By Matt Smider, Revelstoke Nordic Ski Club
Last weekend, members of the Revelstoke Nordic Ski Team hit the start line at the Rossland NorAm/Kootenay Cup for their first major event of the 2014-15 season. The NorAm circuit is Canada's premiere domestic race series, drawing athletes from several provinces, territories and states.
Warm and wet weather forced organizers to change venues from the Blackjack cross country trails to the higher elevation biathlon trailhead. Volunteers spent endless hours shovelling snow onto the trail to ensure proper coverage. A timely drop in temperature on Friday evening allowed for the tracks to be set and gave way to a fast, icy race course for the weekend.
Several pieces of equipment fell victim to the technical descents, including the skis of Revelstoke's own Emily Suchy, however all skiers came away with their fair share of stories and zero injuries.
The event was originally intended to be a a freestyle sprint race and interval start classic race, however the marginal conditions prompted a change to back-to-back interval start classic races. Nine Revelstoke Nordic skiers participated at the event, posting several top five placings:
Saturday:
1st - Simon Blackie, Midget Boys 1.6km
3rd - Beth Granstrom, Juvenile Girls 3.75km
4th - Alana Brittin, Juvenile Girls 3.75km
4th - Miika Park, Midget Girls 1.6km
Sunday:
2nd - Beth Granstrom, Juvenile Girls 7.5km
3rd - Simon Blackie, Midget Boys 3.75km
4th - Alana Brittin, Juvenile Girls 7.5km
4th - Jaclyn Elliott, Bantam Girls 2.5km
Skiers will enjoy a week of rest and local training heading into the holiday season. They will then jump into the race season beginning with an Okanagan Cup in Salmon Arm on December 27–28.