Who's on the "Dream Team"??

Nobody knows who has been named to the "Dream Team" (word has it they will make their grand entrance by parachute at Sugar Bowl tonight), but the Fighting Marmot can confidently report today that SBA Head of School Tracy Keller will once again don her Dartmouth speed suit for the Sugar Bowl Ski Team Foundation's annual Silver Belt Calcutta races tomorrow.

Noted ski-racing handicapper Jim Harleen of San Francisco contributed the following highly entertaining "2013 Silver Belt Handicap and Tip Shot," which is duplicated below in its entirety (and entirely unedited for your reading pleasure). Thanks, Jim, and good luck to all the Silver Belt racers!

TEAM #1: JEFF HAMILTON, CAPTAIN - The “Silver Bullet” says he’s serious this year. No messing around. The gloves, or mittens, are coming off. Yep, that can mean only one thing: Captain Jeff Hamilton is dusting off “The Tuck,” not seen since 1984, for this year’s Silver Belt! Olympian and first man to ski over 150 mph, Hamilton is a fearless speed merchant tired of fellow competitor’s “Hey Hammy, straight-line Nob Today?” taunts reflecting rumors he may be north of 40 now. He says to any doubters, “The Bullet is back, fit, and ready for a Buckle!” Teammates, Milt “Freight Train” Holstrom, Gladys Weidt aka Yesican Arc (an alumni of the Bolshevik National Team and the University of New Mexico), the “Fresh Prince” himself, Dashiell Judd, Lucie “Dead-Eye” James, and Head Nordic Coach Jeff Schloss (doing the uphill honors) make this a low risk proposition. Odds: 3-1 

TEAM #2: TAMARA MCKINNEY, CAPTAIN - She is the greatest female ski racer in US history. Yes, even better than teen phenom, Mikaela Shiffrin, and what finer venue to prove it once and for all than the Silver Belt Calcutta! Tamara McKinney won so often she climbed the World Cup podium like a stairmaster and now plans on taking home a Silver Buckle to go with all her World Cup hardware. Her team is poised to make it a double celebration with Tim “Gordie’s Father” Critz Devin “The Yammer Hammer” Gill, Eleanore “The BB” Hamilton, Andrew “Pliny” Elder and uphill ripper Skyler Mullings make up the “pitch” perfect choir. This team’s a diamond in the rough. Odds: 5-1 

TEAM #3: KRISTEN CLARK, CAPTAIN - Kristen “The Colonel” Clark is back and ready to once again fry up some male egos in her special blend of seven herbs and spices…..The former US Ski Team super star and World Cup downhill winner loves nothing more than watching former USST male teammates sprout feathers as she chicks them in yet another Silver Belt. When asked about this, the ever shy and modest Clark just said, ”dipping sauce, anyone?” Her team looks particularly strong this year with, uh oh, is this true!?!?…. Oh, God, please tell me there are two people named Dan Keller who ski at Sugar Bowl. Otherwise this could be Assistant Sugar Bowl Patrol Director, Dan Keller, (husband of Tracy), who’s entered in this year’s race! (If so, Zaloga, get a meat wagon ready at gate 4, which is where Mr. Keller’s ski racer fantasies historically end. Badly.) You’d think that with a Masters in engineering from Berkeley he’d be smarter than this…. Please Lord, just no compound fractures this time……Fortunately, this team also has Chummy Prestowitz who says he can keep up with his daughters down Nob Hill and the dynamic duo of Lily Rose Longton and Harrison Marshall who are two of the finest skiers the SBST has ever produced. Add in “Thunderbolt” Sam Zabell and you have a money team. Odds: 4-1 

TEAM #4: DARON RAHLVES, CAPTAIN - He’s the greatest downhiller in US History, winner of the Hahnenkamm, Olympian, fearless Big Mountain Movie Star, the Fort Knox of Silver Belt Buckles, a man so nice I can’t think of a single bad thing that could be said of him. I know you think I am talking about Tim Fitzpatrick! Understandable, but no, I’m talking about the twins’ father, Daron Rahlves! And believe you me, his entire Hall of Fame career has been pointing to this very race. He’d give it all back, the fame, the fortune, everything! for just one more Silver Buckle….and short of some one driving nails through his skis, you can start etching his name on that buckle right now! He has AAA rated wingmen in Mike “Ready Mix” Rodarte, Maggy “East Burke” Mulhern, Cody “Deep Freeze” Winters, Grace “Velvet” Hammarskjold with Danielle “Skip the Klister” Nivinski doing the uphill racing. Bidders are going to love this team. L…O….V…E…THEM!! Odds: 2-1 

TEAM #5: TRACY KELLER, CAPTAIN - The years of clearing gates have put so many holes in the famous Dartmouth speed suit that when Tracy Keller slips into it, she’s the spitting image of Jennifer Lopez strutting her stuff at the People’s Choice Awards. Backing her up are Mark Palamaras, Brandon “The Ravin’” Craven, “Sweet” Georgie Sullivan, “Yosemite” Sam Ferguson and Martin “Yes, I know it was Elaine on Seinfeld’s Last Name” Benes. I know what savvy handicappers like Phil Hammarskjold are thinking, “Keller’s knees? What’s the status?” Truth is, when she’s in the starting gate and hears, Racer Ready, 5…4…3… she’s the same old Wilson with smoke pouring from her ears, flames firing from the nostrils, stomping her skis, whanging her poles together while chanting “Kill, Kill, Kill!” Believe me, the knees could be fused and locked straight and it wouldn’t matter a whit. Come race day, she’ll be ready. Could this be her year for a buckle? I say YES!!! Team #3 is a “Best Bet” for a podium. Odds: 2-1. Prop bets have Keller at even money for a Buckle. 

TEAM #6: TONI STANDTEINER, CAPTAIN - Former US Ski Teamer, NCAA Champion, Toni “The Anvil” Standteiner flosses with barbwire, wears homemade squirrel pelt long johns and moves mounds of red hot forge coals barehanded…OK, we all know he’s tough, and was fast….but what is he doing to make up for the ravages of time and to create some speed for the Silver Belt? According to his wife, Jennifer: Total Body Hair Removal……using duct tape, forge tongs and left over roofing tar. He says it makes him not just feel fast, but, well, sexy fast. When last seen, he was hanging his speed suit back up in the closet….Uh, oh. Parent teammate Brendan “The Convertible” Dyson is tanned, rested and ready! Star skier, Katharina Golik is on the team diet of free range yak burgers seasoned with metal shavings and Sno-Melt (so you know she’s ready!) and there is the Batman and Robin combo of Addi MacCracken and Michael “Mini” Cooper ready to carry the load should Toni get arrested. Taking on the uphill duties is Katrin Larusson, who is a powerhouse Nordic athlete. This Standteiner team has cashed in more often than any other in the history of the Silver Belt! Odds: 4-1 (Standteiner shows up wearing only a jock strap and Bowie Knife? 2-1!) 

TEAM #7: BILLY “BAROO” HUDSON, CAPTAIN - Rumors that he actually was a US National Champion, World Cup and Olympic skier with a book, “Right on the Edge of Crazy” written about him are, by current observations, very unlikely, but being verified. Whatever the truth, nothing says SILVER BELT! like when Billy “Baroo” Hudson dusts off the 215 Hexcel Swallow Tails , waterproofs the Henke 2 buckles and straps down the chin strap of his world cup leather helmet! Hasn’t skied much of late (had to ask big brother, Jim, “Hey, how do I get to the “Christmas Light” chair?), but he says this is his year. With Bill “Soon to be Silver Belt Legend” Veghte, Cheslsea “Beware of the Dark Horse” Boone, Christina “100” Watridge and Austin “Powers” Peña, the team is looking very, very competitive. But the ultimate success of Team Baroo all comes down to the guy on the skinny skis. Peter Carroll crushes it, this team cashes it. Odds: 5-1 

TEAM #8: KATE KREHBEIL, CAPTAIN - Google the words “Kick Ass” and what’s the first search result that comes up? “Kate Krehbeil’s US Ski Team Bio, that’s what! The former US Ski Teamer has lost zero, nada, nil, nuttin in retirement and, in fact, may be faster than ever. And she’s got Jimmy “Juice Man” Schaffner laying down so much Hi-Fluro their skis could be hovering 2” off the snow by race day. Backed up by the great Dan “Willie” Loman this team should be an easy sell job for auctioneer Jim Hudson. Add in the jet fuel combo of David Niehaus and Luke “How Could I Not be a Skier with a Last Name Like” Winters and Casey “Jones” Jobe providing the Nordic power and you have an almost sure bet. Odds: 3-1 

TEAM #9: THE DREAM TEAM 

Grand Entrance by Parachute 8:30 PM Saturday Night 

Is it Graupel? Hail? Snow? Rime?

"Graupel" has been the word of the week on campus this week. 

Since spell check on Blogger doesn't even recognize it, you might not, either (but it is in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary - click HERE). 

Donner Summit has seen it all lately: snow, graupel, rain, probably even rime. In Monday's All School Meeting, Head of School Tracy Keller had advisory groups conduct smart phone and iPad-assisted Web searches to learn about and articulate before their peers the properties of the various kinds of precipitation we see from our campus at the base of Sugar Bowl Ski Resort. The following is an iPhone photo essay from the meeting. 

Dodgeball with Daron Rahlves

Daron Rahlves stopped in at All School Meeting Friday to bring the trophy home for SBA Dodgeball teammates Devin Gill, Chuck Klein, Riley Plant, and Augie DeRyk. The team recently won a tournament to support High Fives Foundation (Click HERE to learn more about High Fives). Go Fighting Marmots!

Sugar Snow at Sugar Bowl

Head of School Tracy Keller brings a little Vermont culture to All School Meeting

What Motivates/Inspires Us

Leading All School Meeting Monday, Head of School Tracy Keller asked students and faculty to contemplate what motivates or inspires each of us. Here is what we said...

Silverbelt Preview, Courtesy of SBA TV

All School Meeting Community Values Skits

Turn up your volume as high as it will go and enjoy these student-led short skits showing how NOT to interact on campus.

Fall Festival Fights Cancer

SBA Senior Cassidy Cichowicz

Today's kick-off event for fall Spirit Week featured a face-painting advisory challenge.


The sophomore advisory group won the challenge by painting Pieter Weemaes in tiger face and banding tufts of his hair together to give him pointy pigtails/ears.


Spirit Week - set up by Student Council this year as a fund-raiser to fight cancer - continues tomorrow with "Opposite Day," followed by "Color Day" on Wednesday, "Crazy Day" on Thursday, and "American Day" on Friday.


The week culminates with a costume dinner party Monday, Oct. 31 from 5-7 p.m. at Village Hall, replete with bobbing for apples, pumpkin carving, and pie throwing.


Students are purchasing raffle tickets at $1 apiece. Their tickets earn them a chance to throw a pie at some brave campus volunteers, including Head of School Tracy Keller and Student Council President Dylan Murtha. 


All proceeds from raffle ticket sales will be donated to the American Cancer Society.


Enjoy the slide show!

SBA Student/Athletes Take Charge of Pledge Makeover

Pilar Alvarez, Luke Rodarte, and Colter Fellows sign
the SBA Student/Athlete Pledge

Charged with a mission from Head of School Tracy Keller, a small volunteer committee of student/athletes from each grade level began meeting last spring to reevaluate and rewrite SBA's Student/Athlete Pledge. 


The pledge, said Keller, had become outdated and "seemed distant, adultish, and hard to understand.


"We basically started from scratch and brainstormed a list of things that are important to our community and important to remember as SBA students.  


"A few areas the kids thought of that I never would have included are the fact that it was a privilege to attend SBA and that it’s an opportunity to always keep in perspective.  


"We had some really insightful conversations as a small group and then presented a first draft (written mainly by Steven Tetrault and Cassidy Cichowicz) to the whole school during an all school meeting.


"The committee took feedback and made a few alterations to the pledge, and it was ultimately reviewed by staff before being published."


The final product, signed by all SBA student/athletes at a Village Hill formal dinner and pledge ceremony last week, can be seen below. 

Finally, kudos and many thanks from the entire SBA community to Chef Scott for a wonderful dinner!

Orientation 2011, Day 1

Fighting Marmot family,


Weary but exhilarated from today's adventures - and still burning fuel from the campire smorefest that concluded the day's athletic and advisory activities - the faculty and student/athletes of SBA are settling into our cabins for the night at the Community of the Great Comission.


Hope you enjoy some highlights from Day 1 of SBA Orientation 2011...


• The majority of the SBA student/athletes elected a 10-mile mountain bike ride through manzanita and live oak stands on the hard-packed Forest Hill Divide Trail, which divides the North Fork of the American River from the Middle Fork.


• Nordic Coaches Jeff Schloss and Martin Benes along with faculty member Steve Ascher and Head of School Tracy Keller led a small group of road bikers on a 28-mile ride. The most ambitious of the bunch, including Joe Piercy, Alec Wiltz, Bria Riggs, and Schloss rode 49 miles, down to the middle fork of the American River to Ralston Reservoir, where they enjoyed some swim time.


From what I understand of the area (thanks to Coach Schloss),
these giant forks of the American River are where gold was discovered, starting the California gold rush, making our 2011 orientation site the epicenter of the first big environmental fight in the U.S.


Gold miners came into conflict with the farmers in the area by damming the creeks and using the dammed water to conduct hydraulic blasting of the surrounding hillside.


• Steve Ascher pointed out a spectacular iridium flare from a satellite passing overhead, but most of the student/athlete population was too deep into smores to take notice.


Day 2 features field day events!


-Marmot Man, powered by Blogpress and iPhone

Gearing Up!

As you gear up for the start of school, take another look back on 2010-2011...

Celebration Time!

SBA Class of 2011 Senior Gift

Friday Night's Celebration of Achievement was an opportunity for the SBA community to reflect on the many and varied contributions of the Fighting Marmot students, parents, and staff to the life of the school this year. 


With the unveiling of the new campus plan, it was also a time to see what lies ahead.


The 2010-2011 school year was  a year of growth - in staff and students - and, with facilities that we have outgrown now being readied to be moved off the mountain, the Celebration of Achievement effectively marked the transition point from old campus to new.


The "Head's Recognition" board mounted on the wall in the foyer paid tribute to each individual's contributions to the greater school community throughout the school year. Enjoy the Picasa slide show...

Hopes and High Fives

Matt Hourigan

Matt Hourigan's hope upon enrolling in Sugar Bowl Academy this year: put on 25 pounds (presumably mostly in muscle) before next year.


Mission accomplished? You'll have to ask him in the fall, but we all know he eats...a lot. And now we understand why! 


At the final All School Meeting of the 2010-2011 school year, Head of School Tracy Keller shared what students had contributed to a "string of hopes" around an orientation campfire gathering at Yosemite National Park back in September. 


The All School Meeting was an opportunity to reflect on the passing of another school year into blissful summer, and to end the academic year on a truly high note. 


Following Keller's speech, SBA Student Council presented a check from the student body in the amount of $600 to the High Fives Foundation - money raised throughout the course of the school year on "hats and sweats" days - and High Fives reciprocated with some treats for the 10th Grade Winter Term advisory, which won the inter-advisory fund-raising competition for High Fives. 


Enjoy the film of our last All School Meeting of the 2010-2011 school year! 

"a true embodiment of our school's mission"

Building on their bike's for Africa initiative from the fall, SBA's Older Boys' Advisory is now helping peddle the SBA Annual Fund.


The advisory group has presented at All School Meeting a plan to start a new tradition on the SBA campus - an annual Tahoe Lake Century fundraiser to benefit the school. 


"I am excited to help plan this new initiative for Sugar bowl Academy," said Andy Knox, Older Boys' Advisor. "I can see this becoming a staple in the spring term for years to come. It is a true embodiment of our school's mission of mind, body and spirit."


Students and staff have signed up to peddle one or more legs of the circuit ride, which will begin and end at the SBA campus on May 24th (with May 26th being the designated rain day). 


The total distance of the ride is about 100 miles, with individual legs averaging between 11 and 23 miles. The advisory group's PowerPoint presentation to the school (movie below) included topography maps of the various legs to help each rider decide which leg he or she felt most comfortable peddling. 

Students and staff are currently soliciting sponsors. Annual fund money helps cover the school's operating expenses. 

Want to ride? Here's a Pledge Form

“This is a wonderful way for the SBA student body to become actively engaged in our annual fundraising efforts while enjoying the beauty of the Lake Tahoe area," said Head of School Tracy Keller. 


Create some buzz about this exciting event by Tweeting about it! Include the hashtag #sbabikelaketahoe and the URL link http://tinyurl.com/5t47u87.

667 Inches...and Counting

The snow statistics for Sugar Bowl this season are staggering: 667 inches of accumulation ... and counting (with 217 of those inches falling in March alone).

Advisory groups were asked by Head of School Tracy Keller at Tuesday's All School Meeting to reflect on a remarkable skiing winter... in haiku.

What emerged were some strong feelings about snow shoveling details on campus, mixed with a good dose of humor. 

Below the embedded YouTube video you will find each advisory group's haiku contribution. Please take a moment to vote for the best haiku (quality over quantity!) in the sidebar poll. Bragging rights are at stake!

10th Grade Winter Term:

There is so much snow.
Snow falling by the tons.
I hate shoveling.
11th and 12th Boys

Record breaking snow
Many epic powder days
I love shoveling.
9th Grade Full Year:

Classrooms underground.
The winter will never end.
Fluff under our skis. 
8th and 9th Grade Winter Term:

Shoveling snow stinks.
Lots of successful racing
On Donner Summit.
10th Grade Full Year:

Precipitation
We are stuck on the summit,
But there is powder.
11th and 12th Girls:

Snow, snow, snow, snow, snow.

Oh, how this life sure is crazy!

We do love the snow.

***

Snowmen everywhere.

They sure are cute in their scarves.

Oh no, there he goes!