The 2009/2010 ski season came finally to an end late May with the last trip to Bear Valley. We started the weekend by getting the equipments (snow shoes, beacons...) to MAS at Bear Valley Village.
On Sunday not so early morning, we hiked up Super Cub, Spring Gap to the top of Porridge bowl, where the kids warmed up on the cornice.
We then, dropped Cliff Run to reach Mickey's meadow.
Since the snow was getting too wet on that side of the mountain, we made some fun runs from the top of Snoopy Dog hill.
The video was shot with an iPod nano and edited with Final Cup Pro. Enjoy.
Lucas played 4 games 8v8 with his team from the Breakers during the weekend. It was only the second time that they played 8v8. They won one game and lost 3 (2 of them by only one goal).
The dream team
By the end of the game, all the players come to thanks the referees.
For the last trip at Bear Valley, we hiked up to the top of the ski resort with snow shoes. It took us about 1 hour. Benoit and Lucas warmed up by jumping the cornice. We finished up the day by a few runs of Snoopy hill.
Lucas is getting ready. The snow shoe ended up too large for him, so he hiked up with his ski boots. Not a problem, since the snow was icy enough.
View to the Bear Valley lodge
Lucas off the cornice. They did not jump from the highest point because of the risk that the cornice will collapse!
Digital photography has been increasingly popular in the last decade or so. Nevertheless, the time has come, for me, to remove the dust from my 40 years old mom's camera and go shooting. It was quite an experience!
Possibly one of my best picture in a long time.
Lucas, Claire and Benoit posing in front of an old building.
Matt Geenlee, Corey Sciotto, James Young and Shamus have step up their game with this back flip session on Blue Jay (Bear Valley). A fairly steep kicker was built the day before that video was shot. You'll see Matt, Corey, James and Shamus (snowboard) landing their first ever back flip (barrel roll). The video also feature a "Bail" sequence with the 1 and 1/2 flip from Corey, the not quite a flip by James, 360 attempt by Lucas (7 years) and Benoit big air crash...
4 feet of powder for the opening day of the 2009/2010 season at Bear Valley. Jake Casey, Benoit Rouchy, Lucas Rouchy, Tyler Doyle, Lance Doyle, Matt Greenlee, Corey Sciotto, Travis Jeitz and others show their skills on natural and man made features. Not to be miss is the front flip tentative by Matt Greenlee during his warm up run.
Lucas has been playing with the Red Fireballs team for a few months now. They play the division 4, less than 8 years old.
Check what Ronen, their coach, had to say about the players.
Aidan: Our fearless goalie of many quarters, you stopped almost every attempt to score against us. I enjoyed your good sense of humor in our practice and games. Your goal earlier in the season set the standard for what the other kids termed a giant kick.
Adrien: If any opponent underestimated you, they got a nasty surprise. You really understand the tactical nature of the game, one of the first to get why clearing the ball will best stop a dangerous breakaway. And those kicks, wow. You have a dangerous leg.
Anthony: A fast player with a good understanding of the flow of the game. I'm grateful for your positive influence on the other guys. You were always very focused and dedicated in practice, and upbeat during the games.
Colby: When you got the ball there was no taking it away from you. Your energy and ability to dribble fast helped the team switch rapidly from defense to offense. Many times you dribbled up, pressed against the line by the other team, but still kept our attack in play.
Dalvin: A hard working player, I could depend on you to fill a position with little notice and know that you'd be focused when you stepped on the field. As a goalie you stood tall through waves of attacks, and as a defensive player you never lost your cool, heading off attackers and slowing down breakaways.
Ethan: Serious, dependable, and skilled, I often used you at the tip of our offense. I could trust you to cut your way through our opponents, easing up pressure on our defense even in hard fought games. And after a while we discovered that under all that seriousness there's a very funny guy, too.
Garrett: A strong, fast player with an ability to draw a mass of defenders to you, clearing up spaces for your teammates to operate in. You assisted several goals in just that way. In practice you helped keep our time light-hearted without ever holding back on effort.
Hamish: When we started you seemed a bit timid fighting other kids for a ball, but you've turned into a model of tenacity. I knew that if I needed a tough fullback you where my guy. As your coach it was a pleasure to see how much you improved from one game to the next.
Kienan: A good dribbler with a great awareness of his surrounding, you cooked up some of the nicest passes we had in our games. In good games and in hard ones, you were always a great guy and supportive member of the team.
Lucas: A great midfielder, I could count on you to bring together our attacks, and to take dangerous kicks at our opponents' goal. Your skill and perseverance helped set a good example to the rest of the team of how to keep pressing ahead no matter the score.
Teilo: An energetic player, willing to invest any amount of effort needed to protect your goalie, then quickly turn the direction of the attack in our favor. Your ability to coordinate the forwards during attacks was excellent. You helped turn us into an actual team, with good words and support for your teammates.
Zach: What a noticeable change you had. You started out unfocused and ended up fighting for each ball, kicking well, executing good passes and sending great throw-ins from the sides. I'm very impressed with the effort you put into becoming a better soccer player.
