A little overzealous I guess? Overjoyed that I thought I made the final cut of 25, I promptly bashed my shin on an aluminum picnic table frame just below boot top leaving it bloodied and bruised. While there is no question that I would have raced today if I made the final cut, my sore shin now gets a day off to heal.
It’s hard to believe that we had nearly 200 speed ski runs up to 194 km/h on Tuesday and the only racer injury was caused by a picnic table. Not feeling so bright to say the least.
On another note away from racing and injury, Team Canada has a new superstar amongst us. Gerald Allgaier of Sun Peaks, B.C who’s travelling with the team has been the work horse of the whole event. During set up week his unrelenting energy and enthusiasm was absolutely contagious and he wowed race organizers with his work ethic. When race day came Allgaier shifted to Race Sherpa mode and set the standard for the rest of the Race Sherpas in Verbier. Skiing icy mogul fields that make the skiing public shutter with 3 and 4 pairs of racers skis in his arms just put a bigger smile on his face. “I am having a blast, I’m getting tons of runs in and it’s like my own personal downhill,” said Allgaier with a chuckle. “The people are great, the organizers are fantastic and I’m being treated like a local. How can you not have fun when you’re in Switzerland with the best speed skiers in the world and you really feel you’re part of the speed skiing community,” commented Allgaier as he headed up to the top for another sherpa run.
Needless to say this isn’t an easy job for anyone but add in the fact that all this work is at 3,300 meters (over 10,000 feet) of elevation and Allgaier is 57 years old, his stamina defies logic.
That’s all for now from Verbier as I must now drive three hours to Annecy France to the Jonathon and Fletcher factory to make adjustments to my new speed ski suit. Unfortunately I had to use my backup suit on Tuesday because my new one is simply too tight. Maybe that made the .46 km/h difference in my speed but hindsight is always 20/20.
I will update on todays final of the Worlds Championships as soon as possible.

Hi Velocity Challenge Speed Ski fans. Sorry about the lack of updates but the “Euro Tour 2011″ has not been exactly what we expected in some cases and much more than we expected in others. After almost two weeks in Europe, April 16 was the first day of speed skiing.

[View more photos at the end of the story]

Shortly before our  takeoff from the Kamloops Airport on April 4  for  races in Vars, France which included a FIS World Cup race and a World Record attempt, a huge avalanche destroyed the speed ski track and cancleled the whole event.

Luckily no one was injured or worse, as it was a huge slide that took out the whole speed ski track . It was very sad for the whole speed ski community as Vars had spent months and hundreds of thousands of dollars on this world-class event.

As we were on-route to Europe and couldn’t change our travel plans, we came to Europe anyway. Thankfully, Gerald Allgaier, Team Canada’s only coach, trainer, sherpa and all around travel supporter had relatives in Germany which were happy to host us while we waited for the next race in Verbier, Switzerland, starting on April 16.

After several days of German hospitality, tons of food and a fair amount of schnapps we headed to the next race stop, Verbier, Switzerland. Upon arrival on April 8, we realized we had nothing  to do but help the organizers set-up for the fast approaching  races April 16 to 23rd.

While the beaches of southern Europe were tempting,  we had one week until racing so we decided to stay and help the Verbier race organizers in  anyway we could. To say that they welcomed our help and our presence with open arms would be a total understatement as we’ve been treated not only like locals but as special guests. We were honored to lend a hand to this amazing group. We’ve not only made many new friends but have also connected with many in the speed skiing community that I haven’t seen in over 20 years. It’s truly a community that once entered, you can never leave.

After a week of working with this group helping them with their multi-race eight day event, it’s finally time to put on my race face. Today was the POP KL event which has recreational racers from around Europe and abroad  test their bravery on the Mont Fort Speed Track and smiles were everywhere. Over 60 racers from aged 9 to 60 plus tested  themselves at speeds up to 159 km/h.

A few of us that had arrived early for the Championships were were offered training runs for the upcoming FIS World Championships that commence on Monday. The top unofficial speed today was 168.89 km/h by Simone Origone of Italy. Race host and organizer Philippe May was only .5 km/h back. These speeds were attained from below the half track mark and we’re looking forward to speeds over 200 km/h in the coming days.

Today we had a second day of training which saw a top speed of 170 km/h by Philippe May. Yesterday I had new suit issues but was happy with 164 km/h and today was even better at 165 km/h.

The FIS World Speed Ski Championships start tomorrow April 18 and run until April 20 with the Speed Masters Pro Race April 21 to 23.

With almost no snow in Europe it’s unlikely we’ll be able to use the new launch ramp in Verbier this year but still expect speeds over 200 km/h in the coming days.

Race updates daily and hopefully by weeks end I’ll be a member of the 200 km/h club.

Euro 2011 had a huge hit today with a massive avalanche on the speed ski track in Vars. Boarding the flight in Vancouver and off to tour Germany with my coach and then racing in Verbier around the 17th . Stay tuned.