At the end of March, the Whitewater Ski Team hosted the Kootenay Zone Race Finals. More than 90 racers, 70 volunteers, 15 coaches and 60 parents came together to make this happen.
Athletes came from as far away as Calgary, and ranged in age from nine to 69. There were 49 racers from Fernie Alpine Ski Team, over 20 racers from Red Mountain, racers from Kimberly, Salmo, Summit and of course a huge group of over 20 very enthusiastic racers from Nelson’s own Whitewater Ski Team.
The race was held on Bonanza ski run, with the finish line being only a short distance from the lodge. It proved challenging racing conditions with plenty of powder and soft snow, but thanks to the exceptional course work there was some fabulous racing.
Whitewater Ski Team posted some excellent results. There were several U12 skiers on the podium in nearly all of the races including Henry Leishman and Aliza Jones. Liam Jones came back from injury to get a silver medal in Slalom.
The local club came second in the battle for the Kootenay Cup which is a trophy awarded to the club that has the most podiums from the weekend. Fernie took the cup home this year.
Dylan Henderson, head ski coach for the Whitewater Ski Team was pleased with how well the race was organized, and how his up and coming racers performed.
“This shows that Whitewater is a serious ski racing venue that athletes want to come to. They love Nelson and skiing at Whitewater. This weekend also shows that we have a very competitive ski racing program that is producing some very talented ski racers,” said Henderson.
This event brought the ski racing circuit to a close, but organizers are looking forward to next year with the younger racers in Nancy Greene Ski League, and the older racers skiing in the provincial league.
Anyone interested in skiing can visit the website at www.whitewaterskiteam.ca, or call Tracy Punchard at 250-505-5090.
The following are the Whitewater racers results:
Grand Slalom
Boys U12 races:
Henry Leishman — 2nd;
Troy Bellman — 5th and 6th;
Nathan Gaffran — 7th and 5th;
Yael Oosthuizen — 8th and 4th;
Kell Digiacomo — 12th and 11th;
Alex Murray — 13th and 12th;
Coda Punchard 14th and 16th;
Edan Sollid 16th;
Liam Lazier 17th and 10th.
Girls U12 races:
Aliza Jones — 1st and 2nd;
Sophie Hickson — 9th and 8th;
Gretchen Lewandowski — 11th and 13th;
Zarah Murray — 12th and 6th;
Adriana Wilson — 13th and 11th;
Sierra Pardoe — 14th and 12th;
Lauren Robertson — 16th and 14th.
Boys U14 races:
Arlo Henderson — 8th and 14th;
Garrett Waterfield — 11th and 8th;
Noah Gaffran — 13th and 9th.
Girls U14 races:
Kiley Waterfield — 13th and 8th;
Cheyanne Stevens — 15th and 14th.
Slalom
Girls U12 races:
Aliza Jones — 4th;
Zarah Murray — 5th and 6th;
Gretchen Lewandowski — 10th and 9th;
Sophie Hickson — 12th and 12th;
Sierra Pardoe — 13th and 15th;
Adriana Wilson — 14th and 14th;
Lauren Robertson — 15th and 13th.
Boys U12:
Henry Leishman — 2nd and 3rd;
Yael Oosthuizen — 4th and 8th;
Nathan Gaffran — 6th;
Troy Bellman — 8th and 6th;
Kell Digiacomo — 11th and 12th;
Liam Lazier — 13th and 11th;
Alex Murray — 15th and 9th;
Coda Punchard — 16th and 14th;
Edan Sollid — 15th.
Girls U14:
Kiley Waterfield — 9th and 10th;
Cheyanne Stevens — 11th and 12th.
Boys U14:
Liam Jones — 4th and 2nd;
Garrett Waterfield — 6th and 7th;
Arlo Henderson — 8th and 6th;
Noah Gaffran — 9th.
On Sunday Nelson’s former Alpine Ski Olympian Bobby Swan, finished 1st in the Masters race, while Leigh Brousson of Nelson finished in 2nd.