The Whistler Mountain Ski Club is hosting four days of ski racing this week, starting Thursday with the first super G of the 26 th annual Parsons Memorial race. The event is open to K2s (age 13 and 14) from the coast zone, and takes place on Rosss Gold/Gandy Dancer. The second event will take place on Friday with a slightly different gate set-up.
The event was originally intended to include a pair of downhill races as well, but with lower snowpack at the bottom of the mountains the organizers were forced to cancel them.
The Parsons Memorial is named after Bob Parsons, who founded a juvenile downhill series to introduce young skiers to the speed events in a safe and fun environment.
The other event taking place is the K2 Enquist Slalom, one of B.C.s longest running ski events, which usually runs on Mount Seymour. Due to the lack of snow on the Lower Mainland mountains, the event was moved to Whistler. Slaloms will be held on Saturday and Sunday.
The Harold Enquist Memorial Trophy and Enquist Presidents Trophy date back to 1953 and 1936 respectively, and are presented to the top male and female after two days of racing.
In addition to K2s, the event is also open to FIS racers from the Coast Zone. The K1 skiers (age 11 and 12) will also race this weekend in the slalom, although only the K2s will be eligible to win the trophies.
This year, the male and female racers with the top times in the Parsons Memorial and Enquist Slalom will be recognized as the new Leki Combi Champions.
All awards will be presented Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Olympic Plaza in Creekside, just outside of Dustys.