It was a weekend of powder snow and high flying action on the Bear run at Fernie Alpine Resort. Skiers aged 11 to 18 came out to compete in the two Provincial Freestyle Moguls competitions hosted from January 26-28. The brand new moguls course was constructed during the fall.
The athletes pulled out all the stops, according to Fernie Freestyle organizer Troy Nixon.
“We have kids that are probably going to go on to the Alberta Provincial Mogul Team,” he said. “When you have the facility to train on, the kids have an advantage.”
Competitors found the 234-metre-course very long, and challenging.
“It was eating kids alive,” said Sam Goodison, gold medal winner from the Saturday competition. Goodison trains with Winsport out of Calgary, but is a Fernie native with a long history training with Fernie Freestyle.
“It’s been really great coming home to my hometown and taking the win,” he said.
Over 60 competitors from across Alberta and Eastern B.C., some a part of the Alberta Freestyle Skiing Association, came out to Fernie for the event.
On Saturday, two athletes, Daniel Hammer and Sin Clegg from the Fernie Freestyle team made the podium.
“All of us are just thrilled for all the kids,” said Donna Benitez, a volunteer with Fernie Freestyle.
The volunteers on the course were very busy all weekend clearing the accumulations of snow. In addition, they organized a banquet on Saturday evening that was a fundraiser for the club.
“It was fantastic,” said Benitez, in regards to the entire weekend’s events. “It just gets better and better every year.”
