The Jasper Ski Team is back on the slopes, preparing for another season of high-speed competition.
The alpine ski racing team has about 60 members between the ages of five and 15, and most are from Jasper, with only a few travelling to Marmot Basin from Hinton, Edson and Grande Cache.
The team is broken up into four age groups: U10 (five to nine), U12 (10 to 11), U14 (12 to 13) and U16 (14 to 15).
The older skiers began dry land training in September and finally made it onto the snow early in November at Nakiska Mountain Resort in Calgary.
With the opening of Marmot Basin last weekend, the skiers will now start their regular training schedules.
鈥淓arly season is really just finding their feet again, getting back on snow and trying to get back where they left off at the end of last season,鈥� said Alex Rayner, president of the Jasper Ski Team. 鈥淭hey wouldn鈥檛 be training gates, it鈥檚 more technical free skiing.
鈥淭he younger kids are doing a lot of skiing all over the mountain. That鈥檚 what produces good ski racers is being diverse. It鈥檚 not solely skiing gate after gate.鈥�
The number of training days for each athlete depends on what age group they fall into: U10 athletes spend 25 days on the snow, U12 spend 45 days, U14 spend 75 days and U16 spend 85 days.
Coaching the athletes this year are Patrice Fortin, the team鈥檚 longest serving coach at close to 10 years, Brent Schleppe, Marek Revai and Victoria Begg.
Fortin is the team鈥檚 Nancy Greene head coach, overseeing the U12 and U10 teams. Schleppe is head coach of the U16 team. Revai is head coach of U14 and Begg is head coach of U12 Fast Track program.
Rayner said the team, which has grown from 20 skiers to 60 in the last few years, is on track for another successful season.
One of the ways it has continued to grow and succeed is through fundraising efforts, which go toward keeping the fees as low as possible for the skiers.
鈥淲e are one of most affordable clubs in the province,鈥� said Rayner, noting that the annual Ski Swap is one of the team鈥檚 most successful fundraising efforts each year. The team is also selling frozen gourmet pizzas from Rocky Mountain Flatbread. To order pizzas, contact anyone on the team or head to the team鈥檚 website at jasperskiteam.com.
Nicole Veerman
[email protected]
