A pair of young Nordic skiers from Fernie were racing against some of the best in North America over the weekend.
Wes Robinson-Shaw and Louison Dubief, both Grade 11 students at Fernie Secondary School, were at Sovereign Lake in Vernon competing in the Nordiq Cup / US Super Tour and the Western Canada Cup, which ran from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4.
According to Helen McAllister, a coordinator with the Fernie Nordic Society’s race team, there were about 466 athletes registered for the event.
“(Robinson-Shaw and Dubief are) racing against sort of the best in North America,” she said in an interview with The Free Press on Nov. 30.
The Fernie racers, both 16 years old, competed on Dec. 1, 3 and 4.
On Dec. 1, they competed in the Nordiq Cup / US Super Tour U20+ 10 km Free Mass Start, which McAllister said was freestyle technique and ‘kind of a big deal’, because they were racing up an age category with men and women. Racers in that competition were from Canada and the U.S.
She said Dubief and Robinson-Shaw were seeded towards the back of the pack in the mass start.
“They’re going to have a really interesting game of trying to see how much strategically over 10 km they can move up in that pack.”
Dubief came 71st among the women and Robinson-Shaw came 101st among the men in that race.
On Monday (Dec. 5), McAllister said “After an extremely cold and tough opening race in the Nordiq Cup U20 Mass Start 10km Free Technique event, Wes and Louison competed as U18 athletes in the Western Cup races this past weekend to some outstanding results.”
On Dec. 3, they competed in the Western Canada Cup Race #1 U16+ Free Sprint, free technique.
McAllister said it was a ‘really cool format’ because it was an elimination round.
In that competition, Dubief came 15th in the quarter finals, and Robinson-Shaw came 10th in the semi-finals.
Dec. 4 was another U16+ Western Canada Cup competition, interval start, classic technique, 5km.
Dubief came 20th, and Robinson-Shaw took 4th.
McAllister said that the Fernie Nordic Society, it’s board of directors and overall membership, are ‘incredibly supportive’ of the Fernie Nordic Race Team.
“The team, the coaches and athletes are filled with gratitude for all the support they’ve received from both the club and the membership at large.”
A larger contingent of the Fernie Nordic Race Ream is heading to Canmore, Alberta the weekend of Dec. 9, to compete in the first Alberta Cup races of the 2022-2023 season.
“It will be a busy and exciting season for the team,” McAllister said.
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