Gairns, Hoffos, Ireland, Oliemans shine at Sugarloaf Nor-Am Cup Ski Cross

Photo of Tiana Gairns at a Nakiska Nor-Am earlier this season

BC racers are gathering hardware and climbing the overall standings on the Nor-Am Ski Cross circuit. They are competing in Sugarloaf, Maine this week with some stellar results!

On the women’s side Tiana Gairns of the Prince George Ski Club and Courtney Hoffos of the Windermere Valley Ski Club claimed 1st and 2nd place respectively on Thursday, 1st and 3rd on Tuesday and 3rd and 5th positions on Monday. They currently sit 1st and 3rd in the Nor-Am Ski Cross overall standings.

“It has been relatively easy transitioning from alpine to ski cross," said Gairns, who added SX to her already full alpine calendar last season. "Even though there are a ton of new aspects to think and learn about, the ski cross community has been very inviting and super helpful. The skills I learned in alpine are definitely useful, and are the groundwork of what I have to work on. It has been pretty busy doing both disciplines in one season! I have learned to prioritize my races, but I still find myself searching for training time. My goals coming into ski cross were to win a Nor-Am, and I met my goal! So far I have won four Nor-Ams, and currently I am leading the Nor-Am Cup. I am super excited to see how I race at Nationals in Smithers this year.”

Sugarloaf Ski Cross Podium (March 3rd) Left to right: Courtney Hoffos (WVSC), Tiana Gairns (PGSC), Mara White (USA), Leah Emaus (USA)

On the men’s side Ned Ireland of Big White Ski Club has taken 1st place each of the last 3 days. Jason Oliemans of the Smithers Ski and Snowboard Club is also competing and finished 9th on March 1, 2 and 3. Ireland leads the Nor-Am SX standings and Oliemans holds 10th position.

Sugarloaf, ME (USA) 01.03.2016

Nor-Am Cup – Men's Ski Cross