And led by Olympians Rob Boyd and Mike Janyk, February 3 to 6, 2022
What an amazing opportunity it was for the Coast Zone ski club racers to experience world class coaching and course setting from the duo of Rob and Mike! Conditions for speed improved from Thursday through to Sunday, making for a perfect super-G day, with fast, grippy snow and excellent viability. Everyone, coaches and athletes alike, gave it a huge thumbs up and are already talking about the next speed camp!
“This speed camp went really well, it’s was a fantastic opportunity to provide a safe environment for the racers to get more comfortable with speed, and the progression we saw this week has been great.”
Grouse Mountain Tyee Ski Club Coach
“On Thursday they were moving a bit slower, but fast forward to Sunday under beautiful, blue skies and they are really able to move much more quickly, get that wind in their faces and get a feel for what it’s like to ski a super-G track!”
Whistler Mountain Ski Club Coach
“Speed camp is the best, it is like you can just really go for it! Course setting was great!”
Grouse Mountain Tyee Ski Club Athlete
“I feel like it went really well because at the start of the speed camp I was really uncomfortable with how fast I was going, but because I got to learn so much and had many tips I am now really comfortable skiing super-G and I realize how much fun it is to ski really fast!”
And excitement is in the air as young racers meet Olympians & Paralympians
Clear blue skies coupled with unseasonably warm weather greeted an energetic group of more than 100 young ski racers on Sunday, February 13th in Whistler. Wearing colourful suits and their new Sporting Life race bibs, they ascended Whistler Mountain to compete in Whistler Mountain Ski Club’s signature annual U12 Janyk Cup Zone Race on a section of the Dave Murray National Training Centre (Ptarmigan run). The competition consisted of a two-run combined-time giant slalom, one per gender.
“It was a spectacular weekend with lots of sunshine and smiles. It was really great for me personally to see all the young racers from throughout the ski-to-sky corridor up in Whistler competing and having fun again.”
– Andrew Kirker, Race Chairperson
“Fantastic weekend with plenty of smiles, skiing and sportsmanship. What made it all worthwhile was seeing the kids cheering on kids from different clubs and the appreciation from other clubs, coaches and families for hosting a well run event.”
– Josh Douglas, Chief of Course
Thank you Sporting Life!
Photo #1 – Jack Crawford, Broderick Thomson and Brodie Seger with Cecily Gibbons (Whistler) and Eric Krastev (Grouse); Photo #2 – Mac Marcoux and Tristan Rodgers with Grayson Kirker (Whistler) and Jonathan Yeung (Whistler)
This year’s race was particularly significant as it marked the return to racing after a two year hiatus due to COVID restrictions. For most of these 10 and 11 year old skiers, this race presented their first opportunity to compete against other clubs after two years of training at their respective clubs.
WMSC alumni and recent Olympians Jack Crawford (Bronze medalist in Combined in Beijing 2022), Brodie Seger and Broderick Thomson, were present to award the winners. Paralympic legend Mac Marcoux – Canada’s most decorated Alpine Paralympic Gold Medalist – also stopped by to support this weekend’s events on his way to compete in Beijing 2022 Paralympic Games. Their presence provided powerful inspiration for these young ski racers – Canada’s next generation of Olympians and champions!
Jack Crawford, Boderick Thomson and Brodie Seger with (on podium) Cecily Gibbons (Whistler), Thea Han (Whistler), Inaya Salari (Cypress)
“Huge thanks to WMSC for running a successful event for little racers. The kids had an opportunity to test their skills in various events, and how cool is it to get a speed ticket from the RCMP in Speed Trap event! What a surprise treat to be visited by the Beijing 2022 Alpine Ski Olympians Jack Crawford, Brodie Seger, and Broderick Thompson, with Paralympic Gold medalist Mac Marcoux and Tristan Rodgers. A great way to wrap up a successful event! Kudos to all the parents, volunteers, coaches, clubs and athletes. Special thanks to an amazing photographer Albert for taking every single racers’ fantastic photos! Greatly appreciated.”
~ Insun Kim, parent of Grouse athlete Eames Kim
RCMP Speed Trap
Podium / Awards (listed below in order of first, second, third):
Two of the largest events in Alpine Ski Racing in Canada are coming West!
The 2023 Senior Alpine National Championships and the Nor-Am Cup Finals will be hosted in BC or Alberta next year. The process to bid on the opportunity to host one of these prestigious race events is now available.
The North Okanagan Zone and the Revelstoke Ski Club returned to Nancy Greene Ski League racing on Sunday January 30th, hosting the “Gnome Cup” paneled slalom at Revelstoke Mountain Resort. As is tradition at the Revelstoke Ski Club, we woke up to 10cm of fresh snow on race day, and it just kept falling. Thanks to the hard work of our outstanding volunteer team, the race went off smoothly and on schedule! (And the visiting teams got treated to some great pow skiing!) Revelstoke U12 Head Coach Céline Rytz set a fun and challenging course that got a bit like a bobsled track, but which maintained a good surface throughout the day. (Photo above: Revelstoke Gnome Cup – Aden Skringer in the start gate, PHOTO CREDIT: Giles Shearing)
James Rorstad in the start gate PHOTO CREDIT: Katie Findlay
Hugo Beruschi in action PHOTO CREDIT: Katie Findlay
Team awards were calculated for skiers U10 and younger, by totaling the fastest run times for each skier from a given club, then dividing by the number of skiers, to find the average fastest run time for the entire team. The rankings and team times were as follows:
1st: Vernon Ski Club, 52.45 2nd: Sun Peaks, 55.34 3rd: Summit Lake, 56.47 4th: Revelstoke, 57.51 5th: Harper Mountain, 66.43
The home team was well represented in the U12 field: Boys: 1st: Egan Kelly, Revelstoke 2nd: Nick MacPherson, Revelstoke 3rd: Elijah Nasipaykok, Vernon Girls: 1st: Aela Johnson, Revelstoke 2nd: Anna Brown, Revelstoke 3rd: Julia Mulcock, Vernon
U12 girls podium: 1st Aela Johnson, Revelstoke; 2nd Anna Brown, Revelstoke; 3rd Julia Mulcock, Vernon – PHOTO CREDIT: Katie Findlay
On January 22 & 23, for the first time in 2 years, Red Mountain Racers were delighted to welcome teams from the Kootenay Zone to the TECK U14, U16 Zone Race! Alpine Clubs were represented by Fernie, Golden Kicking Horse, Black Dogs, Kimberly, Windermere Valley, Whitewater, and of course Red Mountain.
The race took place on the Legacy Training slope on RED Mountain, and the slope held up well for race day. Athletes raced two full days, with a 2-run combined time GS Saturday and a 2-run combined time slalom on Sunday. Both days were a challenge with fog holds, but the athletes rallied and attacked the course fearlessly.
