Vernon’s Brendan Davidson had a rare opportunity to rub elbows, quite literally, with some top ski cross athletes recently at Nakiska Resort in Kananaskis, Alta.
In preparation for the upcoming world cup season in Europe, the national ski cross team descended on the Alberta resort to battle in the first race of the Sport Chek North American Ski Cross Series.
Davidson, a member of the Vernon Ski Club who only took up the sport last year, placed 10th in qualifying, finishing behind eight Canadian team members and American Rett Smith. In the four-man knockout heats, he advanced to the semifinals, and in the small final, he ranked eighth.
At the same event, Davidson, by virtue of his win at the Canadian Open Championships in Lake Louise last spring, had a shot at qualifying for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria in January.
Davidson, competing in the 15- to 16-year-old division, was edged out in the final heat by Alberta’s Matty Herauf, who won the 2007 Canadian freestyle championships in Vernon.
Davidson, the reigning ISGA North American
