BC Highlights from the Invitational Spring Series
Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA
March 28-April 1, 2024
Results: https://zone4.ca/event/2024/x0mWVZ/
Thursday March 28th to Sunday March 31st
The trip to Jackson Hole started on Thursday March 28th very early in the morning for everyone. People were mostly flying from Vancouver and Calgary to Salt Lake City. We all met at the airport in Salt Lake City around 11am, and luckily no luggage was lost. We got our rental vehicles and started our 4-hour drive to Jackson Hole; we do not know about the other vehicles, but our van was pretty quiet during most of the trip. Everyone got to Jackson Hole around 5pm, we were divided into our different rooms, and we all went to the grocery store to get food for the next days. Everyone went to the very nice outdoor pool and hot tub that first evening, where we met a lot of other competitors. We finally all got some rest after a long day of travel.
Friday March 29th was a training day. We left our accommodation around 9am and drove about 15 minutes to get to the venue. The snow was very good on that day, everyone checked out the sprint course for the next day as well as the other courses for the following days and did their pre-race workout. As Jackson Hole is very high in altitude (about 2000m), everyone felt the difference during the ski session. After the ski in the morning, everyone got the afternoon to go check out the town and rest for the first race on the next day.
Saturday March 30th was the first race day of the Spring Series, consisting of skate sprints on a 1250m course. The weather was very different from the Friday as it had snowed overnight, and it kept snowing all morning. Everyone did their qualifier, the feedback from the athletes were that the course was hard but fun, with a lot of one skate and not a lot of rest, and everyone felt the impact of the altitude during that first sprint. Those who qualified for the Senior and U20/U18 heats stayed at the venue while the others went back to the accommodation to have lunch and rest. The heats started around noon and finished around 2 pm. It was challenging, but overall, everyone had fun and was happy to race against very fast skiers. The rest of the crew went back to the accommodation to rest for the rest of the day. We played a lot of fun games with the team and enjoyed the hot tub.
Sunday, March 31st, was a relay day. It was still snowing, but the temperature was warmer, which made the conditions quite wet. The relay was mixed gender and mixed technique, the first two legs were doing classic and the last two legs were doing skate. Everyone was doing 5km, going two times around a 2.5km course. The course was challenging due to the snowfall and wet conditions, and still feeling the altitude, but our four different BC teams fought hard to the finish, and everyone had fun racing with their teammates! The rest of the afternoon was spent playing games, finishing to clean skis for the next day and getting some rest before the last race in Jackson Hole.
By Anika Wallin, Maya Abraham and Louison Dubief
The top results from the past weekend are noted below.
April 1: Interval Start – Classic Technique
1st U18 Boys Eamon Wilson (Hollyburn Cross Country Ski Club)
2nd Sr Men Joe Davies (formerly Whistler Nordic Ski Club)
3rd U20 Men Aidan Hay (Hollyburn Cross Country Ski Club)
4th U18 Boys Finn Redman (Telemark Nordic Club)
March 30: Individual Sprint – Free Technique
1st U18 Boys Finn Redman (Telemark Nordic Club)
2nd U18 Girls Louison Dubief (Fernie Nordic Ski Club)
3rd U18 Girls Maya Abraham (Nelson Nordic Ski Club)
3rd U18 Boys Raleigh Tarte (Kimberley Nordic Club)
5th U18 Girls Anika Wallin (Williams Lake Cross Country Ski Club)
B-Tour Athletes
Aidan Hay (Hollyburn Cross Country Ski Club)
Anika Wallin (Williams Lake Cross Country Ski Club)
Carly Ram (Strathcona Nordic Ski Club)
Eamon Wilson (Hollyburn Cross Country Ski Club)
Finn Redman (Telemark Nordic Club)
Gavin Chatterton (Strathcona Nordic Ski Club)
Louison Dubief (Fernie Nordic Ski Club)
Maya Abraham (Nelson Nordic Ski Club)
Maeve Macleod (Revelstoke Nordic Ski Club)
Raleigh Tarte (Kimberley Nordic Club)
Wes Robinson-Shaw (Fernie Nordic Ski Club)
Xavier Wallace (Overlander Ski Club)
Coaches
Chris Manhard (CCBC Provincial Coach)
Zach Hill (Revelstoke Nordic Ski Club Head Coach)
Andrea Stapff (Bulkley Valley Cross Country Ski Club Head Coach)
