Canadian Adaptive Snowsports - National Capital Division

Weekly Ski Summaries 2025

CADS Edelweiss 2025 Awards

Hello CADS Edelweiss community!

We had a wonderful end-of-season awards banquet Saturday evening! Thanks to all the Solid Gold dancers!
The primary goal of the banquet was of course to announce our 2025 awards, as well as to celebrate another great season of adaptive snowsports. A few folks were not able to make it, and I will be reaching out separately, shortly, to pay you a visit.
Without further ado, here are the CADS Edelweiss 2025 Awards.

Most Improved Junior – Amele Jones

Most Improved Senior – Matthew Oliver

Supervisors Choice –  Louis Poirier

Volunteer of the Year – John Demers

Junior Volunteer of the Year – Lily-Rose Dumulon

Outstanding Student Award – Michele Charette

Sitskier of the Year – Mackenzie Lalonde-Stiff

Gord Temple Memorial Shield – Jacob-Emmanuel Doyle, Laura Berger, Nicolas Gauthier

Rookie of the Year – Parker Aizenberg

Regards,
Randy

Review of Week Eight

Hi all,

Well, it is pretty hard to believe, but that is a wrap for our 2025 season. It all goes so fast.

We had a great last weekend. The snow was amazing both days, and overall there was a really positive vibe – lots of smiles, lots of people skiing together, and still lots of exploring and pushing the limits.

There is a bit of work behind getting the program running, and then just a bit to keep it going. We have amazing volunteers. The level of enjoyment, commitment, and genuine interest that I see in the volunteers through the fall and through our program is inspiring. The program runs so well because of you.

Many of our volunteers are also active with CADS beyond CADS Edelweiss. There are so many interesting things going on – national and international adaptive snowsport events, regional training to advance CADS certification and plan for the future, community days at local hills, equipment management, and more. If you are interested in getting involved, feel free to reach out. Glad to have a chat.

But the best part is of course our program participants. I know how much the program means to you – we can all see it in your faces, whether you are smiling, or a bit frustrated with how one day may be going. That is a sign of participation too! We love seeing the progress and determination, but also we just love seeing you all at the hill. I hope to see you back next year.

Please keep in mind your season passes at Edelweiss are good for the remainder of the season.

That leads me to my final thanks: Edelweiss is a wonderful host. We work all week long with the staff, and especially on the weekends. The love having us (so the tell me!!), and I know that they see us as a part of their community too. I’ll extend the recognition to Les Sommets, who make that corporate work easy!

The Mt Avila trip is Sunday March 16. If you have questions please reach out to: pierre.goulet2013(at)gmail(dot)com.

The Awards Banquet is Saturday, March 22 – another email to follow on that.

Keep your eyes open in the early fall for our pre-registration for 2025-26! Spread the word!

Thanks for another great season everyone.
Randy

Review of Week Seven

Hi all, 

Well, what a weekend! High drama! I hope everyone had a great St. Valentine’s Day, and a super Family Day.
Next weekend is our last program weekend! Hope to see everyone out! No lack of snow. Please take stock of your goals and achievements this year. We have seen lots of great collaboration, lots of learning, and lots of development, among participants and volunteers. Remember that the season does not end with our program, and we hope there may be opportunities to continue to enjoy the snow. Feel free to chat with the admin team and senior instructors if you’d like advice, guidance, or ideas for improvement / next steps.
I have several items today – apologies in advance.
This is your last chance to have a Di Rienzo sandwich with us at the hill! If you’d like to order one, please review the attached menu, let me know before end of day Wednesday Feb 19th. Provide  number, and how you would like it dressed. Sandwiches are $8 and you pay when you pick up.
Seeking Program Photos and Videos for end of year slideshow: Our end of year show will be crowd sourced! This means we need a hand getting some shots – on the slopes, in the lodge, hanging out, etc., from everyone, especially the Sunday gang. Please feel add to our shared folder and let me know if there are questions:
Tickets for our year-end Banquet are for sale on Snowline. All event details are there too. We’re having Greek food this year! The banquet is Saturday march 22, and tickets are on sale until Friday March 13, to give the caterer time to prepare. To buy tickets, long in to Snowline, go to the Events Calendar, on March 22, 2025, and click on the link. One person can order multiple items. Cash bar!
A reminder the banquet includes a silent auction. Please try to identify and bring items along to the hill next week, or let me know where to pick them up as soon as possible before the banquet. Fundraising letter attached.
The banquet also includes a wine raffle. Bring your bottles to the event and we’ll organize draws from there.
CADS Jackets are available to order! Orders must be submitted by 10 March – no late orders will be accepted. Please reach out to Jeff, at:  bouch1957 at gmail dot com, for details.
Finally, the CADS-NCD Annual Bus Trip to Mt. Avila is Sunday March 16. This is open to all CADS members in the National Capital Region. It is not part of regular programs. If you require supports, please network ahead of time to make arrangements. Set aside the date, and stay tuned for details!
Thanks for your patience!!! Have a great week.
Randy 

Review of Week Six

Hi all,

Week 6 is in the books! It was a great weekend weather-wise, and the snow was great.

Attached are two group photos – one for Saturday, one for Sunday. I know there were a few absences – we missed seeing you, but we know you were there is spirit!

Next weekend is Costume Weekend! See what you can dream up!

Next weekend is also Family Day weekend. Please be sure to let me know if you will be away from our CADS program.

A reminder the Banquet is Saturday, March 22. We are finalizing a few details, and should have tickets for sale on Snowline within the week.

We would be grateful for any silent auction items for the banquet. If there are folks in the community more broadly who receive these emails but are not active with the program, and still wish to offer something for the auction, let me know. We would be glad to receive items at the hill during the program, and I can also pick up. Feel free to reach out to me.

For the wine raffle, please bring your contributions along to the banquet. The more bottles, the more raffles, the more winners!

Would you like a CADS Jacket? Orders must be submitted by 10 March – no late orders will be accepted. Jackets are $300 and you pay for the jacket when it is picked up next Dec/Jan. The jacket style and colour selection remains the same as the current jackets: blue for instructors, and green for athletes.

Mens sizes range from XXS to XXL and ladies from size 4 to 16. Below is a link to the Karbon collection with a sizing chart. The jackets are from the PITA collection (click on the image of PITA on the opening page lower right photo). Pg 7 is the Ambassador jacket information and page 19 is the sizing chart. Please feel free to approach someone in our club at the hill and ask to test a size or two.

https://karbon.com/pages/catalogue-2024

We will also embroider the Program name on the lower back of the jacket, but only if requested.

Here is the information required for each jacket:

Name:
email:
mens or ladies:
size:
Program name to be embroidered on the lower back: yes or no

Thanks!! See you next week.
Randy 

—
If you do not want to be part of this group and receive emails: reply to an email from this group with the Subject line REMOVE ME.
If you want to be added to the Participants group and receive that group’s emails: reply to an email from this group with the Subject line ADD ME TO PARTICIPANTS.
-> our group administrator will make the changes as soon as possible.
—
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “CADS NCD Edelweiss Volunteers” group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cads-ncd-edelweiss-volunteers+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cads-ncd-edelweiss-volunteers/76ef1b24-7903-4675-8a3d-d08fce6e1078n%40googlegroups.com.

2 Attachments • Scanned by Gmail

Review of Week Five

Brrrrr!

I have finally thawed out.
Great work to all skiers and instructors for braving the weekend. We had lots of sun Saturday, but what a wind.
 
Next Weekend!!! February 8-9: Group Photo We will take group photos for each Saturday, and Sunday at 12:30 each day.
February 15-16: Costume day!
Saturday March 22: End of year Banquet! Please do what you can to identify an item to contribute to the silent auction item, and consider contributing a bottle of wine for the wine raffle. Tickets will be for sale soon.
Are you CADS-curious? CADS is a fantastic organization, and CADS Edelweiss is full of exceptional folks. We are always looking for volunteers to learn the ropes, and it’s a great time to plan your contributions for next season and beyond. There are opportunities to shadow and learn from the great people around us – program planning and scheduling; event planning; equipment and property maintenance; fundraising; coordination and outreach; and more.
For those of you learning CADS instructing skills, that step is central to the organization – thanks for that commitment. Please keep at it – we’ve seen lots of skills development this year, which is great for our club and our community.
See you next week!!
Randy 

Review of Week Four

We are half way there! Woot! (or, wah-wah…). Four weeks down, four more to go.

This past weekend was another great one. A cold start Saturday but the day turned out great, and Sunday did not warm up as much as they threatened. The snow was great all weekend, and I saw lots of happy athletes.
Some of you may know that CADS hosts a Spinal Cord Injury Ontario day at Edelweiss every year. This year’s edition takes place this coming Wednesday. This is a chance for people with injuries to come out and be introduced to adaptive snowsports. We have an amazing crew of volunteers who help out with this, from the CADS clubs across the National Capital region. Looks like a great day Wednesday with fresh snow. Have a great day!
Looking at the second half of our program, time to think of our next milestones:
Seeking Program Photos for end of year slideshow: We try to prepare a short video/slide show at the end of every year. This year the slide show will be prepared by Virgina, our fantastic Saturday admin. Photos will be crowd sourced! This means we need a hand getting some shorts – on the slopes, in the lodge, hanging out, etc., from everyone.
Virginia has created a shared folder. This should be pretty easy to access, and I would ask people to share photos here. If you do not know how to do this, let me know, and we can give you a hand.
A note on photos: these are for us only. I do not do social media or share photographs.
February 8-9: Group Photo Weekend! We will take group photos for each Saturday, and Sunday, on Feb 8 and 9. In order to make this happen, I will ask a special favour: I would like to take these photos at 12:30 each day. This means I would like to ask anyone who comes for half a day to try to stay a bit late/arrive a bit early on these days. These are great photos, and I hope everyone can make it!
February 15-16: Costume day!  See what you can dream up!
Saturday March 22: End of year Banquet!
The CADS Edelweiss Banquet will take place the evening of Saturday March 22, 2025 at Ron Kolbus Centre, Britannia, Ottawa. Mark it in your calendars!
Dinner, dancing, drinks, a silent auction, wine auction, and a great setting. Tickets will be available for purchase on Snowline in the next two weeks or so, once we nail down some details.
Seeking Banquet Silent Auction items: We would be glad for any efforts to identify silent auction items you might be able to identify from services or product suppliers. Please let me know before the banquet, as we need to prepare the auction materials at least two weeks in advance. Any objects/gift cards/etc., can arrive on the day of, but we need to prepare the auction materials in advance. In order to support your efforts, I have attached a covering letter here. We will have some printed versions at the desk next week.
Seeking Banquet Wine Raffle Contributions: Please consider donating a bottle of wine (or more!) to the raffle table. No home made wine please. Raffle tickets will be sold for 1 ticket $5; 3 tickets  $10; and arms length $20. If we have enough donations, we may be able to hold three raffles! Or maybe four! The more wine donations, the better the odds!

Review of Week Three

Hi all,

Classic regional weather! Close to 0 and warm Saturday (but still snowing!), and frigid Sunday. Great results both days! It was a really great weekend.
We have to be patient with the crowds – the lodge was super busy, as were the hills. That said, I felt this weekend to be much calmer on the hills than the first weekends this year. Edelweiss has a great mix of skiers and ski clubs.
That’s all for this week! Short and sweet.
Take care and see you on the weekend.
Randy

Review of Week Two

Hi all! 

A very pleasant week 2 is in the books!
It has been busy on the hill. Please take the time as much as possible to scan around, and plan your runs. We can’t see everything, but there is no rush to get down the hill, and we can take a moment to scan around, think about our next moves, and enjoy the setting at the same time.
A few housekeeping notes:
– Please do not lean skis against the lodge, in particular that part of the “new” lodge that faces our CADS shack. The siding is not super durable, and I would be grateful if folks could use the ski stands. Our excellent CADS Shack team have built a bit of a ski stand, and we may be able to have a bigger ski stand set up. We’ll see what we can do.
– Photos and media: CADS Edelweiss does not do social media. Most of us have phones, and these are great ways to share accomplishments with family, or to review a lesson. I would simply ask that any visual media be made and shared within an immediate network.
– Communication: I’m very glad for volunteers and participants to exchange contacts, and to get to know one another. We defer to groups to make some decisions together as a team – no breaks, or a few breaks but skiing a bit into lunch, etc. Please be sure to contact me however if there is a change in your schedule. We have many schedules to juggle, so it’s important to keep that info centralized so we can balance the needs of the whole program.
– Slide show: In the past we have had a slide show during the year end banquet. In order for this to happen, I would need someone to come forward who can take this in hand. This takes a bit of planning and skill, including starting to take and collect photos and video now. We’re not talking Martin Scorsese here! Drop me a line!
– Banquet: speaking of which, the CADS Edelweiss year-end banquet will be Saturday March 22. We’ll have tickets up for purchase soon. Mark your calendars! Dinner, DJ, silent auction, and good times! Let me know if you want to help out.
– Get involved! I spoke up a few years ago and Jeff never let me forget it. 🙂 CADS is a great organization and benefits from all kinds of skills. You could coordinate the program, organize the banquet, manage the scheduling of the Sat or Sun program, support various admin tasks, fundraise, or bring your tinkering interests to the fantastic CADS Shack. You don’t have to have CADS certifications, be an instructor, or even be able to ski. The CADS Edelweiss team will start targeting some discussions as we look at legacy planning. Feel free to give me a call any time if you want to learn a bit more about what would be expected.
– Training: For those who are curious about training, please don’t hesitate to speak to CADS instructors. We may have the opportunity to fit in some introductory sessions on weekends. Wednesday evenings are great opportunities to learn with senior instructors and others.
That’s all! Have a great week.
Randy

Review of Week One

Hi all, 

What a great start to the program! It was a bit cold this weekend but the snow was great. Not all runs are open, and Saturday was especially busy on the hill. I had the chance to ski on the new beginner/magic carpet hill – it is a great addition from the perspective of our club – a longer, wider run with a gentle slope gives skiers a bit more time and space to practice.
I want to thank everyone for your patience, especially Sunday morning. We had quite a number of last minute cancellations, and this means that we had to adjust the pairings on-the-spot. I think everything worked out pretty well, and thanks to the instructors and admin staff for the help. Please bear with us when this occurs – we try to find the best solutions.
Reach out to me if as soon as you think or know you will be unable to make your scheduled time. But overall, lessons started on time, and people seem to have had a great start to the year.
The ski patrol did come to our support this weekend, with one injury to a volunteer. A collision occurred due to a non-CADS guest at the hill. We can’t predict or manage for all events. Please do your best to be cautious and considerate of other skiers – which is what I saw from our folks. Thanks to the patrol for their support.
With the cancellations, we were able to have some volunteer skills training. This is a good outcome and use of our time, and I was glad to see this happen.
Volunteers, please keep in mind the Wednesday evening training sessions. You can sign up for these sessions on Snowline. Anyone wishing to plan for CADS Level 1 or 2 certification can also sign up for these on Snowline. We would be glad to answer any questions people may have on training and certification.
Finally, the police were lurking in several areas this weekend. Please be sure to drive safely.
That’s all for tonight! Have a great week, and see you on the weekend.
Randy
Wakefield weather, January 14-19:
Screenshot 2025-01-06 at 8.32.50 PM.png