The Jasper Freeride freestyle ski team is gearing up for a weekend of competition at Marmot Basin, where it will host the Alberta Winter Games Qualifier for the north zone, as well as a club competition.
Both are entry level competitions, but they carry high stakes. The top skiers in the qualifier will go on to the Alberta Winter Games next year, while the ones with the best showings in the club competition will be selected for the provincial circuit.
Competing in the qualifier are clubs from Red Deer, Edmonton, Grande Prairie and Jasper. Clubs from the south zone will compete in Fernie, B.C. on the same weekend. The top athletes at the end of two days of competition in moguls and slopestyle will go on to Mount Norquay in Banff National Park to compete in the Winter Games next February.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a big event,鈥� Nic Bazin of the Jasper Freeride Team said of the Winter Games, which take place biannually. 鈥淭hey make it like a mini Olympics. There鈥檚 an opening ceremony with shows and sometimes fireworks and then they train and compete, and at the end there鈥檚 a closing ceremony.
鈥淚t鈥檚 more about the experience for the athletes than the competition itself.鈥�
The same is true for some of the athletes participating in the club competition. Bazin said it鈥檚 an opportunity for the non-competitive athletes to experience what it鈥檚 like to start at the top of the gate with a countdown before a run.
The Jasper Freeride team includes athletes from Jasper, Hinton and Edmonton, ranging in age from six years old all the way up to late teens and early 20s.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a lot of talent in our club,鈥� said Bazin of the more than 40 skiers who train and compete with the team. Some of those athletes have even trained with the former coach of the national team and the current coach of the Alberta team. That session took place earlier this month following the Canada Winter Games.
鈥淭hat was great experience for them,鈥� said Bazin, noting that the athletes also did a two-week camp in Whistler during the summer and a week-long camp at Apex Mountain Resort earlier this month.
Marmot Basin has been working all week to prepare the mountain for the weekend of competitions, which will take place on Lift Line and at the terrain park.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e doing everything they can to support freestyle. We鈥檙e really lucky to have such a partner as Marmot Basin,鈥� said Bazin, noting that it hasn鈥檛 been an easy season for the ski hill, with the lack of snow and changing temperatures.
Nicole Veerman
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