Rocky Valley Snowsports have announced a new cross country ski tipping series for 2008. You can buy a virtual team of five athletes from a ranking list and follow their progress throughout the season. Skiers accumulate points throughout the winter in eight selected races. Prizes are awarded to the top three tipsters in the series. More information is available via the following downloadable documents: Information Sheet - Entry Form

 Update # 3 - Final Wrap-Up

The ROCKY VALLEY TIPPING COMPETITION IS OVER!!

Congratulations to Nicola Shortis! Her team 'The Red Zone' consisting of Andrew Mock, Nick Grimmer, Neil vdp, Lescinska Fackerell and Georgia Merrit ended up winning by a large margin of 170 points! Esthers team of Red Donkey's clawed back a few points but had to settle for second in the end. Judy Bottomly ended up in third overall making the podium full of Bottomly's and Bottomly associations. I could've won if it weren't for that family!

Here is the overall podium and prizes generously donated by Rocky Valley Bikes and Snowsports:

1st. Nicola Shortis $80 Gift voucher
2nd. Esther Bottomley $60 Gift voucher
3rd. Judy Bottomley $40 Gift voucher

The biggest mover of the final weekend was Kate Spiller's team 'Vandy Floss', who slipped down 14 places. No prizes for guessing two skiers who failed to score points for her in the final weekend...

Despite scoring the most points on the final stage Nick Grimmer still managed to slip down a place in the final weekend of racing, a reflection that the skate race didn't go so well for him. The other winner for the weekend, Cal Britten, managed to snare himself 5th place overall, moving up another 4 places.

And at the Bottom! Yasmine Thomas dropped into last place after the skate event only scoring a measly 40 points and sealed the deal in the final race by scoring NO points!

Winning Team: The Red Zone

Andrew Mock / Nick Grimmer / Neil vdp / Lescinska Fackerell / Georgia Merritt

Final Top 10 Teams

Place	Tipper	Team Name	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Race 7	Race 8	Total
1	Nicola Shortis	The Red Zone	245	290	155	280	320	215	170	150	1825
2	Esther Bottomley	red donkey	205	190	185	250	250	235	190	150	1655
3	Judy Bottomley	botslot	325	325	120	180	205	155	95	135	1540
4	Neil van der Ploeg	Neils knights	250	280	110	190	210	225	80	150	1495
5	Cal Britten	Team Neil gave himself too higher price	125	200	110	90	235	290	220	150	1420
6	Paul van der Ploeg	P Diddys Pinners	250	280	110	190	210	125	80	150	1395
7	Nick Grimmer	Team di Gregorio	220	220	240	180	110	95	100	190	1355
8	Jackie Kildea	Jackie's	160	185	260	100	95	150	150	185	1285
9	Molly Murray	Molly's :p	185	250	180	200	200	50	125	90	1280
10	Graeme Bottomley	Free radicals	140	200	225	210	210	80	125	90	1280

Check out the final edition of the spreadsheet and analyse yourself stupid, plenty of good stuff on it. Nick Grimmer lent a helping hand for the final edition so thankyou Nick! Final Spreadsheet

Once again, thankyou to the sponsor Rocky Valley Bikes and Snowsports and everyone for getting involved in the tipping competition. Look out for next year's comp!

Neil van der Ploeg

 Update # 2 - After Race 6

Hello all!

Apologies for the delay in this update. The results were hard to come by for a few days and when they became available, I became forgetful and busy with other things.

I have accidently missed Grant Hackett's final as well while working on this! Some one had better have a look at the spreadsheet so my sacrifice was not in vein.

The tipping comp has been stirred but not shaken after the second weekend of racing. Nicola Shortis' team "The Red Zone" was in second place after the first weekend of racing and boosted herself to the lead with her skiers having a great weekend at Perisher. On Nicola's team are Andrew Mock, Neil vdp, Nick Grimmer, Liscinska Fackerell and Georgia Merrit. Judy Bottomley's team botslot looked very promosing to build or at least hold her lead until the final weekend of racing. However, Mark vdp was particularly important for judy to hold off Nicola, as both of their teams include Nick, Neil and Georgia. So the show down for the top spot in the tipping series came down to how Nicola's Mock and Fackerell would do compared to Judy's Mark vdp and Phillips. Unfortunately for Judy, Mark vdp didn't compete in any of the three races as he was struck by illness and spent the weekend in bed. As a consequence it looks very promosing for Nicola to take out the comp overall as she heads into the final weekend of tipping with almost 200 points lead over second placed team "red donkey" of Esther Bottomley. Cal Britten was the big mover for the weekend, cracking into the top ten in 9th place from way back in 33rd! Interestingly, Cal only scored 90 in the sprint qualification but in the final scored 235!

At the rear end of things only five points seperate the bottom two positions. Sharnie McCooke has only scored through Paul Murray which wasn't quite enough to overtake Yasmine Thomas's team. Team "Molluki" had Paul Murray and Anthony Evans but only managed to move three places clear of the bottom, where she sat before the weekend.

I could go on all day but i don't want to miss any more olympics so i will finish with Nick Grimmer's observations. "It is interesting to note that if you count Nicola as a Bottomley nine of the top 10 are from three families, Grimmer, Vandie and Bottomley!"

Neil van der Ploeg

 Update # 1 - After Race 3

So after the first weekend of racing (as far as the tipping comp goes) 'botslot' is in the lead 80 points clear of 'The Red Zone'. I could be wrong but I suspect Judy Bottomley has the best possible team with the given budget thus far. This was due to incredible sucess in the sprint race. Despite finishing mid feild in the 30km classic she was able to hold off the threat from Nick's 'Team di Gregorio'. At the other end of the competition, the tipping is very tight between 'Molluki' and Sharnie's team (yet to be named) which are only seperated by 5 points. Both were two of the three teams that were based around the absent sprint superstar Paul Murray. If Paul does race as he did last year in the remaining races, they should enjoy some big points from him.

Leading Team after Round 3: Botslot

Neil vdp / Mark vdp / Belinda Phillips / Georgia Merrit / Nick Grimmer

Top 10 Teams After Round 3

Place	Previous Place	Tipper	Team Name	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Total
1	1	Judy Bottomley	botslot	325	325	120	770
2	2	Nicola Shortis	The Red Zone	245	290	155	690
3	8	Nick Grimmer	Team di Gregorio	220	220	240	680
4	3	Neil van der Ploeg	Neils knights	250	280	110	640
5	4	Paul van der Ploeg	P Diddys Pinners	250	280	110	640
6	9	Molly Murray	Molly's :p	185	250	180	615
7	22	Jackie Kildea	Jackie's	160	185	260	605
8	14	Esther Bottomley	red donkey	205	190	185	580
9	15	Chloe McConville	Team dark horse	180	210	190	580
10	6	Chris Derrick	Ben's Brother's Team	240	230	105	575

The next weekend of racing in a fortnights time should be different as it is all skate, in Perisher, and includes a much shorter distance race. The tricky waxing in the 30km classic also effected things greatly with many skiers failing to finish, among those were Mark Raymond and Chloe McConville who were both expected to finish high up.

I have a feeling team botslot will be hard to topple until the final two distance races as her team is wieghted toward the sprint end of things but we will see!

Thanks,

Neil van der Ploeg