BC Ski Team veteran and leader Conrad Pridy of Whistler could tell he was getting closer, but on Monday he managed to put his two best runs together to come out on top at the Miele BC Cup Giant Slalom race at Panorama Mountain Resort. Pridy took first place with a two-run time of one minute, 58.62 seconds. Second and third spots were filled by Nick Daniels in 1:58.83 and Miles Fink-Debray in 1:59.02, both of the USA.
In the lead after the first run, all Pridy had to do was keep the nerves in check and repeat his first run performance. It’s easier said than done when the pressure’s on, but he was confident he could do it. “I’m relieved, to be honest,” said Pridy after the win. “Deep down I expected this, but it’s been a long time coming this season. I’ve been skiing fast in GS training, but it took me four GS races to finally figure out how to ski two good runs in a row. Because I won the first run, for the first time in ages I was actually a little nervous and shaky at the start of the second run. I think that was good for me. It showed how badly I wanted this win.”
Pridy also told us that, except for the never-ending frigid temperatures, the track on Panorama Mountain is in perfect race condition and the volunteers who have chosen to brave the elements and donate their time this close to the holidays should be commended and thanked! “We’re taking as few runs as we can and spending a lot of time inside trying to stay warm,” Pridy explained. “Everyone is racing with face masks on.”
BC Team Head Coach Chris Mosaed is proud of the entire team. “These guys have been away from home for seven weeks now,” he explained. “It’s been tough on them, but they’ve fought hard through fatigue and the bitter cold, maintaining a positive attitude the whole time. They try to take something good from each day and use what they’ve learned the next time out.”
“Conrad has been laying down some excellent runs in training and today he transferred that to the two race runs, getting the kind of result we have all known he’s capable of,” said Mosaed. Tyler Werry and Matt Leduc also impressed me today with fantastic second run times. I think they were motivated by Conrad’s winning first run!”
The final competition before heading home for a well deserved and much needed rest is a slalom race scheduled for Tuesday (tomorrow). The team has not had a lot of time to train in this discipline, but anything’s possible and you can bet there are a few days guys who would love to go home for the holidays with some hardware!
1 18 PRIDY Conrad 1988 CAN 59.73 58.89 1:58.62 (WMSC)
2 6 DANIELS Nick 1991 USA 1:00.06 58.77 1:58.83
3 15 FINK-DEBRAY Miles 1988 USA 59.82 59.20 1:59.02
4 3 ALEXANDER Sean 1989 CAN 59.93 59.17 1:59.10
5 21 TROW Andy 1991 CAN 1:00.06 59.16 1:59.22
6 5 JAMPOLSKY Grant 1989 USA 1:00.32 58.94 1:59.26
7 16 BAKER Jake 1990 USA 59.88 59.39 1:59.27
8 25 GOLDBERG Jared 1991 USA 1:00.02 59.70 1:59.72
9 33 WILSON Garrett 1991 CAN 1:00.55 59.46 2:00.01
10 19 READ Erik 1991 CAN 1:00.73 59.33 2:00.06
11 14 CASTON Marcus 1988 USA 1:00.50 59.68 2:00.18
12 7 CANART Cory 1988 CAN 1:00.59 59.62 2:00.21
13 41 RUBIE Brennan 1991 USA 1:01.00 59.26 2:00.26
14 17 HIGGINS Sean 1990 USA 1:00.73 59.83 2:00.56
15 35 WERRY Tyler 1991 CAN 1:01.52 59.10 2:00.62 (FAST)
16 1 FLOWERS Kitt 1991 USA 1:00.23 1:00.50 2:00.73
17 40 LEDUC Mathieu 1990 CAN 1:01.26 59.57 2:00.83 (MWSC)
18 32 BANSMER Michael 1989 USA 1:01.01 59.93 2:00.94
19 28 OWSLEY David 1991 USA 1:01.00 1:00.15 2:01.15
20 8 PRIDY Morgan 1990 CAN 1:01.16 1:00.22 2:01.38 (WMSC)
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