Apex Freestyle Club made its coach Jeff Fairbarn proud during the B.C. Freestyle Ski Championships held at Blackcomb Mountain in Whistler from March 30 to April 3.
Athletes competed in single and dual moguls, halfpipe and slopestyle and moguls and slopestyle for Super Youth athletes’ competitions. With a 30-degree slope and 240 metres in length, the course is considered one of the most difficult on the World Cup circuit.
In the combined youth and super youth dual moguls on the final day, Emily Little, who is on the B.C. team, earned silver in the F2 junior 16 to 18 years, while Mason Barzilay claimed gold in the juvenile. Madison Parker won gold in the super youth 12 and under. Robert Wojcik and Josh Kober brought Apex gold and silver respectively in M2 junior 16 to 18 years, while Connor Spence earned bronze in the juvenile, Josh Visser also took bronze in the youth while Maxwell Todd won gold in super youth 12 and under.
On opening day in the halfpipe, Hunter Visser, representing the B.C. team, won gold in the juvenile 14 to 15 age group. In the female single moguls, Emily Little of the B.C. Team won silver in the junior category, while Andi Naude of the B.C. Team won gold and Barzilay earned silver. In the male’s single mogul, Josh Kober won gold for the junior, while Connor Spence took gold in the juvenile and Noah Spence earned gold in the youth.
Naude was also golden in the female Slopestyle event, while Tucker Visser (B.C. Team) won silver on the male side. Also having success was Hunter Visser earning silver in the juvenile and Joshua Visser collecting bronze in the youth category.
In the super youth slopestyle, Kassidy Todd and Madison Park got Apex on the podium earning silver and bronze respectively, while Annalise Spence earned bronze in Super youth (9 to 10). In super youth moguls, Spence won gold in the female (9 to 10) category, while Brayden Kuroda won gold in the same age group.
Fairbairn said the performances were stellar.
“Very solid,” said Fairbairn, as he expects a few of his skiers to move onto the B.C. Team next season.
Individually, Fairbairn was impressed by Josh Kober and Barzilay.
“That was the standout run and Barzilay with the duals,” he said.
Fairbairn said the success is important as it helps the team as they put pressure on each other to perform.
At the dual moguls held on Sunday the athletes were treated to medal presentations by special guests Chelsea Henitiuk and Eddie Hicks. Special guests Sarah Burke and Mike Riddle of the Canadian National Team commentated for the halfpipe and slopestyle events on Friday and Saturday. At the banquet on Friday night, kids were treated to a visit from their Olympic hero Kristi Richards.
Skier halfpipe is being added as a medal event for the 2014 Sochi Olympics in Russia and the same could happen with slopestyle.