Racing down the Skyline run at Panorama Mountain Village, Terrace, B.C.s Caleb Brousseau placed 11th at the Super-G competition at the IPC World Cup on Tuesday, January 14th. Caleb posted a combined time of 1:19.38 after two runs, clocking in just 3.36 seconds shy of first place. Athletes came from 20 different countries to compete at the pre-Paralympic event in the valley between January 8th and 14th.Photo by Malcolm Carmichael / Alpine Canada
Pioneer Staff
There were no first-place finishes for any Canadian athletes last week, but several home-grown para-skiers made podium finishes at the 2014 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Cup at Panorama Mountain Village.
One participating Canadian whos already qualified for this years Canadian paralympic team is Josh Dueck, a silver medallist at the 2010 Paralympics in Vancouver. During the Mens Super-G sitting races on Tuesday, January 14th, Josh notched a time just 0.54 seconds behind the first-place finisher.
Josh told The Pioneer about the variable conditions that many Canadians have become accustomed to at Panorama.
One day it was snowing, the next day it was sunny, one day it was icy, the next day it was powder; the variety, I thought, was really interesting, and it didnt hurt me at all, he said. Race organizers nimbly re-organized events to keep the races going on Sunday.
Columbia Valley RCMP detachment members bookend winners of the mens Super G sitting race on Tuesday,January 14th, the final day of racing at the International Paralympic Committee World Cup races at Panorama Mountain Village. Canadian sit-skier Josh Dueck (left) earned a second-place finish, behind Japans Taiki Morii (middle) but ahead of Japans Akira Kano.
Between January 8th and 14th, para-alpine athletes were racing down the Oldtimer and Skyline runs at Panorama during the resorts international competition, which involved 20 countries. The stakes are huge this year, as it was one of the final races for athletes from each nation to qualify for the 2014 Paralympic Games in Sochi, Russia.
The awards ceremonies at the central village were well-attended, as the grounds were able to comfortably accommodate the crowd regardless of their physical needs.
An unidentified sit-skier rips through the downhill course.
Alpine Canada knows that Canadians are capable of more podiums, but its early in the season and we did get some podiums, he said.
CPAST athletes enjoyed mingling with media at the Wildfire Rustic Grill on Saturday, January 11th. Photo by Greg Amos
One of the Canadian hopefuls is 19-year-old Alexandra Starker from Calgary, whose expertise on skis was largely crafted at Panorama having grown up with a second home in the valley. Alexandra competed in races on Friday, January 10th, where she posted a total time of 1:50.79 after two heats of Downhill Standing races, earning 29 World Cup points with a ninth-place finish.
VALLEY BUILT Alexandra Starker was one of the paralympic athletes representing Canada at the IPC World Cup last week. Shes working hard to earn enough points to be part of the Canadian national team at the 2014 Sochi Games. Photo by Dan Walton
The next stop for the World Cup athletes is Copper Mountain in Colorado, starting today, Friday, January 17th.
Kimberey Joines celebrates a podium finish.
ATHLETIC OBSERVERS Left to right: athletes Caleb Brousseau from Canada, Heath Calhoun and Jasmin Bambur from the U.S., and Anna Turney from Great Britain spend some of their time between races as spectators during the IPC World Cup at Panorama on Friday, January 10th. Photo by Dan Walton
