An emerging Canadian ski racing phenom made headlines and collected some serious hardware in Prince Edward Island at the 2023 Canada Winter Games.
With steely resolve, a focussed attention to details and an obvious set of impressive skills, Roxy Coatesworth, from Golden, B.C., dominated the competition at Canada’s largest multi-sports games and claimed an impressive four gold medals in four events – super-G, giant slalom, slalom and ski cross. It was a clear sign that a star was unveiled on the slopes of Crabbe Mountain, New Brunswick.
Coatesworth was chosen as the British Columbia flag-bearer at the Closing Ceremony on Sunday. “’Being chosen to hold the flag is a huge honour,” said the 16-year-old with a big smile. “It’s amazing to be able to represent everyone back home and all the athletes around me. I’m proud that I can be looked upon as a good representative for BC.”
“I wouldn’t be here without all of my support from my family, friends, coaches, sponsors, and so many more,” says Coatesworth. “All of my results this week happened with them at my side.”
Overall, Team BC finished in second place in the medal standings (see table below) behind Quebec who claimed a whopping 151 medals. BC finished with 103 total medals, including 46 gold, 26 silver and 31 bronze medals. In total, 3,600 athletes across 20 sports and 175 events were contested at 18 venues. The event is massive.
The alpine team scored multiple top 15 finishes and five medals in total – including Maddox Johnson, of the Fernie Alpine Ski Team taking a bronze in men’s ski cross – and along with Coatesworth’s four-medal dominant performance, the alpine skiers from BC (full roster below) contributed to the overall success of the provincial totals.
The para skiers from Team BC also had a strong performance at the Games, taking home three medals – a gold, silver and bronze – over two events. Matthew Leach, from the Vernon Ski Club, and Sam Peters, of the Big White Racers finished second and third respectively in the men’s para giant slalom. Leach, 15, went on to win the men’s para slalom, capping an impressive few days of racing for the youngster from Lumby, B.C.
“We went there with the goal of being the best team in all aspects, not only on the hill, but also off the hill, being respectful, engaging, supportive and energized,” said BC Alpine VP Johnny Crichton. “Our team delivered and it was noticed by the rest of the country. Well done, team!”
Team BC got off to a “golden” start today in PEI, with Roxy Coatesworth, of Golden, BC, claimed the women’s super-G at the 2023 Canada Winter Games in Prince Edward Island, winning BC’s first medal of Canada’s largest multi-sport event.
With an aggressive mindset, the 16-year-old Black Dog Ski Club racer charged the course on Crabbe Mountain, taking the win comfortably with a time of 45.08 seconds, nearly a second ahead of the silver medallist Charlie Houde, of Team Quebec, and Rebecca Pelkey of Team Alberta who tied for second in 45.93. Coatesworth Team BC teammate Hannah Jensen, of Whistler, BC., finished just off the podium in fifth position.
The course was a good set and fun to go down,” said Coatesworth, who was the U16 national champion last season in both super-G and slalom. “Everyone was really hyped for the event today and the plan of attack was delivered and everything went really well.”
In the men’s event, Team Quebec was dominant on the day, taking the top 6 positions with Marek Novak, of West Vancouver, the top BC skier in 17th.
The super-G was the first alpine event of the Canada Winter Games, with the women’s and men’s giant slalom scheduled for tomorrow Tues., March 5th. See here for the full alpine schedule.
Alpine skiing has been a part of the Canada Winter Games since 1967, with previous winners such as current World Cup race Broderick Thompson, as well as many other such as Jan Hudec and Brit Phelan.
Final Results (top 5 and BC skiers) Tuesday, February 28, 2023 Crabbe Mountain
WOMEN
British Columbia Roxy Coatesworth0:45.08
Quebec Charlie Houde 0:45.93
Alberta Rebecca Pelkey 0:45.93
Quebec Arielle Desrosiers 0:46.20
British Columbia Hannah Jensen0:46.44
Other Team BC: 14. British Columbia Madison Sherriff 0:47.96 19. British Columbia Eva Wyse 0:48.73 22. British Columbia Maika Lennox-King 0:48.82 26. British Columbia Rylie Clark 0:49.33 31. British Columbia Amy Milne 0:50.53
MEN
Quebec Philippe Savard 0:44.37
Quebec Émile Piché 0:44.54
Quebec Luka McKinlay 0:44.82
Quebec Louis-Thomas Cantin 0:45.01
Quebec Henri Michaud 0:45.12
Team BC: 17. British Columbia Marek Novak 0:47.25 21. British Columbia Nick Kokot 0:47.46 26. British Columbia Maddox Johnson 0:48.08 27. British Columbia Sacha Jirasek 0:48.29 34. British Columbia Avery Tymchyna 0:48.84 39. British Columbia Gavin Russell Santoro 0:49.45
Seventeen deserving and lucky skiers from BC will be “surrounded by ocean, beauty and spirit” as the Canada Winter Games descends upon the beautiful Prince Edward Island in late February. 3,600 athletes, managers and coaches from 20 sports will embark on the largest multi-sport event in the country.
BC Alpine announced today 14 BC Alpine skiers and 3 para skiers from 7 clubs from across the province who have qualified to represent Team BC. The alpine and para-alpine events are scheduled from Feb. 28 – March 5th.
“We have a solid crew and I like our chances,” said Johnny Crichton, BC Alpine VP. “These are talented and competitive skiers in this group so let’s see what happens.”
Most events will be streamed for free on any device HERE. Viewers of the platform will also be able to enjoy plenty of on-demand content including archived events and daily recap videos. The full 2023 Canada Games broadcast schedule, including CBC Sports and Radio-Canada Sports coverage, can be found at this location.
Team BC
The Team BC squad is led by Roxy Coatesworth, of the Black Dog Ski Club, one of the top prospects in the country. Roxy won the U16 super-G nationals last season and has proven herself on snow and in the gym as a top prospect.
The skiers named below qualified for Team BC through a point scoring tabulation in ski races in the BC Alpine Teck Open series, in multiple disciplines.
Team BC – Men
Douglas Hunter, Sun Peaks Alpine Club
Maddox Johnson, Fernie Alpine Ski Team
Marek Novak, Whistler Mountain Ski Club
Nick Kokot, Whistler Mountain Ski Club
Gavin Santoro, Apex Mountain Racers
Sacha Jirasek, Big White Racers
Avery Tymchyna, Sun Peaks Alpine Club
Alternate: Mason Poitras, Sun Peaks Alpine Club
Team BC – Women
Roxy Coatesworth, Black Dogs Ski Club
Hannah Jensen, Whistler Mountain Ski Club
Madison Sherriff, Black Dogs Ski Club
Rylie Clark, Whitewater Ski Team
Amy Milne, Vernon Ski Club
Eva Wyse, Apex Mountain Racers
Maika Lennox-King, Whistler Mountain Ski Club
Alternate: Nikola Buchar, Windermere Valley Ski Club
Team BC – Para
Matthew Leach, Vernon Ski Club (Guide: Chase Ferguson)
Former BC Alpine skiers, now competing for Canada on the World Cup tour, put forward world-leading performances of late.
Take “Big Rig” Reece Howden, of the Apex Ski Club, scorched the ski cross race track in Idre Fjäll, Sweden, taking a win and second place over two days of racing. Howden now leads the World Cup ski cross overall standings with 481 points, with a sizable lead over Mattias Graf, of Austria (328 points).
At the same race, Marielle Thompson, of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club, raced to third place in the women’s race, moving her into third overall in the World Cup standings.
Marielle Thompson. Photo: Alpine Canada/GEPA.
Marielle Thompson. Photo: Alpine Canada/GEPA.
Reece Howden. Photo: Alpine Canada/GEPA.
Reece Howden. Photo: Alpine Canada/GEPA.
Cameron Alexander 6th at Kitzbuhel; Broderick Thompson 9th
Meanwhile over in Kitzhuhel, Austria, two Whistler Mountain Ski Club stars, scored top 10 finishes in the world’s most famous – and treacherous – World Cup downhill.
With snow falling on the 40,000 thousand fans in the grandstands at the base of the Hahnenkamm, Cameron Alexander started 27th and powered his way down the Streif course to finish sixth. In his 25th World Cup start, this is Alexander’s best result this season and his first top 10 since last season’s win in the downhill in Kvitfjell, Norway. The day before Broderick Thompson made an impressive jump from start number 39 to finish ninth, his first top 10 since a third-place finish last season in the super-G in Beaver Creek, Colorado.
Broderick Thompson
Cameron Alexander
Cameron Alexander
Broderick Thompson in the start for race #2 at Kitzbuhel.
“Today felt like I skied well,” said a pleased Alexander. “I had a solid run yesterday but there were a few mistakes that I wanted to clean-up. Did my best today to do that and it turned out really well. Kitzbühel is an insane place, coming into the finish with thousands of fans cheering felt really good. I’m stoked to build on this confidence heading into the next races and into the World Championships.”
Teammate Brodie Seger and James (Jack) Crawford, both of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club, also had strong performances at Kitzbuhel with top 30 restults to finish in the World Cup points. Kyle Alexander gained valuable experience in Kitzbuhel on the most difficult race course on the World Cup.
Meanwhile, over at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Stef Fleckenstein (Whistler Mountain Ski Club) inched closer to a World Cup top 30 finishing 32nd in the super-G.
Heming Sola goes “full throttle” in second run at World Juniors
On January 25th, current BC Ski Team racer Heming Sola (Apex Ski Club) had Canada’s best finish at the World Junior Championships after a blistering-fast second run of 48.80 moved him into 14th position from Bib 49.
“I figured if I wanted to have a good day I would have to go full throttle and that’s what I did,” Sola said after the race.
BC Alpine launched bcalpine.store, an e-commerce shopify website where users can directly support BC Alpine athletes and programs.
The initial product launch features toques, hoodies, various hats and t-shirts, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to BC Alpine and club programs. The product features the official tagline of BC Alpine “Conquer the Mountain” as well as the BC Ski Team message “Chasing Excellence”, in addition to a collection of BCST products.
“We’ve talked about this for a while now so it’s exciting that we have the store up and running,” said Anders Hestdalen, BC Alpine CEO. “The athletes did an incredible job at the photoshoot and I think they had some fun with it.”
BC Alpine will be adding inventory and new product lines to the store throughout the season.
The top skiers in the province are ready to roll and hungry for ski racing.
After a rigorous and productive pre-season, consisting of physical conditioning and on-snow training on two continents with a training group of 13 skiers, the BC Ski Team coaching staff are optimistic heading into the 2022-23 race season, which kicks off next week at Mt Norquay, Alberta.
Led by three returning skiers named to the BC Ski Team – Dylan Timm, Heming Sola and Tait Jordan – seven newcomers will continue to be part of the BC Training Group for the season. The skiers range from 16 to 20 years-of-age and represent six ski clubs from across the province.
“I’m anticipating this season for the BC Ski Team to be full of excitement,” said Johnny Crichton, BC Alpine VP, while travelling to Colorado with the men’s team. “We have a young and energetic women’s crew who are eager to put all their hard work to the test. Same on the men’s side … they are well prepared, excited and ready to race.”
Crichton mentioned the athletes have extra incentive and opportunity this season with BC hosting both the Canadian Senior National Championships in Kimberley and the Nor-Am Finals at Whistler, in March 2023. “Our teams are really looking forward to capitalizing on those opportunities,” Crichton said.
Women’s squad learning the ropes
According to Montana Molyneux, the BC Women’s Head Coach, the young women’s team have focussed on “developing strong habits positionally and pushing pace with themselves, and with each other.”
“Each athlete contributes so much to this new team, and we are continuing to build together,” she said. “It has been quite exciting to see strong female athletes wearing the BC Alpine patch and we are looking forward to a season of growth on and off the hill!”
The women’s teams had a specific focus on physical conditioning. “We chose to continue our fitness programming through September, which really paid off once we were on snow because it allowed the athletes to push a lot of high quality volume and foundational work,” Molyneux said.
One of the highlights for the women’s team was a trip to Belgium, to an indoor ski facility well suited for hard snow (aka ice) slalom training, followed by a week of training in Saas Fee, Switzerland, for GS training. When the team returned to Canada they had a productive 14-day camp in Panorama. “We were able to have a progressive build on the super-G skis and took advantage of the variety of terrain for a solid slalom block,” Molyneux said.
Both the women’s and men’s team started out the pre-season together in May in Sun Peaks at the BC Alpine MEGA Camp, alongside all ski clubs in the province (the camp is scheduled again for May 2023).
The women’s team is currently at home for a short rest and school block and will be getting ready to race the Norquay series followed by Panorama FIS races in December.
Men’s team ready to race
Morgan Pridy, the returning Men’s Head Coach, said that it has been a productive but challenging pre-season, particularly for the newcomers. “They’ve been working hard and trying to absorb as much as they can,” Pridy said. “ The returning skiers have been progressing well and are really looking like this is a true continuation of last season.”
The men’s team had on-snow camps at El Colorado, Chile, in September, Wittenburg, Germany, in October, in addition to training closer to home at Sun Peaks (in May) and Panorama (November). The team also had physical training testing in Whistler and Kelowna during the prep phase.
“Whether they succeed or fail, they are doing it the right way,” Pridy said when addressing his expectations for the season. “Skiing to your big goals is a long process for both the rookies and the vets. Of course I’m always hoping that things click into place right away but the reality is, we are about to go through the ups and downs of a long competitive season. If they are committed to the details, committed to the work, and find ways to be resilient individually and as a team, then the potential is sky high.”
The men’s team are now at Copper Mountain, Colorado, preparing for the first Nor-Am speed races of the season (two downhill and two super-G), starting this week. For the Training Group skiers it will be their first-ever Nor-Am races. Both teams will reunite in Panorama for the Alberta Cup Christmas series before heading home for the Christmas break.
BC Ski Team 2022-23
Dylan Timm (2002) Fernie Alpine Ski Team (Fernie)
Heming Sola (2003) Apex Ski Club/Okanagan Ski Team (Summerland)
Tait Jordan (2002) Whistler Mountain Ski Club (North Vancouver)
BC Training Group 2022-23
Women
Shayna Little (2005) Big White Ski Club/Okanagan Ski Team (Kelowna)
Mila Plavsic (2004) Grouse Mountain Tyee Ski Club (Vancouver)
Erin Husken (2005) Whistler Mountain Ski Club (North Vancouver)
Alexa Brownlie (2005) Whistler Mountain Ski Club (Whistler)
Ella Kaufmann (2005) Whistler Mountain Ski Club (North Vancouver)
Men
Sascha Gilbert (2004) Whistler Mountain Ski Club (Whistler)
Graeme Eder (2005) Grouse Mountain Tyee Ski Club (Coquitlam)
Dylan Stevens (2004) Grouse Mountain Tyee Ski Club (North Vancouver)
Oliver Young (2004) Vernon Ski Club/Okanagan Ski Team (Coldstream)
