Ski racers of all ages and from across the province descended on Apex for an entertaining Teck Okanagan Zone Race last weekend (Feb. 24–25th) featuring two competitive slalom races with the Okanagan zone and qualified BC Games skiers from across the province.
Apex, Sun Peaks, Revelstoke, Vernon and the Big White ski clubs were all in attendance in the U12, U14 and U16 age categories – as well as some of the BC Games teams (Zones 2–8) – to showcase their skills and the incredible ski racing conditions at Apex Mountain Resort.
The podiums were well represented by skiers from all of the participating clubs, and results are linked below.
The BC Games makeup event ran in conjunction with the Okanagan zone races, with the BC Games qualifiers proudly representing their school zones. After the recent news that Troll Mountain was unable to host the alpine events at the BC Winter Games, BC Alpine staff kicked into high gear to change directions and find an alternate race venue.
“BC Games teams from all over the province arrived on Friday to jump into the slalom factory that was set up on the Okanagan run, with six lanes of courses and teams were treated to some of the best training they have had all year,” Crichton said.
Crichton mentioned that Apex delivered the goods, and not just in the race venue. “Diverse terrain and superb snow make for some amazing freeskiing. Add to that, the unbelievable views and friendly small resort vibe … Apex is a must visit and always delivers.”
The safe but challenging and extremely consistent tracks at Apex made for great racing. “Despite all the snow there was an awesome surface underneath that the course crew found before the first racers came out of the gate,” Crichton said.
“A short, fast T Bar from the base makes the Apex Okanagan run a fantastic race venue. When you combine that with an excellent ROC, you have a great place for ski racers to compete and excel.”
Johnny Crichton, BC Alpine VP
Saturday was sunny with consistent snow due to a slow double cut groom (thank you grooming team). A brisk wind was swirling but wasn’t really a deterrent to the great racing. By early Sunday afternoon we saw over 800 race runs perfectly executed, awards and swag given out, and a whole lot of inspired but tired, happy racers.
BC Alpine and the Apex Ski Club would like to extend their appreciation to all of the parents and coaches who worked to pull off a fun and busy weekend of racing. The club is also grateful to the efforts and support from the staff at Apex Mountain Resort which helped to ensure a successful event.
By all accounts the weekend was a huge success! Thanks to the hardworking volunteers and race organizers, on Saturday they managed to complete two runs of GS for all age categories, except the U12s, who competed in a one-run giant slalom race.
Racing on our GS slope would not have been possible two days before the event, but a combination of huge grooming efforts and some luck with the weather created an amazing GS slope that ran beautifully! It’s been a tough season for many, so it felt great to get some solid racing in.
Dylan Henderson, Program Director and U12 Head Coach, WH2O Ski Team
Sunday brought snow to the slalom course, but the crew was able to get all the happy racers through two full runs.
Everyone involved was grateful for a full weekend of racing after the Kimberley zone race was reduced to a short slalom due to cold weather, and the BC Winter Games alpine events were cancelled due to a lack of snow.
The podium was shared by all six clubs, and there were no podium sweeps by any team. Often three different teams landed on the podium at the same time. Next stop for the Whitewater team is Fernie in a couple of weeks.
Masters racer Bobby Swan is 81 years old and skiing so well as he prepares to attend the FIS World Criterium Masters event at Kimberley Alpine Resort the first week of March. He placed 9th in our U14 boys category in slalom!
~ Report submitted by Dylan Henderson, Program Director, Whitewater Ski Team
The Smithers Ski & Snowboard Club, along with Hudson Bay Mountain Resort, hosted the first Teck North Zone race of the season on February 10 and 11. They stepped in on short notice after the Quesnel race was sadly cancelled due to a lack of snow. The whole zone came together to make a fantastic race happen for these hard training athletes, with full volunteer rosters both race days, including many volunteers from the Ligntning Creek Ski Club and the Prince George Ski Club.
Day 1 brought blue skies and mild temperatures for the top to bottom giant slalom, with an ambitious schedule of two races (4 runs) for U14 to U19 athletes, and two races (2 runs) for U12 athletes. The wind picked up at midday to howling levels just long enough to have everyone worried, but subsided in time to allow for a phenomenal afternoon of fast skiing.
Day 2 was another busy day with slalom on the agenda. The weather and schedule held firm and the difficult slalom hill made for entertaining athleticism. With just enough snow to work with, coaches and course crew did a great job getting the course set, and surface ready to go for the action-packed day!
Everyone in the North Zone had a fun weekend showing their northern spirit and all the new Smithers Ski & Snowboard Club infrastructure to visiting BC Alpine leadership Graham Cope and Keven Dubinsky. Thank you to everyone who took part. We are dreaming of future races on these slopes!
The Dreadnaught ROC (the Kimberley Disabled Skiers Association) successfully staged the FIS Speed camp and races, along with the highly anticipated night slalom, from January 22-31. As with many events in January throughout British Columbia, the severe cold weather before the start of the series severely compressed the schedule for the construction of the speed track. However, through the hard work of its volunteers with support from coaches attending from across Canada (which represented 5 countries) the track was ready for the training camp and ensuing downhills.
As the Dreadnaught FIS Speed Series is the only downhill event at this level in Canada this year, the attendees experienced an amazing progression of speed skills through the series, with notable improvements and achievements. The track gave them lots of challenges and thrills with speeds approaching 120 km/h, and several “air” opportunities at the Rat Can jump, Suck bump “double camels” and the newly minted Air Canada off Canada Way. Gliding skills were honed on the bumpy features in Simms and chances to attack through Lloyds and Blairs pitches.
As always, the night slalom after the day’s downhill race was thrilling, as both genders attacked the course under the lights of the Main slope, resulting in many positive results for the racers. Unfortunately, warmer weather deteriorated the upper Dreadnaught track after the downhill series, preventing the staging of the SG races. In its place a slalom was run on the lower Dreadnaught, which presented a very challenging track (last used in Canadian Nationals in 2023). As with the night slalom, the athletes charged down the track and again achieved excellent results. Many smiles were generated on everyone’s faces as a result of this amazing event (check out the video link below😃).
Thanks for everyone’s support during the race, and special kudos to the Dreadnaught crew, BC Alpine, the City of Kimberley, and RCR Resorts as the gracious site hosts for this and many other races series and camps this year at the Dreadnaught facility.
~ Report submitted by Gord Reese, Chief of Race, Kootenay Zone Chair
BC Alpine is conscious of all the effort the athletes, families, coaches, and clubs have put in to get athletes to the BC Games. Sadly, there is no snow at Troll and BC Games organizers couldn’t pivot to another mountain this late in the program.
This has been an incredibly tough season already, with the lack of snow and massive swings in temperatures that have caused havoc with our training and race calendar. BC Alpine wants to give these selected kids an option to attend an event on the same weekend, if it makes sense for the families affected by the cancellation of BC Winter Games alpine events.
Apex has opened their zone slalom race to accommodate the BC Games selected athletes (8 different zones). We will have a separate BCG category and hope to create a tiny bit of the BC Games energy on site. We will also do a walk out parade and send a video of the athletes racing to the BC Games society to play at the closing ceremonies.
Whether families can make the trip to Apex, or opt to stay home and train, we will put team photos on the website, as well as encourage everyone to watch the opening ceremonies that are live-streamed.
To the folks at Troll and the Lightning Creek Ski Club ROC, thank you for all the work you’ve done to get it this far! We need to plan for a provincial event in the near future to give everyone an opportunity to race on Troll.
