Blizzards Host Nancy Greene

Amateur ski race to be held at Kinosoo Ridge this weekend

The Kinosoo Ridge Blizzard Ski Club are hosting a Nancy Greene Alpine Ski Race on Saturday at the hill. This is the second time the race, that has skiers aged 5-11 years old, will be held at the snow resort. Colette Sylvestre, with the Blizzard Ski Club says the race was so well received last year it’s been the talk of the circuit this season.

The race last year was added to the calendar late, but made a huge impact, says Sylvestre. “All of the clubs that came, thought it was absolutely amazing, that our hill was amazing and the facility was amazing!” Kinosoo Ridge has been the talk of the circuit, says Sylvestre, “you hear people saying ‘are you headed to Cold Lake?’.” The staff and management know how to treat the skiers, explains Sylvestre, “it was because of the hospitality, the food, and the hill. Everything that the ski hill provided to the kids. Val & Jurgen (Grau) do a great job putting it on! They take great care of us and we’re lucky to have them.”

“We’re thinking around 100 skiers will attend,” Sylvestre says that last year’s race brought in just over 60 skiers. Seeing as it was the first year and that Kinosoo Ridge received such great reviews, the club anticipates more skiers to attend this year. “It’s grown in size.” Skiers compete in slalom and GS (giant slalom) races, in different age categories and genders. According to the Nancy Greene Race website, the series is a “grass roots program of Alpine Canada Alpin – while national in scope, it is operated by the provincial associations and the many affiliated ski clubs across the country. Each club offers the type of program that fits their situation while following the guidelines set out by their division or zone and keeping in mind the national philosophy”.

The Blizzard Blaze Ski Club had just competed in a race at Sunridge in Edmonton over this past weekend. The race held 185 athletes and Sylvestre is pleased to announce that all the Cold Lake kids that participated finished very strong, “everybody who competed from Cold Lake, was top ten this weekend.” Sylvestre predicts that the club will perform very strongly on the home hill this Saturday and Sunday.  Sunridge

The club is made up of 32 racers from Cold Lake and area. Racers train at Kinosoo Ridge on Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons, “we’d love to train every day,” laughs Sylvestre, who adds that the hill has been really good to the club. The club has two racers that are competing in the provincial series at U-12 (under 12 years old), Kiera Harris and Ben Sylvestre. Another racer, in the club, racers provincial series U-14.

“There’s Nancy Greene races across the country,” explains Sylvestre, “for our region, we have the north and south zones. We’re the north zone.” Sylvestre says the club wouldn’t exist without a strong core of great people, “we’re the only club, in the whole north zone, that has all volunteer coaches. All the other clubs have paid coaches. There’s lots of commitment, it’s a family sport.” Coaches for the Blizzards include, head coach Brandy LeBlanc, Greg Sylvestre, Dave Moar, Don Harris, Jarred Pawlowski, Colin Wood and Isabel Bowman.

“For kids who love to ski, this is a great program to build skills, confidence, and competitiveness. It’s a great sport!” Sylvestre says the club is always welcoming of new members. “If people are interested, it’s a great weekend to come and watch, and see what we’re doing.” The races will be held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons at Kinosoo Ridge Snow Resort. For more information, visit kinosoo.ca.