Week of January 19, 2026
- We suggest arriving at least 30 minutes prior to your program start time to leave plenty of time to use the potty, get ready, and get outside to meet coaches.
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- We need parent helpers for all program days and times to help with lodge parent – please signup in TeamSnap under Assignments.
- Once signed up, we simply leave you a yellow vest and GTSC radio through the door by coaches room so you can have communication with coaches if a skier needs to come in with you.
- Thank you for helping throughout the season!
Hi everyone,
Our first night of ski level development was a success, allowing us to get the kids sorted into initial groups and shake off the dust from last season. Athletes were introduced to their coaches and participated in early-stage group adjustments to help ensure a good fit moving forward.
This coming week, we’ll focus on fine-tuning groups by ability, with an emphasis on the first few Skier Code rules, as well as stance- and balance-related activities. We’ll also be working on getting athletes comfortable with the tow rope—whether that’s for the first time or as a refresher from last season.
- Reminder we need parent helpers for all program days and times to help with lodge parent and car dropoff – please signup in TeamSnap under Assignments.
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- Once signed up, we simply leave you a yellow vest and GTSC radio by the coaches room so you can have communication with coaches.
- Thank you for helping throughout the season!
As we move into this week, we’d like to begin focusing more on race tactics, particularly course strategy and developing strong outside ski pressure. As more of Hickory’s terrain opens, we’re hopeful to expand the variety of activities and exercises available to support continued skill development and confidence on snow.
Coach Nora
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- Reminder we need parent helpers for all program days and times to help with lodge parent and car dropoff – please signup in TeamSnap under Assignments.
-
- Once signed up, we simply leave you a yellow vest and GTSC radio by the coaches room so you can have communication with coaches.
- Thank you for helping throughout the season!
Last week we completed an awesome week of training with all levels of our racers – thank you for showing up and putting out such great energy!
Note below from Coach Craig:
Good afternoon to you all.
We had a great week of training for all levels of our USSS and FIS teams. Thank you for your continued energy and hard work to prepare us for another race weekend ahead.
Coaches are focusing on trying to slow down training and not rush into gates. Proper warm up and drills with brushies and stubbies is important foundational skills for our athletes.
This week will be cold, please make sure you are properly prepping your athletes skis (or they are doing their own). Please reach out to Don Orr or Coach Craig with questions.
Our race weekend at Nubs will be some of the best terrain to challenge our athletes.
Any questions or comments please contact me. Thank you and hope to see you this weekend.
Please continue to work on marking Availability so we can plan our coaching staff. Thank you!
Coach Craig
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HS USSS/FIS:
We will not train this Friday due to the Peppi Race at Hickory Hills.
Good luck to all our GTSC racers!
MS USSS:
Please continue to watch the TeamSnap Schedule for discipline and training updates each week.
Tonight we are heading to Hickory per Schedule due to weather, otherwise at Crystal to prep for the weekend races.
Parents –
We hope to see you all tonight (Monday, Jan 19) for our parent check in meeting via Teams @ 6pm:
Microsoft Teams
Meeting ID: 214 172 319 673 02
Passcode: WM2sL3Mo
Dial in by phone
All USSS/FIS:
Racing:
This weekend we will race at Nubs on some of the most challenging terrain in lower Michigan – we hope to see all our USSS/FIS athletes participate!
Reminder to register via SKIREG no later than Tuesday night to be safe with late fees.
Coaches have developed a plan to try and do video review with athletes between runs in the lodge. They recognize the value in real-time review, then the athletes can hit the trainer and work on what’s needed.
Parents – to execute this – we will need 2 parents (1 for girls, 1 for boys) stationed at the bottom to video our GTSC skiers, then hand off to coaches for review.
The upload process to the drive can be slow – so we will plan to utilize the phones to make this quick.
Please connect with coaches to help – THANK YOU for helping us better serve your skiers!
We can not remind families enough the importance of marking AVAILABILITY in your TeamSnap. It is VERY helpful and please do this for your athletes (or have them do it themselves!).
Also a reminder to families – if you plan to PULL an athlete from a race:
- It is required to notify Coach Craig no later than 4pm the night prior so he can pull them from the run order.
- Notify the race organizers via the Pull sheet located on the region page (ie – if a CR3 race, goto CR3 website, etc.)
- This is also the process to request a refund, but it needs to be done the night prior.
Thanks all, let’s have a great week!!
- Parent transport to have your athlete to Hickory between 3-3:20pm if possible, as inspection comes up quick around 3:30pm.
- We rely on our amazing GTSC parents to host this race!! THANK YOU for signing up under ASSIGNMENTS to volunteer for one of our many spots!
- We will send out the description for each Assignment and information needed accordingly to ensure all are set!
- The race starts promptly at 4pm, with all volunteers in place by 3:45pm!
It was exciting to see 110 GTSC racers yesterday for our first race at Hickory!
A big thank you to our volunteers – the race wouldn’t happen without you. See you next Sunday for our first slalom race!
Coach Renee