Jessica Peters
Black Press
Day one at the BC Games ended early for several skiers who couldn’t complete their runs Friday.
Soft snow conditions are being blamed for a number of crashes Friday morning, as skiers attempted to complete their first slalom run of the day.
Phillip Mooder, 12, is competing at the Winter Games for the first time. With five years of skiing experience at Grouse Mountain, he knows that sometimes the conditions just aren’t favorable.
“It’s been my goal to come to the BC Games for the past year,” he said, sitting with friends in Hemlock’s lodge during the second slalom run. “It’s one of those things that you didn’t think could happen, and then it does and you’re just psyched.”
In slalom, skiers who can’t complete the first run due to injury don’t compete in the second run.
But instead of hanging his head, Mooder found an appropriate way to bide his team on the sidelines.
He joined Whistler’s Myles Kowalczyk, 13, and Eric Smith, 12, in watching on the big screen as the men’s slaloms took place in Sochi.
“That’s our event,” said Kowalczyk.
All the while, they kicked back, laughed, and began the important job of resting up for Saturday’s Giant Slalom event.
