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Locals in the mix with top skiers on World Cup course at Apex

Fog forced cancellation of the final day of the Toyo Canadian Selections at Apex Mountain Resort
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Tanya Callon, Apex Freestyle Club coach talks with one of her skiers at Apex Mountain Resort. Sunday’s racing final called on account of fog. Mark Brett/ Western News

Mother Nature proved to be the spoiler at the weekend Toyo Canada Cup FIS Series Selections at Apex Mountain Resort.

After managing to get the first day of mogul competition in on Saturday, the fog began rolling in on Sunday just as the boys qualifying runs started, eventually resulting in the cancellation of the final day’s events.

According to event manager Evan Phillips this was the first time an event had to be cancelled since the World Cup course at Apex was built.

Fog had also hampered the unofficial training Thursday although many of the 70 competitors did manage to to get in a few trips down Kristi’s Run.

“At least we had Saturday. Saturday was good for the team so it’s not the end of the world that we lost Sunday,” said B.C. moguls head coach Josh Kober of Penticton. “It’s (weather) kind of part of the sport too. It happens from time to time, although rarely at Apex.”

Three local skiers are members of the provincial team, Koleton Phipps and Braden Kuroda of Penticton and Kassidy Todd of Keremeos.

“Koleton Phipps, he performed super super well, he finished in fifth place which was our goal and he was right in the mix with some of those top guys,” said Kober about the 19-year-olds results. “He was just ecstatic about that result which is awesome for him, he performed to the best of his ability he got the job done and it was really exciting to watch.”

In the Saturday race Phipps finished one place back of another Penticton skier, Jordan Kober, a member of the national ski team and Josh’s brother.

Josh was also happy with Todd’s efforts on the weekend with her sixth spot overall standings in the finals.

“She (Todd) was third place out of the Canadian girls, there were some other Japanese girls in the field that finished ahead of her but she was the second top provincial level lady on Saturday which was awesome for her,” said Kober.

“So the same as Koleton, mission accomplished, that’s what we were hoping for and she was just pumped with that result.”

Related: Big air and big dreams on the mountain at Apex this weekend

He added that Kuroda had a strong showing in Saturday’s qualifying, coming in eighth but had couple of miscues in the finals which knocked him down somewhat in the standings.

The competition was the first Canada Cup event of the season providing an opportunity for athletes to compete for spots on the NorAm circuit and a chance to qualify for the national team. Apex will host the final leg of the NorAm circuit on a championship stop in March.

In addition to the B.C. team members, other local skiers who competed included four members of the Apex Freestyle Club, Ainsley MacDonald, Ethan Phillips, Alex Henderson and Joe Durham.

As well, three club members, Lemon Walker, Nathan Parson and Cole Patton were selected to be the forerunners.

Related: Skiers in the groove at Apex

Forerunners, although they don’t compete, do get to run in a non-competitive environment in front of the judges. According to Apex head coach Tanya Callon, that goes a long way in adding to their experience level.

Skiers are now heading into the Christmas break and the B.C. mogul team will be back at Apex training in mid January before going to Quebec for a month to compete in events there.


 

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BC moguls coach Josh Kober talks with team member Kassidy Todd of Keremeos at Canada Cup FIS Series and selections event. Todd had a strong showing for B.C. at the weather-shortened races. Mark Brett/Western News
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A member of the BC Moguls team loses balance on a training run. Mark Brett/Western News