Teal Harle won all the major awards at the recent BC Freestyle Ski Banquet in Silverstar. The 16 year old, who attends school on Mount Washington at Podium of Life Snowsports Academy, was honoured with the top awards.
Awards were given to the top skiers of the year for moguls and park. The results of three different competitions throughout the ski season were taken into account.
Harle won the gold medal for his age class in the park category, which consisted of two golds, a silver, and a bronze. He was also awarded the medal for overall winner, of all ages, for the park category.
Harle also won the gold medal in the mogul category, with a gold and two silver medal performances. He was also named the overall winner, of all ages, for the mogul category.
Then he received the biggest honour of all. He was given the "Spirit" award. This recognition, voted on by the coaches, is for the athlete who exemplifies the true spirit of freestyle. He received the award among enthusiastic and loud applause from his supportive peers.
"We were blown away, and so proud of him," says Shane Harle co-founder of Podium of Life. "Our school spends a lot of time on character development, and our efforts are paying off. He is a role model for many younger aspiring freestyle athletes."
Teal Harle is one of the coaches of Podium of Life Snowsports Academy. He is the jump, mogul and rail expert.
Over the last three weeks he has competed in three different competitions. The first was one of the Canadian series in Calgary, where he was unable to land a clean run. Then at Apex in the Junior Nationals he won a silver in big air and bronze in slopestyle. At Silverstar in the B.C. series he earned a silver in moguls, a bronze in slopestyle, and a fourth in dual moguls. He has one more Canadian series competition in Silverstar and will return back to coach at Podium of Life on April 3.
– Podium of Life Snowsports Academy