Kimberley Alpine Team athletes hit all corners of the province last week. Nancy Greene Racers travelled to Kicking Horse Resort in Golden, U14 racers participated in BC Winter Games at Hemlock Valley and U16 athletes skied at Purden, near Prince George for their provincials.
Young Kimberley Ski Racers Perform in Golden
Twelve ski racers from Kimberley Alpine Team participated at the Kicking Horse Nancy Greene Invitational Race. Ski Clubs from Kimberley, Lake Louise, Revelstoke, Fernie and Golden attended the race. The race consisted of a Giant Slalom course and in spite of the very strong competition, the Kimberley racers held Kimberley’s name up high by performing very well at the race.
Results
Hailey Pasula - 1st place – girls age 4
Alek Damnjanovic - 3rd place – boys age 6
Katarina Damnjanovic - 1st place – girls age 7
Brayden Pasul - 2nd place – boys age 7
Brendan du Preez - 5th place – boys age 8
Jorja Look - 5th place – girls age 8
Avery Blair - 1st place – girls age 9
Trent Walkley - 6th place – boys age 9
Charlize du Preez - 1st place – girls age 10
Georgia Polomski - 2nd place – girls age 10
Taya Woods - 3rd place – girls age 10
Brendon Hoechsmann - 2nd place – boys age 10
Three U14 Kimberley Alpine Team members travelled to Hemlock Valley Resort to compete in the alpine ski events for the BC Winter Games on Feb 21st to 23rd. Emma Damm placed 16th in the slalom and giant slalom and 11th in the skier cross. Jamie Casselman and Ethan Blair competed in the U14 slalom, however mother nature and a broken chair lift interfered and the boys did not get to race their giant slalom and skier cross race. As disappointing as it was for the boys, they still had a fun experience flying to Mission with their Kootenay zone team and spending a weekend with ski racers from across the province. These U14 athletes look forward to BC provincials which will be held in Sun Peaks in mid March.
Three U16 racers went to Purden Mountain outside of Prince George for their provincial show down. Zoe Chore, Bronwyn Damm and Katie Clark were amongst 69 athletes from all over BC. The six days of racing consisted of two days of super g, two days of giant slalom and two days of slalom. Zoe Chore placed 5th in the province and her best result was 3rd in slalom. Katie Clark’s best result was 33rd in gs. Bronwyn Damm’s best result was 39th in slalom.
Former Kimberley Alpine Team Members are also doing well. Indy Sherret has been invited to compete in her first World Cup Ski Cross in Sweden later this month. This is an opportunity for her to test her meddle against the world’s best, but more this is an opportunity for her to learn.
Rebecca Bermel and Gina Norton are competing in their own backyard at Kimberley Alpine Resort in the FIS Keurig Super G and Downhill March 2nd to 7th. Over 90 athletes from Canada, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, and USA will be racing super g, downhill and slalom. This will be the first speed event for this age group and it will be used as a training opportunity.
In addition to the day racing, a night slalom race will take place Thursday March 6th at 6pm. Though crowds of 45,000 like they recently saw in Norway, are not expected in Kimberley it will be a great event to come out and watch.
Kimberley Alpine Team has been in operation since 1987. The club provides fall and winter programs for developing the love of skiing in children from the ages 4 to 19 with operations based at the Kimberley Alpine Ski Resort. For more information go to www.KimberleyAlpineTeam.ca