By Mary Clayton/Revelstoke Ski Club
The past week marked a very exciting step for the Revelstoke Ski Club’s FIS team members Emily Unterberger and Jamie Park. The two girls competed in their first NorAm Cup race — the highest level of competition before the World Cup.
Nor-Am races are where Canada’s aspiring ski stars get the chance to compete against other up-and-coming athletes from the US and around the world. Competitors include members of Canada’s national team, Olympians and skiers with World Cup experience. The top two overall competitors in each discipline win a World Cup spot for the following season in that event.
Revelstoke skiers attended the final Nor-Am Cup of the season, which was held at Nakiska, and raced slalom, GS and Super G.
“The training here in Revelstoke has been awesome so when we left for Nakiska. I was feeling great on my skis,” said Jamie Park. “The Nor-Am was a great way to gain experience racing against such talented skiers.”
Team-mate Emily Unterberger echoed the sentiment. “This past week has been filled with new experiences,” she said. “Although I didn’t ski my best, it was a great experience to compare myself to some of North America’s best girls.”
The next stop for the FIS team will be in Whistler at the end of the month for the National Championships and the finals of the Keurig Cup series. The skiers will be getting in lots of training at RMR to prepare for these last races of the season.
The club’s U14 skiers competed in the provincial championships over the past weekend, held at Sun Peaks Resort. Head coach Ned Lazarevic reported the younger racers held their own against a deep field of nearly 100 racers in both the girls’ and boys’ categories. “Our kids all had higher bib numbers and soft snow meant they were racing in very tough conditions,” said Coach Lazarevic. “But despite that, they did well against older competitors.”
Jenna Knight and Colm Molder both had three top-15 finishes for their age categories in GS, and Colm went on to a top-10 finish for his age category in slalom.
The next race for the younger athletes will be the zone finals for U12, U14 and U16 skiers, which will be held here in Revelstoke on March 29–30. Come on out, enjoy the last few days of skiing on our home mountain and cheer on our Revelstoke racers!