Local Sports

The first of what organizers hope will be an annual Randonnee Rally on Whistler Mountain attracted a group of 40 backcountry skiers, eager for the opportunity to show off just how fast they could skin up and ski down our local peaks.

A group of Whistler skiers and Whistler Mountain Ski Club alumni cracked the top-10 in the Pontiac GMC Cup race series last week in Nakiska, Alberta. In the men’s GS on Jan.

Grandi, Cousineau top-15 in GS; Guay, Lavoie top-30 in downhill Thomas Grandi is on a roll these days. A week ago the 30-year-old from Canmore, Alberta, finished ninth in a slalom, his best World Cup result in the discipline in three seasons.

A quick trip to Lake Tahoe last week netted Ashleigh McIvor a spot in the skier cross at the Winter X Games in Aspen at the end of the month.

There are still spots available for the second annual Lost Lake Shuffle, a four-hour endurance and relay race around the Lost Lake cross-country ski trails.

For the past two months, the Whistler Mountain Ski Club K2s, aged 13 and 14, have been training for race season.

Exhibition games and practices for Whistler Women’s Volleyball get underway on Jan. 13, and more players and teams are welcome to join in.

The landings were hard at the Vans Triple Crown season opener at Breckenridge, Colorado, last weekend, but not hard enough for Whistler rider Etienne Gilbert.

Last season Cross Country Connection owners Chris Waller and Ian Goldstone held the first ever Lost Lake Shuffle, a four-hour endurance and relay race, to generate some excitement for Nordic skiing in Whistler.

Randonnee Rally part of Big Mountain Experience weekend The backcountry is a tranquil place, and ski touring is typically viewed as a relaxing pastime.