Western Candian Championships-Silverstar Resort,Vernon,B.C.

The Western Canadian Championships were held at Silverstar Resort February 18-20. This is an event which requires qualification to attend and all six of our local K1 athletes qualified to compete. Competition was fierce, there are no weak skiers at the Westerns and any placement in the top half of the field is a respectable result, simply qualifying to attend is an achievement. Each province and zone has a selection criteria to fill their quota of competitors for the event. There are four zones in B.C. and the quota of 40 male and 40 female skiers is shared among the four zones. The Western Championships includes clubs from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon, Alberta and B.C., each with their own zones and quotas.
Maja had an overall strong event with her results improving with each event.
Day one saw her place 39th and 41st in her two GS runs, teamate Keegan McCooey 54th & 57th.
Day two Maja had excellent results of 26th & 25th in her slalom runs, Keegan 41st and a DSQ in her second run.
On the final day Maja put in a very impressive 15th place in the Kombi event, Keegan placed 25th! These are both awesome results. These are the best skiers in Western Canada!
The Mt.Washington boys also put in amazing results for such a high caliber event.
Kole Harle- GS 12&29, Slalom 11&53, Kombi DNF
Liam Gilchrist- GS 24&14, Slalom DNF&DNF, Kombi DNF
Logan Frame- GS 25&29, Slalom 14&DNF, Kombi DNF
Robbie Yelland- GS 41&60, Slalom 39&38, Kombi 34
Way to go Mt.Washington, way to go Maja. A 15th place finish at the Western Canadian Championships!
Next up, the B.C. Provincial Championships hosted right here at home at Mt.Washington!

New Do

Maja decided it was time to shorten those long locks and go for a fresh, tidy, less snow clumping look, before the Westerns. We think it looks great, and definitely attracts less snow.

Little Sister and Niece from Norway show off their skills

We had family visiting from Norway Feb 10-24. Maja's uncle Paal and her six year old niece Embla came to visit and enjoy the local ski hill. Embla had only been on alpine skis for half a day before coming to Mt. Washington. She has an incredible amount of determination and after only one day on our bunny hill she wanted to take part in Mt.Washingtons Nancy Greene Toy Race. The Toy Race was a fun event for local club members and a warm up for the following weekends Experience the Podium Nancy Greene event which saw visitng clubs from Grouse, Seymour, Cypress and Whislter. Everyone had a great time at the Toy race and the weather and snow were epic. There is a video segment from this event with runs from Embla and Sylvi.
The Experience the Podium race was also a huge success with lots of local kids and visiting clubs. Sylvi competed in the 9 year old female category. She placed first in the dual Glalom on day one and first in the Kombi on day two. Her times were awesome. She not only won her division but on day one her time was the fastest overall, inlcuding the 10 and 11 year old girls and the boys! On day two she had the second fastest time, second only to one of the older boys from her club, Jared Perras by less than a second. Nice skiing Sylvi. There is a video segment from this event as well.

Grouse K1 Slalom February 5&6

The Mt. Washington K1 Alpine Team travelled to Grouse Mountain leaving on February 3rd for a 2 day slalom event. This is the last race to qualify for the Western Canadian Championships. Only the top 18 skiers from each zone qualify for the Westerns, based on their points for the season so far. The Mt. Washington team had excellent results at this race.
In her first run Maja disqualified when she unknowingly missed a gate at the end of a flush. Had she skied the run clean her time would have put her in 3rd place only a fraction of a second behind her team mate Keegan McCooey who put in a phenomenal run for 2nd place. In their second run Maja placed 6th  and and Keegan did not finish her run.
The boys also placed extremely well. 1st run Kole Harle 5th, Liam Gilchrist 6th, Logan Frame 10th and Robbie Yelland 12th. 2nd run Harle 1st!, Frame 6th, Yelland 9th and Gilchrist 14th.
On Day two the two run times were combined for a single result. Maja placed 12th and her team mate Keegan 16th. The boys had some trouble finishing this course , except Logan Frame who came in with an awesome 3rd place finish. There were 42 girls and 45 boys competing.
After this event and all the consistent top  20 finishes at previous events, every single one of our K1's have qualified for the Western Canadian Championships. Awesome! The team's results are all so consistently good for the whole team, that Mt. Washingtons K1's have the best team standing in B.C. !!! Well done.

Good luck at the Westerns, competition will be fierce with only the top 18 ranked skiers from each zone from B.C. to Saskatchewan. There are 4 zones in B.C.

K2 Coast Zone Giant Slalom Race at Mt. Washington

Our club hosted a Coast Zone K2 Giant Slalom race on January 22-23. Maja and the other K1 team members as well as the Snow Leopard from Ghana were chosen to fore-run the race. Fore-runners race the course before the competitors to ensure the gates and timing are all properly placed, safe and functional. One of our local volunteer Ski Patrollers, Don "Moose" McCauley put together an awesome video clip of the event which I've included in the post, as well as clips of Maja and the Snow Leopard.

Hemlock Race

The K1's travelled to Hemlock Resort, northwest of Harrison Hot Springs, for competition on January 14,15 &16. Unfortunately this event did not run smoothly and the competitors were left with 2 gs runs for the girls and one for the boys on the Saturday with all other runs cancelled due to weather and ski lift malfunctions. This was supposed to be six events over three days. The Friday races were cancelled due to rain and from the sounds of it a lack of organization. Saturday saw two runs for the girls and one for the boys due to issues with the chair lift and weather. Sunday events were cancelled due to weather and failure of the chairlift. This was a very disappointing trip for the team as a lot of effort and expense goes into training and travelling for these events. Maja placed well in her first run at 10th and 12th in her second run. Her team mate Keegan McCooey placed 28th in her first run and an impressive 4th in her second. The boys also skied well in their one Giant Slalom run. Liam Gilchrist 4th, Logan Frame 10th, Robbie Yelland 11th and Kole Harle missed a gate on his run. Maja's ever faithful grandpa travelled with the team to Hemlock but due to the foul weather and the heavy work load for the few volunteers he didn't manage any photos or videos for this event.