Summit Lake Ski Hill

The unexpected opening of our local hill last week split this Sunday's racers. Some were at Whitewater, some at Norquay, and some stayed home to practice at Summit Lake.

With the Provincials coming up, coaches Matt McKee, Doug McQuair, and Susan Madden used the freshly-groomed runs at Summit Lake to train their racers on the slalom and GS courses. Due to local conditions during the past two years, many of the High School team members, although proficient skiers and boarders, had never before run gates. Meanwhile, coach Alistair Skey led nine young Alcan Nancy Greene racers around the hill and through the gates to prepare them for out-of-town competitions.

At Whitewater, coach Elizabeth Waterfield led her team of nine 8-12 year olds all over the mountain in preparation for the Nancy Greene E2 race. Racers were individually timed through the course and compete for the fastest time. Tayari Skey took an 8th in the girls' and Tyler Groenhuysen was 7th in the boys' division. The course was very challenging as it was a tight, steep slalom course, which is not what Nancy Greene racers are trained for. Tayari commented that "the course was challenging because you had to turn so quickly. Good thing we trained with Susie (Madden - ex National Team racer) and the high school team last week!" After the race the conditions were absolutely premium and the team had a riot playing in the trees and launching off the jumps

In snowboard race action, Tim Markholm took his team to Mt. Norquay in Banff for their first ever FIS level alpine race. There was parallel GS on Saturday and parallel slalom on Sunday. Racers Jesse McDonald, Carly Thorp, and Alex Thorp were trying out their hard boots and race carving boards for the first time. Alex Thorp, despite unfamiliar equipment, took home 2nd place on Sunday. Coach Tim Markholm said, "This was a good experiment for us; it's definitely a different kind of racing from what we're used to. The kids learned a lot."