Kathy Stahr | BC Alpine Ski Association

Revelstoke’s Emily Unterberger gets SL win at Red Mtn. Fidelity BC Cup

by Kathy Stahr | Mar 6, 2016 | Member News

Ladies' Overall Podium March 6 (left to right) Georgia Burgess, Emily Unterberger, Kristina Natalenko PHOTO CREDIT: Martin Tichy

Check out race action photos courtesy of Derek Trussler HERE

Saturday, March 5 and Sunday, March 6 – The Fidelity BC Cup at Red Mountain was greeted with Whistler style weather on the weekend, with warm 5 degree temperatures and a steady rain well into the first run for both ladies SL and men’s GS. Fortunately the laws of thermodynamics were in force, and with abundant bags of salt distributed onto the line, both race tracks held up well for the duration of the races.

Start referee Don Stevens got the ladies' show on the road precisely at 9am, and the well salted, hard track held up perfectly for the duration. Fernie’s Tyra Collombin posted the fastest 1st run, followed closely by the previous day’s GS winner, Meg Cumming. Top U18 was Nakia Kamachi 1/100th of a sec ahead of WMSC’s Katie Fleckenstein. 36 of the 53 racers started run 2, on a similarly salted, hard racing surface. Cumming narrowly edged BAR teammate Collombin by 4/100ths for the win, with Mikaela Fitzgerald, skiing for the Sugarbowl California-based FIS team in 3rd, 3/100th sec ahead of top U18 Fleckenstein in fourth. Revelstoke’s Emily Unterberger made her return to SL racing in Canada, after a season spent in Austria, capturing 6th place. Vancouver Ski Team member Frances MacDonald rounded out the BC presence in the top 10 with 8th place.

The men were racing GS on the Legacy Training Center run, and National Team member (and BCST alum) Ford Swette set the tone with a scorching run 87/100ths faster than runner up Huston Philp of AST. Dominic Unterberger was 1/100th behind Philp in 3rd after run 1. The second run set strayed onto snow which did not firm up as well as the morning set, which resulted in some big holes as the flip wound down. The top U18 on the day, Liam Wallace, from Sunshine Resort, won the run starting 18th. The top 1st run racers struggled with the rutting course, with Swette only managing the 34th fastest time, and Unterberger failing to finish. Philp posted the 8th fastest 2nd run time for the overall win ahead of AST teammates Keegan Sharp and Collin Taylor.

Sunday dawned wetter than Saturday, with steady rain continuing to fall. Course prep on both race hills was similar to Saturday, with a salt layer going down before inspection and then again post inspection. The ladies were again out of the gate promptly at 9am, with no sign of the rain letting up. Tyra Collombin once again set the pace ahead of Emily Unterberger and Nakia Kamachi. The rain finally stopped during the 2nd run reset. AST’s Georgia Burgess took 2nd run honours ahead of a tie for second with Katie Fleckenstein and Mikaela Fitzgerald. Emily Unterberger took the race win with the 7th quickest 2nd run, with Burgess in 2nd spot and VST’s Kristina Natalenko in 3rd and top U18.

"Really happy with the outcome of the race," said Natalenko. "It was fun racing in the rain. The course was nice and icy thanks to the many people that salted. Overall it was an incredible weekend. Had lots of fun racing at Red."

On the men’s side, Canadian U18 GS champion, and BCST member, Max Kirshenblatt laid down the fastest 1st run time in the deluge.

"It was a fairly wet weekend of ski racing but keeping a positive attitude I managed to make it a pretty successful couple days of GS,: said Kirshenblatt. "It felt great to get a pair of solid results under my belt and it was also really cool watching teammates Ford and Dom win both slaloms."

AST’s Ben LeGree was 2nd and Dominic Unterberger was 3rd, all within 21/100ths of a second. Run 2 was a free flowing set won by Keegan Sharp ahead of Adrien Grabinski (29th on the 1st run) and Huston Philp in 3rd. Philp’s strong 2nd run vaulted him 1/100th ahead of Unterberger (the same difference as the previous day) with Sharp snaring the final podium spot. Kirshenblatt was top U18 in 4th position.

Rank	Bib	Men's GS Mar 5/16			Run 1	Run 2	Total
1	9	PHILP Huston	1997	CAN	1:01.80	59.59	2:01.39
2	10	SHARP Keegan	1997	CAN	1:02.56	59.08	2:01.64
3	6	TAYLOR Collin	1995	CAN	1:02.22	59.64	2:01.86
4	8	WALLACE Liam – 1st U18	1999	CAN	1:03.25	58.93	2:02.18
5	15	KIRSHENBLATT Max 2nd U18	1998	CAN	1:02.74	59.66	2:02.40
6	11	CARRY Patrick	1995	CAN	1:03.16	59.37	2:02.53
7	13	SOETAERT Michael	1996	CAN	1:02.95	59.68	2:02.63
8	3	LEGREE Ben	1996	CAN	1:02.28	1:00.45	2:02.73
9	14	WEBSTER Ryan 3rd U18	1998	CAN	1:03.69	59.14	2:02.83
10	16	KELLY Justin	1996	CAN	1:03.64	59.32	2:02.96


Rank	Bib	Ladies' SL Mar 5/16			Run 1	Run 2	Total
1	4	CUMMING Meg	1997	CAN	56.04	51.98	1:48.02
2	7	COLLOMBIN Tyra	1997	CAN	55.57	52.49	1:48.06
3	6	FITZGERALD Mikaela	1996	CAN	57.41	53.88	1:51.29
4	10	FLECKENSTEIN Katie 1st U18	1999	CAN	58.08	53.24	1:51.32
5	1	MILLER Kyla	1996	USA	56.97	54.69	1:51.66
6	13	UNTERBERGER Emily	1996	CAN	58.30	53.95	1:52.25
7	5	KAMACHI Nakia 2nd U18	1999	CAN	58.07	54.35	1:52.42
8	3	MACDONALD Frances 3rd U18	1999	CAN	59.40	53.99	1:53.39
9	26	RUFENER Michelle	1999	SUI	59.93	54.05	1:53.98
10	20	BEZENAR Sydney	1998	CAN	1:00.35	54.36	1:54.71

Ladies' U18 Podium March 5 (left to right) Nakia Kamachi, Katie Fleckenstein, Frances MacDonald PHOTO CREDIT: Martin Tichy

Rank	Bib	Ladies' SL Mar 6/16	Year	Nation	Run 1	Run 2	Total Time
1	2	UNTERBERGER Emily	1996	CAN	50.00	53.49	1:43.49
2	6	BURGESS Georgia	1997	CAN	51.76	52.12	1:43.88
3	3	NATALENKO Kristina 1st U18	1999	CAN	51.12	53.07	1:44.19
4	10	TAYLOR Sarah	1997	CAN	51.75	52.81	1:44.56
5	1	KAMACHI Nakia 2nd U18	1999	CAN	50.60	54.39	1:44.99
6	26	RUFENER Michelle 3rd U18	1999	SUI	52.26	53.02	1:45.28
7	4	FLECKENSTEIN Katie	1999	CAN	53.03	52.56	1:45.59
8	9	FITZGERALD Mikaela	1996	CAN	53.84	52.56	1:46.40
9	22	BELCZYK ZOE	1998	CAN	52.79	53.90	1:46.69
10	20	BEZENAR Sydney	1998	CAN	53.05	53.65	1:46.70

Ladies' U18 Podium March 6 (left to right) Nakia Kamachi, Kristina Natalenko, Michelle Rufener PHOTO CREDIT: Martin Tichy

Rank	Bib	Men's GS Mar 6/16	Year	Nation	Run 1	Run 2	Total
1	3	PHILP Huston	1997	CAN	1:03.15	56.58	1:59.73
2	2	UNTERBERGER Dominic	1994	CAN	1:03.04	56.70	1:59.74
3	9	SHARP Keegan	1997	CAN	1:03.94	55.91	1:59.85
4	6	KIRSHENBLATT Max 1st U18	1998	CAN	1:02.83	57.41	2:00.24
5	1	LEGREE Ben	1996	CAN	1:02.97	57.50	2:00.47
6	15	SWETTE Ford	1993	CAN	1:03.72	56.79	2:00.51
7	16	KELLY Justin	1996	CAN	1:03.18	57.57	2:00.75
8	10	SOETAERT Michael	1996	CAN	1:03.41	57.57	2:00.98
9	14	WEBSTER Ryan 2nd U18	1998	CAN	1:04.52	56.58	2:01.10
10	5	DAVIDSON Brian	1996	USA	1:03.17	57.97	2:01.14

Natalenko 3rd, top U18 at Red Mtn Fidelity GS; Unterberger wins day 2 SL

by Kathy Stahr | Mar 4, 2016 | Member News

Dominic Unterberger (BCST/Revelstoke SC)

FLASH QUOTES:

Asher Jordan (WMSC) earned U18 bronze in Thursday's slalom: "I knew if I skied my best, then I would be competing. There were a couple of mistakes, but I worked thru them. The snow is soft and weather is warm, but it was dry and the Red crew is working hard for this race! It's always fun to be around the provincial team guys, I enjoy racing with them.‎"

Kristina Natalenko (Grouse Tyee/VST) finished 3rd overall in Thursday's GS, good enough for U18 gold: "My goal was not focusing on results. It was just me, the course and having fun with it. The snow conditions were very unique, it required being easy on your edge. I focused on not jamming at the top on my turn, It seemed to work for the most part. Friday's GS conditions were perfect. Hard snow in the morning with a nice flowing rhythm in the course. Second run, everyone cooperated to make the best of the best snow. Coaches and volunteers salted the course and made it an amazing race."

Dominic Unterberger (BCST/Revelstoke Ski Club) was third on Thursday's SL podium and climbed to the top step in Friday's slalom race: "Pretty happy with the outcome of today, always nice to be on the top step of the podium. Hopefully it's the last time I have to learn this lesson, but simple skiing is always going to be fastest for me. I'm looking forward to the next couple days of GS racing down here in Rossland."

Nick Cooper (BCST Head Coach): "Dom skied well today, especially through the middle section on the second run. Once I saw those turns I knew he had it in the bag. I'm glad he got the win today by such a large margin, and hope this SL confidence can carry into Nor-Am finals for him!"

Ladies' Giant Slalom, March 3/16

Rank	Bib	Name	Team	Class	Result 1	Result 2	Combined
1	8	BODILY, Hannah	USA	U21	1:04.30 (2)	1:02.10 (3)	2:06.40
2	7	CUMMING, Meg	CAN	U21	1:04.45 (3)	1:01.98 (1)	2:06.43
3	4	NATALENKO, Kristina – 1st U18	CAN	U18	1:04.95 (5)	1:02.16 (4)	2:07.11
4	1	BURK, Alexandra	CAN	U21	1:05.09 (6)	1:02.18 (5)	2:07.27
5	35	RUFENER, Michelle – 2nd U18	SUI	U18	1:05.52 (7)	1:02.07 (2)	2:07.59
6	2	UNTERBERGER, Emily	CAN	U21	1:04.67 (4)	1:03.25 (10)	2:07.92
7	12	FLECKENSTEIN, Katie – 3rd U18	CAN	U18	1:05.81 (10)	1:02.77 (8)	2:08.58
8	14	FITZGERALD, Mikaela	CAN	U21	1:05.68 (8)	1:03.20 (9)	2:08.88
9	17	MAH, Nicole	CAN	U18	1:05.79 (9)	1:03.44 (15)	2:09.23
10	20	BEZENAR, Sydney	CAN	U18	1:06.64 (17)	1:02.61 (6)	2:09.25

Red Mountain Fidelity BC Cup GS – Overall Podium March 3 – left to right: Meg Cumming, Hannah Bodily, Kristina Natalenko PHOTO CREDIT: Martin Tichy

Red Mountain Fidelity BC Cup GS March 3 – U18 Podium – left to right: Michelle Rufener, Kristina Natalenko, Katie Fleckenstein

Men's Slalom, March 3/16

Rank	Bib	Name	Team	Class	Result 1	Result 2	Combined
1	1	SWETTE, Ford	CAN	SR	47.90 (1)	50.76 (1)	1:38.66
2	16	WALLACE, Liam – 1st U18	CAN	U18	48.73 (4)	51.14 (2)	1:39.87
3	3	UNTERBERGER, Dominic	CAN	SR	48.84 (5)	51.28 (3)	1:40.12
4	6	SOETAERT, Michael	CAN	U21	49.19 (7)	51.62 (4)	1:40.81
5	12	CARRY, Patrick	CAN	U21	48.88 (6)	52.10 (5)	1:40.98
6	2	LEGREE, Ben	CAN	U21	48.61 (3)	52.40 (7)	1:41.01
7	9	HARLE, Kole – 2nd U18	CAN	U18	48.42 (2)	52.60 (8)	1:41.02
8	24	JORDAN, Asher – 3rd U18	CAN	U18	50.01 (10)	52.24 (6)	1:42.25
9	17	COOK, Carson	CAN	U18	49.82 (9)	52.75 (10)	1:42.57
10	14	HOLM, Marcus	CAN	U18	49.60 (8)	53.04 (12)	1:42.64

Red Mountain Fidelity BC Cup Slalom – overall podium March 3 – left to right: Liam Wallace, Ford Swette, Dominic Unterberger

Red Mountain Fidelity BC Cup SL March 3/16 – U18 Podium – left to right: Kole Harle, Liam Wallace, Asher Jordan

Ladies' Giant Slalom, March 4/16

Rank	Bib	Name	Team	Class	Result 1	Result 2	Combined
1	3	CUMMING, Meg	CAN	U21	57.80 (1)	1:04.75 (1)	2:02.55
2	7	BELCZYK, ZOE – 1st U18	CAN	U18	58.92 (6)	1:05.06 (3)	2:03.98
3	2	UNTERBERGER, Emily	CAN	U21	58.20 (2)	1:05.83 (9)	2:04.03
4	15	BURGESS, Georgia	CAN	U21	58.75 (5)	1:05.55 (6)	2:04.30
5	13	NATALENKO, Kristina – 2nd U18	CAN	U18	59.07 (7)	1:05.42 (5)	2:04.49
6	5	FLECKENSTEIN, Katie – 3rd U18	CAN	U18	58.71 (4)	1:05.98 (10)	2:04.69
7	17	MAH, Nicole	CAN	U18	59.35 (8)	1:05.65 (8)	2:05.00
8	35	RUFENER, Michelle	SUI	U18	1:00.49 (15)	1:04.77 (2)	2:05.26
9	8	COLLOMBIN, Tyra	CAN	U21	1:00.14 (12)	1:05.34 (4)	2:05.48
10	9	TAYLOR, Sarah	CAN	U21	1:00.05 (11)	1:05.60 (7)	2:05.65

Red Mountain Fidelity BC Cup GS – U18 Podium March 4/16 – left to right: Kristina Natalenko, Zoe Belczyk, Katie Fleckenstein

Men's Slalom, March 4/16

Rank	Bib	Name	Team	Class	Result 1	Result 2	Combined
1	11	UNTERBERGER, Dominic	CAN	SR	49.13 (1)	52.14 (2)	1:41.27
2	12	PHILP, Huston	CAN	U21	49.88 (2)	53.47 (4)	1:43.35
3	10	SOETAERT, Michael	CAN	U21	50.04 (3)	54.59 (8)	1:44.63
4	16	WALLACE, Liam – 1st U18	CAN	U18	51.09 (6)	54.29 (5)	1:45.38
5	6	SWETTE, Ford	CAN	SR	52.86 (11)	52.53 (3)	1:45.39
6	7	WALL, Sam – 2nd U18	CAN	U18	50.74 (4)	55.00 (12)	1:45.74
7	4	LEGREE, Ben	CAN	U21	51.28 (7)	54.72 (10)	1:46.00
8	1	TAYLOR, Collin	CAN	U21	51.00 (5)	55.13 (13)	1:46.13
9	15	LEITCH, Jack	CAN	U21	52.69 (10)	54.46 (7)	1:47.15
10	17	COOK, Carson – 3rd U18	CAN	U18	51.74 (8)	55.47 (15)	1:47.21

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

by Kathy Stahr | Mar 4, 2016 | Member News

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

1	IRELAND Ned	1994	CAN
2	FURUNO Tetsuya	1997	JPN
3	SPARKOWSKI Erik	1996	USA

Sugarloaf, ME (USA) 01.03.2016

Nor-Am Cup – Ladies' Ski Cross

1	ATOMURA Akane	1992	JPN
2	WHITE Mara	1999	USA
3	GAIRNS Tiana	1998	CAN

Sugarloaf, ME (USA) 02.03.2016

Nor-Am Cup – Ladies' Ski Cross

1	GAIRNS Tiana	1998	CAN
2	ATOMURA Akane	1992	JPN
3	HOFFOS Courtney	1997	CAN

Sugarloaf, ME (USA) 02.03.2016

Nor-Am Cup – Men's Ski Cross

1	IRELAND Ned	1994	CAN
2	FURUNO Tetsuya	1997	JPN
3	HAYMANS Morgan	1993	USA

Sugarloaf, ME (USA) 03.03.2016

Nor-Am Cup – Ladies' Ski Cross

1	GAIRNS Tiana	1998	CAN
2	HOFFOS Courtney	1997	CAN
3	WHITE Mara	1999	USA

Sugarloaf, ME (USA) 03.03.2016

Nor-Am Cup – Men's Ski Cross

1	IRELAND Ned	1994	CAN
2	FURUNO Tetsuya	1997	JPN
3	FURUNO Satoshi	1999	JPN

Ladies' Nor-Am Cup Overall Standings

Men's Nor-Am Cup Overall Standings

Mittertreiner to represent Canada at 55th Trofeo Topolino U16 Race in Italy

by Kathy Stahr | Mar 1, 2016 | Member News

Congratulations to BC's Devin Mittertreiner, Fernie Alpine Ski Team, for qualifying to represent Canada at Topolino!

Canada has sent 6 U16 representatives to the prestigious Trofeo Topolino FIS international children’s race in Italy.

This year marks the 55th anniversary of this historic race which sees U14 and U16 teams from around the world converge on the little Italian town of Folgaria.

FRIDAY, MARCH 4th is Fondo Grande U16 Slalom (W&M)

SATURDAY MARCH 5th Fondo Grande U16 Giant Slalom (W&M)

View live streaming and live timing on the event website: http://trofeotopolinosci.wix.com/trofeotopolinosci-en

This year’s Team Canada consists of:

Ladies

Eloise Carle, Quebec
Alyssa Hill, Team Pano – Alberta
Sierra Smith, Quebec

Men

Jamie Casselman, Team Pano – Alberta
Anone Emond, Quebec
Devin Mittertreiner, Fernie Alpine Ski Team

Coaches

Bebe Zoricic – Ontario

Sean Cameron – Team Pano – Alberta

Good luck Team Canada!

Crawford grabs super-G silver at World Juniors in Sochi; Seger comes 12th

by Kathy Stahr | Feb 29, 2016 | Member News

Another strong showing from Team Canada at World Junior Championships in Sochi, Russia. The men raced their previously postponed race at 9am local time, on a firm course that froze overnight. Jack Crawford (WMSC/National Development Team) took full advantage of bib #1 to attack the smooth, fast course set on the downhill track, finishing just 37/100ths of a second off of race winner Matthieu Baillet from France, starting with bib #2. The bronze medal was won by Marco Odermatt of Switzerland, 0.53 secs off of the pace in the 74-strong racer field.

Crawford said “starting bib #1 is always a tough place to be, as you have the entire amazing field of athletes to wait for to see if your time is good enough. Before the start I was concentrating on my recent Nor-Am super-G results (win in Lake Placid, NY), which were a confidence builder, and I was thinking about skiing fast and having fun. It is so great to be in Sochi, Russia. The organizers are putting on an amazing event and the venue is spectacular. There is a lot more racing to come and I hope that my results will continue, as I hope that my Team Canada teammates will reach their potential. I’d also like to thank the coaching staff, who have done an excellent job of preparing me for these races, and the whole staff at Alpine Canada Alpin.”

Brodie Seger (WMSC/National Development Team) also posted a strong showing, finishing 1 second back in 12^th spot. Seger noted “the conditions since we arrived in Sochi have been tough, with dramatic temperature swings and a couple of days of rain and fog softening up the piste. The event has been a lot of fun even though I personally have not found the results that I was striving for. A couple of crucial mistakes have cost me precious tenths of a second, but my confidence is still high because me teammates have been achieving strong results. It was pretty special listening to the Canadian anthem as Valerie (Grenier) stood on the top step of the podium the other night. It was a special moment that we as a team want to repeat again soon.”

BCST’s Stefanie Fleckenstein’s race came to an early end midway down the course when she missed a gate. “Obviously that was not the result that I was striving for," Fleckenstein noted. "I caught an edge coming into the middle section and missed the next gate. The experience so far has been awesome and the vibe on Team Canada is fantastic as my teammates have been on the podium. There is lots more racing on the schedule and I’m going to take what I learned today and go forward with a positive attitude.”

The World Junior Championships continue tomorrow with the men’s and ladies Alpine Combined, which has the racers doing a run of super-G combined with a one-run slalom race to determine the winner based on total time. It's a test of all-around racing, as the speed skiers tackle the slalom course and the slalom skiers try their hand at the high speeds of the SG course.

Women's World Juniors Super-G Results

Men's World Juniors Super-G Results