Contributed by the Revelstoke Ski Club
During the March break four Revelstoke Ski Club K2 racers attended the KLM CanAm Western Championships at Panorama Mountain near Invermere, hosted by Alberta Alpine and the Panorama Ski Team.
The four Revelstoke skiers joined a field of nearly 200 racers from across western Canada and the US to determine the Canadian U15 Western female and male champions in four disciplines: super-G, giant slalom, slalom and ski-cross.
On day one under clear skies the women completed their two run GS race in the morning, where Sonia Schwenck, the sole female racer for the RSC, skied two clean runs to finish in 46th position. Following the women’s GS event, the volunteers and men moved over to the slalom course for the afternoon. Mitch Smith just missed a podium finish by 0.02 seconds, finishing in fourth place. Callum Hicks showed his best result of the week with a 13th place finish, and Max Scharf straddled a gate on his second run after clocking a sixth best time on the first run.
On day two, the men and women switched courses, with the men first up for the GS. In heavy snowfall, Smith ran a seventh best time, Hicks bettered his first run time by four positions to finish 20th, and Scharf finished 25th.
On the slalom course in the afternoon Schwenck clipped a gate on her second run and was spun out of the course receiving a DNF.
The snow continued to fall on Friday resulting in soft conditions for day three, where both the women and men were scheduled for the super-G event. The course crew worked hard to prepare the track and after a short delay the women were first up. Schwenck started late in the group and skied to a 68th place finish.
In the men’s event, Smith finished with a time of 1:00.09 for 15th place, Scharf came 21st with a time of 1:00.33 and Hicks earned 37th sport with a time of 1:01.37.
“The fact that we are competing with the U.S. and Westerns Canada best skiers give our athletes the opportunity to challenge themselves, challenge their skiing, challenge their intensity and forces them to race at a different level then what they are used to,” said coach Ned Lazarevic. “Those kids really were able to push themselves in a way that they don’t have to when they are competing with the same kids day in, day out.”
On Sunday, Mar. 25, the Revelstoke Ski Club recognized its final day of the season for the Rio-Tinto Alcan Nancy Greene Ski League with a short awards celebration in the sunshine outside the mid-mountain lodge at Revelstoke Mountain Resort. With many of the coaches and racers dressed in crazy dress, each of the Nancy Greene program skiers were congratulated on their excellent improvement and participation throughout the season. Alex Klassen and Sophia Humphries were presented with most improved skier awards in the E2 division. In the K1 division, Linea Allain received the most improved female award and Caroline Bouwmeester and Callum Hicks received most improved female and male awards in the K2 division.
From the FIS team, Jamie Park was awarded the most improved female and Lachlan Hicks the most improved male. The final award presented was for the most sportsmanlike, which is voted on by the athletes themselves. It was shared by Sonia Schwenck and Emily Unterberger.
As the K and FIS racers have yet to finish their season the coaches will present the most valuable racer awards once the final races are completed.
The RSC extends its gratitude to all the Nancy Greene coaches and parents for their support this past ski season as well as to all the community sponsors who all contribute to the ski club’s success.
This coming weekend the RSC is looking forward to hosting 200 racers for the Okanagan zone Teck finals. Racers and their families will be arriving in town Friday night for Saturday’s slalom race and Sunday’s head-to-head dual slalom. Although this event is a Kinder and Juvenile level event, it is open to nine and 10-year old racers who will be moving to this level next year, making it one of the more exciting and fun events of the year for both the veteran racers and the soon to be.
Please be sure to come watch these future Olympians take on the gates on lower Hollywood at RMR.
Although many are starting to think of spring sports the FIS and K racers are continuing to prep their skis for the spring events, with the FIS team heading to Panorama from April 1-6 for the Miele Cup Spring series and the K racers waiting for the final qualifying list to be announced this week for the Whistler Cup to be held at Whistler from April 6-8.