To the delight of athletes, coaches and volunteers, Wednesday’s conditions were crisp and clear – ideal to kick off day two of Mars downhill competition at Apex Mountain Resort. By all accounts, the track was in great shape, winds were moderate and the light was good. The first few ladies across the finish declared the course to be “even faster than yesterday”.
Danielle Poleschuk (Canadian Development Ski Team/Fernie Alpine Ski Team) stopped the clock at one minute, 20.76 seconds to earn her second gold medal in as many days. In spite of a solid finish, she insisted; “that was the sketchiest run of my life, but I guess it was fast!” Poleschuk, who decided not to travel to Europe this month with the national team, confided; “I had a rough start to the season and wasn’t skiing as well as I can. I decided to stay home and do some work with one of my old coaches. It seems to be paying off because I’ve put everything back together and I’m back on track now. Sometimes it helps to go back to the basics for a while.”
The silver medal went to Stephanie Irwin of Banff, Alberta, who crossed the line in 1:21.59 and the Alexandra Parker of Sunshine, Alberta took the bronze in 1:22.41.
On the men’s side, top honours went to BC Ski Team’s Jonathan Hadley of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club, whose time of 1:16.81 killed the competition and secured him a commanding 1.4 second lead. After a tough day (and some bad luck) on Tuesday, Hadley was hungry for this win. “I knew I could do it – I was ripping it in training,” he said. “Today I figured if I could nail the section I went out in yesterday, I could win it. I spent a long time inspecting that section and got very comfortable with it. I had a plan and I executed it. This is the first year I’ve worked with Karen MacNeill, our sport psychologist, and it’s good, it’s really helping.”
Cory Canart of the Windermere Valley Ski Club (and Tuesday’s silver medalist) grabbed silver again Wednesday, crossing the finish in 1:18.21.
A little sibling rivalry was at play for third place. It would be Morgan Pridy (Whistler/Whistler Mountain Ski Club) stepping onto the third podium step after watching older brother Conrad Pridy (BC Ski Team/Whistler Mountain Ski Club) do the same just the day before. Morgan cleared the finish in 1:18.36.
For J1 girls, Stephanie Irwin (Banff) took the gold, Tatum Monod (Banff) the silver and Alexa Birdgeneau (NATC) the bronze.
Among J1 guys, Morgan Pridy (WMSC) took first place, Sasha Zaitsoff (Red Mountain Racers) was second and Curtis Timmons (Banff) was third.
Tomorrow the racers switch gears (and equipment), and slow down just slightly, for the first of two super G races scheduled for Thursday and Friday. The weather office has promised another fantastic day, so stay tuned for more exciting race action. 
LIVE TIMING
The women’s BC Ski team took Wednesday off, but will be back for the super G Thursday.
Top-15 Women
1 (7) POLESCHUK Danielle 1986 CAN 1:20.76
2 (12) IRWIN Stephanie 1990 CAN 1:21.59
3 (10) PARKER Alexandra 1989 CAN 1:22.41
4 (34) MONOD Tatum 1991 CAN 1:22.68
5 (14) MURRAY Julia 1988 CAN 1:23.97
6 (11) EVES Nicola 1988 NZE 1:24.05
7 (3) BIRDGENEAU Alexa 1990 CAN 1:24.07
8 (13) BAYLISS Deborah 1989 CAN 1:24.26
9 (20) MCGOVERN Brittany 1990 CAN 1:24.62
10 (26) PETERS Julia 1989 CAN 1:24.71
11 (61) CARROLL Emma 1991 CAN 1:24.74
12 (2) SMITH Shannon 1988 CAN 1:25.02
13 (15) BERNIER Alexe 1990 CAN 1:25.29
14 (9) YOUNG Jessica 1989 CAN 1:25.33
15 (56) CREMA Katya 1988 AUS 1:25.55
Top-15 Men
1 (6) HADLEY Jonathan 1986 CAN 1:16.81
2 (15) CANART Cory 1988 CAN 1:18.21
3 (4) PRIDY Morgan 1990 CAN 1:18.36
4 (3) REY Stanislas 1988 CAN 1:18.99
5 (14) CUMMING Ian 1988 CAN 1:19.46
6 (10) PRIDY Conrad 1988 CAN 1:19.51
7 (8) THOMSEN Benjamin 1987 CAN 1:19.73
8 (5) ZAITSOFF Sasha 1990 CAN 1:19.87
9 (7) TIMMONS Curtis 1990 CAN 1:20.09
10 (2) WINTER Sven 1988 CAN 1:20.82
11 (9) MOORE Evan 1989 CAN 1:20.83
12 (25) MATEJKO Philip 1990 CAN 1:20.85
13 (43) TROW Andy 1991 CAN 1:20.93
14 (24) LEDUC Mathieu 1990 CAN 1:20.96
15 (12) BASSLER Keegan 1990 CAN 1:21.19