It was a good weekend for the Whistler Mountain Ski Club and its alumni on the B.C. Ski Team, with athletes finding the podium at competitions at Nakiska and Mount Washington.
Nakiska hosted a Pontiac GMC Cup event Jan. 12-15, with two giant slaloms and two slalom events.
Pontiac GMC Cup, Nakiska
In the first GS, on Thursday, WMSC vet and B.C. Ski Team racer Darren Chaddock posted the top time in the first run, but made a mistake in his second run to finish second overall behind Brett Haney of Calgary. Third place went to Jeff Crompton of the Alberta Ski Team.
Whistler’s Jeff Hume, who retired from the national team and joined the WMSC as a coach, also raced. He finished a close fourth to Crompton, just 0.09 seconds out of third place.
In the J1 category (age 15-16), WMSC racer Morgan Pridy was eighth overall.
Other WMSC results include Conrad Pridy in 27 th , Michael Kearney in 29 th , Stan Rey in 31 st , Philip Lake in 35 th , Ben MacLean in 40 th , Ben Podborski in 42 nd , Michael Dekur in 48 th , and North Jones in 49 th .
In the women’s GS, Kelsey Serwa of Big White took the gold medal, followed by Carmel McElroy of Calgary and Andrea Bliss of Edmonton.
For the B.C. Team, Whistler’s Alison Leighton and Danielle Robson were seventh and eighth respectively.
Other WMSC finishers include Julia Murray in 19 th , Jillian McArthur in 31 st , Katrina Dekur in 32 nd , Kirsten Dekur in 34 th , Calindy Ramsden in 35 th , Brittany McGovern in 37 th , Jessie Carmichael in 40 th , and Victoria Whitney in 49 th .
In the second GS, on Friday, Leighton moved up to third place behind teammate Lindsay Kraft. The win went to Fernie’s Danielle Poleschuk, who is racing with the Alberta Ski Team.
"It was a great race today," said Leighton. "I charged the course and really worked the open turns of the course that suit my racing style. I hope to be consistent tomorrow and be on the podium again."
In the J1 race, Whistler’s Victoria Whitney finished first, or 10 th overall.
Julia Murray was 21 st , Katrina Derkur 29 th , Jillian McArthur 27 th , Shannon Smith 34 th , Kirsten Dekur 35 th , Calindy Ramsden 37 th , and Brittany McGovern 41 st .
Brett Haney took the men’s gold once again, while Jeff Hume climbed up a couple of spots to take the silver medal ahead of Calgary’s Travis Dawson.
Hume, who competed in speed events with the national team, said he wasn’t ready to compete in the technical GS event.
"After skiing downhill all season, mixed in with a little powder, the GS today was a challenge," he said. "I’m not used to being so unprepared for a race."
Ben Chaddock made the top-10 once again with a fifth place finish.
In the men’s J1 GS, the WMSC’s Morgan Pridy and Michael Kearney were seventh and ninth respectively.
Other WMSC results were Matt Holler in 21 st , James MacLean in 26 th , Conrad Pridy in 27 th , Darren Chaddock in 29 th , Stan Rey in 30 th , Morgan Pridy in 32 nd , Michael Kearney in 34 th , Ben Podborski in 37 th , Philip Lake in 38 th , Ben MacLean in 43 rd , North Jones in 52 nd and Michael Dekur in 58 th .
In the first slalom, on Saturday, Chaddock earned his second silver medal of the weekend, sandwiched between Alberta racers Travis Dawson and Jeff Crompton.
In the J1 race, WMSC racers Morgan Pridy, Michael Kearney and Ben MacLean were fifth, seventh and 10 th respectively.
Conrad Pridy was 18 th and Michael Dekur 34 th . More than 20 skiers did not finish their first run because of the challenging course and conditions.
The women’s race went to Danielle Poleschuk, followed by Kayla Birdgeneau and Andrea Bliss. Leighton finished just off the podium in fifth place.
In the J1 race, WMSC skiers Katrina Dekur and Kirsten Dekur were eighth and 10 th respectively.
Other WMSC finishers were Victoria Whitney in 16 th , Danielle Robson in 18 th , Katrina Dekur in 25 th , Julia Murray in 26 th , Kirsten Dekur in 31 st , Shannon Smith in 35 th , Calindy Ramsden in 37 th , and Brittany McGovern in 42 nd .
On the last day of competition, another slalom, Leighton earned her third medal and second silver of the contest, finishing behind Andrea Bliss. Janelle Miller of Alberta was third.
Victoria Whitney was 13 th overall, Jill McArthur 19 th , Katrina Dekur 25 th and Calindy Ramsden 30 th .
In the men’s competition, Dustin Fraser of Quadra Island took the gold, followed by Jeff Crompton and Jeff Hume. The WMSC’s Matt Holler was sixth.
Conrad Pridy was 16 th , Darren Chaddock 22 nd , Stan Rey 23 rd , Ben Chaddock 28 th , Morgan Pridy 32 nd , Ben MacLean 34 th and Ben Podborski 41 st .
The WMSC took a team of 35 racers to Nakiska for this event, including J1 and FIS racers.
CIBC Wood Gundy K2 Race, Mount Washington
The WMSC K2 team (age 13-14) came close to sweeping the podium last weekend at their first Zone 5 competition at Mount Washington this past weekend. Led by double gold winners Brynne Benbow and Alex Binks, the team earned nine out of a possible 12 medals.
"Taking five out of six medals in the girls’ category and four out of six in the males, I am very happy with how we showed our resilience in such challenging and tiring conditions," said K2 head coach Jeff MacLennan, referring to the snowstorms that hit the coast on Saturday.
In the first of two giant slaloms Benbow finished first overall with nearly five seconds of breathing room over her closest competitor, Alecia Willis of Cypress. Madison McLeish of Whistler took the bronze.
Other top-15 results include Bria Darlington in ninth, Madison Podborski in 11 th , Jenna Newton in 12 th and Emily Konantz in 15 th out of field of 51 racers.
In the first men’s race the WMSC’s Alexander Binks took the top spot by close to three seconds over Jasper Smith of Mount Washington. Michael Cadman of the WMSC was third.
Rounding out the top-15, Isaac Penn was fifth and Aidan Lee ninth.
Benbow was the top female skier once again on the second day, this time over three seconds faster than teammate Madison McLeish. Nancy Bayly was third, making it a WMSC podium sweep.
Other top Whistler results belonged to Alexandra Fogarty in sixth, Madison Podborski in 13 th and Heidi Mah in 14 th .
Binks also won double gold, taking the second men’s GS. Teammate Ian Morrison was just over two seconds back, while Jasper Smith took third. Other top-15 results were Michael Cadman in fourth and Simon Timoshenko in ninth.
