2011 Canadian Open Freeskiing Championships at Red Mountain

It’s been a turbulent week in Rossland, BC. Our crew of one photographer and three competitors for the Canadian Freeskiing Championships arrived late Tuesday evening, the last section of highway 3 proving challenging in the snow storm. But a difficult drive to Red Mountain is almost always rewarded with a powder day. Our first day of skiing on this road trip was described by locals as ‘best day this season’. 20cms doesn’t sound like a whole lot for a bunch of Whistler skiers, but the snow quality in the Monashee Mountains on Wednesday was better than anything that falls on the coast. Our first day skiing Red was productive with shots and the competitors made their inspection of the qualifying zone on Link’s Line.

Graeme Bell going deep in the Monashees

Thursday was the first round qualifier, but the weather was far from cooperative. The ladies took their runs first and had reasonable visibility, albeit flat light. Majority of the men had to deal with socked in soup and piecing together a smooth run was not easy. Split judging (when judges sit at different points along the course) was necessary given the poor visibility. Former Canadian Open champ Peter Velisek was a DNF with a knee injury. Alex Wall from Nelson qualified at the top of the mens with a score of 31.17. Kasie Stroshin from Whistler had the lead going into the second round with 26.00

Friday was scheduled for the semi finals on Mt Roberts, but unfortunately the weather declined. Warm pacific weather brought rain that reached up to the peaks and the moist vapour clouds did not allow any competition runs. The day was for inspection only which was tough for first timers at Canadian Open who had not skied Mt Roberts before. The judges only ended up cutting 13 men and 4 women (roughly 25%) from the first day, choosing to be lenient with the lower turnout this year and the poor visibility during qualifying.

This morning there was excitement in the air as the peaks of Red, Granite and Roberts were all visible from the parking lot. Finals competitors had one inspection run before the official start at 9:30am. With the sun out and the entire course visible, everyone was stoked to give it all they had.

After putting together consistent runs over the two days , Kasie Stroshin walked away with the women’s trophy. Julie Thomas from Calgary had big props from the judges for the finals day but ended up in second place. Rachel Findler took third place on the podium.

In the mens it was CJ Wright from Christchurch, New Zealand who was able to come from third place standing to victory.

“My qualifying round was a little loose but I just charged through it. I was a little disappointed with the score, I was struggling a bit for control but I held it together. Today on Mt Roberts I took it carefully through the gnarly top section, playing pacman by picking up all the points along the features. At the bottom I went off Alderaan [final drop feature] thinking I was going to land on my face but it worked out really well”

Conditions at Red are currently a bit frozen on the lower mountain and variable powder conditions up top. The warm weather should settle after the weekend with more of the blower pow forecasted for Thursday.  Bring your snorkels.

Results

2011 Canadian Open Champ Kasie Stroshin

Words and Photos by Vince Shuley