On a flat out and back route on Squamish Valley Road, Whistler's Will Routley set a new course record in the B.C. Provincial Time Trial Championships Sunday, Aug. 9.
Routley finished the 38.5 km route in 45:56.93, averaging just over 50 km/h for the entire ride. None of the other riders could keep up, and Routley finished over a minute faster than second place finisher Rob Britton. Mike Sidic was third in 47:14:32.
The previous record was held by Svein Tuft, who placed second in the time trial at last year's UCI World Championships and eighth in the time trial at the 2006 Olympics. Routley topped Tuft's record by 20 seconds.
Routley's father Tony Routley also raced, finishing second in the Masters 50-plus category in 53:38.
Wolfpack hit the ice next week
The Squamish Wolfpack are playing one exhibition game before the start of their season on Sept. 3.
On Aug. 22 the Wolf Pack is heading to Delta to test their 2009 roster, including players from Whistler and Squamish, against the Delta Ice Hawks.
The regular season gets underway on Sept. 3 with a trip to Richmond to play the Sockeyes, the B.C. champions from last season.
The Wolf Pack play in the Junior B level Pacific International Junior Hockey League, with the top teams from the regular season moving on to play the top teams from the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League and Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.
This is the franchise's second year in Squamish, and once again the team will play a few games at Meadow Park in Whistler to build support thoughout the corridor. The Wolf Pack will be hosting three games in Whistler this season. The first two games are versus the North Delta Devils, with the first game taking place on Sunday, Sept. 13 and the second on Dec. 20. The Wolf Pack will also be hosting the Port Moody Black Panthers on Feb. 7.
Ski jumper's appeal to be heard in November
Over two days in November the B.C. Court of Appeal will hear out a group of female ski jumpers that are looking to force their inclusion in the 2010 Olympic Winter Games on the grounds of discrimination.
Last month Supreme Court Justice Lauri Ann Fenlon agreed that the jumpers were being discriminated against under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but said that the discrimination was the fault of the International Olympic Committee and not the Vancouver Organizing Committee. She further ruled that only the IOC can designate an event as "Olympic," while also noting that the international committee does not fall under the jurisdiction of Canadian governments or courts.
According to Ross Clark, the lawyer representing the 14 ski jumpers, Justice Fenlon's findings were correct up to a point.
"The Supreme Court found the women had been discriminated against, and she found that VANOC is carrying out a government activity," said Clark in a statement to the media. "But then she stopped short of the next logical step, which would have been to grant us the remedy we were seeking. We will ask to the Court of Appeal to revisit that."
If the appeal is successful, VANOC - which supports the inclusion of women's ski jumping - said it would do whatever is necessary to accommodate the jumpers.
If the appeal results in a split decision then the case would go to the Supreme Court of Canada, where it's doubtful that the case could be heard in time for the Games in February.
China rules the pool in Quebec
Chinese aerialists dominated at the fifth annual Acrobatx Mondial at Lac Beauport, Quebec last weekend, with jumpers from China capturing the top four sports for men and women in the water ramp contest.
Athletes use the water ramps to safely practice their tricks, and recently competitions have started to crop up at training centres. This year's showdown attracted 2,000 spectators.
All of the Canadian jumpers, including Amber Peterson, Steve Omischl and Ryan Blais, were eliminated in the second round of head-to-head competition. Athletes take the event seriously, but also with a grain of salt.
For example, 2009 overall World Cup champion Omischl had the best score in the two-jump qualifier, which is closer to an actual World Cup or Olympic contest than head-to-head jumping. While disappointed with his early exit there was also something positive to take out of the contest.
"I was happy with my early round performance and glad to have the opportunity to practice my competition skills in the summer," he said.
Canadian coach Dennis Capicik said the team took note of its mistakes and will work to be polished when the circuit returns to the snow.
"We work to fine tune all the little details," he said, "like keeping their feet together in a double full (backflip with two twists), so that perfect form becomes second nature. When we're on snow in full World Cup season we don't have time to work on those details."
Red Bull goes top to bottom in Exodus
The iconic freestyle ski movie Hot Shots gave us the phrase "Chinese Downhill" to describe a mass start, first-to-the-bottom-wins-everything ski race. While these races have been known to take place unofficially from time to time, it takes a company like Red Bull to stage an official top to bottom race from the peak of Whistler Mountain - on downhill mountain bikes no less.
The Red Bull Exodus takes place on Sept. 4 and 5, with up to 150 men and 50 women dropping in at the same time from the peak of Whistler Mountain. From there the riders will follow a series of trails to the village, dropping 1,530 vertical metres in the process. The trip is expected to take a hand-cramping, disk brake-melting 35 to 40 minutes.
Some of the confirmed riders include Brandon Semenuk, Robbie Bourdon, Darren Berrecloth, Shaums March, Wade Simmons, Tyler Morland, Thomas Vanderham and Dave Watson.
Registration for the event is now open at www.eventsonline.ca. The cost is $60 if you hold a Whistler Mountain Bike Park pass, or $80 without, and all riders must wear full body armour and a full face helmet.
The practice sessions runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 3, the qualifiers are on Friday from noon to 6 p.m. and the race is Saturday at noon.
WOVA tournament comes through for community services
This past weekend the Whistler Outdoor Volleyball Association held a doubles and four-on-four volleyball tournament, with 44 players taking part. All proceeds - $800 - are being donated to the Whistler Community Services Society for programs like the Food Bank.
Jason and Patrick, two visiting players from Seattle, won the doubles tournament while Ricky Chan won the four-on-four contest.
Hairs to the trails
Rocky Mountaijn Bicycles is hosting a hair contest of sorts to wrap up Crankworx, with all proceeds going towards the Whistler Off Road Cycling Association's trail maintenance program.
The event is called "Git Yer Hair Did. Git Yer Trails Fixed," and on Aug. 14 and 15 you can drop by the Rocky Mountain Bicycles booth in Whistler Village to get a cut and donate to the trails. As well, there will be prizes for the top three craziest cuts, like a Flow DJ bike frame, a Marzocchi 66 fork and Maxxis DH tires.
