Skip to content

Mount Washington skiers shine at Silver Star

Six athletes compete in annual Showdown Throwdown Hoedown
59838comox09podiuma8
TEAL HARLE GETS airborne at the Showdown Throwdown Hoedown at Silver Star.

Silver Star Mountain hosted the ninth annual Showdown Throwdown Hoedown this past weekend. This slopestyle event is open to snow boarders and skiers in both amateur and pro categories.

The athletes came from Alberta and B.C. to compete for a prize purse worth $10,000. This is a Bronze level event for the Association of Freeskiing Professionals (AFP). In addition to the prizes, athletes were also hoping to gain AFP points to improve their world rankings, qualify for higher level events (such as the World Ski Invitational in Whistler) and to get invites to teams and programs for next season.

There were six skiers from Mount Washington ready to lay down their best runs over technical rails and huge jumps.

The first day were qualification and seeding runs. Teal Harle, Todd Heard, Erin Sketchley, Sofia Tchernetsky, and Mei Pond were able to make it through to the finals whereas Layne Anvelt was unable to make the cut this time.

After the finals three of these athletes found themselves collecting prizes. Sketchley of Campbell River finished the day in second place in the amateur category. In the Pro category, Pond of Nanaimo finished fifth while Tchernetsky earned a bronze.

On the boys side, Heard of Duncan finished in the top 10 while Harle placed second, both in the Pro category. Teal walked away with a cash prize of $500 along with his silver medal.

Each of these competitors returns to Mount Washington, some to Podium of Life Snow Sports Academy, to train for the upcoming BC Freestyle Championships. This event will take place April 4-6. This is a great chance to come out and cheer on these talented athletes on their home turf!

 

– Podium of Life Snowsports Academy