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The Year in Sports

2004 was a big year in Canadian sports for so many reasons, both good and bad.

On the bright side, the first Canadian team in 10 years made it to the Stanley Cup final, with Calgary eventually going down to a team of Canadians, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

On the not-so-bright side, this was followed by the first hockey lockout in 10 years as the NHL contract process stalled and the owners dug in.

On the bright side, the CFL enjoyed a national resurgence with greater overall attendance and higher television ratings. Now there’s talk of an eastern expansion (in Canada this time), with teams considered for Quebec City, Moncton and possibly Halifax.

On the not-so-bright side, the Montreal Expos closed up shop at the end of last season, and are probably headed to Washington D.C. – a deal in limbo if the city can’t or won’t pay for a whole new stadium. The Toronto Blue Jays continued to hemorrhage money, while Rogers Communications bought the SkyDome for $25 million, despite the original $600 million price tag fielded by taxpayers. The billion dollar Big ‘O’ in Montreal, one year away from being paid off, will also be decommissioned and may actually be torn down, thus ending the era of big Canadian stadiums.

While pro sports have had their issues, amateur sports have also been on a roller coaster of their own.

The Canadian Freestyle Ski Team earned two World Cup titles and close to 25 medals to win the overall Nations Cup. The Canadian Alpine Ski Team and Canadian Snowboard Federation also made strides, aided by new funding made possible, in part, by Vancouver’s successful bid to host the 2010 Winter Games.

On the not-so-bright side, Canada limped through its worst summer Olympic performance in decades, earning just 12 medals. The silver lining to this story is a significant increase in government sports funding, from $90 million to $120 million, with athlete allowances increasing to $20,000 from $13,200 a year. Will it come in time to help Canada to its goal of being number one in the medal count in 2010? Only time will tell, but the signs are encouraging.

Whistler plays an important role in Canadian sports. We’re a home to some of the top snow sports athletes in the country, and a venue for alpine and Nordic events in 2010. In the years leading up to the Games, Whistler is going to be hosting more and more high profile events like the FIS Snowboard World Championships that take place next month. Other national sports organizations, like Ski Jumping Canada, will likely relocate to this area to be closer to the Olympic venues.

The young athletes taking part in events like the annual Whistler Loppet, the Sprite Park Rider Series and the Sierra Wireless Whistler Cup could very well be tomorrow’s Olympic heroes – just one of the reasons 2004 was such a great year for sports in Whistler.

These monthly highlights are far from comprehensive, but…

January

Jan. 5 – Whistler hosted the inaugural Power Vitamins Cup dual slalom races, with skiers facing off on the Upper Dave Murray for $10,000 in prize money. Trevor Bruce from the B.C. Ski Team edged out locals Jamie Finlayson and Paul Boskovich to win the men’s event. Hilary Lindh, an Olympic gold medallist in the downhill and one of the top skiers with the U.S. Team through the 1990s, won the women’s event, edging out Whistler’s Ashleigh McIvor in the last round. Kayla Benbow, another local, was third.

Jan. 2-5 – Whistler’s Michael Janyk led the Canadian development team at Nor Am Cup races in Maine, winning gold and silver in the slalom.

Jan. 10-11 – Canadian mogul skiers claimed five medals in four World Cup mogul events, just days after some of the top skiers publicly criticized the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association of mismanaging funding. While the freestyle skiers went on to one of their best seasons in history the organization was overhauled.

Jan. 9 – Blackcomb Mountain hosted the Canadian Freeskiing Championships, and for the first time in years the awards mostly went to international skiers. Pemberton’s Laura Ogden was second in the women’s event, while Panorama’s Ian McIntosh was second in the men’s competition. Whistler’s Moss Patterson was fourth, but won the Sick Bird award for dropping 50 feet onto ice, holding an Iron Cross almost all the way down.

Jan. 10 – Vancouver’s David Kvick won the solo category in the third annual Lost Lake Shuffle, completing 24 laps of a 3.5 km course in just over four hours. Arlene Schieven won the women’s event with 22 laps in the same time period. This year’s Shuffle takes place on Jan. 8.

Jan. 17-24 – Whistler athletes held their own in the X-Games, with Whistler’s Travis Williams finishing fifth in slopestyle, Aleisha Cline and Ashleigh McIvor finishing second and eighth in the skiercross, Mercedes Nicoll finishing seventh in the women’s superpipe, and Mark Abma and Charles Gagnier landing seventh and eighth in the skier slopestyle.

Jan. 24-25 – A pair of Whistler snowboarders, Justin Lamoureux and Crispin Lipscomb were fourth and ninth in a World Cup halfpipe, earning points that would help them to lock up quota spots for the 2006 Winter Games.

Jan. 30-Feb. 1 – The Whistler Mountain Ski Club, just weeks into the season, saw the success of their K1s and K2s carry into their J1 and J2 FIS skiers. Alison Leighton won the super G at the Mars Canadian Junior Alpine Championships at Apex Mountain Resort, earning the right to attend training camp with the national team in May. It was the WMSC’s only medal of the weekend, not including a combined medal for slalom and super-G, but the WMSC put skiers in the top-10 in every event.

February

Feb. 6-7 – Rob Boyd, Sead Causevic, Katie Dunn and Jamie Finlayson from the Whistler Mountain Ski Club won the annual Peak to Valley race, finishing more than a minute faster than the next best team, Wild Willies.

Feb. 7-8 – WMSC skiers and alumni continued to dominate the Pontiac GMC Cup series, winning 11 out of 24 medals. The leaders were Alison Leighton, Charlotte Whitney, Trevor Conroy, Ben Chaddock, and Robbie Dixon, while other skiers like Matt Holler and Julia Murray came close.

Feb. 8 – Canada’s Jasey Jay Anderson captured his first gold medal in snowboardcross in two years, propelling him towards his fourth overall World Cup tour champion title.

Feb. 9-15 – Canadian skiers made the podiums in almost every discipline at the FIS Junior World Championships. Francois Bourque of Quebec led the way with a gold and two bronze medals, while WMSC alumnus Manuel Osborne-Paradis won a silver.

Feb. 14-16 – The Blackcomb Freestyle Club emerged from its second provincial meet with a handful of medals. Eddie Hicks won gold in moguls and dual moguls, Zack Glansberg was second in the aerials, Dana Jensen was second in dual moguls, and Keltie Hicks was second in the moguls.

Feb. 21-22 – The first annual Sea to Sky Hockey Challenge saw all-star and celebrity teams take to the ice for a pair of exhibition games in Vancouver and Whistler, earning more than $20,000 for amateur athletes through the PodiumFund. The event is back this year with games on Feb. 26 in Vancouver and Feb. 27 in Whistler.

Feb. 22 – More than 170 people took part in the 27 th annual Whistler Nordics Loppet, including over 60 Jackrabbits aged 13 and under.

Feb. 22 – Whistler’s Crispin Lipscomb finishes eighth in the World Cup halfpipe, moving up in the rankings.

Feb. 27-29 – Some 14 Whistler athletes took place in the B.C. Winter Games, representing Zone 5, Vancouver-Squamish in five events. Brynne Benbow won a pair of gold medals, one in slalom and one in GS, while Ian Morrison won gold in the men’s slalom.

In gymnastics, Whistler’s first Level 3 gymnasts, Niki Sadler and Frances Moody, finished in the middle of the field against girls who train over 20 hours a week at full-time facilities.

Denise Begg-Smith finished fourth in the Pro-Novice category, while CJ Derpak was 10 th .

Nadine Crowe was seventh and eighth in a pair of cross-country ski races.

Four local athletes also took part in the new Street Sprints race, a competition that mimics the start of a four-person bobsled team. Alex Overbeck and Janna Romanin won bronze medals in the women’s category. Mike McCarthy and Matt Hernandez also raced.

Feb. 27-29 – Hundreds of young K2 athletes took part in the 25 th Annual Bob Parsons Memorial Races, racing in a pair of downhill events and a super G. The boys team took seven of nine medals and the girls team six out of nine, led by Daniel Penn, Morgan Pridy, Michael Kearney, Ben Podborski, Jennifer Mah, Sarah Marshall, Katrina Dekur and Smith Milner.

March

Mar. 3-5 – Whistler Secondary’s gymnastics team brought home two medals from the provincial championships, courtesy of Chantel Milan’s third place Level 1 floor routine, and Kristi Poole-Adler’s gold medal on the beam in Level 4.

Mar. 4-7 – Whistler hosted the Mars Cup FIS series, with the WMSC skiers winning seven of 18 medals, led by Scott Hume, Jeff Hume, Manuel Osborne-Paradis and Alison Leighton.

Mar. 6 – Eight Whistler triathletes made the podium in their age categories at the annual UBC Triathlon-Duathlon – Marla Zucht (2 nd ), Paul Berube (2 nd ), Christine Suter (1 st ), Paul Suter, (1 st ), Dawn Weberg-Titus (1 st ), David Higgins (3 rd ), Paul Nicholas (1 st ), Karen Blaylock (1 st ).

Mar. 6-7 – The Whistler Minor Hockey Association added four new banners to the rafters from the Lions Gate League, thanks to the Winterhawks Atom C1 team, the Peewee A team, the Peewee C team and rep team, and the Bantam C1 team.

Mar. 7 – Alexa Loo of Whistler and Richmond posted the best World Cup alpine result for a Canadian woman in a FIS snowboard event, finishing fifth in the parallel giant slalom.

Mar. 13-14 – The Blackcomb Freestyle Ski Club came home with two national champions and six medals from the 2004 Junior National Championships. Keltie Hicks won gold in single moguls and halfpipe and a bronze in dual moguls, Eddie hicks won a gold in moguls and a silver in dual moguls, and Zack Glanzberg was third in the halfpipe.

Mar. 13-14 – Whistler’s Valerie Legere was second in the B.C. Snowboard Championships, while Kerry Martin was fourth in the snowboardcross event, and second in snowboardcross standings.

Mar. 14 – After 10 weeks of competitions, the Canadian freestyle team emerged from the World Cup season with two titles – Jennifer Heil in women’s moguls, Steve Omischl in men’s aerials, and the Nations Cup for top overall team results – 23 medals and dozens of top-10 finishes.

Mar. 13-14 – Whistler’s K1 skiers earned six medals at the Juvenile Championships. Ian Spence-Morrison and Brynne Benbow won a gold and a silver each, while Alexander Binks and Madison McLeish won silver medals.

Mar. 11-14 – B.C. skiers led the way in the Nor Am Cup in 2004, with Rossland’s David Anderson winning the downhill, super G and overall titles, and Whistler’s Michael Janyk finishing third overall in the slalom category.

Mar. 14 – A fourth place result sewed up Jasey Jay Anderson’s fourth overall World Cup title. Drew Neilson was third on the overall snowboardcross rankings, while Ontario big air specialist Neil Connolly finished second overall in his discipline.

Mar. 14 – The alpine World Cup season also wrapped up. Fernie’s Emily Brydon ranked 11 th overall with strong finishes in all four disciplines, while Canmore’s Thomas Grandi ranked 10 th in the slalom, 13 th in the giant slalom and 21 st overall.

Mar. 18 – The Atomic Cross series wrapped up with snowboarders Cori Olafson and Kerry Martin on top for the women, Jon Lapierre and Jeff Drummond on top for the men. In the ski category it was Liz Roch and Chanel Smythe for the women and Sead Causevic and Bill Sheridan for the men. Brynne Benbow and Nancy Bayly were the top junior girls, while Alex Binks and Ian Spence-Morrison were the top junior boys.

Mar. 19-21 – Whistler’s K2’s travelled to Banff for the K2 National Championships. Daniel Penn won a gold and silver, while other athletes scrambled to land in the top-30 in a field of almost 200 racers.

Mar. 26-28 – Whistler riders captured the national halfpipe titles in Quebec. Crispin Lipscomb won the men’s event, and was joined on the podium by Pemberton's Mike Michalchuk. Mercedes Nicoll won the women’s event, and was joined on the podium by Maëlle Ricker in third. Ricker was also third in the snowboardcross, behind Squamish’s Dominique Valée.

April

Apr. 1-4 – Whistler FIS skiers topped the final Mars Cup overall standings, led by J2s Scott Hume (first), Chris Colpitts (third), Charlotte Whitney (first), and J1s Matt Holler (first) Alison Leighton (second).

Apr. 2-4 – Over 300 racers aged 11 to 14 took part in the 12 th annual Sierra Wireless Whistler Cup. The Provinces Cup went to the Ontario Team; the Dave Murray Award went to Erik Read of Alberta, and the Nancy Greene Award to Georgia Simmerling of Grouse Mountain. The top Whistler result belonged to Brynne Benbow who was 10 th in the GS.

Apr. 2-4 – Whistler’s Sean Pettit won the halfpipe and slopestyle events and impressed a field of more than 100 skiers with his skill on the rails to be voted the Male Athlete’s Choice at the inaugural Sports Illustrated Next Snow event in Vail. The Next X is coming to Whistler on Jan. 2.

Apr. 4 – The Whistler Whoosh women’s volleyball team won the Tier II provincial title with contributions from Kat Frew, Mairi Smith, Veronika Voricek, Olga Achiardi, Myrna Iaconetti, Kylie Spicer, Jennifer Johnson and Carlee Howell.

Apr. 10 – The International Freeskiers Association (IFSA) world tour wrapped up in California, after the lack of snow in France forced organizers to pick a new locale. For the first time in five years, none of the title holders were from Whistler. Our local skiers still had an impact, with Whistler’s Mike Stevenson winning the final Sick Bird of the season with a backflip off a 30-foot cliff.

Apr. 16-25 – Whistler riders ruled the Ripzone Invitational at the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival, with Crispin Lipscomb and Justin Lamoureux finishing first and third in the superpipe, and Mike Page and Marc-Andre Tarte finishing second and third in the Big Air.

In the McDonald’s Rail Jam, Iannic B. and Sarah Burke won the skier category, while Whistler riders Jesse Fox and Leanne Pelosi were the top snowboarders. None of the Whistler skiers made the podium in the World Skiing Invitational, with skiers like Tanner Hall, Simon Dumont and Jon Olsson taking the top awards, but locals did finish in the top-10.

Apr. 25 – Whistler’s Ian Goard was 39 th overall in the Vancouver marathon out of 4,400 runners and 12 th in the men’s 30 to 34 age group.

May

May 6 – WORCA and the Riverside Junction Café hosted the first Loonie Race of the season.

May 10 – Construction began on the halfpipe at Base II that will be used to host a night event during the FIS Snowboard World Championships. Following the championships the pipe will be opened to the public in the evenings.

May 22 – The Showcase Showdown Monster Jib Box event went to Neil Connolly, Jesse Kumlea and Geoff Brown on the men’s side and Marie-France Roy, Pilar Peterson and Star Quinn on the women’s side.

May 24 – Chris Colbeck defended his title in the third annual Crud to Mud downhill solo category, while Kimberly Saprunoff was the top solo woman. James McSkimming was the top solo junior.

In the team categories, Thomas Vanderham and Smiley Nesbitt were the top men, Nikki Barr and Joanna Johnston the top women, and Jason Fridrik and Vanessa Stark the top co-eds.

May 29 – After some strong starts with his new team, Symmetrics Cycling, Whistler’s Will Routley won his first B.C. Cup in Mission, holding onto the lead after 170 km.

May 30 – David Higgins and Val Burke won the annual Valley Trail Run with times of 36:17.58 and 40:26.01 respectively.

June

June 5 – Whistler’s Greg Sandkuhl won the 55 to 59 age category at the Oliver Half-Iron, more than 50 minutes ahead of his closest competitor.

June 5 – Will Routley finished sixth in the B.C. Road Championships, sticking with the lead group and helping two of his teammates tie for the top spot.

June 5-6 – Local Jen Segger and her Vancouver teammates finished third overall in the Full Moon in June adventure race, completing the course in just over 27 hours.

June 12 – Runner Kristina Rody finished first in her category in the Ottawa Marathon, and fifth out of all women.

June 14 – Rob Boyd was hired by the national team to help coach the women’s super G and giant slalom teams. For the previous two seasons he had been the head K2 coach for the Whistler Mountain Ski Club, preparing athletes for FIS level competitions.

June 18-20 – The Pemberton Laoyam Eagles won their category at the Alcan Dragon Boat Festival for the sixth year in a row, despite the best efforts of their rivals.

June 18 – Carter Hovey reclaimed the Test of Metal title, followed closely by Andrew Kyle. Sarah Nobel won the women’s race. Whistler riders placed in their share of categories, with John Blok third in the 40 to 49 group, Joe Lyons third in the freeride category (bikes over 35 pounds), Jen Segger second in the Citizen’s 19 to 29 race, Cathy Zeglinski third in the 30 to 39 group, Caroline Lamont third in the 40 to 49 race, Brenda Baker first in the 50 and Over race, Tony Routley second in the Master Expert 40-Plus, Mike Tunnah first in the Senior Sport group, and Mike Charuk third in the 105 km Ultra-Test. Complete 2004 results are online at www.testofmetal.com.

June 26 – The Whistler Mountain Bike Park expanded upwards into the Garbanzo zone, tripling the vertical with the opening of two new trails.

June 26 – Almost 100 runners took part in the first trail run on Comfortably Numb, a 25 km effort. Kristina Rody was third overall and first among women with a time of just two hours and five minutes. Mount Currie’s Sean Wolfe was fifth overall and the first Masters runner over the line in 2:08. Deidre Wolfe was the top Master woman in 2:22.

July

July 10 – The Whistler Hoary Marmots Rugby Football Club upset the Rowers RFC in an exhibition game in Whistler by a score of 29-21. The Marmots would run into insurance problems, cutting their season short, but plan to be back this year.

July 11 – The sold out Squamish Triathlon was more popular than ever this year with hundreds of solos and relay teams taking part. Whistler was represented by 21 athletes and three relay teams. The top male athlete was David Higgins who finished 15 th overall and second in his age category. Marie-Anne Prevost was third, Greg Sandkuhl second, and Claire Daniels first in their respective age groups.

July 17 – Dozens of local runners joined the field of 200 taking part in a local Five Peaks running competition up the side of Whistler Mountain. Kristina Rody was the top woman, finishing 11 th overall. Sean Wolfe was the top 40 to 49 runner, 12 th overall, and John Blok won the 50 and Over group finishing 25 th overall.

July 21-24 – The inaugural Whistler CrankWorx mountain biking festival featured five events, and a field that included the top riders in the world. In the Air Downhill down A-Line, the women’s race went to Claire Whiteman, followed by Brook Baker, and Buchar – all Whistler riders. In the men’s contest Nathan Rennie of Australia edged out French rider Cedric Gracia. Another Aussie, Jared Rando, was third.

In the Nissan Biker X, the win went to Eric Carter of the U.S., followed by his teammate Brian Lopes. Cedric Gracia was third. Jill Kinter of the U.S. won the women’s event, followed by Claire Buchar, and Leana Gerrard of the U.S.

The Garbanzo Downhill, which featured 3,400 vertical feet of descending, went to Cedric Gracia, who edged Tyler Morland out of the hot seat. Nathan Rennie was third. In the women’s race, Katie Pruitt of California was first, followed by Anka Martin of the U.S. Whistler’s Angela Teng was third.

The slopestyle went to 17 year old Paul Basagoitia, a BMX rider from Nevada. Timo Pritzel of Germany was second, breaking his ankle while attempting to clear the entire scaffold step-up at the bottom of the course. Richie Schley was the top local rider in sixth.

CrankWorx wrapped up with the B.C. Downhill Championships. Tyler Morland took the men’s title while Brook Baker was the top woman.

July 24 – While the B.C. Downhill Championships were in Whistler, the Cross-Country Championships were taking place in Squamish. John Blok won the 50 and Over category, Eric Crowe won the Master 40-Plus group, and Brandon Semenuk won the Under 15 course.

July 25 – Will Routley finished second in the Tour de White Rock, the last event in the Superweek road racing series in the Lower Mainland.

August

Aug. 1-6 – Whistler’s Jen Segger took part in the world adventure racing championships in Newfoundland as part of a team of four. They finished 24 th out of 42 teams after some bad luck and injuries slowed their progress.

Aug. 2 – The fourth annual Samurai of Singletrack sold out all 100 spots in a matter of hours, with 93 riders from the previous year signing on before the deadline.

Aug. 14 – More than 60 runners took part in the annual Squamish Test of Running Metal – Yeah! race, a 67.5 km trail run on the Test of Metal course, despite temperatures running upwards of 37 Celsius.

Aug. 14 – The 2004 Olympic Games get underway in Athens, Greece. Team Canada sent a small contingent – 266 athletes compared to 311 in 2000 – 39 per cent of whom were from British Columbia.

Aug. 14-15 – Whistler riders were a factor in the Canada Cup finals in Kamloops. Tyler Morland was second in the men’s downhill, while Brook Baker and Claire Buchar were second and third in the women’s downhill. In the cross-country, Trevor Hopkins was third in the Master 30 to 39 Expert race, Brandon Semenuk was second in the Under 15 race, and Calindy Ramsden third in the Under 15 women’s race.

Aug. 28 – The B.C. Cup mountain bike series wrapped up, with Whistler boasting three provincial champions – Under 15 athlete Brandon Semenuk, Master Expert Eric Crowe, and downhiller Brook Baker. Brandon Semenuk also won the Lumpy Leidal award given annually to the top young mountain biker.

Aug. 29 – Nine local athletes took part in Ironman Canada this year, all of them finishing. Paul Nicholas posted the top local time, coming in at 10:44:41. Greg Sandkuhl won the 55 to 59 category in 11:01:08. Other finishers were Marla Zucht, John Blok, Grace Blok, Christine Cogger, Doug Fox, Mae Palm and Paul Suter.

Aug. 29 – The 2004 Summer Olympics wind up with Canada winning just 12 medals, one of the country’s lowest medal hauls since winning 10 medals in 1988 and 11 in 1976. The fallout is a greater call for sports funding by the federal government and corporations, and so far the call has been answered by a 50 per cent increase in federal sports funding to $120 million a year and a greater focus on sports where Canada is a contender. With the Winter Games coming to Canada, snow sports are gaining more corporate sponsors.

September

Sept. 4-5 – The second 24 Hours of Adrenaline took place in Whistler with 500 riders, including 200 solos taking part. Chris Eatough claimed his fifth World Solo title, while Vancouver’s Lesley Tomlinson won the women’s solo event. Whistler’s Mike Edwards won the open category, Team Pique One was second in their five-person category, and the Whistler Bike Company won the four person category.

Sept. 11 – The fourth annual Samurai of Singletrack kicked a lot of asses this year, covering 51 km of Whistler’s toughest mountain bike trails. Some riders took more than 13 hours to finish the network of 22 trails, averaging just four kilometres an hour. Matt "Dingo" Ryan won the race in five hours and 30 minutes, Yoshi Tsuji was second by seven minutes while Matt Bodkin was third in 5:51. Brandi Hesiterman was the top woman, followed by Lesley Clements and Sylvie Allen.

Sept. 18 – Weeks of rain and a wet start couldn’t put a damper on the West Side Wheel Up, which attracted its largest field in 11 years. Matt Ryan also won this race, followed by Will Routley and Matt Bodkin. Ronni Lister and Lesley Clements tied for the girls, while Brandi Heisterman was third.

Sept. 25 – For the second straight year the 26 th annual Cheakamus Challenge mountain bike race went to Andreas Hestler, in a time of 3:16:37. Max Plaxton of Tofino was second, and Matt Ryan third. Jean-Anne McKirdy of Valemont won the women’s title, followed by Karen Eller.

In the age categories, Eric Crowe and James Crowe were first, Tony Routley was second, Tyler Allison first, Kim Stacey first, Johnny Lloyd third, Mike Boehm first, Vesa Sulomalainen second, and John Blok third.

Sept. 26 – WORCA’s Max Vert Enduro took place on Garbanzo, with the top riders making 12 laps of the 2,200 vertical-feet course in just over four hours. Dave Mayers took the lead in the last few laps, and was followed by John Bir and Chad Onyschuk. Tyler Allison was fourth in the field with 11 laps the day after finishing the Cheakamus Challenge. Alex Prochazka also managed to fit in 10 laps, despite losing his chain after the second lap.

Sept. 26 – The Canadian Paralympic Team came through in Athens, finishing seventh in the overall Paralympic standings with 72 medals, 28 of them gold.

October

Oct. 3 – The Green River Riding Club finally realized a three-year goal and hosted the very first Canadian Motorcycle Association-sanctioned motocross, which attracted some of the top racers in the province – including 16-year-old champion Kyle Beaton.

Oct. 12 – WORCA hosted its Annual General Meeting. Among other things, the mountain bike club confirmed over a thousand members for the third consecutive year. Over the summer the club committed $20,000 towards trail work in the region and sponsored dozens of events, while acting as an advocate for the sport.

Oct. 12-14 – Whistler hosted the B.C. Cup Invitational figure skating competition at Meadow Park, the first of what organizers hope to be an annual event to develop athletes for the 2010 Winter Games. Whistler’s Caleigh "CJ" Derpak was the lone Whistler skater to qualify.

Oct. 20 – Whistler-Blackcomb confirmed that the Canadian Freeskiing Championships would not be taking place on the mountains this year, choosing instead to focus on the Snowboard World Championships. Athletes and organizers tried to appeal this decision, but acknowledged that their sport has problems and may need to restructure to guarantee safety and snow conditions.

Oct. 23 and 30 – Whistler’s Ashleigh McIvor got off to a strong start in the skiercross with a sixth place finish in the Les 2 Alpes Saab Salomon Crossmax, and a second place finish at a World Cup event at Saas-Fee, Switzerland.

November

Nov. 6 – Three Whistler teams of eight runner took part in the 23 rd annual Haney to Harrison Run, covering 100 km of hilly backroads between the towns. Will Run to Party and Team Stompin Tom were fifth and seventh in the Open Mixed category, while Scrambled Legs was first in the corporate category.

Nov. 10 – The Pemberton Wildlife Association announced plans to build a biathlon training centre on Suicide Hill, using some lands acquired by the club to build a course and shooting range. Construction will begin this year, and the site will open for the winter of 2005.

Nov. 21 – Sean Wolfe and Whistler’s Dave Burch were second and third in the Squamish Fall Classic Road Run.

Nov. 22 – The Calgary Olympic Development Association announced plans to close the ski jumping facility in Canada Olympic Park at the end of the season, effectively shutting down the national ski jumping and Nordic combined associations. With the facility in the Callaghan Valley not expected to be complete until 2007, that will leave the association homeless for two years unless a sponsor or funding can be found.

Nov. 28-29 – Whistler’s Britt Janyk ended her drought and made a top-30 in a World Cup slalom. Although Canadian women are strong in every World Cup event, the team is down to just two starting spots in the slalom, and was in danger of losing one of those spots until Janyk’s 19 th place results.

December

Dec. 11 – Whistler’s Michael Janyk followed his sisters footsteps and earned his first World Cup points, finishing 16 th in a slalom at Sestrieres, Italy after starting 53 rd .

Dec. 11-12 – Jasey Jay Anderson won his first snowboardcross gold medals of the season in two consecutive days, while Dominque Maltais of Quebec won her first snowboardcross medal of the season.

Dec. 18 – Jennifer Heil of Spruce Grove, Alberta won her first mogul contest of the season, despite the fact she had to hold back because of a broken thumb.

Dec. 15-18 – Whistler’s Scott Hume took the overall Pontiac GMC Cup series lead after four strong races.

Dec. 19 and 21 – Canmore’s Thomas Grandi broke several records in Italy and Austria as he claimed back-to-back World Cup giant slalom races – the first and second World Cup victories of his career, the first gold medals by a Canadian male since 1994, and Canada’s first gold medals in GS since 1974. As for back-to-back World Cup victories by a Canadian, you’d have to go back as far as 1982.

Dec. 19 – Whistler’s Justin Lamoureux interrupted an all-American podium sweep at the Grand Prix at Breckenridge, Colorado with a third place finish.