Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Sports briefs

National Climbing Centre proposed for Squamish

Squamish has long been regarded as one of the top climbing destinations in Canada, and if one developer has his way it will be the future home of the National Climbing Centre.

The new centre, proposed for the southern gateway to Squamish on the Scott Crescent site will provide office and meeting space for climbing related organizations, research and advocacy, educational programs, both indoor and outdoor climbing walls, and a venue for climbing festivals and competitions. Guided climbing tours would also leave from the centre.

The developer is the Vancouver-based Kingswood Group, which issued a release on Tuesday in support of the proposal, claiming that they have already spoken to local climbing groups to get their approval.

No zoning for the mixed-use facility has come forward at this point, although architectural renderings are available at the official website, www.nationalclimbingcentre.ca.

 

Nor-Am Championships start next week

The top up and coming ski racers from Canada, the U.S. and other nations will be in Whistler next week from Mar. 10 to Mar. 20 for the Northwest Funds Nor-Am Cup Finals and GMC Nations Cup competition, vying for critical FIS points, titles and a chance to represent their country in World Cup competition. Also up for grabs is a Nations Cup trophy for the country with the best results.

As well, American and Canadian national athletes that didn't qualify for spots in the World Cup finals will be coming home to compete, guaranteeing starting spots for next season.

The athletes arrive on Mar. 10 and get a few days of training. From Mar. 15 to Mar. 20 there are daily competitions with downhill, super G, super combined, giant slalom and slalom races taking part on Whistler Mountain. The speed events are on Raven/Ptarmigan and the tech events on the Dave Murray Downhill.

The Whistler Weasel Workers are recruiting to help stage the events, with more than 200 volunteers needed. As of last week they had about half that number.

While the calibre of racing is high, side slipping supervisor and recruiter Andrée Janyk said it will be a lot easier than the Olympics where 3 a.m. uploads were a regular event - the earlier uploads will be around 6:45 a.m. for the speed events and 8 a.m. for technical races.

The Weasel's tent will be back, giving volunteers a place to eat, drink, socialize and celebrate.

If you can help out during the nine-day event or have a room available, visit www.weaselworkers.com for more information. You can also call Andrée Janyk at 604-938-3684.

 

Team Whistler on road in Langley

Team Whistler is fielding a team of road riders in the Escape Velocity Spring Series, with the first event taking place this past weekend in Langley. The first event was a road race, with 13 laps of a 7 km loop.

Trevor Hopkins and Brandi Heisterman were racing in Group B.

Hopkins managed a fifth place finish in his category, and may even have finished fourth if one photo is correct - although with over 30 racers in the final sprint it was pretty chaotic for the judges.

Hopkins was expecting things to go sideways with that many bikes in the pack, but it was all pretty civilized.

"There were no crashes at all," he said. "Every year I've done these races there's been a big crash in the first one with people getting used to racing again, but this year was pretty good."

Squamish's Brandi Heisterman placed 15th in Group B and second among females - not bad for a rider who broke out her road bike for the first time in years for last summer's Whistler GranFondo. "I still need to figure out this road racing thing, and how to move around in the pack, as it took me eight laps to get to the front," she wrote in her race report. "But, when I did finally get to the front, I intended to stay there, so took some pulls in the pace line and helped push the pace so we could drop some of the field. There were some attacks through the race, all in which were chased down."

Also racing was JP (Jean-Philippe) Boulais, in his first road race. He entered Group C, placing 25th overall.

Results and race information is online at www.escapevelocity.bc.ca/spring.

 

Robertson wins silver at provincial championships

Whistler's Rebekah Robertson was the lone competitor representing the Whistler Skating Club at the Pacific StarSkate Provincial Championships last week, after winning the Senior Silver Ladies category at a qualifier in February.

She did extremely well, earning the silver medal in her category.

The club is sending more athletes to the annual Spring Fling competition in Vancouver this weekend, then will spend several weeks preparing for the club's biannual skating show. The theme of this year's show, taking place May 6 and 7, is Cirque-Ice.

In the Pique's last report on the club, skater Tess Thompson was overlooked in the results from the Winter Skate Competition. She placed 22nd in Senior Bronze Ladies.

 

KVRS finals next week

The final race on the Kokanee Valley Race Series calendar, a dual giant slalom and team event, takes place next Thursday, Mar. 17 on Gandy Dancer. All local racers are invited to take part in this social event, the last chance to crash gates this season.

Pre-registration is $29 at Guest Relations, and you can register at the Rendezvous Lodge on Blackcomb on race day until 9:45 a.m. for $35.

You must be 19 or older to take part and helmets are mandatory.

 

Park Rider Sessions halfpipe

If you're considering a run at The Show or World Skiing Invitational - or just want to show off your park skills - the Park Rider Sessions presented by Telus are hosting their first, and only, halfpipe competition of the season on Sunday, March 13.

Open to skiers and snowboarders of all ages, this is a judged event where athletes will be graded on air, spins, technical difficulty, landings and the overall impression. Each athlete gets two judged runs (plus several practice runs), and only the best result counts in the overall standings.

Advance registration is $29 at Guest Relations, and day-of-event registration will be available for $35 at the Rendezvous Lodge until 9:45 a.m. on competition day.

Helmets are mandatory and mouth guards recommended for all competitors, and minors will need a waiver signed by a parent or guardian.

There will be prizes for the top athletes in each age class, and all participants are eligible to win prizes donated by sponsors.

 

Junior lugers take turn on Whistler track

One week after the Whistler Sliding Centre hosted the Canadian Youth Championships, the venue was hosting the top junior luge athletes in the country aged 16 and up. It was an all-Alberta event for the most part, given that youth programs have been running locally for four seasons and most athletes are still in the youth age group. Pemberton's Jenna Spencer was the only racer representing the province and the home track, placing sixth out of 12 women in the contest. Her time was just over one second back of the top racers after two runs.