Over the Feb. 9-10 weekend the second of the B.C. series for freestyle skiing, the Timber Tour, was held in Whistler. This competition featured slope style (rails and jumps), moguls, and half pipe. A number of skiers from the Podium of Life Snow Sports Academy were at the competition: Teal Harle, Todd Heard, and Erin Sketchley.
Teal Harle a Ggrade 10 student, who attends Podium of Life in the winter, and Carihi for the remainder of the year, defended his gold medal performance from the last competition in slope style by finishing his run with a switch 1080 (skiing backwards, then rotating 3 times, then landing backwards). The judges were impressed and awarded him another gold medal. There is a video of his winning run on the Podium of Life Facebook page. He improved his silver medal result in moguls by winning his age group before the fog set in. He placed fourth in the half pipe.
Todd Heard, a Grade 8 student who lives in Nanaimo when he is not living on Mount Washington to attend Podium of Life, had a great run in the park and won a silver medal. He then earned a fourth place finish in the half pipe. Unfortunately the mogul competition was cancelled due to fog. Todd trains with the B.C. mogul team throughout the year.
Erin Sketchley, a Grade 8 Podium of Life student from Campbell River, finished in the top 10 for both slope style and half pipe. Her slope style run included sliding rails and hitting huge air on some oversized jumps. She was skiing excellently in the moguls where her 360s were dialled in. But the competition was cancelled due to the fog.
The next B.C. series for freestyle skiing will be held in Silverstar mid March. Following that competition is the Junior Nationals at Apex mountain.
– Podium of Life