Whistler’s Conrad Pridy returned to the Nor-Am Cup circuit for a downhill victory at Apex Mountain Resort on Friday (Feb. 8), as he and brother Morgan led a strong showing from local skiers during a weekend speed series.
Conrad Pridy captured top spot in the first of two downhill staged at Apex, also finishing fourth in Sunday’s (Feb. 10) race. The elder Pridy also finished second in a super-G held Sunday.
Morgan Pridy picked up a silver medal in the Sunday downhill, while also earning a fourth-place result in Friday’s race before placing 10th in super-G.
B.C. Ski Team member Brodie Seger, a Whistler Mountain Ski Club (WMSC) product, was 17th on Friday for his best result of the weekend. Fellow local Broderick Thompson reached the same position in Sunday’s downhill for his top finish at Apex. Blake Ramsden only competed in super-G and finished 31st.
Among some other Whistler skiers earning strong results, Austin Llewellyn had top-40 finishes in both downhills, while Kyle Yates and Sam Kirshenblatt each recorded one top 40.
Emma King and Charley Field were also solid in the women’s races at Apex to lead the local contingent. King and Field were eighth and ninth, respectively, in the downhill race held Saturday (Feb. 9), and The B.C. Ski Team members both finished in the top 15 for all three weekend races.
Local skiers Kelly Steeves and Rachel Vander Veen each had a top-20 finish in both downhill and super-G, marking career-best results in Nor-Am Cup racing for both athletes.
B.C. Team locals headed to worlds
Alpine Canada announced Tuesday (Feb. 12) that Thompson, Field and fellow Whistler product Ford Swette have all been named to Canada’s roster for the Junior World Ski Championships.
Swette attended last year’s junior worlds in Italy, but Thompson and Field will be making their first appearances at the event, which runs Feb. 20 to 27 at ski areas near Quebec City.
The three locals are B.C.’s sole representatives on the Canadian roster. Swette, who finished 31st in slalom last year, is currently second in the men’s giant slalom rankings on the Nor-Am Cup circuit.
Lepine sits second in Nor-Am standings
Whistler’s Sarah Lepine continued her strong start to the Nor-Am Cup ski cross season with two more good outings on the weekend, while fellow local Madison McLeish hit the podium during a doubleheader at Ontario’s Beaver Valley — the first ski cross event of her career.
Lepine finished fourth and fifth during races held Friday and Saturday (Feb. 8 and 9) at Beaver Valley. She also finished second earlier in the week during races in Vermont, helping her to second place in the women’s Nor-Am Cup standings.
McLeish, a current Canadian Alpine Ski Team member, finished behind Lepine in Friday’s small final to take sixth in her ski cross debut, then edged Lepine for the last podium spot in Saturday’s main final.
In men’s racing, Tyler Murray followed a third-place finish in Vermont with a sixth-place showing in Friday’s race at Beaver Valley. Fellow Whistler skier Adam Gibson earned his best result of the season on Saturday by making the final and finishing fourth, following three consecutive races in which he reached the small final.
Murray is now ranked fifth in the men’s season standings, while Gibson sits eighth.
The tour resumes in Park City, Utah, at the end of the month.
Ng takes Tyee Cup
WMSC athlete Arabella Ng took home the girls’ Tyee Cup from U12 racing at Grouse Mountain on Saturday and Sunday, needing a tiebreaker to separate herself from teammate Maja Wooley for the title.
Grouse hosted stubby, slalom, GS and kombi events for the young racers over the two days, with cup winners determined by skiers’ best three of four races.
Ng picked up two victories, a silver and bronze at Grouse, her third-place finish in kombi being the difference over Wooley, who finished with two wins and a silver of her own during the weekend.
It was an excellent showing from the WMSC girls overall, as Jenna Tobias and Rosie Smith also hit the podium at Grouse. Kate McLeod was very consistent with top-10 results in every race, while Cate Melenchuk, Freya Jumonville, Misa Yamaoka, Gemma Bexton and Rebecca van Vliet all hit the top 10 at least once during the event.
On the boys’ side, Tait Jordan provided a podium finish for Whistler in Sunday’s kombi, finishing third after top-10 results in all other races. Ethan Shandro and Nathan Romanin each had a pair of fourth-place finishes at Grouse, while Skylar Beauregard had three top 10s to his name.
