On a crystal clear morning at Apex Mountain Resort, 85 men and 70 women felt the buzz in the air as they prepared to hit the icy hard downhill track on day one of the 2008 BC Cup speed event. The day began with a last-minute scramble to get just the right wax on the boards, as some athletes and coaches awoke to learn that the predicted -15 degree temperatures hadn’t quite materialized and it would be considerably warmer (-8 degrees – still chilly!).
The women were first out of the gate and Tess Davies of Banff was able to hold onto a commanding lead of over 1.5 seconds, winning the race in one minute, 24.43 seconds. Kerri MacGowan of the Sun Peaks Alpine Club finished second in 1:25.77 followed by American Brooke Wales in third.
One of the hometown favourites, Rachel Sloan of the Apex Ski Club, wowed the crowd with a super-fast race to 4th overall and second fastest J1 for the day. Also pulling off top-10 performances were Sandra MacDonald (BC Ski Team/Apex Ski Club) in 5th, Calindy Ramsden (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) in 6th and Alecia Willis (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) in 7th. Willis was also the 3rd J1 in the women’s race.
January 22nd – Downhill – Top-15 Women
1 (3) DAVIES Tess [BANFF] [CAN] – J1 1:24.43
2 (13) MACGOWAN Kerri [SPAC] [CAN] – J2 1:25.77
3 (5) WALES Brooke [USA] – J2 1:26.17
4 (14) SLOAN Rachel [APEX] [CAN] – J1 1:26.27
5 (11) MACDONALD Sandra [CAN] – J2 1:26.36
6 (2) RAMSDEN Calindy [WHIST] [CAN] – J2 1:26.67
7 (9) WILLIS Alecia [WHIST] [CAN] – J1 1:27.04
8 (16) LAROCK Allison [USA] – J1 1:27.59
9 (4) BACKSTROM Stephany [USA] – J2 1:28.19
10 (28) BRENNER Leslie [BANFF] [CAN] – J2 1:28.22
11 (6) MCKERCHER Gillian [SUNSH] [CAN] – J2 1:28.30
12 (12) JONES Brittney [BIGWH] [CAN] – J2 1:28.41
13 (7) WECKWORTH Samantha [SPAC] [CAN] – J1 1:28.55
14 (58) SAUNDERS Jennifer [CAN] – J1 1:28.62
15 (19) WOOD Jennifer [SUNSH] [CAN] – J1 1:29.01
BC Ski Team athlete Ben Thomsen (Windermere Valley Ski Club) dominated the men’s race, skiing to gold in a time of 1:21.03. “After yesterday’s training run I was a little worried about Stan (Rey) and Cory (Canart) – I knew any one of us could do it, so I just went out to race as hard as I could and it paid off for me,” explained Thomsen. “It doesn’t really feel like pressure, but it’s easier and more motivating to race when I know there is some good competition – then I can’t slack off. I’m really happy for Sasha (Zaitsoff) – he skied great today!”
There was an exciting tie for second between Sasha Zaitsoff (BC Ski Team/Red Mountain Racers) and Cory Canart of Alberta, each stopping the clock at 1:21.86 and taking home silver. “I actually thought I would do well today,” admitted Zaitsoff. “I made some pretty big mistakes in yesterday’s training run and still had a fast time. I knew that if I cleaned them up, I could do better today. Tomorrow my goal is to improve my time even more and maybe even catch Ben (Thomsen)!”
It was a fantastic day for BC Alpine J1 Development athletes Chris Campbell (Sun Peaks Alpine Club/Timberland Ski Club) and Tyler Werry (Fernie Alpine Ski Team) who took 1st and 3rd J1 honours, finishing 4th and 7th respectively in the overall race.
Three other BC Ski Team men rounded out the top-10 with Matt Leduc in a tie for 5th, Morgan Pridy finishing 8th and Stan Rey closing the day in 9th position.
Go LIVE ON THE HILL WITH DENNIS WALKER of GiantFM Radio, Penticton
Another ON HILL REPORT from Dennis (sound is required for these broadcasts)
January 22nd – Downhill – Top-15 Men
1 (12) THOMSEN Benjamin [CAN] – SR 1:21.03
2 (11) CANART Cory [CAN] – J2 1:21.86
(7) ZAITSOFF Sasha [CAN] – J2 1:21.86
4 (1) CAMPBELL Christopher [CAN] – J1 1:22.14
5 (15) TROW Andy [CAN] – J1 1:22.52
(3) LEDUC Mathieu [CAN] – J2 1:22.52
7 (16) WERRY Tyler [CAN] – J1 1:22.56
8 (2) PRIDY Morgan [CAN] – J2 1:22.74
9 (8) REY Stanislas [CAN] – J2 1:22.78
10 (10) HILTS Anton [USA] – J2 1:23.15
11 (84) NOGES, Carl [USA] – J1 1:23.42
12 (18) PRODEHL Kevin [USA] – J2 1:23.60
13 (9) WINTER Sven [CAN] – J2 1:23.77
14 (29) OWSLEY David [USA] – J1 1:23.78
15 (14) WEAVER Skyler [USA] – J2 1:24.05
Racing continues Wednesday with a second downhill competition followed by super G on Thursday and Friday. Follow the action on the LIVE TIMING website.