Big White skiers hit the podium in home race

This weekend, the finals of the Western Canada Ski Cross Series were hosted by Big White and the Big White Ski Club on the Telus Park ski cross course.

Big White was the final stop in a series of races across the west for athletes ranging from U12 and older.

The Telus Park ski cross track consists of natural and artificial features such as banked turns, doubles, rollers and wootangs.

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.

This exciting sport made it’s Olympic debut at the Winter Games in Vancouver in 2010.

Around 100 young athletes from B.C., Alberta and Washington including the host team, Big White Ski Club, raced on the exceptional track with a number of podium finishes.

Course training took place on Friday while racing commenced on Saturday and continued until Sunday afternoon and offered some great spectator entertainment.

Ned Ireland from the Canadian Ski Cross Team was on hand to present the awards.

Leading off the Big White Ski Club this weekend was Kiera Swift, who won a gold and silver in the U16 category.

In the U14 women’s category, Shayna Little also won a gold and a silver while Liv Willoughby made the top eight placing fifth and sixth and Lola Gulyas placed seventh.

The U14 Men also saw another two racers from Big White on the podium.

Finley Cashin won a gold and a silver while Benjamin Hare also took gold and bronze while Simon Yanow placed sixth.

In the U12 women’s category, Kael Oberlander struck gold twice while Tabitha Taylor and Taryn Schrock both won silvers and Reese Swift was also on the podium with a bronze.

Other top eight finishers included Samantha Hveding (sixth) and Erika Hveding (eigth).

The U12 Men also saw another two racers from Big White in the top eight: Callum Sutton-Macmillan placed sixth while Naude Eduan placed seventh.