Morning Star Staff
An intrepid group of dedicated Silver Star Freestyle Ski Club athletes were at Tabor Mountain in Prince George last weekend to compete in a test event for next year’s Canada Winter Games.
Braving sub -30 degree temperatures, the athletes competed in slopestyle, moguls and big air.
Patrick (the Mountain) Dew started off the weekend with a silver in the slopestyle event in the men’s 15-16 age bracket. Joining him on the podium with the bronze was teammate Zach (Zee) Fenn. Also cracking the top-10 was Patrick (Patty) Marsh finishing sixth.
In the men’s 13-14 bracket, Stirling Peters highlighted his run with a flat spin 540 to take home silver. Narrowly missing the podium was Declan Stevenson in fourth and filling in the top-10 were Hayden Person, eighth, and Max Fenn, ninth.
Mogul master Person followed up recent strong showings from Apex and Castle Mountain with a fourth in the men’s 13-14 bracket.
Joining Person with his first top-10 of the season was Josiah Gaskell in ninth with a run highlighted with a high-scoring back tuck.
In the 15-16 group, Dew proved he is a well rounded contender with a fifth. Marsh, normally found laying down smooth lines in the terrain park, also showed he has skills in the moguls, placing ninth.
In Sunday’s big air, Dew threw down a cork 900 that landed him on top of the podium. In the 13-14 group, Peters was fifth, Stevenson sixth, and Josiah Gaskell ninth.
Skiing up an age bracket, Silver Star’s lone female contender, 12-year-old Elena Gaskell, had another breakthrough weekend. Fighting slow snow conditions, Gaskell used her rail skills and clean spin tricks to secure second spot overall in slopestyle.
In Sunday’s big air, Gaskell stepped up her game landing a 900 degree spin to earn the highest score of the day in the female category.
Two unheralded members of the team from the weekend are coaches Connor Reeves and Graham Pollock, who braved the frigid temperatures to coach and encourage the athletes to their success.
Next up is the Smith Optics Rail Jam this weekend at Silver Star Mountain and then the third stop on the provincial Timber Tour March 6-9 at Silver Star.
