Photo: Martin Olson

Ski season is quickly approaching and members of the Vernon Ski Club are already getting excited to hit the slopes for their 83rd season, but this year with a new coach.

Andrew Lambert coached the Vernon Ski Club for the past couple of years but decided to pass on his role to someone new this year.

Lambert and the VSC are excited to announce that Rodger Poole, has taken over the role of program director, head coach and U14 lead coach as of Sept.1.

"Ultimately my goal was to leave the club in a better place than when I started," said Lambert. "I began to work on a succession plan early in my time as PD. Rodger has developed a full skill set to take the Vernon Ski Club to the next level and brings an energy and passion to the club and to ski racing which is hard to beat."

"I have not encountered many coaches who have Rodger’s work ethic and professionalism. I’ll be around to ensure the transition goes well and am excited to continue to work as Lead U16 coach under Rodger’s direction.”

Poole has been coaching and instructing skiing for the past 18 years and has worked for the Vernon Ski Club for the past 10 years, coaching athletes at all levels in the club.

“I'm really looking forward to continuing to work with the athletes and the parents of Vernon Ski Club to create a culture of working hard toward goals and having fun in the process," Poole said. "The combination of the incredibly capable and passionate staff and the supportive and dedicated families makes for an exciting place to be, for all involved.”

Poole brings with him a strong technical skiing background, Rodger is an Alpine Canada Development Level Certified Coach, Performance Level Trained and a Canadian Ski Instructors’ Alliance Level 4.

Registration for VSC winter programming is now open for all levels.

An early registration discount of 10 per cent will be applied to registrations received before Oct. 31 for race programs (Race Tigers, U12/14/16/18 Race) and Nov. 30 for entry-level programs.

Visit VSC for more information and to register.

The Annual Vernon Ski Club “SKI SWAP” will be held on Saturday, Oct. 13 at the Vernon Recreation Center.