The Blizzards Blast down the Hill at Home Races

The Cold Lake Blizzards Alpine Ski Club hosted their annual Nancy Greene series race, Blizzard Blast, this weekend at Kinosoo Ridge Snow Resort. The races saw 140+ kids under 12 years old, competing to be the fastest down the hill, in two events slalom and giant slalom. One of the club’s coaches, Janelle Holthe says it was a great weekend.

“The kids did very well. Several of them are on their first year skiing,” the club has kids from four to 12 years old, says the coach, “for them to compete it’s very impressive. For some of the kids, our first practice was their first time on skis and now they have medals. That’s pretty exciting.” Holthe says the real joy is seeing all the kids smiles.

The season has been going really well for the club, with many of their skiers placing in the top ten throughout the Nancy Greene race series. The series is a provincial run that stops at many ski hills in Alberta. Focused on amateur ski racers, it encourages youth to try the sport. This year the club has picked up two gold medals.

Along with the Nancy Greene series there are three club members who have aged up into the Provincial series; Nathan Sylvestre, Ben Sylvestre and Chiara Harris. All three have seen success with Nathan bringing home gold a few weekends ago. The trio will also be headed to Alberta Winter Games this weekend, representing the Zone 7.

The club is unique to other ski race clubs in Alberta, explains Holthe, “we’re the only club with volunteer coaches. All the other clubs pay their coaches and that is their job.” Holthe thanks all the volunteers, parents, and coaches who helped make the event possible, “it took a lot of parents hard work and volunteers to put this together. We had a really good turnout and the feedback we’ve been getting has been really positive.” This is the third year the races have been held at Kinosoo Ridge. Holthe thanks all the staff at the hill for helping put together a memorable event.

There are 34 kids in the Blizzard’s club. On March 3-4 the club will be heading to the Jasper Junior Olympics, the last stop on the Nancy Greene series. There will be 200+ kids competing in the race.