By Karl Klassen, Revelstoke Ski Club
On April 3–5, Revelstoke’s U14 ski team ended their racing season at the 23rd annual Whistler Cup, where more than 400 skiers from 26 countries competed in North America’s premier youth race. The weather was unsettled all weekend but racing conditions on the upper mountain were good and as always, the Whistler Ski Club and Whistler-Blackcomb Resort hosted a great event.
In the U14 category there were more than 130 racers in each of the men’s and women’s events. Friday consisted of a dual slalom event for the boys and girls. On Saturday the boys ran a two-run combined-time slalom and the girls raced giant slalom. On Sunday the boys moved to the GS course and the girls switched to slalom.
No Revelstoke athletes made the top 16 cut for Friday’s dual slalom but Aleks Klassen came close with a 22nd in the qualifying round. On Saturday Jenna Knight came up with a 35th in GS, while in the boy’s slalom Aleks again broke the top 30 coming in at 25th, and Colm Molder broke the top 50 at 43rd.
Sunday proved a challenge for everyone with Aleks just missing the top 30 in GS followed by Colm at 52nd, while on the slalom course Jenna came in 51st.
First year teammates Lowell Schmidt, John Sidjak, Nolan Gale, and Sophia Humphries put in a great effort all weekend against a deep field of talented international competitors.
“Aleks, Colm, and Jenna skied well,” said head coach Ned Lazarevic. “And the whole team gained valuable experience competing against top racers from around the world. We’re in a good position to have a great season next year.”
Revelstoke’s FIS skiers are at the final Keurig Cup event in Panorama this week. We wish them luck at their final race of the season.