Merry Christmas! - St Moritz

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!!

I simply cannot properly express how much I love this time of year. I love the festive feeling in the air, the time with family, the food, and the general good cheer all around. It’s even snowing here in Chilliwack today, a true white and Canadian Christmas. It is because of my love for the Holidays that the final races before Christmas are my favourite. I’m lucky enough that I will be home for Christmas and New Year’s! (In our world it’s a rare for a North American to be home at all during the Holidays) I will be in Chilliwack, Victoria and (powder) skiing in the mountains over the holidays.

Since Lake Louise we have been in St. Moritz. I always loving being in St.Moritz because I have a sense of home and belonging there. Many of you know Peter Bassin (my coach growing up), well he grew up in the village next to St. Moritz. This has always made me feel some kinship with the valley and a strong pull to my roots as a ski racer. Normally I get to Madulain to visit Peter’s Aunt, but I sadly didn’t get there this year. I didn’t want to show up with my big arm…(explanation to follow)..and during the race week things just got going in a hurry.

So, about the big arm. Well, the night after the SG in Lake Louise I up scratching my arm. Assuming it was an allergic reaction to the fish I’d eaten the night before I didn’t think much of it. I simply took lots of Benadryl and iced down my arm as it started to swell. Unfortunately, the arm simply continued to swell more and more…to the point that I ended up in the hospital in St. Mortiz Wednesday evening. As it turned out my arm somehow got a bacteria in it (with no cuts this was extremely bizarre…). So, I was on a high dose of Antibiotics and after a few days the swelling started to come down. I had some side effects to the drugs, but otherwise I was ok! I was thankful I didn’t need to race that week.

The start of the season has been a challenging one, with no summer training, crashing in Lake Louise, a bizarre infection in my arm, and more than enough snow for us all to say enough! Still, I’m feeling extremely strong on my skis and I’m working towards that level where my feeling and creativity can come out in my skiing. We’ve gotten three speed races in so far and we’ve had two cancelled. I’m feeling strong on my skis and my training runs and splits show the podium potential is still there! I’ll now have to hold my excitement in for a while since I won’t be racing again until later in January…hard to do when I’m just itching to go!

For now, I’m going to enjoy this break since I’ve been on the road nearly the whole time since September 15th. Turkey, gravy, cinnamon buns, and powder skiing here I come!!!!

As for the painting on E-bay, the painting raised over $500 for Right to Play and is going to an avid ski racing fan from Ontario! Thanks to everyone who bid!

Best Wishes to you all this season and throughout the New Year.

I’ll keep in touch!

With Smiles,
Kelly







Our coach Brett was ready to play hockey! The coaches has some exciting scrimmages happening on the beautiful outdoor rinks in St. Mortiz. Us girls got out one afternoon on our skates as well – we had so much fun!



















Britt Janyk held Canada up in the Super G with an 8th place finish. Emily Brydon, Larisa Yurkiw and I were DNF’s while Sherry and Emile failed to make the top 30. Emily and Larisa both had strong results the day earlier in the Super Combined – Emilie Desforges was a DNF in that race.

Lake Louise 2008

Hello Everyone,

The first races are now finished and I’m once again back in the airport leaving for Europe. I certainly was excited and enjoyed racing in Lake Louise once again. I simply love to race in Canada – there’s nothing like it.

Looking back on the weekend I’m happy with the solid performances and the clear indicators that I’m getting closer to the podium more consistently. With the challenges heading into the week of; no summer training; changing of boots a week and a half before the race; adverse weather conditions; and finally crashing on the first training run I certainly had a great opportunity to practice being mentally tough. My goal heading into this season was to do just that, to strengthen my resolve and to learn how to overcome challenges, no matter how big. I left the weekend knowing I was extremely fast in sections and that my SG is back! I really wanted a podium this Sunday and came just short of that. After the race I saw the splits and I was leading coming onto the flats. Unfortunately I made a few errors in line and got pushed into the soft snow a bit…costly on the flats. However, I was happy with how I raced, charged, and that I can still turn my skis! I was also excited to see Emily, Britt, and myself have such strong finishes in the first weekend of racing. We’re all in the mix which makes it loads of fun. Larisa Yurkiw also had her first ever top 30 result in the DH with a tie for 29th! We might have a new Speed Queen in the midst!!!

If you’re curious and want to check out my crash from the first training run I’ve attached the You Tube link for the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Rpl2MsfX5I

On a side note, be sure to check out my website, there are some new updates with videos, speed queens t-shirt links, schedules, etc, etc.

Take Care Everyone!

Kelly

Auction for Right to Play

Looking for a Last Minute Christmas Gift?....

On December 5th, at noon sharp, the online auction for this painting done by Rossland artist Stephanie Gauvin will officially open. I have attach images of the painting…although I swear nothing is better than seeing it in real life. 100% of the money raised from the auction will go to Right to Play.

What You Need to Know:

- Auction opens December 5th at Noon
- Link: www.ebay.com/righttoplay
- This is a Right to Play Holiday campaign, so there will be other items up for bid
- Each item will have its own individual Page
- Auction will be open for 10 days
- If you win the item, it will be shipped to you before Christmas
- Painting Dimensions are: 24" in height and 30" in length
- Feel free to learn more about the artist at: http://www.artiststephaniegauvin.com/
- Bids over 1 million dollars will include a free ski day with me and a free Kelly VanderBeek go to Joe Mug!! :)….

The image is of me racing at the Whistler World Cup in February 2008.

Let’s join together and help raise money for Right to Play!!!! To learn more about this wonderful organization please visit: http://www.righttoplay.ca/.

Please pass along this e-mail to anyone who may be interested!

Best Wishes,

Kelly

Heading to Lake Louise

The season is about to begin! The world is showing up in Canada, looking for snow and rearing to go. (Yes, that rhymed…corny I knowJ) The men’s races in Lake Louise are under way and we’re cheering loudly as we await our turn. I’m currently in Panorama finishing off our final training block before the race season kicks off next week.

Since leaving home on November 5th we’ve been busy with fitness testing in Calgary, meetings, 5 days in Nakiska, 5 days in Lake Louise, and now Panorama. It’s been a lot of moving around as we tried to make the best of what little snow was available. Since arriving in Panorama though we’ve had some great SG and even DH training. The whole CPAST (our paralympic counterparts) team was also here training earlier this week. I was completely blown away by their abilities and willingly kicked myself in the butt – if they can ski that well I’d better get in gear!

As other world cup teams arrived in Panorama for training we got a chance to see a glimpse of how we stacked up against other countries. As a whole, we are all skiing stronger, faster, and there is a much smaller margin of error allowable if you want to be in the mix! Britt has been extremely fast, and consistently fast – usually leading the charge out of all the countries. Another girl who’s stepped up this last week was Larisa Yurkiw (a fellow Ontario racer). I was strong and right in there, but it usually took me a few runs to get in there. (Oddly my GS was my fastest out of the block!) I’ve made a move to a new model in the Lange boot – I’m excited about the change and I’m learning this boots’ limits as I go. This boot has a higher end performance and I’m extremely fast when I get it!

I’m extremely excited about racing next week, and putting on a show for Canada!

There’s a lot happening this coming week so keep you’re eyes and ears open!

Many Smiles,

Kelly