Western Canada Ski Cross Series – Race #1 Co-hosted by Evolve Ski Club & Canyon Ski Resort
January 24 - 26 , 2020

The Big White Ski Club was in action this past weekend for the Western Canada Ski Cross Series co-hosted by the Evolve Ski Cross Club and Canyon Ski Resort in Red Deer, AB. Fifty young athletes from all over Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC raced on the exceptional track, where the National Ski Cross Championships were held earlier this month. Canyon is the first stop in a series of races across the West for athletes ranging from ages 12 to 18 years old. Course training took place on Friday with racing on both Saturday and Sunday. A total of four racers representing the Big White Ski Club competed on both days, with a number of great races offering some great spectator entertainment and resulted in a number of podium finishes for the Big White crew.

In the Men’s U16 category on Saturday, Ben Hare was the top Big White racer finishing with gold while Finley Cashin also grabbed a piece of the podium with a bronze. In the women’s U16 category, Shayna Little was the top Big White racer finishing with a silver. In Sundays set of races, Big White again dominated the podium with both Shayna Little and Finley Cashin capturing gold medals while Benjamin Hare finished with a silver. Also joining the club this weekend was Emily Veitch (2006), who raced in the U14 category and finished in the top ten in both races.

Big White Ski Club coach Martin Little said the Canyon Ski Resort hosted a great event with a ski cross track that was in great shape and the team was also treated to three beautiful days of weather. The Canyon ski cross track consists of natural and artificial features such as a wu-tang, step-ups, doubles, rollers and banked turns. "I’m very proud of our kids" Little said. "There were lots of close races but our kids really stepped up and really battled hard. For us to go into the heart of Alberta ski cross country and get the results that we did just feels great.”

What truly set’s the sport apart from other skiing disciplines is the fact that there are four skiers competing in the track at the same time (similar to motocross). This exciting sport made its Olympic debut at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. While Ski Cross is still young, Canada has a rich history of success in the sport. Since 2009, Canada has been viewed as one of the strongest Ski Cross nations in the world, racking up 137 World Cup medals, 6 World Championship Medals, 15 X-Games Medals and 3 Olympics medals.

Both the Big White Ski Resort and the Big White Ski Club have been a big part of this success producing a number of Canadian Ski Cross Team members in recent years including: World Cup Team alumni Ian Deans, current National Ski Cross team member Ned Ireland and 2018 Olympic gold medalist & 2014 Olympic Silver Medalist Kelsey Serwa.

Big White Ski Resort will again host this year’s Western Canada Ski Cross Series final on the weekend of March 27 to March 29.

Click here for photos from THIS RACE

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