By Andrew Mitchell
Although a large part of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team opted to stay in Canada to train due to the poor snow conditions in Europe, a portion of the men’s team headed to Reiteralm, Austria to race in a super combined World Cup event Sunday that replaced the cancelled event at Val d’Isere, France.
A super combined event is decided by the cumulative time on two runs, super G and slalom.
While the team didn’t reach the podium, four athletes finished in the top-30. The top result once again belonged to Calgary’s John Kucera, who won the super G at Lake Louise two weeks ago. Kucera placed 13 th at Reiteralm with consistent runs on both the super G and slalom course.
Francois Bourque, who was seventh in the super G leg of the competition, had a tough time on the slalom course to finish in a tie for 18 th . Ryan Semple was 22 nd , and Whistler’s Michael Janyk — second in a World Cup slalom in Colorado last week — placed 26 th with another strong slalom performance.
The win went to Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic, followed by Romed Baumann of Austria and Patrick Bourgeat of France.
The rest of the Canadian team headed to Europe on Monday, following a pair of Nor Am Cup downhill races at Lake Louise last week.
In the first men’s downhill, Mont Tremblant’s Stefan Guay took the gold medal, followed by Calgary’s Gareth Sine. Christopher Beckmann of the U.S. was third.
Whistler’s Robbie Dixon tied for seventh with teammate Jeffrey Frisch, while Vincent Lavoie rounded out the top-10 in 10 th . Whistler’s Michael Janyk also raced before heading to Europe, placing 25 th out of 100 athletes.
Other Whistler skiers, representing the Whistler Mountain Ski Club, were Matthew Holler 39 th , Conrad Pridy 48 th , Michael Kearney 53 rd , Morgan Pridy 60 th , Stan Rey 61 st , James McLean 67 th , and Benjamin MacLean 82 nd .
Guay won the second men’s downhill, followed by Andrew Weibrecht and Erik Fisher of the U.S. Vincent Lavoie was fifth, Robbie Dixon sixth, Jeffrey Frisch seventh, and Gareth Sine eighth.
Whistler skiers were Brian Bennett 23 rd , Matthew Holler 37 th , Conrad Pridy 41 st , Stan Rey 47 th , Micheal Kearney 52 nd , Morgan Pridy 57 th , James McLean 67 th , and Benjamin MacLean 75 th .
Whistler’s Britt Janyk, who is with the national development speed team this year, won the women’s downhill event at Lake Louise, edging Klara Krizova of Czech Republic and Chelsea Marshall of the U.S. Emily Brydon of Fernie was fourth, Shona Rubens fifths, and Emilie Desforges 10 th to round out the top-10.
Whistler’s Alison Leighton, who is with the B.C. Ski Team, placed 21 st . Other Whistler skiers were Julia Murray 31 st , Sarah Marshall 37 th , and Deborah Bayliss 41 st .
