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The year in sports

Injuries, more injuries and the peformances that made history
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HOMETOWN HERO One of the biggest events of 2011 was the Red Bull Joyride during the Crankworx festival. Hometown hero Brandon Semenuk, pictured landing a flipwhip over the bottom jump, won the top prize, $25,000, plus the overall tour title. Photo BY andrew Mitchell

If there was a dominant theme for the sports season that was 2011 it was injuries. Head injuries. Knee injuries. Broken bones. Canadian athletes sitting on the sidelines wondering when and if they would be cleared to return, and if they would be able to come back at the level they were competing before they got hurt.

The injury situation hasn't gone unnoticed. There have been studies and commissions and equipment requirements have changed for a few sports. In some cases there are going to be major changes in the rulebooks.

Governing bodies for sports have also looked into the various reasons for the growing number of injuries, but all of those reasons can be reduced to the fact that athletes are simply going faster, higher and harder than ever before, aided by gear that helps and hurts at the same time.

The big national story was Olympic hero Sidney Crosby, who received a head injury in the NHL's Winter Classic back in January and missed the second half of the regular season. He returned to the ice this season and played just eight games before pulling himself out with post-concussion symptoms.

Now head injuries are a hot topic in the NHL, in the NFL and in other contact sports.

But it wasn't only pro athletes in the path of the pain train this year. Athletes in the so-called "amateur sports" were particularly hard hit, including a number of Whistler athletes.

In alpine skiing, over half the members of the senior speed team have been on the sidelines at some point — 2009 world downhill champion John Kucera has missed almost two seasons, reinjuring his tibia during an earlier attempt to come back. Whistler's Manuel Osborne-Paradis is still on the injured list after being injured back in January, while Robbie Dixon suffered a head injury in Dec. 2010 that he is only now returning from. Whistler's Michael Janyk is currently on the injured list after tweaking his ankle a few weeks ago, although he should be back in early 2012.

In ski cross, Whistler's Ashleigh McIvor and Julia Murray are both on the sidelines with knee injuries. McIvor, the Olympic champion, is expected to return this season while Murray, second in the last world championships, won't be returning until next season.

In snowboardcross, Maëlle Ricker received multiple injuries in the world championships in January 2011 after hooking her hand in a gate and crashing. She's returned to competition this year after the eighth knee surgery of her career, placing fourth in her first race and then combining with teammate Dominique Maltais to finish second in the relay.

If nothing else, the rash of injuries shows the level of risk that our athletes assume while representing Canada on the world stage, and should foster a great appreciation for the sports themselves. While athletes make it look easy, all it takes is a crash and the appearance of a stretcher to remind us that it's anything but.

2011 was also the "Year of the Event" for Whistler, with existing events getting a shot in the arm and a number of new competitions on the calendar as well.

In the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival "The Show" replaced the Grenade Games as the premier snowboard competition, while the World Skiing Invitational got a massive boost back in April when it was designated the AFP World Championships for superpipe, big air and slopestyle disciplines. With a prize purse of $125,000, it was the highest rated pro skiing event ever hosted in the resort.

2011 also saw the first running of the sold out North Face Whistler Half Marathon, the return of the Comfortably Numb Trail Run after a year's hiatus, the first annual Sigge's P'ayakentsut cross country race, the appearance of a Warrior Dash event (which is being replaced by a Tough Mudder event in 2012), new events at Crankworx (like the return of the Fat Tire Criterium after 10 years), the Ride of the Valkryies (replacing the Cheakamus Challenge), the second year of the RBC GranFondo Whistler with 3,000 more riders in the field than in the first year, no less than two relays and ultras following trails from Squamish to Whistler (the Sears Great Canadian Run and the Tenderfoot Boogie) and the first running of the Whistler 50 Relay and Ultra in November, which replaces the Haney to Harrison run on the provincial race calendar.

Events have become a key part of Whistler's tourism strategy, drawing people to the resort to experience what we have to offer, and the bigger event weekends have been a bright spot for businesses weathering a soft economy, high dollar, high gas prices and a decline in destination travellers. The events strategy is only getting started, and the calendar for 2012 is already filling out nicely.

2011 was also the year a lot of our Olympic athletes peaked and all of the investment into athletics before the Games paid off for a number of sports. One example was luge, where Calgary's Alex Gough became the first Canadian to medal at a World Cup event last season, which she followed up with three more podium appearances including the first gold medal won by a non-German since 1997. She also made history with a bronze medal at the world championships.

In cross-country skiing, Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey combined for Canada's first World Championship gold medal in the men's classic team sprint, while Kershaw added a few other medals of his own during the regular season.

Canada is now back on top of the world in a number of Olympic sports, including speed skating, men's figure skating and men's ski cross, where Chris DelBosco finished second overall last season and Whistler's Dave Duncan and Brady Leman earned their first podiums to kick off the 2011-2012 season just two weeks ago. Every member of the team has now been on at least one.

And just over a week ago Canada's Caroline Calvé made national history by winning a World Cup parallel giant slalom race — the first gold ever for a female Canadian athlete in an alpine snowboarding competition.

It's tough to know what to expect in 2012. It's an Olympic year with the Summer Games taking place in London, and for most winter athletes the 2012-2013 season is a crucial qualifying year for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, as well as a world championship season. It's also the year that test events get underway at the Olympic venues.

But before you can look forward, it's good to look back. Here are some of the highlights from 2011:

January

Jan. 1 — The North Shore Credit Union Test of Metal beat records once again by selling out all 800 spots in under 22 minutes, over two minutes faster than the previous year.

Jan. 1-8 — Canada's Devon Kershaw won silver in the 15km pursuit and in the men's classic sprint of the Tour de Ski cross-country races. He followed up with a gold medal in the freestyle sprint and a bronze in the men's 20km classic mass start race. It was the best performance ever by a Canadian cross-country athlete.

Jan. 11 — The B.C. Sports Hall of Fame announced its induction list for 2011, which included snowboardcross racer Maëlle Ricker. Ricker said she was surprised to receive the award as she's nowhere close to retiring and has already committed to the national snowboardcross team through 2014.

Jan. 14-16 — Canadian mogul skiers dominated at home at Mont Gabriel, winning four of six medals in dual moguls. Alex Bilodeau and Mikael Kingsbury were first and second for the men and Justine Dufour-Lapointe and Jennifer Heil were first and third for the women. It was a pattern that would repeat itself all season, to the point where the mogul team alone earned enough points to win Canada's eighth freestyle nations cup title in nine seasons.

Jan. 14-21 — The World Championships of Snowboarding took place in Spain. The only Canadian on the podium was Dominique Maltais, placing third in snowboardcross.

Jan. 15-22 — Whistler's Sean Pettit places first in Red Bull Linecatcher, a combined big mountain and freeski event at Vars-La Foret, France.

Jan. 16 — Canadian Chris DelBosco wins the ski cross gold medal at Les Contamines, France, ending a medal drought and kicking off a streak that would include two more World Cup gold medals, a silver and bronze in World Cup, a world championship title and a silver medal at X Games. Kelowna's Kelsey Serwa was second.

Jan. 27-30 — Canadians had a good showing at X Games, but at a cost with numerous injuries to athletes in ski cross. Even Kelsey Serwa, the eventual women's winner, was battered and bruised after a crash at the finish line. Other injuries include Ashleigh McIvor (knee, in training), Julia Murray (knee, in competition) and Marielle Thompson (broken thumbs, in competition). X Games medals went to Kaya Turski (gold in ski slopestyle), Sarah Burke (gold in ski superpipe), Rosalind Groenewoud (bronze in ski superpipe), Chris DelBosco (silver in ski cross), Kelsey Serwa (gold in ski cross), Josh Duek (first in mono ski cross), Kevin Hill (silver in snowboardcross), Sebastien Toutant (second in big air, first in slopestyle), Mark McMorris (second in slopestyle), Nic Sauve (first in snowboard street), Louis-Felix Paradis (second in snowboard street), Simon Chamberlain (third in snowboard street) and Robbie Malinoski (third in SnoCross). Whistler's Tyler Mosher also picked up a silver medal in a test event, a para-snowboard slingshot race, which is similar to a snowboardcross time trial.

Jan. 28-31 — Freestyle skiers win another four medals at the World Cup in Calgary, with three medals in moguls and one in aerials — Warren Shouldice, competing at home, kicked off a medal streak that would later include a gold medal at the World Championships.

Jan. 29 — Alex Harvey wins FIS Junior World Ski Championship title in the men's U23 pursuit race.

February

Jan. 30 to Feb. 7 — The Canadian Freestyle Ski Team had a huge week in Utah at the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships. Medals went to Alex Bilodeau (silver moguls, gold dual moguls), Mikael Kingsbury (bronze moguls, silver dual moguls), Warren Shouldice (gold aerials), Mike Riddle (gold superpipe), Chris DelBosco (gold ski cross), Jennifer Heil (gold moguls, gold dual moguls), Kristi Richards (bronze moguls), Chloe Dufour-Lapointe (silver dual moguls), Rosalind Groenewoud (gold superpipe), Keltie Hansen (Bronze superpipe), Kesley Serwa (gold ski cross) and Whistler's Julia Murray (silver ski cross), who continued to compete with her X Games knee injury after a scan underestimated the extent of the damage. In total, the Canadians claimed 16 medals, more than twice as many as the seven picked up by the U.S.

Feb. 4-6 — The Whistler Nordics sent a team to the cross-country Westerns in Kelowna, doing extremely well. Podiums went to Michael Murdoch (first in Pee Wee Boys race and second in the sprint), Fraser Doak (second in Pee Wee Boys race), Jenya Nordin (third in the sprint), Jennifer Tabbernor (first in the prologue).

Feb. 4-5 — The annual Peak to Valley race took place with great conditions. The top team overall was Hoopla/Best of Both with a combined time of 20:51:01 over two days. The fastest skiers on Friday were Ryan Oughtred and Liz Thompson; on Saturday it was Phil Beauregard and Janine Linder-Joris.

Feb. 5-6 — Whistler's Tyler Mosher placed second in two World Cup slingshot snowboard races in France.

Feb. 11-13 — Whistler freestylers had a great day at the NorAms in Calgary, with Chelsea Henitiuk and Eddie Hicks winning gold medals in moguls.

Feb. 12 — Erik Guay win the FIS Alpine World Championships downhill in Germany, defending the title earned by Canada's John Kucera in 2009. Guay's effort was Canada's only alpine world championship medal.

Feb. 12 — Canadian luger Alex Gough makes history with the first gold medal ever won by a Canadian in the sport. She was also the first non-German to win a World Cup luge event since Nov. 29, 1997.

Feb. 11-27 — The Canada Winter Games took place in Nova Scotia. Sea to Sky athletes on the podium include Yuki Tsubota (third in freestyle aerials), Broderick Thompson (first in alpine super combined) and Kailee Darlington (third in alpine giant slalom).

Feb. 26 — The first annual Sigge's P'ayakentsut took place at Whistler Olympic Park with a full range of distances, including a 50km marathon. Brian May won the inaugural race in 2:37:14, averaging just over 19km/h from start to finish. Carolyn Daubeny was the top female in 3:15:20.

March

Mar. 2 — Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey combined to win gold in the FIS Cross Country World Championships in Norway, placing first in the Team Classic Sprint.

Mar. 4-6 — The K2 provincials took place at Panorama. Whistler skiers did well, with medals going to Kelly Steeves (first in GS, first in GS number two, third in slalom), Elizabeth Kepl (second in GS), Marc Leroux (first GS, second in GS number two, first in slalom), Riley Seger (first in GS number two), Rachel Vander Veen (second in slalom number two) Stefanie Fleckenstein (third in slalom number two).

Mar. 7 — After three losing seasons it was announced that the Junior B Squamish Wolfpack hockey team would be moving to North Vancouver, closer to where most of the players live and an arena they could afford.

Mar. 11 — Erik Guay was second in the downhill at Kvitfjell, Norway.

Mar. 11-13 — The Whistler Nordics sent a team to the cross-country nationals in Canmore for the first time ever. They didn't win any podiums, but lead the B.C. team in many events and a few placed in the top 20. Nicki Murdoch's best results were a 15th in the classic 10km race and a 16th in the free 7.5km event. Jenya Nordin was 17th in the classic 10km race and 15th in the free 7.5km.

Mar. 14 — With the cross-country world championships wrapped up, FIS tallied results from freestyle, alpine, snowboarding and cross-country skiing. Point for point, Canada placed third overall among nations, largely on the strength of our freestyle team. Canadians won 20 medals overall, just four fewer than Austria and two less than Norway.

Mar. 19 — The 14th annual Showcase Showdown took place on a short slopestyle course on Blackcomb. The top three men were Darcy Sharpe, Craig Beaulieu and Dave Fortin; the top three women were Claudia Avon, Molly Milligan and Breanna Strangeland.

Mar. 19-20 — The World Cup ski cross season wrapped up. Chris DelBosco won the final event of the season to rank second overall. Kelsey Serwa was second, and placed second in the standings.

Mar. 21 — Jenn Heil made good on her plans to retire from mogul skiing at the end of the season, and went out at the top of her game with two world championship gold medals to go with gold and silver medals from the 2006 and 2010 Olympics, five crystal globes for overall World Cup points and 58 World Cup podiums. This year she turned 28.

Mar. 24-27 — The freestyle nationals took place in Quebec. Whistler's Eddie Hicks was second in moguls, and Pemberton's Kristi Richards took the women's moguls title.

Mar. 22-27 — The GMC Canadian Championships for alpine were held at Nakiska. Whistler's Britt Janyk won her 14th national title with a win in downhill and was second in the first super G. In the second super G race, Janyk and Whistler's Madison McLeish tied for the win.

Mar. 26 — Whistler's Sean Pettit won the Red Bull Cold Rush competition at Silverton, Colorado. Alex Prochazka of Whistler and Logan Pehota of Pemberton were 13th and 14th respectively.

Mar. 31 — This was the last day for early bird pricing for the North Face Whistler Half Marathon, and the day the first-year event sold out all 750 spots.

April

Mar. 29-Apr. 3 — The Whistler Blackcomb Freestyle Club hosted the provincial freestyle championships. The home club won a lot of titles including: Yuki Tsubota (first in halfpipe, first in slopestyle, first in dual moguls), Sophie McGregor (first in halfpipe, second in dual moguls), Nicola Halliwell (third in halfpipe, second in slopestyle, third in moguls), Mitchell Wilson (first in halfpipe, first in slopstyle), etc. Complete results are at www.bcfreestyle.com.

Apr. 6 — The International Olympic Committee approved ski halfpipe to the 2014 Games, as well as other sports like Team Luge, women's ski jumping and a team figure skating event.

Apr. 8-10 — The Whistler Mountain Ski Club hosted the 19th annual Whistler Cup races. Canada won the Nations Cup title for the third year running. Some top local results include Laura Swaffield's gold in the K1 Kombi, Alex Uryga's silver in the K1 Kombi and gold in the slalom and Kelly Steeves bronze in the K2 giant slalom.

Apr. 9 — The annual Woppet cross-country race took place at Whistler Olympic Park. Wesley Savill won the men's 30km race while averaging 23km/h, while Inge Scheve was the top female racer.

Apr. 16-19 — The Show snowboarding spectacle takes over the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival. The Monster Energy Slopestyle kicked off the week with a $10,000 prize for first place. The top three were Craig Beaulieu, Matt Kulisek and Mikey Pederson. Travis Williams and Mercedes Nicoll won the Mogul Mash event, Jon Versteeg won the Boarderstyle race and Guillaume Morriset took the Dustin Craven FUN Pipe Jam.

Apr. 17 — Whistler's Will Routley places second in the Tro-Bro Leon road race in France, the best finish in his career as a road racer. A former mountain biker, he credited his comfort on long dirt road sections as being an advantage.

Apr. 17 — The annual Vancouver Sun Run took place. John Blok was the highest ranking Whistler runner, placing fifth in Male 55 to 59 with a time of 39:43. Stephanie Pawluk of Squamish was sixth in Female 15 and Under in 45:52. Rick Valleau was eighth in Male 65 to 69 in 49:43. Kerry Spearing was ninth in women's 25 to 29 in 38:21.

Apr. 22-23 — The World Skiing Invitational was the biggest yet for Whistler, doubling as the AFP World Championships for superpipe, big air and slopestyle. The total prize purse was $125,000, drawing athletes from around the world. The top three in the slopestyle were Bobby Brown, Tom Wallisch and Gus Kentworthy, all from the U.S., while the top three women were Canada's Kaya Turski, followed by Ashley Battersby of the U.S. and Anna Segal of Australia. In big air it was Bobby Brown up front, followed by Henrik Harlaut of Sweden and Canada's Vincent Gagnier. Kaya Turski was second in the women's big air, between Ashley Battersby and Anna Segal. In superpipe the top three men were Canada's Justin Dorey, followed by Americans Tucker and David Wise; the top three women were Edmonton's Keltie Hansen, followed by American Devin Logan and Anais Caradeux of France.

May

May 1 — Squamish runner Margreet Dietz was first in the female 40 to 44 age group in the BMO Vancouver Marathon.

May 14 — Squamish Orecrusher. Neal Kindree of Squamish won this race, while Whistler's Cathryn Zeglinski placed first in her age category.

May 16 — Whistler's Britt Janyk officially retired from ski racing. Her best season was 2008 where she earned a gold and bronze medal in downhill.

May 20-22 — Whistler's Steve Howell places fourth in the western CrossFit championships, just missing a spot at CrossFit Worlds in California.

May 22 — The Crud 2 Mud race took place, with competitors skiing/snowboarding from the Roundhouse to the top of the bike park and either handing off to a teammate or picking up a mountain bike to continue the race to the bottom. Jack Iles won the junior solo race, Julie Mountfield won the solo women's ski race, Trennon Paynter won the Ski Solo Male Over 30 group and James McSkimming won Ski Solo Under 30. Dunlop Ross was first in Snowboard Solo Male, Wendy Robinson won Snowboard Solo Female, and Julian Adam won the Snowboard Solo Male masters race.

May 28 — The second annual NimbyFifty was held in Pemberton. Squamish's Neal Kindree won the men's elite category and Jennifer Schulz of Kelowna was the top female racer.

May 28 — Kids of Steel/Adult Try a Tri took place in Whistler. There were too many local results to mention, but it's worth noting that it was the biggest turnout yet for the event.

May 29 — The date of the Annual Valley Trail Run in Whistler. Robin Poirier was the top male in the 10km race, wearing Vibram FiveFingers shoes on the gravel trails in Lost Lake Park. Catherine O'Neill won the women's race.

June

June 10-12 — Squamish BMX hosts the ABA-sanctioned Sea to Sky Nationals with almost 500 riders taking part. Locals do well, and too many podiums to list. Results at www.squamishbmx.ca.

June 18 — The Test of Metal takes place in Squamish. Catharine Pendrel breaks her own course record in wet conditions to set a new elite women's record time of 2:45:45. Kris Sneddon won the elite men's race in 2:32:10.

June 18 — Squamish adventure racer Jen Segger is first in the very technical Ultra XC in Quebec.

June 18 — Whistler's Brandon Semenuk tops the 26Trix mountain bike slopestyle competition.

June 24-26 — Whistler's Don Schwarz places fourth among men in the infamous Death Race, 40-plus hour challenge that includes everything from trekking over Vermont Mountains with 40-kilo backpacks to wading upstream through chest-deep rivers.

June 25-26 — Whistler's Munro Duncan places first in Ultra Donkey category at the Rundle's Revenge Ultra in Canmore, which included a 100km mountain bike race and 50km ultra run over two days.

June 25 — Whistler's Will Routley places second in the road nationals, in what became a team effort. Rather than defend his title from 2010, Routley played a team game with other riders from SpiderTech powered by C10 to power teammate Svein Tuft into first place, with teammate Zach Bell placing third.

June 26 — Kevin Titus wins Comfortably Numb Trail Run in 1:58.41. The top female is Nicole Akeroyd in 2:28:08.

June 26 — The first Whistler Longboard Festival takes place on the access road at Whistler Sliding Centre. James Kelly of California was the fastest racer on the track after most of the other skaters got caught up in a crash.

June 26 — Squamish ultra racer Jen Segger is first in the Scorched Sole Ultra.

July

July 1 — Red Bull Ante Up Big Air event took place outside the Roundhouse on Whistler Mountain. The contest was originally planned for the glacier, but the good snow conditions in the alpine allowed organizers to host it on Whistler and invite spectators to see the event. Canada's Seb Toutant was second. Eric Willett and Dash Kamp of the U.S. were first and third.

July 4 — The International Olympic Committee approved slopestyle to the 2014 Olympic Games calendar for snowboarding and skiing. They also added the dual slalom alpine snowboard event.

July 10 — The annual Squamish Triathlon: A Memorial to Bob McIntosh took place. Whistler's Adam Ward was the top local racer, placing seventh overall and second in the Male 20 to 24 age group.

July 14-24 — The Crankworx freeride mountain bike festival returned, drawing the top riders from around the world. The top local highlights include Whistler's Brandon Semenuk winning the Red Bull Joyride slopestyle competition, Claire Buchar winning the Garbanzo Downhill and placing second in the Canadian Open DH, and Nanaimo's Steve Smith winning the Canadian Open DH.

July 16 — Squamish's Neal Kindree is fourth in cross-country nationals.

July 23 — Whistler's Claire Buchar builds on her success at Crankworx to take the national downhill title at Panorama and gain a spot on the national team for the world championships. Squamish's Miranda Miller was third and Pemberton's Jaime Hill fifth.

July 30-Aug. 1 — Squamish's Jen Segger is first among women at Ultraman Canada, and third overall. Distances include a 10km swim, 418km bike and 84.3km run.

August

Aug. 6 — The inaugural running of the Tenderfoot Boogie ultra takes place, 50 miles/80km from Squamish to Whistler. You could race solo or as part of a team. Whistler's Ashleigh McMillan won the solo event with a time of 5:53.

Aug. 6 — The inaugural Ride of the Valkyries bike race takes place. The top racer was Kevin Calhoun with a time of 2:02:01 on a 50km course.

Aug. 6 — Robin Poirier is the top local in the Warrior Dash, finishing the five mile course second overall in 21.16.30. Almost 4,000 took part.

Aug. 20 — The 5 Peaks Trail Running Series came to town, using a different course on Blackcomb as a result of the snowpack lingering on Whistler Mountain. Ashley McMilllan was the fastest local runner in 11th overall.

Aug. 27 — The women's only Betty vs. Veronica mountain bike race takes place. American star Kathy Pruitt placed first on the two-stage event, which included a run down Crank It Up in the bike park and a tough cross-country race on Whistler's west side. Whistler's Katrina Strand and Sylvie Allen were second and third.

Aug. 27 — The Sears Great Canadian Run takes place from Squamish to Whistler. Solo racers and teams up to 20 take part, raising money for cancer research.

Aug. 28 — Ironman Canada takes place in Penticton with temperatures over 35 degrees Celsius. The top local finisher was Pete Field. Other finishers were Fero Piliar, Maridee Fitch, Liz Cullen, Derek Gagne, Byron Andres and Patricia Leslie.

Aug. 31 — The final Phat Wednesday race of the season. The overall champions were Paul Stevens in Open Male, Sarah Leishman in Open Female, Zander Geddes in Junior and Mathieu Hebert in Master Male.

September

Sept. 1-4 — Whistler's Claire Buchar and Lauren Rosser of Squamish represented Canada in the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Switzerland, with Buchar placing third in Elite women and Rosser placing third in junior. Catharine Pendrel of Kamloops was first overall in cross-country.

Sept. 4 — The Xterra Canadian Championships returned to Whistler with an off-road triathlon course that included a 1,500 metre swim on Alta Lake, a 15km bike around west side trails and a 12km run on the west side. Josiah Middaugh of the U.S. was the top male, followed by Canada's Mike Vine. Melanie McQuaid was the top female racer, followed by Squamish's Brandi Heisterman in her first off-road triathlon. Adam Ward, John Blok and Heisterman qualified for the Xterra Worlds in Hawaii in October.

Sept. 10 — The second running of the RBC GranFondo. Whistler's Ben Chaddock was the top local racer in the event, placing eighth overall. Brandi Heisterman raced in the women's Giro, placing ninth. In the mixed team category, Whistler's Team Fun Hog was first overall, comprised of Greg McDonnell, Kristin Johnston, Ted Battiston, James Hallisey, Scott Hall, Marla Zucht, Roman Torn and Guy Patterson.

Sept. 17 — The wet and slippery West Side Wheel Up came down to a sprint finish, with Whistler's Matt Ryan edging Neal Kindree. Brandi Heisterman was the top female racer.

Sept. 25 — The Rubble Creek Classic took place in a full blizzard this year. Adam Campbell placed first overall, while Jen Segger was the top female racer in eighth overall.

October

Oct. 7 — Almost three dozen Sea to Sky athletes took part in the annual Royal Victoria Marathon, with Margreet Dietz of Squamish placing 82nd overall and first in the Female 40 to 44 age category.

Oct. 14 — The annual Lumpy's Epic Trail Run took place in Pemberton. Whistler's Seamus Frew was the top male and Magi Scallion the top female.

Oct. 22 — Sea to Sky athletes raced in the Xterra World Championships, doing pretty well against qualifiers from Xterra events around the globe. John Blok was ninth out of 25 athletes in the 55 to 59 age group. Adam Ward was sixth out of 15 athletes in 20 to 24. Brandi Heisterman was ninth out of 23 athletes in the elite category.

November

Nov. 5 — The first running of the Whistler 50 Relay and Ultra brought out 160 teams of eight and 50 ultra runners going the full 80km distance. In the solo ultra group, Jen Segger placed first overall and fourth among female racers. Margreet Dietz was 13th overall and fourth among women. Christine Suter was 18th overall and fifth in her age group. Marla Zucht was 19th overall and fifth in her category. Tim Moore of Squamish was 19th overall and 10th in his age group. The second place relay team, Beaver Buzz Racing, included Whistler's Morgan and Joren Titus.

Nov. 26 — The Canadian luge team got off to a record start in Austria with Alex Gough earning a bronze medal and then combining with her teammates to win the team event, which will make its Olympic debut in 2014.

Nov. 28 — Olympic moguls champion Alex Bilodeau announced that he is taking the season off competition to train and condition. Two days later Pemberton mogul skier Kristi Richards announced that she would be doing the same.

December

Dec. 9-10 — Whistler hosted a FIL Luge World Cup event. The highlight for the Canadians was a second place result in the Team Relay, as well as Alex Gough's fourth place finish and Sam Edney's sixth place result.

Dec. 10 — Whistler slider Jenna Spencer placed first at Igls, Austria in a luge Junior World Cup.

Dec. 16-18 — At the Nike Open event at Breckenridge, Canada's Justin Dorey was second in the superpipe and Alexis Godbout third in slopestyle. In snowboard, Spencer O'Brien won the women's slopestyle, while Sebastien Toutant and Charles Reid were second and third among men.

Dec. 17-18 — The snowboardcross season opened at Telluride Colorado. Chris Robanske of Calgary won his first World Cup race, while Dominique Maltais was second in the women’s race. In the team relay event, Maltais and Whistler’s Maëlle Ricker combined for the silver medal.

Dec. 17-18 — The Whistler Mountain Ski Club play host to the opening Teck races of the season at their new training venue, the Dave Murray Training Centre on Whistler. WMSC skiers won 17 of 24 medals.