Three Fernie athletes have overcome tough conditions to compete in the Freeride Junior World Championship in Austria.
Heidi Farmer placed third in the women’s snowboarding with 840 points, while skiers Seth Amundsen and Micah Morris scored 310 points, finishing 12th and 11th respectively.
The trio was among 60 invitees to earn a spot at the event, which is the world’s biggest junior freeride competition.
Farmer was the 2017 FJWC winner and impressed judges with her “beautiful big mountain turns”.
The athletes faced tough conditions during the competition, which was held from March 21-23 in Kappl, Austria.
“The course was pretty intense, there was a lot of variety that we could hit,” said Amundsen.
“The snow for the comp was a bit iffy, they had a lot of issues with snow… It was very punchy and difficult to ride through.
“They did some avalanche control on the course and got it going.”
Amundsen managed to keep the nerves at bay but it was the avalanche control work that proved to be his undoing.
“I skied right into where they had recently bombed for avalanche control and did a little somersault, which put me out of contention to win but I still pulled off 12th place, so I can’t really complain about coming 12th in the world,” he said.
“I wasn’t scared for my run or anything, it more of just a wow factor. I was just amazed that I actually made it to the world stage.”
Although he missed out on a place on the podium, Amundsen feels he still benefited from the experience.
He will soon turn 19 and is focused on staying fit over summer in preparation for senior freeride events on the world qualification circuit.
At press time, Farmer was still in Europe while Morris lives in Sweden.
“I think a big lesson is learning how to have fun with it as well as keeping that competitive aspect of the sport,” said Amundsen.
“I would like to thank everyone who reached out to me for their support.”
