A massive snowstorm that closed the alpine for three days also had an impact on the annual Parsons Memorial Super G and K2 Provincials, hosted by the Whistler Mountain Ski Club this past weekend.
Saturday's races were cancelled, but volunteers managed to get the snow cleared enough to get three out of six scheduled super giant slalom runs - two women's runs and one men's race - underway on Sunday.
In the first women's race, the WMSC's Kelly Steeves took the gold medal with a time of 1:14.99, well ahead of Fernie's Mia Henry (1:16.11) and Stephanie Gartner (1:16.27).
Also from the WMSC, Elizabeth Kepl was fourth, Rachel Vander Veen sixth, Mikayla Martin seventh, Chantal Deane 10th, Emma Swaffield 12th and Claire Baragar 15th.
Stephanie Gartner and Mia Henry were first and second in the next race with times of 1:17.59 and 1:17.71, with Kelly Steeves dropping back to third in 1:81.01. Rachel Vander Veen was fourth, Mikayla Martin seventh, Elizabeth Kepl eighth, Emma Swaffield ninth and Stefanie Fleckenstein 11th.
On the men's side, the WMSC's Marc Leroux was second in 1:25.26, just two one-hundredths back of Nelson Seger of Big White. Jake Allison, another WMSC skier, was third in 1:16.07.
Other WMSC skiers in the top 15 include Max Peiffer in eighth, Cameron Alexander in 10th, Riley Seger in 11th, Sam Kirshenblatt in 13th and Jeffrey Cadman in 15th.
WMSC alums podium at NorAm Cup
The NorAm Cup speed series at Aspen, Colorado run for eight days, and won't be over until after the Pique goes to print.
However, Canadian athletes - including members of the national development team, B.C. Ski Team and alums of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club - got off to a strong start.
In the opening women's super G, Victoria Stevens of Quebec was the top Canadian in third, with Sarah Freeman of Fernie in fifth and WMSC alum Madison McLeish in seventh. The other WMSC skiers in the top 15 were Jocelyn Ramsen in 13th.
Madison McLeish jumped to third place in the super combined event, with Jocelyn Ramsden finishing just outside the top 15 in 19th.
Victoria Stevens won the second super G race for Canada. Madison McLeish was a DNF and Jocelyn Ramsden was 21st.
Next up was the downhill. Georgia Simmerling, an alum of Grouse, was first overall, followed by Canadians Julia Roth and Sarah Freeman. Madison McLeish was ninth.
In the men's race, WMSC alum Conrad Pridy led the team in fourth place, edging out a pair of jetlagged national team skiers back from the world championships - veteran Jan Hudec, who placed ninth, and Benjamin Thomsen in 10th.
"I did something a little different today and it seemed to work," said Pridy. "My training runs were good and I knew that with race wax I could increase my speed in the course without changing my skiing. So on race day, instead of trying harder, I decided to relax, trust myself and duplicate what I had done in training."
