The Alpine Ski Club hosted three successful races on Mount Washington: an under-16 event in January, a Nancy Greene Race in February and K1 (11-12) Provincials in March.
“The Club loves hosting events at home and inviting the Province to see our amazing Resort,” Head Coach John Trimmer said. “It’s also nice to have the home field advantage.”
The Club really made the most of its home field advantage, especially in the K1 Provincials, where young racers like Logan Frame, Kole Harle and Maja Nyman of Campbell River, Keegan McCooey of Courtenay, Liam Gilchrist of Nanaimo and Robbie Yelland of Victoria pulled in an impressive haul of medals and Top 10 finishes.
“We would like to extend a huge thank you to Mount Washington Resort and all the groomers, lefties, patrol, and of course mountain managers for all their help with our events and day-to-day operations,” Trimmer said.
Mathieu Leduc of Comox and Chelsea Adam of Nanaimo both stood on the podium at Federation International Ski (FIS) events this season – tough events to excel at, as athletes are competing against BC, Alberta and the United States. Leduc won the Apex Downhill and placed second in the Apex Super G, and was considering an opportunity to train with the national Ski Cross team over the summer.
The VI Riders stomped the podium at some of their home events this year.
Doug Liseth dominated the Boarder Cross event in March in the 14 – to 17-year-old age category, with teammates Ryan Wallace-Terry and Zach Allen in second and third, respectively.
Joseph Bergvinson finished second in the 13 and under category, while the VI girls claimed the podium in the 12 to 17 category with Lauren McColl, Isabella Beharrell and Aiva Noringseth finishing first, second and third, respectively.
The Big Air competition also saw a sea of the club’s distinctive green hoodies on the podium. Kyle Smith, Matt Shaw and Ryan Wallace-Terry finished first, second and third and VI girls Sydney Bey and Sydney Moore finished first and second in the competitive 14- to 17-year-old category. Joseph Bergvinson finished first in the 13 and under category.
“We are super impressed with the level of riding and skills that the athletes are demonstrating this year,” team spokesperson Kelsa Donald said.
“They are focused, training hard and making incredible progress this year. It has been great to see the Club gel together, and with the support of coaches, parents and athletes we are having a banner year.”
The Freestyle Club will hold a mogul camp in July at Whistler/Blackcomb, where BC Freestyle maintains a mogul lane on Horseman Glacier. Summer training provides training in conditions that allow for accelerated skill development, according to the BC Freestyle website.
The Club will also have a water ramp camp at the Blackcomb Water Ramp Facility in August. The camp helps athletes perfect their jumping skills and work on fundamental air skills in a safe environment.
Athletes must qualify any inverted manoeuvre at the water ramp before it can be qualified on snow and used in competition.
Peter Stubbs had an unbelievable season with the Mount Washington Freestyle Club last winter. He has been selected to join the BC freestyle high performance mogul team for the 2011-2012 season.
Stubbs just finished his fourth year competing in freestyle skiing while training with the Freestyle Club’s competitive team.
Stubbs, 16, started his first 10-day training camp with the BC High Performance team in May. He will progress with a glacier mogul training camp in July and a water ramp camp in August at Whistler/ Blackcomb, then an early ski season on-snow camp in November at Apex Mountain Resort in Penticton.
Eight Vancouver Island athletes who compete in mountain sports were awarded travel grants in December by the Vancouver Island Mountain Sport Society (VIMSS) to assist them with training and competition expenses.
Athletes receiving travel grants were: Ariel Becherer, Nordic ski, Black Creek; Kole Harle, alpine ski, Campbell River; Sheridan Meckert, Nordic ski, Comox; Michael Ravensbergen, Nordic ski, Courtenay; Darcy Sharpe, snowboard, Comox; Alex Stapft, Nordic ski, Campbell River; Peter Stubbs, freestyle ski, Courtenay; and Jamie Wastenays, Nordic ski, Campbell River.
The society has raised more than $75,000 since 2003 to help emerging amateur athletes who compete in mountain sports like alpine, Nordic and freestyle skiing, snowboarding, adaptive snow sports, biathlon and mountain biking.
VI RIders’ team member Sydney Moore of Comox on the podium during the BCSA Provincial Slopestyle Competition at Mount Seymour in early February 2011. Moore places second for the weekend.