BCST racer Dylan Stevens and coach Eric Schwenck are in Tarvisio, Italy, gaining experience and taking on the world’s best ski racers under 21 years of age. Eric sent in this report on Friday:
“After a successful DH training run on Tuesday, where Dylan had his first look and his first time skiing down the track Wednesday was cancelled because of heavy rain. Due to the heavy rain and snowfall overnight the start for Thursdays DH race was lowered to the SG start and the teams all inspected. After an hour delay the race organizers decided to further lower the start and change the DH to a 2 run sprint DH race. All the teams did a quick re-inspection of the course and the women kicked out of the gate at 11am with the men immediately following.
Dylan, starting with bib 43, punched his way into 24th in a 3-way tie with a German and Hungarian athlete, with a time of 51.16, 1.49 back from the Swiss leader. Dylan kicked out of the gate 7th in the second run. He made a small mistake in the large triple gate at the top of the course which lost speed for the middle flats.
With a strong final section of the shortened course Dylan finished with a final time of 1:42.45, 2.34 back from the German winner in 27th place.”
To view Dylan Stevens’ first run in Thursday’s downhill race click the button below (scrub to 40.19, Bib #43)
With a World Cup position on the line for next season, some of the best speed racers in North American converged in the East Kootenays at the Kimberley Alpine Resort for the Nor-Am Speed Series, under bluebird and cold condition.
Over 120 racers battled it out during two days of two-run sprint downhill races – a rare race format for this elite level of competition – followed by two super-G races featuring some World Cup level ski racers.
Kyle Alexander, a World Cup racer originally from the Whistler Mountain Ski Club, was the winner of the first two-run men’s downhill, ahead of fellow Canadian Raphael Lessard and American Mattias Wilson. The following day had a podium repeat, with Alexander taking the top spot on the box over Lessard and Wilson.
On the men’s super-G race days, Lessard moved up on the podium, putting down a blisteringly-fast time of 1:18.17, over a second ahead of Alexander and third place finisher Kyle Blandford for the Canadian podium sweep. Lessard and Alexander finished again 1-2 respectively on the final super-G race, this time within a razor-thin margin of 0.13 seconds, with Tanner Perkins of the U.S. finishing third.
On the women’s side, Haley Cutler of the U.S., was the clear winner of the first women’s one-run downhill, 1.69 seconds ahead of Annika Hunt, also from the states, followed by Shae Obrien, the fastest Canadian on the day. Cutler continued her dominance on day two, finishing over three seconds ahead of Canadian Zoe Gray and U.S. racer Viktoria Zaytseva, who finished second and third respectively.
The Dreadnaught track at Kimberley saw several weeks of speed racing action with speed camps and several downhill and super-G races. A total of over 2,000 runs were accomplished on the track, prepared but the Dreadnaught Race Crew and BC Alpine staff. (report continues below the photo gallery)
Photos by Rick Jensen
“Proper speed progression plays a crucial role in developing better technical athletes,” said Johnny Crichton, BC Alpine’s VP. “Kimberley provides an incredible environment where athletes can safely and confidently build their speed skills while learning how to stand on their skis effectively. Speed training camps and downhill training runs are vital in helping athletes gain the confidence they need, which ultimately translates into both improved performance and enhanced safety.”
Over 30 centimetres of snowfall before the event, challenged the crew but by race days the track was in impeccable race shape, icy and hard. The safe but challenging race track at Kimberley allows skiers to progress with tactics, technique and “speed confidence”.
“This track has helped develop some of the best ski racers in Canada, even in the world,” said Crichton, referring to Kitzbuhel champion Jack Crawford and World Cup winner Cameron Alexander, who both got their start into speed racing on this race track.
IIt is a ski race that will go down as one of the greatest in Canadian ski racing history. Jack Crawford and Cameron Alexander, both Whistler Mountain Ski Clubalum, delivered a performance for the ages in Kitzbuhel last week. The reactions around the world, in traditional media, social media and water cooler chatter the world over, it is a moment worth reliving. Over and over.
BC Alpine today announces seven athletes named to the BC Ski Team for the 2024-25 season.
After a productive and challenging pre-season of hard work and overcoming adverse conditions and environments, these young ski racers are ready for the rigours of this important stage of their development.
Since last Spring, the BC Ski Team began with a physical conditioning base, followed by productive ski camps in Chile, South America, and recently in Sun Peaks and Panorama.
“I couldn’t be more excited to get the competitive season. The team has been pushing each other forward over the last six plus months together … our preparation period was a battle against weather and other uncontrollables, but these athletes have been adaptable and keen to take advantage of all conditions. I think we all share in the feeling that it’s time to put the clock on for real and dig into the next few months of racing.”
Morgan Pridy, BCST Head coach
Highlights:
June 11 – July 10: Centralized off-snow training in Fernie, BC.
July 30 – August 25: On-snow prep in Corralco, Chile.
Sept. 30 – Nov. 1: On-Snow prep in Corralco, Chile.
November 11–22: On-Snow prep in Sun Peaks, BC.
November 22 to current: On-Snow prep in Panorama BC.
The season for the BC Ski Team and all FIS athletes will officially kick off in Panorama, first with the Nor-Am races beginning December 10th and then the FIS Christmas Series from Dec. 17-20, 2024.
“I’ve had the chance to spend some time with this team during the preseason, and I’m genuinely impressed with their progress and development,” said Johnny Crichton, BC Alpine VP. “The coaching staff – Morgan, Dillon, and Eric – have done an excellent job tailoring each athlete’s program to match the goals they’ve set together. It’s clear that everyone is putting in the work, and the effort is paying off.”
Congratulations to the following athletes.
BC Ski Team
Women:
Alexa Brownlie (2005) Whistler Mountain Ski Club (Whistler)
Jasmine Coubrough (2006) Vernon Ski Club / OST (Salmon Arm)
Hannah Jensen (2007) Whistler Mountain Ski Club
Thea Torn (2007) Whistler Mountain Ski Club
Left to right: Jasmine Coubrough, Hannah Jensen, Thea Torn, Alexa Brownlie
Men:
Baptiste Cais (2005) Fernie Alpine Ski Team (Field)
Dylan Stevens (2004) Grouse Mountain Tyee Ski Club (North Vancouver)
Oliver Young (2004) Vernon Ski Club/Okanagan Ski Team (Coldstream)
Left to right: Oliver Young, Dylan Stevens, Baptiste Cais
BCST Coaches:
Morgan Pridy, Head Coach
Eric Schwenk, Assistant Coach
Dillon Prophet, Assistant Coach
Photos by Andrea Heath, during a BCST training camp in Sun Peaks.
Close to 100 coaches, club executives and general members converged in Sun Peaks for a series of informative and thought-provoking meetings, workshops and conversations last weekend. A number of guest speakers stimulated conversations and updated coaches and members, who now aim to kickstart the 2024-25 ski season in a positive way.
And once again the annual awards banquet – “The Goldies” – put a bow on last season by awarding athletes, coaches, volunteers and officials in a heart-felt and memorable evening of cheers, laughs and even a few tears. The legendary skier (Canadian GOAT ski racer) Nancy Greene was on hand to present the awards at the always impressive Sun Peaks Grand Hotel and Conference Centre
“It was an incredible celebration of a great season,” said BC Alpine VP, Johnny Crichton. The dinner and presentations capped a productive three-day Member Summit, which included coach meetings, general member meetings and the official BC Alpine AGM. All said, 26 BC Alpine clubs attended the sessions.
Top photo: A highlight of the awards evening was when Kathy Stahr was presented with the President’s Awards, “for her dedication, tireless work ethic and long-term service to ski racing in British Columbia”.
For the first three weeks of August, the BC Ski Team experienced a bit of everything in Chile, South America, during an on-snow camp on Caorralco, a dormant volcano inside the Malalcahuello national reserve.
According to head coach Morgan Pridy, the team had some productive moments – mixed with a fair bit of adventure – for the seven skiers and four coaches. “There was a crazy big wind and rain storm that rolled through Chile on the tail end of our travel day. We had power outages everywhere … luckily our accommodations could be run on a couple generators, and the resort – since it is build in a national park – can’t run power lines up direct to the resort so they run all the lifts on diesel on so they were able to operate normally. It made for a crazy long drive, but a fun adventure for the kids.”
The team also had some productive training sessions, focussed on “slowing things down and working to establish – and to reestablish – strong fundamentals,” Pridy said.
Hannah Jensen (left), Jasmine Coubrough
L to R: Morgan Pridy, Oliver Young, Dylan Stevens, Dillon Prophet
L to R: Jasmine Coubrough, Hannah Jensen, Thea Torn, Alexa Brownlie.
The team then transitioned to training at higher volume and a mix of training environments, which included some sublime training days.
“This was our first on-snow camp together as a new team and new staff so it was a very cool experience learning how the athletes understand skiing and seeing the unique things each of them bring to our daily training environment,” Pridy said.
For Dillon Prophet, in his first camp as a coach of the BCST, it was a productive few weeks. “The surface really came together through the second half of the camp after some early storms,” he said. “Working with many of the athletes for the first time on snow, it was great to see how hard everyone works and how they push each other as a team. We spent some time slowing things down to establish a solid individual focus and laying the groundwork for a productive camp and rest of the season.”
Eric Schwenk, also new to the BCST staff, was equally impressed with the focus level. “Due to the storm the surface the first week wasn’t ideal, but the athletes took it in stride and put in lots of effort in their slow skiing and drill. Once the surface came together we got really solid GS and SL training. They were all working hard and capitalized on each day on snow.”
Former BCST member Soleil Patterson was also part of the on-hill staff, under the Jonny Kellock Foundation Interface program. Soleil will be working with the Vancouver Ski Team this season, primarily with U16 and also with the FIS athletes.
Pridy was happy with the overall focus and ability to adapt during the camp.
“Everyone performed admirably, took advantage of the bad days just the same as the good ones,” Pridy said. “Maybe it’s a BC upside, but wet & windy conditions didn’t deter anyone and all of our athletes have done the work and understand where they need to focus technically and have given themselves the opportunity for a productive next camp.”
*All photos and video supplied by Soleil Patterson
