Five of Jasper鈥檚 top freestyle skiers shredded Apex Mountain Resort, near Penticton, B.C., during the Western Canadian Series mogul competition Feb. 4 to 7.
The four-day competition included two days of training followed by a single mogul and dual mogul competition.
The competition was the team鈥檚 most competitive yet, with the top freestyle skiers from each province (excluding the national team) competing against each other.
鈥淭o have five kids from Jasper out of the 60 something best athletes across Canada is amazing and to have two of those five athletes making the finals, that means they鈥檙e in the top 20 in Canada,鈥� said Nicholas Bazin, head coach of the Jasper Freeride Ski Team.
鈥淲e have a really small community that鈥檚 able to provide some really, really good athletes so I think that shows the quality of the training venues, quality of the program, quality of coaches and the hard work and devotion from the athletes,鈥� he said.聽 聽
Alison Brown kicked things off on Saturday, earning a spot in the women鈥檚 finals and finishing ninth overall.
She followed up her impressive day with another strong showing on Sunday finishing 11th in the dual mogul competition.
鈥淪he had a minor injury, a sore shoulder, so she had to change her jumps for something smaller, but she still did some great quality skiing and was able to make finals,鈥� said Bazin.
To get to the finals on Saturday, each athlete took their best run out of two, with the top 16 male and female athletes moving onto the finals later in the day.
On Sunday, in the dual mogul competition, it was a one run qualifier with the top 32 men and 16 women going to the finals.
In the men鈥檚 competition, 13-year-old Ezra Jenkins missed the finals on Saturday, but regrouped on Sunday finishing 14th in the dual mogul competition.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all about his age,鈥� said Bazin. 鈥淗e鈥檚 skiing against 18 and 19 year olds.
鈥淗e鈥檚 only 13 so when you look at his score he鈥檚 first for his age category, but there鈥檚 no age categories at that level, which is amazing.鈥�
Because of their results, both Brown and Jenkins will be invited to compete at the Canadian Selection next year, a competition that includes athletes from provincial teams as well as younger athletes on the Canadian National Team.
Despite missing the finals, Caitlin McInnis, Hunter Boyer and Theron Boyer all skied really well, said Bazin, noting that it was their first Canadian Series competition.
鈥淚 was really impressed to see how focused they were,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t can be intimidating the first time you go out there because everybody is skiing fast and jumps big, but I was amazed that they didn鈥檛 pay attention to what was happening around them, they were just focused on their run.鈥�
Paul Clarke [email protected]
