Apex Freestyle Club skiers had a big weekend at the second Timber Tour event in Prince George, bringing home 14 medals.
The feat was accomplished in frigid -35C weather leading AFC coach Kenni Kuroda to joke, “maybe we should have cold weather all the time.”
AFC athletes performed “excellent,” according to Kenni, in moguls (eight medals), slopestyle (two medals) and big air (four medals).
“The biggest surprise was my son (Brayden) got the highest score out of everybody, which was the run of his life,” said Kenni. “He was quite pleased with that.”
Brayden, who scored 21.47 in M4, said it was the best he has skied in a long time.
“I didn’t really have nerves,” he said. “I was focused on doing well.”
Brayden said his result has given him the confidence to know he can do better.
“I’m shooting to ski better and keep progressing.”
Kenni didn’t have an answer as to why his son had such a strong showing.
“The weather was just awful,” he said. “Really tough to keep the kids warm and motivated in that kind of weather. It just clicked, the whole team just came through. It was fantastic.”
AFC alumni Mason Barzilay, with the B.C. freestyle mogul team, won gold in the F2. Apex swept the podium in F3 with Mackenzie Schwinhamer claiming gold, Kassidy Todd silver and Chloe Kober, bronze. In F4, Madison Parker captured gold, while Anna Spence earned bronze.
In M3, AFC alumni Kyle Parker, who skis for the B.C. team, took gold, while AFC member Koleton Phipps earned silver.
In big air, Kober and Todd earned silver and bronze in F3, while Matt Finlayson and Cameron Kapusty took silver and bronze in the M3 group.
In slope style, Kober and Todd made it to the podium, again finishing second and third, respectively.
Kuroda said his skiers showed up to perform with the right mindset.
Other athletes impressing Kuroda were Kober and Todd, who reached the podium in all three events. Kober was the biggest surprise to Kuroda.
“A big congratulations to her,” he said. “Kassidy Todd as well. Really performed well this weekend.”
As for the event itself, Kenni credited B.C. Freestyle for their work putting on a show for directors and organizers of the Canada Games, which Prince George is hosting in 2015.
Kenni noted that Prince George received a lot of money through Canada Games to improve their courses.
“The slopestyle was just dynamite, an awesome site,” he said.
The moguls course was shorter than what they usually ski, at a distance of 180 metres and a couple of flat spots, yet Kenni said they did a great job and he liked the big air as well.