Vernon’s Oliver Petit claimed first overall in the giant slalom event at the SpringLoaded Telemark Festival last weekend at Silver Star Mountain Resort.
Petit fended off a strong field of North American racers with a two-run combined time of one minute, 22:96 seconds.
SpringLoaded doubled as the Canadian National Telemark Championships, attracting telemark enthusiasts from B.C., Alberta and western U.S.
“We had an impressive field of competitors in both race disciplines this year,” said Guy Paulsen, Silver Star nordic manager. “The annual two-day event saw telemark racers from as far away as Colorado making the trip to race in both the GS and sprint classic disciplines.
“This is a such a great event we have here at Silver Star. I am looking forward to next year already.”
Fernie’s Shane Landreville earned the men’s sprint classic title with a two-run time of 1:51:36. The runner-up was skier Peter McMahon of Whitefish, Mont. in 1:54:10. Third spot went to Chris Henery of McCall, Idaho in 1:18:03. Petit finished in fifth.
“This was my first trip to Silver Star and I was very impressed with the races and the resort,” said Henery, who drove 10 hours from Montana to compete. “It’s closer for us to come to Silver Star than travelling to Steamboat Springs (Colorado) where there was a race on the same dates.”
