What a day for BC’s FIS athletes! When they awoke to blue skies, hard-packed snow and a minus thirteen chill in the air, they knew they were in for a fine day of giant slalom competition.
Red Mountain Resort and the Red Mountain Racers Ski Club are playing host to 89 women and 101 men for four days of technical racing.
The women were first out of the gate and BC’s girls were on fire!
Brittney Jones of Kelowna and the Big White Racers skied a stellar second run that launched her into first place with a combined time of one minute, 45.15 seconds. Whistler’s Julia Murray laid down two solid runs to take second in 1:46.89 and the third spot was reserved for Brynne Benbow, also of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club, who clocked a two-run time of 1:47.18. Just shy of the podium (by a mere five hundredths) was Alecia Willis of Surrey and the Whistler Mountain Ski Club, earning 4th place in 1:47.23.
In all, seven of BC’s girls took their places in the top-15.
Not to be outdone by the ladies, BC’s men presented themselves equally well! They also landed seven in the top-15.
Cory Canart, who lives in Alberta and skies with the Windermere Valley Ski Club, won the race by a hair in 1:45.71, ahead of the hometown favourite, Sasha Zaitsoff (Balfour, BC and the Red Mountain Racers) who stopped the clock after two strong runs at 1:45.72 (only one hundredth off the winning pace). American Will Gregorak matched Zaitsoff’s time to tie for second place – that’s what you call a close race!
Notice how many of the racers began the day with high start-numbers (started late in the pack) and moved up many places, cutting their start numbers by half and more by the end of the day. This indicates two things; the snow held up well under almost 200 pairs of skis and these guys were going fast!
Top-15 Women’s Giant Slalom:
1 (24) JONES, Brittney CAN J1 52.43 (3) 52.72 (1) 1:45.15
2 (10) MURRAY, Julia CAN J2 52.80 (5) 54.09 (3) 1:46.89
3 (3) BENBOW, Brynne CAN J1 53.15 (7) 54.03 (2) 1:47.18
4 (9) WILLIS, Alecia CAN J1 52.20 (2) 55.03 (12) 1:47.23
5 (14) MORAN, Terra CAN J1 53.22 (8) 54.44 (4) 1:47.66
6 (2) ROSEN, Samantha CAN J2 53.02 (6) 55.00 (10) 1:48.02
7 (11) HALE, Marni USA J2 53.86 (14) 54.67 (7) 1:48.53
8 (12) MCKERCHER, Gillian CAN J1 53.22 (8) 55.44 (15) 1:48.66
9 (17) MORAN, Deirdre CAN J2 53.83 (13) 55.02 (11) 1:48.85
10 (26) CARROLL, Emma CAN J1 54.49 (20) 54.51 (5) 1:49.00
11 (36) DAVIES, Tess CAN J1 54.25 (18) 54.79 (9) 1:49.04
12 (29) WECKWORTH, Samantha CAN J1 54.19 (16) 55.12 (13) 1:49.31
13 (19) MONOD, Tatum CAN J1 52.74 (4) 56.65 (23) 1:49.39
14 (32) FLOYD, Sarah CAN J1 54.95 (24) 54.75 (8) 1:49.70
14 (8) MAH, Jennifer CAN J2 55.12 (25) 54.58 (6) 1:49.70
Top-15 Men’s Giant Slalom:
1 (11) CANART, Cory CAN J2 53.20 (6) 52.51 (1) 1:45.71
2 (6) ZAITSOFF, Sasha CAN J1 52.93 (5) 52.79 (3) 1:45.72
2 (4) GREGORAK, Will USA J1 52.70 (4) 53.02 (4) 1:45.72
4 (26) TROW, Andy CAN J1 54.05 (14) 52.59 (2) 1:46.64
5 (10) TIMMONS, Curtis CAN J1 53.86 (11) 53.19 (6) 1:47.05
6 (15) SMITH, Rett USA J2 53.83 (10) 53.26 (7) 1:47.09
7 (2) PRIDY, Morgan CAN J1 52.11 (2) 55.11 (22) 1:47.22
8 (14) HERR, J Ross USA J2 53.55 (8) 54.25 (14) 1:47.80
9 (25) LEDUC, Mathieu CAN J1 54.31 (16) 53.78 (10) 1:48.09
10 (20) MOORE, Evan CAN J2 53.92 (12) 54.19 (13) 1:48.11
11 (28) WITT, Brandon CAN J2 55.54 (23) 53.11 (5) 1:48.65
12 (21) SHAMPENY, Kristopher USA SR 54.01 (13) 54.66 (19) 1:48.67
13 (8) CONNER, Christian CAN J2 54.81 (18) 53.94 (11) 1:48.75
14 (40) BEOUGHER, Wes USA J2 55.56 (24) 53.38 (8) 1:48.94
15 (33) MACLEAN, Benjamin CAN J1 55.39 (21) 53.64 (9) 1:49.03
Race action continues Friday with a second giant slalom race. 
LIVE TIMING