Shaw Television Whistler Cup Video – Online and available to watch here
Enjoy this 30 minute video about the 2009 Whistler Cup, courtesy of Shaw.
BC Alpine announces full Kinder 1 BC Quota selection for 2009 Whistler Cup
BC Alpine would like to congratulate the following athletes that have made selection for BC Quota in the 2009 Whistler Cup. The selection of K1 BC Quota athletes is from a zone allocation.
Payment for Whistler Cup must be made online at http://pay.bcalpine.com/ before April 6th. Cost is $410 for racers, $255 for coaches and includes; jacket, 4 day lift tickets, 4 breakfasts, 4 lunches, welcome party and banquet.
Girls
Coast:
- Sarah Kapur – Seymour
- Tara Stipec – Grouse
- Cassandra Mah – Grouse
- Madison Brainard – Grouse
- Courtney Sambrook – Mt. Washington
- Esme McTavish – Grouse
- Antonia Wearmouth – Grouse
North:
- Mikayla Gairns – Prince George
Okanagan:
- Megan Moffat – Kelowna
- Emilie Unterberger – Revelstoke
- Bobbie Colonna – Vernon
- Lauren Armstrong – Vernon
- Claire Madill – Sun Peaks
- Thirza Ross – Sun Peaks
Kootenays:
- Mia Henry – Fernie
- Hope Blissett – Kimberley
- Cassandra Bratton – Fernie
- Tyra Collombin – Fernie
- Courtney Hoffos – Windermere
- Rachael Tebulte – Red Mtn
Boys
Coast:
- Carson Llewellyn – Grouse
- Olivier Mercier – Grouse
- William Walton – Grouse
- Alexander Beaumont – Cypress
- Thomash Dancho – Seymour
- Levi Keay – Cypress
- Trevor Hoff – Cypress
North:
- Aaron Van Delft – Prince George
Okanagan:
- Segar Nelson – Kelowna
- Matt Kreutz – Vernon
- Mitch Smith – Revelstoke
- Evan Viszlai – Vernon
- David Boughton – Sun Peaks
Kootenay:
- Cole Tepper – Kimberely
- Matthew Lawrence – Fernie
- Stuart Finley – Fernie
- Aiden Gilbert – Kimberely
- Ryan Grady – Kimberely
- Axel Chore – Kimberely
BCST Alumnus Ali Leighton loves Montana State NCAA college racing life
Whistler – After a long and successful stint with the B.C. Ski Team, Whistler’s Ali Leighton is tearing it up as a skier in the U.S. college stream.
Leighton, now a member of the Montana State University ski team based in Bozeman, is happily settled in as an Exercise Science student at the NCAA Division 1 school. The idea of college racing appealed to her because after many years of racing with the B.C. team and the Whistler Mountain Ski Club (WMSC), the past winner of the Pontiac Cup women’s series standings wasn’t ready to leave her sport behind.
“I decided on racing college because I wasn’t really done with the sport and thought that I could still enjoy ski racing in a more relaxed setting,” Leighton wrote in an email to The Question. “College racing is a great opportunity to get an education and to continue with skiing in a competitive environment.”
Leighton, who knocked off national team racers to win a silver medal in the 2006 Pontiac GMC Canadian Championships super G event in Whistler, said she loves “the team aspect of college racing,” where individual results are combined to help the team score. The Alpine team tallies are then added to the Nordic team’s score for a total to rank against the other schools.
Happily describing how the college circuit is taking her to interesting places such as New Mexico and Alaska, Leighton said college racing is still highly competitive.
“There are lots of Europeans that come over to race NCAA that have good points and are fast skiers. It compares to races at the NorAm level that I participated in with the B.C. team,” she wrote.
With a 10th-place result at a race in Park City last season and several top-10 second-run times in slalom and giant slalom races this season, Leighton said she came well prepared to the program thanks to the B.C. team and the WMSC.
“Both teams provided a competitive environment with some great coaching that was able to carry over to my college career. I owe a lot to the WMSC program and Jordan Williams that set me up to qualify for the B.C. team, which really progressed my career,” Leighton wrote.
Williams warmly remembers Leighton’s rise with Kendall Benbow and Danielle Robson as the illustrious RC3 group — the Rookie Chicks 3 — who moved solidly from the WMSC to the provincial ski team. Williams said Leighton’s current path is “great to see,” offering a different set of opportunities and educational advantages while demonstrating what hardworking, focused athletes can achieve.
“She’s really a diligent athlete… Ali was one that was always prepared,” Williams said.
While she misses Whistler, Leighton said she’s happy where she is and enjoying the chance to try something new. She chose Montana State because it seemed like the best fit for her, with the school located in an active, outdoors-minded community like Whistler and a great group of athletes on the team, plus a passionate coach.
Leighton said she also misses racing super G — her favourite event with the B.C. team — but she sated her craving in a recent FIS Development Speed Series event at Big Sky Resort, where she finished fifth in a super G race.
After taking some lumps and hikes in the Western Regionals event in Reno, Nev., Leighton is hoping to tackle some more FIS races to close out the year with some solid results.
Written by Megan Grittani-Livingston
This article is courtesy of the Whistler Question newspaper and first appeared on February 26, 2009: http://www.whistlerquestion.com/article/20090226/WHISTLER02/302199743/1007
Kimberley Miele Cup Rescheduled / Moved – now in Panorama March 17 – 20
We have just learned that the Miele Cup that was cancelled due to snow conditions in Kimberley has been rescheduled in Panorama – March 17 – 20, 2009. 2 GS and 2 Slaloms will be held.
A race notice is already posted and available on the BC Alpine calendar (HERE). Panorama resort has accommodation available, please call Ryan Stemming (250) 341-3030. All entries should be forwarded to nbrush@intrawest.com – the cut off for entries is at noon Thursday, March 12 2009.
A special thanks to all the volunteers who stepped up and made a commitment to help.
Registration benchmark date for 2008/2009 season is February 1st 2009
BC Alpine uses February first as a benchmark date for membership registration in our database. It is important to us to have this information available, and thus we are reaching out to the clubs to please update all program registrations in our database by this time.
Important to note regarding this is that this is not a cut off or deadline towards registrations, so if you get more members join the club after this date please still add them. Do remember to add your members before they are involved in events, as the date/time they are registered with us is when their liability insurance starts and it cannot be done retroactively.