Gold medal sweep for the unstoppable Stef Fleck at Fidelity Spring Series

The 2016 Fidelity Spring Series racers enjoyed Whistler Mountain’s return to seasonal average temperatures after a week of warmer than normal weather. Dale Stephens and the rest of the WMSC crew kept the Dave Murray National Training Center slope in race-able condition with the use of strategic grooming, eco-friendly snow hardeners and good old fashioned muscle-power.

132 men lined up on Thursday for the first of 2 GS races starting at the top of Raven and ending at the top of Sunset Pitch. Top Canadian Team talent sprinkled in with some US Ski Team racers allowed for a low penalty, with race winner Tyler Werry (CAST) scoring 11.25 FIS points. Canadian SL Champion Phil Brown captured 2^nd overall, winning the second run by 1/100^th over Werry. World Cup regular Trevor Philp claimed the final podium spot, +.24 seconds to Werry. BC Ski Team veteran Dominic Unterberger finished 8^th with teammate Riley Seger 13^th and Sam Mulligan 17^th, rounding out the first page of results. Japan’s Yohei Koyama was the top U18 in 9th^th place.

On the ladies side, BC Ski Team’s Stefanie Fleckenstein picked up where she left off after winning both SG’s, making it a three-peat in the GS. Ontario Ski Team’s Emma Woodhouse claimed 2^nd overall, surviving a rough and rutted second run. Banff Alpine’s Meg Cumming finished a strong 3^rd overall. Red Mountain’s Soleil Patterson was the next BC athlete and top U18 in 6^th spot, followed closely by Vancouver Ski Team’s Kristina Natalenko in 7^th for 2^nd fastest U18.

Temperatures started easing higher on Friday for the second men’s GS, which made for difficult course conditions on the Raven and Club 21 pitches. Big core strength was a key ingredient for negotiating the rutted track. Phil Brown (1^st) traded podium spots with Tyler Werry (2^nd), with US World Cup racer Tanner Farrow in 3^rd. National Development Team’s Brodie Seger (WMSC) skied to a strong 5^th place, top U21 in the field. Brother Riley Seger of the BC Ski Team was 9^th with teammate Dominic Unterberger putting down his 2^nd consecutive strong GS of the series in 10^th. Sam Mulligan also made page 1 of the results in 15^th.