Alpine ski racing is typically done on hard, icy slopes, not in epic powder. But on March 10 it was deep, deep snow for the 150 young competitors who arrived at Whitewater for the Nancy Greene Ski League Kootenay Zone Finals.
An army of friends, parents, uncles, aunts and grandparents teamed up to battle the heavy snow with shovels, rakes and their skis to create and maintain the hard base needed for the race.
Like the snow, the results were epic.
The four Whitewater teams scored two first places and two second places. Skiers in the E2 and E3 categories also took home some of the coveted hardware with top individual performances by Ohia Wintraub third place; Arlo Henderson, second place; Yael Oosthuizen third place;Brianna Marcoux, third place; and Cameron Erven second and third places.
“The kids, the coaches, the parents—we’ve all had a great season,” says head coach Dylan Henderson.
“The BC Alpine Association also completed an assessment of our program that was very positive. They are really impressed with how many kids are coming into our program. They gave us some great suggestions that we look forward to implementing next year. The team just gets better and better!”
Skiers who might want to join the team next year can now go to the new website www.whitewaterskiteam.ca.