Phoenix ski racers bring home medals
By Contributor
In the first Rio Tinto Alcan Nancy Greene Ski League race of the West Kootenay Zone last Sunday, Jan. 20, teams from Red Mountain, Salmo, Summit Lake, Whitewater and Phoenix were present. The Phoenix Mountain Racers did their mountain proud by bringing home a 2nd place team ribbon. Phoenix Mountain Racer Seamus Carlyle, 11 years old, won the Silver medal for a 2nd place Overall finish out of over 125 racers.
Coaches Bill Ahrens, Ben Churchill and Astrid Kihl, were at the race, and have been working hard with the kids since January 5th, to get their racing skills back up after many months off the skis.
“The kids are really working hard this year”, says coach Churchill. “Our program is growing, and we are working on providing a consistent training routine. The parent volunteers have been stellar, and in are integral to our success as a team. The kids are really putting in their best effort this year during practice, and we are looking at bringing home the Gold at our next race in Salmo on February 3.”
The Red Mountain race was a Dual GS format, which means that the kids race side-by-side, and the gates are spaced wider apart, to allow them to gather more speed.
“The Red Mountain course tends to be icy and a bit steep for the younger kids, but all of our racers were calm and enthusiastic, and our results show that”, says coach Astrid Kihl (and mom of Seamus Carlyle), “We are really proud of all our our racers, and look forward to making this our best race season ever.”
The West Kootenay Zone Finals are to be held at Phoenix Mountain on March 10. Come out to watch some exciting ski racing, and support our local team!
