Pique Magazine, published 16.03.04

This week I write to you about my first experience racing in Ontario. Yes it’s true, I’ve been racing for a long time and yet I have never been to Collingwood to ski or to race. Amazing I know! This past week I finally got the opportunity to race there for the Noram finals. We had two giant slalom races and two slalom races. And, I had a great time. I think part of the reason that I really enjoyed the week had something to do with the fact that I won three of the four races and I was also with my boyfriend! After being in Europe for the season it was pretty nice to be racing in Canada.

At first I was a little shocked to see the “mountains” of Ontario, they definitely are not the “mountains” that I am used to in the west. But, nonetheless I was impressed. The terrain they have was great and is actually quite steep to race on. It was just a little on the short side! The G.S race was about 50 seconds long, only 5 seconds longer than the slalom race. The races were held at Georgian Peaks and we had a Nations Cup dual at Blue Mountain on the Saturday night. I really enjoyed the races and enjoyed the events that were held. The dual slalom was held at night under the lights and they had two pro jumps with some fireworks set up to go off on the side. The crowd was excited and the band was playing in the village. The race crew and the mountain put on a great series. Everyday we were finished by noon and were able to head back for a, “little nap”.

The results from the rest of the team were also just as strong. In the G.S races we swept the podium both days with Brigitte Acton and Sophie Splawinski rounding off the second and third places and we left the Americans behind. In the slalom races we didn’t finish quite as strong and left the overall to the Americans on the second day with Brigitte Acton finishing in third. In the overall standings we took the top two spots in G.S and the third spot in the SL. By winning the G.S spots we will now have nine World Cup spots for next years race season. That’s pretty exciting!

While the women were racing in Collingwood the men had their NorAm finals in Mt. Tremblant where I heard they also had great conditions, and great races.

I am now in Mont Sainte Anne for the National Championships. This week we are running the downhill at Le Massif and next week we will race the tech events here at Sainte Anne. I am missing being at home in Whistler for the races but it is also nice to be back east. I think the week should be fun and a nice wrap up to the season. So far the weather has been good, but very cold! Isn’t it spring, I thought I ordered the warm sun? Well I guess that will have to wait for my return to Whistler.

I am enjoying being back in Canada and being around the whole team and soon I will have my family here to watch this week’s races. I will keep you updated on the happenings here in the east, and maybe let you in on a little gossip!!!

Keep watching and enjoy the skiing.

All the best,
Britt