Race Day/Closing Ceremonies (February 1, 2014)

We all got up early for a 6:00 AM departure to Boler Mountain where Race Day was being held. When we got there our crate which held our tools and toboggan was waiting for us. Breakfast was provided to our team and then we all helped to unpack the toboggan and get it ready for the race. We raced the slalom course first which included three "gates" our toboggan had to manoeuvre around before getting to the finish line and braking. We began the run, picked up speed very quickly and still managed to steer around all three gates without incident. We hit the finish line, stopped and then all jumped out, celebrating a great run. We were clocked at 42 km/hr which at that time was tied for the top speed out of the 21 teams.

As we were waiting for our second run it began to snow very heavily. The temperatures were quite mild so this heavy, wet snow did not bode well for many toboggans with some even becoming stuck mid-way through the run. Nevertheless we raced our second run (the drag race - simply going straight down the hill) without incident once again. The added snow actually helped with our braking system as more snow helped the large plow dig into the snow better.

Once each team had gotten a chance to complete both the drag race and slalom courses it was time for the King of the Hill Races. These pitted two toboggans against each other in side-by-side drag races. We beat our first two competitors with ease and then were to race the University of British Columbia Okanagan's team. This was a very strong team and we believed we could beat them if we got a good enough start. Our two pushers were lined up, ready to send the toboggan on its way and they ran and pushed so hard that one of them slipped and crossed the starting line; an immediate disqualification. Nevertheless our team was very happy with the way we performed and returned back to the hotel at 4:00 PM to get ready for the closing ceremonies.

At the closing ceremonies our the University made it up to the awards stage a phenomenal 11 TIMES! This lead us to a BEST OVERALL TITLE and in doing so made us the winner of the CSCE GNCTR Cup. We won by an absolute landslide and won EVERY design category. A full list of our multitude of awards is below:

1st braking system design

Photo Credit GNCTR 2014

1st concrete mix design
2nd best steering performance
1st concrete reinforcement design
Holcim sustainability award
1st sustainability
1st superstructure design
3rd technical display
1st steering design
3rd braking performance
3rd technical report
1st most innovative design
1st theoretical toboggan design
1st overall

On a closing note I could not be happier with my team this year. In my opinion these team members could not have been better ambassadors for the University of Alberta and cheered for every other team. The level of sportsmanship shown by the U of A was unsurpassed with all the small things we did from lending a helping hand to Calgary in setting up their technical display to being the only team staying behind to help the organizing committee clean up chairs at the conclusion of race day. After attending GNCTR 2014 I am humbled to be able to say these team members are my friends and class mates and I believe that our success at this competition directly correlates to the level of teaching and education that the University of Alberta Faculty of Engineering offers it's students.

Thank you to the University of Alberta Faculty of Engineering for allowing us to attend and succeed at this great competition!

Thank you,

Ryan Cusveller
Captain - U of A GNCTR

Technical Display Day

Photo Credit GNCTR 2014

Today began with finishing up our technical display and putting the finishing touches on our sled. Logos of the diamond and platinum sponsors were put on the sled and then it was time for the judging to begin. Power point presentations were given to panels of judges regarding the Toboggan's concrete and superstructure components. Each of these was followed by a question period. After this the weigh-in occurred and the University of Alberta Toboggan weighed 281 lbs in total, which was less than the 300 lb weight limit. The weigh-in was followed by the safety inspection which we passed with only one modification to the length of our steering cables to ensure they didn't become tangled in the event of a crash.

The afternoon was spent getting to know the other teams as well as presenting the toboggan to other judges. The toboggan was well received and many other competitors complimented our design and sustainability. Tomorrow will be the ultimate test as we will be racing our toboggan against the 20 other teams.

Day 2: Competitor Interaction Day

The day began with teams circulating around various events centered on getting to know all the other competitors. These events included time at the London Recreational Center, a Labatt Brewery Tour and concluded with a photo of all the competitors organized into the letters "GNCTR". A small group of team members also unpacked our wooden shipping crate which included our toboggan and supplies and built our technical display for tomorrow's Technical Display Day. It was very exciting seeing the other team's toboggans and displays and the entire team is anxiously anticipating the race which will occur Saturday at Boler Mountain.

Day 1: Opening Ceremonies

After a very early morning departure from Edmonton on Wednesday, the team arrived in London, ON for GNCTR 2014 at approximately 15:00 local time. After checking into our rooms we put on our Cattle costumes and attended the Opening Ceremonies which was attended by the other 20 teams as well. Each team performed a short three minute skit introducing their theme to the organizers and other competitors. Our skit included a humorous narrative on the proper methods of "cow tipping" to fit with our theme, Alberta Beef. After this we attended an evening event organized by the host committee spirit committee and then retired for the night.

Rise of the Purple Cobras

A new semester is upon us and with it brings the anticipation of the upcoming competition, which is only a week away. I have been on the team for four years now, and every year I get just as excited for this annual engineering event. For those wondering what the competition is all about, I will go over some of the more important details. GNCTR was started in 1974 as a competition between the Universities of Alberta and Calgary, and NAIT and SAIT.
Today, more than 400 students from 20 universities from across Canada participate in this engineering event. Teams design and build sleds made with a running surface of entirely concrete in order to race down ski hills. To compete, toboggans must have room for 5 people, working steering and braking systems, functional roll cage, and weigh less than 300 lbs.
Over the last four months, members of our club have been working hard to bring our team this year back to where we were 3 years ago, when we last won the competition. Hours of hard work have been spent on the design and construction of our sled, tech display, costumes, and all the other technical elements which go into making the team successful.
During next two weeks, I, the co-captain of the University of Alberta team, will be blogging about the exciting experiences which lead up to and occur at the Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race (GNCTR). The next week will be filled with long hours, as we put the finishing touches on our toboggan and doing test runs, costumes are being sewed, and the technical display is being constructed prior to our departure to Vancouver. All 30 members of our competing team and 15 members of our non-competing team are eagerly counting down the days till we get to show off all the effort which has gone into preparing for the competition.

-Dylan Bolch

Rallying around our co-captain

The competition has come and gone. We're all home now back to homework and missing each other and thinking of our teammate Aaron who is recovering from a broken leg. The U of A was the first team to go down the hill at the beginning of the races. The hill was long, steep and the stopping distance was short. Our awesome sled ripped down the hill, crossing the finish line at warp speed.

Our brake was not sufficient to stop the sled in time and it sped into the icewall at the end of the track. Four of five riders walked away and Aaron was taken to hospital.

After our crash, we took a big break in the races and the staring line was moved about half way down the hill. After this the races went on with fun, excitement and safety. We continued to watch and cheer, with teammates going to visit Aaron throughout the day.

All in all it was a great competition, we really enjoyed ourselves and are very proud of all that we did. We walked away with the "Most Spectacular Run" trophy and Aaron got some battle scars to commemorate four years of GNCTR.

Thanks for all the supportive thought headed in Aaron's direction--we're all hoping for his speedy recovery.

-Andrea Badger

Passing tech expo with flying colours!

Day 3 is over. Friday was technical exposition day. It's the day where the
engineer in each of us really shines.

Teams set up a display based on their team showcasing the technical elements of their sled. The University of Manitoba Jets had a hockey rink set up. U of C You Ain't Nothing but a Houndbogg had a Vegas wedding both and an interactive treasure hunt.

Our tech display was lit up with over 200 LEDs and we had Tron the movie playing all day. We spent the day, cheering, dancing, playing games and talking about concrete. I really like tech ex day because I love to see how different all the sleds look. It's amazing how many different designs there are, no two sleds look the same. It's also impossible to predict which sled is going to be the fastest. Except our Tronboggan of course. ;)

Tech ex is also the day for technical judging. All the sleds are judged by three groups of judges. The three categories are concrete, superstructure break and steering and safely. The concrete and superstructure design leads give five-minute presentations to the judges and answer any questions. Thanks to our awesome engineering, we passed with flying colours.

Now it's on to tomorrow which is RACE DAY! I can't wait to tell you all about it.

-Andrea Badger