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Downhill Derelicts event coming March 12

Sports briefs: Alexander hits World Cup top 10; WMSC members, grads shine at home
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The Downhill Derelicts made a $37,000 donation to Whistler Adaptive in 2019. Facebook photo

You don't have to be a superspy to support a great cause this week.

The Downhill Derelicts, a crew of American skiers who have come to Whistler every year since 2003, are holding a James Bond-themed fundraiser at Summit Sport this Thursday, March 12 at 8 p.m.

Summit store manager Deidre Potter made the connection with the group two years ago when she was managing the Salomon location in Whistler and one of her employees told her about them.

"I'd been looking for some sort of initiative to pull into the store to create more of a community vibe," she said. "I love their story, so my employee got me in touch with D.J. [Taylor], who's one of the co-founders of the group. I just fell in love with their whole concept."

Potter loves that the Derelicts hold a fondness for Whistler, returning every year, to the point that they want to make the resort accessible to as many people as possible.

"It was a bit of a fraternity boys trip and they loved and appreciated everything so much about Whistler that they decided that they wanted to start giving back to the community, so they chose to work with Whistler Adaptive," she said. "It's the selfless act of getting a bunch of guys together to fundraise money for such an important cause. It's pretty inspiring, to be honest."

This year's fundraiser will include music from the Combat Dolphins, snacks, a silent auction, and prizes raffled off every 15 minutes. Potter said that this is the first time the major fundraising push has been condensed into a single night, noting that it used to be a week-long campaign.

The funds will support Whistler Adaptive's Hawkes Program, which benefits first responders and military personnel with post-traumatic stress disorder, which is a cause close to Potter as her brother has been dealing with the condition since leaving the army.

"The fact that there's people that care so much about this whole prospect around supporting these people, it makes me feel like my brother's going to be OK," she said.

Since the Derelicts began fundraising for Whistler Adaptive in 2017, they have raised more than $92,000.

Those who can't attend the event can still submit pledges at https://pledgeit.org/for/2020-downhill-derelicts.

Alexander hits World Cup top 10

The lone Audi FIS World Cup ski race of the weekend saw some great news for Whistler skiers.

Cameron Alexander set a new career best with his 10th-place showing in the downhill at Kvitfjell, Norway on March 7. Wearing the No. 40 bib, Alexander came in 1.19 seconds behind winner Matthias Mayer of Austria, who edged out Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Switzerland's Carlo Janka for the victory. Other Canadians included Benjamin Thomsen in 31st, Jeffrey Read in 38th, and fellow Whistler Mountain Ski Club (WMSC) grads Jack Crawford in 39th and Brodie Seger in 49th.

WMSC members, grads combine for eight medals at home

WMSC racers and grads on the BC Ski Team ended up taking home eight medals in BC Cup action held at Whistler Blackcomb from Feb. 29 to March 7.

BC Ski Team member Nathan Romanin came away with a haul, winning the Feb. 29 giant slalom, March 1 giant slalom, and the second March 7 downhill while taking third in the first March 7 downhill.

Meanwhile, Tait Jordan scored second in the March 1 giant slalom while Konstantin Petkovic was third in the Feb. 29 giant slalom.

On the women's side, Gemma Bexton went home with a pair of medals after finishing second in the Feb. 29 giant slalom and third in the March 1 giant slalom.

Complete results are online at www.fis-ski.com.

Winterhawks take Lions Gate League crown

A successful playoff season for local pucksters continued on the weekend.

A week after both Sea to Sky Bears squads nabbed their zone crowns and qualified for provincials, the Whistler Winterhawks peewee 'C' team downed the Hollyburn Huskies by a 6-2 final to claim the Lions Gate League title on March 8.

Peiffer places seventh at Fieberbrunn

Whistler Freeride Club (WFC) grad Tom Peiffer matched his season best in Freeride World Tour competition at Fieberbrunn, Austria on March 9.

Competing in the men's ski division, Peiffer placed seventh, a ranking he also achieved at Kicking Horse earlier this year. He now sits 11th. New Zealand's Craig Murray topped American Isaac Freeland and fellow Kiwi Hank Bilous for the win.

In the women's snowboard event, Pemberton's Claudia Avon took sixth as France's Marion Haerty bested Australia's Michaela Meehan-Davis and American Erika Vikander.

Two local freeriders golden in Alberta

Current WFC competitors, meanwhile, excelled in regional action at Alberta's Castle Mountain Resort on March 8.

Owen Yarnold topped the U12 ski male event with a two-run score of 58.1 while in the 12-to-14 ski male contest, Nate Wilson tallied a 61.13 for the win while Jake Yarnold was just 1.2 points off the podium in fifth.

Kelly hits top 10 again

Pemberton moguls skier Brenden Kelly has found and maintained his consistency on the FIS World Cup moguls tour.

Kelly hit the top 10 for the fourth consecutive event, placing 10th in dual moguls action in Krasnoyarsk, Russia on March 7, finishing as the second-best Canadian of the day.

Canadian Mikaël Kingsbury came away with the win over Great Britain's Thomas Gerken Schofield while American Bradley Wilson placed third. Other Canadians included Laurent Dumais in 13th, Gabriel Dufresne in 18th, Kerrian Chunlaud in 21st and Robbie Andison in 27th.

Kingsbury claimed his ninth consecutive Crystal Globe in the process.

"After I knew I was going to win (for the season) it kind of released some pressure off my shoulders and I started skiing a bit better," Kingsbury said.

In the women's event, Justine Dufour-Lapointe was the top Canadian in fifth as France's Perrine Laffont topped Australia's Jakara Anthony for the win while American Jaelin Kauf took third. As well, Chloe Dufour-Lapointe took 14th, Valerie Gilbert was 17th, and Freestyle Whistler grad Maia Schwinghammer placed 22nd.

Local moguls skiers crack top 10 at NorAm finals

Freestyle Whistler grads impressed in the NorAm Cup moguls finals at Vermont's Killington Mountain on March 7 and 8.

In the single moguls contest, Jessica Linton cracked the women's final and placed sixth, while Chase Capicik wound up in eighth. Other locals included Mackenzie Schwinghammer in 17th, Maya Mikkelsen in 20th and Malica Malherbe (representing South Africa) in 31st. On the men's side, Sam Cordell placed 29th while Josh Maga placed 37th.

In the dual moguls, Capicik claimed a sixth-place showing, while Mikkelsen took 13th, Linton was 14th, Schwinghammer notched 17th and Malherbe was 33rd. As for the men, Maga was 26th and Cordell took 50th.

Critchlow cracks top 10

Canadian Tess Critchlow snuck into the top 10 in FIS World Cup snowboard-cross action at Sierra Nevada, Spain on March 7.

Critchlow was the top Canadian after scoring a 10th-place finish while France's Chloe Trespeuch bested Italy's Michela Moioli and Australia's Belle Brockhoff for the win. Meanwhile, Whistler resident Zoe Bergermann was 16th and Carle Brenneman placed 17th.

On the men's side, Eliot Grondin was the top Canadian in 18th, while Kevin Hill was 24th and Liam Moffatt placed 38th. At the top of the table, Spain's Lucas Eguibar topped Austria's Alessandro Haemmerle and Germany's Paul Berg.